The Astonishing Anatomy of Ronald Searle

Matt Jones is steering the ship on a great cause and has asked some talented folks to help land a retrospective of Ronald Searle's work here in San Francisco! Searle In America would be the first of it's kind on the west coast. Below is my contribution and take on Searle's 'Morbid Anatomy' series... and a humble attempt at the pen and ink ninja grand master himself. I had a lot of fun working on this and am thankful to play a small role. I heart Ronald Searle and so does Matt. He runs a tribute blog with boat loads of treasure... enjoy :)

The Astonishing Anatomy of Ronald Searle 11x14 Acrylic on board

Arya & The Hound

tattoo!

part of a tattoo design I recently did for a friend

mejico magico

Here are a few more select sketches from my recent trip to Mexico. I want to put another book together for APE with a lot more colored pieces inspired the buildings, the smells, the tastes and of course the characters I encountered down south, so hang in there... color is on it's way :)

Beth - The imaginary friend who takes care of business :)

I was asked by an old blue sky bud (joseph lee) to join in on this great show taking place in April at 826LA, a non-profit that tutors kids and helps them write. It's going to be wonderful... I'll keep you posted on dates! These pieces will be on sale and proceeds will go to 826 and their kids. Below is part of the story written by one of the many talented kids there :)

My imaginary friend has light brown hair. She has brown eyes. 

Today she is wearing a yellow sweater. 

And she is wearing a black shirt and red shoes. 

And she is wearing lipstick.

 My imaginary friend always beats me at hide and go seek.

I met Beth at the park. It all started when I was playing in the swing. 

Until two bullies pushed me and got me hurt. Until an adult named Beth helped me. 

And she hit the two bullies. They got scared of her. 

And at the end Beth and I were best friends forever.

beth...

...she wears red shoes dammit. and she doesn't have any pants on, what? ;)

travels... sneak peak

i've been doing some traveling and sketching... above is just a taste. i'm off to new orleans in the morning... where i plan to sketch and sketch and sketch! when i get back i'll post ALL of it :) by the way if you use your noggin' i highly recommend visiting mexico. it's gorgeous, enchanting and very inspiring. and there's plenty of good tequila -willie

wonders and whatnots = adios!

it's official, 'wonders and whatnots' is sold out! (although i hear there'll be a few copies at nucleus pretty soon...) THANK YOU SO MUCH! it means the world to me... it's a huge reward to be received by fine folks like yourselves, to scribble down what's inside your head and to communicate how and what you see. MUCH love. i can't wait to get another book going (already in the works ;)  -willie

burlesque figures

   

dropped by a figure drawing workshop in the mission earlier tonight.

sophia loren

some quick sketches with a little color of the gorgeous sophia loren - willie

feliz 2013!

itsy bitsy elves

The idea started with Santa's little helpers, who are usually little squirts... but my love of shapes wanted to emphasize those old vintage ornaments and light bulbs, so the little elves ended up being tiny... small enough to run around the christmas tree, and decorate it :) Happy Holidays! Hope you all get to enjoy some time off with friends and family  -willie

christmas (part 1)

here's a little sneak peek of a christmas illustration I'm working on. still balancing out the graphic shapes against the lighting but i want to capture that excitement of decorating and setting up... the best part of the holidays in my opinion :)  

the itsy bitsy lights elf 

figure drawing 12-5-12

had a great model in last week's figure drawing session

barry mcgee

speechless. i'm still taking barry's show in at bampfa... below are some of my favorite moments. the pics are not worthy of the real deal so go see for yourself. this weekend is your final chance!

CTNX 2012 is a Wrap

I had a wonderful weekend. It was great seeing old buds and meeting new ones. Thanks for all the support everyone! The book did really well (I'm down to 28 copies left!) I'm on the fence about ordering more... I'd love to move on and create more content for the next one. If you'd like to order one of the very few left, click here. Both, 100 Cats and 110 Critters prints sold out as well so muchas gracias! Till next year!

nervous = serious demo face

peter nguyen sketching away at lightning speed

snuck in a pic of mike lee's moleskin

fancy man, fancy sign

old bud m.d. sculpting knees

so fresh & so clean (designed by jason sadler, sculpted by mike defeo)

lol