Oh Sketch!

And finally, in my great attempt to catch you up here are a couple of sketches that have been evolving over the past few months...


You can click on them for a larger view.

Wild Life

In April I found found myself in the wilderness with a bunch of 12 and 13 year old boys. OK, it wasn't exactly wilderness. It was my neighbor's ranch where we take the scouts on an over-night campout each year to do some work/service around the ranch ("... it builds character"). This time. like all of the others, the boys personalities came shining through.

We had a late supper where most of the boys cooked up tinfoil dinners in the fire. After messing around with the 5 year old marshmallows and cookies the boys proceeded to put beef jerky on sticks and roast it over the fire. I thought that this was nuts, but I have to admit that it tasted pretty good. Of course, Justin the eternal stomach had to go around and taste everyones food before finally settling down and burning the heck out of his JiffyPop popcorn. In the morning he found a can brown stuff and a dirty stick on the ground and proceeded to eat goop out of the can. This freaked me out a little bit.

After breakfast we worked the rest of the day gathering trees and branches into great big piles that we never got to set on fire (like years past). We also had to dig out and haul huge rocks from a field and around the pond. Every rock that Jackson touched seemed to grow to an enormous size under the ground. Ricky seems to have a one track mind; everything was about how we could organize another activity with the girl's organization, the Beehives. Jeff worked well for such a tiny guy, but from the very beginning he never stopped asking when we could be done. And well ... Antonio's junk was everywhere.

It was a good campout where nobody got hurt and my hernia got a good workout. I don't really like being a scout leader, but the boys certainly keep it interesting if not entertaining.

The Karlin Meets Collective Soul

Each year the company that I work for has a big event and usually invites a band to entertain the minions. This year it was Collective Soul. As part of the event staff the Karlin sometimes gets to meet the bands. This year was particularly awesome because we got to have dinner with Frank Caliendo (the comedian) and then visit briefly with the boys from Collective Soul after the concert. Here is a pic of Sharon and I with Frank. Our friends Derryck Dufur and his wife joined us with Collective Soul. The Collective Soul guys were very friendly and fun to meet and put on a great concert.

Christmas and the Ladder King

Christmas also came and went during the great blog entry drought of '07. I had a fabulous Christmas with the fam. Randy was home, my kids were healthy, my wife is fantastic and all was right with my world. At least that's how I remember it at the moment. Just for posterities sake I will list out some of the more memorable items that we have added to the Stokes pile. Jake got a couple of sweet little remote control helicopters, Madi got a Nintendo DS, Randy and Sharon got some stuff that I can't remember right now and I got a plethora ("...would you say that I have a "plethora" of piñata's?") of tools. Best of all I got a Little Giant ladder! I have watched those infomercials forever, and have coveted those expensive ladders for a long time. Now I am "the Ladder King"! I use it all of the time. I try to find any excuse to haul it out and flip it around in one of its dozens of configurations, just to make the neighbors jealous. It's awesome.

Halloween?

Halloween came and went. It was somewhat uneventful and at the moment I can't even think of a story to tell about it. Here is a sketch of some monsters that I did at Halloween time. I really like monster movies. Not those gory and bloody slasher flicks that come out every Halloween, but great movies with fun monsters like: Godzilla, King Kong, The Mummy, American Werewolf in London, Frankenstein, etc...

Randy the Hurd

On October 9,(or sometime around then) my step-son Randy returned from an LDS mission to Berlin, Germany. The kid has gone native and carries around this European "man-purse" everywhere he goes. It has been a delight to have have him back with us. He got a job right away at Tahitian-Noni, speaking German of course. He's trying to decide what to major in at college. He has changed his mind so many times it's making my head spin. He is a mathematical genius and an engineering "wunderkind"; yet he thinks that he wants to be a doctor.
I constantly bother him about girls, dating and kissing. He is a really good sport to put up with all of the teasing. The fact remains that the boy needs a good girlfriend to help him kind of settle and get started in a single direction. We all have high hopes for him, beacuse I'm supposed to be living in the west-wing of his mansion when I retire. So get to work Randy!

The Great Entry Catch-up (not Ketsup)

Well, it has been more than 6 months without an entry. It's about time! Much has happened that will go undocumented but in the next few entries I will try and catch up with the big things and latest sketches. I made a facebook page a while back and I'm having a hard time deciding whether I should keep updating the blog or just go all facebook. If you have any thoughts please, leave a comment.

Jeremy the Wild Tyrannosaurus

The WT has lived near me for almost his whole life, but I never really met the WT until our trip to Lake Powell. There I learned a great deal about the beast; his eating and sleeping habits; and his interests and thoughts. For example:

The WT is a fabulous baker and brightens our Sunday evening gatherings with a plethora of sugary delights.

The WT professes a great dislike for suntans, yet has carefully preserverved his wristwatch tanline from Powell all summer long.

The WT has learned that The Karlin just might know everything that needs to be known. But he is having trouble accepting that fact.

And lastly, the WT is an all around good friend to The Karlin and his family. This entry is for you, you blue-eyed brute. Have a great day, Jeremy!

Michael is Swell

So there we were on another Sunday evening sitting around at "Popcorn Time" when I happened to mention the lovely poem that someone wrote for Miranda on the Date Wanted post. Micheal felt that he wants people to write poetry to him; so I told him that I would post him out here and we'll see what kind of poetry he inspires in people.

This is Michel with his "Tough-guy" face on.


and here he is flashing us his winning smile! It just makes me feel poetic all over. "Roses are red, Violets are blue...

Pittsburg?

Well friends, the Karlin has been backpacking. It has been several years since I have backpacked and the silly scout troop decided that it was time to torture me once again.

We went to this rather cool little lake called "Pittsburg Lake". The hike was short (just 1.7 miles) but seemingly straight up and treacherous. My boys handled it like champs though. We planned on hiking for about an hour, but it ended up taking almost 2. Jackson and I were the first to the lake, but that is mostly because Matt doubled back and carried two packs up to the lake. Every turn on the hike seemed to get steeper and more rocky; it was brutal.

We arrived in the dark and had to set up camp and cook dinners while a little thunder storm threatened overhead. Austin was amazed by his mighty, little cook stove and cup. He insisted that all gather around and look at it. Trent felt this crazy desire to sleep right in the dirt (mind you that there was nearby grass, tents and a tarp) and it took some persuading and a rain storm to get him to move his "dirtbag" into a tent. And of course, Justin couldn't resist jumping waist deep into the lake to bag his monster little 6" brook trout that he eventually just threw in the fire anyway (what a waste).

Other fun things of note were Antonio's GIANT, way to heavy backpack. This beast almost weighed as much as Antonio himself. Matt had to rescue the poor boy before the pack and the trail beat him into the ground. David forgot his sleeping bag and immediately blamed his brother for his own failure to put a bag in his pack. Jackson brought microwave chicken wings for dinner, but forgot to pack a microwave and generator to cook them with. And Alex the fire-king couldn't get our campfire to start (thanks for helping out Antonio).

All in all it was a pretty good trip. No one got hurt, we didn't burn down the forest, and I got to do a little 4 wheeling. The boys actually shared very well with each other and there was a minimum of fighting or argument. All told I actually enjoyed myself a little bit.

Date Wanted!

The PowerPuff Girls

As I mentioned before, I have been volunteered to lead a group of about ten, twelve and thirteen year old boys. Within this group there are four little buggers that I affectionately refer to as "The PowerPuff Girls". Now, unlike the real Powerpuff girls these boys don't seem to have any super powers except being able to sleep longer than any human, and instead of gliding along with their feet off the ground, they tend to constantly drag their feet, never letting their shoes leave the ground. Instead of being ultimately optimistic and firing up their positive power to do good, these boys tend to grumble about everything and generally only fire up a couple of brain cells in an effort to get out of any kind of work.
Now I don't actually know very much about the real PowerPuff Girls at all, but I've got four boys that have four unique, greasy little hairdo's; they are generally little kids trying to act bigger than they are; they are overly concerned with being ultimately cool; they tend to group together in their little flock whenever possible; and when they do decide to participate they can be kinda fun. For this reason I call them "the PowerPuff Girls"
I have created a little graphic for them (notice the unique hair) to make posters and stickers so that they can always be reminded that if they put their minds to it; they just might save the world before bedtime!
Enjoy!

Meet n' Greet

As a graphic designer over the years I have had opportunity to meet many interesting people; some of them are even somewhat famous. Here are a few that I was fortunate enough to get a picture with:


Steve Young, the record-holding, past quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers was a very nice and patient guy, even when someone stole his shirt from the tradeshow that we were working at.

Sammy Hagar was the coolest musician that I've been able to meet. He had lots of stories and was very open and friendly. He was very comfortable meeting people and quite personable to each person that he talked to. My wife had shaved her head in support of our friend who had cancer, so she's got a nice buzz-cut going on.

I didn't get a very good photo of/with the Counting Crows. That's Ok though, because they were very uncomfortable in their own skins. They didn't talk much and were actually somewhat uninteresting.

The Goo Goo Dolls were pretty cool. The format to meet them was kinda rushed and there wasn't much time for fun stories or real conversation, but they were very open and fun; all smiles for everyone and just nice guys

My work has given me opportunity to meet with many other big name or semi-famous people that I either wasn't allowed or forgot to get a picture of or I just didn't have a camera available. Among these famous names are: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Weider, Magic Johnson, Mike Ditka, Roger Staubach, The Moody Blues, Howard Jones, and others. I have also been able to meet and /or work with a number of religious and political figures, corporate executives of some of the largest companies in America, and even Penthouse Pets and models. There are times that I really love my work and I count myself lucky in so many ways. There are some jerks and/or strange people among the famous that I have met, but most are just plain, fun-loving people who count themselves among the lucky also. One day when The Karlin is famous I hope that people just think of me as a happy, fun-loving guy.

Sketch Happens

This is amazing! so many entries! Well, I have a breather at work for a moment so I thought that I would catch up a bit. I have been taking the old sketch book with me to alot of meetings and lately I have been kind of preoccupied with what I call "Ubersketches". These are doodles/sketches/drawings that grow on a single page over several weeks of meetings and such, to form a whole. I often have a different pen with me each time that I crack open the book, and the different inks from the various pens give the drawings an interesting tone. Here are a few of the Ubersketches that have developed: ( you can click on the images to see a larger version)






































This is my friend Nick. He is a head-bangin', heavy metal kid that often visits me at my home. I think that he ought to take close look at these drawings and see what too much Megadeath and Twisted Sister can do to your brain.

More Powell Fun!

While at Lake Powell I had a little time to sketch:
Here is a sample page with a Jolly Roger for Randy, Emily the crazy lifejacketed swimmer, James the skeletal fish, and eyes and mouths because I always draw eyes and mouths.

This is a quick sketch that I did of Jamie the crazy mexican kid tossing my wife off of the jet-ski while on his wild ride.

And for the tiny-bopper segment of my fan-club nicknames were all the rage. Can you match the kid with their connected nickname?

Kids Love the Powell

I thought that I would post a few photos of my wonderful children whooping it up at Powell!

Jake and Madi loved the slide off from the back of the houseboat and I love the airborn photos.

Jake has made it his life-long goal to get himself a yacht.

Having a giant lake to swim and play in wasn't enough. The boys decide that they need to create their own lake. Not to be out-done, the girls get to work on their own reservoir.

At the end of the week, all sunburned and worn-out, the kids force themselves to stay up and watch DVDs because they just can't miss one moment of this vacation!

Lake Powell Love

The Fam recently took a most awsome trip to Lake Powell with 5 other families. We all pitched in and rented a 60 foot houseboat for a week. When we finally got settled into a nice llittle cove in Iceberg Canyon we were quite the spectacle. There we 32 people with a pirate yacht, 3 ski boats, 2 jetskis, and a veritable plethora of water toys. When everyone came in for dinner there could be quite a traffic jam.

We were having so much fun that we often forgot to take photos, so I will post what we have, but you should know that the fun went way beyond what I have photos for.

It took us a couple of days to find just the right spot; but when we did Elise discovered hiking and climbing right away. The canyon that we were in was beautiful and the cliffs went up for at least 100 feet around us.

I personally don't water-ski (I prefer Jet-Skis -- I'm a control freak!)but for those who liked skiing, they did plenty of it. Rod shows all how it is done, with the magnificient landscape in the background.

Sharon even tried the sail-board. We were all surprised at how quickly she got up and was gliding (albeit out of control) around the area. I am so proud of my amazing woman and I'm very glad that she didn't impale herself on a submerged tree.

Matt was like King Triton whipping the kids into shape and having them ferry him back and forth to his boat in his mighty chariot.

I was able to spend a few hours doing what I like best; sitting around, listening to the iPod, drinking Pepsi and doodling in the sketchbook. But even way out on a lake in the southern desert I was often hounded by my tiny adoring fans.

And last but not least, we were even able to bring home a full-blown case of ringworm!

A Leader of Boys to Men

A few weeks ago I was asked to be an Assistant Scout Leader in my community. I am an Eagle Scout and have been an assistant before, but I am not a huge fan of the scouting program. This is one of the most difficult things that I have to do. I am basically a 13 year old child myself; so it is really hard for me to try and be a good example of adulthood for a group of kids that age.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a friends ranch where we cleared a bunch of areas and campsites of logs and branches that washed in when the river overflowed. We stacked the wood and had a rather large bon-fire. The flames stretched a good 20 feet into the air. The fire burned all night and into the following day. Some of my clothes from that night still smell like smoke.

The kids that I work with are basically good kids with a wide range of personalities. In the picture, I'm the hard working one on the right. It is interesting to watch the kids as they look at the picture and try to decide who the other figures are in the picture.

Christmas in February

Well, here we are in February and I'm finally getting around to posting some Christmas stuff.

This is Jake and me with our favorite Christmas gifts ever; a pair of remote-control tanks with built-in air-soft guns. We have loads of fun driving them around, shooting everything (and sometimes everyone) in site.
I was trolling around the Internet one day and found these awsome tanks. The "Snow leopard" is really a M-26 Pershing. The tank battles are a blast.

Notice what a beautiful piece of work I am in the morning. I have the real "hillbilly" look goin' on.

This is my complete Christmas haul. I got this totally cool, flat CD-iPod-stereo thing; The tanks; and the complete Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain collection. My family are the best people ever!

In this last photo, my friend got a cake decorating kit for Christmas; so of course we had to make a cake promoting the Karlin!

It was delicious!

The Karlin Goes to Paris

Well, the karlin has gone international! In November my company sent me to Paris to work on a conference there. Now granted, it was Paris in late November so the sights weren't as spectacular as they could have been, but it was fabulous all the same.

Here I am on top of the Arc de Triomphe in the middle of Paris. If you click on the photos and look closely you can see that even the French promote the karlin whenever possible.



Here I am actually touching the Eiffel Tower. I think that these kinds of photos are important because anyone can get a picture of these monuments at any gift shop, but a photo of me actually touching the monument, brings home the point that I was really there.


And here I am at Notre Dame. I have a photo of me actually touching the building also, but it is somewhat uninteresting. Besides the guy behind me seems to be named Karlin which just goes to prove that even though few have heard of us, we are everywhere.

While I was in Notre Dame it occurred to me that I could be standing on the exact spot where Napoleon once stood when he uttered those immortal words "Hmmm, I'm a little hungry... I think I'll have a baguette." I love to visit old places where famous historical people have trod and imagine them doing the same everyday things that I am doing.

I have posted this series a little late and actually Christmas has come and gone; so next posting I'll have to show all what Santa brought the Karlin. I hope that everyone had fabulous holidays!

Cookin'

Anyone who knows me in recent years knows that I like to cook. I'm not really a baker, but if it involves lots of fire, knives, chopping and many pots and pans, I'm there. As my wife has observed, I can make a huge mess just preparing the simplest meal.

I am posting some pics of a coupe of my favorite meals to prepare. This is Pan Seared Shrimp with Lemon Garlic Sauce:

The shrimp were frozen and had to be shelled and deveined before cooking. It's pretty smelly work, but delicious. My daughter likes BBQ shrimp better, but this dish not only tastes good, but looks good too.

This is Smothered Pork Chops. This is a family favorite. It's mostly just braised pork chops and a lot of onions, but the addition of fresh lemon-thyme and bacon puts this dish over the top! The chops and sauce are wonderful served over spaghetti or linguini, and leftovers are even better the second day.

Looking at these makes me hungry. I think I'll go and make some dinner.

Eet Smakelijk!!

Doodle Time!

Here are some recent sketches from my sketch book.

I often visit the blog of my friend (see "So, Cat Tacos" link to the right) and his work has inspired me to get out my sketchbook after years of neglect. I found it interesting that at first all I could think of to draw were things that I remembered from his blog (the cat, the pirate, the butler) then, as I took the sketchbook to more meetings I have slowly started to doodle like the good old days. I haven't really sketched in many years; which is kinda funny because during those years I started and helped manage 2 design firms and have had some luck with a freelance design business. The work is all computer-based graphic design and I rarely have a need to draw freehand.

I really like just doing random drawings. When you have small kids they always have something in particular for you to draw for them, and they have little patience for any drawing that takes more than 3 or four minutes. Now that my kids have started drawing their own pics I can just sit and do my own doodling during church and other meetings. What fun! I don't have much talent, but I really wish that I could draw well, and doodling lets me think that I am a serious artist for few minutes. I am currently finishing off a sketch book that I started almost 15 years ago! (i told you haven't sketched for a while). So much has happened and the old sketches (like Garden Man) make me very sentimental. The blank spots are where the notes from the meetings were. I figure that no one wants to see those. I actually find it somewhat interesting to go back after a particular meeting and see the randomness of the images that turned out on the page. Maybe they mean something?

I'm hoping that as time goes on I'll get better, and maybe even do some actual pictures for the wall. Maybe one day I'll actually take a stab at painting again...maybe...

6 Karlins

Another Sunday evening at my porch has gone by and another post for my friends. I have a little friend that arrived at Popcorn Time; she is the sister to the girl with the cool stitches (see previous post). She took a pretty bad spill on her scooter last week which scratched her little face up somethin' fierce. She decided that she would like a little healing Karlin placed on her wounds like her sisters stitches. So after much pleading from her and a bunch of silly photography, I decided to post a picture just for her.

There are 6 Karlins in the picture. Click on the picture to see a larger version. I had to place them so a 6 year old can find them, so don't strain yourselves too much. And have a great week!