Thom's Napkin

Charcoal on Bristol. 9x13” Jan 2025

Comission. Sold

Charcoal on Card Stock. 8.5 x 11" May 2024.

I was intrigued by at first by a picture of an orca in a brick wall. The city scape at night made it better. The figure looking at the orca made it better yet, is he the artist? Or just a guy?

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5 x 11. March 2024

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5x11. February 2024.

Charcoal on Watercolor Paper. 8.5 x 11”

8.5x11” Charcoal on Paper.

Given to a Friend.

Charcoal on Watercolor Paper. 9”x12”

First time drawing on watercolor paper. Good results.

8.5x11” Charcoal on Bristol. Sept 2023.

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5x11. September 2023.

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5x11” September 2023.

I was interested in a two dimensional person painting a three dimensional portrait.

It also shows my own journey as my craft has progressed.

28 1/2” x 78 3/4” Charcoal on Paper. Aug 2023

This piece is actually the back of the bookshelf door project Im working on for the studio.

I stapled this drawing to the back of the book case with the art facing the shelves.

Portion of the main drawing highlighting the figure.

11x17” Charcoal on Bristol. April 2023.

12x16. Charcoal on Canvas Board. April 2023.

Commission. Sold.

12x12 Charcoal on Crumpled Paper

12"x12” Charcoal on Paper.

Crumpled paper Rorschach experiments 

 9x12” Charcoal on Bristol.

September 2022

Commission 

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. July 2022.

I was thinking of lighting when I began this drawing. Im pleased with composition… Why is the man running? 

12x16 charcoal on art board. July 2022.

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol April 2022

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol. April 2022

11x17. Charcoal on Bristol. Feb 2022.

Based on a stream of conciousness idea I collected. The only way forward is to try. I would consider this my first attempt at a woman's figure.

“Onward!”

11x17. Charcoal on Bristol. January 2022.

Available.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17. December 2021.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17. December 2021.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17. November 2021.

I like this scene.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17. November 2021.

This is improbable, but likeable.

12x16. Charcoal on artist board.

I like the indifference of the audience.

9x12 Charcoal on Bristol.

Aug 2021

Commission.

12x16. Charcoal on Artist Board. Aug 2021

For Bryan and Chelsea

Charcoal on Paper. 16x20

So fun! What’s going to happen?

11x7. Charcoal on Bristol. May 2021.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17. April 2021

Sold.

Mushrooms work as well with charcoal as they do garlic.

8.5 square. Charcoal on Paper. February 2021.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Paper. Feb 2021.

8.5x11. Charcoal on Bristol. Feb 2021.

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5 x11 February 2021

Available.

Charcoal on Bristol. 8.5x11 Feb 2021.

Available.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Bristol. February 2021.

Possibly Inspired By Real Events.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. January 2021.

The fourth of four pet portraits.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16.

January 2021

My first cat. Also the 3rd of four pet portraits.

11x14 Charcoal on Canvas Board. November 2017.

This is a piece I started a decade ago, but was never satisfied with its result. I took it off the wall and reworked it into this piece, a work that I really like. The great ones learned to draw before they could paint, and as part of my learning process, I'm returning to charcoal to see what I can learn.

Available. Price Negotiable.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16"

January 2021.

The 2nd of pet portraits.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16”

January 2021

The 1st of 4 pet portraits I have coming up.

Charcoal on Bristol. 11x17

December 2020

I like the tiny background pictures.

Available.

11x17. Charcoal on Paper. December 2020.

Available.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Paper.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Bristol.

My best portrait to date.

Available.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Paper. Oct 2020

This was a practice to see where I was at with portraits. I haven’t tried one in awhile. I found an old photo online and put several hours into it. I think this is my best one to date.

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol. October 2020

Some Ibis walked by the other day. They looked interesting, and I thought they would stand out in black and white. The scene developed, and I realized I needed something to set the foreground. There came the chickadee.

24x36 Charcoal on Paper. October 2020

A friend related to me a dream about giant’s enjoying cocktails using bergy bits in Antarctica. She thought my style would be the perfect medium for her vision.

This is my first dreamscape commission and I think I did it justice.

Love the penguins.

24x36 Charcoal on Paper. September 2020

Commission.

A compelling scene roughly based on Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona… It pulls one in, no?

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol.

Commission.

My friend asked if I would draw this scene for her of this woman eating spaghetti…

11x14. Charcoal on artist board. July 2020.

A silly drawing, but I like the theme.. What was Mario like before his fame? I picture your everyday plumber, living a small life waiting for a chance to make his mark on the world.

11x14 Charcoal on Artist Board. June 2020

This scene was based on an abandoned farmhouse I saw in Oklahoma this spring.

11x14 Charcoal on Artist Board. April 2020

I like the perspective. This picture came true for me this summer, when I grew my own carrots and pulled one out about that size…

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol. March 2020

I like this scene a lot. The men watching their wheel roll down the mountain in particular. It’s whimsical and strange, yet interesting.. What I want my pictures to be remembered for…

11x14 Charcoal on Bristol. March 2020.

The giant green anemones found off the Oregon coast inspired this one. The are just so strange, and weird and I thought they would make a good subject.

11x17 Charcoal on Bristol. Febuary 2020.

Whimsical. That girl is living it up! May we all embrace her attitude to life.

Sold.

11x17. Charcoal on Bristol. February 2020. Sold.

Another strange scene. I like its balance and content. Why is that man crawling out of a hole? Can you guess the ship in the background?

The Queen Mary.

11x14. Charcoal on Bristol. February 2020. Sold.

An excellent place for an audience, no? This drawing sold 10 minutes after I released it. The hardest part was keeping the arc of the hillside intact while I added the rest.. it was just the softest touch to get that effect…

24x36 Charcoal on Paper. February 2020.

Available.

My biggest and best piece to date. I put more hours into this one than any other drawing, but the scene demanded it. I love it.

14x20 Charcoal on Artist Board. February 2020.

Available.

This scene was one I did a long time ago on paper towel. I always thought it would look good in charcoal.

It’s a good giraffe.

11x14. Charcoal on Artist Board. January 2020

I tried a remake of frigate’s in the moonlight. I failed. It had no energy of the original. It was mechanical. Frustrated, I mashed in this new scene, making something interesting and compelling out of nothing. I show this piece because I learned a lot from it. Not for its content.

8.5x11. Charcoal on Paper. Sold.

Practice. Just practice.

8.5x11. Charcoal on Paper. December 2019. Sold.

Frigate birds will often use a ship’s motion to glide effortlessly along at night. I was on the bow and looked up to see these frigate’s in the moonlight.

8.5x11. Charcoal on paper. December 2019

My first portrait that actually looked like the subject.

8.5x11 Charcoal on Paper. January 2020.

Commission.

My friend said, “I love frigate birds. draw me a frigate.”

So I did.

11x14. Charcoal on Bristol. October 2019. Sold.

“Why are the elephants all going down the hill?” To get peanuts!

14X20. Charcoal on Artist Board. November 2019.

Commission.

My friend wanted a drawing for her grandfather who used to sail down in the Sea of Cortez down in Baja California, Mexico.

To me, the Sargent majors and the Sierra de la Giganta, make for a fitting foreground and backdrop.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. October 2019.

I’m attracted to wagons, wheelbarrows and carts carrying friends, beers, or friends with beers (preferably). This was another take on that, and perhaps my most whimsical and complete scene.

Available for purchase.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11. October 2019.

I was asked to design a tee shirt. I thought this was a cool scene, and a shirt that I would wear.

Available for purchase.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11. October 2019

I need portrait practice. Here’s my latest. Some parts are intriguing, some parts I need to keep practicing.

Roughly based on a portrait by Sargent.

Charcoal on artist board. September 2019.

The bosun on my ship has a task every day to read the ship’s draft marks. When she says it, it always sounds like she’s saying “giraffe marks.” I couldn’t get this play on words out of my head, and so I made this cartoon for her.

Gifted happily to a friend and bosun.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. September 2019.

I’ve a friend who has a sister who has weird dogs. One stares at walls, poles - anything really - with his head just inches away from it. Rascal is her other dog who does nothing all day until a squirrel gets involved. I tried to do these dogs justice, working from a photograph for the dogs themselves, and putting them into a scene.

Charcoal on artist board. 8x16. October 2019.

My first Zebra.

Gifted to a friend.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. August 2019.

Trees continue to pull me in their direction. I love drawing them.

Commission. Sold.

Charcoal on Artist Board. 12x16. July 2019.

Killer whales in Space? It makes sense to me. This is the final product of a napkin sketch I did…

Sold.

Charcoal on artist board. 12x16. July 2019.

Perhaps my best mountains. I think this is my most complete landscape to date. I love the flowers.

Sold.

Charcoal on Artist Board. 12x16. June 2019.

This is a weird one. If you look deeply into symbology it gets more interesting. These are the first owls I’ve ever tried drawing. It has a dust bowl feel to it. I like the shadows.

Available.

Charcoal on Artist Board. 12x16 May 2019.

I wanted to continue the rough idea I put to paper towel in charcoal form.

This place doesn’t exist accept in my mind, but I would like to walk here.

Sold.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11. April 2019.

While sketching in my journal, I saw how triangles could form a figure. I became intrigued with the idea, so I set to see if I could accomplish it. I think this does rather well, though the triangles lead to ridiculous proportions…

Sold.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11. April 2019.

The second part of the two drawings of the same scene from two different angles at two slightly different times. Obviously, there are other subtle differences, but they both still hold to the vision.

The whole series was given to a friend.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11.

Picture One of Two.

I drew two sketches of this view. You can see them on the “Drawing A Day” page. I couldn’t decide which I liked better. I put both sketches up for an anonymous poll to see what the masses thought, and they chose the counter part to this picture.

But I liked this one. So I drew this one first. I didn’t love it, but I liked it. I started work on no. 2. While working on that one, I saw the foot prints and how they would tie the whole scene together, so I stopped work, switched pictures and put in the foot prints. Voila!

However, I’m still enchanted with the 2nd picture even more than the first.

Now I realized these two pictures will always be tied together. They are just two different angles at two very slightly different times on the same drama.

Charcoal on paper. 8x11. March 2019

This was a practice piece of sorts, but it developed into a fetching farmhouse scene. The farmer’s body language is awkward, not intentionally mind you, but these things happen. I like the kitten in the window, the guy on the left and the foliage…

Charcoal on Paper 8x11 March 2019.

I still think this is funny. Another recreation of classic napkin art redone in charcoal on paper. I want to make one more full size piece out of this.

Charcoal on Paper. 8x11 March 2019.

I wanted to draw an octopus. I like the sand dollar on the lower right. This is one of my more popular offerings to date, and I hope to make a large piece of it some day.

Charcoal on paper. 8x11 March 2019.

This is my first piece on plain paper. I must say, I’m impressed. It’s easier to work than canvas, though I like the idea of canvas. I’m starting to turn some of my napkin art into more substantial pieces, this being my first attempt.

I like this scene, a theme I will forever return to.

14 x 18” Charcoal on Canvas. Feb. 2019

Commission. Sold.

My friend wanted a commission of his dog. I didn’t know this dog at all, and by the sounds of him, he didn’t really sound that charismatic. So, I drew the dog, but didn’t really know how to set up the scene.

Then I had the idea of making him gigantic and having him lay on the moon. Add in a little earth rise in the background, and there you have it.

Charcoal on Canvas. 12x24.

Commission. Sold.

Killer Whales are often seen in family groups or pods. This particular pod I had photographed years ago in Alaska. I wanted a reference for the spy hopping whale, and I often use photos I have caught for this aspect. The background is in British Columbia. Three Island Cove is made up, but but I liked the name better than the accepted name.

Charcoal on Canvas Board. 11x14.

Commission. Sold.

My friend wanted a drawing of a bass player. The bassists are always behind the scenes, the heartbeat of any band, and I wanted to convey this here. The only thing I used a photograph for was to get the height of the Bass correct, but other than that, this scene came together from my imagination. I really like the patrons of this bar. I imagine this band to be playing on a Thursday night, giving it their all, but nobody really paying too much attention to them.

Charcoal on Canvas. 12x24.

Commission. Sold.

I had done this scene for a friend of mine on a dinner napkin several months ago. He came back saying he wanted it on canvas. While forming the figure, another friend of mine said, “you should make him peeing.” Being the smart ass I am, I took my eraser and made it so. Well, my friend said he loved it, and the customer is always right.

Charcoal on Canvas Board. 11x14.

Commission. Sold.

My first Orca. I wanted the scene to mimic the ethereal days in Southeast Alaska, where the clouds shift around in minutes and the air is a pleasure to breathe.

The Orca, a bull, are often scene some distance away from the rest of the pod, and it was this distant bull, I wanted to draw.

Charcoal On Canvas Board. 16x24” August 2018

I was sketching on the porch with the outer scene, but realized to make it right, I needed to put the picture in the scene. One thing led to another, and I tried another, and another, and realized the potential… I’m going to play with this idea more.

11x14 Charcoal on Canvas Board.

July 2018

I was asked to do a commission with a musical theme featuring a piano. I wasn’t sure of the composition until I heard my client talk about how much he loved old Jazz clubs. It was an easy composition after that. I wanted the piano player to be cool. I wanted him to be the star of the show. The audience came in at the end rounding out the scene perfectly.

Sold.

12x24” Charcoal on Canvas.

June 2018

I wanted the whale to be the star of the scene, but it was important to offer a realistic backdrop to the scene. It’s a quiet scene, but only until the whale hits the water.

Sold.

12x16 Charcoal on Canvas Board.

June 2018.

My first frog. This originally started as a frog in the redwoods. It needed something, so I added the path. Finally, I visualized the child, and the piece came together.

Sold.

Charcoal on Canvas. 18x24”

Sold on Commission.

This is one of my better portraits. If you knew Rex, you’d understand the reason for the smirk. This was a very fun project to take on and I am very pleased with the results.

Charcoal on canvas board. 12"x12"

Probably my best charcoal piece to date.

Sold.

Charcoal on canvas board. 8"X12"

One night I worked this scene four times on napkin, making mistakes on all of them. The next day, I decided to do it in charcoal, as I still had it in my mind how I wanted it. This is the best version.

Sold.

Charcoal on canvas board.   12"x 16"

This was the original scene I had in mind. I debated making it a day scene halfway through the piece, but I woke up one morning and I knew this is the scene I wanted. So, I did it.

Sold to a friend.

8x12. Charcoal on Canvas. January 2018.

A sinister scene.

Sold. $100.00.

11x14. Charcoal on Canvas Board. January 2018.

This scene is better in person. It's my most dynamic landscape to date, inspired by the alps of Switzerland.

Sold. $100.00

11x14. Charcoal on Canvas Board. December 2017.

A man's indifference to another man in jail.

Given away in a white elephant gift exchange. The recipient loved it.

8x12. Charcoal on Canvas Board. December 2017.

The hand makes this one.

Sold. $100.00

8x12. Charcoal on Canvas Board. December 2017

Natures indifference to man's attempt to control it.

Traded to another artist for a hand made neck wrap.