Just returned from a relaxing trip up to Bridgton, Maine for the weekend. The colors on the trees were in full saturation. A couple of photos below show the trees.

We stayed at a bed and breakfast called “The Noble House.” Everything was perfect, including the owner Julie’s recommendations for sights to see and places to eat. We visited the White Mountains in New Hampshire, including the Cog Railway that goes up to the peak of Mount. Washington.

We ate at an Irish Restaurant called “May Kelly’s Cottage” in North Conway. It looked nothing like Fado’s or Claddaugh’s, so it must have been authentic. Jakers, the potato cakes were delicious, made with bacon and drizzled with horseradish.

The other place of note that we visited was Bray’s Brew Pub & Eatery in Naples, Maine. There, we watched the Red Sox game on Saturday night, Game 6 of the ALCS. A story from that visit follows the photos and the break.

The Noble House Bed & Breakfast, Bridgton ME	View from the Highlander Suite
Cog Railway - The Little Engine That Could	Comin’ Down the Mountain
Requisite Pier Photo, Kennebunkport	After a Swim near Kennebunk

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Vincent Price, 10/19/07

My favorite roles for Vincent Price are those where he plays the haunted, psychologically tortured character. “Last man on Earth” and most of his Edgar Allan Poe work are good examples. He always hammed it up, but it made for great Saturday afternoon, monster movie viewing.

Dr. Jekyll does, that is.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, 10/18/07

In separating the “darker” side of himself, Jekyll’s two extremes simply pushed against each other and got nowhere. Everything went badly in the end.

I must have painted this piece three times over in the past few days. Trying a more painterly approach in Photoshop and I’m just not getting it. Time to put this aside for now and move on to something else.

Sorry, Illustration Friday. Just a sketch this week.

A big thanks to my friends Trevor, Bob, Angela, Dan and Ed for some feedback on this piece. Like Luke returning to Dagobah to complete his training, so too will I return to complete my training.

While waiting for Photoshop to crash and lose my unsaved work, I distracted myself with a zombie sketch. Hello, Aunt Alicia!

A Zombie, 10/18/07

Warming up with a sketch of Ed’s EQ character, Sibaelius. No time for his little flapping familiar! *single tear.

Sibaelius the wizard
10/17/07

From the “Scary Things To Lick” dept.

	These spook-tacular stamps featuring the famous Universal monsters crept into the US Ghost Office in 1997 and were loved by boys and ghouls everywhere! The original artwork for each image was painted with watercolor on paper by an artist named Thomas Blackshear II. My set is in pretty bad shape, so I thought I’d scan these stamps in while I still had them. I had a Frankenstein’s Monster mousepad, too, but it became really grimy from use. The only classic monster missing from this set, for me, is Creature from the Black Lagoon. Which one is your favorite?

Today is Blog Action Day. Bloggers everywhere are posting about the environment in their own blog-specific ways.

I’m tempted to call the topic of “the environment” a cheesy topic, but looking through these photos from a nature walk taken last April reminded me of the majesty and quirkiness of nature.

These were taken at various parks at Hocking Hills in Ohio.

The last one is one of the squirrels in my old backyard. That photo is for Tricky Trev.

(Ugh, sorry for the overlapping images.)

These images are from the First to Find card game I worked on a while back. If you ever want a fun way to spend some time in the woods (or other natural environments,) have a look at Geocaching.