I’m in between phases on a large project, and thought I’d play around with a portrait of Gotye in the meantime.  Click for a larger image.

When I visited Comic Con a few years ago I had snapped this pic of someone dressed up as Bob’s Big Boy.  I had blogged about it at time, wondering what the heck Bob’s Big Boy was doing at Comic Con.

Flash forward years later, and Pablo gets in touch with me after finding the photo of himself on my blog, dressed up as this character.  Pablo was great enough to tell the story of how he started dressing up as Bob’s Big Boy, and why the character really does belong at Comic Con.  Below is his note, along with a link to a mother-lode of Bob’s Big Boy comic covers.  Awesome!  Thanks, Pablo!

Bonus note - Here is Pablo’s super fun tribute song to Bob’s Big Boy on YouTube!

Hi Nadine,

I just happen to stumble upon your page called “Impromptu Gestures” Thoughts and sketches and happen to see a pic of me as Bob’s Big Boy and the question caption at the bottom of the pic says “What is Bob’s Big Boy doing at comic-con?” Well, let me explain. I had been wanting to go Comic con dressed up as a character but I felt I needed to dress for my body type and one day someone suggested I go as Big Boy.  I felt it was not right since Big Boy was not really known in comic… OH BOY was I wrong… VERY WRONG. Turns out Big boy had his own comic book that was given away for free at the restaurant that started in the 1960’s and their two #1 versions, a West coast #1 and an East coast #1. The East Coast #1 was written by Stan Lee. Mr Scott Shaw told me this and why would he lie? Also, here’s something I found on Wiki.

“The chain is best known for its trademark chubby boy in red-and-white checkered overalls holding a Big Boy sandwich (double-decker cheeseburger). The inspiration for Big Boy’s name, as well as the model for its mascot, was Richard Woodruff (1936–1986), of Glendale, California. When he was six years old, he walked into the diner Bob’s Pantry as Bob Wian was attempting to name his new hamburger. Wian said, “Hello, Big Boy” to Woodruff, and the name stuck. Warner Bros. animation artist Ben Washam sketched Richard’s caricature, which became the character seen on the company logo. This character would also eventually be featured in The Adventures of Big Boy comic book, produced as a promotional giveaway for children visiting the restaurant. Since 1997, the comic book has been produced by Craig Yoe’s Yoe! Studio.”

So, that’s is why I show up yearly to Wonder-Con, San Diego Comic-con, Wizard-Con, etc. as Bob’s Big Boy. Check out these comic covers.

A quick little doodle of the music artist of the moment - Gotye.

I just received my copy of the 3×3 Directory of Illustration 12, of which I was invited to be a part of this year by editor Charles Hively.  My piece is a page from one of the educational children’s books I illustrated.  It had to be cropped to fit the portrait dimension of the page, but I’ve included the full uncropped illustration below.

A super quick little sketch.  It is the year of the water dragon, I’ve read.  Happiness and health to all!

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

Hi folks!  My friend Lisa and I are doing the 12 Days of Christmas over on our sketchblog My Gecko is Sick.  Alternating posts daily, with Lisa having started.  Come check it out!

The kind folks over at The Artfuls posted an interview I did with them.  Many thanks to Tony!

Check it out here.

Something I’ve been working on for fun while I’m in between projects.

Living near the ocean is real treasure.  One day after spending hours exploring and peering into tide pools, I came home to discover my hair still smelled of the sea.