Out of Oakwood Forest

Join in on the adventures of Rusty the Red Fox pup, Yipper Coyote, and the other critters who inhabit the western wildland known as Oakwood Forest. This ongoing comic book series features excitement, drama, lots of humor, and charming characters who combine a mix of entertainment with education, or "edu-tainment". They have been published in Radio Comix's Furrlough in issues: #104 ("Roots"), #113 (1-page "Life-drawing"), and #117 (non-OOOF cover by JC Amberlyn and an OOOF story: "Greetings"). In addition, some OOOF stories have been published in the now discontinued APA magazine, "Huzzah". Look at the "History" section below for more information on other places these characters have appeared.

To learn more about each character individually, click here.

More OOOF-related stories can be found on the Online Comics page here.

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Justin O'possum in pencil. Furr Coyote- pencil. A celebratory picture I did for the 20th anniversy of OOOF's existance. Pastel. Some Yowler wolf sketches- mechanical pencil. Various OOOF drawings. Yowler wolf battles a wounded elk. Rusty says hi. Rusty, Angelica Jay, and a mouse- computer mouse, that is. Done for a friend. Marker and colored pencils. Justin O'possum, Rocky Road Raccoon, and Bellever River Otter play a game of baseball. Watercolor with some digital enhancements. Out of Oakwood Forest celebrates Christmas. Rusty looks innocent, walking near my other character, Space Chicken. SC is not so sure about the fox... From my portfolio- character design intro page. From my portfolio- fine art intro page. Note that the paint is everywhere BUT his apron. Rusty stretching- marker. Yipper Coyote- pencil. A piece that was done entirely digitally with a WACOM tablet in Painter (Yipper and Furr Coyote). Marker piece of Rusty with some twigs, like the ones in my published Roots story. Yipper and Furr Coyote sketches. Yipper and Furr Coyote sketches part 2. A pencil of Rocky Road Raccoon and Justin O'possom, done while I was very bored- and it shows :). A pen and ink piece of Rusty and Yipper playing, done for a friend. 7/19/01- Colored pencil of Bellever River Otter. I was going for a damp fur look. This was one of those images that keeps popping into my head until I draw it. Yipper portrait- all in markers. I did this to practice markers, and hands-on media in general after only doing computer coloring work for so long. A detailed colored pencil of Yipper and a character I hadn't drawn in awhile, Yowler Wolf (whom Yipper idolizes). Bellever River Otter and Rusty. My Out of Oakwood Forest characters. Drawn by hand, then colored in Photoshop. A sad Yipper Coyote A dramatic-looking pencil drawing of Yipper and Furr Coyote. Rusty the Red Fox character sheet Yipper Coyote character sheet. Justin O'possum character sheet Rocky Road Raccoon character sheet

Here I decided to show a little of my work method. This shows a work in progress- a colored pencil picture of a kind of goofy-looking Yipper.:) I took a lot of time, trying to give a real sense of furriness and volume to him. I think it turned out well, but his chest isn't deep enough.

Early light pencils. Adding more darks. The finished piece.

History:

This is the title of my oldest set of characters, formerly known as Rusty the Red Fox and His Friends. When I was 10 years old, a family friend told me that if I created a comic strip, he would get it published in the Mountain Press newspaper, a small paper in what I think was central/southern California. (Near Mt. Baldy.) I did, and he did. My comic strip "Rusty the Red Fox and His Friends" ran for several weeks and featured a story involving Rusty and his friends running from a forest fire. The community liked my strip and, that summer, during their "Fireman's Muster" of 1983, they invited me to come and be the "Maid of the Muster"! The Fireman's Muster was when the local fire fighters got together and the whole community had a giant picnic- it was a lot of fun. Smoky the Bear himself came and awarded me citations from the California Dept. of Forestry and from the U.S. Forest Service for my anti-forest fire themed comic strip. It was a wonderful day and I'm grateful to all who made that happen- thank you.

By the way, if anyone comes across this who remembers me or has any copies of the comic strip (my copies were lost!)please contact me- I'd love to hear from you!

I have continued to use these characters in other stories, mostly written for my own entertainment. However, in 1990, my family worked together to create a children's book titled "Out of Oakwood Forest". It featured my characters and artwork. It was a really nice book when we finished and we tried to get it published as an "edutainment" children's book. However, while publishers liked the book and its artwork, they felt it didn't quite fit into any category they were looking for. I hope that someday the book gets published.

 

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