April 2019 – CameronTM.com

Posted by Cameron Moore on April 1, 2019 in Pencil Sketches

President Dallin H. Oaks

I’ve recently finished my pencil sketch of President Dallin H. Oaks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I’ve always enjoyed listening to his talks during General Conference and look forward to hearing from him this upcoming weekend. As I worked on the sketch I’d posted images of progress on my Facebook page so I thought I’d post them as a whole here as it’s fun to see how it came along:

Kerry asked if it’s harder to draw someone with hair or a bald head. I’d definitely say hair is easier, though I think the final product turned out pretty well. We also got a good laugh out of her telling me the tie didn’t match the suit. She said you wouldn’t normally wear such a tightly striped tie with a pinstripe suit! The funny thing is, it’s not his tie. I always like to switch things up a little bit so he’s actually wearing President Eyring’s tie. I’ll apologize in advance for the tie not matching, but I’m not going to change it because I’ve always thought it’d be fun to switch the ties on my First Presidency drawings. It reminds me of being a missionary in Iceland and switching ties with my fellow Elders. I don’t know if the First Presidency ever does that, but I’d like to think that maybe they do =) Come to think of it, maybe it IS presidency Oak’s tie, because maybe he switched with President Eyring and now in ironic fashion it’s made its way home 😉

Posted by Cameron Moore on April 1, 2019 in Pencil Sketches

Robin Williams

Nearly 5 years ago we lost one of the greatest comic geniuses of our time. I loved Robin Williams and to honor his legacy I drew this pencil sketch of him. I really wanted to focus on the texture of his skin and his wicked crazy body hair. I titled the image Robin Williams – What a Concept!

Robin Williams - What a Concept

A client of mine, Gem City Memorials was nice enough to engrave the image on a black granite tile as well so I could see what it would look like engraved in stone.

Robin Williams - What A Concept-Etched

This tile does not have any paint applied to it but I did auto-adjust the scan to lighten it up just a little bit.

My sketch was based on this photograph:

screen-shot-2015-08-10-at-8-08-45-pm

Update: I just learned today (7/7/2021) that the photo was taken by Ken Hively https://thegratefulgoober.com/ for the LA Times, so I’m hoping he’s okay with me using his reference photo! Permission Pending!

Posted by Cameron Moore on April 1, 2019 in Firsts

Here’s to Firsts at Thirty-Six

Okay, so it’s actually a little over a week before I turn 36, but I figure this will take a while to write and post so I am planning ahead. I really like to keep track of the Firsts that happen in my life. It never ceases to amaze me that the older I get, the more firsts I seem to have. 2015 was full of firsts for me and my family. As an example, this will be my first blog post on my own blog, CameronTM.com, that others will have access to. In 2008 I registered the domain name CameronTM.com. Interestingly enough I am usually self-conscious when I hear or say my own name so it was not my first choice of domain names. However, when I thought of how I needed to be recognized I decided I needed a brand. I probably shouldn’t say that I decided that myself, I feel more like it was suggested to me subconsciously. And so I am embracing it.

Breaking down the domain:

Cameron, of course is my name. TM is twofold. Todd and Moore would be my middle and last names, however TM is also commonly known for Trade Mark. It is for this reason that I now sign all of my drawings:

I thought it would be important for people who were customers of MemorialDESIGNER to know who the artist was behind the designs. It is my hope that this blog will be an outlet for that to happen.

I am a fan of Benjamin Franklin. I believe if Ben were alive today he would have an incredible blog. I don’t currently follow any blogs myself, but I would have to say that if Benjamin Franklin were alive and blogging I would be one of his followers. I don’t know that I would have anything myself as worthy of posting as Benjamin would, but it is fun to think that the possibility exists. What if the words that I write are able to urge and inspire someone else to do better, to be more.

Benjamin Franklin’s words have done this for me. This is part of the reason that I was able to add a lot more FIRSTS to my list of FIRSTS for 2015. I was able to visit Philadelphia and go to the grave site of Benjamin Franklin.

But wait, I’m getting a little ahead of myself. At the end of May and the beginning of June this year my family and I took our FIRST ever cross-country road trip pulling a camper trailer…..

…..I started to type this 3 years ago and obviously never finished, but I’m trying to do better at finishing things I start so I’m going to just go ahead and publish this as-is and go from there =)

Posted by Cameron Moore on April 1, 2019 in Pencil Sketches

First Presidency

Growing up I shared a room with my brother Shelby before he left on his mission to Seattle, Washington. He loved to draw in high school and would plaster our walls with his artwork. His half of our room was his personal art gallery floor to ceiling. I loved to see his pictures and dreamed of being able to someday draw as well as he did. I remember him drawing a picture of the First Presidency one time that hung on our closet door.

In 1998 while I was a senior in high school a friend of mine, Raymond Rawlings, asked me why I always drew pictures of girls and why I didn’t do something more worthwhile. I decided I’d give it a shot and see if I could finally draw like Shelby and I couldn’t think of anything more worthwhile than the First Presidency, other than Jesus Christ whom I have yet to feel good enough to do my own drawing of. I’ve always been pretty good at drawing what I see, but since I’ve yet to see my Savior I haven’t ever endeavored to draw Him.

Here is the drawing I did in 1998 of President Gordon B. Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson, and President James E. Faust. President Hinckley's Presidency Although I’d drawn the originals in 1998 it says 2008 on the signature because I edited them a bit when I had the opportunity to do a personal artwork signing at the BYU Bookstore in Provo, Utah. In highschool I kept them in my backpack in a blue paper folder and one day had a Sprite aluminum can also in my backpack that punctured and leaked all over the pictures.

In 2008 while attending the Eastridge Ward I told the Young Women’s President, Heidi Richey, that I’d draw up the new First Presidency for their fundraiser that year. President Monson had just been put in as the new prophet, I believe on a Tuesday and the fundraiser was that Friday or Saturday so I didn’t have a lot of time to draw it. For the fundraiser I ended up having to rush through my drawing of President Uchtdorf.

My brother Tyson served his mission in Frankfurt, Germany where he met and spent time in the home of President Uchtdorf. He told me that the picture I’d drawn just simply didn’t look like him and wasn’t good enough, so I decided I’d try again. I’m glad that he said something, because I wasn’t happy with it either, but was thinking of just leaving it as I was lazy and didn’t want to draw anymore. However, I think the revision is much better and I’m happy with it.

President Uchtdorf Original Number 2

My originals have again since been ruined by spilling something on them! Luckily I scanned the originals before they got ruined, so this is how they ended up getting laid out together.

First Presidency 8x10

Two Saturday’s ago our ward at church had their annual Young Men / Young Woman Camp Fundraiser and I really wanted to be able to sell some prints so they could raise their needed funds. It’s become a bit of a tradition for me now to sell prints at the fundraiser, so I was able to put this together for the auction. Once again, I didn’t give myself enough time to finish all the drawings though so I used the President Eyring from before. I’m not happy with that so I’m going to redraw him and then I’ll be finished! As soon as I have him drawn I’ll add them.

First Presidency

Posted by Cameron Moore on April 1, 2019 in Pencil Sketches

President Russell M. Nelson

It seems like I’ve been working on drawing President Nelson for a while now, but I’m finally finished. I took a few photos as I went along to see the progress, so I thought I’d show those here.

I truly believe that President Nelson is God’s prophet on the earth today, to lead and guide us in gathering scattered Israel and preparing the world for Jesus Christ’s return. This is actually the second time I’ve drawn him. Unfortunately I didn’t keep the first picture I drew of him, as it was something I did as a fairly young boy.

When I was growing up Elder Nelson came to a Stake Conference to speak and we were sitting close enough and in the middle of the pews so I was able to sit and sketch him while he spoke. I’m certain it wasn’t the best, but I very much enjoyed doing so and it made an impression on my young mind that he was truly an Apostle of the Lord. I think this was first time in my life that I can ever recall receiving an Apostolic blessing.

Over the past year as I’ve been working on this sketch I’ve had the opportunity to sit quietly and ponder on the truths this man has taught as I’ve looked into his eyes and drawn every wrinkle that speaks volumes of his nearly 95 years of life experience.