Baby Shower

My wife and my mother-in-law came up with this idea a few years ago. They were really amused at the idea of a baby piñata at a baby shower. And why not? It'd be as easy as taking candy from a baby ...

1. Space Drama Mad-Libs

The above comic is the product of a bad Harlan Ellison story and an email exchange with my good friend, Melissa. She had the officer say, "Does a TRIBBLE spit in the AIRDUCT after a HOLOPHASE?"

Hilarious!

The 200 Comics Challenge

I spotted a fellow artist (link) at DeviantArt twenty-some strips into a 200 Comics Challenge, and decided I should embark on it as well.

The rules designed for the preservation of my sanity are:

1) Black and red ink only.

Just like the old newspaper riddle, except ... literal? I tend to color nothing or everything in my work, so limiting myself to black, white and red should lend some expression, some dynamic look and/or simplicity to my panels. Who knows--maybe by comic #100 I'll be able to properly shade an object.

2) Don't overthink the (3-panel) strip: it goes beginning, middle, end.

My father and my wife both tell me that I think too much. It's true. The three panel strip is a lean creature. There's no room to draw people humming and tying their shoes, much less draw them humming then tying their shoes (unless that's the joke). The framework of a three panel strip is as rigid and free as a haiku.

See? I'm thinking too much already. The 200 Comics Challenge is a challenge, I think, of quantity and learning. I'll draw a lot and I'll learn. I'll be happy with that, even if I draw four strips a week and the whole thing takes me a year to finish.

On I go.

Knuckleball

This isn't a round-headed-kid by a brick wall, but something a bit like it.

Who remembers Matthew Lesko?

This guy, I mean. He is the Riddler's path to ultimate victory.

a slice of childhood, please

Though the online universe has busied itself with devising ways for me to waste more and more time, on occasion I stumble into a mildly pleasant "learning experience"--that is, the time invested reaps more than soon-to-be answers for so many pop culture trivia questions.

I recently re-discovered The Ren and Stimpy Show, that brainchild of animator John Kricfalusi. I watched some clips and sat stupified and in awe of how well it looked (well animated, at least, no matter the complications of production). I have since wondered how it escaped my radar for so long ... but while I knew of the show when it aired in the early 90s, I was nine or ten years old at the time and thought it was weird. I remember watching a lot of Doug and TMNT.

So after a dose of "Happy Happy Joy Joy" I drew the following ____ (cartoon? Image? Panel?). I wanted to make the smile on the kid look slightly deranged or untrustworthy, but I think it ultimately looks tamer than it should.

Boredom, pride, etc.

I drew this on a post-it note while at a medical-resident get-together. Repeatedly put me on the Tilt-a-Whirl, and give me a basketball, and something like this might happen. Put me in a room full of people talking about nothing (but work), and something like this might get illustrated.
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At right is a response to a professor's challenge to draw a "silent comic." True, it's got captions, but I'm sort of proud of it nevertheless. The last two panels were drawn several months after the first six, which were meant to be little more than "thumbnail" sketches for something more polished. I grew to like the scribbly look of it all.

Rogues Gallery

I've always wondered if Batman ever tired of the cartoonish nature of some of his adversaries.

And don't tell anyone, but this is actually cobbled together from two different sketches.

Speaking of zippers, I must also ask a classic question: how did this costumed fellow relieve himself?

On living in this new place:

Coincidence?

Much work, or no work at all?

I spent much of last week drawing the following scene ... called Cute Conscience:

And in an effort to draw something that appeared entirely grounded (instead of just scribbling some lines under a character's feet), I ended up drawing this ... and it's an image I loathe. A technical exercise in many ways (perspective, cross-hatching, drawing a receding hairline ... and so on). It's depressing to look at.

Maybe if the bird was a penguin, the whole thing would have been saved.

Then: last night, minutes before falling asleep, I drew this, called Valley Thriller:

Seriously ... I was at this one for less than five minutes. In my journal, no less (the other was on much, much nicer paper). And I like this one better.

I started out trying to draw a more conventional hairstyle. And then it became the girl of the 80s, in a zombie-pose that you see here. Fun stuff.

Slog, the Pugilistic Turtle

Courtesy of dictionary.com:

"slog (slŏg). Verb.

v. intr.

1) To walk or progress with a slow heavy pace; plod.

2) To work diligently for long hours.

v. tr.

1) To make (one's way) with a slow heavy pace against resistance. 2) To strike with heavy blows."

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Originally intended to be some kind of mad (or benevolent) scientist picture ... perhaps involving chickens, and this is what I ended up with. A pugilistic turtle (do you think he uses the 'hilly shell' defense? HAHAHA ... *ahem*), whose manager has a wild shock of gray hair and a cane that resembles a rooster, in some fashion.

Tutorial on Gleaning Artwork

1) Keep and use a sketchbook (don't tell me you're not creative. Everyone has this capacity).
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2) Select a page and scan it in a large, lossless format. At left, is a page full of stuff I drew while watching Fantagraphics co-founder / co-owner Gary Groth talk about the history of his company. As you can see, I pay attention like nobody else.
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3) Crop and clean. Congratulations! You've salvaged fun, if not fantastic artwork from your random musings!
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A] See that dog at the right? I call this "Dog Fields a Question as a Press Secretary." Why, he looks as keen and interested in reporters' questions as any we've had. Sure, it's not a polished picture, but the cross-hatching was fun, and dogs + jerry-built platform = cute.
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B] And that kid at the left? I call that "Self-portrait Palming a Book." I believe the book is called Chooga. Must be about trains. Or chants. Either way, that kid needs to improve his telekinetic prowess.

Stinging to the Front

Keith, whom I've known since the 6th grade, works at a bank. I drew this for him after I had the idea to draw a giant bee with a tiny handbag.

He did much to make sure that my wedding day went smoothly. My thanks goes to him (and many, many others).

Rattlesnake Hotrod

Greg's the man! Seriously: he helped my wife and I move our things last month, then, he stood with me at our wedding after paying out the wazoo for a tuxedo.

He is one of my brother's best friends, and I hope I can call him my friend, too.

He's into snakes and old cars. I can't draw things with wheels for the life of me, so the hotrod seen here is done heavily after a cartoonist named Richard Wright. The snakes are supposed to be red diamond rattlers.

And that kid is supposed to have turned to stone.

Death by Condensed Matter

Eli is a great friend of mine. He studies condensed matter physics. I drew this for him.

After drawing it, I called him to ask whether he'd been a GRA (graduate research assistant) or a GTA (teaching assistant), so I could write the caption appropriately.

He was at a chalkboard, writing equations.

Jets are the Enemy

*coughs, picks up megaphone*
I AM A F*ING SHARK. JOIN THE SHARK ARMY. ~seph-hunter AND *MyNameIsMad ARE YOUR LEADERS. FIND ENROLLMENT PAPERS AT http://shark-army.deviantart.com/.
*drops megaphone*

I dunno how I get myself into these things ...

Ripening II

I enjoy doodling items like this. Saves me the trouble of drawing whole bodies.

Respect the Sign (to love or hate a clown)

To love or hate a clown is a given in our culture. They intend to produce laughter, rudimentary sleights of hand, and other merriment. But the clown has an ambiguous history.

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I have heard, courtesy of old teacher of mine, that clowns date back to Roman times, and that their then-purpose was to smash the heads of almost-dead gladiators with mallets. He was, I think, being fanciful or lying.

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I suppose their equal parts delight and fright may have something to do with the theatrical donning of make-up for tragic roles, as with the film adaptation of Hugo's The Man Who Laughs, whose protagonist with a permanent smile did more than a little to inspire the villain we know as the Joker.

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Do I have to mention Pennywise, and the portrayal of him/it by Tim Curry (which has rightfully obtained cult status)?

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The more I think it over, the more I believe that clowns and clown-dom frighten people because to look at a clown is to look at a man or woman--be he/she wrinkled, stubbled, or with bags around his/her eyes--who attempts to assume an identity that is a physical charicature. We watch one attempt to be a living cartoon, attempt to transform his/her face, with all of its detailed features, into something as iconic and endearing as Mickey Mouse ... and the juxtaposition of the real and iconic cannot help but be a little bit disturbing.

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If the clown celebrates, in some fashion, the insane and irrational (as many other types of performers and artists do), then perhaps those who perform as clowns frighten people because when enacting this celebration--however innocently--they obscure our ability to discern whether the performer is assuming an identity which enables the irrational (i.e. our laughter), or if they are in fact irrationality manifested (insane for real). The Joker is again a handy cornerstone to this line of thought: he is Batman's arch rival because he is the most extreme expression/embodiment of what the clown is supposed to provide in small doses.

Writer's Block

I've been "doing" art history for ... awhile, but never had to put together a PowerPoint slide-show until last Thursday. For a study skills class (!).

This was a sketch for the first slide.

Rabid Vincent Price

Who doesn't love (this) Vincent Price (-ish character)? Dogs, apparently. Ones that didn't like old "Poe pictures."

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Drawn in '06, inked today.

Concerning ... crap?

Facts:

1) New crap is intolerable,

2) Good ol' crap is timeless.

Lollipop

"'Tis but fate that separates us."

Ripening, Kid with Backpack #10

Originally, there were to be two additional figures at left--an art student and instructor. The instructor was going to say, "I don't care who you're infatuated with. D Minus."

I botched those other figures.

Imagine how many people would get spit upon, heckled at, etc. in an orchard full of these. Or maybe they could comprise a freaky doo-wop attraction.

And here's another kid with a backpack. Just because.

Monster Dogs & Swords > Bunnies?

Whereas Snoopy befriended all bunnies, especially those who would dance with him in open meadows, I draw 'toons like those posted at right.*

Thanks, Schulz, for reminding me how much I've yet to learn.



* Disclaimer: Nothing against bunnies. I'm actually quite fond of drawing them. But because I find their heads easy to draw, they tend to populate these morbid scenes by default.

Bloodshot Jellyfish Congestion

To make mundane cartoons fun, ponder the ailments the characters may suffer from. Is it ...
a) thyroid problems
b) bad draftsmanship
c) uglius rhinofoliculitis
d) pronator teres syndrome
e) a, c and d
f) ______ (your own answer here)
To the collective, fleeting and invisible "you:" vote! First to post correct answer gets this thing shipped to them in a cheap frame. Or maybe a better cartoon.

Kids with Backpacks #s 8, 9

Original title: Three-legged Blues

What else do you call it when you're old enough to watch your own become something else?

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Another effort at drawing something that is not so much a sketch as it is a haiku. And yes, another kid with a backpack, drawing with a stick in the dirt.

Walled Up Redux

The following comic is based on true events.*

* Disclaimer: Lies! It's all lies! Sara and Carrie are wonderful people. I mean, look at the thing. I extracted myself from a perfectly spirited conversation ... only to doodle a bunch of kitties mortally wounding themselves. Kitties! How awful and twisted is that?

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(Notes: from November, 2007. Among the comics from the earlier blog. Perhaps the most popular one, so it's here first.)

Repo Girl versus the Leaddy Bears

Repo Girl, who keeps her lair at the abandoned station she calls the "Repo Depot," encounters the teddy bears of the children whose Power Wheels she'd repossessed the previous day. The teddy bears, having soaked the tears of weeping boys and girls overnight all across the town, transformed into Leaddy Bears--evil stuffed toys that ooze lead-based paint.

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Who shall emerge victorious?

Hat in Hand

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Averted eyes and a hat in one's hand--this is what I think of when I ponder my grandmother's stories of the Great Depression.

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This is how people tremble when at the mercy of others.

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This is how people mourn when at the mercy of the otherworldly.

Ladder Track

I probably drew this after seeing R. Crumb's A Short History of America--one of the greatest comics ever made. Mine here, one probably cannot tell if I drew a railroad track or a long, long ladder on its side.

Sweatin' to the Dirges

Started with the hairstyle, and this is what I got. It's no World War Z, but if a majority of us our heading for diabetes and cardiac arrest, then zombies may need a Richard Simmons, too.

Mostly done in pencil, then an old-fashioned fountain pen. Some touches with markers.

Kids with Backpacks #s 1-7

Drawn almost exclusively during lectures, guest lectures and a student symposium (apologies to my professors, colleagues, etc.). Sadly, there are more.

Maybe I need a bicycle with wheels again.

Phantom Danny, 1950-2008

Danny Federici, organ, accordian and all-purpose keyboard player of the E Street Band, passed away last week after an extended bout with melanoma. I'm not one to write a grand eulogy. But "Sandy" was among the first songs I learned on guitar, and before then, "Racing in the Street" accompanied me on many night drives.

You may view his last appearance with Springsteen and the band here, or donate to the Danny Federici Melanoma Fund here.