Sketchy Thoughts

Christmas 2011

2011-12-24T21:17:00.003-05:00

More Bible Study Studies

2011-11-21T06:09:00.002-05:00

Bogie! Bogie!

2011-09-17T21:40:00.003-05:00

I did 2 pages as part of a community comic book project a while ago, here are the results. Be sure to read the whole thing here!

sunday sketches

2011-09-11T14:59:00.003-05:00

Here's some of the sketches that fall out of my pencils, pens, markers, or whatever utensil I have handy while taking in sermons on a Sunday morning. a few are cheaters as they actually were drawn at a Wednesday night Bible study.
this one actually was done over a series of 2 sundays and a wednesday night:

and a landscape done with markers on an odd glossy-type paper that doesn't absorb the ink right away, allowing the markers to smudge and blend with one another, which leads to some interesting possibilities for marker-coloring techniques:
an aborted attempt at combining colored pencils and marker:

just doodling around led to this wolfish sketch:
an assortment of cats:
a portrait done on the sly during a bible study:

a sketch of my nephew done this summer:several quick caricatures done in bible study:

and a fancy marker-and-ink caricature done at a coffeehouse on that glossy marker paper:
I started to do the side-men but ran out of time before I had to leave:
and an assortment of non-representational experiments in texture, form , color, etc:

well, mostly non-representational:

the lion's charge

2011-08-03T22:14:00.004-05:00

another colored pencil sketch I did this evening.

playing with it (too much) in photoshop:

the whole page, including a thumnail sketch in the margins (it was on 12x9 paper):

suppertime

2011-07-21T17:34:00.000-05:00

Just some doodlin' I did yesterday evening.

Heart of Darkness

2011-06-30T18:13:00.003-05:00

a ball-point pen sketch inspired by Joseph Conrad's story, Heart of Darkness. loosely inspired. the trees are admittedly North American in shape & foliage. but conceptually it's inspired by that book.Then i decided to ruin it by adding odd colors with markers. I did this on a photocopy, so that I'd still have the original b& w. the color seems to add a whole different meaning to the image, gives it and entirely different feel. i kind of like it, though it's certainly not much like how I pictured Conrad's story (with the colors, that is).

Wen's'day Comics Volume 4 Issue 5

2011-06-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 4 Issue 4

2011-05-18T00:00:00.000-05:00

the second cartoon in the Margin of Error is actually a true story that happened to my mother when she was shopping with my youngest brother (there are 6 kids total, with myself the eldest). I had planned to have this page out last week, with this panel my nod to mother's day, but you'll have to accept it now, 1.5 weeks late. :-)

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 4 Issue 3

2011-04-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

hey! I'm baaack... with new comics, even!!!
While this week's edwin is not OFFICIALLY part of the upcoming multi-parter, i'm calling it part 1, just 'cuz it's thematically related.
Also, I'm going to apologize in advance to anyone who is offended by the second 1-panel gag in the Margin of Error section... it's a pun, and I'm fully aware some folks are put off by them.
whatever, though...see you guys soon with the next installment!! (just as soon as i can set ink to paper, scan it all in and color it...)

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 4 Issue 2

2011-02-09T22:56:00.002-05:00

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

animated cartoon, scene 30

2011-01-26T16:31:00.003-05:00

worked on my short film a bit today; this scene: Here's what I did today:

This is just a cg model I created to help me get a rough idea of the perspective I need for a shot in my short film. It was quicker than making an actual model and photographing/filming it. timing and animation are pretty much poop, but it at least get me an idea of how the car looks from the angles I need to draw out the scene.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 4 Issue 1

2011-01-26T08:43:00.004-05:00

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

Holiday Greetings: 2010 edition

2010-12-24T08:19:00.000-05:00

The Ghost of Christmas Greetings Past

2010-12-24T00:01:00.011-05:00

I was going through some old artwork recently and re-discovered a bunch of really ancient stuff that I thought I might share here...
My parents have always been shameless promoters of their children's creative effforts & regularly encouraged of my artistic habit, as well as paying for private art lessons when from when I was 7 until I was 17, even when they maybe might not have really been able to afford it- thanks mom & dad! One way they encouraged my artistic nature was by using my art for their christmas cards & newsletters each year... from very early on.

Here is an example from 1988 (when I was 6 1/2), the very first time they commissioned art from me for the purpose of creating original christmas card art (I just did the manger scene, the rest is my mother's handiwork):
I remember being particularly proud of my accomplishment in creating the illusion of drapery over joseph's kneeling legs, and being slightly disappointed at not being able to duplicate my success with Mary. Kid's artistic temperaments are funny like that...

a couple years later I had begun taking art lessons, and each year, my tutor, Grace Clater, would have a new pen-and-ink christmas design for us to try to copy for our families to use as card covers. Here is the run-down:

1990

1991:
In 1992, we did 2 designs for our parents to choose from. The Hole family ended up using the second design:

In 1993 we were beginning to branch out with customized designs, which incorporated the names of everyone in the family- and I also included a little bootie for my then-baby brother Jacob (and a mouse, which was a common theme in my art of the period, resulting in what I refer to as my "hidden mice" period) :
In 1995 I actually finally did one on my own, at home, a drawing of our own fireplace and mantle, decorated in a christmas theme (and, still in my "hidden mice" period, included a portrait of a mouse that actually did live in a hole in the mantlepiece):This was also the first year I included the "Holemark greetings" logo on the back of the card, which was an attempt at being clever that seemed to work.This logo has gone through several permutations......including themed series of cards revolving around my comic book and comic strip characters, like this christmas card which must be from somewhere between 1998 and 2001 when I first conceived of the Edwin Aardvark characters:
I even made a couple of birthday cards with some of the early prototypes my comic characters, like these:

Before Rat Cat and Bassett, an early variation of the characters was called "Gumper's Gang":
I have continued creating my own christmas greetings, such as the following:

and inside:
2005:

2006:
2007:

and as my contribution to my parent's yearly Family Newsletter/Update On the Kids for 2008:

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 11

2010-12-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

I'm a Guest Dummy!

2010-12-17T05:10:00.005-05:00

Here's the rough drawings, be sure to check out the lovely final version here!!!

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 10

2010-12-15T11:49:00.004-05:00

See all the previous issues!

or, if the drunk duck site is down, go to here for slightly smaller versions.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 9

2010-12-08T00:01:00.001-05:00

I've got a crazy goal of creating a new page each week until christmas, so that mean I'm 1/3 of the way there! time to get working on the one for next week, since I'll be away from the desk for the weekend after friday...

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5
vol. 2, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 1
vol. 3, iss. 2
vol. 3, iss. 3
vol. 3, iss. 4
vol. 3, iss. 5
vol. 3, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 7
vol. 3, iss. 8
OR- See them BIG!!!

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 8

2010-11-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5
vol. 2, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 1
vol. 3, iss. 2
vol. 3, iss. 3
vol. 3, iss. 4
vol. 3, iss. 5
vol. 3, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 7
OR- See them BIG!!!

Apocryphal Wednedays # 2

2010-11-03T00:01:00.000-05:00

With apologies to George Herriman, as well as the millions of readers who expected my usual comics page this week...

Fair Use Clause Says What?

2010-10-09T17:38:00.003-05:00

I finished inking up and cleaning up my comic book story I drew last saturday, check out the whole thing at this link here!
I'll color it eventually when I get time, but for now, I think the black and white looks just fine.

thumbnail acting

2010-10-06T21:34:00.002-05:00

before I start animating, I sometimes will do rough thumbnail drawings to plan the basics of what I want to have happen in the shot. This is an assembling of the thumbnail drawings for a scene in the cartoon I'm currently working on, which I've roughly timed to the music here:

all the basics of what I want are there- a lady pig is in bed, is awakened by noise outside, leaps out of bed and angrily stomps to the window to look out. the last pose is supposed to tie into the action of the next shot is her opening the windows then covering her ears.
the shot before the one in the clip is a vertical pan from the following image:
up to her window:the empty space beside the "Louie's Granola Bar" sign is going to be filled by a building that is bouncing about in time to the music, and will be animated separately and added later.

My next step in animating this "bedroom scene" of my cartoon will be to re-draw the scene again at the actual size I want to work in; first I'll create a layout drawing that includes all the details of the bedroom, and places the character and any other object where I want them to be for optimal compositional effect. On some of my shots I'll do some video reference at this point, though for this shot the actions are simple enough I may be able to skip that step and get right to animation.

another title card

2010-09-30T15:56:00.002-05:00

having decided on a title for my animated short, I've finally completed the last of the title cards for the short. Now to finish the animation...

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 7

2010-09-29T20:57:00.005-05:00

it may be late, but it's still wednesday! I just finished coloring the last piece of this week's page, so here it is, hot off the press!
Who knows when the next one will be, as I'm gonna try to get some more work done on my animation project, but rest assured, it won't end here. there's plenty more fun on the way!

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5
vol. 2, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 1
vol. 3, iss. 2
vol. 3, iss. 3
vol. 3, iss. 4
vol. 3, iss. 5
vol. 3, iss. 6
OR- See them BIG!!!

Apocryphal Wednedays # 1

2010-09-22T20:17:00.001-05:00

This is what you get when I don't have time to finish the regular comics for the week: a strip that is just a rough doodle and not actually part of the official Canon of any of my usual series. enjoy! hopefully next week I should have an actual new page of comics for you...

edwin cartoon progress: scene 18

2010-09-04T21:27:00.001-05:00

I'm slowly moving forward with the short cartoon. this is a still frame of the Hedda Gobbler character, from scene 18B, which is all of 38 frames long, meaning that it is on screen for less than 2 seconds. I have it basically animated, just need to clean-up the key drawings and do in-between poses before I can ink and color the entire scene to look as nice as this image...

the Secret Project is progressing...

2010-08-26T19:09:00.007-05:00

and here's a couple sneak peeks! I don't want to give too much away, but I'll say this much- it's a 3 minute cartoon, all musical pantomime (no talking!) and it's all done in the same kind of 30's cartoon style as the Edwin Aardvark comic strip series I based it on.

It's got everything you'd expect from a great 30's-style cartoon:

Musical animals:

a dancing moose:
an angry battle-axe:

Impossible visual gags:

Lovely ink-wash backgrounds:
Pathos:
Inanimate objects come to life:
policemen:and looped animating 3/4 perspective backgrounds:

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 6

2010-08-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

this is actually kinda big...

2010-07-29T12:36:00.005-05:00

I've decided to begin a project that may take a while to complete, but here's one small part that's already done:

"Edwin Walk Cycle" in HD Perspectascope and vivid KindaColor!

2010-07-21T16:01:00.000-05:00

here it is! The colorful, action-packed motion picture that has all the critics raving! You won't be the same after you see this picture! The greatest spectacle of ours or any time! Don't! Miss! It!

translation: here's a dumb animation I did of Edwin Aardvark.

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 5

2010-07-14T18:13:00.003-05:00

Wen's'day Comics Volume 3 Issue 4

2010-06-23T00:01:00.002-05:00

This week's Margin of Error is unofficially dedicated to Father's Day for two reasons:

1) Sunday was that day
2) all three panels have fathers in them, with varying degrees of respectability.

oh, and I guess I oughtta provide an explainer for the non-video-game people- no-clip mode.

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5
vol. 2, iss. 6
vol. 3, iss. 1
vol. 3, iss. 2
vol. 3, iss. 3
OR- See them BIG!!!

Tricks of the Trade 1: "artist or poser?"

2010-06-20T06:48:00.009-05:00

Okay, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret only artists are supposed to know about-
When you see drawings like these, where the perspective on the head or hands, or torso is kinda tricky, chances are the artist didn't just draw it up out of his head from thin air. The ones who can afford it, like Norman Rockwell, get models to pose for them...
But the rest of us cheapskate shmoes just use a mirror or get a cheap camera and photograph ourselves as reference.It even works for more cartoony-type characters!

We'n'sday Comics Volume 3 Issue 3

2010-06-02T10:39:00.004-05:00

We'n'sday Comics -- pencils

2010-05-27T15:42:00.004-05:00

I'm workin' hard to finish the next page of comics! Here's a sneak peek snapshot of the penciled versions...

We'n'sday Comics Volume 3 Issue 2

2010-05-19T11:00:00.004-05:00

Free Comics Day

2010-05-02T08:15:00.001-05:00

In honor of the little-known Geek's Holiday called "Free Comics Day," I was going to cheat and use the opportunity to post one of my earliest comic books, a collaborative effort with one of my best childhood buddies. But, whoops! That was yesterday.. so as an added bonus, I'll give a brief page-by-page commentary on these antediluvian doodles.
This was the second issue of my Frogman series, which I probably began in 1992 or 1993 after being inspired by a picture in a kids magazine called "The Fun Zone," published by the makers of "Highlights for Children." I can find no info on this short-lived magazine online, and I only have the first two issues, having somehow lost the 3rd issue containing the image in question.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles tv show was another obvious influence on the look and feel of the characters & their adventures.
This comic book, as near as I can place it, was done in the summer of 1996, though the original was probably done in summer of 1994- but more on that shortly.

The cover is illustrated with a beautiful rogue's gallery, showing all the villains our green heroes will be encountering in this story- top row, left to right: John Python, Comodo Dragoon, Mocassin Watersnake; bottom: Beatle Bombadier and John Garter.

Take note also of the explanation of why this second edition was drawn, and beware aspiring comic artists of having Koolaid around while creating your masterpieces, and be sure to protect your originals from same!

Page 1- here we see the wrap-up from the previous comic, episode 1. Pop the Cop rewards the civilian heroes for their work in capturing a villain called Beetle Bailey (not sure WHERE I got that name!) who in more recent versions of the tales is known only as The Beetle.
Also- you have to love the juvenile logic at work here- to a young and vivid imagination, the only thing you need to get to Africa is a car with the ability to jump "from island to island to Africa!"

Page 2- Before going on weekend trips overseas, even superheroes should check their mail. Nothing like a letter from a villain to kick off a scene full of banter and witty repartee.

Page 3- Note the funny discoloration in panel 6- Ah, white-out!- truly the best friend of any young comic artist who insists on drawing in ball-point pen without first penciling his panels.

Page 4- This is probably the only time Tadpole, alias Todd Pole has ever had his glasses off, and had his eyes visible. apparently I didn't like the look as I chose to magically cheat the cheaters back to their rightful place in the next panel.

Page 5- Any good comic book adventure worth its salt is full of trap doors and hidden passageways, and the automobile-ready trap-door tunnel in panels 6 & 7 is the first of several such devices in this story.

Page 6- in panel 5 we have the introduction of another Frogman gadget, the Froggy Flashlight, though where they keep such equipment with no visible pockets or utility belts must clearly be another of their magic frog powers. Still, they ought to have come more prepared, and had spare C batteries in the glove compartment.

Page 7- "Double Dragon Handheld Video Game!" is thankfully the only true pop culture reference in this story.

Page 8- At last our heroes have reached the villains' lair, which like any good hideout, is located in a completely inconspicuous and permanently lightning-storm-shrouded castle.
panel 6 is good for an unintentional laugh too; as you can see, my efforts to arrange the staging of the panel so everything was clear and visible rendered the space between the prison wide enough that all the prisoners could easily have slipped through and escaped without the inept assistance of Frogman.

Page 9- I'm not sure what's going on in panels 3 and 4, except it seems to be inspired by the defiance of natural laws seen in the work of Tex Avery et al, where characters can just as easily pop in from the sides or top of a frame as from the bottom like most normal cartoons.
A word of explanation may be necessary for panels 7 & 8, so I'll break it down for you:
Comodo Dragoon has a dehydrator gun (note the "Slurp!" sound effects), and is turning the prisoners into shriveled prunes, conveniently outside the frame of the panel. the Tadpole comes to the rescue with a Super-Soaker, overloading the dehydrator's capacity, causing it to explode and temporarily incapacitate Dragoon.

Page 10- Tadpole scientifically rehydrates his pals with the super-soaker, causing unavoidable damage to Horny Toad's leather jacket. Then, seeing the guard John Python coming around the corner, makes a puddle on the floor that Python naturally runs right into, dropping the keys to the wide-barred cells. Mocassin appears, unexpectedly but is quickly subdued by a solid right to his diproportionately large chin (maybe it just instantly swelled on impact?)

Page 11- Another secret passageway, depicted as well as could be expected in the space provided, this time a tunnel, conveniently labeled "Pipe Down," in a weak attempt at creating a pun.
In the original draft, this was the end of Part II, a wonderful cliffhanger where the heroes get to Treefrog's house-on-a-cliff via his suction-cup-footed "Treeclimber Caprice" only to realize they'd left the lone girl on the team, Sally Mander, behind at the villain's castle.
The second half of this two-parter was called, appropriately enough the "Return to Dragoon Lagoon," though neither part ever depicts said lagoon, we just have to assume the castle was built on a swamp, in much the same manner as the one in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

Page 12- Our absent-minded heroes, in their distraction over their lost female companion, have left the villain and his idiot side-kick alone in the "front compartment of the Treefrog Caprice. Apparently this car was loosely inspired by the VW Bug, with the engine in the rear, and a modified trunk space in the front. Also, apparently the suction-cup feet of the Caprice are attached to long heavy cables.
Adding to this. somehow Dragoon is able to wedge his head into a hole in the steering column, and appearently still has room to get his hand through as well, and can to a certain extent operate the vehicle! Don't ask me to explain any of this, as I'm as much dumbfounded at this point by my own storytelling as you are!

Page 13- Aha! a bit more looney-tune inspire action, as we see a silhouette-hole in a brick wall indicating that Mocassin has gone out of the car and flying through the wall...
"Some Time Later" Dragoon returns and has Sally Mander in peril once again, this time in the Star Wars/Pit and the Pendulum inspired Acme Smasher room, complete with claustrophobia- confirming closing-in-walls. Suddenly, a Deus Ex Machina, in the form of a new character appears!
This is Vortex, the robot, who was part of another, uncompleted storyline Josh and I had devised, under the inspiration of our mutual love of Legos, and specifically, a then-new lego space theme called "Spyrius," a group of spacemen who operated with the help of giant robots.
I owned the Recon Robot, and he had the Robo-Guardian, and I had actually created Vortex's design (along with a whole collection of frogman-spinoff characters) with lego pieces. Maybe if I'm feeling sufficiently nerdy sometime, I'll show you how to make your own Vortex action figure...

We had developed a storyline where Dragoon came back with an army of giant robots, and apparently a few of these robots, including Vortex, had been sentient enough to rebel against the command of Dragoon, and come to the aid of Frogman and his gang of heroes.

Note also, Vortex was colored with the depressingly misnamed "Gold" colored pencil, and then a "glow" had been drawn around him to compensate for the lack of shine in his actual color. Also, it was only natural to a young mind that a robot should have a hand shaped like an electrical outlet, and that plugging into one would give him access, a la R2D2, to the controls of the Acme Smasher.

Page 14- Dragoon apparently had the foresight to place a remote-controlled trap-door exactly where he was standing, just in case a robot magically appears to thwart his evil plans. His shouting the line "I'll be baaaaaaaaack" as he fell through his own trap-door was actually stolen from an animated cartoon I'd seen a couple years before, the first cartoon Adventures in Odyssey, The Knight Travellers, in a scene performed by the veteral voice performers, Hal Smith and Tony Jay.
In panel 5 we have an attept at depicting a character in a state of shock, which would be understandable considering the pychological trauma Sally has just been through. And yes, just in case the CIA is reading this, yes- Acme Smashers ARE torture, and no, you can't have one.

Page15- The gang derides Sally's story of a robot hero as the product of a troubled mind, and Frogman's cousin Treefrog tries ineptly to play the supportive boyfriend.

Page 16- Now that Sally is safe once more, everyone goes their separate ways- Treefrog takes Sally home to rest, and Frogman and Tadpole go after Dragoon and his henchmen with Horny Toad. Too bad Sally wasn't around in time for Vortex to reappear!
The gang splits into two groups, and Vortex and Horny Toad quickly find another of Dragoon's traps.

Page 17- Vortex and Horny Toad spend a whole page in the trap, complete with two "later..." captions, before Vortex suddenly remembers he has a mini helicoptor blade in his belt and we get back to the quickly deteriorating plot.

Page 18- It turns out Vortex not only has the plug-in capabilities of R2D2, but the linguistic abilities of C3PO! Actually, the Au Contraire line was something I picked up by reading a bunch of old Peanuts pocket-book edition comic strip collections. I recall the strip, but not what year it would have been from- Snoopy is talking to Woodstock, who replies in each panel, " || ||||||||" and Snoopy in the last panel sighs, "how can you argue with someone who only says, "Au Contraire." I recall clearly having to have my dad explain to me what the phrase meant.
Panel 6- By this point I was running out of space in the book to finish the story, so the capture of the remaining henchmen was sped up considerably. here they just wait for John Garter to run out of bullets, then tie him up. The gun design is not coincidentally very similar to the pistols used by the Lego Pirates, and his line, "Nuts" is another piece of dialogue with obvious Peanuts inspiration behind it.

Page 19- Mocassin Watersnake obviously had to spend some time in the water, and what better place for a water-lover to go while in Africa than the Nile river?
In panel 3 is a throw-away line "of course he's dead" which I used to explain why the heroes didn't capture the main bad guy in this comic, rather than "save him for a later return," which I actually had planned to do.
Panel 4 depicts the USS Frog, a previously unknown boat that Frogman apparently had on hand just in case he needed to chase a bad guy in the Nile river.
And apparently I didn't know the difference between Jet skis and water skis, as Tadpole incorrectly describes what he's about to do in the 7th panel...

Page 20- a bit of pathos with your comedy? Natch! panel 4 shows a distraut Frogman mourning the supposed loss of his sidekick Tadpole, only to be surprised by his sudden reappearance on deck, completely dry, holding Mocassin in a very tight head-lock.
also, please note that "Not" was considered a cool come-back at the time this was written.

Page 21- In panels 2-4, we have sign gags, another Avery specialty! and panel 4 is an unusual one in that it is split in two. I was desperate for space to finish the book, and while all the other frames had been drawn by tracing a small picture frame I had, on this one spot I actually used a ruler to split this one down the middle.

Page 22- Aha! Treefrog, using his dubiously tree-frog type skills, is hanging from a tree above the unsuspecting villain! After this last bit of action, we have the denouement, complete with another glimpse of the heroes in their civies, which look remarkably similar to their hero costumes, minus the green face paint, and inexplicably with noses that don't show up when they're in costume. The other inexplicable thing about this part of the story is, why would they turn over a criminal captured in Africa, in the Nile river, to a police station in the USA (hadn't yet come up with a specific location for the frogman team's home town)? The comic ends with the requisite "to be continued" despite there being no real cliffhanger or loose ends to the story; all the criminals in Dragoon's gang have been captured, and the big suspense-filled ending is...Treefrog has come over for a visit? Dun-Dun- DUUUUUNNNN!!! And we have the typical kicker of the cop wondering how this mild-mannered, balding school-teacher-type civilian manages to catch so many dangerous villains.

our official corporate logo was a rubber stamp of a frog, which I had gotten in my stocking for christmas. the H and M were the initials for the last names of the two creators of the comic. note the price at the top corner, indicating that we had definite entrepreneurial designs for the series; we planned to make color photocopies and sell them at twice the cost of the copies, and split that profit 50-50, but being typically unambitious juveniles, we never made or sold any copies. And now you're getting it for free, you lucky people!

Redneck Opus

2010-04-29T15:37:00.006-05:00

Here's a little piece of commissioned work I just finished recently, a little thing called "the Green-neck farmer." This was inked by hand, then scanned and colored with a lovely little painting-simulation program called ArtRage 3.
Here's an earlier, rough pencil version:

and some conceptual sketches done in an attempt to come up with the central character, based on a number of photos gathered online:

and a few of the images used for inspiration in finding the character with more specific characteristics than I might have come up with right off the top of my head:
...sorry for showing you that last one.

me 3d (sort of)

2010-03-24T10:30:00.006-05:00

just messin' with cool effects in photoshop...

it's actually 2 pictures taken a couple inches apart and looped as an animated gif, you can use this technique to create single-image 3d effects with pictures, and it can look pretty neat.

more politics

2010-03-22T15:43:00.004-05:00

Okay, just one more political cartoon, then I'll be good, I promise! I'll quit, honest, starting tomorrow!

"March Madness"

political cartoon

2010-03-19T16:35:00.006-05:00

Even though I was a political cartoonist for three years on my college paper, I don't much like to do political cartoons much anymore. I tend to prefer to do cartoons that aren't polarizing but entertain anyone who cares to look at them. Once in a while though, in fitful moments of passionate political fervor, the political cartoonist in me rises to the surface and takes over my sketching hand. Today was one of those times. The Democratic congressional leaders and our president's deafness to the will of a significant segment of the population, and their insistence on pushing for a bill that no one really seems to want but them, kinda has me riled up. So I hope you'll please pardon the following cartoonish outburst (and the sketchy nature of the drawing- I was at least self-controlled enough not to take it to a polished final version):
thank you. And now, back to our regularly scheduled non-partisan entertainment...

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

2010-02-28T19:40:00.006-05:00

I've got a bit of a load of work to do- graphics projects, dramatic performance/rehearsals, and animation assignments, so the next cartoons are pretty far down the queue for me, but while you wait, I'll share a few recent sketchbook doodles to tide you over.

here's my most recent page of doodling, done just today- a toothy amphibian of some sort, which began life as two dots on the page, which quickly became eyes, as an odd face and body grew around them:

then there's several bizarre gags or just random ideas that i've done at various times, but just don't seem to have any real place in one of the cartoons on my comics page:

snow business

2010-02-24T17:25:00.001-05:00

just toying around in photoshop with an idea I had for a picture.

I Do Requests... when i get the time.

2010-02-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

This piece definitely falls into the category of mixed media. started out as a simple sketch a friend had drawn to give an idea what she wanted. She described it as "a visual interpretation of the word 'trust.' " I actually kinda like the simplicity of the sketch, there's something appealing to it.
But the request had been made to have the sketch "redone and polished."

So I started out by doing some thumbnail sketches with a ballpoint pen, trying to get a good idea how I might compose the scene.These weren't really working like I though they should, so i went back to the composition of original sketch, and ended up with a pen sketch like this:
As I tried to decide on what medium to use for the final version, I thought I ought to go back and read the description I'd been given to see if I'd missed anything...and discovered a few details that altered my conception of how the image should look.

"when a child takes a seat, wraps arms and legs around an adult's leg and trusts them completely on their journey as the adult takes the child for a ride...

"[i'd like to see] movement as if the Father is walking w/ the child...the child holding on tightly, showing delight, not fear. i didn't really show movement in my simple sketch. its pretty much a reminder showing a child-like trust for the one viewing it.

"[it should] look like a young child - w/ shorter length, whispy/wavy hair. the legs and feet are the Fathers.... i didn't sketch a robe, but there is one there at knee length.

"...incorporate the words "Father, I trust You" in the dirt below of some sorts, able to see it but meshed in with the background..."

Aha! this changed things a bit. Gone were the jeans, in came a robe. I also added a hand, so I could work in subtle details to indicate the spiritual significance of the image. I also put the feet into motion, where before the father figure in my version had been stationary. I also decided on an ink wash technique to achieve a sort of dream-like quality in the image. The balance of the image was off, so I added a second arm where I'd kinda copped out before. As I progressed through several layers of ink wash, I decided on a whim to add a bit of color to it with some transparent washes of watercolor. Then I finished off with some charcoal and lead pencil over the finished piece to add a bit of texture and darker shadow to it.

We'n'sday Comics Volume 3 Issue 1

2010-02-10T00:01:00.001-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5
vol. 2, iss. 6

meet the cast

2010-01-28T19:12:00.003-05:00

here are my characters for the next animated shot:I'll probably be refining their appearances as i go along, but i think this is basically how they'll look.

Facials Complete

2010-01-23T11:42:00.006-05:00

Here's the final version of my latest animation piece.
quite a difference from this:

or these planning sketches:

I got the audio from the 1944 movie Murder, My Sweet.

polishing!

2010-01-21T19:18:00.003-05:00

I'll have my final polishing pass on the animation done this weekend. until then, here's a sneak peek at my alterations I made to the character's appearance, as well as the additional scene elements I quickly modeled to give a more complete feeling to the scene/layout.
ideally the final render would be b&w to simulate that film noir feeling I want the scene to have, but lighting/rendering are -pardon the pun- a dark art to me.

and now for something completely different...

2010-01-20T07:32:00.004-05:00

On new year's eve I had an opportunity to perform one of Monty Python's most well-known routines, the Dead Parrot sketch. We only decided on this half-a-month before the performance date, and thus only got to rehearse it twice, but i think it turned out alright all this considered. I hope you'll agree :-) p.s. I'm the nut in the moustache...

Back to the animator's desk!

2010-01-09T20:35:00.003-05:00

classes begin again this week for my animation classes, so here's a bit of what I'm working on instead of doing the comics you came here to see...

these are poses meant to hit a couple of key facial expressions in the scene I'm currently animating:

The main physical movements are pretty much done, and now we're moving on to facial animation...you can see the animation sans the facial expressions here:

and the reference video I based it on here (number 5):

when it's all done (in 3 weeks!!!) I'll post the final version...

another year, another old picture...

2010-01-02T11:59:00.001-05:00

...but some new comics are in the works!
stay tuned!

It is Yeti December Yet!

2009-12-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here's another Yeti-themed scene for your enjoyment this fine wintry December!

I imagine he's probably saying something like "why on earth would people want to come down here to Florida for the winter?" to his friend, the creature from the black lagoon.

And here is the progression on this picture from intial rough doodle-sketch to final inks:

1st a thumbnail on a scrap of paper I had handy at work, which has its own simple charm to it-

Then, a full-sized rough draft to get the forms on the page how i wanted them-

Then a cleaned-up sketch, working out the details-

and the final inked version, which i then scanned and colored in photoshop-

Yeti December is not yet over!!! If you get some free time over the holidays, draw your own concept of what the Abominable Snowman is like, and Share it with everyone over at the blog of the man known only as Hat!

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 6

2009-12-16T00:02:00.000-05:00

for a really huge version of the page,
check out the drunkduck.com page!

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4
vol. 2, iss. 5

Abominable Footage

2009-12-09T07:27:00.008-05:00

Spread the magic of Yeti December to all your friends! Have you got bigfoot-related art you want to share? post it and send a link over to the blog of The Hat!

Yeti Again!

2009-12-08T10:24:00.006-05:00

Yeti December is outta control...but that's a good thing.

I have found myself unable to resist the impulse to draw the mysterious Musk Ape on any white surface available, even when I'm supposed to be working on something else...

You too can help spread the magic of Yeti December! As you slowly succumb to the power of the Bumble, and the urge to draw a Sasquatch of your own becomes Nigh Unstoppable, share the results with the world, and specifically, send a link to your art, no matter how Abominable you think your talent is, to the blog of The Hat!

Yeti December!

2009-12-04T08:50:00.006-05:00

(to be read a la Rod Serling)
Submitted for your approval- portrait of a married couple from the frozen peaks of the himalayas- Mr. A. Yeti and his blushing bride, just returned from a honeymoon trip to Montana.

for more yeti, check out the blog of The Hat

Holiday Festivities

2009-11-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

No comics this week, but to make up for it, here's my holiday greeting to you all:

bigger can be better.

2009-10-29T09:53:00.003-05:00

just a note to both of you who care- I've decided to start posting my comics at the following place, simply because that site lets me upload a larger version of the pages I make:
http://www.drunkduck.com/whensdays/

I'll still post them here on my blog, but if ya wanna see it bigger and better, that's the place to go!

Something old, something new...

2009-10-22T09:58:00.002-05:00

I am working on new comics, I promise!!!! here's proof:
And to tide you over until the next page is done, here are some examples of an ancient version of the rat, cat, and basset strip, which were done back in my high school days (circa 1999-2000), before the creation of the rat, when the strip was an even more generically Garfield-esque man-and-his-pets strip:

bored busy

2009-10-15T20:00:00.002-05:00

Been busy with school stuff, so comics are delayed (as usual). But here's a doodled piece of work I did with a couple ball-point pens, in my rare moments of boredom...

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 5

2009-09-23T00:00:00.001-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3
vol. 2, iss. 4

Fraught with Drama....

2009-09-10T17:15:00.001-05:00

New comics are on the way... two more to draw, 3 more to color... and who knows when THAT will get done ;-) Well, anyways, here's a teaser for you:

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 4

2009-08-19T00:00:00.000-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2
vol. 2, iss. 3

DUDE--- doodles!

2009-08-10T18:08:00.004-05:00

okay, you're not getting the new comics until maybe next wednesday, so until then you're gonna get stuck with more of my pointless doodling. So deal widd'it.

coupla caricatures, a few feeble attempts at capturing that galumphing run which is so unique to the giraffe...

...And a drawing that quickly descended from an attept at a basically realistic sketch of a horse's head into the anarchic cartoony chaos you see as the result of trying to entertain and surprise the small audience of youthful observers who were watching in astonishment as I drew this. always fun to turn the act of drawing into an entertaining show, and kids always make the best audiences, as a simple thing will delight and amuse them- little things like having both eyes on one side of the head, or super-exaggerated short legs, or a ribbon tied into a bow on the "pony-tail."

artist at work...

2009-07-29T21:36:00.001-05:00

No new comics this week, but they're coming, I promise!!! I've a lot of other work that holds a priority over this. Until the next page is ready, here's a peek at part of one of the panels I have done already...

Bonfire Sketch-aroo

2009-07-20T16:17:00.005-05:00

new comics are on the way, but not getting done this week, so to tide you elite few readers over until then, here's some sketches i did at a bonfire recently. two of the originals were given away, so all I have are facebook-sized photos of them.

I still have this third drawing but I'm to lazy to hunt it down ant scan it in to post here. Maybe later I'll replace this photo with a proper scanned version.

this fourth one was of one of the girls at the bonfire, who had just about the coolest hair-do ever. In fact the drawing really doesn't do it justice.

EDIT: (updated) here is a scan of the third sketch. You may notice a slight alteration i made to Edwin's fishing pole between the time the drawing was photographed and when it was scanned. These sketches were all done with a ballpoint pen, so after i scanned this in, I had to Photoshop out the original fishing pole.

biggified

2009-07-14T18:13:00.003-05:00

I probably won't have any new comics this week, due to the fact that I have so many other things I need to be doing, but as a consolation prize for the faithful few who read these posts, here is a full-sized version of one of the cartoons from volume 1, issue 6 of my series of cartoons. You can see the cleaned-up pencils for this cartoon here.
I have the rough sketches somewhere too, and the original doodled idea, but I'm too lazy to dig them up at the moment...

This picture though should give an idea how large a scale I work with to produce the detail in my comics. I generally do the final versions of these on 9 x 12 inch Bristol board, inking the old-fashioned way with a dip pen. Then I scan this and color it in photoshop and assemble it into the page layout I've established for the series. Sadly the size that blogger limits me to causes some detail to be lost, so I try to keep these from being overly cluttered by minutiae of details that will never be seen in the final version.

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 3

2009-07-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1
vol. 2, iss. 2

X-pired Supers in "Altered Egos"

2009-06-29T16:43:00.009-05:00

so, here it is- a project that I've been involved in for the last...month-ish? I came into it after the basic idea had been established and a pretty thorough outline had been written out. I was given this outline/script and proceeded to polish it into a final script, adding several of my own ideas that the other members of the creative team agreed to (the biggest additions were the opening narration and thedialogue-less sequence which I timed out to the introduction from Richard Strauss's "Also Sprach Zarathustra", which is most popularly known for its use in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) then after we cast the roles from people in the drama group, we had one rehearsal, then 2 weeks for the actors to learn the parts while I planned camera shots and thumbnailed them out.

I even did a very rough animatic of the "Also Sprach Zarathustra" sequence to work out how i would eventually time the cuts and actions to the music:
Then we all got together on the 20th and shot the bulk of the footage over a six-and-a-half hour period. Despite the longer-than planned shooting time we had fun, and the actors came up with a lot of fun ad-libs I incorporated into the final edit. The remaining 3 hours or so of shooting was done the next day at a separate location. (the window in the beginning and ending was filmed a completely different place from the rest of the scenes.) This shoot produced 2.5 hours of footage that I then had to capture from mini DV tapes onto my computer. Once this was done, I edited the piece together. This took about 22 hours, the majority of which was split between two days, the 24th and 25th. Finally, after some feedback and additional tweaking, it was shown on Sunday night, the 28th, at the young adults group that meets at Glad Tiding in Reading.
there was one shot I wanted to something special with- the last shot, I wanted to digitally zoom out and add a photoshopped matte painting to make it seem farther away, but I scrapped the idea because the camera wasn't locked down when i filmed the shot:

Disney's Stories

2009-06-20T05:09:00.009-05:00

Ever since I was a little kid there have been 3 things I loved to do more than any other. One, as evidenced by this picture, was performance.
This was during a visit from our grandparents- we decided to put on a show for them and it ended up being a reenactment of the "Dance of the Hours" sequence from the Disney film, Fantasia. We went all-out with the costuming, and really got into our roles. I got my brother to be the crocodile, using his green raincoat, green pants and green slippers and a red sweater for a cape; my sisters wore their gymnastic leotards to take on the role of hippos and ostriches. As the elephant, I went all in grey; grey hoodie and sweatpants, grey socks on my arms and feet, with a grey sock on a bent-up clothes hanger for a trunk, and a grey clip-on tie for a tail. The sign my sisters are holding up said, "The End," naturally (an early attempt at Brechtian techniques?). I guess this was also my earliest foray into the world of theatrical directing.

Disney movies seem to have played a role in a lot of my earliest inspirations.

The other two things I loved best were writing stories and drawing. In the room where I was supposed to work on schoolwork, we had a mickey mouse lamp, looking pretty much exactly like these pictures I dug up from ebay:
I still have the lamp, but the shade, being probably just as old as I was, crumbled years ago and was replaced by a more generic one. But while the shade still existed, I used to look at the characters on it, and one day c. 1990 (I would have been probably 8 then), when I was supposed to be doing math or something, I took some scrap paper and tried to copy the characters, then on the back of the papers I wrote a short story about each of them. Actually, looking at some of these, and given how young I was, I think now that I may have just put the paper up the the light and traced them. But I was proud of my accomplishment at the time...

on the page above you can see a partially erased rendition of one of the chipmunks.
maybe next time I'll put something up that wasn't traced...

Dusting off some Internet Cobwebs...

2009-06-04T11:34:00.004-05:00

and now for something completely different... here is a website that I designed way back in the college days for the web design class I took, oh, sophomore year? We just had to come up with a simple concept, create multiple inter-linking pages with interactive features and some extras like roll-over buttons, on-click buttons, etc. the content was entirely up to us. so I quickly threw together some special drawings for the titles and buttons, and dug up some old cartoon doodles I had laying around, filling out the collection with pictures of some friends and family I happened to have about. If you browse the site you may even notice some early prototypes of characters that I currently am using (or will be using) in my When's Day Comics that I sporadically post here.

be sure to check out the "search for a date" feature to discover such hidden treasures as:

an early version of whippersnapper kitty...

a primitive (but kinda cute) version of Edwin Aardvark...

and Hookhand Harry, a villain who has yet to appear in the regular comic strip series! (but stay tuned!)

You'll even find some visual disney references on the page, along with a couple of pretty fun roll-over animation on certain links!

I chose not to post the photographs I had used for the Toon page's Search for a Date feature, for obvious reasons, but most of the names were already falsified, so I just left the page itself up minus the pics.

old art

2009-05-25T08:36:00.004-05:00

okay, I don't have anything new to post, so if it's alright with you, I'm just gonna post some old drawings of mine.

my earliest extant piece, dated on the back to 10-1-86:

8-18-86:

it's interesting how kids make an expanse between earth and sky, based on their simpler reasoning that the sky is way up overhead, and couldn't possibly touch the ground at the horizon...

and from around 92-93:
one of my favorite shows was Ducktales, and combining that with my Little League experiences seemed natural.

Portrait of the artist as a young man, perhaps annoyed to have to pose with his origami project:

I've got more of these so pray that I can finish something new so you don't have to be put through more posts like this. :-)

more graphic design work

2009-05-09T22:01:00.005-05:00

I had an opportunity to do some more graphic design work recently, for a small business out of Webb City, Missouri. They gave me this logo--and asked if I could do something to spice it up a bit. so after a bit of tinkering I came up with a few ideas, and sent them the following mock-ups:

they ended up asking me to do both of the last two, so after I wrestled them into shape in adobe illustrator I sent them off & collected my nominal fees.

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 2

2009-04-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6
vol. 2, iss. 1

Homework!!!

2009-04-16T11:47:00.003-05:00

The latest homework assignment for Animation Mentor is...well, from the options given, I chose a 180 degree turnaround with this character, called "Ballie."

My initial reference video is a little bit different from what I've got now, but it was a nice jumping-off point...

If you jump ahead to the third angle, you can kinda sync it up with the animated version and compare the two...

We'n'sday Comics Volume 2 Issue 1

2009-04-01T01:32:00.002-05:00

Previous issues:
vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6

Henchmen Fever

2009-03-18T22:34:00.005-05:00

They say a villain is only as good as his henchmen, (okay, so actually, they don't say that, I just made it up- just go with me on this) and the next installment of the Frogman and Tadpole strip will be introducing 3 of The Beatle's henchmen.

Gentlemen-er-Henchmen, step forward and say hi to all the nice blog readers...

Wacky Walkabouts

2009-03-12T07:13:00.003-05:00

here is some reference video I shot for a walk cycle assignment in my animation studies.

Graphic Tanning

2009-03-07T17:56:00.004-05:00

I did a quick graphic design today. Here it is, along with the initial sketches.

planning doodle done with a ball-point pen on a scrap of paper:
Quick mock-up done to get feedback:Inked images which I used as basis for my final design:
Full final design, after I re-sized and aligned all the elements, added color and special touches in Adobe photoshop:
Postcard image advertising the location:Grayscale version:a b&w version for miscellaneous purposes:

New Character Roll-out

2009-03-04T10:41:00.004-05:00

I have all sorts of characters in my head and on paper whom I have yet to introduce into my comic stories, but I am trying to introduce them gradually and in a logical fashion which will allow their different personalities to be illustrated and their relationships with established characters to be displayed clearly. One new character that will be seen in the next Edwin Aardvark page is a female turkey named Hedda Gobbler.

She is a close confidante for Edwina, the object of Edwin's affection. The name I gave her is an example of the theater nerd in me coming out, as it is a reference to the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler.

Here is a cleaned-up pencil from the first panel of the upcoming strip:

new comics...but not yet.

2009-03-03T20:09:00.005-05:00

You probably haven't noticed yet, but I haven't posted a new We'n'sday Comics page for a while.
Rest assured that I have not given up on this creative endeavor. I just have a lot of other things to do... but there are still a million ideas rolling around in my head for each of the strips included in the page.

However, due to the incredible inconsisency for which this series will inevitably come to be associated for posterity, I am offically re-christening the irregularly scheduled digital comic page.

And due to the fact that i haven't drawn one since December 12th, the next one I post, which may be soon, will be Volume 2, Issue 1.

See you Wednesday (but which one is TBD)!

until then, you can peruse the previous 6 issues:

vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5
vol. 1, iss. 6

Time to Ride Alone

2009-02-26T19:31:00.002-05:00

a friend asked me to draw this for him; he didn't say what it was for, but simply described what he wanted it to depict- "a mother is following her child, who is learning to ride a bike. he is beginning to pull away, but she is reaching out as if she is not quite ready to let him go."

So this is what I came up with.

Animaniacal Activities...

2009-02-14T15:30:00.007-05:00

This was my assignment for this week in my animation studies; depict a pendulum reacting to the movements of its base with proper follow-through and weight :

And from the previous week, a bouncing ball navigating an obstacle course, employing the technique of squash-and-stretch:

oh, and here's a silly video i made solely for the amusement of my classmates around the globe:

the mice will play...

2009-01-09T18:12:00.007-05:00

Another reason why there has been a dearth of cartoonage on this page for the last month-and-a-half is that i was heavily involved in the production of a play called "The Christmas Con," (original script by Warren Sager) serving as a collaborator on the script revisions and directorial responsibilities, as well as editing together several video sequences that played between scenes. In addition to these duties, I was in the cast as an old man who appeared in one extended scene intended to provide a bit of comedy in a play that was mostly suspense and drama. Additionally I ended up filling in at the last minute as a second minor character, a police detective, when the actor cast in the role (my brother) had an apendectomy the weekend before the show.

here are some pictures:these two are an elderly couple who come to the main character (a con posing as a minister in order to abscond with money intended to be a christmas fundraiser for a local children's hospital) with an unsual problem: they won a large sum of money, and are embarrassed because they feel like the way they got it was, according to my character "sort of like gambling," and they aren't sure what they should do with it. Of course, the con has a good idea what HE wants to do with the money, and convinces them to donate it to his "mission trip" (a perfect way to provide a way out of the country with the christmas funds!)here I am silently waiting for my "wife" to stop talking (she didn't, but I'm used to it).

here, I nod off while I wait for my lines...

above, I'm the guy in the middle with the handlebar moustache, the detective who arrests the con, as well as catching a mob boss who is after the con for some money he is owed.

Upon learning I had to play two roles, I set about trying to find a way to quickly alter my appearance enough that the audience wouldn't be saying, "Wait, that's the same actor!" and would instead be caught up in the scene.

I messed around with makeup at home fine-tuning the two different characters' appearances- and this is what I came up with:

this is a practice where I was trying out the mustache- notice how different my "wife" looks without age makeup and gray wig- she did a pretty good job of altering her appearance too:

Here I am with just the mustache and a bit of gray in my eyebrows:and the final makeup:
again:

and the cop ended up being a combination of this mustache and stubble-beard:
and these glasses:The transition between the two characters (old man was first, the cop showed up at the end of the play to make important arrests) involved spraying black hair spray over my already gray-colored hair, removing the gray moustache and replacing it with the black one, penciling black into my grayed eyebrows, and adding the stubble with a stipple and black makeup, then removing a bit of padding I had in my stomach as the old man, and changing into the black suit, complete with hip holster, pistol, and handcuffs!

And, just for fun, here is me goofing around during practice:

freelancin' it...

2008-12-30T16:41:00.003-05:00

I've had a coupla graphic design projects recently, here are the results:
some other time i may compose a post detailing the process from initial sketches to final products, but right now i'm feeling lazy, so this will have to tide you over...

We'n'sday Comics Volume 1 Issue 6

2008-12-03T00:00:00.000-05:00

previous issues:

vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4
vol. 1, iss. 5

more cartoons coming soon!

2008-11-23T18:23:00.003-05:00

I've been busy lately. Actually, that would be putting it mildly. Let me start again.

I've been buried lately. However, for anyone that cares, I have been preparing the next installments of We'n'sday Comics. To prove it, I'll even give you a couple of my pencil sketches as proof. well, actually, only the first one is pencil- the rest are ball-point pen. I like to do my initial sketches in pen, because otherwise i tend to cop-out and erase, re-erase, and re-erase again, but with a pen you kind of scribble until it starts to look good, and you can't take any of it back, and I kind of like that.

I also tend to not frame things in at first, since if i start with a box then try to fit things in, it gets all crammed up, or I don't have the important frames big enough, blah blah blah.... here's my sketches:

We'n'sday Comics: Volume 1 Issue 5

2008-10-29T21:23:00.003-05:00

previous issues:

vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3
vol. 1, iss. 4

We'n'sday Comics: Volume 1 Issue 4

2008-10-15T00:01:00.001-05:00

previous issues:

vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2
vol. 1, iss. 3

We'n'sday Comics: Volume 1 Issue 3

2008-10-08T00:01:00.004-05:00

previous issues:

vol. 1, iss. 1
vol. 1, iss. 2

We'n'sday Comics: Volume 1 Issue 2

2008-10-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

previous issues:

vol. 1 iss. 1

Coming Soon to a Blog near YOU!!!

2008-09-14T07:07:00.006-05:00

This October- it's comics like you've never seen them before- in a new weekly (though highly irregularly published) series of strips, panels and more. Wen's'day Comics, as the names suggests, will show up on wednesdays on this blog, though not necessarily every week- Due to my busy schedule they will be seen on an as-completed basis. whenever I've got a new one done, I will scheduled it to be posted on the nearest wednesday. Sometimes I may post extras like inks, pencils, rough sketches, etc., to give a glimpse at how the page has come together, but it all depends on how busy I am. I start my studies at AnimationMentor.com that month, and that may result in low productivity for the strip, but having it as a semi-regular thing will help me to continue pushing forward my skill as a cartoonist.

yes, I am still among the living...

2008-09-02T15:53:00.005-05:00

I've been busy with a number of projects, some I can't show yet, because they're not done or are not ready to be seen, so I'll just share a sketchbook drawing or two, maybe a stupid video I made too.

Wedding Gift

2008-07-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

My sister gets married in two weeks. This was my gift to her...and him. ink and wash.

timewaster

2008-07-26T17:45:00.002-05:00

A terrifying descent into madness,
full of
stylized graphic violence!
Bear witness to the spectacle!
Behold the greatest drama of ours and all time!
Read the hyperbole!
See and hear
the special surprise cameo
BEFORE
the credits!
SEE THIS MOVIE
AND TURN UP THE VOLUME
to get
maximum impact!
Attend the IMAX screening
for a limited time only
at select theaters!
You won't want to miss this motion picture event!

"Night on Dummy Mountain"

I was bored and decided to mess around with the focus, zoom, etc... on my new webcam. got my brother in on the action too. enjoy. or don't. but see it anyways, and tell me how much you hate it.

another peek...

2008-07-12T11:11:00.002-05:00

working on another strip for the "We'n'sday Comics" page.

whole lotta not much

2008-07-04T06:56:00.005-05:00

I've been working hard on a billion different projects and not getting much accomplished on any one of them, but here is a glimpse of a few of those projects...

in addition to purchasing a new DV camera and updating to CS3 for my editing systems in anticipation of shooting and assembling a dvd of my younger sister's upcoming wedding, I am working on several other things:

some commissioned drawings:
animation for the "commercial" for O2:

creating more comic strips and panels for "We'n'sday Comics"- here are the title lettering and characters for one of the strips to feature in my weekly comic page:

Also I have been working in live-action for a while now, and here are some recent videos I made with a piece-o-poo camera and my little brothers as the actors:

Sample Page

2008-06-25T10:03:00.005-05:00

Here is a sample of what my weekly comics page would look like (actually, it's the first issue, I'm just too impatient to save it for later):

Xpired Supers- final script

2008-06-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

Characters:
1. Therapist-
2. Superman-
3. Poison Ivy-
4. Mr. Fantastic-
5. Rogue-
6. Cyclops -

Narrator: A typical day in the city of Metropolis… and from the 11th floor of Municipal towers, vigilant eyes are tirelessly scouring the skyline for ne’er-do-wells and good-for-naughts… Mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent, the erstwhile hero Superman!!!

Fantastic: Clark! Clark! Hey, come away from the window, the meeting’s going to start soon.

Superman: But wait, I think I see a kitty-cat stuck in that tree down there!

Fantastic: Uh, no. That’s a fire hydrant, and that’s a dog. Where are your glasses at?

(Knock on the door)

Therapist: Ah, the newest member of our group is here. (goes to open door)

superman: Wait, let me use my x-ray vision to see who it is. squints) Wonder Woman?

Therapist: No, try again…

Superman: It’s… batman! Wait, he never had any powers…

(Therapist opens door and Poison Ivy Enters)

The entire group instinctively gets up in reaction- loud commotion, seats being pushed back, etc., All talking at once.

Superman: What is she doing here?!

Therapist: Now, now - everyone calm down- she's here for the same reason as the rest of you. Please welcome our new group member. She may be a super-villain, but she needs a place of support just as much as anyone else.

Poison Ivy sits between Superman & Rogue.

Therapist: to Poison Ivy)Why don't we start off by having everyone introduce themselves. And why they're here. Pam, would you start?

Poison Ivy shares with regret, yet thoroughly enjoys the attention and the discomfort she causes the other characters.

Poison Ivy: Hi, My Name is Pamela Isley, formerly the Supervillain Poison Ivy. I used to be able to produce powerful toxins and love potions which I used to control and subdue my enemies and victims. I also was able to create mutated deadly plants, which were under my total control. But I lost my super powers about a week ago. I guess I’m OK with not having them…hasn’t really changed who I am…but I do feel a bit lost …like, what next?! I can’t manipulate people like I used to…

Therapist: thank you for sharing, Pamela. (clapping)

The other characters slowly, reluctantly clap as well. Poison Ivy smirks, pretending to not know that she is bothering others

Therapist: Scott would you share next?

Cyclops: Hi, my name is Scott Summers. It’s been 3 months now since I’ve lost my super powers. I was formerly known as the X-man, Cyclops. Professor Xaxier found me as a kid and and I eventually became one of the team leaders. I possessed the mutant ability to project a concussive beam from my eyes. I had to intensely focus to control the eye-blast but required special glasses to shut off and block the optic blasts.

Rogue: He says he's doing very well, but he still thinks he needs the glasses when he’s outside around people.

Poison Ivy: So you don’t need these then!(Taking sunglasses from his eyes, and puts them on) how do you SEE through these?

Cyclops quickly closes his eyes and covers them w/ his hand.

Cyclops: No! Are you insane!?! My powers could come back at any time! I could burn a hole right through somebody!

Ivy tries to take his hands from his eyes. The Therapist tries to calm them down. Therapist goes over to them and steps in front of Ivy.

Therapist: That’s not helping… Scott, its OK…you can open your eyes…you’ve done this in my office several times now and didn’t wreck the place, right? Come on! Remember- Baby steps! Baby Steps to open your eyes…

Cyclops shakes his head like a kid, eyes shut, unconvinced. The rest of the characters encourage him to take peek. Very slowly, he opens one eye…then the next. And nothing happens, to his relief.

Therapist: Why don’t you share next, Reed.

Mr. Fantastic: Ok-name, Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, leader of the Fantastic Four. I was a scientist. My colleagues and I were exposed to cosmic radiation which triggered mutant changes in their bodies. One of those colleagues is now my wife. Anyhow, my mutant powers included the ability to convert the mass of my entire body into a highly malleable state at will.

Superman: It’s still in a malleable state (jokingly muttered aside)

Poison Ivy: in English, please?

Mr. Fantastic: I was stretchy. And I relied on my powers for so many tasks, both big and small. I owned my mutant powers… it became who I was and why I was on this Earth. Sooooooooo, you can imagine…how hard its been for me to try to lead the Fantastic Four with NO powers. This year has been so hard – especially due to the fact that my wife, Susan, a.k.a. The Invisible Woman still has her powers. She says she doesn’t love me any less….but I know that look in her eyes…she doesn’t look at me the same. I don’t think I’m enough for her. I didn’t realize how out-of-shape I was until I lost my power to change my appearance, now she’s got me on a diet, and exercise regimen… Plus, I think the others think they need a new leader for the Fantastic Four…WITH powers! They've taken to calling themselves the Fantastic Three Plus One!

Mr. Fantastic puts his face in his hands…in shame and hopelessness. Superman pats his back reassuringly.

Superman: There, there, citizen.

Therapist: It’s OK, let it out…

Ivy: (to Superman) Can you bend that steal beam with your head?!

Superman, who is in denial about losing his powers, nods in confidence and proceeds quietly to try to bend it behind his neck.

Therapist: (ignoring Superman & Ivy and trying to move the attention off of Mr. Fantastic who is very upset and pretty much lost his composure…)Marie, perhaps we could hear from you next.

Rogue: (timidly starts…southern accent) Hi, my name is Marie, but you can call me Rogue. I used to be a part of the X-MEN family until…until, well, you know - lost my powers. When I was younger, I was misled and abused my powers against people – eventually Professor Xavier took me in and taught me how to control my mutant powers and use them for good.

Poison Ivy: (doing her best Scarlett O’Hara) My, my - well, of course - ah do declare! Ah have always depended upon the kindness of strangers! (ah, be a man!!!)

Therapist: (giving Ivy a disapproving stare) please continue…

Rogue: Yeah, well, as I was saying… I lost my mutant powers about 4 months ago. With one touch, I had the ability to absorb other mutant’s powers- their memories, knowledge, talents, physical abilities, even personality traits- May sound cool, 'cept I was real lonely. I had to keep my distance. I couldn’t touch another person without temporarily absorbing that person's abilities and rendering em unconscious! (starting to get upset)

Poison Ivy: Awwwwe, poor wittle Rogue…did that make you feel like a freaky outsider?

Rogue: Look, there's a reason why I have trouble getting close to people!! The first boy I ever kissed as a teenager…I put him in a permanent coma! How would anyone take that!?!

Ivy: So, I can’t do….. THIS?

Ivy jumps up and puts her hands on Rogue’s face

Rogue: No! stop! Let go!!!

Ivy: (laughs) See, you aren’t sucking the life outta me! (tearing gloves off) you don’t need to wear these!

*montage* Rogue in astonishment and amazement starts to trust that her mutant powers are gone. She goes over to the Therapist to shake his/her hand slowly. Therapist gives her a hug.*

Therapist: Ok, now we are making good progress folks. (Walks over to look down at Superman, who is still trying to bend the steel bar) Ok, Clark, will this be the week you have a breakthrough?

Superman looks up, half-listening… didn’t really hear the Therapist since he wasn’t paying attention.

Superman: Huh? What was that? (He stands to attention) you need someone to break through a car to save a little girl?!

Superman starts to run out. Shaking his head, the Therapist chases after him and guides him back to his seat.

Therapist: Noooooooooo, Earth to Clark! I asked you to share next with the rest of the group.

Superman: (sighs) Oh, ok… (monotone) Hi, my name is Kal El, also knows as Superman, I currently defeats dastardly villains, like (points at Ivy) her. (suddenly perking up, cheerily nonchalant in his boasting) My powers are limitless I have super-strength – probably the strongest superhero on Earth, I can fly, my skin in nigh invulnerable, I can survive outerspace, I have super-speed, I have super-hearing, super-vision, Heat Vision, and Ice Breath! And I use my powers to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way!

During this speech, the characters roll eyes, yawn, shaking their heads, generally showing signs of boredom. They know he does not have ANY of those powers anymore.
Poison Ivy slips over to Superman.

Ivy: (feigning ditziness) So, wow - you like, have super everything! Guess that’s why they call you Superman! (Superman looks up in agreement) Well, you know…I’m dying for a nice cup of hot coffee right now - you know, could you be a dear…and take a quick super-flight to Starbucks…I’d love a triple tall nonfat extra hot no foam latte please? That should only take like 2 or 3 minutes, huh?

Therapist: Please don't encourage him!(Walking between Ivy and Superman) Ok, Clark…now we’ve been through this with you over an over…for the past YEAR! You lost your superpowers going on a year now and you currently work as an editor for the city’s paper. There are no more calls from the police asking for your help, and no more trips to the moon either. We are here for you - we accept you just as Clark Kent. You are a talented writer and a great friend. I think its time to accept who you are, don’t you?!

Superman looks around the room apprehensively. The other characters look back in encouragement. Superman looks around the room and then stops at Ivy, who is giving him that smiling smirk and holding up a cup hoping he’ll take the trip. Superman gets up. The Therapists smiles thinking he is making the next step to recovery and is about to shake his hand, but then Superman walks to the window.

Superman: Ivy, I am more than capable of getting that triple latte. I am here to serve ALL humanity...

Superman opens the window and gets in position to take off. The Therapist drops to chair in shakes head.

Mr. Fantastic: Here we go again.

Superman puts his hand out to stop anyone from coming any closer.

Superman: No, no, I insist I shall do this good deed for the fair maid!

Superman jumps out the window. Ivy laughs. We hear the sound of his descent as the other characters continue their dialogue.

Mr. Fantastic: Every week it's the same thing!

Cyclops: What a numbskull.

Mr. Fantastic: yeah, you'd think he would get it by now...

Rogue: Don't worry I already called an ambulance.

Therapist: I’ll call Lois.

We finally hear the muffled thump as Superman hits the ground, and cut to long overhead shot of Superman sprawled out on the sidewalk below, barely moving.

Superman: (weakly) I’m… ok…