Election Stress

I created this illustration with Manga Studio & Photoshop, and it ran on the front page of the Mercury News on Tuesday, Oct. 18.

The excellent story is by Angela Hill, a writer I've paired with many times in the past. When she writes with a smile I think my drawings compliment her work very well. You can read this piece online here.

Drawn and painted in Manga Studio with a bit of Photoshop.

The concept occurred to me immediately when I was given the topic. I put the rough together in the early afternoon, after discarding some other compositions along the way. When the rough was accepted, I discovered I only had a few hours to get it finished, so there was some illustration-about-election-stress stress when I found out it was needed that quickly, but it worked out.

Sometimes I think my art is better when I don't get the chance to polish it up too much.

The end.

Getting Through a Rough Stretch

Uncle Sam. Yet another cartoonist's cliché, I know. I’m not happy about it. It was my first idea, so I started doodling slowly, hoping another idea would occur to me before I got too far. It never happened. The story is good, you can read it at this link, but I’m not satisfied with my effort.

That’s how it goes sometimes. I’ve had a few un-blogged illustration disappointments lately, but I thought I’d share this one as a way to — I don’t know — make a sacrifice to the gods or something like that. If I confess to creating this mildly horrible thing, maybe Zeus will send thunderbolt to awaken my slumbering muse.

Still, I will admit that near the end I was starting to enjoy myself. If I had been capable of a more positive disposition as drudged through the initial stages of development, maybe I could have made this approach shine more brightly. I kept playing with it, even slightly beyond the deadline; not because I had to, but because I felt close to finding the groove on it.

Doesn’t he look a bit like Harpo Marx? Harpo is tops. I would recommend his autobiography, "Harpo Speaks." It's one of my favorite biographies, and he tells some great stories.

How's that for a desperate attempt to distract you and myself from this underwhelming artistic undertaking?

Not all is frustration and despair! I do have better work to show, but I won’t be able to get to that for a day or two. Burdened with job that deals out long days and a toddler waiting for me when I walk in the door, I rely on insomnia-time to keep this blog-chore going.

I feel a restless night coming on soon.