Don't Stuff Yourself

For about a month and a half -- mid-november to early January -- everywhere you go there will be bowls of candy, trays of cookies, office party snacks, free samples as you walk through the mall and plates of junk when you visit family and friends. Yeah! But, if you're worried about over-doing it perhaps this story by Angela Hill can help you cope.

This is my illustrative accompaniment for said story as it appears on the website:

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This is what I arranged for the print version:

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And this is what it looked like in the paper:

All the bits were drawn separately and assembled in Photoshop. I web-searched for images of holiday cookies and candies, and I used those pictures as reference and inspiration. I invented the lady as the final piece, and -- without meaning to -- I almost made her look like a cookie, too.

The End.

Head Drawings

Created these head drawings for a graphic that ran in the paper a few weeks ago. Only used about half of them. Drawn in Illustrator, and I was trying to achieve a Chris Ware vibe. Kind of close, I think.

The End.

Are We There Yet?

Yet another old illustration I did for the newspaper, probably 2005 or so. I think the topic was how to make your family vacation drive more enjoyable, but that might not be totally accurate.

Don't bother clicking. It doesn't get any bigger than this.

I don't know if this is the final and I don't know if that was headline that was used; it looks a little peculiar and makes me squirm uncomfortably, but it might have run like this.

I kind of dig the crazy-looking characters and mad color scheme.

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Doctor Strange

Hey! It was Steve Ditko's 85th birthday the other day. I think he's the last of the old guard of comics artists I've admired since I was a wee lad. Coincidentally, I've been re-reading his run of Doctor Strange stories that ran in Strange Tales in the 60s. Quirky, bizarre and beyond brilliant.

Updated the picture with a slightly more careful coloring effort.

Tried to get the Ditko vibe when I did this quick drawing this morning while drinking coffee/feeding the baby/ etc. Fun to do!

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Evelyn Again

Spent a week (mostly) away from the computer. It's nice to take a break but I feel like I haven't done much... and I haven't! So, here's a 20 minute drawing to try to get back in the swing of things.

Open in new window for the actual size.

Grabbed a photo of the lovely Miss Evelyn B. and -- using the biggest, most jittery and uncontrollable photoshop brush I could find -- I put on my Mary Cassatt hat (or should I say bonnet?) and hacked this out.

Eh, it's alright. Fun to do, no matter how it looks.

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Dude. Old Editorial Illustration. Gnarly, Huh?

I just found this old thing. It's an editorial illustration for an article about testing medical marijuana on chimpanzees. It probably ran some time in 2005, but that's just a guess. If I run across a larger image I'll post it, but for now this is all I've got.

Don't bother clicking, it doesn't get any bigger...

Editorial illustrations and cartoons were part of my workload back then, but no longer, as we don't really have the time for it. And I'd be afraid to do it, to be honest; the newspaper industry generally doesn't tolerate the presence of editorial cartoonists anymore, at least not on the payroll.

There are newspaper industry accountant-thugs bearing bats and pink slips who come through the newsroom from time to time, just looking for editorial cartoonists.

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Why Do We Like To Be Scared?

It is weird, isn't it? As a kid I could not wait for Friday and Saturday nights, when "Creature Features" would be on waaaay after bedtime. I'd sit on the floor and Pop would sleep on the sofa with his hand dangling over the edge so I could hold on when a scary part would come on. I saw all the Universal Monster movies that way; and the Godzillas and even some of the Hammer films. Loved that stuff!

Open in a new window for a huge picture.

When I read the story topic for this assignment I thought of an interview with Boris Karloff that I saw (or maybe read) years ago. He said that when he was recognized by children as the Frankenstein Monster, they wouldn't run away, but they would come right up to him.

Maybe that's because the character was a child-like, sympathetic creature and children connected with his portrayal of the misunderstood monster. Has there been a better or more timeless performance in the history of cinema than Karloff in "Frankenstein" and "Bride of Frankenstein?"

But, tossing that out, it is peculiar that so many of us rush with arms open to scary movies and frightening literature. Personally, I am appalled by the thematic and visual ickiness of "The Walking Dead," -- a show I would not recommend to anyone -- but I just finished watching season 2 on Netflix and cannot wait until the next season gets there.

Inspired by the vision of children eagerly walking up to Mr. Karloff, I came up with this image as a representation of the story angle. It's kind of fun and it gave me a chance to play with a Frankenstein Monster drawing. I had a great time!

Click here to read the story by Angela Hill.

Here are three snapshots of the image as I worked through the process:

Click for a new window for this one, too. Pretty big.

There wasn't much variation from start to finish, that's for sure. The first one is the only thumbnail I came up with.

The second picture is what I sent to the editors for approval. I wasn't planning on such a highly-rendered illustration at this point. It was likely I would refine the drawing and slap down some color; but I when I saw that I had a few days ahead where there would be time to devote to a more work-intensive presentation, I went after it.

The rendering process went faster than I thought, because I'm programmed to work as quickly as I can no matter what. That's just part of the deal in newspapers. I've had "Can you have this project done two weeks from now, Thursday," change to "Can you have it done by 6 o'clock?" No kidding.

I shouldn't have strayed from the features of the monster in the second picture, but I lost track of what I was doing. I zoomed in real close and it almost felt like I was carving the face out of stone -- I just kept going and couldn't erase what I'd just chiseled.

I raised the top of his head so that I could put a nice, slightly gross-looking stitched-up seam to give a touch of ghastliness to an image that is way too cute.

And here's how it looked on the page:

Carved in Photoshop!

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Old Oz Painting

I painted these heads back in 2004. They were used on the cover of the Bay Area News Group's weekend entertainment tabloid.

At the time, The Wizard Of Oz movie was sort of "on tour," playing special engagements in select theaters, and the audience was encouraged to dress up, sing along, all that stuff. I suppose it was like a Rocky Horror Picture Show viewing, but the costumed participants were likely a touch easier on the eye.

Open in a new window for a very VERY large image!

I couldn't find an image of the cover itself, but I did find the original paintings arranged just like this on a file.  I really like how loosely I painted. I should try working like that again. Looks kinda neat, I think.

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Online Game Addicts

This is a comics piece I did for the newspaper back in 2005. I’m in the fog when it comes to detailing how it all came about but I’ll start writing and see if it sparks any recollections.

I’m not sure who the writer was. I mean, it was Brian Babcock –– it says so at the top, and no disrespect is intended –– but I don’t remember speaking to him and I don’t recall him as a regular writer. Perhaps he was an intern or a freelancer.   

Open in a new window for a huge and readable version.

I worked from a text file of the story, selected bits and pieces, put them in balloons over the three tier grid, and sketched ideas for the panels as I moved along.

I do recall a back and forth collaboration with an editor, adding text, subtracting text, until it felt like a complete piece. That paragraph on the bottom left looks like one of my gaudy literary creations; I bet the editor took out all of my semicolons, tho.

Then, I probably had a couple of days to finish the art.

On second thought, maybe I didn’t have as much time as I wanted. The three characters in the ovals were my roughs, and I definitely remember wanting to do more finished drawings for those guys. I had to tidy them up in a hurry at the very end, feeling totally unsatisfied with them.

That’s my best remembrance/guess!

THE END

p.s. Do they even make internet cafes anymore? I haven’t heard that term since... well, since about 2005!

Two More Character Drawings

These are unfinished but I don't think I'm going to get to polish them up in the near future. It's best just to call them "done!" and move on to the next thing.

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Still hoping to post art here at a quicker pace. Work and life intrude, but we must keep trying.

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