vanquishing the 500lbs gorilla...

FINALLY!!!... Here they are for display. The originals have been delivered to Young Audiences and will be distributed to the intended victims.

It's always amazing to do caricatures and see the reactions. Doing them as "Simpsons" characters has its own pitfalls. I met a woman last year who had received one from YA. She was polite, but intimated that she really didn't care for it. Blow to my ego it was. But she also said that the students who saw it loved it(She's a high school principal). That's kind of the way it goes with the "Simpson-ized" caricatures. I did one a few years ago for a retired, hard-shelled, evangelical Baptist minister and his wife. He taught our Sunday School class. Before showing it to him, I told him that he would probably hate it, but his grandkids would think he was "cool" as a new denizen of Springfield. He laughed when he saw it, and I think he hung it in his study when he moved to Michigan. A few months later closer to the Christmas holidays, I got a call from a 20-something young lady who wanted a "Simpson-ized" caricature of her boyfriend for his Christmas gift. How did she find out about me? She saw the one I did of her grandfather and grandmother. Yep! You got it! Her granddad was the retired minister, and she saw it in his study.

Diane at Young Audiences thought these were good. Here we go...

This lady teaches elementary music. I wonder if she has any "Ralphies" in real life?...


This lady is a band director...


This lady teaches middle school vocal music...


This woman is a PTO organizer. I thought the likeness was there, and I also didn't feel like drawing a bunch of Simpsons parents. Guess I could've added Homer and Flanders, but I really wanted to get these done. Sorry...


This guy is a fund-raiser, hence the schmoozing of the robber barons...


This lady is a high school art teacher and has scheduled me for cartooning seminars at her high school for almost 10 years. Probably no more after seeing the picture...


This woman is a principal. Not sure if she's elementary or secondary, but I'm sure "Bart" will make her life a challenge, or the real "Barts" she puts up with every day...


This woman is an assistant superintendent, I think. Or some kind of administrative assistant. Either way, I'm sure she gets a lot to deal with...


And finally, this lady is a superintendent, hence, the boss!...


Whew!!! Now on to the 200lbs gorilla!!!

...between rounds...

I'm taking a brief break before plunging back in to conquer what I've come to call the "500lb Gorilla." The "Gorilla" is a set of "Simpson-ized" caricatures I have been commissioned to do, and I've never had such a struggle, or artistic block before. I can't seem to get them done, and it's extremely frustrating. I posted some initial sketches earlier, and I made a promise to myself to clear off my table one job at a time, so as to concentrate on some webstrips and some of my own stuff. Can't do that until I get rid of the "Gorilla."

So to lighten my own mood, I've posted a teaser. I needed to do a quick sketch to clear my head. Monte May, and those in his bachelor party will know the joke, but the rest of you will have to wait. The drawing is based on the waitress that we had that night for the bachelor dinner.


Time to get back to work. The "Gorilla" waiteth!!!

...no offense, Mike, but no one is really interested in listening to you pontificating...

The heading sums up my evening, as my adoring wife made that comment to me while we were headed out to dinner. I wonder if Rodney Dangerfield felt this way?

Opening weekend came and went, and I'm still standing if but barely. Today I felt like a zombie, or like a balloon with the air let out. Coupling all the park activity was an "afterprom" party at Blue Valley High School, which I did with 4 other caricature artists. Gigs like that are generally fun, and the kids there were well mannered and polite. By that time of night, it became exhausting to draw as I'd already had easel time at the park for a shift. Most of the time, I really don't like my park sketches. They're passable, but nothing I feel is that fantastic. Every now and again, I get some good ones. And I'm told I need to believe more in my abilities. Probably I'm due for some artistic growth. I hope so.

We auditioned only one artist to start the season, as we had a lot of returners...a good sign when that many vets are available. We tried some photos to work with as live models were a scarcity this year. Here's my version of one, and I liked it...


Before taking off for the gig, I had one more drawing at the park. I hope this one is view-able on the blog. The "subjects" seemed to like it, and were the types of faces that most caricature artists wait for. Drawing kids and teenyboppers does get old as they will just blend together after a while. This one was fun...


That's it for tonight. I have an important decision to make and give my answer by morning. Wish I still didn't feel so beat.

Matzot...

I hope to have some more sketches up this week. Some finished stuff, too.

It's been a busy 2 weeks trying to get everything ready for opening weekend at Worlds of Fun. Oy Vey. My back has been killing me. I can't tell if it's some kind of back spasm, or if I'm passing a kidney stone. But the pain comes and goes, and when it comes, it really hurts!

Needless to say, this week thru the coming weekend won't end soon enough. But when it does, it will be done with. The park will be open and maybe I can catch my breath a bit.

Along with this, I've been trying to observe the "Feast of Unleavened Bread"--essentially trying to eat as "kosher" as possible for a week, including not eating anything with leaven, or leavening agents. It's harder to do than it looks, particularly when I eat enough McDonald's to keep them in business. Salads, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, seem to be okay. I have found that matzah isn't bad with Nutella on it.

L'Chaim!

Blotiquette?...

One of the things I resolved to do was to finish off things one at a time. I have, in the past, let things pile up and then become frustrated with having a feeling of no breathing room.

These are some caricatures I've been commissioned to do, ala "Simpson-ized," and they've been sitting too long. I wanted to have them done by tomorrow, but it might be more into the day. Just haven't been able to "get into it." Some I like and they came easily. Others are still WIP, as I guess that's the polite way of saying, "it's moving in a direction, at least." That's part of a question of "blotiquette," if that is a term that would suffice, a cross between "blog" and "etiquette," that I have. Should I only put up things as my "best foot forward," trying to give the illusion of some kind of professional superiority? Or is it kosher to talk about struggles...when it doesn't seem to be working and it is exasperating...and maybe it needs to be restarted?

I need to get these done, that's a given. And I'd hoped to have the weekend without distraction to work on them and finish them up. That didn't happen. There was wedding stuff, park stuff, family stuff, wife stuff, church stuff, and mother stuff. All in waves and shifts and needing to be addressed. It really drained me and I was an ogre Saturday. Could be the weather change. Snow, again???!!!

So I'll just post the sketches...









Yeah, this one really needs some re-thinking...










I have Kathy Reich's "Bones To Ashes" on the cd player. Audio books help me focus for some reason. But I think I'll go to bed and give these a fresh start in the morning.

random thoughts before Palm Sunday...

Today had great weather, but I had a crappy day. Couldn't shake a really foul mood, and I haven't felt well. I'm also wondering if I didn't receive a jolt of creativity from last weekend's Planet Comicon, and I'm frustrated because I had stuff on the drawing board I wanted to finish, and other things took my time away. It also means I probably won't be getting together with some comics creators tomorrow, but will be getting a bunch of commissioned caricatures done. Ah, well...

I've shown this piece before, but never with any color. After doing some color testing, I'm beginning to think that after I get "Dibble" launched and up, to see about developing this more as a webcomic, as well...

I doing some experimenting with Photoshop to see if I can get the hang of all that rendering stuff. I'll keep you posted. It also would serve a purpose for some "non-comics" shows I've attended. Maybe the Sci-Fi/fantasy crowd(?)

The Worlds of Fun season is rapidly approaching, and we seem to be set, staffing-wise. Even so, we still had folks who didn't show up for their interviews, and this produced some "down time" waiting for the next interviewee. These were on scrap paper, a way of combatting boredom...

I think this was based on a girl I saw in the hallway, and she was a precursor for the "Connie" character I showed in an earlier post.

I think this one was based on one of the Worlds of Fun supervisors I saw running around...

My daughter claims to read my blog, I guess to see what nonsense I'm spewing. I have a sketchbook of cartoony chicks that I've wanted to get printed up to give me something else at my table to "hawk." I saw a lot of girl/cheesecake type sketchbooks at Planet Comicon, and at others, too. The Moy Brothers usually have these to sell.

As you can tell, I did this one a while back. She's based on my daughter and a girl who used to airbrush at the park. In many ways, she's a change-up in my normal styles. I plan on using her in a one-pager in the sketchbook, and I think the story is really funny. When I get the sketchbook done, and if you buy one from me at a comics show, I'll tell you the whole story.

Good night!

blast from the past...

To open up April, I have to rant a bit. Last fall when I got my alumni news from Northwest Missouri State University, there was an article about the athletic department "phasing out" the "cartoony/caricature" image of Bobby Bearcat...

What angered me was the condescending tone from the athletic director and the distain he seemed to have for the image, as if it were something "beneath" him, the athletic department, and their (now) winning football program. There was time around 1970 when the football program was so bad the Bearcat Marching Band would play and sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" when a touchdown was scored! (Note to Coach Mel:...thanks for all the wins and making the football program legit. Please remember that alumni are fickle, and it's been 10 year since you won "the big one." Losing the big one consecutive years may make the program the "Buffalo Bills" of Division 2, NCAA Football.)

So I'll say it here, and may send the athletic director a letter complete with words he will understand,...I DREW THAT IMAGE. I am not only an alumni of the University, but am also a professional cartoonist, caricaturist, and illustrator. And I take offense at his comments and attitude.

Let me explain...it is true that NWMSU has used "Bobby Bearcat" as an image and mascot for quite a while--over 7 decades it seems. When I went back to school in the early '80's there to work on an art degree, I was commissioned by then News and Information Director, Bob Henry, to "streamline" the image and give them a "working mechanical" for their files. They didn't have one, and the images of "Bobby" had been essentially cut out of old yearbooks and used over and over again, or had been retraced ham-handedly. The image had become very degraded by the early '80's. I wish I still had my sketches from 27 years ago, because I submitted several different ideas for a logo/image/mascot, including one similar to the "paw print with the N" they would now like to be their "uber-image." I pushed for a unisex image trying to make "bearcat" generic to fit not only the men's athletic department, but also the growing women's athletic department. I never liked the term, "bearkitten," for the ladies. In the end, I was told to do the "Bobby Bearcat," which I did.

And had I been a smarter man, I would've asked for a percentage of that image! They had that it everywhere around Maryville, and even NOW have one with Bobby AND the paw-print N...


A bearcat is not an uncommon mascot. This, more realistic, one is from Boonville High School...

and this "tougher" bearcat mascot is from one of the Calgary Catholic Schools...

I guess what exasperates me is the attitude that somehow a "cartoony/caricature mascot" is somehow demeaning. I wonder if Notre Dame knows this? That their cartoony Irishman with his fists up is something a major university shouldn't be using. Or Arizona State with their cartoony "sun devil?" Or Syracuse U.? Or that cartoony stork the University of Miami uses? You get the drift. And I found 2 cartoony images of Bearcats used by the University of Cincinnati! Don't they realize how stupid that is for them???!!!(He says sarcastically.)


Need I go on?

So to finish up, I have no problem with N.W.M.S.U. phasing out "Bobby Bearcat." It is their right to do. I just don't recall an article about Pepsi replacing their old logo with the new one...by crapping all over the old one, and acting like it was somehow inferior. And if they would want to re-streamline "Bobby's" image to make him up with the times,...GO FOR IT! They would have my blessing. This is also a good lesson to budding illustrator and designers...get a good lawyer and get a percentage.

Time to send a "KMA" letter to an athletic director.