Mike Worley's Blog

aftermath of tonight...

2012-01-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

I had my second class in Game Art Assets, and I found I was able to keep up. One thing I changed was to make sure I got on the front row. I didn't get my usual seat, but the next one over.

It still is lonely. Not just the drive, but being there. It isn't as "strange" as last semester. The faces are becoming more familiar. But I carpooled a year ago, and in truth, I really miss riding with my friend.

This time of year also brings out the "dragon," so I'm having a lot of "this all really does seem pointless" to contend with.

Tomorrow(Friday) the Animation Association will be having their weekly meeting. I think I'll go.

In putting some summaries to 2011 and the beginning of this year, 2011 taught me how to hate. I'm thinking 2012 will teach me to sever. Some things and people need to be excised from my life. I have a post in draft form, which goes more in depth with this, about severing and those who have shown themselves to be "true friends" in my life. My thoughts need more refining on it before posting.

And I need to get back to doing art. Posting warm-up sketches and such. Just some pain to still work through. Maybe the homework waiting for me to complete before Monday will help.

...the end, the beginning...

2012-01-17T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today marked the first day of classes at college for me for this semester. And it also ended the month long lag between semesters that is the "holiday break." Honestly, I find most holiday times a bit boring. I really do need to find some kind of "umph" to be at my drawing table. It would help with the boredom.

One thing I DID do was get some books on programs I would need to learn, such as Mudbox and ZBrush. I've also been working out of a book on AfterEffects to get some proficiency with it. I'm seeing more potential with AfterEffect now that I'm not so confused by the interface.

My first class was "Game Art Assets." Working up some concept art for games may be a way to go for me. We'll see. Tonight I have my other class, "Character Animation in 3D." It will be with an instructor I'm unfamiliar with. But I think I'll be fine. I hope to have some new sketches to post. I see 2012 as a bit of a "recovery" year, in more ways than one. Although the only recovery I'm really interested in is getting my swagger back.

Toodles!

...and it ended up really, Really, REALLY big...

2011-12-16T15:40:00.000-08:00

The animatic is done! And very late! So if I end up getting an "F" for lateness, it's the best looking "fail" I'll have. I turned it in today, and did get the look of "...went a bit overboard, didn't ya'?" But I learned a lot about Adobe AfterEffects, and no longer have my fear of that program.

The assignment was to do storyboards to either "Mayhem at Prom," or "Dogs and Cats Fight." I chose to do both...somehow. As I stated earlier, two of my favorite things to draw are chicks and monsters, so the idea popped into my head that prom night would be at high school for "cat people." Couple that somehow with werewolves, and I would accomplish both scenarios.

To begin with a main character was the first hurdle. While I like the "Disney princess" look, I wanted somethings a bit more angular, maybe a little more Bruce Timm. In designing the first character here's what came out of my pencil...

I thought she looked a lot like my friend, Taryn, so I began there.

The play on the joke was the idea of the "first time," or losing one's virginity on prom night. I wanted to play up that angle, having a bit of sexual tension. But the "first time" for a student at Simone Simon High School was to get their "first kill!" So the girls in question(that includes the ginger cat) had located dates from out of country--two foreign exchange from Wales. This idea came from 2 foreign exchange students I worked with this past summer. They were from Slovakia, and I waffled in nicknaming them either "Boris" and "Igor," or "Count Dracula" and "Baron Frankenstein." Their real names are "Michel" and "David." Unbeknownst to the girls, their dates were actually werewolves and were trying to score their first kills, as well. Although the one would like to score before he kills. But I blather on way too much.

For some reason, Blogspot cuts off part of the scene. To see it entirely, double click it, and it will take you to Photobucket, where you can see the proper aspect ratio. And, yes, it's a really big file. Here's the final outcome...

It still has some tweaking, and could use more scenes. But for the class I got it turned in. We'll see what happens Hope you enjoy.

mo' pluggin' away...

2011-12-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Still assembling scenes. This one is scene 10...

It's when they get the first look at their prom dates. And while it comes off as a bet ominous, they will be in awe of their "luck" at getting two beauties.

If you've viewed storyboard 23, you'll see some gropidge going on. This is the reaction shot. Still working on the timing.

Enjoy!

startin' to come to a screechin' halt...

2011-12-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

This has been the bane of my existance these past weeks. We were to render a product in Maya--or should I say, model, texture, light, render, and animate in Maya!

There are some things not done on it, and some things I couldn't figure out, like the decals. UV mapping is still a mystery to me. But here it is, and it's "done" and turned in. You may need to double click it to see the entire thing...

back to the drawing board...

2011-11-30T01:45:00.000-08:00

My love affair/honeymoon with AfterEffects may be over, or at least getting rocky. Not sure what happened, but I may need to re-do the thing. Probably punishment for me for including a reference to kicking my instructor in the cajones. Hopefully, he would find it funny. But it wouldn't be the first time I've been hated by a teacher...Mrs. Mansfield, Clara Painter, Lonnie Wieland...maybe a few in college, too. But I'm older, now, and find my "give a rat's ass" pretty much malfunctioning. I find it funny. But ball shots are, along with pie fights, stuttering, prat falls, and wardrobe malfunctions.

Enough, already! Here it is...

Leilah Tov!

...on a roll...kinda...

2011-11-28T00:02:00.000-08:00

Chicks and monsters are 2 of my favorite things, if not my favorite things, to draw. Here's another scene. I'll probably get dinged for using the puppet tool too much. But how am I going to learn movement without doing some experimenting. Half of discovery is failure. Anyhoo, here's another scene. You may have to double click on it to get the full view. Can't quite get the hang of this blogspot format...

pluggin' away...

2011-11-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

Not much to tell. This is a storyboard for another scene for the animatic I'm putting together for a class.

old dog, new tricks...

2011-11-23T15:12:00.000-08:00

Don't remember going this long on a dry spell. School's been tough this semester, but I needed it. The semester is winding down, and I have a little ditty I've been working on in Concept Art for Animation. This particular piece is a scene for the animatic, and it's just something I did to get more familiar with Adobe AfterEffects...

The file size is way too big, so I'm going to have to do some tweaking on it. The premise is a mixing of "Mayhem at the Prom," and "Dogs and Cats fighting." When I get it done and more managable, I'll post it.

This one is from the final project from last semester. I did the character design and the keyframing on it...

Tootles!

finding some legs...

2011-07-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Last night, I did an art show which ended up mostly with me drawing some caricatures. In getting out some art for display/sale, I had to go through my file cabinet. Found an awful lot of sketches and doodles of ideas. Most of them are for webstrips that I have yet to get off my duff and draw. Some seemed like good ideas at the time. Others still tell me to find the muse to draw them.

This is one of them.

The art is a WIP. I hope to find some time to finish it soon. Maybe make some prints or something. Now to compose some kind of story. For some reason, the centaur character seems to show the most promise to start the thing off, and them maybe add the others as I go.

We'll see.

hope...

2011-07-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

Back in November, I was approached to see if some characters I'd created could/would be animated for a ministry. It seemed to stall and I've been frustrated.

I did take some animation classes, did okay, and a few weeks ago saw a glimmer of hope that the thing may yet get off the ground. One of those involved, who does some animation, took some of my art and worked up a test. We have since talked of working up a second test--something that may convince the "powers that be" to put it on the front burner.

Here's a clip/test. It's only about 6 seconds. Animation by Jake Johnson. Character created and designed by me. Oh, and voice by Jake for the test, too.

Enjoy!

Leilah Tov!

things...

2011-07-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

2011 continues to be a year of discontent. Spent it pretty much by myself. There was a family situation, of which I'm not going to comment on further, and Becky was needed for that.

I did go to the Mutchler/Clark family reunion. Got lost because the road I was on was closed about half way. Spent a good 45 minutes on some gravel roads to nowhere trying to get to Tarkio. Found out later on that I-29 isn't closed at Rockport, and that I could've taken the easy route. Time to quit listening to Katey Horny at channel 5.

We did go over to the Dewalt's for Fourth of July evening. It was good. Some homemade pizza. Watched their neighborhood turn into a warzone with all the fireworks going off.

Was listening to the radio, and was amazed at all the memories that came flooding back depending on the song that was playing. Loggins and Messina's "Your Mama Don't Dance" came on and I remembered the cutest brunette who walked into the gym my senior year at the winter dance...and how I didn't "man up" and try to talk to her.

Jackson Browne's "Doctor My Eyes" reminds me of a mini-roadtrip I was on in Northeast Kansas. Saw some old friends that summer who would've been my classmates had we not moved to Maryville, MO from Effingham, KS.

Some song from "Dirty Dancing" came on and it reminded me how much I hate that damned movie. Still like the song, though.

Feels like I'm "marking time."

I've been wanting to take some kind of self-defense class. I think I'll try to find one, right after I go work out.

...and much of Madness, and more of Sin...

2011-06-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

Haven't blogged in a looooonnnnnggggg time. My bad. And I need to. Right now it's 5 in the morning. Woke up at 3, tossed and turned for an hour. Decided to get up and try to wind back down.

We were assigned in the figure drawing class I took, to do our own self portrait. Here's what came out of it...

I have to admit, that it both shocked and creeped me out. Don't know where this came from.

It wasn't quite what the teacher had asked for, but I'm not sure I could've come up with anything else. It kinda reflects how things have been of late. I think she wanted all sorts of symbols and stuff, but that isn't me. Don't know if I'm really that "artsy-fartsy."

I got some "cool" comments from some. Others expressed a certain unease. Some even expressed preferring it without the quote and without the color. John Romita once told me that all drawing is trapping light with shade...hence the black and white.

Only my daughter saw sadness in it.

All in all color can be what you want it to say. Red certainly reflects rage. Even blood as I have to prick and stick myself to test my blood sugar and take meds. Could represent passion? Dunno. Been a bit passion-less of late. Green, for all the happy "life" things it is suppose to rep, is also the color of horror. One little tidbit I found out when researching horror movies, is that the original 1931 "Frankenstein" was tinted green to amp up the fear factor. The blue...I got no clue. Other than I do have blue eyes.

Gonna see if I can catch a few more zzzz's.

the long and winding road...

2011-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Bloggie,

I've missed you. Been a long hard winter. Have been in school trying to retool. Will be better about posting. Here's a model sheet to one of the characters for my final animation project in "Introduction to 2D Animation."

Enjoy!

Yesterday was the first day of the rest of my life...

2011-02-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Couldn't post, though. Too busy trying to scoop out of all the white stuff coming down. The downside is that it causes school to be cancelled, and means I have to find other things to fill my day with. BID...

Sorry, my bloggy, that I've been neglecting you. Been that kind of year. But to get things back on track, I'll start with a short diddy.

My daughter, fondly known as "Satan," wanted a drawing of a four-leafed clover a while back. Take that back...demanded a drawing. "Just draw the damned thing!" was what I remember in pressing her for why when it would be an easy matter to find clipart on the internet of clover images. Finally it came out,...she wanted it for a tattoo. (For the record, her sisters, Megan and Emily, disapproved of their older sibling "scarring" herself.) But I finally relented. I got the "greatest father on earth routine" when I'm being compliant. In another post, I'll have to tell you about becoming "scum of the earth" another time. BID...

So here's what I designed...

I found out it just wasn't for her, but for her and a girlfriend as they were both going to get the same tattoo. (Nothing like compounding my sin by scarring someone else's kid.) So her friend, Erin, aka "E.W.T.N.A."(no, I'm not explaining the initials, or what they truly say. Sorry.) got the tattoo as well, and here's how it turned out...

My daughter, who lives by the credo that children were put on the earth to kill their parents, further scarred me by telling me where said tattoo is presently located. Megan and Emily were mortified. I was horrified. What can I say? I'm just not into tattoos!

My dad has a tattoo...the Marine Corps emblem, on his shoulder with his ID #. When I was a kid and asked him about it, he told me never to get a tattoo, claiming it was the stupidest thing he ever did. And when I hear a lot of stories about escapades involving getting tattoos, they usually start with some version of "...and I was drunk..." It seems like tattoos, having your eyebrows shaved, and getting the "clap" all begin with that short phrase. Not a ringing endorsement.

Which brings me to the modern age and being requested to design a tattoo for someone. I guess some people don't get drunk before getting a tattoo, but have carefully thought it out. (And no, I'm not starting a new career in body decoration.) But I have been flattered that Taryn has wanted me to design a tattoo for her foot. She asked me this well over a year ago, and I've drug my feet. One, for some personal reasons...it seems that in Judaism, which I've been studying, frowns on tattoos, mirroring similar comments from Rabbi Paul of the "body being the Temple of God" The second reason is the permanent factor...it's there for a lifetime. And lastly, because I would really hate to do a design for her that would be disappointing to her.

So we've been doing some brainstorming, going over things that might work versus things that don't. She wanted a particular quote from a favorite song incorporated into the design, something that means a great deal to her. Here's a rough of where we are with it. Still needs some refining, but I haven't posted for a looooooonnngg time, and needed to...

After I told her of a quote I'd recently discovered for myself, she asked if I'd considered getting it tattoo'd. Probably the closest I've come to doing it.

My "quote," by the way, is something written by Peter Ham of Badfinger fame..."Don't let tomorrow be just any day..."

Incidently, today is my dad's birthday even though he denies being born on Groundhog's Day.

"Erev Tov!"

...special love I have for you, my baby blue...

2011-01-17T22:40:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite childhood memories is of the "Beatles" cartoon show produced by King Features Animation. Love the designs to the point that I don't feel a need to caricature them myself. I did, however, get interested in the "heir apparent" band signed to Apple Records, "Badfinger," formerly "The Iveys."

Badfinger is the greatest band that never was. And so screwed over by the music industry. Three of them are deceased now, and only one remains. So without any more introduction, here's my version of them done as close as I can for a first draft, in the style of the "Beatles" cartoon show.

Here's lead singer, composer, and guitarist, the late Peter Ham...

Bassist, composer, and singer, the late Tom Evans...

Drummer, the late Mike Gibbins...

And guitarist and singer, Joey Molland...

The knock on them was how much they looked and sounded like the Beatles. Ironically, as they progressed they developed their own sound. I also see a lot of myself in Pete Ham.

"Tell me the day and I'll set you free, what you wanna be
Show me the way and I'll let you see what you do to me
Well, it's not enough to live
If you're gonna take, then you have to give
We're for the dark, mm-baby, you and I..."(from "We're For The Dark," by Peter Ham)

What I did for my summer vacation...

2010-11-29T21:49:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it's been so long between posts. As usual, this particular part of the year is rough. This year has been no exception, and in many ways, much worse. Mostly from readjusting. I lost weight over the summer and it's played havoc with the blood sugar. I'd like to lose more, but at present things are "plateau'd." But I've added some exercising, and some other things, which I'll discuss in another post.

So what did I do this summer? Not a whole lot of drawing or creating. Not a whole lot of "Mike" time for that, it seems. But I'm proud of one thing in particular...the booth at Oceans of Fun. I remember Jacob, my assistant mgr at the time, and I going over there to do some recon. I don't have any pics from that time...they're probably somewhere on a disc I can't find...but I wasn't very happy. Later on, I was given the tour of Oceans of Fun by Gena, one of the photographers from the previous season, and I was struck by how pretty the place was and is. One of the WF people commented on how it needed some blowups and signage, and it did. Guess in a roundabout way, it became my "baby" of sorts. Mostly because no one really wanted to deal with it. It took all summer and was a work in progress 'til the last weekend Oceans was open, but here's how it turned out...

We added some lock boxes over the viewing stations to secure them, and to also not have to assemble and disassemble each day. Here's what it looked like open in all its glory...

I guess one thing I got tired of hearing real fast was what couldn't be done there. Some things were simple...make it look like a place people would want to approach. Get working equipment. Recognize the windows of opportunity and business flow. Add a second cash register. Lastly, we had some really good kids who worked hard. They took a lot of photos. Here's Gena in action...

She's the best at the underwater pics, and did a lot to teach the others. We had some "go-getters"...Emily, Laura, Jessica, Pat, Derek, Jake, Taryn, Kayla, Linda, Lauren, and probably a bunch I'm not remembering at this time. When it came time to pull it down for the season, I gave Taryn the power drill while I ran folks to their cars. By the time I got back, she'd taken it pretty much taken it all apart with extreme prejudice. Probably a good thing, as I tended to get too sentimental.

I'm signing off on this subject. Going to get back to what I do best, which is drawing and cartooning. But I don't have any regrets regarding how Oceans operated this season. I had a lot of fun with something "the suits" really had written off. I will miss it. And give my farewell to my time at Oceans of Fun with a pic of me there at closing time. I was really happy there.

"o give it to me..."

2010-10-22T05:48:00.000-07:00

This week began with some interesting things, mostly the aftermath of the weekend. The last post gave a sizable hint as to Derek's "facial wound" being a bit gynecological... and it does appear that way.

Last Saturday one of my male artists got groped by two drunk men who thought him a woman. And while they provoked a certain amount of rage, indignity, and incredulity initially, upon hearing how the incident unfolded brought about giddy laughter. The quote of note being, "You are one tall glass of woman!" Thought I would wet myself, considering the artist in question is built like a linebacker. He said he didn't know what to do, that girls are better trained to handle this situation. In all fairness, I'm sure the initial shock was more profound, deadening the urge to knock the crap out of them.

This week I encountered a quirkiness of texting of receiving the last part of a message first. The message I received is the heading of this posting. And I had a "What the...?" moment upon receipt, particularly when the artist in question is a 17 year old girl who works for me. Somehow I could feel She-who-must-be-obeyed's cast iron skillet poised to smite my bald spot yet again. Later on in the day, the first part arrived to something like,"...I would like to get my paycheck...but when I go to the office there is no one t-..." Hopefully you see how this was to be, and excuse the initial kneejerk reaction of my being a lech.

Kelsey, my niece, was at the park last Saturday with my daughter, and they wanted a caricature together. Here's the first version...

Kelsey is the angel, and Rachel is cast to type. Or, as I've been like to say, "...had she come first, there wouldn't have been the other two." And in typical fashion, one drawing didn't suffice, but I needed to do a drawing for each of them. Here's the girls together...

Here's the one I did for Kelsey...

We had some equipment go south this season, and the Ford family was kind enough to come through with help. Payment for this was in the nature of me doing a caricature of the father. I don't do "parents" well when it comes to employees, finding that usually they hate my guts. And I admit that I've had a certain "creative bankruptcy" the past few years, struggling to find that energy again. It seems to take about everything I have to pull it out of whatever well reserves I have left to draw. BID.

Here's how his caricature turned out...

...and him with the drawing for comparison...

I think he liked it. He wanted the motorcycle in it and he has a Harley, which I can kind of "halfass" draw. The flag thing just seem to fit. Here he is, again, with the sketch...

...although in my psychosis I'm wondering if he just wasn't missing the machete in this pose, ready to give me my just desserts. "Ghost machete," perhaps?

I find myself restless today. Must be a weather change coming. Only 5 hours of sleep and I am wide awake. The season, like a runaway train, is speeding to a crashing halt, and I'm haunted by what I didn't accomplish this year. While there was/is a lot of positive that did happen, I'm not naive enough to say, "...there's next season." I approach my birthday this next week and the last weekend of the season. And instead of looking at it joyously, I find a sense of dread looming over it. I will be the same age as my grandfather was when he died, and a sense of foreboding has enveloped me. Not sure as to how to handle this next year.

...drinkin' homebrew from a wooden cup, the folks dancin' got all shook up!(part two)...

2010-10-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

My pride and joy from this year's Renaissance Festival, held in Bonner Springs, KS! Some day I'll have to get my own lathe and turn my own goblets and such. But for now, got one a second year in a row. And "she-who-must-be-obeyed" didn't complain...too much...

But I really wanted the bronze satyr! Don't know what I'd do with it. Have threatened to put a patio in, but we can never agree on decor. She wants traditional and I want tikis and such...

The parades are always interesting. Didn't get any good shots as my phone/camera was doing the flashy out of memory thingy. Irritated me to no end. Nothing like most of the pics I did get were of horse's butts. But this one turned out okay...

For years, "She-who-must-be-obeyed" nagged about going to the Ren Fest. "We never go anywhere or DO anything!..."yadda, yadda, yadda... So we finally went. Then went the next year. And the next year. And the next year. Then came the "...do we HAVE to go this year?..." whine, whine, whine...

"But you used to complain we never went?"

"Well, we've been. Do we need to go again?"

By this time, I kind of like going and plan on it each year. And my expectations are fairly simple...drink some meade, check out the wenching outfits,...and the wenches..., eat some food(usually something in a bread bowl), and shop. This year there was a lass willing to have a picture with me. The blurry, flesh colored border at the bottom is my wife's finger, as she didn't get it out of the way of the lens...

Best to not comment past this point. The bandaid on the nose was from a biopsy. At some point I'll tell why it isn't a good idea to tell fart jokes while the doctor is either injecting something into your nose, or cutting a hunch out. Made his hands shake. Not a good idea. Tests came back benign, by the way.

At this year's event was my senior supervisor in charge of Front Gate Photo. He brought his girlfriend, Anna, and their baby. Here we are having a "Kodak" moment...

He and I rode the elephant, and it was new for him. He got guilted into it by us, and I could tell he really didn't want to do it. As he gingerly got onto the beast(her name is "Paige," by the way) he expressed some concern as to whether or not she would go nuts, having seen too many "animals gone bad" vids. As I got on I told him we should be okay, unless she decides to rare up or something. He white-knuckled through the entire ride. It was deliciously funny. And I hope Anna posts either some pics from the ride, or the video.

This past weekend marked how close we are to this season's end. Like a train wreck, it is coming to a halt. Now we have only 2 more weekends. But two things from this past weekend are the phrase, "...one tall glass of woman!" and this picture of one of our "monsters" for the Asylum. Taryn noticed his "wound" bore a striking resemblance to a certain anatomical part. I'll let you draw your own conclusions, but suffice it to say, he took quite a ribbing...

Hopefully I can post some drawings I did from this past weekend tomorrow, and finish up some stuff from around the studio.

Todah!

Of mantras and men...

2010-10-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

It's October, and both a feeling of relief and of sadness begins to creep upon me. In four weekends the season at Worlds of Fun will be over, plus one more to put things to bed. November will signal some changes and time to fill. I've applied to go back to school, hopefully for this old dog to learn some new tricks. I'm drawing tonight, and it feels both exciting and terrifying. Kind of like getting back up on a horse and waiting to be bucked off.

But if I've reaffirmed some things, it has been to define some sort of "credo." Or mantra, amidah, code, philosophy of life... whatever moniker to be given to it. Sometimes it's defined by certain sayings or snippets of wisdom. Harry, from "Dexter," said there are two kinds of people in the world...the ones the way we want to see them, and the what they choose to show. Certainly the "golden rule" has merit, too.

W. C. Fields had 3, and 2 of which he used for movie titles. They weren't my faves of his movies. That one would be "The Bank Dick." But his mantra was simple...
1) Never Give a Sucker An Even Break
2) You Can't Cheat An Honest Man
3) Never Wise Up a Chump

The last one haunts me the most, as I still have a nagging feeling of being suckered, or played, by a few individuals. Nothing to really discuss here.

But my simple credo is this..."Like" is generic, "Love" is relative, but "Trust" is what you can "take to the bank." More than anything else in our "commodity" society, trust in in short supply. Some would even live by "Trust No One!" Sad really.

I tend to be trusting. Which is why betrayal seems to be heinous to me. In Christian society, Judas Iscariot is generally banished to the lowest rungs of (whatever definition of ) hell there may be. After all, didn't he betray the Son of God? But maybe his crimes are worse than that. More personal. He betrayed his friend. And worse,...he betrayed his rabbi.

Which brings me to...

TARYN...
Here's a portrait I've started of her. I'm drawing it on coquille board, and will probably do another of her once I get more comfortable with this surface. To quantify, this is a work-in-progress...

Taryn is someone I trust. I've never had the feeling she didn't have my back. She isn't the only one. There are several people working for me this summer who are in that category and as I continue to draw, I hope to post not only the drawings, but some things about some of the wonderful kids who shared some of their lives with me at the park.

I've given different ringtones to folks in my contact book on my phone. Taryn's ironically is "Born to be Wild," as she comes across as a force of nature. Others were given ringtones based on either I just like the song, had an epiphany, or it was a favorite of theirs in particular. Of the latter, I think Kim may be the only one from the park, as hers is the Doors' "Don't You Love Her Madly." Derek got Dexter's "Blood Theme." Pat got the "Twilight Zone" theme. My daughter got Judy Garland's version of "Over the Rainbow." My wife got 2...both were popular when we were dating..."How Deep Is Your Love" for her cell, and "Baby, I Love Your Way" for her work phone. I gave Ray, my senior supervisor the Raspberries, "Go All the Way," in honor of my catharsis at Oceans of Fun. He hates it, and would prefer something "cool," but it's my phone. My tones. And there are others. It's kind of nice knowing whose calling.

Enough BS-ing and pontificating. Have some drawing to do!

99

2010-09-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

I should have some stuff to post tonight, but today is a special day of sorts. It's my grandmother's birthday, and were she alive today, she would 99. We called her, "Granny."

Unlike a lot of my posts on this subject, I'd rather stay focused on how great and funny she was.

My dad was working on his master's at KSU back in the '60's, and we would travel there, staying the weekend at the basement apartment he'd rented. At some touristy place, I bought some things to booby trap cigarettes. (My folks and Granny all smoked back then.) I still get a chuckle when she lit up one of her cigarettes that I'd loaded, and the look on her face as the thing began to "snow." (I have another trip for rigging the bread wrapper so it won't open, but that's another post.)

One story she would tell was from her elementary school days. Way back when it was in a one-room school. And before lawnmowers. Back then to trim the grass, they would run sheep in to graze and keep the grass down. But when you have sheep, there will also be "sheep dip."(If you don't know what that is, I'm not explaining it.)

During lunch time, she and a friend would sit under a tree at the school and eat lunch. There was a boy named, "Grover," who would consume his lunch, only to proceed to beg from the other kids for what ever extra they might have. A bit of a glutton.

One day, Granny and her friend had a watermelon. They cut out a big slice, picked all the seeds out and replaced them with sheep dip. And when Grover came by, they offered him some watermelon. He didn't just eat it, from her description, but inhaled it. He never knew, and she never told. And I hope none of Grover's heirs are out there to read this. Awkward.

LAST NIGHT'S ADVENTURE!--I was painting on my "girlfriend" last night(that's code for painting at the Oceans of Fun booth to get it sealed up for the winter. Sorry. Nothing more racy than that.) There were a couple of coons trapped in a dumpster close by the stand. I thought one was dead, but the other one was crying out. I really hate raccoons. They are nothing but diseased ridden vermin, but even I don't have a heart to turn off the tugging at the heart of hearing an animal crying.

I put a drop cloth over the edge thinking he would climb out, but he just pulled the cloth into the dumpster. I wasn't going in after it. He'd already hissed at me a few times. So I finished the primer coat and was considering going to the Wood 'n' Leather shop at Worlds of Fun to find a plank to see if that would help him escape.

I'd also made the mistake of contacting a couple of female types--my wife and Taryn--asking what to do, as I had thought of just leaving them. But got the, "Aww, can't you do something?"

Before I could leave, WF security was buzzing through and came to see what was going on, and heard the noises coming from the dumpster. So we were in the process of trying to see what could be done when Amanda, one of the security guards, notice that one of the coons, the one I thought dead, wasn't, but had its head stuck in the dumpster drain pipe. It was sticking out from the front.

We found a plank, put it in the dumpster, and the non-stuck raccoon crawled up and out of the dumpster, Proceeding, as it were, to crawl onto one of the tikis flanking Trader Nick's. Security prodded it from there and he scampered off to the woods. But the other one was still stuck.

We tried covering the head with a dropcloth to shove the head back through. Dicey, because that end had teeth. One of the security guys, normally a tough hombre, said he couldn't euthanize it without crying. Funny and touching, as none of us wanted the option of killing the animal.

I suggested lubing the head and neck to see if that might help. Amanda drove us to a food stand and we found some liquid shortening, brought it back and coated the beast's head and neck to see if that would do the trick. Couldn't pull it back through.

It was suffering and had struggled to the point of having ruptured both eyes, blinding itself.

It didn't make it. And while I did take pictures before hand, showing our stages of rescue, it wouldn't be right to post them now with the outcome as it is.

On a brighter note, I tipped the scales this morning at 255! On my way from obesity to just fatness! Yeah, baby!!!

Shalom!

today...

2010-09-20T22:30:00.000-07:00

A few hours ago, I found myself in strange territory...having to eat something late at night. I was feeling strange and having trouble with my vision. Checked the blood sugar to find it at 68. A bit low.

Some comments in earlier posts talked of the "dragon," but now I find more concern for the "disease." At the beginning of this year, I was tipping the scales at 292. Yesterday I weighed in at 256.2. But with this comes readjusting medicine, continuing to exercise, etc. One thing I did notice was a feeling of rage. It seemed to run its course after supper, and my wife and I took a walk, and I did some nightly exercising. Couldn't really get into the new "Hawaii 5-0," but it does have Grace Park. Boo YEAH! I could see her replacing Emma Peel in my heart. BID. Then I noticed my hands shaking and my heart pounding.

The disease is going to fight back. Is fighting back. Should make for an interesting conversation tomorrow with my diabetes doctor.

MY WEEKEND
--------------
If the events from this past weekend are any indication of what this upcoming year is going to be like...it's going to suck. I joked about it being HaShem's answer to my Yom Kippur prayers, but this past Saturday was nuts. The "Halloween Haunts" were starting up. It rained at Worlds of Fun in the early evening. Then it became torrential. Then flash flooding, lots of lightning and thunder, hail--small and large--followed by a complete power outage at the park and 70mph winds. Sucked.

We shot the vampire house at the park, or tried to...that pesky power outage thing...and we had a new "queen of mean" to hail! One of the girls who works for me dressed up to be a monster for the pictures, and she really out did herself. Her name is Maren, and here's how she looked...

The name of the house is "Lore of the Vampire," and she nicknamed herself the "Lore Whore," which I told her she couldn't really use that moniker. Here we are hamming it up before going to the house...

Maren did a great job under very difficult circumstances. She's one of those people that the camera loves, and I saw nothing but an easy and efficient flow of park guests with her and her photographer, Patrick. I hope to add another set of "monsters" soon, including a girl named Taryn. I did this caricature of her a few years back...

I'm working on a portrait of her. Once I get a little farther along, I'll post it. She offered to do the Vampirella costume, but I'm not sure the park could handle it.
----------------
One last thing from this past summer...we had a couple of get togethers at the park for the employees, and this is how I usually ended up...

Whipped cream in the face...ya' gotta love it! But I preferred "Splash Bash." Gena got 3/4 guys together and they tossed me into the pool. As hot as it had been, it was just what was needed, although it did make for more laundry.

Lates!

working through a likeness...

2010-09-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Not much to tell other than I did some doodling watching "Dexter." I hope soon to post some of those doodles in a more finished form.

In previous posts I've griped about struggling with getting a likeness on one of my artists. Gena won one of the competitions we have had at the park called "Top Gun." I implemented this program to get the photo artists to think less about how many clicks of the shutter they were getting and more about making their photos more "sell-able." It's a term we have frequently used with the other operations...caricatures, airbrush art, wood cutting, and the like...and it made sense to use it for this discipline, too. Not being a front gate photo peep, I grew very impatient and annoyed at those who came in to give me the "how to," finding that the strutting of "shot counts" and "capture rates" came off more like phallus measuring between egos.

Whose is bigger?

It also wasn't translating into per capita(aka "how much money are we squeezing?), either.

"Did you see how many shots I had today? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh? 400! Oh, yeah!..."

"...but only 5 of them sold. You sure those were all legit and you weren't taking pictures of the clouds?" Or your feet? 400 pics and 200 have the heads cut off..."

You get the idea.

So instead of rewarding high shot counts, I rewarded the number of pictures sold. Top Gun. Anyone can "spray bullets," but who can hit the "targets?"

Gena did it twice at Oceans of Fun, as did Emily and Laura. At Worlds of Fun, Nick, A.J., and Michael did it twice. Emily has the distinction of being the only one to do it at both parks, and the only 3 time winner.

Gena is a comics and animation fan. Previously I showed drawings of her as "Phoenix" and "Black Widow." But my 4th try in caricaturing her, I drew her as "Medusa" from the "Fantastic Four." After all, she is a redhead, so it fits to draw her as those characters. She has been gracious enough to send me a pic of that drawing. My camera is on the fritz, and I wanted to make sure it arrived for her birthday, so I was unable to get a pic of it. Still not that happy with it, but it's closer in likeness then earlier attempts. Some caricature subjects are like that.

2... 5... 8...

2010-09-14T05:56:00.000-07:00

258. Haven't seen that in a while. In fact, since some time in 1998/1999 working for Brian Miller. At that time I saw it as my weight was going up. I tipped that this past Wednesday. It felt good to finally be under 260. May be a skinny man, yet!

I get to see "Nurse Dracula" this morning. That's my own code for going in for blood work. I really hate doing it. Usually no bullet is given for me to bite down on. Not that it hurts...sometimes...I just don't like the idea of getting stuck.

It's also this time of year when I have to schedule the examination that "men doth not speak." If anyone out there doesn't know what I'm talking about...I ain't explaining it.

I met Taryn's dog, Kaden, yesterday. A really cute, but huge, puppy.

Last night, I was at the park late working on some stuff. It was raining, but not the torrential floods which identified this past summer...when it would rain. It was soothing. At one point I took a break and texted my buddy, Grant, who called me and we chatted. Some time out of town for a few days may just be what I need. And Grant's been really nagging me about getting back to my sketchbook. If George Harrison's guitar bleeds, I wonder what that makes my sketchbook?

I'd had something confirmed that had been nagging me for a while. A statement in passing from someone I trust about a situation and person, but it still cut rather deep. Guess I hate being played.

This time of year brings out my introspection, I guess because it's during the 10 Days of Awe now. In studying Judaism, final judgment for the coming year will finalize this coming weekend with Yom Kippur. My fate for the coming year will be sealed. Good and bad.

"Yitgadol v' yitkaddash shmeh rabbah"...when it is my time before the "throne," one question would have to be answered...why did He take Chris when he did? Today marks the 4th anniversary of the passing of Dr. Chris R. Bullard...

He seemed to love the "Indiana Jones" movies, and wore a fedora when conducting tours.

Chris was the best teacher I'd ever had. Nobody had ever opened up biblical things to me the way he did. It was as if a veil were lifted. Becky and I wanted to go on one of his tours of Israel, and were planning on it back then when I got the email from Chris' brother that he'd died of a heart attack.

Why I'm still here and he isn't, makes no sense. He had something to say, I spout dribble. He made a difference in the world, I watch the rain.

I miss him. And it isn't because we were close personal friends. I just loved learning from him.

Time to get ready for the giving of blood. I think that Dr. Menon will be pleased next week with my test results. Dr. Nash, however, is always a bit too cheery for me. No one should love that kind of work that much.

Sometimes the "Dragon" wins...sometimes...

2010-09-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend found me in both familiar and unfamiliar territory. Labor Day is one of the tougher weekends usually because of its proximity to schools back in session. And staffing issues were there a bit.

It also signaled the end of the season for Oceans of Fun, and I'd have to say that I preferred its atmosphere to Worlds of Fun, for the most part. Most would try to paint me a bit of a lech because of the amount of exposed flesh there, but in truthfulness it had better music, a different excitement, a staff with a different mentality, and I felt somewhat more welcome there. We did well there this season, and I'm proud of the efforts of all involved.

It had become a habit of mine to take some time and soak my feet in one of the pools while the staff began to get ready for closing. Take some time to relax a bit before helping them wrap things up. And it was strange to find myself weeping a bit at the finality of the season's end. Last time to splash my feet around.

The weekend also provided for the usual tension that is at our household during this time. My wife goes out of town and I'm left alone and with the dogs to care for. I don't blame her as I wasn't home a lot during the season except to sleep. But the "dragon" was clawing at me, and it was capped with having to take the cat to the vet. He had been hobbling around a lot. Being 17 years old, we figured he was just slowing down, but of late he just wasn't "with it." She and I argued as to the best course. The vet said he needed to be catheterized, but might not survive the procedure...translation: "maybe you should put him down." I told her and the vet I was tired of being the one to hold down a family pet while it was being killed. It takes too much out of me. I could live with him dying while having a procedure done that might make him better. He'd always been rather tough, so I could see him pulling through. One last fight on Saturday before she headed out to her sister's, and I was just waiting on the vet to call me.

He did. And it wasn't with good news.

A mass in his bladder would just cause the problem to continue and would eventually kill him. So I, again, got to put a pet down, and it hurt. Still does. Here he is in happier times...

The "dragon" won this past weekend, and I hurt a lot. Not just the vet thing, but issues at work and personal things. Fortunately, there were enough things that needed my attention that it kept me busy.

One of the kids, one of the "Kansas Kids" as they have been identified, had been bugging me to draw him. I guess I'd shot off my mouth about WF's "Big Bash" and being a volunteer at the splash tank, and that I would give some sort of prizes to those who could put me in the water. The first year I did the splash tank I only got dunked once. Last year in a 10 minute segment, I only went in 3 times, so I felt pretty safe with the odds. But this year I got dunked about 8/9 times in 10 minutes! Sheesh!!! Where's the love?

Any way, Brendan wanted me to draw his caricature as "Superman," and I'm thankful he bugged me enough to draw. It felt good, so here is the finished piece...

One program I did this year was called "Top Gun," at the Front Gate Photo stands. The reward is an airbrushed hat to be worn while being "top gun" that week, and I display a caricature of them(not a photo). In theory, it would help to cross plug the other operations at the park, and had some success. At Oceans of Fun, the "top gun" seemed to be cursed in that virtually none of the winners were there the next week to strut their stuff, save about one.

One girl in particular, Gena, went on vacation the next week. She also is one who I can't seem to get a handle on her likeness, and it is frustrating. She's also into comics and was one of the first "body" drawings I did for "Top Gun." Of course after that, they ALL wanted body drawings. Here's my first "top gun" drawing of her. It's close, but not. Her brother said I made her look like Sarah Palin...

As it turned out, she won "top gun" again, but left for college this past week. I got closer this time, particularly with the hair color, but the face and jawline are too narrow. I drew another one of her(as "Medusa" from the Inhumans,) but my camera is jacked up so I don't have a picture and sent it on too her. Here what the "Top Gun" display looked like at Oceans of Fun with her caricature...

...and a closer view of the drawing...

If I have one gripe about my Ocean's experience it would be over a parking space. "You can park in a visitor's spot..." But I'm not a visitor...the name tag says "manager." "You're not over here often enough..." Sorry, but I'm over here every day. In fact, more than other staffers...you get the point.

But I made up a sign to "claim" a spot. Here's what it looked like...

The kids seem to have a handle on things better than I. They have a purpose this time of year. I feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I hate being at the park by myself doing stuff, mostly maintenance and counting things. Shuffling paper. Kim came out to help me a bit the other day, and it felt good to have someone else there. Someone to talk to. Ray came out too and it made things easier. Taryn and others have all offered to help out. I really do appreciate it. They all seemed to know I was hurting a bit.

Tonight I saw a movie with my wife, and Thursday I will take my daughter to Starlight to see a "Beatles" tribute. I resigned from teaching Sunday School...time for a change. And I've pulled out some drawings that have been sitting around begging for completion. Time for me to fill the void. Keep the "dragon" at bay. Have been giving serious thought to dancing lessons and a beginner's class in Hebrew.

Some one took down my sign. No one has said anything, but I doubt they saw the humor in it.

All in all, this is what a defiant old fat man looked like from this past weekend. The "dragon" won for a time.

But not always...

Catharsis...

2010-09-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Not sure how to begin this, since it's been so long between posts. The good thing is that this post will be virtually ignored. Some things should best be expressed. Maybe blogging isn't the best way to do that.

I'm reminded of the current psa on the boob tube which shows a tweener girl first enjoying the attention she is getting. But as the commercial goes, she comes to realize that lots of other folks...not necessarily the most desirable ones...are also viewing her online postings. The creepy, yet nerdy, usher at the movies who asks her her underwear color may be the funniest. (For the record, mine are briefs...whitey tightys...think "Homer Simpson" with out the "Mister Plow" jacket dancing around the house.) Hey, pervs! Doesn't quite have the same titillation when done by a fat, bald guy, eh?

I've had a rough week. Rough summer, more like it. And while others in the theme park biz are jumping for joy with full-time now done, I've felt both disoriented and rudderless. Eventually, it will dawn on me to plan out some times to do repairs and such while also putting my home studio back to order from the shambles it now is. And get back to some drawing. But this week has been more "out running the dragon."

For those not knowing my expression for that, it is code for the feeling of a wave of depression beginning to overtake me. I have to do things to stay ahead of the "dragon." Focus harder. Find things to occupy my mind and spirit. Sometimes it is tough. Some times it is inevitable that the "dragon" will over take me. And it hurts.

Of late have been the realizations of things I can't change. One of those things is the position of "outsider." My wife hates when I get this way, but I've never felt like I "belonged" anywhere. Of late, she and I aren't on the same page and I'm unsure of how to rectify that. I've been at the park so much that I don't feel comfortable at home. Stupid really.

As "boss," I will always be "outside," and should be. This smacked me hard as I worked around 3 of my folks last Friday. They are survivors. The ones who came from Kodak to Kaman's. The only ones. (I should know. I hired them, and only them.) And as they worked that night, I could tell a kindredness and kinship. Me? On the outside looking in. At the park, I'm not with the other managers because I'm not a Cedar Fair employee. There. But definitely not one of "them." The walking around from problem to problem helps me to stay ahead of the dragon.

Both Becky and I have felt like outsiders at our church. And have felt like such for years. There, just not quite belonging no matter how much we tried to get involved.

We used to talk about situations we've observed, such as those who seem to come into situations...high school, jobs, churches, etc., and immediately just seem to fit. Others never do. So in a way, a catharsis for this is the acceptance that I will always be an outsider. Maybe it helps me to see through the crap and some of the conning that goes on.

I've had some rather unique cathartic moments of late. About a month ago when it was up in 100+ degrees, I was a bit dehydrated and my knees were hurting. As I was going up the staircase to the Wave Pool, I was looking down and clutching the hand rail, but as I began to look up, I saw a magnificently sculpted female tush in a skimpy bikini bottom sauntering and swaying back and forth as she, too, ascended the staircase ahead of me. And while this might not be the best thing for a "righteous man" to post, what jolted me was the realization that, at the same time, the PA system was blaring the Raspberries hit tune, "Go All the Way." I was both exasperated and tickled. It was sensual and hilarious at the same time. And when I did make it to my vehicle, I spent some time giggling and laughing.

Last Saturday, another catharsis came when I ran into someone I'd gone to high school with. I really do hate running into people I know from my past. It was a time when I had a full head of hair, only one chin, and a waist! Later, after closing of Oceans, I took out all essentials from my pockets and just jumped into a pool fully-clothed. It felt good even though the wife complained of my making for of a mess and more laundry.

This past Wednesday I saw one of my employees off as she headed off to college. She had worked hard for me this season. A lot of the success we had, particularly at Oceans, I would give a lot of credit to her. But I also know that in the scheme of her life it(the job, other employees and friends, me, the season) were all in the "rear view mirror." And should be. What I learned was the harsh lesson that instead of being in someone else's "rear view mirror," the question is what, and/or who, is in mine? Where are my dreams and goals? Where is life taking me?

So I mark time a bit, looking to see this upcoming Labor Day Weekend to its finish. I will be bidding my "second mistress," Oceans of Fun, goodbye. And I will find it sad. I put a lot of sweat and tears into trying to make that venue a go this season. In many ways, we were quite successful. But it comes to an end. And in the scheme of things, I don't think it really mattered.

But it's time for bed, and to get up early to get some things ready for the day. Some things mundane. Some things exciting. Some things rather unpleasant, but necessary.

Good night! And I do promise to get this back to what it was intended...a sketch blog.

July sucks, too...

2010-07-23T05:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Blogspot,

I'm back. Not much to say yet because of time constraints. But eventually I'll have more to say and post. Have started my drawing of "Satan" and his minions, which I've found to be great therapy. Rhonda may not like it...unless I really have lost my abilities. And I've done some sketching to get back my chops at drawing pretty girls. Can't help at this point quoting the late Dan Decarlo..."Kid. If ya can draw a pretty girl, you're never without woik..."

I did visit my grandmother's grave July 1. More to come on that. Survived a "boss visit." More to come on that. I've lost 25 lbs!!! Definitely more to come on that. Am saddened to be losing some really fine kids going off to school. And even though it's a yearly thing, it still has a certain sting to it. One that seems worse this year. Can't work at the "carnival" all your life.

Got a package from a buddy who wants to do a webcomic. We talked about it at I-Con last November and he sent me a script. Haven't had time to really dig into it, but I have glanced at it. Hey! It's monsters and chicks! How can that be bad?

But it's now time for me to do 2 more of the 3 morning "S's"...already did one. And sweat through my clothes, again, before 1pm.
I have gone from morbidly obese to just obese. Next stop, to "fat," then to "chubby," then to "pudgy," then to "portly," then to "big boned(no obscene comments, please)," then maybe I can be a skinny old man with his pants up under his armpits.

I'm really kicking myself for not going to Comicon this year. But I probably wouldn't have come back from San Diego. Need to see me an ocean!

a long month...

2010-06-10T16:41:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with the "Veronica Mars" tv shows when my wife and I discovered it a little less than mid decade. For some reason, there was a really good period of excellent writing for the tv media...Veronica Mars was one of those examples.

Ironically, 2010 would've been a benchmark year for the show, had it survived. Like a lot of shows, it had some "sophomore" blues in the 2nd season, but even then it still shined brighter than most of the dreck, particularly the reality gulag that has taken hold of most networks. But 2010 would mark Veronica's graduation from Hurst College, and the chance for her father to run, again, for sheriff of Balboa County.

In another post to come, I'll go into the "Worley" version of what took place. For this posting, I'll illuminate an earlier thought I gave to a friend as we discussed the show during its run. It seemed to get a bit off-track, and I wondered if it might need to return to its roots to regain footing. So, at the time, I suggested a "Dallas" style rebooting for a 4th season. Veronica awakens from a coma of 3 years having been drugged and raped at the end of school year party so prominently mentioned throughout the run of the show. Lilly Kane is still dead and her murder unsolved. Keith Mars is not a PI, but trying to just get on with his life, a broken and near penniless man. Veronica awakens to find her mother by her side, having dutifully returned upon hearing of her daughter's coma. Veronica has lost 3 years of her life and now has to, not only reclaim them, but find out what has been happening. She goes back to Neptune High, now an older student completely out of her element. Everything is familiar, but not. Also, she discovers that she, not Meg Manning, delivered a baby. She has a child, and doesn't know her whereabouts.

But that was in 2007 when we were hoping the show would be back. Alas, it wasn't to be. But ain't fan fiction great?

As for life, I've had several "body blows" over the course of the past month. Some I'll comment on later. But for now, I'm going to the movies with my wife.

"Todah!!!" And "Shalom!!!"

...gooey goodness...

2010-05-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

The last leg of my journey last week from Cleveland to Columbus took my boss, Brad, and I to a special place with nothing but Smuckers and other Pillsbury products...

...complete with tagline...

...and the entrance to fatguy paradise...

...lard and sugar...the diabetic's best friend...

But what intrigued me was a display of "Poppin' Fresh," the Pillsbury Doughboy!...

You see, years ago I met a comic book "Golden Ager" named, Martin Nodell. For comics fans, he's known as the creator of the golden age "Green Lantern." After retiring from comics and heading into advertising, one of the accounts he worked on was Pillsbury, and he designed "Poppin Fresh." Here's a sketch he did for a fan...

...and he also created a funny animal character for comics called the "Terrific Whatzit"...

Both Marty and Carrie Nodell are gone now. They were two of the nicest folks I ever knew, and I'm proud and pleased to have been able to call them "friends." I miss them...

...but all the good memories came back upon seeing this icon, and I couldn't resist having my picture taken with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Haven't figured out yet how I morphed into a bowlegged fat man...

We ended our rambling roadtrip by pigging out at an Amish restaurant, before having to get serious about making it to the Columbus airport.

Next up...musing on my daughter's graduation from college, and "Veronica Mars"...

...musings on the way to the Columbus airport...

2010-05-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

In my last posting, there was a serious and "heavy" atmosphere to it. The trip out of Ohio was anything but. The stop at Kent State was sandwiched with some frivolity beginning at "Mike's Place."...

Not entirely sure what it was, but it had a replica "X-wing Fighter." No geek can pass that up...

...and my own geek moment...

And on the way to Akron, I caught a glimpse of one of the Goodyear blimps...

Before I get any further, I have to plug one of my better experiences in Ohio. I love fine convenience store stuff, and found that the chain in Ohio I liked was a store called "Sheetz." The had a breakfast menu, which featured "Shmuffins" stuffed with all kinds of eggs and pork, even a "Shbisquit," and their ultimate...The "Shmonster!!!" I even took home some "Shweets" for Becky, who really enjoyed the "no-bake peanut butter cookies." You can find them online at http://www.sheetz.com.

Now back to more tomfoolery.

WE WENT TO CANTON!!! WOO HOO!!!...

Here I am doing my best fat-QB-Sonny Jurgenson-JaMarcus Russell-imitation...except they can throw the ball more than 20 yards, and actually hit something. Guess that's why I was a lineman...

The "Hall of Fame" game kicks off the NFL season and is played in a stadium right next to the Hall. It's quite dinky...

We only had time for the gift shop, and I bought some things. A Browns retro jersey for Becky. She's not a Browns fan, but I thought she'd like the colors and the "Brownie" image from the '50's. Rachel got a Colts "Peyton Manning" jersey. I bought a Chiefs Christmas ornament. Not a whole lot of Chiefs stuff there, which really does show where they rate and rank in the league...not very high.

There was some art, which caught my eye. This is a painting of the last true warrior of the NFL, the Eagles' Chuck Bednarik...

He once hit Giants' running back, Frank Gifford, so hard the players thought he'd killed him. Put Gifford out of football for about a year and a half.

Here's some "sports cartoons" from various papers. Guess sports cartoonists have gone the way of the dodo...

That's it for now. The next post will be the last leg of our trek to the airport, which included a stop at a really "sweet" place, and a surprise remembrance of a dear friend.

Good night!

Eve of destruction...

2010-05-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Years ago, my wife and I lived in far western Kansas for a short time. Passing to and from Garden City, we would have to go by Holcomb, KS. It is an idyllic little town. Just common, out of the way folks. But there always seemed to be a pall over that community. I suppose when the glare of the news media, a best selling novel chronicling a singular tragic event that had happened there, and a blockbuster movie from that novel descends on such a town, it leaves it never to be the same.

Such is what will be commemorated tomorrow, May 4...the Kent State Massacre...

I don't remember anything of that day. I was like most of my classmates...trying to survive my freshman year of high school. Vietnam, the draft, hippies, etc., all seemed like something very far away. The music had changed, coming into the late '60's/early '70's. More protest songs. Songs with anger in them. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I doubt I was alone among my peers, I had a great dislike and distrust of then-President Richard Nixon. It was just a strange time.

Fast forward 40 years, and my boss is taking me to the airport after attending the Kaman's Art Shoppes new manager training/orientation. (Rhonda. Have you found me yet?)...sorry. Inside joke. We had talked about Ohio, and I had lots of lag time before having to be in Columbus to fly out. We were up in the Cleveland area, which is where the home office is located, and as it turns out, so is Kent State University. So we took a side trip to visit. Here I am at the memorial on the campus...

...they were planting daffodils for the occasion...

...this is what I saw as I came up the hill, and it's the spot the tragedy took place...

These four stones represent the four students slain that day...

It was hard to pray. What I could get out was the first line of the "mourner's kaddish." I'm not sure anyone can approach such a place with a cavalier attitude. Even though I have a reputation as a jokester, it was difficult to choke back a lump in my throat.

These three stones are in order from left to right...

From what Brad told me(and if my faulty memory has it correct), over 50,000 daffodils will be planted for all Americans who died in the Vietnam War...

This is a stage of some sort that was being erected. I'm sure it will be for whatever "remembrance" will take place at Kent State...

One of my other bosses went to Kent State. She joked about it being 5 1/2 years of blissful partying. And in many ways, that seems to be college life. Even the deprecating humor that most have for their "alma maters." She texted me, "Can't Read, Can't Write,...Kent State," which I'm sure is a standard joke from most alums. But in the American psyche, it will never lose the image of a time when Americans were killed by other Americans in such a tragic way, and a time when peaceful assembly as a basic right in our country was under such challenges. We had to look at ourselves differently from then on, even if it is the burden of Kent State University.

So with apologies to Neil Young...

"Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Gotta get down to it
Soldiers are cutting us down
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her
And found her dead on the ground
How can you run when you know?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio."

...livin' in sin with a safety pin...

2010-04-30T21:09:00.000-07:00

My cousin told me that I hadn't posted in about 6 weeks. Life been very topsy turvy of late.

Kaman's Art Shoppes...(have you found me yet, Rhonda?...)

Sorry for the interruption. Just had to sneak that in.

Coming soon will be my thoughts and memories on recent "new manager" orientation/training. And some of the things I saw on my way to the airport for my return flight. Met some really nice people at the home office. One was the HR rep, which explains my above "burping." (Hey, it would be nice to know these mad mutterings were viewed by a few more out of the 6 billion on this planet.

The sign was one I found at a place in Ohio. Couldn't pass up getting a pic.

Hope you all enjoy Free Comic Book Day.

Lates!

April...

2010-04-06T07:01:00.000-07:00

April is here. Soon the park will be open, whether I'm ready for it or not.

I did spend the Saturday before Easter visiting my brother and his family. And this year they had his wife's family, too, for the weekend. Quite a house-full, but lots of fun.

The photo operation is still in flux. While the folks who do it for the company have told me not to worry, with assurances they know what they are doing, I still have this nagging bile in the back of my throat. There just doesn't seem to be much "margin." Or, not enough for me.

The one person who put a relaxed face on the thing was in town a while back, and while we were waiting on some official "sign-offs" from his boss, I sketched him as a "Simpsons" character. Here's how it turned out...

Gotta go!

Oy Vey!...

2010-03-29T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well...March is about to an end and I really haven't done much. And the drawing has been non-existent. Just lots of stuff.

I did attend Planet Comicon this past Saturday and enjoyed it a lot. Did get to draw. Saw some old friends and hopefully made some new ones. The only bummer at the show was the news of former DC E-I-C, Dick Giordano, passing away. He was a good and kind man. I have a Batman sketch he did for me. If I get a chance, I'll get a pic of it and post it.

I've had some disappointments this month. Mostly staffing things. Some folks I thought were coming back, but after efforts to contact them haven't yielded(as my mother would put it) even a "Hi!," "Goodbye!," or "Go to Hell!", it seems prudent to move on and hire replacements. Puts a bit of a training strain but that's the biz, and it is constant and changing if anything. Nor do I begrudge those who have decided to "move on." I just wish they'd given me the common decency to let me know. It's real simple..."Hey, Mike. Things in my life have changed and I don't think I'll be coming back this season."...not hard to do.

And I made vows to myself regarding working at the park. 1) I wouldn't let it get in the way of my relationship with my wife. Last season did, and I spent a lot of the offseason trying to get back to knowing her and spending time with her. 2) It doesn't get in the way of honing my cartooning skills and working on projects I've envisioned. I'd like to achieve a few of my own dreams in the amount of life I have left. 3) I am not going to be pulled in many different directions by many different "higher ups." 4) It isn't going to take time from studying scripture and learning Hebrew. 5) Too much physical pain from the job isn't worth it.

Irony of ironies...all of these have already been broken. Plus my blood sugar has been spiked this past month, and I've been taking more and more insulin trying to get it down. It's from the stress. And I've had some twinges of tightness in my chest. There are other things, too, but a public forum like a blog isn't the place to air those things.

Suffice it to say, I feel like I may be coming to a crossroads if not already there. And it really kind of sucks to be almost 55 and still asking the question of what I would like to be "when I grow up?"

But tonight was a beautiful full moon, and I can only imagine what it was like those many years ago in Egypt when people were huddled in huts knowing the only thing keeping them from the Angel of Death was smeared blood on their doorposts. And that the next day would bring about a change in their lives. Or even the fear in those 2,000 years ago who had watched their Rabbi, their "King," their "Messiah,"...their "Hope" put to death, and wondering what would come next.

With that, I'll just sign off with Best Wishes to all for a Happy and Joyous Passover!

Good Holiday, and "L'Chaim!"

Good Holiday...

2010-03-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

To everyone out there who are members of "The Tribe,"...I hope you have a Good Passover!

Um.....

2010-03-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

Not sure what to think. Life has tossed a brick wall right at me. Not quite sure what to do.

Stay tuned???...

Bein' green...

2010-02-24T17:50:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I decided to revisit a previous group of shapes. The other evening I posted a rough and talked about using an image hose on it. But it hit me to rethink it and come up with another possibility. The author of a book I've been reading on cartooning made some comment on "shapes," and their relativity to character type, catagorizing triangular shapes to those of a sneaky-to-villainous proclivity. I disagree. Certainly Charles Laughton fell into the the "circular" category, being very round and "wooby." And while I'm sure he could've pulled off being kind and lovable, he was more adept at villainy. Ditto, that not all "hero" types are necessarily "blocky," as William Bendix could also pull off a bad boy turn, too.

But this exercise gave me the inspiration to draw a favorite character I enjoyed in my youth,...the Green Lantern. Ironically, I've never really drawn him! Not "realistically." I did a Disney-esque version about 2, maybe 3 years ago at Visioncon in Springfield, MO for someone who saw me noodling around in my sketchbook with that style. Here's a cartoony Hal Jordan. Technically, I've still never drawn the character. Guess I'll have to get around to that sometime. Any way, here it is...

A "tip of the hat" before I go to respective copyright holders. To DC, of course, for "Green Lantern," and to some unknown artist for the spacescape.

Good night!

more warm-ups...

2010-02-22T16:42:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I bought a new sketchbook, and have made a point to draw/sketch in it to warm up each day. Not that I think these are genius...they're just warm ups...but I have seen some renewed energy. And a fluctuation between doing some serious studies and drawing more cartoony.

In a cartoon book I found, I began to play with some simple shapes the author recommended to see what I could come up with.
A good effort, but it has me wondering about revisiting the exact same sets of shapes/design to see if I could come up with other alternatives. For some reason I could see doing the first one in Painter, taking the image hose to it and flooding it with the metallic effect. Sort of a "Silver Surfer" look...

... and this one gave me an initial "fish boy" thingy...

...or not.
Not enough mad scientists out there...

More play...

Later, Gator!

Relatives are relative...

2010-02-21T16:36:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I promised an image done for my daughter as her graduation announcement. Finally, it is done. To see the whole thing, just click on the image...

Also, here are my nieces with the hoodies I airbrushed for them as Christmas gifts. For all you airbrush jockeys out there, I make no claim to being either an expert, or any good at it...just passable. Or, the term most often used,...sell-able. Give me a pencil and a watercolor brush for inking, and I could hold my own, but airbrushing...I need more practice. But they seemed to like their gifts.

I can't help when a photo seems to scream for a good fumetti treatment. And this picture definitely brought out the worst in me. This is of my wife, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. The quote maybe from Shakespeare, but you can figure out the inference on your own...

Really getting tired of the snow. It's almost March, and we got hit with more snow/sleet/freezing rain again. Sucks.

Time to work on some comic strip ideas! Updates to come!

bunches o' stuff...

2010-02-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I almost have my daughter's graduation "invitation" art done. Should be able to post it tomorrow. But since I haven't posted in a week, I thought I'd put up some "warm-up" sketches. Ironically, I keep ending up with "apemen"...

...and I drew "Ikaris" from Marvel Comics' "The Eternals"...my first attempt at this character...

I found this on a zip disk. I had drawn the art a few years back. Had a short burst of creativity and wanted to just do the thing with markers to see what I could do with them. Still may try to finish something with it. I formatted it to print it up on normal "copy" paper. To see it all, just click on it...

...and no, That is NOT Stan Lee in the panels. Just a coinky-dinky.

Lastly, I've been trying to draw a portrait of one of the kids who works for me, and have struggled with the likeness. So I thought doing a cartoony version might give me some insights. But I do like how this turned out, and may see if I can use it to give me an excuse to work it over in Painter...

For some reason a "Grecian" motif seems to be the direction the sketch took.

Lates!

warm up...

2010-02-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

It's February and snowing. Any hoo, I've made it a goal to do more "realistic" style cartooning to get that discipline back. This is just something I did to warm up. It's of the Australian comic book character, "The Panther"...

Later!

going live...

2010-02-04T20:50:00.001-08:00

by Mike Worley

My wife and I attended a "simo-cast" of "A Prairie Home Companion" this evening, and we enjoyed it thoroughly. So much so that we set a dream to attend a truly "live" performance sometime in Minnesota. I have a great respect for those who perform live. There is no net, and if you hit a "clinker," it's out there to stay.

We took in a performance at Starlight Theatre one evening a few years ago. Saw Robert Goulet as "King Arthur" in "Camelot." During the performance, one of the secondary actors did some "hamming," and you could see Goulet trying very much not to laugh, eventually cracking up on stage. That, too, is one of the thrills of a live performance.

On a survey at work, I was asked to relate my favorite "concert," and I put down that it was in 1967 when I was a kid and my parents had taken us to Gatlinburg, TN. We saw Archie Campbell and his troup in action and it was the funniest and best show I'd seen.

One year, an artist who worked with me gave Becky and I tickets to a drag queen theatre performance of "Valley of the Dolls," and we both enjoyed it.

I think we're going to try to find more "live" things.

The following sketch was done at Cripple Con 3 a few weekends ago in San Antonio. There is a story behind it, but suffice it say it might put me in an awkward position. It was done for, and of, a colleague of mine, Ryan Forrester. I had wanted that weekend to be more getting back into doing more comic book style stuff. Let's just say the picture really tells its own tale...

It's supposed to snow tonight, and my right knee is hurting. Sure wish this weather would settle down.

It's February, and it's cold...

2010-02-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I've been doing more sketching lately, and I've been trying to get caught up on "requests." My daughter is graduating and needs artwork for her graduation invitation. There are some girls who worked for me last season who wanted some drawings, too. I put this girl at the top of the list since she and I are to "trade" artwork. She has already given me one of her drawings, and was wanting something "superhero-ish." This is a first attempt at her as "Poison Ivy"...

To try and understand her features, I've also been working on more of a portrait study from a prom photo. Here's how that drawing is coming along...

That's it for now.

Welcome to February!

a cold Friday...

2010-01-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

Today has been very cold and blah. And it's been tough to get motivated. I've been writing some stuff, mostly a webstrip I have in the works. The focus is getting better, although the main character is an "everyman" in most senses. I did, however, give him a "challenge," one that fathers have struggled with through history...a teenaged daughter. Since the main character is a man in his fifties, I've given him, and his wife, the proverbial "ooops" baby...the one that comes along AFTER the decision has been made to stop spawning. Couple that with her being a bit of a "wild child," and hilarity and hijinx ensue(sheesh! did that sound trite!) Anyway, here's a sketch of her...

I started this sketch at Cripple Con a few weekends ago, but didn't finish it there. I based it on my old boss, Len Hernandez, even though it isn't really a caricature of him. Since today just wasn't coming together, I really just threw up my hands and chucked most of what I had planned. One bit of good news is that I'm severely Vitamin D deficient. Why that is good news is that at least I know, and can begin taking some pills to help rectify the problem. I think it is supposed to help with depression, too.

It's been a while since I just "played" in my sketchbook. Just drew for the fun of it. Haven't really done that in a long while, and it felt good. While it may not be one of my better efforts, I like that I'm not trying to impress anyone with it. It is what it is with all the meanderings of pencil and markers. Len, if you want the thing I'll send it too you. If not, no harm or foul.

To view it completely, you may have to click on it...

Erev Tov!

experimenting with some color...

2010-01-26T23:03:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I had to get this one out of my system. Not sure I like how it turned out...a bit over rendered maybe...but I haven't done any of the fancy "rendered" color stuff. I may end up doing a more simplified version. It ended up one of those things that once I started, I felt compelled to complete. Anyway, here it is. Some color on the "Faun Girl" drawing I did...

Back to the drawing board. And maybe find some kind of story to work this character in.

Lates!

An appreciation for handmade things, pt. 2...

2010-01-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

Strange things have come in of late. For one thing, I've received 2 suspicious e-mails from folks' hotmail accounts. Got a confirmation on one that it wasn't sent from the addressee, and that the link sent had some viral potentials. Beware of something like these if they come your way. Sorry for the digression.

I've also had some potential gigs float in. If they solidify, I'll reveal more. BID.

My dad, years ago, got a "bug" to do some hobby-ish type of things in his workshop. We had been out to Colorado to visit family friends on a vacation, and my dad's friend was a shop teacher. It was a lot like a retro episode of "Home Improvement" with the tool oogling, grunting and scratching, but my dad came back with the idea he was going to make hanging lamps shaped like bunches of grapes. He would look for driftwood for the "stems" and assemble chicken wire around light fixtures he bought at the hardware store. At hobby stores, he found round glass ampules and would fill them with colored resin with a wire stem taped up with green. Eventually he would have to break the glass to release the hardened "grapes," and then bind them individually to the chicken wire.

He only made four--one for our house, one for my grandmother, and his two of his sisters got one for their homes. He did them in red, purple, yellow, and green. We had an old hanging lamp in our living room, and it was well past "expiration date," so I wondered how he made them, to wit I was informed that my folks had my grandmother's from her passing. Now it is mine and hanging in my living room...

Still may see about trying to make some for myself.

I posted about this earlier and retrieved my camera from my folk's, having left it there over the Christmas holidays. As I had written earlier--my great grandmother had crocheted the individual afghan squares way back in the '60's, and my mother assembled them this year for gifts to my brother and I. Here's how it looks...

Be well!

An appreciation for handmade things, pt. 1...

2010-01-23T16:15:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

One resolution I made for this coming year was to refrain as much as possible from "buying" gifts for people. Instead, making something is a more pleasing avenue. I gave my wife a lot of grief for not getting me anything for Christmas. I went out and bought her some sweaters and tops she was wanting. According to her, we'd agreed to NOT buy each other anything for the holidays, something I have no recollection of.

But she has shamed me greatly, even though I didn't receive this gift from her on the actual day but last weekend, she MADE a gift for me. I don't know what to call it other than a "Hanukkah Book". And I'll give it to you page by page starting with the front cover...

To clarify...yes, I do understand how books are paginated, but let's not get into "inside front cover" and "inside back cover," and all that. I'll just open the book and give you each page as they come, as in page 1...

and so on...

...and finally...

Neat, eh!!!???

Guess if I'm going to make her something really nice, I'd better quickly learn either goldsmithing or how to weave cashmere.

Pansies, and other words that start with "p"...

2010-01-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I think our country is in real trouble. Most clergy have their views dealing with morality and such. But I wonder if a good indicator isn't the state of athletics in our country. To preface my remarks, normally I would find myself on the side of the athlete, student or otherwise, having taken my own share of abuse and crap from one of my high school coaches. But I find myself having to believe that Mark Mangino got hosed by the University of Kansas, and Mike Leach flat out got screwed by Texas Tech University. I drew this a long time ago, probably after the "60 Minutes" piece of Mike Leach...

I like Leach. He is the antithesis of a "big school" university football coach. And in reality, he doesn't even begin to fit into the "good ol' boy" mold that stinks up the coaching ranks. Leach looks like a slob. I can relate. He likes a wide open offensive attack to score points...(that's how you win the game, by outscoring your opponent! Duh!!!) He wanted compensated for his efforts, which probably didn't sit well with the "good ol' Texas boy" higher ups at TTU. Maybe Leach never quite understood where TTU is in the scheme of things in Texas football...TTU is the ugly, red-headed stepsister with the wooden leg compared to UT and A&M. Kinda win, but remember your place. Which brings me to Adam James.

UT football has a bright future. That Gilbert kid showed a lot of great promise. And it would be really great if he could have a "rematch" in 3 years with Alabama to extract some vengeance. One of the sport announcers made a comment to put it in perspective, that basically the caliber of player he is means he is going to be at a "Texas" type program. You could fill in there even "Ohio State," "Oklahoma," "Florida," "USC," or even "Alabama." Those programs have a lot of money, booster support, better facilities, and an expectation for winning. They get the high caliber of prospective candidates. With their resources, they don't stay down for long. There is a reason Adam James is at TTU. Simply put, if he were a higher ranked, more talented athlete, more coveted athletic talent, he'd be at UT. Coaches like Leach, Bill Snyder, Mangino, and even Spurrier at South Carolina, have to be more cunning, resourceful, and do all they can to get the most out of the athletes they have to compete on the same stage as their more money'd counterparts and competition.

No one has asked the question why Leach, the head coach, would be involved with any type of alleged discipline on a player? Why wasn't James being handled by his position coach? Or offensive coordinator? Or assistant head coach? Answer: they probably couldn't do anything with him IMHO. Couple in meddlin' from "daddy James," and it becomes a real headache. At worst, Leach took an attitude problem and put him "time out." Wow! A 19/20 yr. old in "time out???!!!" Then comes the claims that Leach yelled and "verbally abused" him at practice. A football coach chewing a player's ass...now there is a novel concept!(he said sarcastically) And the same university hired Bobby Knight? All in all, sounds more like they just didn't want to pay Leach his bonus money. And I used to think Tommy Tuberville had more sense after the weinie job he was under at Auburn. But, no. (Note to Tommy: Watch your back. They'll screw you, too)

I started this one of Mark Mangino, and have toyed with finishing it but may not. Kinda pointless. I like Mangino, but loathe KU. He, like Leach, ain't yer "good ol' boy" lookin' svelte with a button-down polo shirt and golf visor. Not a pretty boy like Stoops, Saban, or Meyer. He's more like a "Jabba the coach." Anyway, here's what I had sketched out...

"He yelled at me and poked me," according to the pampered player to the all-to-eager-to-fester-a-story media. Uhhh...he's a football coach. They yell. I guess no one informed the pansies coming out of high school that college coaches yell, and will chew your butt. So I should feel scarred by my high school coaches for the "bell ringer"(that's when you've done something really stupid and the purple faced coach has grabbed you by the facemask to pull your face closer to his, because you obviously couldn't hear him. And sometime he would shake your helmet like a bell to make sure you were paying attention while he is giving instruction on how you can remove your head from your anal orifice, or words to that effect.) "He would say really mean things" whined the wimpering girly-men. My jv coach, after we were putting in less than a stellar effort at practice and doing drills like completely uncoordinated candyasses got us together to scream at us that if he'd cut our heads open, little pussies would fly out. The worst from the media were the douchebags who played the "weight" card...since Mangino was dietitically challenged, he must have anger issues. What a crock!

I watched a You Tube clip of Mangino ripping a player after a touchdown. Why? Because instead of running the ball into the endzone, the "athlete" in question performed for the camera and got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, hampering the kickoff team's and defensive unit's chances of keeping the opponent on their heels. Instead of thinking of the team, this player wanted his "ESPN" highlight moment. Which is why our country is in trouble...too much "me, me, me,...look at me!"

More than likely, Mangino didn't understand that KU is a "basketball" school, and as such, he would never be as revered or on the same level as Bill "plays with" Self. Which is why over-rated KU basketball, instead of trouncing Tennessee who had kicked off a bunch of their starters for criminal acts, got embarrassed by losing. But, at least with basketball, they tourney for a winner of the "national championship," instead of football with the BSC and antiquated bowl system. And it's fun to watch KU basketball fans after KU chokes. The only thing more loathsome than KU basketball fans to me are Nebraska football fans. But that's another post.

Maybe I should do caricatures of all the coaches I DON'T like. Bo Pelini and Bob Stoops, BEWARE!!!

some stuff I put some finish to...

2010-01-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I think drawing women and girls is hard. It's something I work on because I'm never quite comfortable with the final outcome. Dan DeCarlo once told me, in his raspy voice, "...if you can draw a pretty girl you're never without work..." And Dan was one of the best. I did have a discussion one time with Allyson, a fellow caricature artist, out on the Worlds of Fun midway about this. It was a particularly slow day, so we had some time to talk about art and such. Her opinion was that she found guys to be hard to draw, the opposite of my plight. Trust me, though. Guys are easy to draw.

At ICON this past fall in Des Moines, IA, a fellow Shocktraumanaut and I discussed doing something a bit "Archie-ish," even a bit "Bob Oksner-ish"ala the Bob Hope/Jerry Lewis comics DC used to publish...a comic/webcomic...SOMETHING...but in that humorous vain. Initially we seem to be calling it "Horror High," but for some reason tonight, I like the idea of calling it "Karloff HIgh." And to preface this, these designs may not even be used, but at least I got the pencil and brush moving. Here's an initial concept of some of the cheerleaders at "Horror High"...

I found this sketch buried in my studio, having pencilled it months ago. It was of a very pretty girl who was dressed as a "Supergirl" at the 2009 Planet Comicon...

Monte May and I make a regular trek, at least once, to Hooter's when we are doing Comic Con International in San Diego. And it's become a running joke between us that we never get one of the knockout waitresses. All the waitresses at that particular Hooter's are attractive, but we've never been waited on by one of the "bombshells." And the last one we had barely even served us. She must've had a good "cheapskate" radar.

Earlier this year, Monte was getting married and invited me to his bachelor party, which was held...where else?...at Hooter's. But at the one in Independence, MO. That Hooter's is hard to describe without laughing. It seems more like a Denny's or Waffle House, except the waitresses are half dressed and DO have all their teeth. People bring their kids, and they even do the "birthday party" thing complete with balloons and songs. You'd think it was a "Chucky Cheese" with boobs! Monte and I have said it's the only Hooter's where you'll find 4 generations of women working there. BID...somewhat.

But the laugh at his bachelor party was that we didn't get an "ugly" waitress, but we got the pregnant one. Later on at his future "in-laws," I drew a rough cartoon of the "Teenage Pregnant Hooter's Waitress"(which by the way, that phrase can be sung to the old cartoon show theme for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) along with "mom," "grandma," and a little girl in a walker, all dressed in Hooter's attire and giving some poor patron fits. I think Monte kept it. He thought it was funny. Anyway, here's the finished piece. Monte will now have a piece of art from me. Guess I should finish the Betty and Veronica I started for him, too...

Enough mayhem for this evening. Tomorrow, I'll be ranting on the sad state of our country as evidence by recent developments in football coaching.

Lates!

"Modeh Ani"--Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, and more snow...UGH!...

2010-01-08T15:14:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

2010 has done nothing more than dovetail with 2009. It hasn't been as "testy" as '09, but we've been deluged with more snow. And it's cold. Colder than it's been in previous years.

December 25, 2009, Christmas Day(according to the Roman Catholic Church), found my wife and I snowed in. It was an odd day. But I did get the dogs to pose. Here's our pups. Can't believe how much they've grown. Daisy(left), T'Ohwaii(middle) and Sally(right)...

The next day we managed to drive up to Atchison, KS to visit my folks, along with my daughter and her husband, and one of my sons and his wife. It was an enjoyable day, but this is what it looked like outside. And it was cold. This is the neighbor's house to my folk's...

New Year's Eve I was managing a gig at the Great Wolf Lodge, and it was(you got it!)...cold. We all got together after the gig at I-HOP and found that we'd all had a rotten day to end 2009. But we could still laugh about it.

Yesterday, January 7, 2010, Christmas Day(according to the Greek Orthodox Church), we had been snowed on again the previous day to begin to get...drumroll...more cold weather. I really do need to figure a way to get rich so I could have a beach condo in Hawaii.

But I've also been inventorying my blessings. First, I'm still on this side of the dirt nap, and the title of this post are the first words to a Jewish prayer to begin the day. It's a thankfulness that the King of All Creation has chosen to give life for another day. Puts it in perspective as I again try to sort out why I'm here. "Rabbah Emunatekha!"

Secondly, I'm thankful for my wife, who hasn't killed me, divorced me or deserted me. Thankful for my children. Thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful for my pastor, and worry about him. Without going into detail, he took some heavy "body blows" this past year. Nut shots. And I can tell it's taken a toll on him and his family.

I'm thankful for the kids I worked with this past season at Worlds of Fun. They made a difficult season more easy to digest. I wish they had a better manager. They probably do, too.

What amazed me this past holiday is how much I DIDN'T want. And I found that I plan on making most, if not all, of 2010's presents, and have asked that others do the same for me. One present I did get from my mother was an afghan. What makes it unique is that my great-grandmother had crocheted all the squares for it, and another one, back in the '60's when she would go to stay with my grandmother for part of the winter. My great-grandmother never got around to finishing them into afghans. My grandmother had kept all those squares for years, and after she passed away, my mother took them. This year my mother assembled them into afghans for my brother and I. When I touched it, I could see (in my mind's eye) that little old lady sitting in my grandmother's living room, the television blaring, and her yarn and needle deftly working on those squares with her gnarled, yet masterful hands. It was worth the 40+ year wait to get an afghan for Christmas.

I found this old drawing while cleaning up. My son said he wants it, so I'm framing it for him. It 's a caricature I did one afternoon of Dick Vermeil, back when the Chiefs had a team and weren't, again, the bargain basement of the NFL...

I hope your 2010 brings you much happiness and success!

New Year's Eve Eve...

2009-12-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I have an insane fondness for kitsch. It drives my wife crazy, whether it's collecting minor league ballcaps with funky logos, or the crazy statuary that can be found. Kitsch. And convenience store kitsch is the best. At BETO Junction on I-35, I found these resin cast figurines that represent fruits and/or vegetables shaped into cartoony animals. My grandmother used to collect "owls." I don't really know why, and I have a couple from her collection that survived after she passed away. Maybe this will seed my own collection(?) BID. Becky preferred the wienie dog shaped from peppers. I bought the owl...

It inspired me enough to drag out some Sculpy and try my own hand at fashioning some stuff. This is going to be a "Christmas" ornament for a friend of mine. And yes, it is a work in development. He has a paper version, but maybe this will be considered part of the $20 bucks he sent in years ago to get a lifetime supply of "slack"...

I also finished a drawing for a church member, having him tell me exactly what it was he wanted and I drew it right then and there. Here's the final inked and lettered version of his "little man"...

He tells me he's had a "gospel tract" written for about 30 years and was just needing the right artwork for it. Some "little man" image from the '50's had stuck in his head and that's what he wanted for his tract. It's still my own image, though.

I also finished an inked version of a "faun girl." She's an offshoot from the "fantasy princesses" piece I did earlier this year. And like a lot of my artwork, it sat on my drawing board waiting for me as my time was swept up by duties at Worlds of Fun. Anyway, here she is...

I'll be overseeing a caricature and face painting gig New Year's Eve. But I do hope to post some last thoughts on 2009.

"Leilah Tov!"

comin' to a close...

2009-12-28T23:22:00.001-08:00

I haven't forgotten about this blog, just busy with all the December stuff that takes over my life. I should have more posted tomorrow. Suffice it to say, I've been trying to get back into the swing of drawing and creating. Even spent a considerable amount of time with Illustrator tonight. Here's another "work-in-progress"...

Shalom!

city of champions!...

2009-12-15T22:19:00.001-08:00

by Mike Worley

After having a rather psychotic day, personally...(maybe I'll explain later)I thought it prudent to remember that Maryville, MO is now the city of champions, football-wise.

My high school alma mater won the state championship in football for their class! GO SPOOFHOUNDS!!! And my college alma mater won the NCAA Division II championship in football! GO BEARCATS!!!

I found this photo from the summer of '08, and couldn't resist giving it some "fumetti" to doctor it up. Hopefully, none of my classmates read, or will ever read my blog. They might not find it humorous. But then again, we are getting older, so at some point no one will be able to remember it. And yes, you'll have to click on the image to get the full view. I'm the fat guy behind the banner on the right...

Lates!

Findin' some time to draw...

2009-12-14T22:00:00.001-08:00

by Mike Worley

The one thing I hate about the "holidays" and getting ready for them is how much they cut into "Mike time." But I have done a little bit of sketching. Nothing monumental, but at least the pencil met paper.

I loved the way John Byrne drew Superman. Dan Jurgens, too. But as most of my generation, it is the "Curt Swan" Superman which will always have my heart. And both Byrne's and Jurgens' versions of the character had a wink of an homage to Swan's take without sacrificing their own styles. But of late, I've been looking at Wayne Boring's Superman and have gained a new appreciation for his style and take on the character. I misjudged his abilities greatly.

With that in mind, I drew a sketch using that barrel-chested anatomy Boring used. It was fun, and haven't done anything "superhero-ish" in a while...

I've disappointed in movies of late that I've gone to. One in particular was Planet 51. Loved the designs and the animation, didn't care for the story. It just didn't gel. But one pet peeve was the underusage of Jessica Biel, who lent her voice to the female lead. Ms Biel is one of the most stunningly beautiful actresses in the world--IMHO. And granted, it is a "cartoon," and her character is an "alien." But still, they could've made her animated character hotter. So I did my own take, as it were...

I wish producers would finally realize that 3D animation won't save a bad story, or weak story.

Gotta go. T'Ohwaii is whining and wanting to go to bed.

Let it snow!...

2009-12-07T19:42:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

My son tells me I need to post something at least each week, so I'm trying to get back on track. I've been busy going into December. And tomorrow, it's supposed to snow, giving us our first real winter storm of the season. Usually, it's nothing more than "dumb dust," meaning that people forget how to drive in it. So I expect traffic to be nothing more than a mess tomorrow. Not that I have anywhere to go, but it would still be nice to try and get out without worrying about other motorists eaten up with "moron."

I got roped into the church's Christmas play, again. At least this year, it is a "readers' theatre," but it would be nice if we had a rehearsal where everyone involved would show up. I can't complain too much as I missed some in November due to deadlines, family dinners, and the like. But we could definitely use more focus.

Waiting for my scenes, I took my sketch book last night and did some doodling. Mostly some character studies...

Not exactly a budding Alex Toth, but at least I was drawing instead of circling the coffee pot.

One thing I've been doing more of, is working more in Adobe Illustrator. The work I'm doing is forcing me to get back into it, and one thing it has done is to re-exam some stuff I started, but never completed. Here's an idea I think I need to do more with. A detective thing. It's a "work-in-progress," so be patient while I brush it off and try to figure out what it was I was doing with it. If you want to see the whole image, you'll need to click on it. And no, the one guy ISN'T Stan Lee...

Welcome to December!

"Blogathan" 2009--Boris Karloff

2009-11-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

I guess this weekend has a "blogathan" going on, and the subject is the late, and great, Boris Karloff. One of the things mentioned(I think on Facebook) was to talk about a favorite movie in which Mr. Karloff starred. That would be a toughy as he is my favorite actor, Vincent Price and Johnny Depp coming in right up there, too.

What I liked about Karloff was that he didn't shy away from his "monster movie" image. He never acted like being a "boogeyman" was a bad thing. After all, it DID make him famous.

So what would I pick as my "favorite" movie with Boris Karloff? Certainly the ones with the role that made him a star as the Frankenstein monster. Or as "Im-ho-tep" in "The Mummy." I also liked a lot of his AIP stuff, too. "Die, Monster, Die" scared me greatly when I saw it at the Fox Theatre in Atchison, KS back in the early '60's. But to pick one movie, one role, I'd have to give that one to the movie, which was also his "swan song"--"Targets."

What can you say about a movie, even though dated, still chills with things that have/are happening still around us? Karloff played essentially himself, and even denigrated himself playing an "aged, broken-down 'has-been'" horror movie actor. But the real horror was in the "other" story in the movie...the "monsters" which live around us and have our faces. The young man who goes on a killing spree, randomingly sniping unsuspecting motorists along the highway as they drive by. Dispassionate horror. Indiscriminate killing. Mayhem. Later on, this "monster" shoots people from the back of a drive-in movie screen while one of Karloff's movies is playing. In the "confrontation" between the "monsters," "reel" and "real," Karloff is increduled by the fact that the "real" monster is nothing more than a kid, who, if I remember correctly, got a whack with Karloff's cane.

It's a great commentary on real monsters. The Jeffrey Dahmers, Bob Burdellas, the Phil Gerrados, even the Ken McElroys. We allow them their "power." But in the end, Dahmer was a geek, Burdella a fat twerp hiding behind his lawyer, and McElroy a bloated bully who would've eventually complained about being diabetic. For that matter, Hitler was socially retarded, barely able to carry on a conversation.

Years ago, there was a woman shot at Royals Stadium here in KC. An indiscriminate shooting/sniping from across the highway. She was injured and terrorized to be sure, but still living. Her "monster" slinked back into the dark. And while he/she/it may glory in new found "power," in the end they are just that which they hate being--common.

So for the blogathan, I recommend you check out "Targets," starring Boris Karloff.

To the ten, or so...

2009-11-24T08:24:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

To the five, maybe ten people on the planet that may actually read these ramblings,...I must apologize that this week is going to be a wash. I will have some drawings to show later. But for this week I must get my super-secret freelance projects done. And before asking, I can't tell you anything about them. One of those "confidentiality" things. But the fact that I HAVE freelance work again brightens my soul, as I feel like I'm "getting back on the horse."

Thanks for checking in, though.

Goodbye, Marilyn Briggs(to be sung to the tune of "Goodbye, Norma Jean")...

2009-11-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

It started out as a joke, the kind of snickering one does when the inate pre-teen 12 year old takes over...

Let me explain--when my old boss was here, we had the office door painted red. He and I used to joke about it, he said he wanted it to be a reminder of "hell." And we even talked about maybe airbrushing some flames on it, and painting the quote, "Abandon all hope, All ye who enter here!...", or however it goes. But he left, getting promoted this year to a bigger venue(and with bigger headaches). One lesson I re-learned was that if you're put in charge, it is bad policy to operate the place like you're "babysitting" it for someone who isn't going to be returning. For good or bad, right or wrong, I was/am now "the manager."

Some of the kids asked at the end of the full-time season about repainting the place. Couldn't do it, as the budgets were gone by that time for that sort of thing. But I did joke about repainting the office door green, since it was red. Ironically, I was at a Home Depot in late September and found out they had "Ooops!" paint. And they had an almost-full can of bright, Kelly green mixed by mistake, hence the "Ooops!" I bought it for a buck. And eventually painted the door green.

One of the artists jokingly asked, "Why green?" to wit I said, "Because you'll never know what goes on Behind the Green Door." I figured most of them would be too young to get the joke. But one girl did her own search, and with a sly look on her face came into work and told me she knew what the implication was for the green door, and we had a laugh.

Since that time, I've considered doing my own adaptations of classic short stories, O. Henry being one of my favorite authors. And low and behold, one of his short stories is titled, "The Green Door." The story is a great commentary on how life can be viewed. In it, the "hero" gets a card slipped to him with an invitation to the "Green Door." Eventually he meets the love of his life, and comes to view the card coming into his possession as a contrived event by unknown persons. What he discovers is the large black man giving out the advertising cards was doing it for promotion at a theatre for a new play. Yes, titled, "The Green Door."

So why the image of Ms Briggs on the office door? Most because it's my last gesture of defiance for the season. A way of keeping my sanity and putting some distance to my life. And it's a way of doing something "arty." Yes, it is a joke.

I also think it serves as a warning to the "unique" notion that decisions we make in life have consequences. Some short termed, some long termed. Some for good, and some for not-so-good. Our society seems to have forgotten it. Ms Briggs, even though she gave the "party line" to the advantages of working adult films also said that it will break your heart. For all of her fame and infamy, she ended up dying alone. The money she made for being famous and kickstarting the sexual promiscuity of the '70's was gone probably from further poor life choices, alcohol and drug troubles.

I'm emptying out the office of my stuff. Like Woody Hayes, I think it wise to keep things short-leased and with distance. Not get too comfortable there. Hayes said during his coaching time at Ohio State that his contract was on a year to year basis. He wanted it that way. I wonder if the door to his office was green?

Wednesday...

2009-11-18T22:15:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

Facebook continues to be the bane of my existance because it won't seem to interface with my ancient copy of Safari. Keeps kicking me out. Sucks!

Not much to tell about today. I did some creating, but didn't get a whole lot done. I went to Starbucks to meet up with a couple of artist buddies. We had coffee and basically BS'd. Later on, Becky and I discussed Christmas/Hanukkah/Holiday plans. We both concluded it would be nice to just do some traveling.

I bought a couple of hoodies at the end of the season to airbrush on. Something for my wife's nieces. One niece is getting a hoodie with the "Twilight" designs on it. No reason to show it, as I've already posted what those designs look like in earlier postings. I did this for the other niece. She started a new high school this year, so I hope I got this right...

Every now and again, I get some commissions/requests to draw folks as "Simpsons" characters. This is a bit of a "blast from the past," and was done for some folks in honor of their nuptials in 2005. If you wish to see the whole thing, you will need to click on it...

As I try to clean up around the studio, I find the leavings of ideas that I may dust off if I find the time. One idea I still like involves doing a Jay Ward type take off on Edgar Allen Poe stories. I'm a big fan of the Corman "Poe" adaptations from the early '60's, and some of the movies that tried to do "knockoffs" of those efforts. Vincent Price is one of my favorite actors, and I had the chance to meet him in 1973 when he was touring and did a lecture at Northwest Missouri State University. This image is based on the "Comedy of Terrors," and to view it in its entirety, you will need to click on it...

I don't know what I would do with the "Tell-Tale Heart," but this is the butler I came up with...

And I'd thought of a drunken raven for some kind of feature. Haven't decided whether, or not, to name him "Quoth," or "Nevermore"...

Have a surprise for later this week. It was good for a laugh tonight over coffee, but will probably get me in trouble.

"I once went to Philadelphia, but it was closed..."

2009-11-15T20:13:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

One of my favorite W. C. Fields quotes. In this case, Becky and I went to Iowa, but it was closed. Or the misadventure that was our trip across the border.

One thing bad about "seasonal" work is that eventually the season is over. And now that I have some time to do some things, I now find that off-season really does suck. I-CON was held at the Adventureland Inn in Altoona, IA, and it is right next door to...(drum roll, please)...(wait for it)...Adventureland, Iowa's premier theme/amusement park! My own mental health is at question, because the first thing I wanted to do was to see I could get a tour of Adventureland. You'd think I'd had enough of amusement parks, having lived at Worlds of Fun, but nooooooooooooooooo. Needless to say, I got blank stares from the hotel staff and a lot of "...but it's closed..." remarks. Anyway, here is a pic of the outside of the Adventureland Inn. The "plum" colored PT Cruiser is my wife's car, nicknamed, "The Purple Nurple"...

In past trips "up north" we've been able to go through the Living History Farm, which my wife always enjoys, but as our fate would have it...it was closed for the year. This is as close as we got...

Further proof that Sunday was going to suck. Here's the museum/gift shop in all its abandoned and desolate glory...

Here's my blushing bride stomping out of the "Purple Nurple" with a "what the...?" kind of vibe going on...

We ended up going to the Machine Shed restaurant, which DID happen to be open, and had to endure countless regaling as to the death of the University of Iowa's football season now that their star QB is hurt. This is our last shot at the Living History Farm as we were wondering if we'd get into trouble if we just hopped the fence and did our own tour...

We came home with a new puppy! There was a place that had them to adopt and we got a good deal on a rare Asian breed. Our other dogs, Daisy and Sally, are still quite a hand full, but this pup had a gentle and sweet demeanor...

Instead of renaming her, we kept the oriental name she had. It's a bit hard to pronounce, but it's "T'Ohwhai." Here she is being playful...

We took her to the Turner's for the BBQ they had. She wasn't very good as she not only wet on their hardwood floors, but also humped Aaron's leg. Bad T'Ohwhai! Here she is wanting her tummy scratched...

I was hoping to take her to the Artists' Jam in Omaha this coming weekend, but I have too many other activities fouling that up. Here's T'Ohwhai being playful...

The other dogs don't seem to like her. Both Daisy and Sally bit at her. We may have to get rid of them.

Jim Woodyard and I did talk some business, as evidenced in a previous post and pic. Here's what kind of came out of that. Monsters and Archie are two of my favorite things, so here's a first draft of a cheerleading squad...

Got to go now. Have some more "super secret" stuff to work on, and some drawing. Also, T'Ohwhai is needing to go to bed.

'Bye now!

We are of peace...always...

2009-11-13T08:44:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

As I continue the "weaning" process off of Worlds of Fun, I find myself feeling like Al Pacino in "Godfather III," ...as soon as I start to get away, I get pulled back in. Mostly it's just end of year reports, but like the big baby I am I have to throw a tantrum and pout for a while before realizing I DO have to finish them up. Oy Vey!

I really like the new "V" tv series. If I have one complaint it would be that I think they are moving too quickly. Here's a cartoony version of the hot, yet still sinister, alien leader, "Anna"...

One thing I rediscovered at I-CON is that some ideas may still work. I have loved a lot of the "New England Gothic" writers, such as Hawthorne, Poe, and Irving, and have toyed with doing my own adaptations of their classic stories. This is my first take on Young Goodman Brown and his wife, Faith...

That's all I have time for. I had a strange revelation of late. It's learning to recognize "second chances." Some payin' work came my way that I had worked on a long time ago, and I've been given a chance to do more freelance for them. The catch then as now is that I can't show any of it. One of those confidentiality things, which is rather strange since the stuff is kind of an "open secret." Sorry for being cryptic. Guess I haven't had my morning coffee/Diet Coke/tea fix.

Lates!

...you must un-learn what you have learned...

2009-11-10T21:23:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

A quote from "The Empire Strikes Back," as Yoda is giving Luke a lesson on the force. It also has become a mantra of sorts as I look post-season at Worlds of Fun...and beyond.

I asked my assistant manager today as we did some piddling around the park, some catch-up stuff before calling it a "season," if he went through any "withdrawal" this past weekend. He admitted to have a case of the fidgets, and I felt strangely all weekend. But I was at I-Con, a comic book show in Des Moines, IA, and it seemed a good excuse to take the wife and get out of town. I had gotten to the point of NOT liking to sit behind a table at comics shows, but this time it felt "right." Maybe it's maturity, or maybe it's I just don't have and preconceived notions? Not sure. Any way, here I am behind a table doing some drawing...

It was good to see a lot of old friends, and do some "reconnecting." Here I am with Jim Woodyard talking some shop. He was giving me an idea he's had for a comic book/webcomic, and we're batting some ideas around...

I liked what he proposed. Now the trick is to not let it set and die. Sometime I'll have to some old sketches of other ideas I've had that have gone fallow and may just need some rethinking. We'll see. Oh, and the other 2 guys in the photo are Aaron Gillespie and Jason Caskey.

I was bored during the latter part of the show. It was only a one-day thing, and that was fine by me. Becky and I had hoped to do some sight seeing around Des Moines Sunday, but that's another post. The sketch I was working on was one of Marge Simpson "nekkid" in a giant martini glass(Don't worry. Nothing was showing and it was tastefully done) harkening back to early girlie mag covers and a wink at Marge's new found fame as the first cartoon woman featured on the cover of Playboy. A woman later bought the drawing, and I do apologize for not having any pics of other stuff I drew that day(forgot my camera). It seemed like she was wanting a bit more spirited dialogue when she was watching me sketch it. But my own take is that with publishing, in general, at death's door Playboy probably needed her more than she needed them. Here I am...

And at the end of the day, I was pretty well gone. Getting too old, I guess...

We went over to Brook and Linda Turner's for a late evening BBQ. As the night progressed, they had a Beatles game-thingy their kids like going, and we all got roped in a bit singing along with it. Here's the Turners...

And if you haven't checked out Phil's and Brook's work on the comic book, "Golly," SHAME ON YOU!!!

Aaron, another "Shocktraumanaut," did his thang warbling a Beatles tune...

I got roped into doing one, and as the resident old fart, was belting out "I Want To Hold Your Hand." Everyone there kept calling for me to dance it out. To clarify...I am not drunk in this picture. But if I was going to make a fool out of myself, I was going to give it my best effort...

Since this is supposed to be a "sketch blog," I did do some doodling in my sketchbook. Here's a pilgrim woman head shot. It's for a New England gothic thing I've had rolling around for a while.

Next up...the "puppy" we got in Des Moines, our Sunday misadventure, and relearning where my drawing table is.

Good night!

PS--all the photos used for this post are courtesy of either Mike Sullivan or Bruce McCorkindale...because I forgot bring my camera in from the car.

...no. It's Iowa...

2009-11-08T21:02:00.000-08:00

by Mike Worley

Will have some pics and a post tomorrow. Just got back from taking a "road trip" to Iowa to attend I-CON. Took the wife with me. We had a good time. But I had to have her home tonight to watch the "Mad Men" season finale.

'Bye now!

All over, but the cryin'...and the counting, sorting, and puttin' stuff away...

2009-11-05T22:08:00.001-08:00

by Mike Worley

I understand it is supposed to be a really good weekend, weather-wise, this upcoming weekend. And my wife and I will be traveling to Iowa. Kind of a "mini-vacation." I will spend Saturday doin' the "guest/professional" thang at I-Con, a comic book show put on by the Iowa Comic Book Club. It should be fun.

And it is ironic that the first weekend in November is to be mild as all the weekends in October sucked to a degree. Some more than others as it was downright cold, and killed business at the park for a greater part of that month. The last weekend came and went, and this post is to chronicle some of the shenanigans.

I'll guess I'll start at the Wood 'n' Leather shop. Jessica Duncan, the shop lead and my assistant manager's wife, did a really good job there this season. And she always comes up with some good stuff. Here's a Halloween decoration she designed...

We did one last caricature contest. There were a lot of good ones started, and I even started one too, but only three were finished. As it turned out, Marietta's "Marilyn" won...

...and Ryan's came in second...

I finished my hairbrained idea of putting "moons" in a "Twilight" type rice jewelry necklace. They really do glow in the dark, but I still chuckle at them being nothing more than mini-Sculpy boogers. This is the "werewolf essence" necklace with Jacob's name, and the moon, in a clear vial modeled by Maren...

...and I took some snapshots of the kids. I was out all day there figuring if they had to tough out the cold then so would I. They were a great bunch this season and I had a good time. I caught Maren when she saw I had my camera, and did the "don't take my picture" dodge to no avail...

...and that picture had her rather wild-eyed, so it just seemed natural to do some photoshopping for Halloween...

...just goes to show what an idiot with Photoshop can do.

I tried to think I was going down swinging instead of coasting. I cut another "celeb" stencil for the Airbrush shop. Thought it turned out well...

...and I'll see if anyone out there can name all the celeb designs in this one...

And I finally cracked, giving in to the hype and the movie. Sold some of these too. I cut the stencil, but one of my artists, Stacie, did the painting. It turned out really well, getting a compliment from "da boss lady," Barb. She's quite an airbrush jockey, so it was a great kudo. Anyhoo, here it is...

I figured if I was going to do one of those, I'd rather do one in commemoration of when Jackson was at his height of cool.

Sunday, we were going to come up with some sort of "end of the season" prank. I heard the security guards were going to toss the leftover pumpkins off the top of the Mamba. Don't think they did, but it would've been awesome to watch. At 7:30pm on that Sunday, though, we all tired and everyone just wanted to go home. I can't blame them. It was a grueling season. Here's some of the "last ones left standing"...

They weren't, by any means, the only ones. There were others who would've stayed, such as Taryn and Kim, if it had been busier. But it wasn't, and I needed to cut some payroll. A familiar drill everywhere nowadays. I shared an "end of season" cigar with one of my leads, Jessica Bloom, and my assistant manager, Jacob Duncan. I took one last picture. And while there will be those offended by the "vulgar gesture," it was given more out of a defiant sense of fun reflecting my own sense of warm, warped humor...

I wish I could say that I influenced some young lives, hopefully making them better and happier people. In truth, I got more from each of the employees I worked with than they ever got from me. Knowing them has made my life better. Richer.

And while I'm relieved and happy this most trying of seasons is finally over, there is also a sense of sadness that a wonderful time for me has come to an end. It can't be reclaimed or relived, only remembered. Maybe this quote sums it all up better...

"Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot"...

Happy Birthday to me, I'm no longer 53...

2009-10-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

Depending on how you count time, and how blogspot marks time, 10/28 would actually mark my last day of my 54th year and my "54th birthday anniversary" would be the beginning of my 55th year on the planet. Either way, legally I can't take advantage of the senior discount at Denny's for another year. Don't know if I want to.

I'll be working at the park my birthday evening. Worlds of Fun wants to squeeze more out of their Halloween Haunts. Not looking forward to it.

And I've found myself really anxious this week--more crabby, bitchy and moody than usual. I've been haunted the past few years with the knowledge that my grandfather passed away at 55. Guess I feel like all my sins have come back to torment me. Kind of a feeling of morose futility. Jeez! I sound like an Emo kid!!!

My wife and I once played the "if you knew this was your last day on earth, what would you do?" game. She asked me what I'd eat. My answer was what ever she "scooped on a shingle," or what ever we would normally get from a drive thru. Probably a double hamburger from McDonald's. Maybe a taco salad from In-A-Tub-Tacos. At that point wouldn't eating something exotic, expensive, and grossly over priced be rather stupid?

I finished up the drawing for my niece, and did it in color. Like a dope, I framed it before making a scan of it, so I took a picture of it instead. I may need to do an electronic version later on, but I can do the color in Illustrator. Here it is...

...and yes, you can see my shadow with the camera.

Some sketching, and then to bed.

Anatomy of a stencil, with apologies to airbrush artistes...

2009-10-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

Most airbrush artists I've run into, at least those doing airbrush t-shirts and such, have a bit of distain for stencils. The feeling seems to be that stencil useage takes away from the "skill" or artistry involved in painting with an airbrush. I guess like anything, they can be overused, or become too much of a crutch. But I also feel that, when used properly, some really good things can be accomplished.

I think like any good use of media, playing to the strengths of a particular medium is imperative. My opinion. But equally important is the drawing in the early steps. Finding a balance of black and white to achieve likeness, structure, and dynamics needs to be incorporated, too. Hey, it worked for Alex Toth!

Since it's "Halloween," and we've been highlighting monsters, I chose as the subject matter the delightful monster who kills killers, Dexter Morgan as portrayed by actor, Michael C. Hall. Here's my initial stencil tracing, which was refined more by comparing it to the original source and photo, before putting the knife to it...

Here's what the stencil looks like after refining the sketch and then doing all the finished cutting...

The way I was shown by another artist, to get the stencil to work on shirts and so that it won't fray, is to build up layers of paint gradually...

Eventually, the color is built up enough, and at that point the paint is heat pressed into the fabric. The material for this is Pellon...

After which, it is wise to do the same thing to the reverse side...

Here's my first attempt at using the stencil on a shirt. My original concept for this is to try and do "blood spatter" since "Dexter" is both a forensic blood analyst and a serial killer...

Add a name, and maybe the thing is sell-able. If not, I made it for my daughter, any way, because she's a big "Dexter" fan. Nothing like making cheap Christmas gifts, eh?

And I tried it on a display square. Will it sell? I don't know. It's the last weekend at the park, and if the weather holds up, we might sell a few. After all, the idea IS to make some money. I just want to give things a different look...

I never did show how the "Edward Cullen" stencil could be used differently. Strangely, this past weekend, it was the "Jacob" image that sold better. Fans can be fickle...

And here's a sketch I dusted off to finish. It's for one of the girls I work with, and she's getting married sometime next year. She also wants a "nicer" one, more wedding like. And I've thought about doing it, but adding some Springfield denizens to fill out her wedding party. Maybe Duff-Man and Disco Stu for groomsmen. Maybe Patty and Titania for brides' maids. We'll see...

'Bye now, all ten of you who read this!

doin' what comes naturally...

2009-10-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

I've been showing stuff that we've been doing at the park to bolster sales. At this point, it's all been about the Airbrush T-shirt shop. But one of my favorite operations happens to be the Rice jewelry we do. It's attached to our body art operations, and contrary to popular opinion, I don't really like drawing on people, especially scantly clad teeny boppers wanting henna tattoos on their stomachs or backsides, nor the little kids wanting facepaints. Not my thang! But the Rice jewelry appeals to me because it's an actual object. A trinket. But like everything else, sales have been down. So I came up with a sale with my body art lead to goose sales. To cash in on the "Twilight" craze, here's what we have...

I got the wild idea to add "moons" to the jewelry. Glow-in-the-dark moons. I searched Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but could not come up with a glow-in-the-dark bead. So I came up with the lame idea of using flourescent Sculpy and making them myself. Needless to say, it was little more than rolling boogers, something my wife commented on as finally putting something I'm good at to good use. She also said I took waaaaaayyyy too much time on each little moon. And they had to fit inside the rice vials, so they couldn't be very big. Here's the before...

...and here's my glow-in-the-dark booger/moons baked...

The only thing missing was the joy of flicking the boogers, and the feeling of projecting a snot rocket. But I can do that without Sculpy.

I did do some drawing, which was fun. Here's a Simpson-ized version of my Body Art lead, Jessica, first in black and white, then in color...

And lastly, an homage to the great William Campbell, creator of the "Weird-Ohs!" My own Wade A Sekund, based on his Wade A. Minute for the Hawk model company...

Be good!

Finally!...now if we could only get some good weather...

2009-10-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jacob, my assistant manager, did all the "hard" stuff. The painting and such. Me? I just wanted the Airbrush shop to look drop-dead awesome. And I have some other plans for the other operations in my charge, too. They just aren't, necessarily, art/visually related. BID.

While monsters have been the theme, I remember as a kid, that "Captain Company" used to run superhero stuff right along side the monster merchandise in Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. And superhero merchandise is very much a part of the Halloween scene, including all the Halloween costumes. We get requests for some "superhero" type stuff to paint on shirts, so it seems fitting to include them on the "Halloween" displays...

Here are some examples of some Halloween specific designs. Maybe they'll work. Maybe not. The "skull/bleeding black heart" is our own spin on a design used at another park...

I wanted something with a bit of a glamour spin, yet with some unsettling overtones...

I introduced Jacob to the wacky world of Basil Wolverton. At least it looks different...

Worlds of Fun is running the slogan, "All You Fear Is Here," as part of this year's campaign. So we incorporated our own version...

...and here's how this looks over our first monster wall...

With the remaining "monster" portraits Jacob painted, plus the Twilight stuff and other designs, here's how the east wall of the Airbrush shop looks...

And finally, what that certain corner of our universe looks like...

If you're in the area, you ought to come out to Worlds of Fun for the Halloween Haunts. You could see our stuff for real.

...drinkin' homebrew from a wooden cup, the folks dancin' got all shook up!...

2009-10-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

Nothin' like the lyrics to an old Chuck Berry song to start off! And to show off my purchase from this year's Renaissance Festival...MY OWN WOODEN MUG! WOO HOO!!!

My niece is getting married this weekend, and asked me to do a caricature of her and her fiance. Here they are...

Since they are going to be "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," they wanted something of an homage to the Brangelina movie from a few years back. To see the entire image, just click on it...

I guess I can't help channeling Ed Benedict.

Since "Twilight" is all the rage and the new movie is close to release, here's a shirt I did for my wife about a month ago...

Next, I hope to show the finalized version of the Airbrush shop's "last gasp" for the season. And my Halloween caricature for this year.

Leilah tov!

winding down...

2009-10-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

There are only 3 weekends left to finish out the 2009 season. Everything still feels like a "work in progress," that there is still a lot to do, could be done, should be done.

Jacob, my assistant manager, finished up 3 more "monsters" on some larger shirt forms. Here's his "Freddy Krueger"...

This one is Christopher Lee from the "Curse of Frankenstein"...

Lastly, I threw him more "curves" stating, that while he can paint "ugly," there's more money in glamour. Dan DeCarlo once told me that if you can draw a pretty girl you're never without work. So here's Jacob's Ursula Andress from "She"...

Nor was I totally doing nothing. I tried some stuff with cutting stencils. I tested it on some damaged shirts(hence, why they look a bit grungy) before either doing them on some good material, or having Jacob give them a go. Here's a "Bob Marley" test...

but it looked better this way, I felt...

"Twilight" is all the rage for the moment. And why not try to capitalize on it while it's hot? Here's my first test of something with Taylor Lautner, the "Jacob" character...

...and this one, which we liked better...

I haven't given up on doing the image in black with a "moonrise" behind it. Jacob did this on a shirt for my wife...

She wants an "Edward" on the other side, which I'm still working on.

All in all, I think this one is the direction we'll go for the rest of the season...

My next post will actually have stuff I've drawn...PROMISE!...

HUZZAH!!!...

2009-10-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

It was that time of year, again!!! Columbus Day and time to go to the Renaissance Festival! With my duties at Worlds of Fun, this is the only day I can use to go. And it marks another autumn.

I love autumn, truly I do. The sights and the smells. The colors! This year, at this time, it has been cold, so my wife and I bundled up for the day.

I love to browse at the Ren Fest. One of the first places we found was a "stone" shop with stone from the Holy Land. The lady at the counter was surprised I could read a little Hebrew, as they had a stone plaque with the "hand washing" blessing on it. My wife got a necklace with a Star of David etched on it, and had her "Hebrew" name etched on the other side. She also found out her Hebrew name is "Rivkeh." Here's the shop...

What I love about the festival is that there are so many different costumes, and everyone I talked to had no problem with having a picture taken. Here's a guy I just called the "featherman"...

"Renaissance" has become a bit of a general term, as the costumes range in time period, sometimes well into the 1700s. Here's a guy striking a bit of a "Captain Morgan" pose...

This guy was a hoot! That orange was very obnoxious. He is a magician, and did a great act...

It wasn't all shopping. Last year I rode the elephant with my son-in-law. I tried to get Becky, my wife, to ride but she was chicken. But she did take pictures of me riding a camel...

I keep thinking I heard her making comments to passersby about the camel with 2 butt-holes, but when I got off I only saw one. The camel's name is "Sultan," and he didn't look too happy having to haul my largeness around...

We got pooped fairly easy. They had a viking/celtic/tribal "throne" at one of the locations, so we took a break. Here's my queen looking regal...

It was made out of metal, so it was cold. Here I am...

There were regular processions of royalty and dignitaries...

Here's some pictures I found interesting...

We had the "soup in a bread bowl" for lunch, and "the queen" graced us with her presence...

We also had some costumed high school kids who kept squealing about a bee that kept buzzing around. Oy Vey!

There were a lot of pets around the place. Becky made me get a picture of this "purple poodle"...

And you never know what you'll find at one of the booths...

I've been toying with the idea of doing something with the fantasy princesses I drew earlier this year, so I took a lot of pictures for reference. We found a quiet area along a path and found this at one of the vendors...

We found the petting zoo, and Becky thought about petting the llamas...
...but decided against it...

We concluded our all-too-short visit to this year's Renaissance Festival by taking in "The Jolly Rogers." They always put on a good show, and one of them, Kurt, used to work for me many years ago when we were both much younger. Well...I was younger. He hasn't changed much except to shave his head. He's the one in the middle of this photo...

There were some "acts" that I didn't see this year. The "Limey Birds" weren't there, and another band whose name escapes me. They do a rendition of Hank Williams "Jambalaya" that I really like.

I talked to some of the vendors, and they told me that sales were down this year. Not surprising. Been there, done that, doing that! But I like going to this event. I like finding craftsman and stuff that is hand made. (Incidently, I finally got a wooden mug! I'll post pictures in a future post.) Maybe we've lost the excitement of "the circus coming to town," or the state fairs, and the like. Malls, Wal-Mart, machines, and third world labor have really done a lot to rid us of "magic." The kind that happens when there is a sense of wonder. A suspension of disbelief. In my studies of the Feast of Tabernacles from ancient Jewish times, going to Jerusalem was a joyous time of year, complete with vendors from all over, light, dancing, and even juggling rabbis. So to conclude this post, I raise my wooden mug and whisper a bittersweet, "Huzzah!"

Finding a really good artist...

2009-10-13T18:43:00.000-07:00

by Mike Worley

As I went into the park this morning, there were deer at a wooded area right at the business entrance...

There were 5 in all, and unfortunately I could only get pics of their backsides. Gotta get faster with the camera!

Every now and then, there comes someone who shouldn't be as good as they are. Len and I found that out when we hired Jacob Duncan. He started out in caricatures, and in his first year did the unheard of thing of winning a few of our "caricature contests. We then moved him into the Airbrush T-shirt shop, and his ability to pick it up was uncanny. When I became manager, he became my assistant. And while he has had challenges indicative with entry level management, his artistry is exemplary.

The Airbrush shop has struggled this year, as outlined in my previous post. So we decided to try to spiff things up, changing out designs, and trying new things. One thing I had him do was to create premium level art for the Halloween season. Tonight's post is dedicated to his art in getting "phase one" done. There will be lots of images, so be patient. Here's the first one I threw at him. A classic, from "London After Midnight"...

I wanted to try to have as wide range of "monsters" to exhibit. And not to do the "expected" ones, but throw in others. His second one was from the upcoming "Wolfman" movie...

Next, I threw him a curve, or curves...the lovely and luscious Ingrid Pitt from "The Vampire Lovers"...

A lot of images, I couldn't use. But I wanted variety. I thought this creepy kid from "Night of the Living Dead" was just the trick. I really DO need to see the movie...

We couldn't entirely go for obscurity, so this one was next...

I gave Jacob a "change-up," as it were. We have some wildlife images at the shop which are not as expensive as the portraits. I thought this one would give the shop more of an edgy feel...

This one was very challenging for him. She's not only mean, but green. And the #1 villain of the movies. More frightening than any monster, more psychotic than Heath, more evil than J. R. Ewing...

I've never understood the "fear of clowns" thing, but this one has given a lot of folks the "willies." One of Tim Curry's finest moments, and not in drag!...

Here's how they look on one of the outside walls...

And the shop, in general with "Bruce" added out front...

Like I say, "the kid's" got talent! Kind of kick in the pants for me to quit whining and get back to creating, drawing and painting.

Next...the Ren Fest, and some of the stuff I've been doing at the shop to not totally look like a piker.

Okay! So I haven't been blogging much lately!...

2009-10-12T21:33:00.001-07:00

by Mike Worley

I guess the heading says it all. Been busy at work. Surprising, because we've been at "weekends only" since after Labor Day. And like the test car speeding towards the brick wall...the season will come to an abrupt end.

But I have done a few things. Today, my wife and I went to the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs, KS. We had a great time. Pictures and a blog about it will be coming soon. My assistant manager has been airbrushing "monster" portraits, so we can try to generate some business at the airbrush t-shirt shop. It's been a tough year, not just for us, but everywhere it seems. Sales at concessionaires not being that good. The Ren Fest folks reported it was a down year for them. BID.

Here's a caricature of a new girl who came to work for me. Yes, she's a caricature artist, and wanted some tips on drawing bodies. Soooooo......

I also was asked to draw a caricature of one of my worker's mother and her fiance. Here's their pic. Sorry for the crappy image...a picture of a picture...

...and here's the caricature...

That's it for tonight.

Peyton Place withdrawal...

2009-08-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

By Mike Worley

I guess I'm supposed to put that "intro" on each blog for the Facebook feed, so folks will know who is shoveling what amount of crap today, and decide if they want a plate full. Well...here's my stinky pile for today!

Most of the time on my days' off from the park, I just go numb. Sleep generally. But I actually picked up a pencil and began doodling. Albeit to dvd episodes to "Peyton Place."

As a kid, the world stopped each week at the insistance of my mother because "Peyton Place" was on tv. It wasn't wise too suggest changing channels, either. Not happenin'! So there was no way of escaping the world of the MacKenzies and the Harringtons.

Stupidly, and on a lark, my wife and I picked up the dvd sets and began watching those episodes. And I got hooked, ashamed as I am to admit it. Now I'm at the mercy of the Shout! Factory, hoping that season 2, vol. 1 is right around the corner.

Here's a doodle I did of Dorothy Malone, as "Constance MacKenzie," with her photo for comparison...

One character that stood out for me was Leslie Harrington. This was all before the villains got all the press. Before JR Ewing made being the bad guy chic. So Paul Langton who played Harrington got smaller billing and in the end credits. Here's my sketch and his pic...

In the best vernacular, Leslie Harrington is what would best be described as a "prick." I'm not sure how to best define this. I have had encounters with folks described in other terms. A boss I worked for once said there are 2 kinds of people in the world, one kind he described by using the slang expression for an "anal opening," and the other as slang for "barnyard fowl excrement." That particular boss, most described as a prick. In the end, he was more the "barnyard fowl excrement." BID.

I may work up a piece of artwork with the "Peyton Place" crew. Anyone out there interested in owning one?

random thoughts to begin August...

2009-08-05T21:09:00.001-07:00

July was an interesting month, to say the least. Weather-wise, it was the mildest I've seen it. Other things were kind of weird. So with July behind me, August starts the beginning of the Worlds of Fun season winding down. My time still won't feel like it will free up some for about another 2 weeks. We have our last midnight close of the summer this weekend. That has its own sadness as the school year beginning is now around the corner.

And I need to draw.

One of my kids from the park asked if I would draw her portrait, which I am very flattered to do. I've tried to do some designing on some stuff in the Airbrush t-shirt shop, but haven't come up with anything. Although a design with a cartoon fish keeps popping up in the noggin of late. Tuesday night I drew some caricatures to help out one of my artists. It was fun. I got to draw 6 really cute girls on a "road trip" before they headed back to begin school. And I stupidly didn't have my camera so I could share the results. Dumb!

One incident from Tuesday...I was in Dollar General buying baby wipes for the Facepainting stand at the park, standing in the checkout line juggling 8 boxes of baby wipes while some irritating woman was holding up the line. For some reason, the other women in the checkout line seemed to find my purchase of interest. One in particular, in her rather toothless way, blurted out, "What'cha got all them baby wipes for???!!!" To which, I ignored her. Nunyuh!

Eventually another check out line opened up, and I moved over to it. A different woman in the other check out line looked at me and said, "I have to ask...Why DO you have all those baby wipes?" I couldn't resist the "Al Jaffee" moment, and replied, "Well, I got involved with a woman half my age. What can I say? She had quads." Got quite a look from her. And the checkout girl, herself in the "family way" whispered to me, "Quads! Really?" And I quipped, "Yep," and walked out of the store with 2 big bags of baby wipes.

My wife and daughter both found the story funny.

Lates!

Ghosts...

2009-07-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

Not posting for over a month is a bit overwhelming. June was a heat furnace going into July. But July has been cool and nice. Maybe it would be better to start this posting with a bit of a laugh(?)...

Daisy and Sally at their maniacal best. Yes, they are, indeed, evil. And have me thinking of writing a children's book about them.
-------------------------------------------------

I didn't go to San Diego this year for Comic Con. Instead, I took my dad to his family's reunion. I haven't been for the past five years and I have to admit that I was feeling a bit guilty about not being there. As a child, I used to hate going to family reunions. Too much travel, that awkward feeling being around people you only see on an annual basis, and being out of my comfort zone in general. As a young man, I didn't feel I had the time to be bothered with reunions. Girls to date, and friends to hang out with. I went a bit more as a young married man with a family, even though corraling the kids, having to listen to them complain about the travel, and not knowing any of "those people" made it daunting. Couple it with hoping they didn't pee themselves, spill their food, or get into a fight with someone else's kids was deterring, too.

As an older man, I "get it" now. The need for connectedness. Family. History.

My dad was thrilled I'd be able to take him. My mother was recovering from knee replacement surgery and didn't feel like going. My wife stayed with her that day. So I listened to things my father spoke of on the way to Tarkio, MO. Some things were quite enlightening. Other things, such as the different girls he dated, I could've done without. Here he is with his remaining aunts, his mother's sisters. They are, from left to right, Aunt Imogene, Aunt Jane, Aunt Marlene, and Aunt Alice...

They were all the "younger" children of my great-grandmother and great-grandfather, my dad and a couple of his sisters being the same age as a couple of them. My grandmother was the third-born of the family, which I believe was 11 children.

I never met my grandmother, my father's mother. I was struck with a strange feeling as my dad related her passing during this time of year so many years ago. Next year, July 1, 2010 will mark the 70th anniversary of her death. My dad always speaks in whispers about Aunt Marlene(the one directly behind him). Of all the remaining aunts, he says, she looks the way he envisions how his mother would've looked had she lived and aged. Aunt Marlene also named one of her daughters, "Ruth," which was my grandmother's name--her sister's name. Here's my grandmother's resting place...

I've gotten tidbits of my dad's past. My grandfather took off after my grandmother died while she was trying to give birth to a seventh child, leaving six kids(aged 10 to toddlers) to fend for themselves. The town grocer got suspicious after 2 weeks of charges, and none of them for "adult" items such as cigarettes, but only simple items, and contacted the county welfare agents. My Aunt Mabel, the oldest, tried to take care of the others while they were left in a trailer, living on bread, milk, and raw potatos.

Five years ago, Aunt Grace, one of the older "Mutchler" children and sister to my grandmother, described helping another aunt and sister, Alberta, deliver my father behind an old cook stove during a cold February. Aunt Grace claimed that my grandfather had beaten my grandmother, which may have helped to cause her death. She also said that my great-grandmother took the "Worley" children in, having her older children help with the their care, even though she had a house full of kids herself. But my grandfather, ever the one to show me the nature of evil, came for his children with the Social Services Agent. He didn't want them, but he also didn't want Grandmother Mutchler to have them, either. So they were put into the foster care system. Aunt Grace described my father, at the time an 8 year old boy, clinging to Grandmother Mutchler's leg and crying, as he didn't want to leave.

When my father would talk of his childhood in foster care, it included abuse, malnutrition, being treated like slave labor, and being beaten with about anything an adult could get their hands on.

Ghosts...

There were good people in his life, though. Those who did what they could, give what love and encouragement they could. He adored E. A. "Lefty" Davis in Maryville, MO, considering him a "father." Eventually, he ended up in Atchison, KS living with the prominent Miller family, and speaks reverently of the kindnesses given and shown him by Mr. and Mrs. Miller. He has, at times, questioned why God would "allow" all the bad to happen to him. But without those things, and the good, too, he wouldn't have ended up in Atchison. Wouldn't have met my mother. Neither my brother, nor I, would be here.

Aunt Mabel passed in November of 2008. Of the six "Worley" children, only three are left. Here's my Aunt Maxine, with her husband, Uncle Dick...

And this is my Uncle Floyd with his wife, Aunt Shirley...

I'm not sad to have missed Comic Con.

July also marked the anniversary of the passing of my friend, Richard Wilson. A classmate and I made a promise to each other to get together for dinner with our wives. So far we haven't done it. I think it's time we did.

"A noun is a name...

2009-06-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

...of a PERSON, PLACE, OR THING!!!...," she would exclaim emphatically while clapping her hands and stomping her foot. I remember that grammar lesson to this day. The "she" was my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Snyder. I got word she passed away last week. She lived to be a 101, so she was getting close to retirement when I was taught by her back in the mid-to-late '60's. Other than my sixth grade teacher(whom I loathed), no other teacher from that time made more of an impression upon me than Mrs. Snyder. I absolutely adored her. Let me explain...

I was extremely content living in Wamego, KS. It was there I discovered Famous Monsters magazine and the wackiness of Uncle Forry Ackerman. It was a wondrous time of the clashing of cultures and changes with the Beatles and the "British Invasion." Bond movies were beginning to be produced, and the sounds of the Beach Boys were also starting to make the airways on the radio. I remember first hearing Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" on the radio of my folks' Oldsmobile, and thinking how cool it was to have a car with power windows. I discovered "Big Daddy" Roth and the Rat Fink. But I REALLY liked the Weird-Oh's, "Leaky Boat Louie," being my favorite. If I saved my allowance to a $1.03, I could afford the latest Aurora Universal Monster model kit with that wonderful James Bama artwork on the box.

Like all kids at that age, I had friends I still remember, but sadly didn't stay in touch with. One of them gave me a Spider-Man #2(without the cover). Another one introduced me to "Dr. Solar, Man of the Atom." I never would've met him except that I'd been kicked out of the pool that day for splashing the head lifeguard, a surly guy we referred to as "Crater-Face," from all the acne scars he had. Yes, life was good in Wamego. Then my dad got a better job offer...

So we moved to Effingham, KS. I was heartbroken. Effingham was much smaller than Wamego. The school system my dad was going to(he was the new head football coach) was consolidating from other smaller schools. Effingham didn't have a municipal pool, and the water actually stunk it was so hard. Tasted awful, as well.

One of the reasons for the move was my folks were going to finally own their own house and my mother would have her own beauty shop business. It was also closer to Atchison where my folks had grown up and gone to high school. My dad went to college at old St. Benedict's College. We lived with my grandmother while the new house was being built.

So I entered fifth grade with trepidation. I've hated being the "new kid" in school. And at that school the teacher's "doubled up." Mrs. Snyder also taught the sixth grade. We were all in one room.

She still let us have morning prayer, even though "Mad" Madeline conned the Supreme Court in saying we couldn't. She went by her middle name of "Geneva," stating she didn't like her first name of "Eva"--since "Eve" had committed the first sin, she didn't want any comparison.

She also hated the "new math," which was the rage at the time. I'd never understood it in fourth grade and struggled with long division. Mrs. Snyder said she'd taught long division for years and wasn't going to change. I learned it her way and never had a problem with it. And even though she had 2 grades at the same time to teach, I don't remember being bored, or feeling slighted. I felt like she could've taught me anything. Nor was fifth grade the only time I had her as a teacher. In seventh and eighth grade, she moved over to the new "jr. high," and was one of the Jr. High English teachers. So I was in her classroom again for those 2 years.

In the end, I have more fond memories of those years in Effingham and made more endearing friendships than I had in Wamego. Such is the way of youth.
------------------------------------
I'm also going to post some pictures from my son's, and new daughter-in-law's, wedding.

Here's a picture of my inlaws--my wife's sister and her family...

This is my wife and I with our son...

...here's our family. My oldest son, Adam, was best man and gave a toast at the wedding dinner that brought tears to everyone's eyes. My daughter, Rachel, gave a reading at the wedding ceremony, and did such a good job I thought she was going to take a bow...

...and here's all the Worley's of my side, including my mother-in-law and her husband, and my folks...

Obla dee, obla dah!

Wow! It's June already?...

2009-06-09T20:59:00.000-07:00

...so I didn't keep my promise to myself to blog more in May, equaling last year's total of one post for the month. This year, however, seemed to have just more stuff crammed into it.

*I got "promoted" at work, which meant a learning curve on trying to do stuff I hadn't done before, like payroll and office reports, along with keeping up with what I was doing.

*Finding time training the new assistant manager to do the things I had been, while keeping payroll down, and juggling schedules because the staff was predominantly still in school.

*My son got married.

*My nephew graduated. (I really hated missing that one.)

*Dealing with hyperactive terriers who still have housebreaking issues.

*My daughter's birthday.

*My 31st wedding anniversary.

*A church deacons' meeting--those are always long.

And I'm sure I'm missing something out of this. Is it any wonder I look like this?...

This particular image was drawn by Javier Gonzalez--the midwest's fastest caricature artist!!! And a really great guy!

June isn't starting better. My mother is scheduled to have knee surgery in the middle of the month. I've heard my uncle from California will be coming back to help. I'd like to be able to spend some time with them, but could see it being difficult. Worlds of Fun is a demanding "mistress."

Every now and then, something I did comes back to haunt me. This one, I guess, still makes the rounds, and it's from a time when I was more sure of myself and my abilities. To see the whole thing, just click on the image...

It was a fun piece. To this day "Betty" is still my favorite character to draw. The first professional freelance pencilling job I got was a one-pager from Archie--a "Betty" story. Nor is this piece a good example of how I NOW draw the characters. I learned a lot from Dan DeCarlo and Stan Goldberg whenever I got a chance to get pointers. There was a joy to the drawing, and I haven't been joyfully drawing since I had surgery on my arms and hands.

I did finish up, somewhat, on the Sat-7 minicomic project I'd let set too long. And it turned out rather well. I like how the characters ended up, design-wise. And NO, it's not a "this Bud's for you," but part of an illustration to help kids begin to fund-raise. Sat-7 is one of the few "media ministries" I have respect for. The prevelent ones just irritate me.

I do admit to recycling this image. Originally it was a cartoony version of Brian Miller of HiFi Colour Design, and I redrew it to make it "Dr. Salaam"--a little character I created to help promote the Sat-7 minicomic.

That's all for now.

Primal scream...

2009-05-14T20:40:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, and I told myself I wasn't going to abandon blogging regardless of circumstances. It's good venting therapy...somewhat. Some things have changed of late. My boss at Worlds of Fun, Len Hernandez, was asked to take over the operations at Fiesta Texas. It was, and is, a good move for him. He's from San Antonio to begin with, so it's going "home." But I admit to being saddened by his leaving. I think we made a good team. We could bounce ideas off each other, and we had a good handle on things here. And, as assistant manager, I could always duck when I saw a dungbomb coming. Managers don't always get to duck. So when he left I was asked to be "manager." It feels very daunting. I miss my friend.

I felt similarly about 10 years ago when Brian Miller left KC to move to Phoenix. He has been quite successful since the move and HiFi Colour Design has flourished. But we had good times in those embryonic years getting HiFi off the ground. I was stronger with him than without, and never quite found my way freelancing at home. I guess I just missed, and miss, my friend.

In 2007, Len went down with a serious medical condition which put him in a wheelchair. I had hoped that year it would be a short termed thing. It wasn't. I did my best to be "replacement boss." At times I found myself needing to vent like a crazy man. Usually when I felt at the end of my rope. One time my binder was on the dash of my van as I was driving to work and I had to swerve to miss another car only to watch the thing slide out the window and splatter on the pavement scattering forms and other paperwork everywhere. I had quite the primal fit, much like this...

(...incidently, this image is for a member of my Sunday School class, who has written a tract titled, "Don't Curse My God." BID.) I bottle stuff up a lot. And I felt that year that I couldn't "get away" from the park. It took a toll on me.

Along with this seems to be the "crashes" that come along, too. It never fails. In 2007 on top of everything else, my daughter was getting married and I had to deal with the emotional drain of it. 2009 is doing a lot of the same. Earlier this year, I set up booking with Young Audiences, as I do cartooning workshops through them. My son and his fiance decided to get married over Memorial weekend this year. Couple all things with getting "promoted" and trying to get the park season off the ground, learning and juggling new paperwork and responsibilities, along with working with newly promoted support staff needing to learn their responsibilities...and them my wife agrees to take in my daughter's dogs for the week! The Being commonly referred to as "God," must be having a good time watching me with this. After all, He is the original Jewish comedy writer.

Let me name the players...there are my two puppies, Daisy...

...and Sally...
And there are the "other" two belonging to my daughter and her husband. This is Henry...

...and Sophie...

As I was taking my morning "constitutional" yesterday, all I heard was this thundering of doggie feet up and down the hallway. And then they would descend on the bathroom where I was and proceed to roll and fight around my feet. Trying to herd them, "poddy" them, entertain them and get ready for work was...well...you get the idea.

Guess I should show the other "cursing" image I drew...

Oh, and Sally may have gone into "heat." Time for a primal scream.

vanquishing the 500lbs gorilla...

2009-04-29T16:10:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

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?...

2009-04-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-04T21:25:00.001-07:00

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...

2009-04-02T21:05:00.001-07:00

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.

the end of March, here's to a great April!...

2009-03-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

Not much to say about today. I worked on some commission caricatures, and will be posting those as I get them along. And there's nothing like milking a joke for all its worth, so I redialogued the con pic of Supergirl and me with more deprecating fatboy humor...

After drawing the "princess" piece for Brian Miller's upcoming book, and finding out it may not be in there, I began wondering if it might be re-worked into a webcomic format. Not sure if the "fantasy" market is saturated, or would be interested. But I've been doodling in that direction. Today, I sketched out a faun chick.

Later!

con talk...

2009-03-30T21:48:00.000-07:00

My daughter gives me fits about my blog. Recently, she chewed me out for talking about my dream of the "imaginary children." Said people would think I'm crazy. My rationale is that I may have maybe 10 people out of the 6 billion on the planet that have read this thing, so I'm not that worried about being thought of as "nuts." And if anyone IS actually reading this thing...is there any way to get from Blogspot the numbers of hits on an individual blog, like this one? I'm not that internet savvy.

Planet Comicon brought back some memories. And it made me more resolved to stay in touch with other artists. One is Justin Arrendondo. We keep talking about doing some sort of collaboration, but nothing has materialized. We were at a drawing shindig a few years back, and he drew a fish chick. Being the showoff I am, I drew my version of it, and he liked it. Since it had some obvious "nekkid" parts, those have been covered for the more sensitive...

So whadda' ya' think? Maybe some sort of short feature? On Facebook, some KC guys have been chirping about doing a Kansas City creators' book, so maybe it would have a home?

I also reconnected with a girl I used to draw caricatures with, out at Worlds of Fun. She has a character called "Mainasha," and I always thought it had potential. Any way, here's me with Arie Monroe...

My last post had a drawing I did of a "Supergirl." Here's the girl I based it on...

And since self-deprecation is my forte, I doctored a photo taken of me posing with Jessica, the Supergirl. Who said fumetti was dead?

Gotta go now. It's raining, and sounds very relaxing. I have some commission pieces to work on, and some Dibble strips to tighten up.

Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

the art of the con...

2009-03-29T18:56:00.000-07:00

To see the full image, just click on it...

It's amazing how some of the stuff you do comes back to "haunt" you. The initial image was done in '92, I think. Anyway, I was commissioned to do this years ago at a convention, and the image, somehow, has made the circuit among Legion fans. I have even had some inquiries as to a few recreations of it, and some "new imaginings" Ah! The joy, quirkiness and fascination of comics fandom!

This past weekend found me at Planet Comicon, put on by organizer, Chris Jackson. I have been in a funk and almost didn't go, but am glad folks around me, most notably my wife and my friend, Grant, goaded me into attending. I ended up have a really good time, inspite of the snow that fell Saturday.

I had been inking some rough sketches for my friend, Monte May, to help promote his online strip, "P.I.G. Tales," and gave them to him at the show. Here's how they turned out. First up is Officer Sanchez. She's the first one I got done...

The strip started years ago as banter between Monte and myself. I had caricatured him as the main character for a "police inspired graphic" tales, (hence, P.I.G. Tales) and we called the character, "Officer P. K. Wood"--as in "a green officer and a white boy working da' hood"--aka "peckerwood." He has revamped the character, and now he is known as "Sketch"...

Possibly the funniest character he has, is his Judge Dredd inspired chauvinist, "Stumpy"...

Other female officers include one I only know as "Bike Girl"...

...and a busty babe known as "Officer Jones"...

A duo in his strip include Linwood and Troost, surprisingly named after an intersection in the city. Like I stated earlier, he did roughs, which allowed me some leaway to interpret. Sometimes it doesn't go right. Monte's comment after telling me it was a great job was, "...he's supposed to be black." Whoops! Guess I'll be redoing this one!...

His partner, "Troost," is quite a womanizer, and like my own "church lothario," is very "rooster" inspired...

And you have to have the old salt of the group. He's "Scooter"...

My favorite of his characters is "Officer Smith," who is actually dead, but is too stubborn to fall over...

I met a lot of great artists and fans this past weekend. One of my highlights was to be situated where I had a great view of a "Mary Ann" from the "Real Gilligan's Island." Quite a beauty! And at the Elite Comics booths was a gorgeous girl in a Supergirl-inspired outfit named Jessica. I drew this "cartoon version" of her, and she liked it. So I promised to do an inked version to send to her. I'll keep the progress posted here. Here's how my initial sketch turned out...

Enjoy!

So say we all...

2009-03-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

There's a term used in television since the '70's called "jumping the shark." It's a reference to a Happy Days episode where Fonzie is waterskiing and jumps over a shark. It marks when a series has had its best, and is now either slowly or quickly headed downhill. Nothing really left to say.

I recently watched season 2 of "The Invaders," and it is fairly evident that the show took its turn at the episode, "The Believers." CSI jumped the shark for me when it was finally revealed that Grissom and Sarah were "bumping uglies," and William Peterson was dressed in a silk robe trying to look like a mack daddy. I lost interest, and my wife and I have been arguing over 8pm on Thursdays since. I now wish to watch Supernatural while she still wants to watch CSI. I'm wondering if Supernatural hasn't jumped the shark with this season, with the addition of "angel" and the war between good and evil reduced to a rather silly "gang fight." NCIS has started to lose my interest, too, beginning with the "Frog" storyline of the last 2 seasons. Ghost Whisperer jumped the shark for my wife when they killed of the husband and have been trying to "reincarnate" him. All shows eventually hit that point. Maybe they become too comfortable, or the writers choose an incorrect direction. Or write themselves into a corner. Which brings me to Battlestar Galactica.

Last night was the series finale. And I was disappointed somewhat. I re-watched the 2003 miniseries, the one that hooked me, and viewing it reaffirmed a lot of my disappointment. There was a lot they abandoned from it. It jumped the shark for me when it was "revealed" Tigh, Torrie, Sam and Tyrol to be cylons. The final episodes seemed to be boring, and milking the run. After setting up the show to be based more on a grounded reality, they ended by going all metaphysical. I wondered if Glen Larsen was in a room screaming his original Mormon-esque vision and version to the current producers, and they finally gave in. Starbuck was some kind of celestial being, disappearing for no apparent reason from Lee Adama on the new "Earth." And the show gave no explanation as to exactly "what" she was supposed to be, since she found her own "corpse" on the cylonized "Earth" she'd guided them to. All this time, the "imaginary Six" and "imaginary Baltar" were guiding angels. And some "guiding force" described as "God," "gods" or whatever had the remnant humans and now-loving cylons together on some virgin planet...that Starbuck, again, happened to know where to go.

There were some things from the miniseries hinted at, or revealed, that were left behind. Firstly, that the humanoid Cylons had "silica relays" of some kind. Maybe even being a silicon based life form. Adama had some kind of inclination, or intelligence, as he was with the Leobhan character on the Ragnar Anchorage station. Obviously the military hadn't abandoned trying to keep tabs on their old foes, as Adama seemed to know the storm around the station would mess up Cylon technology. And Adama had a note from "someone" in his quarters letting him know there were 12 models. Where that note came from wasn't ever answered. In an episode from season 2, Starbuck had some of her eggs harvested by the Cylons. That, too, was never addressed. And I never quite knew if there really was, or wasn't an "Earth," as Adama played his cards close to his vest. After all, there was no safe way to ever get to a safe haven if the 12 models weren't identified.

The intent of the Cylon were to destroy humanity completely, which was why they never gave up going after the Galactica. None were to be spared. Yet the writers had "sympathetic Cylons." The half human/half cylon baby should've been my first clue. I remember that trick used on "V" years ago with their version of the "star child."

There's a lot, I guess, that I could rail about concerning Galactica. In the end, I feel like the six years, four "season" and all that waiting for the new stuff was more of a letdown. I still think the original miniseries is the best thing I've ever seen on tv.

Can I say "frak"here?

"By your command..."

doodles...

2009-03-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

I'm most disappointed in myself. My friend, Monte May, has been at his webstrip for over a year now and has been diligent in encouraging me to get off my duff and get one done, myself. I should. And I have no excuse. I have about 3 more strips lying around needing finished on the pencils. The ideas are there.

I based this character on a guy I used to work with. Human resources used to tell us that "a handshake is the only acceptable form of human contact." No hugging, no patting, nada! But this guy could make a simple handshake a form of sexual harassment. And I've observed those at various churches I've attended who are the "huggers." That's fine. In reality, the world needs more hugs. More comfort. But there are always those who seem a bit too friendly, or it could be my own psychosis. I don't hug generally. And if I do, it is with someone who I know won't get any "other" ideas. So I thought of this guy in the vein of those who come off too huggy...

I went back to some basics. Made him more "rooster" like. And I like how he turned out. Now to use him in some strips!

This one was from watching a "Harry Potter" movie. I like the character actors they use, and this one flowed easily from out of the pencil while observing Mark Williams as "Arthur Weasley."

Simple lines. It seems to be the direction a lot of my art is going. But I might need to do some "serious" stuff just to show I still can.

Be good.

Watchin' the wheels go round 'n' round...

2009-03-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

Call me sarcastic, but the latest heralding of good times by the Kansas City Chiefs is the trade for New England backup QB, Matt Cassel, and I find myself shaking my head again. He's the new "savior," and if you listen closely to the music spinning up that it's the same old record played ad nauseum. "New blood comin' in, Gonna be fun again..." complete with BOW-chika-BOW BOW '70's kitsch was what we heard pre disco.

This is not a slap at Mr. Cassel or his abilities, but for almost 40 years the Chiefs have been in some kind of "rebuilding" mode. Usually it starts with a quarterback controversy followed by the firing of the coach, to acquiring/drafting the new "savior" QB, to " we're rebuilding" with a new coach only to have the "new" QB not quite work out...and the cycle starts all over again. Under "jolly" Jack Steadman's watch, the glass was always half empty. As long as the stadium was full, Chiefs' gear was being bought, sky boxes were sold and season tickets were at a premium, the carrot of "next year" would be continually dangled. But when there was a fan outcry, or outrage, with plenty of empty seats, too many leftover season tickets, and the "same old/same old" not working too well, did Lamar Hunt step in and want some "changes." So Carl Peterson came in. Under "king" Carl Peterson's tenure, the glass was always half full. We were always one, maybe two players away from making it over the top. After Lin Elliot, it was "if only we had a decent kicker..." If the Defense was good, the Offense sucked. If the Offense was good, then the Defense would suck. But like Jolly Jack, with King Carl, as long as the stadium was full, Chiefs' gear was being bought, sky boxes were sold and season tickets were at a premium, the carrot of "next year" was continually dangled. And, under King Carl, we won more playoff games then we had in previous decades. So far the Chiefs average about 1 playoff win per decade. The Chiefs were usually "one, and done." So much for the second attempt at the "glory years."

How much "rebuilding" does any team need? After a while, should it be done? Other teams seemed to find ways to get it done in a few years. In the 39 years since the Chiefs won the Superbowl, Pittsburgh made it 7 times, won 6. Dallas made it 8 times, won 5, the 49ers made 5 for 5...see a pattern? Even the hated Broncos and Raiders made it multiple times to the "big dance," and won some to boot! The teams that WANT championships generally win them.

So Chiefs' fans! How about a QB litany! Mike Livingston, Tony Adams, Tom Clements, Todd Blackledge, Steve Fuller, Bill Kenney, Ron Jaworski, Steve Deberg, Dave Kreig, Steve Bono, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, Brodie Croyle, Damon Huard...kind of stings, doesn't it? As for Joe Montana, he really wasn't a Chief. Face it, he was always a 49er. But I did love watching him play the 2 years he wore the "other" red jersey. And Bill Kenney DID become a part of the community, and it has been appreciated. And Trent Green came the closest to trying to fit in, like Lenny did. I really hated the way the organization and "Sperman" Herman treated him.

And there is a part of me that hopes Matt Cassel is the next "Len Dawson." But I keep having visions of Steve Bono instead. I hope Mr. Cassel tries to be a part of the community. We need a new "Mr. Cool," like Dawson was, and to his credit, how Len Dawson became an important part of the Kansas City landscape.

But let's face it...it ain't Todd Haley or Scott Pioli. It all sits squarely with Clark Hunt. He's the boss, and everyone else is an employee. In the end, if he wants to win, so will the Chiefs. If not...BOW-chika-BOW BOW "New blood comin' in, Gonna be fun again(clik)... again(clik)... again(clik)... again(clik)... again(clik)... again(clik)..."

All that we see or seem...

2009-03-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

March is here. I hear a cardinal outside singing his heart out. Another rough February is behind me, although this one was mild by comparison.

Fighting through this funk to draw more has been daunting, but I keep telling myself I've been drawing more than in the past. It seems that with the arm and hand surgeries, the knee surgeries, etc., that I just lost my "umpf!" It's hard to get it back.

I've been having really weird dreams of late. Surrealistic, for the most part. Crazy things. But every now and then, I have a dream that feels differently, like it has a grounding in reality.

A few years ago, I had one like that. Very real. Too real. I was going to take my daughters to their first day of the school year. Why that would be strange is that I only have one daughter, and she would've been 20/21 at the time. These were 2 "extra" children. My wife and I talked about having 4 when we were engaged and first married. We ended up with 3--2 boys and a girl. In the "dream," we not only had the real 3, but had spawned 2 more. Their names are "Megan" and "Emily."

We were also living in Maryville, MO in the house my folks used to own, an older house with lots of old oak decorations on the inside and stained glass windows. I'd always thought a wedding at that house would've been beautiful with the bride descending the great oak staircase with the huge stained glass window behind her.

I've always teased my kids. Given them a certain amount of crap. Even the kids I've worked with through the years have gotten a lot of ribbing. They all seemed to know it was in good fun, and some even learned how to "give it back," which I always found refreshing. My daughter, Rachel, has a deadpan "Why are you giving me crap?" expression coupled with a gleam in her eye of "I'll be deciding which rest home you'll be going to." In my dream, "Emily" was giving me the same look as I was teasing her about going to her first days at junior high school. I remember reaching out and lightly pinching her on the face, tweaking her cheek and saying "Don't you look cute today!" That really got me a deathray stare from her. I've never had the sensation of touch in a dream, except for this one. Oh, I've seen and heard things. Have had the sensation of falling. But this one was all 1st person point of view. I told both my wife and daughter about this particular dream, which, sadly, I've never had again. They both looked at each other, then laughed, and said I was going off the deep end. My wife was intrigued that we had more kids. I'm not sure Rachel would've enjoyed more siblings. At times, I have a sense of sadness. Loss. Maybe it's just part of the melancholy I need to get out of. But it was all so real.

Lately, when my wife is talking to the new puppies, she's given them middle names. She's been calling Daisy, "Daisy Megan," and Sally, "Sally Emily." Says they are our "2 other kids," but that doesn't seem right to me.

Dibble dribble...

2009-02-18T10:52:00.000-08:00

I did some warm up sketches to get on the move for the "Pastor Dibble" comic strip I've been noodlin' on. My first "church lothario" didn't fit, so I tried again...

I like that one better. A bit more smarmy.

And I thought about, for future strips, the other folks the Dibbles would interact with, such as another church lady. Probably the one that Bailey would commiserate with...

I've had positive reaction, for the most part, to Bailey and the fact that she is curvy and attractive. I have a strip in mind with her exercising at home to stay in shape. Here she is doing some cardiovascular kick boxing moves...

Lastly, my wife and I went "antiquing" as it were on Presidents' Day. Call it a mini-roadtrip. At one of the booths at the Jesse James Antique Mall outside St. Joseph, MO, I found a Lenn Redman caricature. From his bio on Wikipedia, he had quite a long career in animation, and did a lot of caricaturing. I knew about him from his book on caricaturing, so I recognized the signature. Here's the "treasure" I found...

Be good!

the hypocritic oath...

2009-02-12T04:42:00.000-08:00

Okay. I have a confession to make. For the past 3 weeks, we have had 2 new "additions" to our family. Their names are "Daisy" and "Sally."

I had/have been in a funk ever since Christmas and Bosco's passing. My boss at Worlds of Fun put on what he calls, "Cripple Con," named so after his freak illness from 2007. It was an artists' gathering in mid-January at Excelsior Springs, MO, and I'd signed up to be there. On the Saturday of the event, I finally got up enough "umpf" to go, but wanted to take a distracting detour to improve my mood...visit a pet store just to look around. When we got to the pet store, there were 2 West Highland White Terrier puppies in the display. One of them was quite animated, and my wife had always wanted one. We asked the clerk if we could see her, and I could tell my wife was "hooked." Didn't know if I was up for it, though.

When the animated one was let loose, then the other one got to fussing. Kind of a "hey, what about me?" kind of thing. The boss lady of the store came up to us and said if we liked that pup, and bought it, she'd give us the other pup for nothing. Two for one! Bargains are always a plus to my wife. I said we'd think about it, hoping common sense would prevail.

On the way to Excelsior Springs, we talked about it, and decided we'd take the plunge. While in an earlier post, I'd said we have been "recycling" pets by going to the local animal shelters, I have to now apologize for my hypocrisy. But they are cute. The payback, though, is I haven't house broken a dog for well over 25 years. Trust me. I'm being well punished for it. But...here's Daisy...

...and here's Sally...

Getting pics of them has been difficult as they seem to be constantly moving. There are exceptions, but use of a camera wouldn't be prudent. Yesterday while taking my morning "constitutional" with my pants down around my ankles...we have no privacy now at all...Sally fell asleep curled up in my underwear. I know...TMI! Here's another pic of my daughter trying to hold them so we could get a picture...

Since this is supposed to be an "art blog," I'll post a drawing. One of the kids I taught caricaturing, Alexandria(Alex), has me draw her mother each year. I'm amazed and flattered she wants me to, but admit a certain devilish glee. The first year I drew her mom, I drew her as a sexy mermaid. This shocked Alex, and even more when her mother liked the drawing! So four years later, she still brings her mom to the park, and here's how this year's sketch turned out...

...and a close up of the sketch...

I normally hate my park sketches, but this one didn't turn out too badly.

Lates!

some colors!...

2009-02-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

I just got these from Brian Miller. Here's what he did for the colors on the "Sherlock Hound" and "Tommi Trek battling the Mummies" pieces. Click on the images to see a larger view...

I hope you like...

Has it been a year since I started this?...

2009-02-08T20:23:00.000-08:00

It could be! It all seems to have flown by quickly. Getting older really does suck. And I'm not the most organized person in the world. I found a page I started to do a "horror" strip with...FINALLY. And in the time I searched I probably could've just re-drawn the thing. Too much clutter.

But I found some other stuff, as well. This image is a sketch from another project, and since it didn't fly then, it seems I could use it in "Dibble." Probably for the church "lothario."

This one is of me...a bit of a "horror" caricature. Never thought of myself as THAT creepy, but I'm sure someone thinks differently...

An old friend from days past contacted me about doing some character designs and such for a pitch. I've been doing some faces to get back into the swing, using his descriptions to see what I come up with. Here are some of them...

Gotta go!

Ouch! It's February already?...

2009-02-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

Haven't forgotten about this blog. And I promise to have more up tomorrow. But to prove I have gotten off my duff, and FINALLY started on Pastor Dibble, here's a taste...

Enjoy!

Whoops!...

2009-01-21T13:30:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add this one to the previous post. At heart, I'm still a "cartoony" guy. And even though I can do "realistic" to semi-realistic, the cartoony still appeals more. Here's one of some cartoon Super Chix...
I was in the church Hanukkah/Christmas dinner theatre again. We had done this particular drama three years ago, but modified it somewhat for this year. Five years ago, I painted this back drop of a Bethlehem "sheep scene," and it held up rather well...
The hallway to the fellowship hall was to be a Bethlehem street complete with shops, and to enter, you had to go through the "city's gate." Here's the hallway while we were working on it. When it was done and lit with blue for night, it was quite effective...
I was the "evil innkeeper" who refused Mary and Joseph any hospitality for there was "no room in the inn." In actuality, I dismiss the "official" version given by the "church," "Church", or "CHURCH," as a whole. But I did this play with the purpose of helping me to learn more Hebrew blessings, and give good church folk some introduction to the "Jewish-ness" that is lacking in understanding the life of Jesus. So there were mezuzot at the doors, tzitziot on the four-corners of the garments, inclusion of the Hanukkah menorah, dreidels for the kids, candles, Kiddish, kosher food(as much as Gentiles can do), and an appreciation of what the Maccabees did, and its importance to Jewish culture not only of that time, but today as well. Here I am with the music director both trying to stay cool, collected and continent before the performance...
Here's a scene where I show I wasn't paying attention during Torah lessons as I am shamed by my wife to find a spot for a homeless widow
And finally, I'm really getting the riot act read to me by my wife(and she is my wife in real life, too), as someone stupid enough to have turned away Messiah's family prior to his birth, sending them to the stable...
In truth, it didn't happen that way 2 centuries ago. If one really reads the text in Matthew's and Luke's Gospels without the goo, sugar plums, and tinsel, a different account takes place. Also, most Gospel versions miss-translate the word, "kataluna" as "inn," when it means "guest room." No one really listens, though. Too many "nativity" scenes already in storage for next year.

Some stuff...

2009-01-20T20:37:00.000-08:00

I really DO need to blog more...sketch more, too. But here's a warm-up of a "wurdalak"...
And I got the inks done on the pieces for Brian Miller's book. Here's how the Fantasy Princesses ended up...
...and the "Tommi Trek/mummies" piece...
...and "Sherlock Hound," which is very open, and should be quite a good piece for colorists to work on...
I should have some more to blog about this week, and get some drawing done.