Meet the Dibbles!...

As is usual with people of a priggish nature, I give great advice but rarely take my own. Such has been the case with a friend of mine who has faithfully been doing a weekly webcomic strip for over the past year. Oh, he seeks my advice, and graciously tells others how much he's learned from me. But in essense, he's doing what I should be. And hopefully that is going to change.

Part of my anxiety has been of a commitment nature. Picking a project and seeing it through. Not being worried as to whether or not it's "good enough," but doing it because I should. Hence I finally got off my fat butt and got that Sat-7 mini-comic to the point of now it just needs some gentle honing. But now it's on to the "Dibbles."

I read an article years ago about submitting to syndicates and the development of comic strips. One fine point made was to not do a strip based on "no one else is doing it that way," or just because there isn't a strip about a giraffe isn't reason to do a giraffe strip. Sadly and joyously, the internet allows anyone the access to put up whatever. And with the sheer amount of material available, it will be quite an adventure building an audience. Will the strip be good? Technically, I'm a fairly decent cartoonist, so on that level it will be competent. As to the writing, I'm looking at it as my own way of "throwing some rocks at the church windows."

The strip I am working on is to be called, "Pastor Dibble," and will be about the trials and tribulations of a goofy Baptist minister. I think it has some potential, at least for some interesting lampooning. Evangelicals do tend to be a bit thin skinned, so I'm sure I'll get some eventual "why do you hate us" stuff. But I am one of the "us," so who better to do it? And I'm not sure where "Bob Dibble" came from. While assuredly from my own twisted psyche, he seems to be from 2 Bobs, 1 Paul, and a Roy. And only one of them was a Baptist! It should be fun.

I showed a draft of "Dibble" in my last post, but here's a rendition of the he and his wife, Bailey...I asked my wife in the initial stages as to how the "Pastor's wife" should look, and was surprised that she thought she should be frumpy. So I went the opposite direction and thought there were more potential fireworks if she were "hot." Frumpy would've limited the appeal, and maybe been stereotypical. Certainly tv has not followed that, but had several goofy guys have attractive mates--Ralph Cranden, Fred Flintstone, George Jetson. And current shows such as "Family Guy," "World According to Jim," and "Still Standing." Even in the style guides for the "Simpson," it's stated that Marge has a sexiness to her.

My initial take on her was a bit stilted. Even the one above isn't where I want her to be. So I've gone back and done some additional study. I like the angular look to the animation style of the '50's and early '60's. Those guys did a lot with a little. One friend suggested making her more like Sarah Palin, who has certainly brought some "heat" to the current dreary election. To make it work, she needs to be busty and curvy. And why not? Where is it written that sinners get all the hot chicks? Will she be virtuous? Absolutely. Here's what I came up with tonight...I plan on starting out as a weekly. So far I have about 40 gags I like. But I still need to draw them, which is why I will be giving you all a "Leilah Tov"(Good Night!)

God Biz, part deux...

My son says I need to journal more often, but it often reflects whether or not I'm getting anything done, art-wise.

If you are "anti-religion," you may want to exit now, because there's going to be some "religious" talk, and of a "pro-religion" type vein.

I was asked by a missionary, who attend the church I'm at, to draw a "mini-comic" for the ministry he's affiliated. I had done one for him a few years back, and supposedly it was a success! (Hey, I'm stuck here in the midwest. What do I know?) So we kicked around the idea of a sequel. And I wanted a chance to do better job this time. Call it one of my psychoses, that I never think what I've done is ever "good enough." I'm dealing with it. I started working on it earlier this year, had knee surgery, had Worlds of Fun to deal with as it kicked into the full-time season, but finally got off my fat butt and decided I had no excuse and was going to finish the thing--PERIOD!!!

I got 1 hour's sleep between Friday and Saturday, but got it done. And the pages will follow thusly...Yes, I can see the "flaws" now that I've had some sleep, and self-editing is a pain. But I've started to work over tweaking what I've done to make it better. At least I got it this far!!! Oy Vey!!!

And with this mostly out of the way, I hope to work on some web comics. I have an idea for a strip about an eracible, somewhat cantankerous Baptist minister--kind of saying a lot of the thinks I normally think but don't. Call it "throw rocks at the church windows," so to speak. Here's what he looks like...

More stuff to come...

Fall...

I love the fall. Love the colors. Love the feel in the air. There's a "home" feeling to autumn.

Tonight at sundown will begin "Yom Kippur," aka the "Day of Atonement." It completes a 10 day period that begins with Rosh Ha'Shanah, known as the "10 Days of Awe," during which time one should reflect, repent...essentially put their affairs in order. So I wish everyone on this "Sabbath of Sabbaths," that may your find mercy from the King of the Universe, and be inscribed for a good year.

I'm planning a contest this weekend, kind of something to make Halloween at Worlds of Fun more fun for the kids that work for Kaman's. And it gave me a chance to do some caricaturing/cartooning. I used 5 kids I work with(sorry, I only have reference pics for 4), and here they are......and here's what I came up with for a Halloween piece...You can view a larger, more detailed version at: http://www.ghotierman.com/Halloween_color_flat.jpg.

More stuff coming soon.

laughing all the way to the bank...

The title sums up my feelings on Precious Moments, or PM as I've abbreviated it. And that is not in the context of them, PM, laughing at their audience, but at those who probably have found ways to criticize PM and what it does. Even my own cynical self found a few tears in my eyes walking through the Chapel tour and reading some the tributes there sent in honor of loved ones. I enjoyed taking the time to sit outside in the back of the Chapel gardens and just breathe.

As it turned out, Sam Butcher was there the day we visited. I didn't think much of it at the time, figuring that it was a common occurance. He was recovering from some kind of surgery on his ear and couldn't hear well, or at all. His "handler" was there as a buffer, but he was very friendly. Here's a pic, albeit badly lit, of Mr. Butcher and myself...According to Wikipedia, Mr. Butcher doesn't live in the US, but makes his home in The Philippines, only coming stateside during certain season to visit the Chapel. So for that, I feel very fortunate.

One thing I found of interest was his non-PM artwork, which showed a flair for color and cartooning. I liked this painting... And here's some greeting card art he had. Sorry for the poor pics...

The only thing bad about tours of this nature, particularly "Christian" type tours, is that there is a tendency to make things sound a bit too good to be true. Mr. Butcher is not from Missouri, but felt the LORD wanting him to build the PM Chapel at Carthage. Probably so. But it also corresponds to the time Nashville discovered Branson and decided to make it a new Country Music haven. Nor am I being cynical or terse--it made good business sense. The tour version of events was a bit too sugary, and there certainly are Butcher detractors,...but Wikipedia had a more "balanced" account. It wasn't all easy. Mr. Butcher, like us all, is a human being complete with his own flaws. There was some pain that went into the Precious Moments Chapel's coming into being, and that I can respect. My wife's immediate thought wondering if I could work for them. My own thoughts were of is there something I have yet to cartoon, draw, create, and leave behind with some pride and humility? By the way, here's another painting I enjoyed there...

I'm still processing it all, but have concluded in some fashion that I need to return to serious drawing. Too many things half done. Maybe that's what Sam Butcher did--he finished stuff he started.

Precious and few...

First of all, "L'Shanah Tovah!," or "Happy New Year" to all the "tribe" and those who love and care for them. For anyone who actually read the drivel I compose here and has no idea of what this is about--it's Jewish New Year.

Years ago, my mother was a beautician. She once told me I ought to consider being a male beautician because of the money I could make. Oh, I'd be made fun of for sure, with every gay joke, reference, and innuendo that could be made. But she also told me I'd laugh all the way to the bank. This actually has a point, as I'd like to begin to conclude the mini-vacation I took with my wife a week or so back.

The Friday we were to head back to KC we took a morning trip to the "Precious Moments" Chapel, which is outside of Carthage, MO. My wife drug her feet a bit on going thinking the whole thing would be "lame." As it ended up, I had to drag her(figuratively) out of the gift shop so we could head home! I'm sure that PM has its share of detractors. Most "serious" artistes would use words like "kitsch" or "pedestrian" in description. After all, true "artists" aren't suppose to do such things. I got a good dose of that in art school, as guys like Norman Rockwell were looked down on. And the true snobbery takes place by denigrating the audience, or customers, for PM. Similar to those who criticize Jeff Foxworthy for playing to the "Walmart crowd." Maybe so, but like Foxworthy, PM and Sam Butcher(the PM creator) probably laugh all the way to the bank. Or just don't care. Why should they? Maybe they've learned to appreciate those who like what they do, and ignore those that don't. It's what I need to learn to do. We'll start the mini-tour with a fountain that greeted us at the Visitors' Center...

The gardens there were beautiful and peaceful. It was nice to just walk around, see the flowers, enjoy the day, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Finally we came upon the Chapel...

The inside of the Chapel contained artwork done by Sam Butcher and in the PM style(of course). Here's one of the big panels at the back of the Chapel...It had a very high ceiling. Butcher wanted to emulate what had been done at the Sistine Chapel...

The artwork was divided into scenes from the Tanakh(sorry...I don't like the term "old testament") and from the Messianic Writings(same distain for term "new testament"). This is from the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price...

Outside the Chapel were more grounds with a lake and a "castle"...Butcher made sure there was a cave on the grounds, so to have a place to commemorate the resurrection of the Christ. It's way off in the background of this pic......and here's a close-up with a PM "angel" to signify that He is risen, and not in the "tomb"...

In the gift shop were all sorts of things to buy, including what seemed to be a "'round the year" Christmas store. And huge statuary. Here's one with my wife to give scale. She's about 6', so you get an idea of how large this piece is... Here's Sam Butcher's bust... And another fountain as we were leaving...

I can't fault Butcher for finding something that works for him. It's not an uncommon formula or structure to the PM characters. It's been used before similarly in children's books and by Warren Kremer and the Harvey artists on Casper, Richie Rich and the like. All of them are very round and "child-like." I guess in conclusion, I admire what he has accomplished, but need to find my own "thang."

And tomorrow, I'll conclude with pics of Butcher's other stuff, a rare photo op as he was there that day, and some thoughts on what I may need to do to get myself started again.

Be good!

Every garden has a snake...

Technically, it IS tomorrow, and the anniversary of the second day of Creation. Now on with the pontificating...

I can take kitschy "Halloween." As an occurrance during the year and its appearance in the fall, its a great time. Horror movies generally don't bother me. I love the classic Universal monster movies, and still can't decide if I am more in the "Hammer" camp or "AIP" camp when it came to horror movies of the '60's and '70's. If you ask me, I blame the crop of "sympathetic" vampires, such as Anne Rice's, the Buffy tv show, and the current fascination with "Twilight" squarely at Dan Curtis and Art Wallace. Barnabas Collins was supposed to be a villain and would not be on the show for long. Staked and gone, on a show headed for cancellation. But Jonathan Frid became a daytime television heart-throb, and the show writers had to find some way to keep him, hence the "vampire with a conscience." BID.

Casper, Spooky, HotStuff--they were just neat little characters drawn by Warren Kremer and others for Harvey. When I decided I wanted to work in comics, one of my goals was to draw HotStuff. Sabrina was just a kooky witch at family-friendly Archie Comics. The EC stuff and early Warren mags were just "cool." I adored Burton's "Sleepy Hollow," and thought Gibson's "Passion of the Christ" was a pornographic orgy of over-the-top violence. Nothing more than a glorified snuff film. (You can imagine how well that plays with the evangelical church crowd.) My favorite movie is "The Wizard of OZ."

Oh, and I'm drawing up a caricature piece based on some of the kids at Worlds of Fun I work with. Here it is as a rough sketch...Somehow, this has helped me to get back to drawing.

So now the segue to our Carthage, MO trip...In my last post, I outlined the basics of our trip to south Missouri. All in all, Carthage was very peaceful, and my wife loved a lot about that community. We did find out that meth is a problem there, but most communities, large and small, have some kind of substance abuse going on. It's just a reality.

The people were friendly, the food at the restaurants was good(I heartily suggest eating at Iggy's Diner, by the way--wonderful burgers!) and it reminded me of all those movies from the past where small town life was good, decent, and wholesome. Lots of antique stores, as well. And in them was lots of Americana, religious stuff, etc. So imagine my surprise when I stumbled on to this...Needless to say, it stuck out like a sore thumb. The store owners were kind and let me photograph it. It had a $2400 price tag. Here's what the footings of the box looked like...Creepy, eh? Here's some more pics, with details of the frontaspiece and face...

I told my wife I'd found something creepy, but I wanted to see if she could find it herself. She did, and was stunned, too. Moreover, the most sour faced woman I'd ever seen seemed to be skulking around her when she went back for a closer look. Let me describe her as I was not smart enough to sneak a picture of her--she was dress "Amish" style with the apron, bonnet, etc. But not in the Amish black/gray motif. She was dressed in reds. I'm sure someone out there will correct me that she wasn't out of the ordinary, but she disturbed me more than that antique clock!

We told the sponsor lady at the library about this, but she wasn't surprised. Maybe there are more than realized who put on the conservative, church-going facade, yet go dancing naked, or chanting in druid robes, in the moonlight. Nor am I damning Carthage. I'm just reminded of Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Browne."

Nor is KC that great. Since we've lived in KC, there've been at least 2 serial killers caught--Bob Berdella and John Robinson--not to mention BTK in Wichita, KS. And up the road about an hour from us is Chillicothe, MO where an old couple were killing off migrant farm workers. Now you know why I titled this "Every garden has a snake." Sometimes plural.

Next up...a positive as I show some stuff from the Precious Moments Chapel...

a short trip...

My wife and I took a "mini-vacation" last week to Carthage, MO. I was scheduled to do a cartooning workshop at the local library, and thought it would make a great excuse to get out of town.

I didn't know much about Carthage. Doing some digging, I found out it's the home to my favorite salad dressing, "Otts." It also was the site of an important Civil War battle, and is on "historic" Route 66. The Precious Moments Chapel is there, too, and we stayed at the Precious Moments Hotel.

The library is one of the few remaining Carnegie libraries still in active use. And there was a great garden area around it with statuary. Here's one to "Alice in Wonderland"...This one is to Marlin Perkins of "Wild Kingdom" fame, who was born in Carthage...

The inside of the library still had the original decoration and columns......and a great domed ceiling...

All in all, it seemed like a view of real "Americana," and probably very right-wing, righteous, and Republican. Lots of huge churches of every flavor. Lots of history and community pride. And great big houses my wife fell in love with. I wish I could make it back for their "Maple Leaf" Festival, but I don't think that's happening this year.

Sorry for no drawings today. Probably not tomorrow, either. But I will have pics of "a snake in the garden" as I continue with our trip log, and lastly a mini-essay on our visit to the Precious Moments Chapel the day after. Then some drawings, I promise.

PS--Today also corresponds to Elul 25 on the Jewish calendar, and is considered by many Rabbis as the anniversary of Creation. If you are unsure of what I'm talking about, it begins with Genesis 1:1. "L'Shanah Tovah!"