Sunday, March 17, 2024

"'Doughs"

Right about the time I recognized that I had fallen into a predictable pattern - in this instance repeating the Ol' Timer character - I followed some long-time advise routinely given to students in the drawing studio (particularly during the caricature unit and also gag writing techniques) that if you sit back and say to yourself "that's really stupid" that's the time to push it even further, as in way over the edge. So I drew him five times in one panel.

Also used the old-fashioned name for the fifth flavor, as I had to look up what the hell "umami" was. And just like pushing the envelope over the edge of the drawing table, I guess that the olfactory angle all comes down to, uh, a matter of personal taste. 

Saturday, March 16, 2024

“Baked Alaska” #69 + #70 + bonus doodles

There'll still be a couple more posts - next two Saturdays at high noon - where we'll upload the last of the doodles.... but for today, jump below the fold and find out what the last two "Baked Alaska" panels are!

Sunday, March 10, 2024

"New Tricks"

Another in a six-week series of panels that featured the Ol' Timer character, charitably interpreted as being based off of my father (who despite his many faults was not as stupid as this guy). It's also become very clear in retrospect how much I have been listening to myself talk over the years of lecturing to Beginning Drawing students about compositional arrangement of the elements on a picture plane so as to enhance the depth of even a relatively simple scenario. All of which is to say, along with the character, I'm visually repeating a predictable pattern. Conversely, I have as of late been upending some traditions, pulling the creative rug out from under myself, such as voluntarily switching to the majority of the feature being rendered in color, for example. Still don't know how to type though.

Saturday, March 9, 2024

"Baked Alaska" #65 - #68

Time to spark up another episode of "Baked Alaska" as we roll up the final feature panels now that the Alaska Cannabist magazine has folded. Join us below the fold for more...

Sunday, March 3, 2024

The Return of Cartoon & Comic Arts: ART 220 / ART 420

Note that this is a slightly different screen-grab than the similar one recent appearing on the "Teaching Teaser" post from a few weeks ago. The key difference is in flowchart down the right-hand side of the screen that indicates that the progression of the paperwork for this course (and also in tandem with the Beginning level, ART 220) has now moved from off the desk of the Provost, bearing their signature, and will now at long last appear in the catalog for the fall semester of 2024. Hence the absence of any link to registration for direct enrollment into the class, but it's now just a matter of time for the finishing touches and it becomes formally added to the official UAF catalog as a legitimate part of the College of Liberal Art curriculum in the Department of Art. More after the jump...

"Come gather 'round" - The Buffet of Awesomesauce

"Fairy Godmusher"

During one of my usual mid-lecture segues in a recent art class final critique, I likened the creative process to that of mining for gold: First you must use a pickaxe to begin breaking down manageable chunks, then into successively smaller pieces, which in turn go into a (mental) sluice-box, which will slowly refine the material into that lump, or flake, of stuff. This stuff has the connotation that it’s of something precious + rare, comparatively small but of high value. I’ve mentioned here before how the name change came about; since I had an editor who restricted the number of outhouse jokes per year (more than one being one too many), random moose nuggets would begin to pop up (moose present in panel or not). And I retired "FreezeFrame" with the defense that "Nuggets" had such both universal (ex: "nugget of wisdom" or "... information" etc.) and local (as in the pioneer//frontier/sourdough associated "gold nugget") appeal. We just won't talk about the connotation with crap.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

"Baked Alaska" #61 - #64

Well hi there! This post is a little bit outta sequence, which is weird for a sequential artist. In fact, faithful readers will see a bonus run of Baked Alaska's for every weekend during the entire month of March, at high noon on every Saturday.
Reasons, and the usual notations below the fold...

Sunday, February 25, 2024

"Ice Reveal"

Dedicated to the tireless efforts of the folks from road maintenance who essentially resurface Interior streets to a polished sheen where a Zamboni would feel right at home. I have reached the age of ice cleats and walking like a penguin everywhere when it's icy outside. So yeah, half the year I have to watch my step because if I'm going down I likely won't be getting back up anytime soon. And sooner or later neither will the AWD Subie with all-season tires.

Sunday, February 18, 2024

"Sudden Onset Hibernation Syndrome"

Decades ago I did a cartoon about glacial surges from the freezer, based on real life examples and personal experiences of poor kitchen appliances. Fast-forward to today and I now know the science behind what the difference is between true hibernation and what is far more commonly experienced - torpor.

Once again I am reminded of how - aside from interpreting the hieroglyphics of primal doodles discovered upon waking in the morning - less can be more, and of the power of a single, simple line. These marks made on a sheet of paper that represent something, communicate an idea, are so immediate and expressive. This is also again a great illustration of how much refinement can occur between the initial doodle and the slightly more informed and rendered verion that goes into the omnipresent sketchbook.

Sunday, February 11, 2024

"Freshness Packet"

Okay I admit to recently scarfing down a bag of jerky, which is disgusting (and horrible for you), but like a Cracker-Jack box it always has a prize: the little bag of silicon pellets for preserving freshness. And that's often how inspiration is found... at the bottom of a bag (or a bottle).

Also the canny observer might note the differences between the posted examples: this was one of the rare instances I inadvertently drew the same panel twice, and consequently did a digital amalgamation between the two, as the expressions were better on one and the body better on the other.

As an aside this was one of two pieces I submitted to the spring juried art show at the Fairbanks Arts Association's "Food" exhibition. It was accepted and the other one, "Lack Toes" was rejected. Although I didn't get to ask the juror as to why one and not the other, my hunch is the aesthetics of an original watercolor versus a digital print with a more slick, commercial feel, which might be the result of a bias (I oscillate between them myself), but hey 50/50 odds are better than usual.