"Half Calf" (aka Alaska Bearista)

This one was doodled out on site, but I neglected to take a reference photo, which, while on the one hand can severely limit your options when it comes to accurately depicting - or re-creating - a specific scenario, but on the other, can be creatively freeing, as you'll just have to make even more stuff up. And since it's a cartoon, that's obviously not anything to really worry about... excepting when it comes to maintaining that illusion of a three-dimensional xspace on a flat piece of paper.

And so when it came to rendering the haunch correctly, as in seating it properly upon the surface plane of the countertop and aligning the legs in a believable way, there was no end of frustration over getting them just right. This can be easily ascertained from just from the sheer number of attempts it took to dial in the damn drawing as evidenced by the dozen or so ghost images left behind by penciling & erasing of initial sketches over and over again.

I also took artistic liberties with enhancing pictorial depth by adding in the bagel case in the foreground. This was an example of my "visual sampling + remixing" approach of sketching in various items to arrange for a better (ie more effective depth) composition. 

Whew. Aside from all that, it's the best one of the year, in my humble opinion. It was actually drawn up at the end of 2023, and ran in print January of 2024. Which in turn means it'll lead off my next submission packet to the National Cartoonists Society's "Reuben" awards (note: Alaska's own Chad Carpenter won one in 2008). I've only done it twice now, the first back in 2011, and the entry process was cumbersome and confusing, but this past year was smooth and easy. But once again I didn't include what were the strongest (ie funniest + best drawn) panels because they were so hyper-regional, and wouldn't be understood by any non-resident. But this next year, I'm actually gonna lean into it, and stop the self-censoring, just be myself, I yam what I yam, and lead off the 2025 submission packet with this one.

PS/Update: I've mentioned it before elsewhere but I really mean it when I say yeah it's super cool to be in a gallery show (like this particular piece was for the 2024 UAF art department faculty exhibition) or a museum - but nothing beats seeing a funny out in the wild.

Cheers Mocha Dan's!

Nuggets Sketchbook: "Mooooose" + "Wheeeeasel" + "Tickle Ivories" + "AK Samonella"

A few from the "Nuggets Sketchbook" series - one of which I forgot to put the designating caption on, but it's stylistically - and obviously - different enough from 98% of all the other panels done in pen & ink, since they're rendered with ballpoint pen. Like the one posted up top here, "AK Salmonella," these were all just taken straight off the pages of the omnipresent sketchbook, with minimal tweaking for the print version.
Join me below the jump for more...

Family Day @ Museum of the North

Whoops I went and totally spaced out posting about this Family Day gig up at the Museum of the North - but that brings up the rumor there'll be a cartooning day (hopefully with a few other friends) at least once, maybe a couple times - especially now since the show's been held over until through next April, making the run last a whole year up on display due to it's popularity.

Special thanks to the staff whose hard work behind the scenes made this possible, and really appreciated the kind invitation to participate in such a great community event.

Honestly I didn't set out any of my cartooning stuff to demo at this gig, put it all back away during setup saying to myself "now, now... this is gonna be serious sketching today, no funny stuff... this is Fine Art." Didn't last long.

Just like the recent Demo Day down at the newspaper, where it took me all day to finally get a walrus done right, the twelfth time was the charm in this instance. But seriously that is a crucial meta-lesson for any folks learning how to draw: the simple trick is to just keep at it until it happens. It will.

In fact here's proof you always get better with practice. These were from 2018 - 2019, while on field trips with Beginning Drawing classes. Of course this little fella had previously been enshrined behind a wall of glass as he was in another long-running display, so it was great to be able to sketch him 360°.

Best of the Show: This dude cracked me up... and I'll have some serious competition in cartooning when he comes of age. Which will be a challenge since I haven't grown up at all. Also, that's not "Muscle Milk" it's "MARMOT MILK."

 

PS: And the whole time this little ditty was running through my mind...

"Ice Cream Farm"

"Well... it made sense to me at the time." Often it can be a real challenge to interpret the hieroglyphic chicken-scratches of hastily doodled ideas, which is part of the reason they get translated into the omnipresent mulch-pile. That opportunity doubles as a chance to exercise the most important skill, revision - at times the apply ultimate edit and just let it rot away. As in, it ain't funny. Then there the times a few slip through the dip-net and you see it in print and wonder what the heck.
"Well... it made sense to me at the time."
*obligatory Alaskan trivia

"Dancing Bears"

This particular panel is much more of an autobiographical piece than the usual ha-ha funny (one hopes) gag, as in it's mostly a moment in my mind that sums up everything about being a cartoonist. 

There's also something of a lineage with the dancing bear, as it's a repeated motif in a couple other instances as well, everything from a tattoo to a classic Baked Alaska feature.

One thing that was like, whoah dude, far out, was when this ran in the newspaper (subscription here: remember to support local journalism for both patriotic, constitutional reasons that are the foundation of a democracy, but also help support the all peripheral talent too) I first saw it while at my usual table at the usual cafe doing the usual sketchbook session. But for the first time in all my many, many years camping out at this cafe, the morning bakers were on that particular morning blasting the Grateful Dead's 1974 album "From the Mars Hotel." Like, cosmic connection, man.

"Podcasting"

Though nowhere near as intricate and belabored an arrangement as "Orca-stra" from a few years back, this particular panel draws upon a similar scenario (bonus points for anyone remembering this classic as well). But again, behold the power of executive editorial decisioning during the process, mainly on account of (like the aforementioned "Orca-stra") I really, really didn't wanna draw a flotilla of damn dolphins, so instead opted for a much more complicated composition involving an entire herd of different marine mammals instead.

And just like a recent post about "Streaming," no, I haven't ever availed myself of any podcasts either. Like many a term bandied about contemporary discourse, hearing it eventually annoys me enough to pay enough attention to it to make fun of it.

"Road Safety Nuggets"

Back in 2021 Professor Nathan Belz of UAF’s College of Engineering & Mines commissioned me to illustrate a project of his with the Center for Safety Equity in Transportation. He picked me based on a panel that had been printed in the paper (“I Swear I Just Saw One”), thinking “…to generate cartoons that could be used for outreach, perhaps developed into a series or a graphic novel, on transportation safety; tying in findings from research projects completed by our center and highlighting them and safety culture (rather lack thereof) in a satirical way using your colorful characters.” A task force was assembled with some Alaska Department of Transportation representatives for editorial help in the review + refinement process.

There were twelve final panels – maybe a dozen extra were sketched up, a half-dozen drawn up but didn’t make the cut. A few classics I got to reboot and digitally color, but most were custom-made to order. The topics and supporting research: traffic jams, plug-ins, road rage, signage, school travel, roundabouts, frost heaves and ice roads is just a sampling of the issues across our state’s road system. were wide-ranging They debuted two years later as the tentpole pieces for my annual 2023 retrospective “What The Duck,” at Ursa Major. It has made for a major boost in classroom cred as well - walking the talk, and demonstrating the educational applications and value of STEAM.

Incidentally this project was sorta-kinda the final nail in the creative coffin for my freelance career, as I had to admit to myself that I wasn’t successfully managing my time insofar as maintaining a saner mental-healthy balance between the work//personal life (yeah sure okay so ask me how well THAT’S worked). If anything I’m even MORE overloaded, but still managing to meet deadlines + teaching + Nuggets + extracurricular activities. Busy enough to never notice that I never uploaded anything about this gig anywhere on social media – searched this blog all over never found any mentioned in any previous post… so here ya go.

Mostly want to mention two main things: one; it is so surreal to see one’s cartoons categorized as scholarly work (perks of professorship I guess), and two; there’s a link on this page that’ll get ya a free PDF to download. The whole post was inspired by how totally fired up I got to hold an actual hardcover copy - so much awesome hard work from Nathan… thanks!

"Bears Can't Climb Trees" - Two Different Takes

Technically a trio of takes. Somewhat similar to last weekend's upload, it turned out there was a historical precedence to these panels, like a lineage for laughs.

I also admit to ganging these two pics together because if posted individually I'd surely succumb to the temptation of solipsistic navelgazing and pontificate under each and every image. And while I'm confessing, this one - "fortunately" - ranks as an instance where all I really wanted to do was a simple, cute cartoon and not worry about demonstrating technical proficiency or edgy hipster humor. 

..shh...

Demo Day IV: Recap (+ bonus video)

No ties this year!

While maybe half as many attendees this year as compared to the last, the Demo Day 2024 event went wonderfully in as how special the individual interactions were. In other words, it's never about me, but rather the folks on the other side of he table who make it worth it. Same could well be said for the newspaper panel and teaching in a classroom.

...this is what it's all about...

Put another way, I simply had a nice chance for a change to take more time, slow down, spend longer with anyone who came over to the table either claim their art after signing on with a new subscription - or recent renewal - and/or just watch a demo, or even catch up with an old friend, and make new ones too. There was also a bonus cookout right on the other side of the window in the front lobby, with publisher offering up hamburgers & hotdogs on the grill - thanks for breakfast and lunch!

One of the very last two drawn, when I finally put the nostrils in the correct face space

Not only is the spotlight on the host venue, and how important it is to support local, independent journalism (and the peripheral talent, natch), but in retrospect I thought about how the centralized hub of my home here in the Interior affords the opportunity to connect with folks from all over Alaska, like this little dude from Savoonga, Alaska's most remote island.

After almost burning up on re-entry to a busy fall semester (60-something hours a week for a short spell), it was extra nice to take a "break" from academia. Had to miss a faculty meeting and couldn't attend to any number of items on a long list of tasks, but gigs like this serve as a sort of psychological reboot, artwork once again offering up a therapeutic becalming, a temporary buffer zone against reality & responsibility.

And while ensconced within the zone, even if the overall output + pacing when producing approximately 30-odd (and I do mean odd) pieces, every one remained an original, each "walri" was unique individual. Stats: 1-minute to doodle out a rough sketch (down to 30-seconds at the end of the day), 2-minutes to ink it up, 3-minutes to add a color wash. Not counting dry-time, which was accelerated by the 80°F temps, or higher sitting in the sun inside the lobby, but I was fortunate to have a fan on me at the table, so as to not put a literal wash on the watercolors with perspiration. Not to mention avoid any sweat stains on my new uniform. And yup, there were a couple "coo-coo-katchoo" comments, and it did occur to me later that there probably was a few people who might have recently had a nice thick, juicy Odobenus rosmarus sammich some time recently. 
Oh and here's the obligatory reminder to subscribe - thank you.  

 

Spectacular fall weather (and the start of moose season) inspired a large demographic who bailed outta the 'Banks and got a head-start for a weekend away in the woods. But again, the comparative smaller stream of people made for a much more relaxed gig overall. Still stayed focused and managed to crank out one every ten minutes or so on the average. And while I did down a copious amount of coffee, the footage itself is ever so slightly sped up.

2024 Annual Art Department Faculty Exhibition

Up through the end of the week! And who let in all those cartoons?