"AK Screen Grab"

A recurring theme and perennial concern in  this neck of the woods. And also a long-overdue flogging of a well-worn turn of phrase that straddles the online world of terminology as applied to reality. And as evidenced by posting this panel in the depths of winter I've long since spun off the wheel.

In all actuality after I pivoted away from the initial concept seen in the second doodle, I look back now and think I should have gone with my first instinct, as opposed to picking the low-hanging fruit. 

But hey, now I can milk it again in a few years. Unless Atticus the Omnipresent Studio Assistant hones his editorial teeth upon my work-in-progress. Everyone's a critic.

Baked Alaska 2022 Calendar: Bonus Pre-order

Rolling off the press: Just got my special advance copy for review of the 2022 Baked Alaska calendar put out by the fantastic folks down at the Alaska Cannabist magazine. My idea for the cover to be a watercolor version of one of the best panels of the previous year worked really well, and there's a buncha custom "clip art" sprinkled throughout culled from previous panels over the years. Still working on my own brand of rolling paper...

Here's a link to a special bonus pre-order deal for free shipping. Ask for it at yer local dispensary!

"Relationship Fail" (aka "The Non-Flying Squrrel")

A while back as I was leaving the cabin and stepping off the front porch, I heard a sudden angry chittering followed by narrowly missing getting hit on the head by a pissed-off squirrel, who had evidently lost its grip up under the eaves to fall two stories down into the snowbank. In order to cover up such a mortifying incident and assuage it's rodent-sized bruised ego I concocted a suitable backstory instead. Still to this day I don't believe a single-panel cartoon can quite do it justice, so I am working on a screenplay so as to truly encompass the depth of pathos + drama.

Tonite: Final Gig @ Chamber of Commerce

 

One final gig for the unprecedented second year now in the spotlight! Not so much an art show/exhibition (like the upcoming annual retrospect), more of another one-night-only in-house show & tell (like last month's newspaper event), with sneak peeks at works-in-progress. Not doing the usual avalanche of self-promotion as it's great to let go of the reins and let professionals take over the marketing. It's been a wonderful experience being hosted by these folks - I still need to recap the State Fair + Solstice events, which went fantastic. On a more serious note, seeing as how Alaska is still one of the top places in America getting hit hard by yet another COVID surge - now from the Delta variant - I'm keeping it low-key for the sake of safety. As this is indoors, we'll take special care to restrict traffic flow and mandate masks. I'm personally not only vaxxed but also boostered - but since I teach face-to-face and am probably the most likely plague rat in any gathering, it's a prudent concern to ensure protocols are in place.

 

"Join Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce Artist of the Year and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner cartoonist Jamie Smith for a day of drawing demonstrations as he works on upcoming “Nuggets” feature panels. Take a peek at the process as he works on-site creating his cartoons that have been appearing in our paper since 1988. Also as a special bonus, he will be signing prints of a new poster from a recent Bureau of Land Management Artist-in-Residency in Eagle, Alaska."

 

Proverbial Poster-boy

"Migrating Hair"

This year I don't have a specific Halloween-themed panel but here's a horrifying concept. Let's just say I'm getting older and I'm gonna take all my readers down that dark path with me.

Based on firsthand experience after getting the annual haircut, when the barber holds up the mirror at the end of the session as usual to have me do a final thumbs-up. All I could think of was the volume of stray bristles, the thatch of facial pubes erupting from every other orifice on my face.

Well, everywhere else with the noticeable exception of course of my rapidly balding head. Never the less it incurred another handsome tip, so as to compensate for emptying out the waiting room with my shrieking.

As you can see from the doodles it took a while for this to take root and grow. Only well after the fact did I come across this doodle in a sketchbook from a few years before with a similar concept beginning to get groomed.

"Pie-on-ear"

Hat-tip to Jim S. for the idea on this: all credit where it's due... maaaybe at the most there's one cartoon every five years or so that comes from someone else (point of professional pride I'll never use a gag writer, any more than I'd let someone else pencil, ink or color anything that has my name on it).

*Just for chucks & gigs here's the panel in the flats stage of coloring, just so as to compare & contrast how much depth is added/enhanced volume with cast shadows + subtle gradations of value.

Anyways this idea one was just too good to pass up: it came about during one of those "personal openings" from the annual retrospective down at the distillery right after showing the "Pie-oneer" panel, which has the dubious distinction of being the dumbest one of the year (the rare "so bad it's good" caliber). Throw into the mix my cheesecake cred and it's all the ingredients for a winning recipe.

"Jerky"

Like some kinda soylent brown, I think "Sunburnt Sourdough" is an actual flavor I saw on one of the omnipresent bags of nitrate bombs jerky that nowadays occupy their own display section down at corner gas stations all across the U.S.A. 

Y'all might notice a stylistic repetition as far as a color palette goes for many recent cartoons. That's largely on account of working on several small batches at a time, and so like Tarzan swinging from vine to vine, I'll keep a panel open and tiddlywink off another one and so on in succession.

One of my favorite rituals is still running off Sunday mornings like a kid at Christmas to see what particular panel appears in the new issue. Coupled with a legendary breakfast burrito, the only thing tasteless around here is my sense of humor.

"Bear-ing Strait"

Stemming from an initial idea about climate change, this cartoon went down a different path entirely than what I had in mind. Just goes to show how important to the process it is to let it take you where it needs to go, as opposed to flogging it to fit where you want it to. The Russian translation is a solid fit too.

The original concept sketch featured a entirely different cast of characters, the Castor Canadenisis critters, but after the quick sketch it was obvious who needed to be telling the joke. Yet another reason to let your doodles play themselves out. Bonus Trivia: See if you can spot the Fozzie homage. 

(promotional excerpt)

And this is as good a place to park this panel, since it'll never go beyond a doodle. It's riffing off the adage "polar bear in a snowstorm" as a smartalec turns in a blank sheet of paper to the critique. Har har. Nobody will ever get it so now it's another exclusive here on Ink & Snow: CHEERS everybody!

Demo Day: Follow-up

A quick follow-up to last weekend’s gig, which went fantastic… especially considering the circumstances (more on that in a minute). It was a solid start to something that I hope will be continued, as the outreach + connection was well worth it. It gives people a chance to see what goes on behind the scenes, put a face to the name etc. all for a good cause: supporting journalism (and in this instance with an extra-special bonus added to sweeten the deal).

The absolute highlight of this entire event was for me more of a personal aside, and that was all the love that was shared. I still haven’t finished processing posts in retrospect following some of the other public appearances over the season, but this was in marked contrast in this one particular way. I’m still really humbled by the comments in support from so many people, many of whom I was meeting for the first time ever. That was so cool, and really, really special – still staying with me inside and will go a mighty long way towards keeping positive energy flowing throughout another long winter ahead.

"Bait" (aka "Big Pike")

More of the wholesome family entertainment my readers have come to expect - nay, to demand. Actually the seeds were planted for this concept a while back when seeing some pictures a friend posted about a fishing trip to a remote Alaskan lake for some epic pike fishing. Also a reminder about why I generally don't get in the water around this neck of the woods, aside from being one of the leading cause of death in Alaska (and leading the nation).

The pictures of these carnivorous fish the side of small cars triggered childhood memories of learning to fish up in Canada at a relative's summer camp, and seeing the harnesses for live bait used to catch muskies - truly a traumatizing experience. No wonder for the rest of my brief time spent fishing I stuck to doughballs in the fetid swamps of industrial wastelands for carp.

PS: Having good reading material (subscription rates here) always makes the wait in line go much faster. Love my caboose!