Chestnut-Backed Chickadee

I doodled this while working on a birdwatching graphic that will run weekly in the paper. I day-dreamed I could do drawings for it and make it my personal art project. I'm not a birdwatcher but it would be great fun to draw birds! I could build up a Roger Tory Peterson-like portfolio. I could say things like "I draw chicks all the time" and be funnier that way.

That burst of optimism lasted for about ten/fifteen minutes. There isn't room for another weekly chore in the jam-packed graphics schedule. Maybe I'll try to sneak a few in anyway...

The End

I-Sci-Fi: All Her Secret Felonies Go... POP!

Painted, as always, in Photoshop. How did people make art
before they invented the iMac? I can't imagine…

I've been goofing around with this illustration on the side for a while. Today, I noticed it would fit pretty nicely within my I-Sci-Fi layout. I didn't have to tweak the composition at all! Happy accidents.

I'm revisiting the work of Richard M. Powers, an artist who did hundreds of paperback covers during the 60s. (This gentleman has a fabulous collection of his work here.) Powers had a very abstract and graphic approach to his painting and design. I haven't seen much of that in the digital age, but I hope it comes back.

There seems to be a swing toward "realistic" computer art again. It looks glossy and it flows from mind to canvas without the quiver of the human hand to give it life. I'm not much better. This is my cautious lean in Powers' direction, without giving up the computer. (I hate getting my hands dirty.)

Another Desperation Post

This is just a quick hit to keep the plates spinning, if you know what I mean.

Still too busy with work and chores to get anything good done. Here's a fragment of the next page in the sputtering comix project.

Quick! Post Something!

Dang. It's been ten days since I posted. Too long. I should post something.

Hey! I haven't drawn a flippin' thing. Nothing. Well, a little more of the comic I started last post, but not enough to show you here. and not one scribble otherwise. Too busy. Too many chores, too much work and way too much commute.

Here's a quick scribble done while watching a podcast.

A Comics Page

S'okay, but what are they saying?

This post is a partial repeat. I posted a version of the top panel last December. But it wasn't a panel then, it was just a mindless doodle.

In February, I drew a head-portrait of the lady because I wondered what that character looked like. As I drew her I kept getting this feeling that a narrative was about to pop up through the soil. The first drawing wanted to grow.

I created a larger page and I put the two drawings together. Again, I thought a story was about to happen, so I gave her a body. But I got stuck. Months passed.

This morning I was urged by... by what, I don't know, but I drew the close-up of the terrier. Inspired, I re-worked everything to a greater or lesser degree. I wrote captions and some dialogue and a story started to take shape.

Well, not a whole story. Just a fragment. I have notes for a few more pages, and I started roughing out one of them. I'm not sure, but something may finally happen here, if I can find the time.

Regardless, here is this! I removed the words because I used a font I dislike and it looked very ugly. I'd rather hand-letter it, and when I do I'll post it here. If, a few days from now, I find that I'm way too busy/lazy to letter it, I'll just upload the thing with the bad font. Heck with it.

It won't make any sense to you, but it might lessen the impression that I'm hiding something.

 The End