I just realized I never put a link up to this article, written about me and my good man and fellow cartoonist Michael Crawford. I guess I just figured the New York Times was coverage enough! Anyway, here it is: Where Punchlines Pay The Rent. And no, there’s no audio of me playing the banjo badly! Phew!
I re-post this every year for Father’s Day. Click here!
Fort Tryon Park:
This is the blizzard view of the GW Bridge.
UPDATE: Fort Tryon Park, at night.
According to my calendar, it’s Immaculate Conception Day. Albertus Magnus makes for some interesting reading on the subject of how Immaculate Conception is possible, if you can manage the Latin. And if you can, have fun! I might add that the Immaculate Conception was conceived well after it supposedly happened, and that the word for “maiden” in Ancient Greek (in which language the first Bibles were written), was usually the same word as the word for “virgin.” The idea being that a maiden was usually a virgin, because she was unmarried. That’s all I’m gonna say about it. Except that the very first Christians were not so quick to judge and unwed mother as some of the latter day ones.
Another way we cartoonists make money is by being paid to draw at high end events where a New Yorker cartoonist is just the thing. I got a reputation for making people look good, so I hardly ever get to just draw cartoons at these events. People love having their portraits drawn, even by bad portrait artists, isn’t that funny? It’s a bit like having their palm read, irresistible, even if it’s obviously a scam. And it’s fun, anyway. How many artists get interesting people to sit for them for free, and even get paid to draw? This is one of the portraits I was most proud of, from an event the other day. This guy was a dream to draw—great face, great style.
I put this up on my salon blog. Everybody’s doing blogs on these net magazines, so why not me?
On the Huffington Post:
On Salon.com:
I’m convinced this is what I’ll see pass before my eyes just before I die:
Rough sketches with my new brush pen:
Above, the George Washington Bridge as seen from one bank of the Hudson River (the bank that’s popular with geese).
Below, a broader view:
Look familiar?
I was only 6 years old, but I’ll never forget Iron Eyes Cody’s very beautiful 1971 “Keep America Beautiful” public service announcement. If you’re too young to remember it yourself, click on the image for the video.
Get Iron Eyes Cody’s book, “Indian Talk” from the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center, here.
As for Thanksgiving, I give thanks every day, thank you! (See?)
(Here’s the legal link to two versions of the PSA in case the link to youtube has been taken down again for copyright violation. Unfortunately, it only works for people with Windows Media Player, not for Mac.)
(and yes, this is a semi-repeat of last year’s Thanksgiving post, because I never tire of this PSA).
(click on the image for larger version, which also contains a few extra, edited here, stray lines—I’m not used to drawing with a ball point pen!)
I have some friends upstate who are goats. I like to feed them from the little candy machine that dispenses goat kibbles for 25 cents a handful. Oh, the congenial welcome! Oh, the little velvet muzzles against my warm palm! Oh, the laughing, coin-slot pupils! Oh, how delicious with carrots and potatoes!
Me and fellow TNY cartoonist Michael Crawford at TNY Festival HQ, in the Acura Lounge, which commissioned me to draw this backdrop above, as well as the caption contest drawing below for this event.
In case you were curious, the image was the client’s idea, and below is the first draft, which was modified to the above as follows: – client was afraid it looked like the people were going to be run over by the speeding Acura, so crosswalk and clear “walk” signal on street sign were added, while pedestrians were instructed to look both ways, even though they had the light – client was afraid butterflies and birdies might end up splattered on windshield, so all flying objects were directed by flight control to fly in a safer zone – client was afraid the bunnies might be run over, so bunnies were sent to “live on a farm upstate” (meaning, I cooked them into a nice stew and served them to my children). – client didn’t like “bush” in back seat, so “bush” promptly relocated to the roomy trunk, while the flowers growing in the street were picked and placed behind the cartoonist’s ear in a coquettish manner – cartoonist refrained from submitting a version with pedestrians bodies flying in the air after being hit by speeding Acura, and multiple bunnies flattened with tire tracks plastered on street.
Hooray for Photoshop! And FYI, I did not provide a caption myself.
(Quick doodle during breakfast, hoping it’s not too unworthy.)
Not to mention all those dark chocolate peanut butter cups…
Bear mountain always fascinates me. It looks so grumpy!
And here’s an awful, unfinished attempt to colorize it! So embarrassing! But it’s useful as a color study.
Taking a break from some jobs I’m working on, I found a photo of Sam, (aka Big Lug), and decided to draw him, since he never sits still long enough in real life for a portrait. I like images of dogs all rolled up into a ball.
This one is a pencil drawing, scanned, with color added in by photoshop. Excuse my naive use of the paintbrush option, but it was fun! I like the way it looks, though I should probably make my own custom brush strokes up next time.
Below, the original pencil sketch:
(And his ass!)
So, this is what happens. Sam, the dog, doesn’t like thunderstorms, see? So he freaks and runs off into the woods, bursting beyond his “invisible fence” in his disarray.
Everyone comes home, wonders where Sam, the dog, is. Sam! Sammy! Where are you? Woohoo, Saaaaaam! This goes on for a while. I decide I’m a guest, I better help, even though Sam has annoyed me, covering me in algae by paddling around me while I try to swim in the pond, and also chasing my fishing lure whenever I cast a line, unless I throw a log in the other direction to satisfy his irrepressible, if not insane, urge to fetch all projectiles in a frantic manner. I join in with the “Saaaaaam-ing.”
I’m “Saaaaaaam-ing” back and forth along the side road, but no dice. I have a feeling I’m on the right track, but a person earnestly searching for a lost labrador ought to eventually hear a distant hopeful bark, or a rustling of branches.
Nothing.
Along the road leading to the mailboxes, I notice there’s these three cats watching me, all “look at her, we’re glad we don’t have to be polite like her,” like. I’m getting tired of “Saaaaam-ing” already, and they all look so sardonic. So I ask them, with a note of provocation: “Well? You seen Sam?”
They perk up at this question and look at eachother. “Seriously, you seen Sam?” I ask. One of them sort of heaves a little cat sigh, and gets up and stretches. His friends follow, and they walk sarcastically (as all cats do) to the road, get in front of me, now and then doing that thing cats do when they want your attention, you know? Rolling around a little on the ground at your feet to show you how cute they are? “Okay, yeah, yeah, you’re cute but I’m allergic,” I say.
They lead me in this leisurely manner to the far end of the drive, and stop at the gravel just before the trees. I say, “Okay, then. Where is he?” They look at me like: this is it, kid. So, I look up, and there, about thirty feet into the woods, stands Sam with his flag-like red tongue flapping out in contrast with his hairy black mug as he pants hysterically, looking all embarrassed. Sam, you big lug! He stands there looking at me as if he would not blame me if I pretended not to have found him.
What does a dog like this do in his spare time? Why, he lies in the middle of the road, just so.
This morning I woke up early, slid my coveralls over my nightie, and sat down with my tea to wait for the exterminator, as I do every second Saturday of the month. He is very important to my tranquillity and peace of mind. Some people don’t mind the pitter-patter of multiple feet, but I prefer my guests to be upright-walkers. The cartoon is one of Crawford’s latest.
Now, where is that exterminator! I want to go to the beach!
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