Influence

 

As a kid, the first book I checked out of the library was
Everything Has A Shape by Bernice Kohn and Aliki.
It's influence has stayed with me, because I've
only drawn using simple shapes ever since.

Misheard

I always liked it when artists took the time to
draw incidental objects into their comics. It is time
consuming, so it doesn't happen often. At work
someone misheard breakfast as hit six. For some
reason it made me think of cereal, so I drew a box.

Moving Pictures

 

Playing around with simple animation for the 

 Two Dimension site. Animation is a form that I
have always loved, but never understood how it's done.

B-Movies

At three years old, my aunt would bring me on a date to the drive-in movie every once in a while. The logic was that I would get bored and go to sleep in the back seat, but that never happened due to the giant screen in front of us that kept showing space creatures, giant monsters and all kinds of fantastic things you never saw in everyday life.

A couple of friends started doing a podcast about these shows that I loved as a kid. My mind is usually blank when they mention the titles, but once the conversation starts and they go over the storyline, all the images I saw from the back seat of my future uncle's car unfolds in my mind.

And then they go over some movies that I'm thankful
I never saw. Give them a listen at Slow Robot A Go Go.

Extra Day

As the day went on, I realized that it was still

February. Like any other day I went on to work.

But if this is an extra day that only comes around every four

years, why doesn't everyone take advantage of it? Shut the

whole world down on the 29th. Just disconnect everything for

a day, hang out, rest, and get yourself back into balance.

Everyone could have prepared ready made food the day

before, do nothing, then go back to business as usual

the next day. I mean, why not? It's an extra day.

Think about it.

2012

Around 1981, people watched The Man Who Saw Tomorrow and got very uncomfortable with all the things that were to come in 1984. In a lecture, a very dour English professor stated that 1984 was only two years away, giving everyone in the class a sense of foreboding.

When 1984 did come, we started it off telling George Orwell jokes, and ended it listening to Duran Duran and wearing big hair. I look back on that year as a really great party.

Each year has it's own character, but you
never really see it until it is over.

 
Happy 2012 to everyone.

Time Squandered

A visiting instructor stated that the worst thing
to happen to mankind were television and computers.
He didn't elaborate on it any further, but I think about
it a lot as I sit here surfing the web instead
of drawing like I used to do.

Previously Unaware...

A friend follows this fighter with great enthusiasm,
and asked me to make a poster to give when she competes
in our area. Since he cannot read Japanese, all he really
knew about her (besides martial arts), was that she likes
 cats. So here are the two main elements of the poster. She posted it to her blog when she returned to Japan. Cool.

And his enthusiasm rubbed off and now I like her too.
Funny how that works.

Pockets Of Memory

When passing by a gumball machine, I always check to see what is offered, and every once in a while find something that captures my interest. it doesn't matter if it's tiny plastic creatures, flicker rings or small rubber balls, it's always more fun when it comes out of one of these things.

Even though my friends find it odd at first, they always end up getting
some to keep by their computer or desk at work. Finding one in
a drawer always brightens up the most mundane environment.

 

I've always loved the shapes, and how light formed on them when moved around a lamp. But during my adult life I've learned that they serve as memory triggers for a lot of people. Seeing one they had as a kid, immediately brings them back to that point in their life. I never thought about that, but I do remember what I was doing and where I got every random piece of small plastic I have.

David Lance Goines

In 1983, while in Oklahoma, I bought a post card with a drawing of a red head with the letters Chez-Panisse at the bottom. The image was very pleasing, so I brought it with me when I was assigned aboard ship, and taped it on the bulkhead by my rack.

Two years later in San Diego I found a poster for a hand made clothing store that I couldn't stop looking at. I loved the design and the colors, and after leaving the gallery, went back in and bought it. The problem at the time was trying to figure out how to store it while living onboard, but I went out of my way for this one.

Later in 1987 a friend lent me a graphics magazine thinking I would be interested in one of the articles. I was, but not for the one she intended.

The piece I liked was about an artist who printed his own work, and showed each step from conception to the finished poster. I found the work pleasing the minute I saw it, but the signature block at the bottom of the poster looked very familiar. Not realizing it, both the post card and the poster I bought years ago were created by the same person.

So of course I had to make an effort to meet this guy, and in 1991 I did. He was quite nice, and very interesting. His work can be seen here, and an interview can be read here.

The Visitor

 

My regular blog is on livejournal...

Reasons For Existence

Geedunk

For some reason, the Navy calls any kind of
snack Geedunk, I don't know why. Even so, it seemed
like a good idea give a candy bar the same name.

Talking Rings

In The Time Machine, H. G. Wells describes shiny discs that
spoke while they spun around. There was a movie version in
1960 that showed shiny bracelets being twirled sideways on a
table top. When compact discs came out in the eighties, I wondered
if this was closer to what the writer described so long ago.

KOOP

Radio station proposal from the eighties.

Never got used.

Max Liddle Toys

An idea for a comic book has been in my head for a number

of years, but has never moved past the planning stage. It

seemed like it would be fun to add elements like made up

stores and products. Max Liddle was a name my daughter

gave to one of her stuffed animals, so I used it as well.