sketches and equipment odds and ends

Here are a few character sketches for a new comic I've been considering. I actually wrote a big chunk of it before drawing anything which is an unusual working method for me. I think it's got some good parts but time will tell. kind of slotting it at about 200 or so pages so It could take forever and a day since I'm squeezing it in with so many other things.





These are the greatest pen tips I have ever used in my entire life. The line quality control is almost magical. I no longer want to live without them. They are Nikko brand Japanese tips. If you are serious about ink drawing hunt them down.



I spent the last couple of weeks building a vacuum press for serigraphy. I got the plans from Andy MacDougall's screen printing manual which is chocked full of tips about screen-printing and has the added bonus of not being written in the sixties. It works wonderfully and was pretty inexpensive to build. Junior, one of my students, has named this press "Neal"

Socially Acceptable

The right life coach can make even the most grueling social engagements a breeze. get a move on before all those beautiful ladies find a more legitimate suitor.

I haven't been slacking, honest. I just have a million things have finished and I am too much of a control freak to show any in progress stuff. Happy Valentine's day suckers! I'll be relaxing in my darkened skull lined cave mocking your happiness. Bwhahahaha!

For God's Sake Think of the Children! (and my image)

does a good deed "count", in a metaphysical sense not a concrete one, if it involves shameless pandering, proselytization, or preening self promotion? all of the above?

They still need a shitload of help. Red Cross donation page

Keep in mind there are a lot of people already working to make it worse : http://www.zmag.org/zvideo/3323

a short history lesson: http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/23623

Apparition

"This place is filthy. The grossest office I've had to work in since I had to do all those volunteer hours in dental school. I guess the community health center is an easier place to work off a DUI, than the county jail, but dear God! The smell from the mouths of some of these hobos smells like a septic tank accident. in a pet cemetery. in July. I was standing there heroically suppressing my gag reflex, when this . . Thing appeared. It was singing the saddest song I ever heard. Singing was probably the wrong word more like vibrating, sending out a pulse of melodic depression masking the deepest tragedies the human mind can fathom. I'm too afraid to ask what it wants"


Lately, I've been gripped with stomach churning awe that quickly becomes self-loathing when I read Pim and Francie by the reclusive weirdo/genius Al Columbia. He makes me feel like an insect trying to fly to the moon. Oh, well I bet I could beat him up.

A representative sample

A wholly negatively stereotyped sample of the inner monologue of some assorted humans in a warzone.



from l to r:

“I can’t believe how incredible this feels! Six months ago I was nothing and now look at what I’ve helped accomplish. What he made me accomplish.”

“To convince men to follow you, first convince them to admire you. Does that sound good or too pretentious? I have to get a bronze star for this. No way the brass can deny what I accomplished today. I need one of those MacArthuresque speeches to dazzle all the uniforms with the bright lights of my military brilliance. Maybe then I can get a promotion out of this shithole. Maybe some bullshit about “liberation” that always goes over . . “

“That fat bitch better back the fuck off. I ‘ll be goddamned if I’m gonna go back to blowing a staff sergeant to try and get private quarters”

“What a stone-cold motherfucker! He didn’t even wait for the order from CENTCOM, he just blew the whole town straight to hell. He even let us pick off the stragglers with the anti aircraft guns. There was nothing left but red mist. This is the best day of my life.”

“This is a complete mess, but if it works it was worth it. It’s time for those people to step and take some responsibility for rebuilding this country. We did our job.”

“ . .ICECREM . . “

Opening Shot

You Must Make Friends With Fear, . . . Fear and Moral Terror

"A teenage girl wandered up to me and demanded, 'SMELL ME!'. I hesitantly sniffed and replied 'You smell like cigarettes'. 'Great!' she exclaimed. 'I've been figured out'.
She huffed away ready to perpetuate her angst on the next unsuspecting victim. I lied. She smelled not only like cigarettes, but possessed the underlying acrid, musty smell of a food service worker that lacks the self awareness to engage in the hygiene the social contract demands."