Carlos of Calera

Check out the newest Salty 'Ham, Carlos Valentin! Welcome to Alabama, Carlos.

Welcome Woodard

Check out new recruit, Marvel colorist Nolan Woodard!

Frank Cummings, May He Rest in Peace

In some very sad news for the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas, Frank Cummings has died.  After meeting him several times at our get togethers, I came to know him as a really great guy.  Frank, you will be missed! ... obituary here

Frank was the second Salty 'Ham to be taken by pancreatic cancer, after another great member: Kirk Creel.  Plus, my stepfather died of it last fall.  So, screw you, pancreatic cancer!

... and another'n

Say hello and welcome to yet ANOTHER new and very talented Salty 'Ham, David LaRocca.

(Colorist)

88 Keys

THREE new additions to the Salty 'Hams roster, brings us up to 88 entries!  So let's all welcome:

Rick Johnson

Scotty Martin

Chester A. Colston

Our Heroes, #1 - Secret Pencils Edition

Our Heroes #1 - Secret Pencils Edition, is now in print.  Add this to your collection!

Issue #1 collects all of the Gila Riseth saga, from my weekly webcomic Our Heroes.

Detective Elke Decker struggles to run a startup superhero team out of her garage.  Follow the thrilling adventures of the Decker, Guise, SunBear, Chickadee, Black Sheep, and the Human Mallet.  In this issue: Fritter comes to earth and enlists the team in his fight against inter-dimentional crime boss, Master Gila -- and Gila's formidable robot, the Slorker.  Our Heroes battle against the Slorker, bicker amongst themselves, and attempt to outshine Uber Force.  (Recommended for all ages.)

You might have read this online already, but if you buy the print comic, you get

• the wonderful TACTILE sensation of holding the comic in your HAND and turning the PAGES
• the satisfaction that comes with the feeling of OWNERSHIP, and the ability to actually HAVE these comics among the precious THINGS that you have gathered throughout your life
• the warm feeling that comes from ENCOURAGING an artist to keep MAKING stuff, not just for his own personal enjoyment, but for actual monetary RECOMPENSE

Only $14.99.  Order now!  (And while you're at it, you can still pick up Jakey the Jerk, Onion Puss, and Throbbing Love Stories.)

Katharos Kickstarter

To raise funds for the printing of her comic, our fellow SHC Beverly Toole has set up a Kickstarter campaign for Katharos: the Shattered World.  Go there immediately and back the heck out of it!

Salty 'Ham Slam 13 - On Reflection

Our thirteenth official meet up was rockin' good.  We were at Kingdom Comics this time.  Thanks for hosting, Kingdom!

I'd gone waaay too long without scheduling a Salty 'Ham Slam.  Then, when Melissa Shultz-Jones and James Hill started talking about getting together to talk about tips and techniques, I said let's call it a Slam!

We had a big bunch: Tim Rocks, Ben Faucher, Ed Abernathy, Sam McDavid, James Hislope, Beverly Toole, and Christopher Davis.  And we welcomed first-timers Kevin Van Hyning, Andrew Willmore, Melissa Shultz-Jones, James Hill, Jason Shoemaker, and Peyton Knight.  And non-member guests Geoffrey Gwin, Lysa Shin, and Tobias Elmore.  And Peyton brought along his friend Caroline, dressed up as a stunning, green lipsticked Poison Ivy!  And there was me, Chris Garrison.

Am I leaving anybody out?

Far side, left to right: Lysa Shin, Andrew Willmore, Kevin Van Hyning, and Geoffrey Gwin.  Kevin is talking about the roadkill armadillo he had for breakfast, and you can see 

how uncomfortable it's making everyone.

Far side, left to right: Beverly Toole, James Hislope, Sam McDavid, James Hill, 

Tobias Elmore (standing), and Melissa Shultz-Jones.

Chris Davis, Beverly Toole, and James Hislope.

Far side, left to right: Ed Abernathy, Tim Rocks, Ben Faucher, and Chris Davis.  

Near side, left to right: Andrew Willmore's skull, Lysa Shin, Melissa Shultz-Jones, and James Hill.

Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of everyone.  I forgot to take a picture of myself, so just trust me when I say I looked phenomenal.

Everybody discussed their favorite pens, digital art-making, superhero movie-casting, complicated sexual positions, and all the other stuff cartoonists love to talk about.  And we also drew a few comic jams.

Skronk credits:

panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Kevin Van Hyning; panel 3 by Benjamin Faucher; panel 4 by Melissa Shultz-Jones; panel 5 by Chris Garrison; panel 6 by Chris Davis.

Earth's Core credits:

panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Beverly Toole; panel 3 by Chris Davis; panel 4 by Kevin Van Hyning; panel 5 by Tim Rocks.

Box of Hulk credits:

panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Andrew Willmore; panel 3 by Geoffrey Gwin; panel 4 by Tim Rocks; panel 5 by Ben Faucher; panel 6 by James Hill; panel 7 by Kevin Van Hyning; panel 8 by Andrew Willmore.

As usual, we snacked on Oreos and Chips, Ahoy! cookies.  Then, a masked gunman tried to rob the comic shop.  But Melissa Shultz-Jones and Beverly Toole quickly formed a superhero team called Faygo & Fanta (I'm not going to reveal their secret identities by telling you which is which).  Faygo & Fanta used their Super-Bubbly Fizz Powers to foil the heist in short order.  For those of you who missed it, you really should have been there!

All told, everybody had fun at the slam, and there was much mingling.  So join us, won't you, for the NEXT Salty 'Ham Slam! (as yet unscheduled)

Oh, and you can look back at previous slams, here:

Slam 1

Slam 2

Slam 3

Slam 4

Slam 5

Slam 6

Slam 7

Slam 8

Slam 9

Slam 10
Slam 11
Slam 12

… and another'n

I finally signed up James Hill!  Welcome, James, to the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas.

Salty 'Ham Slam 13

We haven't had one of our get-togethers in MUCH too long.  But it's finally happening!

The next edition of the Salty 'Ham Slam is scheduled for Sunday, May 18th, 2014, from 1 - 4pm.  This time, we'll have it at Kingdom Comics in Vestavia.

Kingdom Comics

1425 Montgomery Hwy, Ste 119

Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

Here's the Facebook event page.

This will be the lucky 13th slam.  We'll discuss tools, techniques, the business, and just shoot the breeze.  Bring your sketchbook or some paper, if you want to sit around drawing with the rest of us.

Read about our past slams HERE.

A second chance for Chance

Our fellow SHC Beverly Toole has a fundraiser going, in hopes of paying her big vet bills!  Her beautiful cat Chance had some tough bladder stone issues, and it ran into quite a chunk of change.  As a reward for their contributions, folks get Beverly Toole art … which is great!

Go here to help out:

A second chance for Chance

SukoshiCON'

So, I should've posted about this earlier, but there's an anime convention happening in Birmingham tomorrow. SukoshiCON' {prime}  Are any of you Salty 'Hams involved?  Or at least attending?

Staedtler Brush pen tip

 I saw in comments online where some guy talked about extending the life of his Staedtler Mars Graphic Duo 2000 brush pen ("The brush pen with more names than any other") by removing the plain tip with a pliers and somehow switching the ink supplies. He gave no details so I wasn't sure how that would work. But I pulled of the plain tip end (the pens have a plain tip on one end and a brush tip on the other) with pliers and, indeed, it had a little foam ink supply, fat and juicy with ink.

The brush tip end pulled off easily as well, and it was bone dry of course since that's mainly all I use. It's a simple matter then to switch the foam stick things. And re-insert the tips. It worked brilliantly, the brush tip was instantly back in fine fettle. What a boon this will be to humanity (or at least cartoonists.)

ps. Chris Garrison put me onto these great pens. Thanks Chris!

Rimmer Rimmer

Here's yet another new addition to the roles, folks.  Welcome, Marye Rimmer!

84 Lumber

The Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas website now has 84 entries, with the addition of very talented Huntsvillian Susan Knowles.  Welcome, Sooz!  (We don't have enough Huntsville cartoonists, so if you meet any up there who aren't already members, spread the word!)

... and another'n

Here's ANOTHER new Salty 'Ham for the roles: Welcome Melissa Shultz-Jones!

Kingdom Art Attack!

Kingdom Comics, in Vestavia, is having an event tomorrow, called Kingdom Art Attack.  Local cartoonists and comickers will be there throughout the day to sell comics, prints, take commissions, and do caricatures.  Some artists might arrive as early as 10am.

Then at 6pm, the artists will be challenged to create an original piece of art, based on a wacky, randomly-generated sentence.  They're allowed 90 minutes to work on it, and they can use any medium they like.  (Although probably not digital, because there aren't enough plugs to go 'round.)

Some of our fellow Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas will be rockin' it: Chris Fason, Chris Garrison, Andy Gray, Alison Marceau, and Chris Rosko . . . as well as these talented non-joiners: Bryan Crowson, Patrick Giles, Geoffrey Gwin, James Hill, and Lysa Shin.

Peyton's call to arms

Hey, Salty 'Hams,

Our fellow SHC Peyton Knight wants to form a super-group!  Want to get in on it?  Here's a note from him:

===

I'm looking to put together a comic book team. I want to pitch some ideas to some of the smaller companies. I can use any help I can get. Writers, inks, pencils, colors, layout designers, anything really. Send me a message on facebook if you're interested. If I'm not on your friend list, you can add me...

https://www.facebook.com/peyton.knight.39

Thanks

Peyton Knight

Past Medical History

Our fellow SHC Don Stewart has a new venture.  Here's a note from him:

Hello, Everyone -

Once upon a time, I wrote a book. 

Not a picture book. 

A book of stories – stories about a young man who worked hard to fulfill a dream, then left it behind to follow a different, more creative path.

When I walked out of the hospital (27 years ago, this month), I had no idea I was going to be a full-time artist. I thought I might teach, or write magazine articles, or get a job running a small business. Yes, I had finished two drawings, sold a few copies here and there, but not nearly enough to pay rent, much less keep up with my medical school payments. Art was a hobby, a warm, solitary retreat from five years of constant stress. It fit in nicely with my chief priority: Fishing, every day, until the river froze over. I'd had little formal training, and very little practice at it. That my art grew into a vocation, then into business that has lasted a quarter of a century is more of a surprise to me than anyone.

Where did they come from, these creative tendencies? How did they emerge so suddenly, powerful enough to move my lifelong dream of being a doctor so completely out of the picture? Perhaps I had been an artist all along, and just didn't know it.

Just as I once drew pictures in medical school, over the years I have been writing stories, too. Dim recollections of childhood, mostly, short paragraphs and outlines that have accumulated and grown in spare moments along the way. Before I knew it, these stories began to tell a larger tale, at the same time revealing the roots of my art – roots that tunnel as far back as I can remember.

Now these stories have been arranged in order, and trimmed to fit neatly into a single volume called Past Medical History. Read a sample story here: http://pulsemagazine.org/Archive_Index.cfm?content_id=163

The book will be published later this summer, with help from our friends, family, fans, and generous supporters. As we did six years ago with the DS Art Coffee Table Book, we are funding the process through advance orders – only this time we've teamed up with Indiegogo, an organization that lets us build a more professional marketing program, and manage the process with less chance of misplacing our customer's addresses and order details.

The end result is still the same: 

Once we reach our funding goal, we publish the book.

We're already one fifth of the way toward achieving our goal, which is amazing, since we only started the process a few days ago. We hope you will stop by our Indiegogo Campaign Page (http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/past-medical-history/x/3036358) and watch our video, browse the list of bonus "perks", then consider joining us in our quest to make Past Medical History a part of our collective future.

If you would prefer to order the book directly from our web site, that option will become available at the end of July. Or send a reply to this e-mail, and we'll add you to the Book Order list, and catch up with you in August. Meanwhile, follow along with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/PastMedicalHistory.  

Have a great summer!

- Don 

... and another'n

Here's ANOTHER new Salty 'Ham for the roles: Welcome Brian Brasher!

Sketch Card Update

Here’s a look at my first set of sketch cards for 2013, “Civil War Chronicles” for Cult-Stuff  (+Cult Stuff ); 19 cards spanning Apr. 12, 1961 - July 1963.

You can get a closer look at the cards on my ‘art page’ on Facebook.
Next on the agenda will be Island Dreams 2013 and a number of psc’s.

Alabama Phoenix Festival

I should have posted about this earlier, but I'm sure most of y'all know about it already.  Several Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas, including myself, will have tables at the Alabama Phoenix Festival -- which starts today and goes throughout this weekend.  Come visit!  And buy our comics, prints, doodles-on-demand, and caricatures.

Don Stewart's blog

Our fellow SHC Don Stewart has been keeping up his blog, lately.  Here's a recent post he wanted to share with everybody: So your kid wants to be an artist.

The Art of Riverside

By now you've hopefully seen this music video I animated: Riverside, by 13ghosts.

Well, here's a bunch of art, from the finished film, and from the making of!  Backgrounds painted by A. Vernon.