2 More Things

Here's an alligator I drew for a company that will put up a cell tower at your lake house. Apparently, they chomp down on the signal and never let go, or something to that effect:


This is for an ad for The King's Ranch and Hannah Homes. If you've got too much stuff, donate it to them, and they'll sell it at America's Thrift Stores:

The Secret Sorcerer - tips

To the person who starts page 2 (if anyone does), here's what you do. For consistency of format, I mean. Start by drawing a rectangle 6 inches wide by 8 5/8th's inches high. That's the artwork size.

I started with horizontal gutters being 1/8th of an inch wide, and vertical gutters being 1/16th of an inch wide, but that's not really important to keep to, unless you just want to.

To make it come out the same size on the screen as page one, make it 125 dpi, when you're done. If you want to keep a 300 dpi version in your archives, that might be nice, because we could reassemble it later at high resolution . . . if we ever want to print such things or something.

'secret sorcerer' pt.2

I might as well go ahead and post this tonight since it's done. Thank you Chris for setting this up..

more ongoing votage?

All right, let's see here . . . by my count, the top contenders in the header challenge are

#1 - 10 second rock band sketch - 3 votes
#4 - jelly jars - 3 votes

What are we s'posta do now, have a run-off or something?

Salty 'Ham Comic Jam 001

I just invented these characters, and I'm donating them to the Salty 'Ham Jam cause. What I mean is, they're in the public domain, within our little club, so any Salty 'Ham Cartooneesta can use them for whatever. And now, without further ado, it is my great honor to introduce . . . Ptooey & Loogie!

Ptooey (pr. puh-TOO-ee)

Loogie

I envision them thus: They're a couple who live together, but I'm not sure if they're married. They can have romantic tiffs, and also goofy adventures around the world or in outer space. Their world is very silly: Eyes and mouths are added to lots of normally inanimate objects, and characters are as likely to be talking animals as people. However, within that wacky world, a bit of drama can be touched on sometimes, with a serious subtext underlying the occasional gag.

But that's just my personal vision. Other artists who want to play with Ptooey & Loogie are free to treat them however they want.

Does anybody want to participate in a comic jam? I just drew a potential first installment:


I think it'd be good if folks did like 1-4 panels at a time. If you want to draw the next few panels, call dibs in the comments here. If you want to work on the part after the next person up, call "I got next." Just draw your panels on this same page. And I guess you should only call dibs if you think you can do your panels in the next few days, instead of the next few weeks.

I did my part in somewhat clean pencil. You can do your part like mine, or you can do yours in very rough pencil, or you can ink it, or even ink and color it, I reckon. You can draw the characters based on my models, or you can change up the style completely, if you want. I think it'd be good if we tried to keep it short and wacky - 2 or 3 pages, maybe? And hopefully someone will introduce the Secret Sorcerer, whoever/whatever that is. I drew my panels with a ruler, but you can be loose or wonky about it, if that's your preference. You can see, faintly, where I intend the bottom of page 1 to be, before we start page 2.

If you like the idea of a comic jam like this, but you're not wild about Ptooey and Loogie in "The Secret Sorcerer," then start your own comic jam! You could do some dark vampire manga or something.

ongoing votage

Okay, everyone's vote on the header challenge is in, but I have a bit of confusion over which header The Weezel Shaun Burnett really wants to vote for. I emailed him, and once he clears that up, we'll have a new tally.

I wish I had a machine

It'd be called The Awesome Machine. It would do anything I wanted it to, and when it was done, I'd say, That's awesome!

And only I could have one. And you'd have to either pay to borrow it, or do me really special favors.

At the moment... The Awesome Machine would be connected to my computer, and it would run a program similar to Paint Shop Pro (since I already know how to use it) and what that program would do... it would automatically measure and draw layers for panels on my comic pages. Then it'd magically take my art and put it into the right panels. Then of course I could put in a new layer for grayscale or screentone or action lines and patterns for backgrounds. Then, it would print it all out.

Oh yeah, they DO make those programs. A lot of those programs. Just most of'em not in the same packages. And it sure loses it's human element. Because, sure! The pics I scan and color on the computer look cool as hell, especially when I paste'em onto a neat background. But even if you're doing your drawings, your art with a tablet... if you make all your details and corrections with a photo shop program and not actually... drawing? Well then your comic has lost it's human element. And that's not awesome.

I hate to say that, because I know it's how most of my favorite webcomics produce their work. I hate to rip on'em.

. . . I'm pretty much just bitching because I'm up at six AM working my ass off trying to finish this comic and doing it all by hand and I got into a ranty mood. No offense to anyone who does everything digital.

keep voting!

so far, we have 9 votes tallied and the results as of this posting are:

#6e (garrison's roller derby jam, colors by c.g.) - 3 votes
#1 (garrison's original salty ham band jam sketch) - 2 votes
#4 (fason's jams and jellies) - 2 votes
#2 (mark martin's disturbing piggy jam) - 1 vote
#3 (kirk creel's salty pirate piggy) - 1 vote

keep voting! why isn't everyone signed up for this blog anyways? we're going to have fun here! anyways, i think voting should stay open until the end-of-day sunday, then on monday morning, we'll announce our next challenge.

and while i'm posting, so as not to bury the results thus far...
some art (the 2nd one is only colored by me):

Lost & Found

James Hislope turned up. As I posted earlier, I couldn't get a hold of him, and so I was kind of worried. But he wasn't lying in a ditch. He'd just left the job where his email address was. He no longer had regular internet access, so he didn't get my messages. Anyway, he's alive.

Napkin Art

This is usually how I wait for a meal to arrive.

Speaking of Nuttin'

Seeing Mark's sketches reminded me of my meeting notes. These are actual meeting notes with the real information erased to protect corporate super secrets. I was really into that meeting.

New SHC

I just added Sarah White - go check out her post to see some art and some links to her stuff!


This isn't typical of her style, by the way. I just thought this would be a fun one to put here. For a better idea, check out her Kastle Comics or her deviantART gallery.

She's our 29th Cartooneesta. I wonder who'll make it an even 30.

It seems like everybody in the W's is particularly talented.

Time to Vote!

Here we go, y'all. Click on "Comment," at the bottom of this post, to cast your vote for the official Salty 'Ham Jam header image! These were drawn in response to Salty Challenge 001.

And let's say this: You're allowed to vote for yourself, but please don't, if you can help it. Because if everyone votes for themselves, we'll just have a tie or something. I'm already wondering if this is actually going to work. (The titles below are my own, and are subject to change if anyone objects.)

1 - Garrison's "Ham, Jam, Thank-You Ma'am"

2 - Mark Martin's "Squeal Like a Pig"

3 - Kirk Creel's "Pig on a Peg"

4 - Chris Fason's "It Has To Be Salty"

5 - Joe Attaway's "Ham 'n' Amp"

6 - Garrison/Fason's "Roller Derby Nightmare"

Anyone voting for the Roller Derby, please specify A - F (you can see the letters if you click on the pic). I guess we'll have to keep the voting open for a few days or a week or something.

I got nothin'

Last night The World's Greatest Cook went to bed and I was about to turn off the TV and get some work done. But "The Fan" came on, and I started watching, and this is all I got done. This is how I write the "Gag Station" headers for Nick Mag. I just start doodling and something coherent eventually materializes. But after 2 hours this is all I got done for the yearly "Halloween" issue.

I'll try again over the weekend.

...

Rocks Rocks

Hey, ever'body. I recently noticed that Tim Rocks had fixed up his web site, with some good stuff that I had not previously seen. Go there and read his fine comics, like these! They're really well done.



And don't forget to go to his dad's yard sale on Saturday.

2 Things

Here's my latest cartoon map:

If you want to see some tighter close-ups, go here. Or to see my whole cartoon map blog, go here.

Caricatures aren't my strong suit, but after doing a few on that map, I figured I had enough to make a folder for them on my Elance page. I made a bunch of comparison images, like this one:

To see more, go to my Elance page, click on portfolio, then on the Caricatures folder.

yardsale Saturday

Please stop by and see if anything catches your eye. Not going to have a ton of comics-related stuff but there will be a little. My dad said he might get rid of a taboret (small rolling table with drawers for brushes and things) and some neat old furniture.

Location: Art Sign Co. in Homewood, on Central Ave. across from Hufstutler's Hardware. Just down the street from Homewood Park. Sat. AM to early afternoon.

Banner from Reverend Joe

Hey, Joe Attaway sent me this submission to the Header Challenge:


What a greasy-looking ham.

Your Basic Storyboards

These aren't too cartoony, but they are sequential, and they are from Alabama, so -
They're storyboards for an Auburn commercial, but it wasn't produced. Check out all three pages or my whole storyboard blog.

The Duel Series

I figured it was time to actually post some pictures, so I figured I'd do what I call "The Duel Series," going from all the way back in 2K3 until now.

The Tick vs The Maxx


Goku vs Piccolo


Freakazoid vs Earthworm Jim


Astro Boy vs Mega Man

I wanted to do others, such as Deathstroke vs Deadpool and of course Beakman vs Bill Nye the Science Guy, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Salty Challenge 001 - deadline

Let's say the last day for entries into Salty Challenge 001 (the header challenge) is on Friday, July 18.


Then on Saturday, we can do a post that recaps the entries, and people can vote in the comments.

Missing SHC

Somebody contacted me, trying to get a hold of Salty 'Ham Cartooneesta James Hislope.


That's when I figured out that his email's not working; the phone number I had for him is out of service; and he hasn't visited myspace since June 2nd. Does anybody know if this guy's okay?!

New SHC

Hey, all. Just added a new guy to the Cartooneestas page: Marcus Lusk! (creator of Tales from the Bog)


He's opening a cool, new comic shop - Atomic Comics - in Gadsden, later this summer. So get ready for a road trip. Welcome, Marcus!

header color take one-million.

i got kind of lazy at the end there... still, i think it came out rather nice.

Finally!

I just got my order of pre-lined non-photo reproducible comic sheets from Joe Kubert's Art Store. Now I can start my next comic and hopefully make something that a publisher will like for a change.
I know they're just 2-ply bristol boards, but no one else sells pre-lined versions this size. If there were an easier (or cheaper) version than ordering from his store offline, I wish I knew about it.
I suppose once I get something drawn up, I'll scan it and put it on here.


Rock on, Keep Rockin'

rough color test

also in progress . . .

Hey Fason - Funny you should post that now, 'cuz I was noodling around this morning and picked out these colors as one possible palette. I like your nice, watery shading, and especially the shadows under his brows.

a much better coloring job

in progress...

SHJ Roller Derby Header 2.0

Well, I got to looking back at my first roller derby-themed entry for the Salty 'Ham Jams Header Challenge, and had some thoughts about it. The girls seemed attractive, but boring. It was nice that they sort of had individual looks, but they weren't very scary or interesting. I thought, what if I made them all some kind of thuggish clones? And what if I gave them big ol' thighs? I tried this sketch:


I tried to sprinkle in some Crumb, some Bluto, some Olive Oyl, and maybe a little Maurice Sendak. I liked the sketch okay, so I redid the girls, and here's the new pencil version:

Eventually, I got around to inking it:

Maybe I can try to add some color in the middle of the week. But again, if anybody else wants to mess with it, feel free. Email me and I'll send you the high-res file to work from. I only ask that you emphasize the thighs, perhaps with big, sweaty, shiny highlights. Here's a color treatment Chris Fason did on my earlier draft.

Or I could send you the high-res file of the pencil, if you want to try inking it in a different style.

I think we'd better decide on an end date for the header challenge, and maybe that would put a fire under a couple more butts to submit. And mayhap somebody else will spearhead a new challenge or project or something soon. (?)