Salty 'Ham Slam 10 - On Reflection

Our tenth official powwow was a hoot. We were at the J again, and we had a nice little crowd:
Richard Haigler, Kirk Creel, Ben Faucher, Derek Anderson, Ed Abernathy, Tim Rocks, Perry Sessions, and Nolen Otts were there. And we welcomed first-timer Tom Briscoe. And there was me, Chris Garrison. Pretty good group!

I took advantage of the friendly atmosphere by getting in some caricature practice. I've never really been a live caricature artist. Oh, I've occasionally drawn folks from photos, taking a lot of time to study over them and try different approaches. But I've rarely ever sat in front of a person to caricature them on the spot. I think my results were okay, and I definitely enjoyed it. I'm considering doing more to hone the skill. Anyway, here are my attempts, accompanied by photos from the meeting:

Derek Anderson


Tom Briscoe


Kirk Creel


Ben Faucher


Richard Haigler


Nolen Otts


Tim Rocks (I forgot to get a picture at the Slam, so here's an old one)


Perry Sessions

Crotchety old Ed Abernathy, the seasoned caricaturist, wouldn't let me draw him! Sheesh. What a grouch. However, he entertained us all (as usual) with his brilliant ideas on how to bilk tons of cash from the general public. So I forgive him.

Ben Faucher drew me as I struggled to get it right:


I'll offer this for comparison:


And Nolen Otts offered this lovely, even angelic rendition. This is what my wife thinks I look like:


As long as I'm showcasing drawings of myself, for anyone who hasn't seen it, let me again present my favorite caricature, given to me by our fellow SHC Garth Potts, a while back:


As usual, we snacked on Oreos, Nutter Butters, and Chips, Ahoy! cookies. Unfortunately, Kirk tried to swallow the chuck key from a Makita rechargeable drill, turned purple in the face, and had to be given the Heimlich. Good job, Ben! You're totally on the ball! For those of you who missed it, you really should have been there!

Also, we discussed ideas about organizing a competitive cartooning event. More on that as it develops. (or less on it, as it doesn't)

With all the delving into caricature world, I failed to start a comic jam this time. Luckily, Derek Anderson took the initiative, and drew the first panel of this one:



Lost in Translation credits:
Page 1 -- panel 1 by Derek Anderson; panel 2 by Richard Haigler; panel 3 by Kirk Creel; panel 4 by Chris Garrison; panels 5 & 6 by Perry Sessions.
Page 2 -- panels 1 & 2 (inset) by Chris Garrison, with lots of story help from Tim Rocks.

All tolled, everybody had fun at the slam, and there were plenty of smug smiles. So join us, won't you, for the NEXT Salty 'Ham Slam! (as yet unscheduled) (official members and invited guests only, please)

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

Salty 'Ham Slam - Reminder

Hey, SHC members, don't forget -- Our 10th Salty 'Ham Slam is coming up soon. If you didn't receive your email alerting you to the secret time and place, just tell me. And click HERE for more details.

I'm hoping we'll have a good group this time around, but that can only happen if YOU arrive with bells on. Comment below (or email me) to let us all know if you're coming. Perhaps your enthusiasm will be contagious, encouraging others to show up as well.

Read about the fun we had at SLAM 1, SLAM 2, SLAM 3, SLAM 4, SLAM 5, SLAM 6, SLAM 7, SLAM 8, and SLAM 9 -- then imagine that, only better!

Cracked looks back

Mort Todd posted this news on the TCJ forums:

On a related note, just got the galleys for the two-volume history of Cracked book by Mark Arnold, "If You're Cracked, You're Happy," and it is better than it has any right to be. Along with a foreword by Steve Ditko, it also has tons of great recollections by the unusual gang of non-idiots, from the Atlas-refugees that started it in 1958 after the Atlas Comics implosion, to the young Turks who ain't so young any more.

Probably not something I could afford to buy, but I'd certainly be thrilled to see it on the racks and flip through it with my grubby fingers.

All That Raz

First, a bit of background: As you may recall, I drew a couple of guest strips for the web comic 1930 Nightmare Theatre, which runs on DummComics.com. (you can revisit those strips HERE and HERE).

Rad Raz, by Jack Cusumano, is another cool feature on Dumm Comics. It runs every Saturday. It's a fun comic, with a very 80's aesthetic. Raz is a little green whatsit, who's completely despicable in both his personal life and his life as a corporate tyrant. If you haven't been following it, and you want to sorta catch up on the evolution of the strip, start by reading the pre-Dumm incarnation HERE. The comic got something of an overhaul when it started on Dumm Comics, HERE. (use the arrows underneath, to navigate forward).

Now here's my news: Jack Cusumano invited me to do a guest strip for Rad Raz! So I did, and it was posted on the site today. Check it out HERE. Again, I tried to honor the spirit of Rad Raz, while at the same time putting my own spin on it.

Gnatrat Lives !!!

Holy cow, this is totally exciting news!

Our fellow SHC Mark Martin is giving thought to bringing back his cult classic character Gnatrat. He's set up a KickStarter project. If he gets $1200 in pledges, he's doing it, and he's practically already there! Go HERE to read all about it and make a pledge, like me.

Here's a wacky video about it:

FILM HAUS

Hello good people,
Every Thursday for the next 4 weeks we will be presenting films at the German Club in downtown Birmingham. These are all casual, free events with short films screening before the features and a full bar for your consumption. We will begin the films around 8:30 or so. Feel free to join us!

This week (2/10) we present the amazing Czech puppet film entitled "Kooky." It is a film unlike any other; as if Jim Henson decided to do the Velveteen Rabbit.

Upcoming screenings include Terrence Malick's Badlands, Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train and Takashi Miike's The Happiness of the Katakuris.

• FSDK German Club • 2318 2nd Ave N • 205-324-5949 •

Sgt. Jack's Pals

Remember The Sargent Jack Show? Did you know our fellow SHC Howard Cruse was a puppeteer on that program? He even drew a comic about the characters he created there! Read all about it HERE.

Tim Hollis on the radio again

You may recall that our fellow SHC Tim Hollis was interviewed on WBHM's Tapestry a while back. Well now the public radio folks have brought him back, as a guest on a show about . . . stuff! And hey, who better to talk about managing your things than a guy who attached a two-story museum of memorabilia to the back of his house? Listen HERE.

RGB blues

Working on some biz cards for my dad's shop. Trying to use the Pantone colors he specified, but my primitive Photoshop doesn't have Pantone charts included, so.. go online to find RGB conversion numbers. But then.. the printer prefers CMYK files of course, so my RGB file will potentially have some drastic color shift.

Plus I had to recreate the logo from a composite scan where the hash marks ended up not aligning..

I also have to revamp the website, since it's been sitting around in a token, scary sort of way for eons. But he's providing me the materials for renovation, should just be some simple HTML plastic surgery.