Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Salty 'Ham Slam 9 - On Reflection

Our ninth official meet-and-greet was da bomb. We were at the J again, and we had 16 cartoonist-types in attendance! I'm pretty sure that's more than ever. Let's see, there was Richard Haigler, Ben Faucher, Frank Cummings, Garth Potts, Ed Abernathy, Tim Rocks, Chris Adkins, Christopher Davis, Lorenzo Kirkpatrick, Nolen Otts, Russell Quick, Tim Spinosi, and Sam McDavid were there. And we welcomed first-timer Perry Sessions. Plus special guest (and prospective new member) Kevin Van Hyning. And me, Chris Garrison. Crazy!

On the way in, the guys ogled a nearby roomful of nubile stretching women. Once the guys made it into our secret lair, they ogled Perry Sessions' binder full of girlie sci-fi drawings. So there was plenty of ogling to go around.

Foreground (left to right) -- Tim Spinosi and Nolen Otts discuss Tim's latest work, while Perry Sessions contributes to a comic jam. Background (left to right) -- Russell Quick, Sam McDavid, and Christopher Davis debate the rape epidemic in the Congo war. But . . . how is that a debate?


(left to right) -- Richard Haigler and Frank Cummings trade adventure stories from their years tracking Bigfoot. Why these two have never teamed up to nab the monster, I don't know. Tim Rocks looks on. Meanwhile, Ben Faucher (that's fo-SHAY) tells Lorenzo Kirkpatrick a few things he's learned about computers. "This is the return key." Way to start with the basics, Ben. Taking it back to 1981.


(left to right) -- Frank Cummings and Kevin Van Hyning admire the originals from this beautiful MAD-inspired piece by Tim Rocks.




Russell Quick -- apparently too quick to stay in focus.


Sam McDavid tells Christopher Davis where to put his bags. Talk about racist!

Somehow I didn't get Garth Potts or Ed Abernathy in any of my photos. Maybe I snapped these before those guys showed up, or else they just somehow eluded my lens without my realizing it. Sorry, guys.

Oh, some lovable moppets snuck in and stole our cookies! It was hilarious. I tried to run them off with old-fashioned phrases, like, "Shoo!" and "23 Skidoo!" But that only seemed to encourage them.

Lorenzo Kirkpatrick showed us some work from his web-comic, Alien Gladiators. He was planning to wait a while before telling the general public, but I'm leaking it to you guys here, because the work is SUPERB. So go check out Alien Gladiators.

We all went downstairs to see a bunch of work by Garth Potts, which filled two rooms, close to the main doors of the LJCC. Some sports caricatures, and some serious sports-related illustrations. Garth is so prolific, the work spills out into the halls and basically fills up the whole complex. If you missed it, drop by and have a look. I think it'll be up throughout the month of October.

Tim Spinosi brought this:


He said it was the first thing he's drawn with colored pencils in twelve years! Good job getting back on that horse, Spin Man. Let's see some more!

With all the camaraderie and discussion of tools and techniques, we barely had time to draw. But Kevin Van Hyning doodled this in my sketchbook:


And we added a few panels to some comic jams that we've started in the past, but we still didn't resolve the stories on them. Maybe I can get together with a few cartooneestas in the next few weeks to try and wrap up those stories, before posting them in their entirety.

Here's a brief comic jam we managed to do this time:


Unlucky Leprechaun credits:
panel 1 by Chris Garrison; panel 2 by Richard Haigler; panel 3 by Russell Quick, with story suggestion by Sam McDavid. Time was running short, and I thought that last panel about summed it up, so I put a cap on it by writing "End" at the bottom. It was either that or begin a long and complicated action-adventure, a la Tin Tin, in which our chubby heroine sets out to solve The Mystery of the Dead Leprechaun.

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

And you can look back at previous slams, here:

Thursday, October 7, 2010

another new category

You know how I recently added the Game Designers category to these lists that you see, when you click on The Cartooneestas, over at saltyham.org?


Well, I just added ANOTHER new category:

Cartoony sculptors (6)

If you're a Salty 'Ham Cartooneesta, and you're into sculpture, and you're not already on this short list, let me know so I can add you on that page.

Wass Up!

There's a new Salty 'Ham Cartooneesta, y'all: Cartoony sculptress Carolyn Wass. Have a look at her SHC page HERE.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Salty 'Ham Slam - Reminder


Hey, SHC members, don't forget -- Our 9th 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.

Remember, if you're man enough (or woman enough) to run "The Gauntlet," bring something for that.


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

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Inking in Flash

. . . another attempt, in a somewhat different style . . .

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Inking in Flash

. . . still improving . . .

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Inking in Flash

Since I got my Cintiq, I've been trying to take a little time to dabble in digital inking. I figured I'd start by working in Flash, because I think that's what a lot of other cartoonists do. By watching a few online tutorials and practicing the craft, I think I've managed to achieve a non-horrible level of ability. Check these out:


The challenge is figuring out how to avoid getting those ugly, Flashy-looking lines, that do all kinds of things a computer would do, but real ink would never do. If you click on these and look closely, you can definitely find the tell-tale signs. I think if I tried hard enough, I could get rid of most of those, but the process would take ten times as long. So no wonder so many people allow a certain amount of Flashy-ness in their inking.


After I spend some more time with Flash, I plan to move on and try my hand at inking in Illustrator, and maybe a few other programs.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Derp.

Hey-o, Kermit the Frog here! (No, no, no... it's just Fason. Happy Birthday to Jim Henson today!) If you're on my Facebook, you may already know that HERO HAPPY HOUR, a comic that I co-created w/ writer Dan Taylor has been reborn as a webcomic. The first storyline, "Cease & Desist", is drawn by Grant Perkins and I will be taking over regular art chores after Grant's run is complete. In the meantime, Dan and I have created a couple new anti-heroes for First City that also hang around at the Hideout Bar and wax philosophical about being heroes. This will be a supplemental comic to the main HHH webcomic. I'm not sure when it will begin to run, but it will run on days that HHH does not (currently HHH updates Tuesdays and Thursdays). Anyways, here's a sneak peek at Double Shot and Chaser, our new mercenary and bounty hunter anti-heroes:


Be sure to check out herohappyhour.com regularly for comics and other shenanigans.

Friday, September 17, 2010

new gadget-tron

My Cintiq arrived, and I got it all hooked up. I can draw right on the screen now!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Salty 'Ham Slam 9

The ninth edition of the Salty 'Ham Slam has been scheduled! The exact date, time, and location are a secret, reserved for our official members and close associates only. If you haven't yet received the details by email, contact me and I will send them forthwith: cgarrison[at]bham.rr.com

More info HERE.

Recent Sketches

Hey, everybody. Here are some recent sketches I just scanned:



Click here to see 5 more pages worth, or here to see all the stuff on my sketch blog. Want an assignment? Color one o' these ... or clean it up and ink it and color it ... and post it here. I'll be interested to see what you do with it.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Artwalk tonight and tomorrow

Several Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas will be displaying their work this weekend at Birmingham Artwalk (Sep. 10th & 11th, 2010), including:


. . . and maybe some more SHC's, too, but I'm not sure. Stephen Smith and John Lytle Wilson have shown there in the past, so maybe they're showing again this year. Come and find out!

Delaine Derry Green

Friday, September 3, 2010

New Crazy-Quilt

A while back, I made this crazy-quilt image, to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of SHC --


I just made a new version, because we can now fill up 60 squares, instead of just 40 (there's a square for each member) --


If you'd prefer a different image in your square, just email it to me, and I'll change it out. cgarrison[at]bham.rr.com Please make it 2" x 2", RGB, at 72 dpi.

new category

You know how, when you click on The Cartooneestas, over at saltyham.org, you see these categories?:


Well, I just added a new category:

Game designers (4)

If you're a Salty 'Ham Cartooneesta, and you're into designing video games, and you're not already on this short list, let me know so I can add you on that page.

Sixty

When you look at the All the Cartooneestas page, you'll now see SIXTY entries. That's on account of the addition of our newest recruit, Perry Sessions. Check out his SHC page, HERE.


Sunday, August 29, 2010

Recent Roundup

What's up, y'all?

I've just gone and collected a bunch of beautiful, somewhat recently posted work from some of the blogs and deviantART pages of our fellow SHC's. (You guys should come and post stuff here more often yourselves, just to keep the blog alive.)

If anybody has posted something else that they wish I'd included, let me know.

I can't take the time to turn all these names into links. If you want to see more from any of these artists, find them on the alphabetical list HERE.

Now let's look at some art!


Tom Briscoe


Jessica Campbell


Jessica Campbell


Howard Cruse


Howard Cruse


Chris Fason


Hal Jones


Mark Martin


Mark Martin


Mega Comics Group


Melody


Jason Shoemaker


Pat Snow


Corey Stockley


Corey Stockley


Andrew Willmore


Andrew Willmore

Pat Snow at ArtWalk

Our fellow SHC Pat Snow says:

I have an art opening at Space One Eleven the night of Artwalk. Friday, September the 10th, from 5-9 or so. I will be there early if you want to beat the crowds. I will be showing six large watercolors (60" x 40"). Space One Eleven will also have a jazz band and a kid’s art zone and light refreshments. I am planning this to be my last art show in Birmingham for a couple of years ... so come on down and see the art while you can, and I hope to see you there.

LRB hits 20,000

Love's Rich Bounty, my old cartoon for MTV's Cartoon Sushi, just reached 20,000 views on youtube!


. . . although, while 20,000 sounds good, it's been up for two years, averaging just 28 hits a day. So I guess it's actually really lame, compared to a laughing baby.

Christmas Wishes: A Catalog of Vintage Holiday Treats

Our fellow SHC Tim Hollis has another new book out -- Christmas Wishes: A Catalog of Vintage Holiday Treats. You can read Jerry Beck's review at cartoonbrew.com, HERE (bottom of that post), and you can have a "Look Inside" and order the book from amazon HERE.

Monday, August 23, 2010

The Schoolyard Avenger

Our fellow SHC Richard Haigler is working on a children's book! He's still in the writing phase, but he's giving us an early peek at the cover:

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Lots o' Otts

Long-time friend of the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas Nolen Otts has finally become an official SHC himself. Check out his SHC page!

Here's a little preview image from the animated short he's working on with our fellow SHC Brian Ratigan:


Also, remember this image of Nolen's from a recent Black & White cover? Well, now you can get it on T-shirts or prints, from BPsummer.com

Thursday, August 5, 2010

More Old Sketches

I just posted some more old sketches on my sketch blog. These go way back to 1988, my high school days! See the rest of the batch HERE.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Art at the J

Two items from the Levite Jewish Community Center:

Our fellow SHC Don Stewart has a show up August 1st - 31st, in the Senior Lounge. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, August 5th, from 7-9. More info HERE.


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And another one of our fellow SHC's, Garth Potts, is following that up for the month of September with a show of his drawings of baseball stars (straight drawings, not caricatures this time).


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So, all you other Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas, if you're looking for a gallery to show in, consider the J! Especially all y'all in our Cartoony Fine Artists category.