Blakin' love, for the very first time

Please welcome to the fold, new Salty 'Ham Blake Showers, with his awesome graffiti-inspired illustration style.

More Caricatures

I've been doing more caricatures, at THE Club's 4th of July party; Altec's Family Fun Day; and Sidewalk's Saturday night After Party, at the Avondale Brewing Company.  Here are 12 of my favorites:

Onion Puss, #1

Onion Puss is now in print.  Add this to your collection!

Issue #1 collects all the Onion Puss strips so far, from my weekly webcomic Zoo Laffs.

Onion Puss is the most wretched little fella you ever saw, and he has terrible luck with girls.  Fun adventures!  In this issue: Onion Puss goes on a wild ghost chase with the elusive Priscilla, the vivacious Holly, and the long dead Elizabeth. (recommended for ages 13 & up ... give or take)

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 $2.99.  Order now!  (And while you're at it, you can still pick up Jakey the Jerk, #1, too.)

Collins and Cole

The number of entries on SaltyHam.org just went up to 70, with the addition of two talented new Salty 'Hams.  And they're bringing a little more gender balance to the group, because they're both female girl-persons.  Check 'em out!

Amy Collins, of Florence

Jennie Cole, of Montevallo

But, believe it or not, there are still a huge number of Alabama cartoonists who HAVEN'T joined the Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas!  What's up with that?

Mystery Animals

Here are some illustrations I did for a pal, for a secret project of his.  I can't tell you what it is!

Reacting to the Past - 2012

Here's an illustration I did recently for an educators' workshop at Central Michigan University.  To offset the harsh realities of history, I decided to depict all the characters with pleasant looks on their faces.

The guy in the upper right is Professor Mark Carnes, in the role of Revolutionary War general and statesman John Morin Scott.  Also shown: Frederick Douglass, Berthe Morisot, Emperor Wanli, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, Emma Goldman, Socrates, Anne Hutchinson, and Jawaharlal Nehru.  As themselves.

More Sketch Cards

Following up on last week's post, I finished my cards for Alterna Originals 5th Anniversary Trading Card Set, my third sketch card set for this year.

From top; "Adam Wreck", "American Terror", "Anyone But Virginia", "Deadbeat", and "Fubar." You can find out more here.
Characters & related elements © their respective owners/Alterna Comics

Comics a-Plenty

Several of our fellow SHC's have new comics ventures that are definitely worth a mention here.  Interestingly, I'd say they all fall into a genre I'll call funny-auto-bio.  I think there are a lot of arty-auto-bio comics in the world, but not a lot of FUNNY-auto-bio comics.  However, all of a sudden, here are several great funny-auto-bio comics, being produced by Salty 'Hams:

Howard Cruse just launched a new webcomic series called Howard Cruse's Occasional Comix.  It's awesome, just as you'd expect from Cruse.

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James Hislope has begun drawing a strip which he regularly posts to Facebook.  It's called A Warehouse Life.  It's fantastic, and I can't believe how fast he turns it out.

***

Meanwhile, Mark Martin has TWO funny-auto-bio comics running on Facebook: Rowdy and When Mitchy Met Janet.  As usual, he makes brilliance look effortless.

Sketch Cards

I recently finished my first non-charity sketch cards* for the U.K. based Unstoppable Cards' The Avengers 50th Anniversary Trading Card Set, based on the 1960's tv series.

My latest charity-based sketch cards are for Island Dreams, benfitting the Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital’s Family Assistance Fund.

I'm currently working on cards for Alterna Originals 5th Anniversary Card Set, I hope to have these finished and posted online in the next week or so.



*For those that don't know, sketch cards are trading card size (usually 2.5" x 3.5") original artwork that is inserted into packs of trading cards as a premium.

Pete Moss and the Search for the Holy Nib

Hey folks! Finally finished the comic I've been working on (off and on) since mid-winter. Here's the cover:

It's in the adventure/humor all-ages camp. So that pretty much rules out most comic readers I guess. If you'd like more information, there's some preview images and a brief synopsis at my blog: timrockscomics.blogspot.com

Hopefully we'll all meet down at the local J some time and raise up our glasses to the fine people at Copies for Less in Irondale.

Jakey the Jerk, #1

Jakey the Jerk is now in print.  Add this to your collection!

Issue #1 collects all the Jakey the Jerk strips so far from my weekly webcomic Zoo Laffs.

Jakey the Jerk is a little ram who has trouble with women.  Because he's a jerk.  In this issue: Jakey goes on a mountain hiking adventure with the beautiful and baffling folk singer, Sassafras Vallee.  Is she the girl for him?  (recommended for ages 13 & up ... give or take)

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 $2.99.  Order now!

APF caricatures

The Alabama Phoenix Festival appeared to me to be a pretty great success.  What did you think?

Also, I drew a bunch of caricatures.  To see my favorites and read my full report, check out THIS POST on my sketch blog.

The Alabama Phoenix Festival

It's here!  Birmingham sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, & arts convention The Alabama Phoenix Festival is starting now and continues throughout the weekend.  Click that link for all the info.

A bunch of Salty 'Ham Cartooneestas will be there: Tom Briscoe, Chris Fason, Andy Gray, James Hislope, Kinch Raby, and me, Chris Garrison.  As well as a bunch of other artists who probably SHOULD be SHC's, but just haven't joined yet.

I'll be selling Jakey the Jerk #1, which collects all the Jakey stories so far from my webcomic Zoo Laffs, and I reckon I'll also do a few caricatures.  See you there!

Follow Me

Some news from our fellow SHC Don Stewart:

Alabama Artist Unveils Work At Infantry Museum

Birmingham, Alabama

May 23, 2012

The DS Art Studio is very pleased to announce the release of Don Stewart’s newest composite artwork, Follow Me.

The complex ballpoint drawing detailing the history of the United States Army Infantry will be unveiled on Memorial Day, May 28^th, 2012 at the National Infantry Museum in Columbus, Georgia.

Based on the iconic "Iron Mike" statue that stands at Fort Benning, Georgia and the National Infantry Museum, Stewart’s latest composite image honors the United States Army Infantry. The drawing is composed of over 225 objects, focusing primarily on firearms and personal items used by Infantry soldiers from 1775 to the present, with emphasis on the Seven Army Values of Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage.

Similar to Stewart’s 2010 Marine Corps drawing, Uncommon Valor, half of the proceeds from print sales of Follow Me will be donated to support our nation’s Wounded Warriors. Reproductions of the drawing will be available after Memorial Day in limited and open editions.

Development of the Follow Me drawing from start to finish can be seen HERE.

Also, don’t miss our Uncommon Valor VIDEO.  

Thanks!

Don

More Party Caricatures

I've been drawing some more caricatures.  To see my favorites and read my full report, check out THIS POST on my sketch blog.

Recent Roundup

Hi, nice persons!

I've just gone and collected a few pieces from some of the blogs, webcomics, 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.)

I can't take the time to turn the following names into links. If you want to see more from any of these great Alabama cartoonists -- and find a whole boatload MORE Alabama cartoonists, to boot -- consult the alphabetical list HERE.

James Hislope

James Hislope

 Jonathan Hooks

Marcus Lusk

 Mark Martin

 Mark Martin

 Heath McPherson

 Melody

Melody

Review Exists

Just stumbled across this months-old review of the comic I did last year:

http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2011/12/minicomics-and-genre-doug-michel-jason.html

[editor's note: You can get YOUR copy of Pete Moss HERE!)

Tim's note: Chris, come on.. Didn't you read my reply to the review where I said I don't even care for the comic much myself any more? I'm not sure I'll even keep it available for sale. I was just alerting people in case they were curious to read the review. So: DON'T get your copy of Pete Moss..!

Kirk Out

Sad news.  Our fellow SHC Kirk Creel, who was diagnosed a while back with pancreatic cancer, has left this mortal coil.

As a dependable regular at our get-togethers, you were an all around nice guy, Kirk.  You'll be missed.

(obit)  (fb page)

Recent Roundup

Hey-now!

I've just gone and collected a few pieces from some of the blogs, webcomics, 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.)

I can't take the time to turn the following names into links. If you want to see more from any of these great Alabama cartoonists -- and find a whole boatload MORE Alabama cartoonists, to boot -- consult the alphabetical list HERE.

 Chris Fason

 Chris Fason

 Benjamin Faucher

 Sean Finn

 Sean Finn

 Chris Garrison

 Andy Gray

 Andy Gray

 Delaine Derry Green

Richard Haigler