And, another one...

Probably the coolest thing about drawing from life directly into the computer is the ability to make changes on the fly. Not only proportional changes (i.e. extending an leg or arm) but also compositional changes and color changes. Oh yeah, and the "undo" command doesn't hurt either.

Another drawing from Sunday Sketch Class

Here's another digital drawing I did on Sunday. I'm enjoying working on the Wacom tablet on these. It takes a little getting used to, but once you get your brushes, layers, and color palette set, it goes much smoother. I'll post another long pose, and some gesture drawings a little later.

"Digital" Sunday Sketch Class

For sketch class today, I decided to work from life on the Wacom tablet. No paper, no pencils, no pens here - nothing but 0's and 1's. This one is probably my favorite drawing of the session. I'll post my gestures and some more longer poses tomorrow. I'll also probably take one of the gestures and create another Sanzoku illustration. Stay tooned!

Cheers,

Ed

Last syndicate cartoon of the week

Hello everyone. Well, my situation hasn't changed much over the last couple of days. But I have managed to set up my web site to sell cartoons through PayPal. So if you're an editor or publisher, and would like to get your hands on some inexpensive quality national & local editorial cartoons, please feel free to stop by and have a look. The re-print fees are really low, and you can pick and choose the cartoons that fit your paper's position on the issues.

Happy Shopping! http://www.halltoons.com/

Oh, and here's a cartoon I finished this morning for my syndicate. Running a car company - so easy a caveman can do it!

Enjoy.

Your weekly Sanzoku

Here's another Samurai-Geisha taken from a gesture drawing I did in class. Since I've got extra time on my hands now (looking for work BTW - all suggestions welcome) I figure why not brush up on my digital inking skills and work on my portfolio. Anyway here she is. I'm pretty happy with the way this one came out. I sat on the floor to draw the model, so I could get a more dynamic and powerful pose. Here's the gesture.

And here's the illustration. People have mentioned that they enjoy seeing the figure drawings that these are taken from, so I'll post them when I can.

Enjoy.

-Ed

And one more local cartoon

This one was sparked by a column by one of my local editors, but I think it also works as a synopsis of our national psyche. We really don't know how good we've got it compared to other nations.

New syndicate cartoon

Might as well get a couple more smacks in there before he's gone. If ever there was a turkey in office, this guy was him.

Is it January yet?

Interesting USA Today article

I love it when a national story backs me up on a cartoon idea. I was beginning to wonder if any one "got it" and then this morning I opened my USA Today to this story about teachers selling ad space on exams so that they can afford to buy their student's supplies. Yes, you read that right. For anyone concerned over the future of education in this country, I strongly suggest a read. Administrators cut spending on supplies by a third, so teachers are left to fend for themselves. I've yet to hear even ONE administrator say "I'll take a pay cut, or even forgo my bonus this year, or buy my own gasoline, or etc., etc." It's always "where else can I cut without having to touch my well being." It's sickening. I'll make a promise right here and now - if I read about one school administrator anywhere in the country that volunteers such measures, I will be the first to dump tons and tons of praise upon him or her in this blog (insert cricket chirps here).

Anyway, here's my favorite line:

"The National Education Association says teachers spend about $430 out of their pockets each year for school supplies. This semester, Christine Van Ruiten, a teacher at E.C. Reems, a charter school in East Oakland, has spent $2,000. She scours Craigslist for free supplies and posts requests to DonorsChoose.org, which matches teachers with donors."

I wanted to make sure I posted a link here to the Donors Choose Web Site. For any teachers out there, who are contemplating taking money out of their own pockets for school supplies, go here first, and see if they can help.

http://www.donorschoose.org/

Founded in 2000 by Charles Best, then a Bronx teacher, DonorsChoose has funded about 65,000 projects totaling $26 million. Best calls it "a more dignified, substantive alternative for teachers than selling candy door-to-door — and certainly than selling ad space on final exams. That's crazy."

I've still got art

It's the one thing that's always sustained me when times are tough. Hell, at this rate, I may be doing street sketches for change before it's all said and done.

Here's another drawing from Sunday's sketch class.

Enjoy.

The slide continues...

Well, I got another dreaded "call" this morning. It's official, The Times Union is no longer going to be using me for it's Community News Sections. This is as bad as I've ever seen things, and I know it's not easy for my editors. They have to let go photographers, reporters, cartoonists, et al. My question is, who's gonna put the paper together when everybody is gone? The janitor? The editor? Alone? There's no one left. But they all say they're going to do what they have to to keep the papers published. We'll see. They may end up eliminating the community news sections all together. More local content eliminated. Sucks.

So, it looks like I'm gonna have to REALLY start thinking outside the box now. Hell, I'm even thinking about going back into adjuncting at the local college, but after reading this, I'm not even sure about that. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend 12 hours a day driving from University to University to pull in $25K a year. That's ludicrous.

I'll keep you updated here as to what happens next.
Ho, ho , holy sh*t...

-Ed

Weekend Fallout

Well, my ex-freelance client ran a semi-apologetic letter this weekend to cover my cartoon with the local gentry. A letter also ran condemning the cartoon as offensive. I think that's awesome, because this offensive cartoon hit at the heart of a discussion that should have been going on anyway - and that conversation should include plugging budgetary holes, at all levels of School Government. I have yet to hear even one commissioner volunteer this on the student's behalf, but they will not hesitate to mention how they are going to eliminate others bonuses and pay raises or even where they are going to have to fire employees. From grounds crews to libraries, to the Arts; they are all on the chopping block, admit it or not. And it's not just in St. Johns County, it's going on all over Florida. The final malfeasance would be to go to a four day school week, something that I would have never dreamed we'd see in our lifetime. With that we will continue to fall further and further behind developing nations in our children's education. BTW, most of this mess can be traced back to our "wonderful" Governor, Charlie Crist and his hideous Amendment One, but don't get me started on that - just another, larger level of bloat.

At the same time, this weekend, a local online publication wrote a short column praising my work, and asking why I should be let go for doing my job. The irony here of course is that I'm not even a staffer at this paper. I provide them with INEXPENSIVE, quality local commentary that they can't get from any syndicate.

Here's my favorite comment by Joe in St. Augustine who wrote in online:

Why are you surprised? This is the Record. A newspaper run by people with limited intelligence and world experience. The news is controlled and slanted because they are beholden to various and sundry old guard controllers of the county who haven't the savvy to understand that political satire by cartoonists has been allowed and appreciated for centuries. It is indeed chilling when a satirist is censured and punished for his creations.

I don't really give a sh*t if they decide to continue to use my cartoons or not. If one teacher benefits from the dialogue or one commissioner comes to his or her senses and finds a creative way to fund education in our County, then I can sleep well at night knowing that I tried to say something about that. As this article, (which actually inspired the cartoon) asks, "What's left to Cut?" I'll tell you what's left to cut - any School Board salary that remains bloated (including the superintendent's). In tough times, we all have to sacrifice for the good of our students. The title of this cartoon is "Keep Trimming." That should answer any and all questions regarding it's original intent and target.