Sketchbook Project Opening - Atlanta

Last night was a first for me. I attended an online opening at a gallery, live, via the internet. Usually when I'm in a show like this I try to attend the opening, but now, with the internet, artists from all over the country can "attend" virtually. At first it was a little slow, but as people started to trickle in and interact with the camera, it got kinda interesting. Still the thought that so many artists were "peeking in" over the shoulders of the gallery visitors was pretty cool. The organizer also took some photos of the event live and uploaded those shots to Flicker. Here are a few of those photos of the gallery as the show was going on. You can see more here. I also saved a couple of screen shots from the live camera feed. Enjoy.

I looks like they had a good turnout for this. The exhibit will be traveling the country now; landing in such exclusive venues as The Museum of Contemporary Art in Washington DC, Soulard's Art Market in New York, and Chicago's Art Source Gallery.

Knockin' 'em out early this week

I've got the "Disappearing Ink" show in Tallahassee tomorrow, so I've been getting most of my work done early this week. Here are a couple of cartoons that I did yesterday. Both are for my syndicate, but one of them I was able to use locally. I've been thinking a lot lately about the mortgage bailout plan; and while I think that the Govt. has to do something, I'm not so sure that rewarding irresponsible people is the answer. They're just going to be irresponsible again, because they weren't allowed to learn a lesson (this is a pervasive trend in modern society now BTW). On top of that, the responsible tax-payer is basically going to be saddled with paying this foreclosed debt, so why not just buy the home next door, and fix it up so your own home value doesn't go down any further? You're paying for it anyway, why not own it? For this other one, I read where the minute Obama signed the stimulus into effect, mayors & governors immediately started signing off on new municipal projects. I just have the feeling that we're still going to have to wait a bit before the money starts trickling into the holes it needs to fill. Here's that one:

I'll take a few pictures at the gala opening tomorrow and try to get them posted by Wednesday morning. With cartoonists ranks shrinking at hyper-speed, it's nice when a bunch of us can get together. I'll also be signing copies of both of my books at the event, so if you are in the Tallahassee area, stop by and say hello.

I'll post video of the forum when it becomes available.

-Ed

Disappearing Ink show is next week!

Here's a nice little radio piece about a show I'm participating in next week at FAMU in Tallahassee. And here is one of the cartoons that's in the show. I'll also be sitting in on a panel of cartoonists where I will discuss the state of editorial cartooning from the perspective of a local/weekly cartoonist.

The governor will be there. Hope he brings his sense of humor.

A brand new Sanzoku

Here's a new "Little Bandit" for your review. It was taken from an old gesture drawing I did last year. I wasn't expecting much from this pose, but I think it came out OK. I'll post the gesture drawing, a mid-project sketch with notes to myself, and the finished illustration - enjoy.

PS - to all of you "lurkers" out there, please consider following the blog. Just sign up at the bottom of the page, and I'll look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers, and once again, happy weekend,

Ed

Final syndicate cartoon of the week

Canadians are not too keen on having troops in Afghanistan, and even a visit from Obamapalooza ain't gonna change their minds. Seems they're a little sick of sacrificing for our troubles. Can't say as I blame them. Afghanistan is a quagmire. The Russians found that out the hard way, and with an additional 17,000 US troops headed that way, I fear we may suffer the same fate.

Now Pakistan has decided that it's gonna "give up" a section of their Northwestern territories to the Taliban, while the Madrassas continue to churn out hate towards the US and her allies. I don't know what the answer is, but it seems our very presence fans the flames. Afghanistan is already being called Obama's Vietnam; I REALLY hope that doesn't come to pass. At some point (like in Iraq) we've got to get the hell out, and leave the region to it's own demise or progress. We've spent enough in money and in lives. (OK, now I 'll slowly step down off my soapbox and slide it back under my desk - continue what you were doing).

Happy Weekend!

-E

Cartoon!

Here's my first syndicate cartoon of the week. After watching Obama sign the Stimulus Bill into effect today, I couldn't help but think that this is now his "baby." That led to this. I like the fact that this cartoon plays off of two different stroies running concurrently in the news right now.

Did you notice how I made the rattles the commas? My favorite zero baby is the one who wet himself.

BTW, nine babies are called nonuplets, and they are very rare. Ten are call decaplets - that sounds like a headache medication.

A local cartoon and one bizarre story

You can't make this stuff up. Seems a financial assistant at a nursing home here in Baker County, has been found guilty of embezzling over $190,000 from a trust fund for the elderly. The really strange part is what she spent the money on: monkeys, a two -story monkey condo, monkey milk, and little costumes for the monkeys. She was going to breed them and make money off the sales of said monkeys. Unfortunately these were tropical monkeys, and occasionally we get freezing temperatures here in Northeast Florida. She left them outside, and they froze to death. I told you - weirder than real life. Here's the cartoon.

She's baaaack...

I haven't done one of my Sanzokus in quite a while, so I thought I'd take one of my gestures from this Sunday's class and transform it into a Little Bandit. Here she is, fully weaponized. I'll post the gesture as well so you can see where I made adjustments.

A couple more digital sketches

This was the final 20 minute sketch.

And this was the long pose. I spent too much time getting the foreshortening correct and didn't leave myself enough time to color, so I left the old color layer on, and I liked the way it kind of looks like another figure in the picture. So I left it that way.

Digital sketches - the gestures

Here's my gesture drawings from today - 3 minutes each - in no particular order.

Another digital sketch

Digital Sketches as I finish them

We had our weekly drawing class today, and I worked on the Wacom tablet again. I'll post these as I adjust them in Photoshop. Here's the first one. I intentionally softened the color and line with a Gaussian blur. I kinda like the effect.

Enjoy.

Syndicate cartoon

Here's my first syndicate cartoon of the week. I like this one because I was able to relate the A-Rod steroid scandal to the scandalous lending practices that existed during the nineties. Our Government borrowed against our future, and now it's coming back to haunt us. It's funny how our Government's practices are echoed in our own (ie. credit card spending). Let's just hope the Chinese let the bill float a while longer.

New Art Project in Atlanta

This month I will be participating in an Art Project through The Art House Coop in Atlanta. This is a group show of artists who were mailed Moleskine Sketchbooks and asked to fill them up with the content of our brains. The show will travel to various galleries and venues across the USA in 2009. Here's mine in digital book form. It takes a couple of seconds to load, so be patient. Then, just use your mouse to turn the pages like you would a real book. Pretty cool huh?

This is the cover of my book.

Some of these are waaay out there. It's not often you get a chance to take a look at the inside of an artist's head. Comments welcome.

-Ed

Torn paper sketch

Occasionally I'll cut and paste paper to break up the surface. Usually it's just Elmer's glue and shredded strips, which I work back into. If I don't like an area, that makes it easy to just cover over it. Here's another old sketch that I just found. Enjoy.

Wooster Street NYC - Winter 1999

In the process of re-evaluating my career in art, I'm running across many drawings that I had completely forgotten about. Here's one of those, drawn in ink, sitting on a curb in SOHO waiting to meet an artist friend.

I hope you enjoy seeing these as much as I did finding them. I'll post periodically.

I think we can all relate

After having re-done our budget twice now, it looks like I'm going to have to squeeze the turnip one more time. I just don't know where to cut yet. I could go back to basic cable, but I need CNN for reference. I could cancel the Valentines Day reservations we have planned, but I really need an intact head attached to my shoulders. Where ever I find fat to cut, it's probably gonna hurt, and it's definitely gonna suck. We've already eliminated vacations, Friday night dinners, and going out to the movies. I've added ten new holes to the old belt - the next step? - POP! Come to think of it, that guy actually looks a little bit like me. LOL

-E

Digital Figure Drawings

Gestures

20 Minute Sketches

More fun with freeze-framed aerobics

I've ordered a brand new (used) aerobics DVD, and it should be arriving today. You'll know I got it if I post new stuff here tomorrow. In the meantime, here's a few more from the current series I'm working on. Tip Alert: You might notice that on some of these I make little notes to myself as I'm sketching. This allows me to use Photoshop to adjust the scanned image more easily without erasing. Try the liquify & free transform tools for this - they can work wonders!

We haven't been to drawing class in a couple of weeks, and we plan to go this Sunday, so there should also be some new stuff here next week from a live model. Not sure if I'll be working on the Wacom tablet or charcoal and paper. I'll probably make that decision depending upon the model.

A digital cartoon from a traditional rough

I haven't posted any roughs in a while, so I thought I'd do that today. This little sketch was scratched off in about a minute, and I was able to scan it into Photoshop, put it on a separate layer, and then ink over it. So this cartoon is 100% digital inking & coloring in Photoshop. I'm pretty happy with the results. I've been going back to charcoal, ink and paper lately, so it's nice to be able to post one of my cartoons drawn with the Wacom tablet. Here's the finished toon.

Papa's got a brand new gig...

Well, in the ever changing and surreal world of modern journalism, and after having lost (4) newspapers in December, I get a call last week from another paper out at the Beach that is interested in using me as their weekly cartoonist! Go figure. (4) steps backwards and (1) forward, but, hey, I ain't complainin' - it's work. To make things really interesting the first cartoon was an obituary for an editor who had just passed away the day before. And the deadline was OVERNIGHT! I did it, and I'm pretty happy with it. I almost never do obit toons, but this one I can deal with. It's simple and tasteful. Evidently this lady was well loved by the community, so that made my job a little easier. Here's that cartoon.

My second cartoon was done today for Thursday's paper, and in some ways it is fitting that it deals with the ongoing problem of funding education in the State of Florida. That's the same topic that got me canned in the same County in December. I just hope that the Superintendent sees it. The guy has like zero sense of humor, and definitely hasn't read the first amendment. Here's that one. I'm lucky that this new editor actually knows what an editorial cartoon is supposed to do. Let's just see how he responds when the calls start coming in.

Sketches from a new DVD!

We went on another used bookstore safari this weekend, and I found another aerobic DVD to work from. This one is a little better, in that it has a lot of jumping around, kicking, dancing, leaping, etc. to "pause" from. Anyway, here's my first two from that. I'll probably do a few more from this DVD tonight, so stay tuned.

More Push-ups!

Push-ups for pencils. Sketches for stretches!

We skipped drawing class yesterday, and I thought it was important to keep drawing, so here's a few more aerobic sketches I did last night. These are almost as good as working from a live model. You're able to pause exactly where you'd like to capture the action, and they never move. The best thing though is to really be able to concentrate on the proportions of the figure in stop-action-type situation. You can also see more easily how the figure looks in the round. As she spins, I can remember the last pose and how it relates to the one preceding it. Interesting AND challenging.