Sunday sketch - a couple of days late

I'm just now getting around to posting these. Sorry. I went back to working on large scale drawings this past Sunday (24" x 36"). Hadn't worked at this scale in quite some time. I find it helpful to change up the scale every once in a while so as not to get pigeon holed and tight. It's very liberating to be up to your elbows in charcoal. I also did a couple of larger drawings in pencil; concentrating on the face mostly, and line weight for the rest of the drawing. I kinda liked working this way. Enjoy, and let me hear from you!

Cheers,

Ed

Another syndicate cartoon

Wanted to get this one in while the subject was still hot. It'll be interesting to see how Barack Obama and the international community respond.

Enjoy. -Ed

Another swine flu toon

After watching a sick Florida Gators football team play this weekend, and after viewing a news piece about how the flu is decimating high school, college and national football programs across the country, I thought that this might be an interesting take on the subject (locally & nationally). Close quarters and the flu definitely do not mix. I just hope that this is not a bad omen for when the flu season really kicks in.

Now go wash your hands.

-Ed

Cartoon Thursday Continued

Here's another one. I tell ya, when the tap is turned on, I don't ask questions, I just draw!~

Woo hoo! Got a cartoon in Newsweek!*

*Japan. Who knew there even was a Newsweek Japan? Well there is, and back in August they ran one of my cartoons. I was very interested to see how they presented it. I received my copy in the mail today, and the first thing I noticed was that the magazine reads from back to front - which would make sense, because Japanese characters are read from right to left. Pretty cool. Anyway, here's a couple of shots from the magazine. The cartoon they ran dealt with the Gates/Crowley incident at Harvard a few months back, and it looks like they had to label the major players (including Obama). I'll post the cartoon as it ran in the States as well.

Walt Handelsman was also in the issue, along with some Korean cartoonist (Wonsoo) I've never heard of.

Cartoon Thursday

I read an article this week about young people and their cell phones (wired youth). It talked about a girl who used her iphone as an alarm clock, so that the first thing she touched in the morning was her cell phone to immediately begin messaging and texting. I've got friends who actually have to leave town, and go out into the wilderness to "disconnect" from their phones. What's up with that? This will probably give away my age, but I often think about this - when I graduated from college, there were no cell phones, home computers were just coming into existence, and the internet was still 10 years down the road. All things we now take for granted. Makes you wonder how we ever managed huh? I worry about the loss of personal interaction which is eliminated through the use of texting and Twittering. I was on Twitter for about a week, and quickly grew tired of hearing about trips for hamburgers and misc. doggie bowel functions. Come on people - does everyone really need to know about that? And, how important is it? Really.

So call a friend. Meet up for coffee. Leave the cell phones at home, and....gasp....have an intelligent, lengthy conversation. You might actually learn something about yourselves.

Pillaged and Plundered

Tuesday, in front of a packed house, the St. Johns County commission voted to increase the millage rate. It's gonna hurt some families who already feel like they are being taxed out of house and home.

Local toon I forgot to post

This one will probably get letters. We had a tragic boat crash here over the Easter weekend. Five people lost their lives. Florida Fish and Wildlife investigators have finally finished up their investigation.

Verdict = Prosecute the boat owner.

State Attorney's response? = "Nah."

Here's a letter to the editor on the story we ran last week.

Last cartoon of the week, and HELLO new followers!

Here's my final syndicate cartoon of the week. Obama is supposed to meet with Medvedev next week, but without Putin in the room, he might as well be speaking to a ventriloquist dummy. Removing even the threat of a defensive shield around Europe is not going to gain him any friends in Poland or the Czech Republic either.

I wanted to take a second to welcome the new followers to the blog. I hope I can keep it interesting here for you, so you continue to come back for the updates.

One other thing: after struggling for years to get published in Newsweek, it looks like it's finally happened (albeit the Japanese version of Newsweek, which I didn't even know existed). I can't wait to see which cartoon they ran, and how it translated. Stay tooned & Happy Weekend!

-Ed

Another chance to own an Ed Hall original!

Go here to place a bid on this drawing, or click on the widget in the right hand column. Good luck! Auction closes Sunday evening.

-Ed

It's all relative

Recent events show that Wall Street still doesn't get it. And, I'm not sure that continuing to throw money at the problem is the answer. You want one reason/solution/answer to our current predicament? Google "uptick law" or "uptick rule." The rule was introduced in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It prevents short sellers from adding to the downward momentum when the price of an asset is already experiencing sharp declines. It requires that every short sale transaction be entered at a price that is higher than the price of the previous trade. And, you can thank Dubya for eliminating it in 2007.

I can't believe that more hasn't been reported on this tiny, but significant change.

Tuesday Night Sketch Class

I'm beginning to like the Tuesday night sketch class now that Vinnie is getting some better models (hint, hint) and some of the kinks are worked out. Last night's model was great - small, but statuesque; well weighted in the hips, and I was really able to see the anatomy. She could also really hold a pose - like a stone. I probably did one of my best drawings all year last night. I'll post that one last, and I may put it up on Ebay for auction. Stay tooned.

Cheers,

Ed

Local cartoon

I haven't posted much local stuff lately, so here's one. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) finally came through with the detainees who will fill the beds and, in turn, will fill the budget coffers.

Sunday sketch

After a one month hiatus, our Sunday sketch group started back up yesterday - and it was packed. After a slow start, with a very stiff model, I think I managed to come up with a few keepers. This model was new, and I'm not quite sure she understood the dynamics of "gesture" drawing (not to mention her body type doesn't lend itself to my artistic sensibilities). Anyway, I almost turned around and left before I finished my first 20 minute sketch. But after completing that, I figured I might as well finish up the session. Luckily for me, one of my favorite models was also drawing on the other side of the room, so I positioned myself strategically for the final pose to draw just a little bit of the nude model, and a lot of Gia sketching. When I showed this drawing to my buddy Henry, he laughed and said, "you draw her so much, you could probably draw her from memory." He's probably right. The contrast between these two models could not be more striking for me. Gia is like the Earth Goddess; powerful, centered, weighted to the ground - and yesterday's nude model was just all upper torso; no hips, skinny legs - almost floating. Nothing against this model, just my preference is to draw a figure with a lot of presence. Enjoy, and as always, let me hear from you. -Ed

Saturday crafts with the niece

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My wife and I are babysitting our 4 year old niece this weekend, and since it's raining outside, we decided to break out the markers, pens, pencils and construction paper.

She really wanted to do a "Seasons" picture book. Here's what we came up with (it was a group effort - at least it doesn't include monkeys).

As always, comments welcome. I hope everyone is having a great weekend!
-Ed---------------------

Two new Ebay listings!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I've placed these two recent drawings up for auction on Ebay.

Click here for the drawing of Lee, and click here for the drawing of Gia.

Bidding closes on Sunday evening, so be sure to get your offer in early.

Thanks, and happy weekend!

-Ed

Last cartoon of the week

Here's my final syndicate cartoon for the week. I couldn't help noticing that Obama mentioned that "other" Teddy last night. I love to draw me some TR! Enjoy.

-Ed

Cafe Latte with a Twist!

We had our weekly get together at Starbucks last night, and I thought it might be cool for the three of us to do a compilation drawing and stick it up on Ebay (just for shits and giggles). Here's what we came up with. You can see Dat working on the drawing in the photo to the right. We passed it around the table probably 5 or 6 times until we felt like stopping.And here's the link to the auction. It was fun, and we were some excited about the outcome, that we've decided to start a much larger painting done in the same manner. Stay tooned!

-Ed

Tuesday night sketch results

I've mentioned this before, but I really enjoy drawing the model we had last night. She has some kind of indelible spirit that comes through in my drawings of her. Here's what I sketched up yesterday.

Enjoy, and let me hear from you!

-Ed