Friday 29 March 2013

Game Face

From the 'archives'
   This cartoon was done a couple of years back and the inspiration comes from an Easter egg hunt I had seen years before.
    Wishing you a Happy Easter

Thursday 28 March 2013

Faces and fashion

Can you spot the theme here? Tough as they are to tie or to keep on straight, bow ties look dapper on some people. Not sure if it's my best option.  I would think that the advantage of their size and shape has to be that they are much more difficult to splash soup onto. I find that clerical collars are handy at potlucks for a similar reason--green jello or a perogie tries to leap off the plate and the collar isn't likely to take the hit. Perhaps this could be my contribution to your apropos of nothing file. cheers.




As an usher for a wedding, I was decked out!
Our neighbor Ardelle, my brothers and me

Tuesday 26 March 2013

I'd like to think so....

I'm glad we could clear up THAT question for you
 Pearly gates, streets of gold, and St. Peter as greeter at Heaven's entrance have give cartoonists plenty of creative room to roam. My little contribution comes as we hear comforting words  about "a better place" even for our pets. I think it's a beautiful thought and one I'll hang on to. Actually if it's all about pearly gates an' such, I think I'd like to be greeted by some happy pups. St. Peter is probably a nice guy and all but.....
Greta (l) and Zoe (r) having their first supper at our house circa 1998
 
    We spent our first day receiving kind words and support from  family and friends near and far and from on line friends we have yet to meet in person. Adjusting to life without both doxies is tough given we've all been together for nearly 15 years. Lots of memories! I took a personal day (a real gift) and was able to be home and also to make a couple little treks out with Zoe and Sharon. Zoe has been a trooper---both during Greta's illness and now. We're trying to spoil her a bit and see that she has some fun things in her day. We think she's enjoying them and I know they're comforting to us!

Monday 25 March 2013

Facing Loss

I haven't been blogging much of late.  We've been nursing a sick dog for a few weeks. These little ones are part of our family and have been for nearly fifteen years. A few weeks ago, Greta was diagnosed with nasal cancer and the bad days were outnumbering the good. We know having the vet come and put Greta to sleep was the kindest thing we could do for her. Rest assured we found comfort in that but we are sad and sorely miss our special friend.
   In the back of one's mind lurks the realization that one day we all must let go and say "goodbye".  Today was such a day for us. We treasure happy memories and the sense that Greta enjoyed her life with us. We continue to lean on each other and enjoy Greta's longtime friend and cohort, Zoe.
   Even now I am blessed by having had such a special friend who brightened other's' lives by simply being herself.
Greta loved her sunshine
Greta on her last day with us
Greta and her weepy friend

Thursday 21 March 2013

Facing the absurd


I thought this guy was intriguing--he appears with a cast of others in the sketchbook. His grousing echoes some of my own..
   Disclaimer: These are sketches....I got lazy on the line work. Oh yeah and spring will be two months late. Sorry for the inconvenience, the memo says.
Did you hear HQ just sent the memo with instruction for us to form a grass roots movement?


Thursday 14 March 2013

White Smoke, New Pope?

So, uhh, will the New Pope be more like the Old Pope or Pope Classic?
   I heard people talking about new and old popes and the words sounded so much like a beverage's marketing campaign from a couple of decades ago.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Experiments

The Palace Guard
So which one is the guard? Today's toon is done with water color pencils and a permanent ink pen. I learned a couple of things here and think it might be fun to try some grey scale washes too.

Friday 8 March 2013

No faces?

Fortunes courtesy of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
As it happens I had read a news piece about U.S. Banks being "too big to prosecute" on the same day we went out for lunch at a nice Chinese restaurant.  You can guess the rest.

Thursday 7 March 2013

Going Faces

I feel a sense of finality when I finish a sketchbook. Evidently I don't like "final" because I find myself going back into the earlier pages and putting more faces onto pages where ever there's room. Maybe I'm being frugal. Maybe I'm averse to "the end". Maybe starting a new book induces pressure to make an auspicious beginning. Maybe I should shut up and draw.
The Last Page of a "traveling" sketchbook

Wednesday 6 March 2013

Facing Birthdays

Power Lifting Champion in the age two and under class
      My younger brother's birthday is today. Sometimes it's hard to believe we've all grown up, some of us approaching-- and some of us right into middle age. This picture is one my favorites and it makes me smile every time I see it. Happy birthday, brother! If you know this guy, send along your greetings on Facebook.
  PS was unable to reach the publicist for permission...sorry big guy!

Tuesday 5 March 2013

Facing the Vet!

Supper in our new home in 1998
     It's hard to believe these two little ones are now nearly 15! The red one, Zoe had her dental today and you might know that small animals are anesthetized for dental cleanings. So, Zoe is sleeping it off. Greta, our black and tan dog, was also at the vet today. She's dealing with what appears to be an allergy. We hope antibiotics do the trick.
     My friend and "pottery and other coolness hero" offers a regular feature on his blog called "Time Warp Tuesday". So, today's blog is offered in that spirit---more of an homage than a rip-off I hope.

Monday 4 March 2013

Making squiggly lines

What's the penguin doing on the telly? Sitting, I think.....
To give you an idea of what goes onto a sketchbook page, I'm including a cropped version of one of the drawings and below am attaching a scanned version of the entire page. These come from the "travelling" sketchbook. I decided to fill out those pages before opening a brand new book. 
 For fun, I will sometimes try to cram in as many faces and characters as I can onto a single page. Maybe I need to get out more....

Saturday 2 March 2013

Facing Quandries

How should I know???
 "Are you unconsciously incompetent?" read the article's headline and lead sentence. If I'm unconscious, how do I know? Cut me a break! Some scientificky person has developed a model in which we move from clueless to "adept".  Part of the model (like a first phase) includes unconscious incompetence. We don't know how in over our heads we truly are. I think we have at least a dim awareness, don't we?
   Well, I'm sure I'm unconscious even during 'waking hours'. Yeah, there are areas in which I am less than proficient, shall we say.  I know that. I also accept that there is a lot about me I don't know---a bit scary that the rest of the world probably does. This whole "you don't know what you don't know" koan sounds vaguely Rumsfeldian and creeps me out. So now I have THIS to worry about.

Friday 1 March 2013

Making Fashionable Faces

Fashion and Make-up tip:
Over-applying concealer WON'T
get you noticed.
 After reading about all the fashionable dos and don'ts gleaned from glancing at a couple of  articles about the stars and starlets lurking around from the Academy Awards ceremonies, I feel compelled to offer some of my own advice....
   Well actually, you might not find it helpful considering I gave up my mullet hairstyle about ten years after everyone else did...that and I miss the wardrobe where you match the little animal on the slacks with the little animal on the shirt and you get an outfit you might wear in public without having people laugh out loud (out loud being the operative phrase today) when you walk by. Wow and I thought I didn't know fashion!
 Anyway--- the idea for this toon came from hearing or seeing the word "concealer" and I don't even remember where or when.  I heard the word, and in my unique way of "free disassociating", came up with this little "fashion tip".
As you step out this weekend, remember to accessorize your look (and you all look mahvelous) with a smile.