Saturday 31 August 2013

I don't wanna say good bye...to the summer; apologies to the Lettermen*

Alas, Labor Day; my last weekend to wear plaid and floral prints in the same outfit
Chances are the white belt and loafers are verboten after the "end of summer" weekend as well. Here in "someplace near Winnipeg" the weather is humid and warmer than the locals are accustomed to. Even so, a long stretch with cool nights and mornings in July has brought an early change in color for some of the deciduous trees here. We keep hearing "early winter". Sheesh isn't October early enough?

* not the first group to sing the song according to Google

Friday 30 August 2013

Flashback Friday--Neighborly Faces


A friend sent this via facebook...Taken more than thirty years ago, this picture is of some of the people who shared dormitory space in college (or at university as they say here in Canada). Despite having not seen many of these guys for ages, the names came right back to me, with anecdotes for each one. There are among this group, young men who would later become physicians, teachers, scientists, business leaders, and--- dads and even grandfathers.  Thanks, Rich for the picture and the fun memories.

 BTW, I'm the cheerful looking one in the middle with the blue and white shirt, holding the ball cap.

Thursday 29 August 2013

It's just lines and squiggles

No funny. No caption. No 'artisitic intent'. This guy is just loitering in my sketch book and I like his facial expression. He seems like he's a bit weary, yet keeps smiling.

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Lunar toon

Houston, we have a mess
Last week the news media announced that Canada plans to send astronauts to the moon. How 1969 of them. Actually the idea is that the moon becomes a staging area for exploration into deeper space. So all of this space, the moon, planets, and stars are ours for ex-plor-tation? Given problems here, I worry we're taking our acquisitive and messy act on the road.

Tuesday 27 August 2013

What if...

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to visit a town populated by people who look like the toons I draw. For starters there would be lots of faces....not always with bodies. The median age would be older....the population would be a great test market for some hair replacement product. Some would be shady characters like this guy...


Saturday 24 August 2013

Inspiration putts by

Sometimes inspiration just drives by...on a lawn tractor.
The Mower
The driver of the lawn tractor looked frustrated and bored as he road down the street. I assume he was driving to his next mowing job and a garden tractor moves only so fast. As he passed we saw the pose and immediately thought of Rodin's "The Thinker". Then we laughed. I think the mower heard us laugh and I hope we didn't hurt his feelings. Yet...the pose was just too funny! Had to be drawn. Or at least attempted.

Maybe this one will get reworked...it would be fun to see if I can inject a little personality into the tractor (beyond the funky tires).

Friday 23 August 2013

Just for chagrin(s)

I wanted to be the smartest guy in the room, so I pulled the fire alarm

Thursday 22 August 2013

TIDAC part two *(Things I did at camp)

My clever wife made the collage for today's post.


Art-chery!
The clever premise of 'art-chery' as done by Luther Village in Ontario goes like this: Wad up old paper and fasten it to an arrow. Dip said arrow into tempera paint and shoot at a large piece of paper (the target). When an arrow hits the target, splat goes the paint onto the paper and voila! Art-chery!
  
During an earlier session, another archer watched me and suggested a little experiment that eventuated in my shooting left handed. I hit the target a lot more often then. His theory was that my left eye was probably "dominant" (the field test suggested that it was) and that I might have better luck "shooting left handed".
   Notice that I had a nap (or two) in the afternoons as well---after all that art-chery, hiking, and also session-leading and such.

Wednesday 21 August 2013

Breezin'

So, how was the test drive?
In a roundabout way this vignette was inspired by the "meltdown" of our car's air conditioner. We've taken to driving with the windows rolled down and that can be pleasant...except when there is an intense crosswind. Yesterday, my eyeglasses were nearly blown off my face from such a crosswind!

That got me to wondering what driving a convertible might be like. We see the films and photos of those temperate days, but what happens when the winds howl like they do here on the prairie?

Tuesday 20 August 2013

Time warp Tuesday: August 20, 1994

These kids are still happy together. 
We're celebrating our wedding anniversary today (officially)...we also did a bit of celebrating yesterday. We're doing fun things all week and plan to extend some of the festivities into next month when we travel to Montana to see my mom and brothers. Nothing like letting the joy of an occasion extend to many days and the 'everyday'.

Monday 19 August 2013

That's what You think....

"Poor Mr. Postman's life has become a cliche"
   This toon is a remake from a similar idea I had years ago. I was reminded of it when we had our dog our for a walk and she was nosing around a fire hydrant. Was this the cliche, I wondered. Then I decided that dogs might have another perspective on the matter.....

Friday 16 August 2013

My perspective is off

Every third headline in local and national press around here is about the "housing boom" and the housing bubble. Yippee progress and "Yes, little bartster, there will be affordable housing", say the pundits. Today's local paper: Federal subsidies for low cost housing in Winnipeg have gone away. The non profits that have been making up(for years) for the loss of federal subsidies just can't keep up.  Now, thousands of low income people can expect their rents to sharply increase.
 So who picks up the tab?  But there's this "housing boom" so life's just peachy....I'm really confused and inexplicably troubled and annoyed.
So you're 'foreclosing' on me so you can provide 'affordable housing'?

I see the perspective in this drawing is out of whack. Likewise, perhaps if my perspective on life were more grounded I could reconcile the 'housing boom' with news that people who can barely afford rent this month will pay MUCH more next month. 

Thursday 15 August 2013

Summer Fashion

After a lengthy cool spell, we're having a bit of a warm up this week. So the long sleeves and long pants can have a rest and the summer clothes get some use.


 For some reason, I've always enjoyed drawing these nebbish types with big schnozzes, receding hairlines and such. There's fodder for analysis:)

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Cheaper by the page?

You might remember comments about how I like to fill a page with drawings and to leave very little white space. Here's an example of a page I doodled a day or so ago.

   You'll notice some lettering and word doodles as well. My brain slips into neutral pretty easily and so as I was "planning" a recent cartoon I let some of that sort of doodling emerge too. Sometimes that sort of rambling gives the finished toons some added whimsy. Much of the drawing and lettering on this page was done with my "non dominant hand". I usually draw with the right hand. 
   Totally unrelated but very wonderful: Last night the sky was so clear it looked like you could reach out and touch the stars overhead. Then....streaks of light from the northern lights! Living up here, we do get treated to light shows now and again and that's truly "awesome".


Tuesday 13 August 2013

You'll have better luck

The guy started out innocently enough. He started looking "corporate" and bad bossy. Then....the shredder!
Some of those extraneous lines come from other drawings....This was just a fancified sketch in my little sketchbook. Many of you know how I feel the need to fill up all the space on a page of drawing paper so as not to "waste" any....Amazing how those childhood lessons/injuctions stick in the form of nearly instinctive behavior.

Saturday 10 August 2013

A recent challenge

My spouse drew some flowers in outline form and then said, "OK, put some faces in these". So the after supper challenge... Later, I thought I could have done some very wonky or bizarre faces. I went for just quirky and a bit cute. It seems we do tend to 'go with what we know' much of the time.

Thursday 8 August 2013

T.I.D.A.C. part one

Recently I went to our denomination's church camp as a resource leader for family camp. Fun week of being part of a community on the lakeshore and doing much of what I do in a given week; but at a more relaxed pace and without the phones and office stuff. Afternoons were free and I used them in a variety of ways including what has become material for this feature. "Things I Did At Camp".

Lions made from air dry clay and pine cones
These guys were fun to make and fairly easy; the pine cone lion was a craft designed for simplicity and fun for people of all ages. I added some of my own take on the project. I went for fun and wonky details in the face and could have spent hours and days just tweaking them. As it was, we had other fun things to do and yes, a bit of work too. Once the pieces were assembled, it was time to paint. The craft leader showed us a big tub filled with bottles of acrylic paint, and my little heart leapt with glee at all the possibilities.
Later.....We  found that the figures popped apart because the 'hot clue' didn't hold and this air dry clay tends to become crumbly. For now, here are two versions of "Luther", the lavender lion.

Tuesday 6 August 2013

This Just In

   A group of us were talking about being inundated with incredible amounts of disturbing news and feeling helpless in the face of all that's going on around us. Vexed as we are, we kvetch, dismiss our actions as futile in the face of such cussedness and then log in (or fire up the tee vee) in search of the next outrageous headline.
    One of my comedy writers* talked about how we post and share onto social media platforms all of the articles that irk us--. sometimes the flow of "passed along outrage" is nearly as constant as the news chatter from your favorite(?) news outlets!
 
Gimme a break! I'm only capable of so much outrage at a time!
* (Sorry Jason, given our budget, you'll be receiving your customary monetary compensation of nada....thanks for the humor, though!)