Having A Funday

Here's a promotional video I made a while back.  I didn't realize, I'd not posted it here.  I hope you funsters enjoy this.  Thanks for reading my cartoons.

An interview I did in Dallas with The Fellowship of the Geeks

Interview part 7

This is the seventh and final segment of the interview I did covering my artistic career, my influences, and many great, interesting, and sometimes hilarious moments along the way. In this segment, I talk about my views on web versus print, what I think makes a successful web cartoonist, and my advice to new cartoonists.

Tuesday Toon-Up: No Preview

A bit of an update for the two people who read my blog.

I've not been too active on twitter lately as there's much going on at the office.  For the people who follow me, please forgive me.  When I've nothing to contribute to a conversation, I tend to clam up.  Most of my close associates wish I would contribute less to my day-to-day discussions, but the rain forest needs carbon dioxide.

I'll be traveling next week, so I'll be pulling from my archive and posting older cartoons with some accompanying dialog.  Hopefully, you'll find some of this amusing.

As a few of you may be aware, I was at Strip Con in Dallas a few weeks back.  I needed to sell 67 books to pay for the trip.  I sold two.  Such is life.  So, let's close with the Rolling Stones performing, 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' on the David Frost show.  For some reason, previews aren't appearing in my blog for the last couple of weeks, so the link will take you to the page.  Enjoy!!!

Sac Con Round Up

I always enjoy cons because I get to meet and reconnect with creators and see some strange people.  Sac Con is a one day event that takes place in Sacramento a couple of times a year and this is the fourth I've displayed - third time in artist alley.

It was great to see the Dan and Eben from Eben07 again.  I met them at Indy Euphoria last June and really enjoy both their creation and their company.  I also signed up some new funsters for email distribution of my comic.  Interesting side note:  I signed up a gentleman last year for my email who manages a trailer park and he puts my cartoons in his monthly newsletter that's distributed to all the renters in his park.  (I've considered setting up a table at RV conventions to see how my humor would go over with RVers, but I've been afraid to insult anyone.  Food for thought.)

I was looking forward to the panel session Dan and Eben were scheduled to present about making webcomics, but the whole thing fell through because there was no place to hold the forum.  We ended up having a casual conversation, rather than a full-blown panel session. 

Thinking about my con presence, it's obvious I'm going to have to step up my game.  I'm working on a better display and booth design I hope will be ready by April 16th when I'm scheduled for Decepti-Kon in Sacramento.  This is a convention celebrating the merger of American and Japanese culture.  Lots of manga and anime.  Should be interesting.

I also got to reconnect with Jason Dube of Scattered Comics fame.  jason's a great guy who has given me lots of tips on stepping up my convention presence.  If only I'd listen.

And finally, I got to meet Trina Robbins! 

Pick Of The Week - Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

This weeks cartoon is Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, an 'anything goes' strip by Zach Weiner that's about... well... anything.  Partial social commentary and partial autobiography, SMBC isn't afraid to address any issues the creator cares to comment about, so readers offended by foul language or an iconoclastic point of view - you've been forwarned.  

SMBC is one of the few cartoons on the web that has afforded the creator to make a living strictly as a cartoonist.  Weiner has since returned to college to indulge his love of science.  He's also involved in some animation projects.  I've included a video of Zach being interviewed at C2E2.  Enjoy!

Drawing Attention

There was a lot of talk at the Festival of Cartoon Art in Columbus last weekend lamenting the decline in employment opportunities for editorial cartoonists.  I tried editorial cartooning early in my newspaper career, but I was never very good.  How these folks are able to generate ideas so quickly, draw caricatures, etc. on a daily basis is truly an amazing skill.

Whether you love or hate a particular editorial cartoonist, at least they make you think.  Here's a video from TED.com about editorial cartooning.  Enjoy!

Like-minded People

I just returned from Columbus, Ohio where I attended the 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art at Ohio State University.  What a blast!  

Cartooning is a rather isolated endeavor, at least for me.  I was a newspaper cartoonist for 8 years and only met two cartoonists the entire time.  One was actually making a living at it.

Fifteen years later, thanks to the internet in general and Face Book in particular, I've made hundreds of people who share the same passion I have.  It's a great time to be alive!

Jason Dube Talks Comics, Cons, And Things That Go Bump In The Night

I met Jason this spring in Sacramento.  Check out this interview with him on The Toxic Graveyard.

Jason Dube Talks Comics, Cons, And Things That Go Bump In The Night

Happy Birthday To Rube Goldberg!!!

Happy birthday, Rube Goldberg!  Mr. Goldberg is the namesake for The Reuben - the Oscar of cartooning.

He is best known for designing painfully complex machines to perform simple tasks.  

The popular board game 'Mousetrap' is based on a Goldberg design.  Click on the photo and check out OK GO's marvelously complex musical masterpiece.  Enjoy!!!

Page Turner

I've now done three comic conventions and I'm hearing a universal request from attendees - do I have a book?

Having enough material to fill the pages of a cartoon book isn't my problem, (I have around 500 cartoons) it's the underlying content that I'm finding intimidating.  Should I make it chronological?  Should it be broken into three parts for each cartoon strip I've produced?  How autobiographical should it be and how transparent do I want to be if that's the chosen format?

I'd decided on a title, but famous mystery writer, Jeffery Deaver has beaten me to it.  Back to the drawing board.

Taylor Jones Interview

Taylor Jones worked at my hometown morning newspaper.  Here's an interview at the 2010 Reuben awards.

Jump Start

I found this clip of Robb Armstrong giving a presentation to a school on Mike Lynch's cartoon blog.  I had the great fortune to see Robb talk at a cartooning conference in Columbus, Ohio in 1995.  He is a really nice guy with a very inspiring story.

Robb's cartoon strip is called Jump Start.  You can see samples here.

Sacramento Comic Con

Looking forward to seeing folks at the Sac Con this Sunday. Stop by my table and say "Hi."
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