polarized double

EVERY YEAR, it is an essential tradition to acknowledge the strip's American origins and inspiration, with a special celebratory illustration involving the Statue of Liberty as the centerpiece. This year is certainly no different, and lo-and-behold, it's that time again already!  Here we see Lady Liberty acting out an olde-style waltz [or something] in the streets of dusky Noo Yoik. The statue was pretty difficult to draw in the early days, but persistence has certainly paid off, although my version still looks pretty different from the real Mc Coy. The proportions in getting this character 'looking right' were a nightmare of logistics to 'conquer', especially within the tight format of the tiny frames. I'm happy to report that all onlookers appear to recognize who this character is straight away----must be those spikes that do it! A source of endless visual potential, if an unusual choice of subject for a supporting character. Yes, this cartoon is a bit ear

The final in the two-part instalments of BONE IDOL 2, and the last work likely to be undertaken within this banner. Great fun working on new designs for characters: there were cartoonists at Disney during the Golden Era whose job it was to sit and create original characters and concepts: a dream job, if ever there was one! Trying to break into UK comics today  usually means the artist having to buckle under and start off on tried-and-tested characters: a lot of cartoonists don't seem to mind this approach and can in fact adapt and thrive within this approach, but it's never one I have been totally happy with: nevertheless, the tide seems to be turning in favor of the cartoonist with an original outlook,  with the likes of the British DANDY handing out opportunities on new characters to brand-new, untried artists. Will there be any new characters being freshly minted within the BABY BOOMER concept? ----certainly, but they are introduced very sparingly and thoughtfully: two or th

TODAY'S entry is the first in an occassional series 'showcasing' new characters I have been designing recently: the 'plan' was to crank out 12 very different original concepts/characters over a one-year period. Sadly, the time-consuming constraints of taking up Digital Color, accepting official cartoon comissions and other distractions have put these noble aspirations on 'hold' which is a bit of a shame as I was 'raring to go' on this score. However. I recently looked through some pencils I did in New Year and summized that there was perhaps some potential in there, and I decided to ink the blighters up [old bean]. First up is BONE IDOL, who sounds very like a one-note IPC joke, circa 1971:  however, the fact that this skeletal figure of 'fun' interacts with his 'Boss' in Hades before embarking on misadventures in 'the real World' perhaps has a degree of potential. BONE IDOL  has absolutely nothing to do with BABY BOOMER other

Today's entry is a tribute to a cartoonist who sadly left us this week: Dave Connor, also known as 'D.C.1' who was very popular over on the CCGB. Such is the response to his untimely departure, that the tributes are still coming in for him, and his popularity has engendered a competition in his honour, and this is my entry dedicated to Dave, who sadly I only knew through his drawings: very surreal and funny they are too! I only ever applied to the CCGB caption competitions twice: I got zero response, so I just licked my wounds and returned to BABY BOOMER: however I felt it was the decent thing to do  [ draw a cartoon in memorium to him] in    respect of Dave's departure, and a real 'over-the-top' affair it is too, and here's hoping I have handled it with delicacy. I know that I did state in an earlier post that I was against portraying GOD in a cartoon,---and, true, this is correct as regards the regular BABY BOOMER cartoons, but this cartoon depicted herein

WHILE I AM BUSY preparing new artwork 'wonders' to amuse and inspire dessicated followers of these ramblings and musings, here's another color experiment turned out t'other night:  It's color applied to an already-existing cartoon, clearly, however a worthwhile try-out, as the view out of Jet Blanc's high-rise apartment has been slightly blurred to give the effect of viewing the leering Statue of Liberty behind glass: just one of the endless techniques that is available to he or she who dabbles in the realms of digital art. Still a lot to' master' yet however: effective smoke/flames/glows and countless other effects waiting to be applied to the surreal world of BABY BOOMER. And I haven't even started to colorize any of the actual strips in yet! This is definately on the  cards very shortly, as I intend preparing at least six strips in full-color, to be placed on top of the pile as they are presented to publishers. There's no dice I am coloring th