polarized double

HERE'S A CARTOON directly inspired by a dream I had early last week: sometimes I'm lucky enough to actually realize that I am actually dreaming : once you have the ability to do this, the next stage is to take control of the events within the dream: you can lunge off a skyscraper, for example, safe in the knowledge that you can't get hurt! Better still, you can even take to the skies like Superman, and savour the surges and sights from a bird's-eye-view. Sometimes these dreams are so exhilerating, they don't last long [maybe just a few minutes], but what a few minutes! Some people are lucky enough to dream like this every single night, but I'm lucky if I can get a proper dream like this once a year....I've joined a site for 'lucid dreamers' [the term for those who can control the events in their dreams] so here's hoping I can attain this 'power' more frequently. Today's cartoon is a depiction of events in the lucid dream I had early l...

TIME for a brand-new theme within the blog, mereckons, and what better for a nice change than a series of drawings of each character in [extreme] loving close-up..... Most comic strip artists will more than likely tell you that one of their favorite assignments is invariably a zoom-in on facial features, and this approach is certainly amongst my most enjoyable cartoon endeavors. Here we see cool ape character KOONG KING enjoying a bit of attention courtesy of sizzling cat-babe Veronica.  Yet another example of the never-ending potential served up within the cityscape backdrop:  more drawings utilizing this theme have already been started, and they will scattered thru-out the upcoming cartoon examples. A joy to work on, and hopefully this shows in the finished results....

An added extra chucked in today: last week I joined a forum detailing the delights of that 'jolly jape' known as World War 2, and I decided I needed a unique avatar related to that theme. I whipped up this one-off inking as a result, and it's been accepted, which strikes me as a bit unusual, as the rules and regulations on the forum itself are extremely tough and inflexible...don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant site with absolutely marvelous detail and data, but my first topic was dismissed rather huffily by the learned Administrators: What if Hitler had Atomic Bombs?! I thought it was a valid, sound poser of a question, but the topic was 'locked' the same day. My heartfelt belief that Auschwitz should have been bombed was also scorned upon, so I have cut back on my postings after only a week. Loads of people have been banned from this site, so how long I will last there, I don't know. Here's the cartoon I done anyway:   Back to Baby Boomer hopefull...

The never-ending supply of useless, un-needed products foisted onto the General Public has never failed to amuse me: it all started in the USA in the 50s of course [at least in a BIG way] and the seemingly unlimited barrage of stuff we don't really need is constantly evolving, into ever more uneccessary, throw-away 'junk' that still manages to hypnotize the vast majority of the public........ myself included! I am just as bad as the next guy when it comes to cramming the house with useless knicknacks and paraphanalia: I'm slowly improving though, and this year has thankfully seen my most modest-ever excursions into buying needless goods, and I definitely feel a whole lot better for it.  Buying the latest 'must-have' goods and accessories  doesn't actually 'buy' happiness: the feeling of contentment is hollow, and short-lived, until the next 'fix' the following week. Still, it's this mentality that manages to keep society going, with peopl...

I AM TRYING OUT different cartoon directions since signing up with an illustration agency.  They advertise work for Greetings Cards artists, for example, so I have been submitting a few black-and-white line drawings on this score. You have to get in quick though, as many of these jobs are snapped up very quickly: some are gone before the ink on the test-cartoons is dry!  Nevertheless,  new opportunities come in every day, so the same designs can be resubmitted to seperate customers later on via personal e-mail: the cartoons will be new to different [potential] customers. I can't use the BABY BOOMER characters at this stage, as copyright has to be handed over in most cases......this represents a fine opportunity to try out different stuff however. I notice in the shops that the most successful designs are those deliberately kept simple, so I am taking a leaf out of this book...nothing ventured, and all that....... My good friend Peter Gray dabbles in the greetings card mar...

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 t...