Free Funny - Needy Monsters

Beginning to wonder if this was a metaphor for some of my foster dogs. Haven't had any that have wreaked this much destruction, but a few have come close. A lot of these quick toons sprout from common sayings that I catch myself and others repeated consistently. Then my imagination takes it to the extreme, or more accurately, the dark extreme. It's not a technique I consciously farm, but maybe I should.

On that note, I'm going to have more live-streams coming up. Currently getting familiar with OBS, Open Broadcasting Software. The plan is to live-stream drawing comic strips, children's book illustrations and single panel cartoons. So while I figure out the difference between "scenes" and "sources" in O.B.S., I'm also putting together lesson outlines and ideas.

If there's a particular concept or process or technique you'd like to see live-streamed, let me know in the comments or drop me a line. Once I get more proficient at this live-streaming thing, I'll hack together a multi-cam deal so I can live draw in my notebook. Any advice in that arena is also welcome. I've always been a behind the scenes techy and never been much of a fan of being in front of the lens.

Ghost Hunters Comic

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One one of my personal favorites for several reason. Firstly, I've always wanted to draw a daily strip that takes place in a creepy house. Still haven't come up with that one yet. Secondly, I was a huge fan of the Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi channel.

I was familiar with that team as, at the time, most of my writing an drawing revolved around creepy places in New England. Never cared if parts of the show were rigged or not, I loved all the spots they investigated. Fuel for the imagination. And I do have a book on the back burner that embodies my love of New England's shadowy history. Has a slight Lovecraftian tilt to it. Hope to get to that one someday soon.

Free Comics

It’s amazing to stop and think about how many free comics there are online. We’re kind of spoiled. But that goes with the cartooning territory. I’m very fortunate to make a living drawing comics. The weird thing is, is that even before I was making a living drawing comics, or even if I wasn’t, I’d still make comics.

Case in point, this Primordial Syrup thing I’ve been doing. It started the same way all my comics did. I had to do it. Same with “Dog eat Doug”. I had to make it. This is true for most cartoonists. We’re constantly making cartoons. Now obviously, there is that part of your brain that says “hey, doofus, what if you turned this into a living?”, which is of course, the same part of your brain that over-complicates everything.

Thank goodness that part of gray matter exists. Of course it does make on heckuva bumpy ride when you do try and make cartooning a living. Which is why it’s important to separate that part from the creating part every now and then. Once you do start making a living, it can become all consuming. You get a tincy-wincy check from a magazine for a comic and bammo, that capitalist part of your brain goes into overdrive.

However, you have to treat it like a Tesla sometimes. Let the AI drive for a while and get back to making comics for the sake of making comics. When the syndication offer came in for Dog eat Doug, understandably, that became my entire world. Every other project, and even my daily doodles, got shoved into the back of the closet behind the five year old New Balance running shoes (which till this day I don’t know why I kept them).

This ultimately hurts the very thing you are so focused on improving. I learned the hard way that it was the seemingly superficial, waste of time things like doodling, or working on random ideas for comics and books, that keep that main project fresh. That crazy stream of consciousness, where bills don;t exist, is the very thing that helps sharpen the ideas you are trying to create.

Hence the reason I no longer scold myself for mindlessly doodling for an hour or two, or starting a single panel comic like “Primordial Syrup” for no logical reason other than to get the ideas out of that stream an onto paper. Or creating the Conjurers webcomic while trying to write and illustrate three books. Logically, it’s not a smart thing to do. In the long run, it’s the very thing that keeps your creative engine charged. Sometimes you have to let the crazy out.

The Latest Single Panel Comic

Here it is, my favorite so far. This one was in the notebook for a long time. Kind of surprising considering I love drawing city scenes. Especially vintage style shops. Do wish I had the time to do a more detailed rendering. But I spent most of the time getting the eyeball dude right.

It’s one thing to doodle an idea that you think will work. It’s another to get it to work visually. This one had to be realistic enough so as not to come off as silly. And, if I did it too realistically, I think the creepiness meter would’ve been off the charts. Happy with the way it turned out. Although I think it could use some more atmosphere, like exhaust smoke or a few bits of litter on the street. Something that could make you smell and hear the city.

Till next time, when I’ll be posting a Star Wars themed comic. And if you want to view these cartoons sooner, I post them on my Instagram first. See you on the flis-side of T-Day! Have a great holiday!

How to effectively remove the monster in your closet.

This one started as a scribble on a napkin. I’m certain it came from my own childhood experience of watching a shadow creature creep out of my closet every night. I had lots of such hallucinations as a kid, and I’m certain they will inspire more cartoons. Kind of worth the paralyzing terror in the long run.

Once I finish today’s inking, I’ll rummage through the notebook and see which random idea to work on for next week. Lots to chose from. Lots still need some work. The key, I’ve found, is to keep the pen moving. Applies to both cartooning and writing. No matter how ridiculous or unintelligible, keep the pen moving. And when you’re not thinking about ideas, your brain tends to have a small, dark factory, hidden away deep in the grey matter, that keeps on grinding. You won’t even know it’s happening. Then, when you open the notebook, that factory sends a fixed punchline, or scene from a chapter, straight up to the front office.

In the meantime, I’ll have more posts about the upcoming books and the return of “The Conjurers” webcomic. And feel free to share these cartoons around. Always looking for new readers, especially if they’re a wee bit on the strange side.

Nightmare Car Repairs

I’ll probably repeat this several times, but these strips are ideas that strike me as funny at the time I doodle them. Doesn’t guarantee they’ll make sense. This is one of my favorites. The initial sketch was the clown poking out of the engine. Weeks later the mechanic labeling the problem as gasket clowns made me laugh. And there you go.

I liked how the final art turned out. You have to draw lots of comics before the style fins itself. I think I’m getting closer. I want them to be sem-realistic an not too cartoonish. Pretty good balance in this comic. The realism seems to heighten the dark weirdness and the humor at the same time. I’ll keep pushing and tweaking the style bit by bit and see where it goes.

In other news, my other comic, “The Conjurers”, which is a companion piece to the novels will be returning this Halloween! That too is an experiment and so far, I’ve enjoyed where the story has gone. Never been happy wit the art. Then again, I limited myself to one hour for pencils, inks and colors. Didn’t have the time while writing the books. More on that in my next post. Till then, leave a comment or drop me a line and let me know what you think of “Primordial Syrup” so far.

Channeling Lydia Deetz

This is an older cartoon, one of the first that made it out of my notebook for Primordial Syrup. As usual I’d love to redraw it, make it darker and have a much more detailed, grotesque creature perched on her head. Still, I love the mode of this one and the unanswered question of what exactly it is protecting her from.

Quick update for those wondering if these posts are only going to be single panel cartoons. Soon there will be much, much more. Book one of “The Conjurers” launches next July. That means I will be donning my marketers hat. It’s always been a small hat as I don’t have much room on my head for many more hats.

However, this time, I’m putting a lot more effort into that side of the creative business. Now that doesn’t mean I will be drudging on with endless promotions of “buy my book”. The good news it means I’ll be working on all the other fun stuff that comes along with the Conjurers series. For starters, the webcomic companion will be starting back up this Halloween.

For those not familiar, the webcomic was an experiment I undertook while writing the novels. It was only once a week and I allotted three hours max on the art. The characters are straight from the books. So if you’d like to meet the cast before next July, you can start reading here. And for those of you have been more than patiently waiting for the story to continue, you only have a few weeks wait left. And it shall continue between releases of the three books. There is so much to explore in that world, and my dream is to eventually bring on other artists to do some of the exploring.

Enough prattling for now. Much more to come, including giveaways and other such announcements. Soon, I’ll be putting together a book tour. If you know of any schools, libraries or book shops that might want to host an exhausted, but talkative author, drop me a line.

Singe Panel Cartoons - Shopping List

This idea lived in my notebook for quite sometime. Finally got around to sketching it up. Originally, it was a little demon-like creature running up to the lady to make his requests. Then I had the idea of not being able to see the creature, which, many times is a bit spookier. Has a bit of an “Evil Dead” vibe.

Lots more of these to come. I have a notebook full of roughed out comics. And I’m constantly doodling more. Drawing these weird strips has always been my default mode. It also helps to give your mind a break from regular projects, and I never really found a home for the weird stuff. Truthfully, I do them because this stuff clutters my head. Best to get them out.
For now, I plan on drawing one a week, although I write a bunch during the week. Maybe a collection in the future? We’ll see. What would you think about making prints available? And since I’m asking, would you wear one of these comics on a t-shirt?

Channeling my inner Lovecraft

This is one of the earliest Primordial Syrup comics I wrote. Sums up the tone of the comic nicely. Still not happy with the finished art. Wish I had made the creature more creaturey, with a bit of “Ancient One” flair. Still, progress not perfection.

In the coming weeks I’ll have more posts on “The Conjurers”. Currently I’m working on the illustrations for book two. Also sketching concepts for the cover. And I hope to have news on book one soon. A release date and maybe some actual photos of an actual book. Stay tuned.

Funny Comics - The Addams and Far Side Effect

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Another new Primordial Syrup comic. I’m going to try and post a new every Monday. Once a week should be manageable. I have a ton written. The art can take some time, especially when the style is developing. You can probably tell two of my biggest influences were Charles Addams and Gary Larson.

Addams, aside from creating the “Addams Family”, generated some of the best and weirdest single panel comics at a time when weird wasn’t exactly mainstream. My dad had a hardcover collection of New Yorker comics. I was six or seven when I stumbled upon it. I loved any book filled with cartoons, however, most of them, aside from the art, didn’t intrigue me. They were dated, although I wasn’t aware at the time that that was the reason. However, every so many pages would be a single panel that stood out. Kind of like “One of these things doesn’t belong” on Sesame Street.

On those particular comics, I noted the signature, “Addams”, and scoured the book for more. From that moment on Charles Addams was my Odin of cartooning. “The Far Side” came along a bit later, but had a similar effect. When most of your thoughts and ideas are strange, a bit dark and off kilter, or fall into the “I don’t get it” category, seeing the works of Addams and Larson were a beacon in a field that can sometimes drag you down a conventional path just to make a living.

That said, Primordial Syrup has no endgame. They are simply the ideas that make me laugh. They are the cartoons that, if I opened up a hardcover collection of comics, would be the ones I would read.

Single Panel Cartoons

Where the weird things are. I’ve always done single panel comics. The earliest ones I remember were in fourth grade. It was always the best way to get the weird images in my head out. They also made me infamous in high school. First time I got called to the headmaster’s office was over a single panel comic.

The comic, like most of my single panels, was only a fleeting, strange thought. No deeper meaning, just something that struck me as funny. This comic featured an average tree-lined street in an average neighborhood. Except an enormous soap on a rope had smashed one car parked on the road.

Long story short, they called me to the headmaster’s office after the comic ran in the school paper. I spent half an hour reassuring him that there was no deep religious connotations implying that god had dropped his soap-on-a-rope. 

Despite the momentary apprehension of a week’s worth of detention, I realized why I had always loved off-beat, bizarre comics. The sheer fun of seeing the hundreds of different interpretations over a bit of nonsense. With no effort of creating something that contained a profound statement or some worldly truth, it could inspire deeper thought unique to every reader. 

So ya, Primordial Syrup is the ongoing stream of strange that runs through my brain. I have notebooks full of ideas. I plan on rendering them into reality once a week. Let me know what you think in the comments. I’m always interested in what people think they mean.