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.

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.

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.