it is easier than it looks

I kinda hate to post this one, cuz now the secret is out...the guy in the stern really doesn't work very hard. I am sure we are important, as the cartoon states, we have all the control of the boat from back there. But we certainly don't work very hard!! This toon obviously has some self portrait similarities, only this one includes my honey, who has faithfully paddled the front position for years. By God!! She sure keeps my boat moving forward!!

sketchbook revisited

Again, one of the fun things about sketch books is that you can draw anything...even photos out of magazines. So, I found this photo of Jenny McCarthy in People magazine and gave it a shot. She looks a little creepy here, but there are some aspects of this drawing that do capture her....oh, like the big mouth...Then of course I have to include a "Mr. Snoid"-like character to make comment, or, in this case, a bug. That bug, by the way, is the same bug that became the logo for Gyminy Crickets, my wife's baby movement class she ran in here a gizillion years ago. That character always comes in handy.

Register to Vote

Another toon from the archives...about 1975...

I think we all know who this character is....

This reaches back to my "activist" days at Berkeley. I tell you, I will use any excuse to draw another toon!! This is certainly one of my best charicatures. Nixon was an easy mark, though, and I think I caught his essence pretty well. Caricatures are definitely NOT my forte. I have tried to draw them a few times, with very limited success. The key is to find the character's most prominent attributes, and exaggerate them. I should try Obama's attributes. He has a lot of very distinctive facial details that would be fun to exaggerate. I will keep you posted.

point-counterpoint

It was suggested by CAB that I present a "point-counterpoint" to the gardening experience at our house. So, yesterday's post was the "point". And today I present the "counterpoint", the on-going war we are having with various animals that like to take advantage of the juicy vegetables, and plants in our garden.

The fence, depicted here, was new when this picture was drawn, and still little critters sneaked in to the garden. So, CAB put up bird netting to catch the little suckers. Sure enough, we caught a small chipmunk, and he died tangled up in the netting. A small victory for our side!!! We left his carcass hanging in the netting for all creatures, great and small, to see the consequences of messing with our garden!!!

Believe it or not, that seemed to help. However, the battle continues, and we will see what new enemy presents itself come this spring.

gardening

Here's a toon from an older calendar drawing. I like this cuz it depicts our garden, and our efforts in the garden quite well.

As much as the guy is grimacing, trying desparately to pull out whatever weed that is, I think this drawing portrays great vibes. It shows the lush foliage, abundant vegetables, and great joy being able to show the huge tomato!

This is a depiction of our garden, and I have drawn a lot of depictions of our garden. I just think this captures the feeling. Our garden is a big part of our summer. Every winter, about now, Chris starts pulling out the garden catalogs, and figures out what to order and puts together a planting layout for when the snow thaws. Whenever we have a warm spell, she thinks it is time to plant again. As much as I bitch about it, I do actually enjoy the gardening part of it. It's the moving of rocks that gets to me more than anything. And our yard is full of rocks!!! Give me a small patch of weeds to pull on a nice sunny day, and I will be quite content. I think it will get more enjoyable as I get older. That's what you do when you retire, right?