Cats and Teeth

Once I finish the few cat comics I have ready to ink I will have 11 pages I think, which makes me feel good, puts me on a good track for having a book of cat comics for VanCAF in May. Also there is an issue of Vinegar I just need to finish up. I will likely indulge myself and collect the Blue-per Planet comics too. And besides the funny stuff there is the Vinegar I want to pull together about all the stuff that makes me cry. The problem with that one is that I start crying when I try to draw them! I have also been having some lovely horrible dental encounters this month and am tempted to try to pull them into a book of some kind. So that should keep me out of trouble for the next few months.

I like to put titles on everything, but I’m not sure all these cat comics need titles. Also I need to get a new date stamper! It is almost March!

Finishing a Sketchbook

I finally finished a sketchbook. Those last few pages always seem to take forever. I did my traditional self-portrait as the last drawing in the book. I had to do it from a photo, as we don’t seem to have any mirrors in our place that are convenient to draw in front of.

End of Sketchbook Self Portrait

Here are a few of the last drawings I did in that sketchbook. From a photo by Enzo de Martino “Hard Times”.

Hard Times

Some old time-y women from studio portrait photos, found on Vintage Everyday.

Portrait Ladies

And a couple of drawings of cats. I have this project I am trying to figure out, featuring the cats that Manien and I watch from our balcony. One sketch, one ink test that I decided to colour.

Cats Sketch

Cats

The Big Slow Re-watch

I drew some comics about stuff that happened when Jesse was visiting last month.

Jesse - Walking Tour

Jesse - Christmas

Jesse - Wildlife

Jesse - the Gambler

At some point in May, Manien and I had the idea to re-watch Twin Peaks. We were recalling how pleasant it was watching the Return last year, only having one episode per week. The modern love of “binge watching” often turns shows into a bit of a blur. The weekly schedule gave us more time to savour it. So we decided to re-watch, but only one episode per week, meaning it will take the better part of year to get through everything. It also finally gave us inspiration to make a chalk board on the side of a shelving unit.

Twin Peaks - the Big Slow Re-watch

Twin Peaks - Laura and Donna

I was looking for something to draw and came across a still from a movie called Wonderwall. I have never seen it, but it seems like something I would have come across before!

Wonderwall

I continue to be fascinated by different enviro houses. These cool looking earth houses are in Dietikon, Switzerland.

Earth House

Things to Draw

When I don’t have an active comic project to ink away at, I will find myself looking for something to draw, to give myself something to do while I listen to a podcast. So here are some of the random things I have drawn recently.

Here is Mark Rothko. Someone posted a nice photo of him on twitter, so I tried to draw it.

Rothko

Manien buzzed my hair for me again, and I was trying to think of a Halloween costume, and I thought “El, from Stranger Things!”

Stranger Things

There is this website called Filmgrab, and its random post feature sometimes comes through for me when I am looking for something to draw. This is from Upstream Color, a movie which I might put in my top ten.

Upstream Color

At some point this year I was looking at a photo of all the different body shapes of Olympic athletes, and I think that planted the idea that it might be interesting to draw different women athletes. I found shot putters on youtube and boy they go through a lot of postures in a single throw! And they make great faces when they are lost in that moment of throwing. Then I did some javelin and discuss throwers too.

Shot Put 1

Shot Put 2

Shot Put 3

Javelin

Discus

I came across something claiming that Carl Jung was a spy in World War 2, and his codename was Agent 488. So I drew that secret agent.

Agent 488

After drawing lady athletes, I thought it might be fun to draw old time-y boxers for some reason. I couldn’t find much in the way of interesting photos of them though. I did find this.

Fisticuffs

A comic I’m trying to get rolling has a part involving a temple, so I drew this temple in India.

Temple

Another comic I’m developing has me looking at eco houses, including Earthships. Here is the Earthship Hive.

Earthship Hive

I was trying to find some more old time-y people to draw and eventually came across these Yukon gold rush gamblers.

Gold Rush Gamblers

Launch the Plank

I’m having a belated book launch for Fir Valley, at Lucky’s Comics this Wednesday July 19. Come on out and get a book, or just hang out and celebrate that I finished this book. We can hang out in the back alley.

Fir Valley Launch Poster

I am also pretty much done my plank comic. It is always fun to revisit “paint” and try to figure out how that works. Next project: Painting ember logs (with a tiny astronaut) to cover our dusty nasty fake fireplace . Top panel of the plank…

Plank 1

Drawing and Painting

I have been noodling and doodling and gradually thinking myself towards a new comic. Here are a couple of drawings I did from photos I found on the internet, looking for overgrown things.

 

Hotel Ruin

Factory Ruin

In the meantime, I finally got rolling on a project that originally was going to be a mural in our old place in North Vancouver. At the start of December 2014, I was planning to work on it over my Xmas break. By the time Xmas rolled around we had decided to sell our place. Recently Manien and I decided to revisit the mural idea, which I still liked. We bought a seven foot plank that I am going to paint it on. I don’t paint very often, and every time I have to figure out how it works again. But it is a fun and different process.

Wall Comic Panel 1 WIP

Wall Comic on my Desk