Perhaps it’s just me, but I thought the two T-Rexes in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom looked super fake. See for yourself…
I do dino impressions. This one is of a T-Rex mime trapped in an invisible iceberg.
In actuality, the dinosaur behind me made an appearance in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure many years ago. It is one of the Cabazon Dinosaurs out by Palm Springs which is part of a creation museum. If you go there, tell ’em Large Marge sent you.
I got to thinking about how silly that ol’ photo was, that another silly dino joke came to mind, so I sketched it up when there was a little window of free time.
Yep. Today is the good ol’ Fourth of July. I put that in caps because around these parts, that’s not just a date – it’s also the secondary name we Americans call Independence Day. We pinpoint our official beginning as a new nation on July 4, 1776, since that is when our Declaration of Independence from King George of England was signed.
I was sketching the other day, and this bold eagle came forth. It being our national bird, it seemed like the right time of year to put our flag behind him. Not sure how he rolled up his “sleeve” to get busy defendin’ & workin’, but that’s how red-blooded Americans have always been.
To my fellow Americans, enjoy the celebration today. And to my English friends, thanks for sharing the colors red, white, and blue.
I wonder if the founding fathers envisioned that we would celebrate by cooking hot dogs and hamburgers on a grill?
Got out the ol’ sketchbook the other day and felt like getting a monster out of my brush pen – a monster who might have had a tough day at the office, and was cheered just a smidge by a bird who lit upon his nose.
Happy Monday.
Well, it’s less embarrassing than a zit on your nose, right?
Just one week ago I was in Philadelphia for the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Awards convention. I hadn’t spent that much time in that city in years, and I loved it. I love the history in that city, and wish that more of the colonial times had been preserved there.
I was disappointed that each day I tried, I could not get into Independence Hall. I just thought you could show up and go in like Nicolas Cage did in National Treasure. Turns out that you probably need to book your admission months in advance. Thanks for the misinformation Nicolas. Sigh.
Anyway, I got to doodlin’ in my sketchbook the other day, and came up with this man from the colonies with a stowaway on his rad ponytail. After finishing it, I realized it was an idea I had seen before in an old Disney cartoon called Ben and Me – the man & mouse part, not the ponytail set-up. Seek it out if you haven’t seen it – Benjamin Franklin owed all his achievements to a mouse.
If you thought the Liberty Bell was cracked, imagine this guy’s psyche after repeatedly trying to get rid of that mouse!
Today is Star Wars day. May the Fourth be with you.
Considering most of the Star Wars and Marvel movies are animated and owned by Disney, would be nice if an actual Disney animated movie could set a new box office record.
Today in the United States we have a little known and even lesser celebrated holiday called Arbor Day. It usually is superseded by the more popular Earth Day that came earlier in the week this year.
Arbor Day is all about trees, and folks are encouraged to plant a tree to mark the occasion. There are so many holidays on which people celebrate with a greeting card, but never for Arbor Day. This is strange to me, because cards most often come from trees giving up their lives to become greeting cards. So it is high time that there is a greeting card celebrating the trees that cards come from!
So, this year I sent these out to close friends, family, and business contacts. While more trees probably wanted to get in on the deal, they are too late. You now get to enjoy the card digitally!
A little something created with traditional watercolors and colored pencils.
So, all that to say, a very happy Arbor Day to you and yours. I hope you get lots of great Arbor Day presents, and enjoy the many Arbor Day parties you no doubt have lots of invitations to tonight! Stay safe!
Back in December of 2017, I shared with you a new and improved version of Captain Traffic, a character I created about 16 years ago for ComedyTrafficSchool.com. There were even more poses I did of the courageous Captain, and now that Comedy Traffic School is using a few of them on their website, it was time to show you a couple more here on the ol’ blog!
Originally conceived as a humorous comic book type of character all those years ago, the whole approach to the good Capt. this time was to create him without the typical comic book lines. It kind of gives him a more modern look now, with a hint of nostalgia and a whole lot of whimsy. And who doesn’t need to experience a little bit of whimsy when they have to experience traffic school, am I right?
Captain Traffic is very manly – so manly that he isn’t afraid to show his emotions.Up, up and away! – which is what you hope your bad driving record will do after going through traffic school. (rimshot)
If you’d like to see the previous Captain Traffic illustration posted last December, feel free to CLICK HERE!!
Last week I went to the ABC network headquarters in Burbank, CA, to see a special industry preview of Disney Junior’s new Muppet Babies television show, and really enjoyed it! The team from Oddbot Inc. headed up by Tom Warburton did a fun job on updating the property into a computer generated (CG) show for today’s generation of toddlers.
The show debuted this past Friday on TV. I trust it was a smash and will continue growing and evolving. Tom and team hinted at other Muppet characters making appearances in future episodes, too, which can only mean the Muppet zaniness is sure to progress!
So, in my enthusiasm for all things Muppet (I actually tried to get a job at Jim Henson Productions before ever launching into a career in animation), I did this little digital painting of three of my favorite mini-Muppets.
There’s something to be said about childhood friends who wind up working together their whole lives.
