Old Ideas

28 Jan

I’m in a rut. Everyone who does creative things knows what I’m feeling. Lunchbox was going well but then I felt like it was getting too political and the self contained one page story format was starting to feel stifling. Lunchbox was also becoming too cynical which I didn’t want either. I have a layout for the one that was planned to be posted on christmas where Lunchbox is looking very angry while wearing a santa hat. He says, “I ain’t sittin on no lap!” It was ridiculous. Why should Lunchbox be angry about visiting Santa?

Lunchbox quickly became a flat character defined by his anger and outrage. It became apparent that there were more intelligent ways to express ideas.

Also, the weekly deadlines were hard to maintain with my work schedule and I felt like I wasn’t giving Lunchbox my best effort. So while I retool Lunchbox I’ve been going to figure drawing sessions and messing around with different styles of drawing.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen’s new album “Old Ideas” and was inspired to draw him as an exercise. I think I’ll play with this wash style for a while longer.

Tags: , ,

Liberty Park

20 Dec

Sorry for not posting a new Lunchbox yesterday. I was sick all weekend and didn’t get much done other than than sleeping and wiping snot out of my beard. I promise two Lunchbox strips for next Monday. In the meantime please enjoy this sketch drew of Liberty Park a few months ago.

Tags: , ,

Coloring Christmas

14 Dec

I was listening to Christmas music the other night and feeling all Christmasy so I drew this picture. Feel free to print it out and scribble on it with crayons. If you choose to do so, please take a picture and send it to me.

Happy Christmas friends!

Tags: , , , , , , ,

I Heart Lunchbox #6

12 Dec

“Worthy of a Dicken’s novel.” That’s what some critics said after Newt Gingrich delivered his views on child labor laws  last month. Gingrich said, “Most of these schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors, have one master janitor and pay local students to take care of the school.” A dangerous idea from the current front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination.

And while we’re on the subject of dangerous ideas here’s another one; ending the tax holiday for the middle class while not implementing a millionaire’s tax. Republicans have a notion that taxing those who create jobs will stunt job growth. There is simply no evidence to support that claim.

Employers are in the business of doing one thing, protecting the “bottom line.” That requires hiring as few people as possible to provide a service. In fact, the only way to convince an employer to hire more workers is to flood their business with more orders than it can fill with its current number of employess.

The more money middle class citizens have to spend on goods helps bolster the economy because the more they spend the more jobs get created.

The bottom line: tax millionaires, tax breaks for the middle class, and let’s get in the business of rebuilding this economy.

Tags: , , , , , , ,

RAWR!!!

9 Dec

image

Anybody else ever feel like this?

Tags: ,

I Heart Lunchbox #5

5 Dec

Five Lunchbox comic strips down and hopefully still going strong. This post marks a personal milestone for me because I never stick with a project this long. I usually come up with an idea for something, do a few drawings, then get stuck. Wish me luck that I don’t get stuck on Lunchbox.

Today, Lunchbox tackles school lunches. I’m sure by now you’ve heard that pizza is a vegetable (thank you spell check, you’ll notice I spelled it wrong in the comic). Well not really a vegetable but if you put two tablespoons of sauce on a slice it counts as a serving of vegetables in a school lunch (makes you wonder why Americans are trending towards obesity).

Sorry for the late post. While I was at the toy drive I found out that my basement was leaking and had to take care of that. All is good now though.

Tags: , , , , ,

Sweater Kid vs. Prof. Puddin

4 Dec

I started working on Sweater Kid this time last year but I couldn’t figure out what to with the character so i left him alone for a while. Recently I started thinking about him again so I did a few illustrations to see if I could come up with anything to make a story with. This one is Sweater Kid and his dog, Biscuit, putting a stop to Professor Puddin’s destructive rampage.

Tomorrow is Monday and that means a new Lunchbox strip. I promise it will be there but don’t look for it till later in the evening. I’m volunteering at a toy drive so I’ll be a little late in posting.

Tags: , , , ,

I Heart Lunchbox #4

28 Nov

Way back in the day (January, 1610) Galileo  discovered that Jupiter had four moons. In the 90′s Galileo the spacecraft sent us images of Jupiter and it’s moons. Last week NASA announced that on Jupiter’s moon, Europa, there is lake (at least as big as all five of the Great Lakes combined) hidden beneath its icy crust.

What’s the big deal about that? It’s a moon, it’s far away, might have some water trapped on it but we can’t get to it. Just stay with me for a moment.

Like Earth’s moon, Europa is in synchronous rotation. The same side of the moon faces the planet throughout its orbit. But unlike Earth’s moon, which traces a circular path around Earth, Europa follows an elliptical path. That means sometimes Europa is closer to Jupiter than others. This push and pull on the moon causes tidal action under the ice. The power of the tides forces massive fissures in Europa’s crust. These fissures allow elements (hydrogen dioxide, carbon) to make their way into the briny lakes below.

The result of this exchange; the potential for life on other worlds!

See you in 7 days for the next installment of Lunchbox. Hope you all liked this weeks experiment in color.

Tags: , , , , , ,

I Heart Lunchbox #3

21 Nov

Hello friends, thanks for stopping by to see the new “I Heart Lunchbox” comic. Today’s installment is a follow-up to last week’s “Election Day” strip. Issue 2 was an attack on public unions and, thankfully, Ohioans voted it down.

But don’t think we’re out of the water yet Ohio. It won’t take long for Republicans to mount another attack on public workers; teachers are next. In Cleveland chamber of commerce groups are gunning for education reform. According to Carol Caruso of the Greater Cleveland Partnership:

“There are several things the business community cares an awful lot about, It’s just, how do you do it and when do you do it? We just hope the momentum continues because the state just cannot afford the current level of spending.”

This current level of spending? Last time I checked it wasn’t teachers and students who put us the recession we’re in now. Should we force reform on them now or should we invest in those who will pull us out of recession in the future?

Just some food for thought. Agree, disagree, think I missed some facts? Let me know in the comment box.

Since I’ve posted Lunchbox two Mondays in a row I’ll make a commitment to post a new Lunchbox every Monday. Come back in seven days when Lunchbox visits the ice moon Europa.

 

Tags: , , , , ,

I Heart Lunchbox

14 Nov

I meant to post these comics while they were still relavent but I wasn’t quick enough. What you need to know is Lunchbox is a dog that goes provides commentary on life from his perspective, which is only about eight inches off the ground.

For those of you who don’t live in Ohio issue 2 was a ballott initiative that sought to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers. It was soundly defeated just as Lunchbox hoped. For more info go here http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/

And on a somber note the western black rhino has been declared extinct. Who’s next?

Make sure you click on the images for larger views and leave me your thoughts in the comment box.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

← Older Entries