Black Lives Matter

It’s unlikely anyone will see this post, and the post is even less likely to be of influence to very many.

It’s been two and a half weeks since the cold blooded murder of George Floyd in the streets of Minneapolis, just one from a frequent pattern of many acts of violence against persons of color by police.  In that time, I’ve educated myself somewhat about the history of racism in the United States.  I found a video of Jane Elliot’s blue vs brown eyes experiment very enlightening.  I’ve signed a few petitions, though not nearly as many as I should, and made a donation to an organization that provides bail funds to disadvantaged arrestees.

I’m out of steam at the moment, and I hope I can revisit this fervor regularly. Now that I am, once again, employed, I can finally take on some commissions if I have time (unemployment snafu, long story), and perhaps donate that to charities that benefit social justice.

I’ve taken to social justice warrioring, mostly with retweets on Twitter (admittedly not an ideal form of activism), and I’ve resolved myself to recognize unfair advantages offered to me as a white man and reject them.  Seeing as I’ve mostly been passive and timid all my life, I’m worried I may not keep up with vigilance.

In any case, here are some things I’ve made during this time, related either directly or indirectly to the crisis highlighted in these past few weeks:

Redraw of Doctor Spot

Doctor Spot, DVM, Psychiatry.  Relationship counselor. Kind and compassionate, and Little Johnny’s girlfriend.

So I actually finished this several months ago.  Also made a home printed T-shirt with the characters.

Pup Theology cartoon

I’m currently attending a Methodist church in Manchester, Michigan, and one of the Pastor’s activities is called “Pub Theology,” in which participants gather at Over the Edge Sports Bar every other Thursday and talk about a topic of Theological, social, or otherwise spiritual significance to the Christian faith.  Most of the discussion are open ended, but stimulating.

While at one session, I sketched out a cartoon idea I had had while in my car.  Pastor Dillon was wearing this exact sweatshirt, and he now owns the original sketch.

Members of the congregation commented that the dog shown here looks a lot like Pastor Dillon’s dog Buddy.  I printed this out to an iron-on transfer sheet, and I now can wear it around!

Old OC Redraws in progress

I decided to redraw some old OCs I used to use as a cartoonist for the Eastern Echo.  Here are the ones I’ve finished so far:

Little Johnny, principle canine character, house pet.

Bess Milkcowski, DVM, Psychiatry.  Bovine psychiatrist and self proclaimed rumination specialist.

Detail of Bess Milkcowski’s redraw.

Desktop background - "Scruffy Greets the Neighbors"

"Scruffy Greets the Neighbors"

A scruffy mutt comes to call on his bovine neighbors in the field for his usual play date.

Wallpaper from Workin' Dogs - "The Awful Night Guard"

This was originally to be a panel from a Sunday edition of a Workin' Dogs comic—way back a few years ago.

Two more recent works

" I have accomplished nothing today,

  for I have only dreamed of you.  "

-Nena, "Nur Geträumt"

"Human, why do you read Simplizius Simplizissimus all day instead of playing with me?"

Paw Patrol Fan Art

Behold: The hazards of having one's niece living next door while simultaneously being a bit of a special snowflake oneself.

Feel free to offer ridicule at any time. I'm pretty much emotionally immune at this point. And I know all the catchphrases. Like this one: "Chase is on the case!"


"Don't lose it; reuse it!"


"Ready for a ruff, ruff rescue!"


"Ready, set, get wet!"


"Rubble on the double!"
Like I told you... all the catchphrases. Aaaaaand...


"Let's take to the sky!"

The Kiss, drawn Summer 2011.

 

Thinking of turning this into a print for sale.

Udder Cream - Vegan Skin Care Product?

Udder Cream advertises that it contains no milk or bovine products.  So... is it a vegan product?

Probably not, considering the alpha-testers were dairy cattle.

Not that I care much—I'm not a vegan.

SparkyART Postcard: "Warm, Sunny Michigan"

Greetings from Warm Sunny Michigan!

Thinking about designing postcards for the Michigan area...admittedly, I need to experiment with different fonts, since this one isn't quite what the doctor ordered for what I'm going for.

(I'm posting this postcard because I sadly don't have a comic prepared for today.  Maybe I'll have another postcard on Friday?  Got one already thought up. [wag, wag, wag.] )

PWNED by the Dog!

I don't remember if I added this one yet, but I'm in a rush, so here it is.  The lighting was both a pain in the neck and simple as anything.  Inspired by the times I used to play Halo on co-op with my brother.  (I almost never actually played against him.)

Coffee-Shop Pooched!

Oh, yes, wacky kicks...  I tried doing my comic dialogue in "Trebuchet" font.  I don't recommend it very highly.  Don't tell anybody, please, but I strongly considered using a censored explitive in the last panel from Little Johnny!

Milkcowski's New Patient.

This is a pun... a double pun... a poorly executed double pun, but still...

Oh, yeah: as you can see, the shading is awful.  I considered doing it in color, but when I did,  it just didn't look right that way either.  I was thinking of making this into a short series of comics,  but Jonathan isn't supposed to comprehend the bovine language.  What could they possibly talk about?

Late-Night Intervention.

I've had loads of caffeine before, so I could definitely see how Dr. Spot could mistake this for addiction.

Flower Digging

 

Not much to say by way of commentary.  I kind of liked that Jonathan's underling was getting him into trouble with his parents over a love interest.  It will be a while before a better comic font takes the place of this one.  (It's Trebuchet... not exactly comic strip-compatible!)

8 x 10 Darboard

This was either the kickoff or the second comic for the Eastern Echo in the Fall 08 semester.  The gag is an older one of mine, but I redrew it to keep up with my present style.  I included the dots from the original black-and-white comic to make the transition from print to webcomic quicker.  From now on, I probably won't use the original dots in the online comics.  I probably wont be using many dots in the paper either.

This Is My Big Debut!

This simple layout, one that Charles Schulz used all through his career (he was my hero; see this link, too), has been my default format for a long time... In fact, this one was done at least a year ago. I think my favorite panel is the third to last, because it was so clearly drawn.

It was also drawn when I was working with the title League of Carnations.

By the way, the title of this post was the title of a song that was used in a documentary for Flashbeagle.  (I only know this because of my friend, Jacob Davis.)

Condescension

Up on the Wrong Side...part III (the anti-climax)

This is the last of the ones I did for this storyline. It's kinda cheesy that I didn't finish, but, ya know...

I used the grass brush tool in Photoshop for the grass in the second panel. I kinda liked it at first, but...I don't any more. I should have done what I did in the last one.

Upon reflection, I probably should have made the caption panel a color other than white.