Annual Halloween Plans

I go through the same thing every year. Several years ago I came up with what I thought was a really cool plan for Halloween. Now I'm not a particularly huge 'Ween junkie by any means, but sometimes when an idea hits I get all giggly and focused and the pencils come out and outlandish plans are made. So my idea was this: I wanted to make a puppet stage that would sit out by the corner of my front yard. It would have a circus side-show kind of look to it, crossed with a kind of Tim Burton Beetlejuice thing. There would be a little easel on the side of the stage with a sign promising the next act as IRWIN THE CREEP. The lights would come up, the heavy curtain would open, and sitting in the center of the stage would be a deathly pale frog-like individual dressed in a sequined devil costume holding a microphone.

I had in mind something like Triumph the insult comic dog, but since it would be kids coming to see, and since I'm not as clever as Triumph's "handler" I'd be a little less caustic. He'd make comments on kid's costumes and hand out prizes to the best ones. Photos would be taken in front of the stage and would be posted online at Irwin's own website. Under the stage there would be a hole where a monster hand would pop out to put candy in the kids' bags.

So every year I make plans to do this. And every year Halloween creeps up and pounces on me before I've done anything at all. As this year seems to be doing. Halloween is only two and a half months away. I'm still wondering where June went. So Halloween will come and I will vacate my house as to not be bothered by kids knocking on my door. If Halloween had a Grinch...well...maybe I can find the strength of ten Grinches, plus two and get my act together.

Just 'sperimentin'

Logo! Logo! Logo!

I love logos. In fact, my philosophy for illustration and writing is the same as it is for designing a logo - say the most you can with the least amount. Basically "less is more". It really bothers me when I am asked to cram every aspect of a business into a thumbnail sized graphic. The point of a logo is to represent what you do and do it quickly, not explain every aspect. Logos aren't novels.

Here are a few that I did recently. One is for the Hamtramck Farmers Market (which isn't in existence yet). Simple black and white with very graphic representations of the type of things you might find there. I originally added color, but the Mayor preferred one color for simplicity and cost. It's a bit more detailed than I usually do, but I thought the nature of a market called for it. I thought that if the logo just featured bread or just vegetables that it might be confusing. The market is more than just a bakery or a fruit market. The logo will also be used on signage.

Game Traps is a video game business started by a friend of mine. The game controller may be a bit confusing to the uninitiated, but would be instantly recognizable to the audience the business is trying to attract. Based on a rough sketch provided by the client, it also portrays the business as a place games are played, as opposed to being sold.

Lastly, this is a logo/sticker design I did for my local Dr. Sketchy chapter. I tried to cover the basic elements of the group, as well as giving it an industrial Dee-troit flavor. Per Molly Crabapple, artists are "art monkeys" and the poop flinging represents the "anti-art school" Dr. Sketchy presents itself as. The stickers have yet to be produced though. I just haven't found a good (i.e. cheap) place to get them done. Then we can hand them out at our Sketchy sessions.

10 Songs

After a visit to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in January (or February - can't seem to remember) my travelling companions and I decided to do a CD exchange. Pick ten songs that might be unfamiliar or forgotten by the others that you'd like them to hear and contemplate. So finally, by July, I got mine done. I even worked up some fancy jewel case artwork for it. The little drawing, by the way, comes from my Ellie on Planet X sketchbook. So it's sort of a preview of things to come, even though it gives very little away.

My ten picks were:
1. the pied piper composed by walter mourant
2. the sea by morcheeba
3. queen of quiet by erin mckeown
4. july, july by the decemberists
5. common people by william shatner (yes, that William Shatner)
6. daddy’s car by the cardigans
7. angels want to wear my red shoes by elvis costello
8. the charging sky by jenny lewis with the watson twins
9. selfless, cold, & composed by ben folds five
10. the girl in the corner by lyle lovett

I also added a special bonus track, How Does It Feel to be Back by Hall & Oates. Sort of a special present to my peeps who rip on me for liking the soulful sounds of Daryl and John. At least I was nice and picked a song I thought they might like.

The next CD exchange is slotted to be "Ten Songs Played at Your Funeral". We're a fun bunch.

Sketchy X

That's Sketchy 10. Yup, we've had ten of 'em and the Doctor shows no sign of slowing down. Last night's episode featured Christopher from Causing a Scene, as well as one Jessica Rabbit - at least that's the name she's using. It was a challenge to get both of them down on paper at the same time when the clock was ticking. And just when I thought all of the magic had drained out of my pencil it all seemed to come together. I even won a prize for the theme "Something Arresting". Although it helps to know the Swag Faerie's weakness for all things Blade Runner.

My prize was a grab bag full of art monkey goodies, pencils, markers, magnets, a notebook, and a graphic novel about Laika, the little dog that was the first living being launched into space. I had just read an article about her and how the records of what happened had only been released after the Soviet Union fell. The official story had been that she was peacefully put to sleep with an injection several days after her launch. But the real story was...well...read the book.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

I'm starting a new experiment today. I'm attempting an online children's book serial kinda thing. The plan is to add new pages on a regular basis. The story is rather open ended so we'll just see where it takes us. So I present to you the first page of Ellie On Planet X!

Find the story at: http://jimcandraw.com/ellie/

Ug.

Cover for a work in progress mini-comic.

Maybe posting it here'll get me to finish it.

I see dead people.

My mom's side of the family is planning a big reunion shindig this August. One of my relatives (I'll have to look at a family tree to see exactly how we're related) is putting together a booklet featuring family history, photos of ancestors, and a pedigree chart. This is a cover I designed for it.

...and there you go!

Projects, projects...

A couple of things being worked on.

More Sketchy

A few weeks back we had another session of Dr. Sketchy. Our model this time was Muana, who posed for us back at the Detroit Fringe Festival. She was a lot of fun to draw. I ran into her a few days later during breakfast at Bart's in Ferndale. She said she had a great time and wants to do it again. I say yay to that. I may have to color in that second sketch below that's all cartoony.

Also below, the lovely Katherine unkowingly poses. I liked this one so much I had to include it.

Happy Accidents

I recently took a Saturday morning Relief Printmaking workshop taught by my good friend John Nagridge. I had this really great drawing of my dog, very graphic. I carved out the picture keeping nice smooth lines intact and when I went to print it I discovered I didn't carve into the block deep enough and it was barely recognizable. So in disgust I quickly carved out large swaths of rubber, mangling the drawing while I was at it, whining all the way at how crummy I was making it. But in the end it had that cool looking rough primitive thing going on. I guess I like it! By the way, everyone else's work turned out great as well.

Exquisite Corpse

This is my entry into the next gallery show put on by the Hamtramck art collective HATCH. The object of an Exquisite Corpse is to have one artist start the drawing of a body, say the head, and have the next artist continue on with the body, and another with an arm, and so on. Each artist completes their part of the body without seeing what the previous artist has done.

For our version we were all given four panels and were to make a body in any medium we wished. The panels would then be mixed up with those done by other artists and displayed on the walls. Eventually a book may be in the works!

After long consideration I decided on painting Tony Clifton, Andy Kaufman's aged lounge singer alter ego. Here he appears whole before being split apart and conjoined with pieces of other artists' work.

Extra! Extra!

Last Wednesday's cartooning night was extra special as I got to participate in a movie! A local group of low budget film makers were putting together a vampire movie called "After The Blood Rush". Several others and myself played restaurant patrons who screamed in terror and fled from the unseen carnage that will eventually appear onscreen. Coming soon to a local theater sometime in the future. Here's some sketches done during the cartooning part of the night and between takes:

On the Fringe

Friday the 13th saw another installment of Dr. Sketchy, held this time at Detroit's Music Hall as part of The Fringe Festival. The turnout was a bit light due to the cold and flu season, but we had plenty of models to choose from and a few new artists. No captions on these. Just use your imaginations.