Back out and about

So, after about 8 months of working in a cubicle, I'm back to the door to door world. Nice really. I've been on streets I've done 3x. Almost no one is the same, and some few folks that are from before still like my cartoons and buy more. But months of sitting has made my legs weak again, and my sciatica is an issue, so can't work for the long stretches right now, only about 2 hours at a time before it gets to be too much. Still, glad to be outside, talking in some cases to old fans, and now producing a comic that has larger images, so you can read them even if you are old or almost blind.

My toons being larger, are harder to copy, but I'm going to work on that too.

Work moving a'pace

So, I've been working a cubicle job, but at the job, I'm able to draw, so I've been doing a lot of studies, mostly for backgrounds and emotions. I've also been fiddling with the focus of the strip, and have now re-engineered it so that my main character is a lot more crooked and corrupt (in a funny way, of course). The focus is now illustrating his corruption in every strip, as opposed to just throwing out jokes. I may start cannibalizing again, but so far I've had a lot of good ideas independent of my older work. I have about 500 strips fully done at this point. Of course, some are repeats, and many never made it to the computer.

This new iteration will first become a booklet, but I think, upon completion of 200-250 of these new ones I'm going to publish an actual book. I will start showing them in a few weeks or so, when I have enough to put one a day on without a break for a couple of weeks.

The Artist bites the bullet

Well, after 3 years of constant door to door cartoon sales, I have finally decided to get a more conventional job. The good news is that I will soon have some more free time to draw again. The bad news is that for the next few weeks I will be hustling to deal with my bills. I have been going out a little, but my new desk job is cutting into my time outside or drawing.

Free Dinner

Howdy. So, I've been selling, but not doing any drawing for about 2 wks. As folks that follow this blog know, I have "blank periods," where I come up with material.

On the bright side, if you live in Boulder, I just found out through a company I have a subscription to that tells me about free stuff, that Panda Express is having a FREE (as in, no obligation to purchase anything else) entree offer on Friday, June 24th, 2011, at 9PM, at any of their locations not in an airport. The entree will be the one voted most for on their website.

If you live in Boulder, maybe I will see you at the one across the street from my place, on 28th st. I already called and they ARE participating.

Lull in Cartoons

I've been scrambling to pay not only my own bills, but some "young adults" who lived where I do and left without paying all their bills. So, sorry about that.

We are all winners

Truth, independent of Reason

Getting oriented

Bad puns, and a bad joke.

Long time working

Today I had an 'incident.' I was at this door, sort of tired, and this nice looking dude, with an "artist" wife, does not even call her to the door, he says instead (after telling me his wife is "also" an artist) that he's not interested because he and his wife have been working on their dinner a "long time." I just had to laugh. As I walked away, the guy yelled after me: "you don't have to be patronizing." I was almost going to say: "look up that word in the dictionary," but I thought better of it. From my biased perspective, him telling me he "appreciated" my work (though he hadn't looked at it) and not at least letting his wife know I was at the door was about as patronizing as it gets, and also denied his wife the ability to personally blow me off or enjoy my existence. My thoughts: the dude is a shmoe, and he'll eventually break his wife's heart with his lousy decisions. ;-)

Amazing Lightning

Today, walking near 3rd st. in Longmont, I saw the most amazing lightning. several super lightning bolts. Pretty spectacular.

Unusual Rain keeps me from working

In colorado, it usually only rains for an hour or so, and it's light. The last day or so has been a heavy rain, and my stuff will be destroyed. I have to wait it out. I don't have the right materials for a rainstorm today.

Generally Specialized

Priorities

Often, folks come to the door and say, "no thx, we're eating." I wonder how many will someday say to themselves "gosh, I should have not eaten for two minutes to see what the artist in my neighborhood was doing." As if I'm some sort of corporate floozy, and their dinner is soooo important. Well, sure, it's their dinner, but how many times, in their lives, will an artist approach them at their door. Maybe never again. Dinner, on the other hand, will be there every night.

Longmont is full of nice folks

What a nice little town. Most everyone is friendly, all living in unique little houses.

Life is a movie

Perception is reality

Neighborhoods are strangely similar sometimes

I've discovered that different neighborhoods have different auras. sometimes these auras are based on the side of the street, but usually they tend also to encompass courts and circles as well. For example, say a street has several inset courts that have 8-10 houses each. In one court, everyone will be dour, unhappy, mean-spirited and dismissive, while just one court over, everyone is smiling, joyous, giving and embracing! I have literally gone through one court, gotten totally dissed, and insulted, while at the next court, every doorway gave me five to 10 dollars and I walked away from those houses with 60 bucks after 15 minutes of walking and talking.

Today I was in a trophy wife neighborhood: literally every house was inhabited by a 20-30 something couple with three cars, they all looked like they had stepped out of GQ and Vogue magazine, and yet...they were all embittered. It was funny. They probably didn't even know it! The gals all had dour looks and almost all of them used the specific phrase "I'm not interested." If you read my blog, you know I hear many "repeat" phrases depending on the neighborhood, and I'm actually happiest with this response, so, all day long, I was sort of happy hearing "I'm not interested." At least these folks are up front when they don't want stuff! However, SOoo many people were "uninterested" in this neighborhood that I could not help suspecting that that was a phrase that was used a little TOO often in those houses. ;-) Most neighborhoods are mixes of "super beautiful" people and everybody else, but it's sort of funny dealing with gaggles of them, unhappy in their lives and marriages, frittering away their hours in plastic houses and pretending to be happy, all the while missing out on life's real gems, too busy to meet strangers, too important to have time to serve Elijah some wine. Meanwhile, their less attractive and poorer townsfolk are by percentage (from my perspective) MUCH happier, as are their neighborhoods, and people come to the door with a SMILE for strangers, not fear, dismissiveness or derision. Honestly, it is rare in MOST neighborhoods for parents with kids to not at least LOOK at my work, that of a roving cartoonist! In this neighborhood, THEY COULDN'T BE BOTHERED. LOL. And they think they are living! They are the walking dead!

What fools we mortals be...

He is always watching