I Only Have Flies For You

This cartoon was done for my dear friend Saskia who studies these little creatures so that we might understand cognition and visual reception better in the human brain. She is a great scientist and a wonderful person so I was all too willing to draw a doodle that she plans to use in her lectures. Hooray for Science and Hooray for Saskia!

She just sent me two awesome books in the mail as a surprise 'thank you' gift:

I thank her for her work and her friendship. I'd love being friends with real scientists and getting great book recommendations is enough of a reward let alone actual books! I'll be sure to tell tales of how freaked out I am by my enhanced understanding of our planet's parasites. I imagine that the book on games with be a welcome dessert for my brain.

Girly Stuff.

I've been swamped with my Star Wars project for a long time now and I have not had much in the way of free hours. Still, what little time there was manifested a few lady-specific sketches: I do make a point to draw Lindsey as much as I can, I was commissioned to do a portrait of an ailing but brave girl fighting a brain tumor and, finally, I happened to have a 20 minute period where I put way too much effort into a little wonder woman doodle.

I like to draw women but there is a fine line to walk between being playful in exploring what you find attractive or enticing and being a total perv. I've come to a point where I'm just going to draw what I like measured against the context I'm working in; trying to find that balance.

I was talking with Periscope's current Intern Ainsely Yeager, about what gains a person success in the field of comics, and I said something along the lines of 'if you don't have boobs you should learn to draw them' to which she replied with a more concise "(to succeed in comics) you better be a hot chick or know how to draw them." It's true that being an attractive girl can go a long way in endearing your work to comics readers.

It has occurred to me that, since I like science, it might be a worthwhile thing to try an experiment along these lines. Will more people take an interest in my work and promote me if I spend the next month drawing hot ladies and popular subjects rather than my usual fare? The question really boils down to whether people are more interested (generally) in subject rather than approach. I suppose there is a balance to be struck between drawing weird niche images that satisfy me and the things that please people.

we'll see aye?

Saving Throw Vs. Science!

Hello all, I'm trying to catch up on my Dark Horse work so I'm not getting a lot of extra time to work on images for the Periscope Sketch Blog or this Blog but I have started a bunch of images that will be sweet once they are done. These partially completed works include: Mario Kart, Mad Men, Seven Samurai and Carl Sagan (which you can see in process in a previous blog.)

For the time being I'll offer you this great series of Science related things:



President Kennedy speaking in Texas about our achieving nation's potential thorough science!



PZ Meyers awesome Blog!



The fantastic Gem what-is NASA.
They just put a spacecraft into orbit around Mercury!
Tonight my old pal Rich Ellis invited me out to play a D & D encounter, with Grace Allison and Susan Tardif, at a game store here in Portland called Guardian Games. I had a lot of fun, but as you can imagine, public RPG sessions offer some serious potential for awkward clashes with the unwashed nerdy fringes. We shared a table with three dudes who took obnoxious, narcissistic dorkiness to a level I thought heretofore unreachable.

I did a drawing of Rich and Grace. Susan was sitting next to me so only her dice made it in to the picture. Our DM was a really nice, if somewhat meek, fellow named Dean. We fought an army of Ghosts. I ended up finishing off the main spectre with a magic missile.

Sunday Ritual.

I am not a church going man but I do spend my Sunday in my own sort of reverent contemplation. I try to reserve Sundays for time with my dearest Lindsey and doing the things I love. That can sometimes mean breakfast out, watching science videos on Youtube, playing guitar through my amps, petting the cats, Star Wars related activities and any other number of things that are just for me.

I like to draw her at breakfast; It's an excuse to stare at her
We went to breakfast again and we are about to head out for the day so I thought I'd offer up this little post in contrast to my super lengthy video game post of the previous day; in part I wanted to show that I do have leisure activities already and that I am by and large happy with my 'fun' choices as they exist.

"If You Wish To Make An Apple Pie From Scratch..."

"...You must first invent the universe."

It's no secret that one of my great heroes is Carl Sagan. In a minor tribute I've chosen to depict him on the side of my helmet; the thing that protects my mind each day on my way to my favorite place.

Even though he died 14 years ago he has become a mentor to me and I can think of no better sigil to accompany me each day It was he who introduced me most formally to the virtues and beauty inherent in a scientific world view. I think of him as a contributing architect in the ongoing construction of my mind. His concepts have filled my imagination with wonders and tools that inform my perspective like a polished lens.

Tune in on Thursday for more art and words- there are sure to be some of both!