Edward Abbey Would Be Pissed!

So I'm perusing my usual news outlets the other day, seeing what is going on in the world around me. One of my checkpoints is the GPB website. It usually gives me state goings on that you can't find in, well, really ANY other place.

The article states basically that the state of Georgia has formed a blue ribbon committee to decide the feasibility and implementation of CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP OF OUR STATE PARKS! Naturally, (after I picked myself up from the anger stroke I suffered) I reached for my pens and paper...



If anyone needs me, I'll be at my local state park with a chainsaw, a surly attitude, and a dog-eared copy of "The Monkeywrench Gang".

Buzzword: "Irritable"

One of my biggest problems with the modern political machine is the usage of catchphrases and buzzwords. They do it to pound an image into the heads of the public but all it does to me is enrage and drive me to things like cartooning.

So Sarah Palin is at it again. Flying around the country endorsing GOP members in state races, she has taken to referring to all of them as "Momma Grizzlies" (oddly ALL of them are women. "Not sure about their politics but hey, you can't call a DUDE 'Momma'. Jeez! THINK, McFly!"). Say it once I'm okay with it, do it the second time and I think you're lazy with metaphors, and any more than that I want to shove your head into an industrial meat grinder. Yeah, she keeps doing it...

So I wondered what a REAL grizzly momma would think.



My favorite part went from the joke to the baby bears when I worked on it. They were just making me laugh as I drew them. They still do.

In the course of my daily consumption of news and information which will only anger me, I came across a story about Newt Gingrich visiting Iowa for the sixth time THIS YEAR. I bet Iowa is a beautiful state. I would LOVE to go see the Field of Dreams. But the only reason a politician goes to Iowa that much in one year is if he is gearing up for a run at the White House. And I think the one thing that Democrats and Republicans can both agree on...



...Newt Gingrich is a terrible person.

Of Camels and Dreams, and Dinosaur Things...

I don't know why the title. I've got Alice in Wonderland on the brain or something. Anyhoo...

So I painted a camel this week. I like gangly creatures apparently. Maybe a moose next.



I also promised a look at the upcoming "Dinosaur Sideshow" that we are diligently putting together at Fernbank Museum in Atlanta. Unfortunately, I don't have the final artwork on the advertising yet, but they ARE going with my suggestions on it. Here is the preliminary sketch I showed them...



I have seen a version of the final and it is MUCH more involved than that but they did go with my ideas, such as the dinosaur on the ball and fonts used for the title. We are in the final stages of putting the whole thing together but the dates for the event are October 23rd and 24th, of 2010. It is a celebration of all things dinosaur, focusing more on the popular imagery that drew all of us into loving these prehistoric monsters in the first place. More details to come but make plans today!

The Paintmonkey is published!

The new edition of Prehistoric Times magazine is out and the Paintmonkey made it in! That is the front cover so you know which issue to rush out and buy! And inside is even better!



Here is a bigger version better for viewing of my submission.

And even better still, the publisher posted in the "From the Editor" section a mention of a brand new event that we are coming up with at work called (tentatively) "The Fernbank Dinosaur Sideshow!" Right now we have Mr Fredericks (the publisher of my new favorite magazine) confirmed as a guest but we are working on many more guests and surprises! Stay tuned. Hopefully by Sunday I will have a working version of our advertisement poster ready for viewing! If not I may go ahead and post my rough sketches.

And remember, rush out NOW and buy this magazine as it will SURELY turn into a collector's item soon!

Geckos, Part Deux

So I had so much fun doing the coloring pages for work, that I just HAD to try my hand at painting these cute little buggers. So I took my trusty camera and took some photos of the geckos in their enclosures at work. They really are photogenic little things. So here's the first of a few anyways...



And if you want to see these little guys live, go here for info.

The Taste of One's Own Foot

There is a long history of blaming the president (past and present) for problems facing the country. It has become particularly nasty these days but it has also gotten EXTREMELY surreal and disjointed from reality. Michael Steele, the head of the Republican National Committee, the face of the party is a SUPERB example of this. I get that he has to oppose the current administration on, well, just about everything. It seems to be what they do these days. I would probably be less cynical about conservatism if every Republican advertisement for governor that I've seen recently (and good lord, there are a LOT of them these days) say that they are bound and determined to cut our taxes! With every teacher in the state either being furloughed or laid off, they are going to cut taxes. Okay, but quit wringing your dang hands when, for some reason, our schools are churning out woefully stupid kids. Just a thought...

Anyways, Michael Steele was caught on tape at some fundraiser, saying that the war in Afghanistan was a "war of Obama's choosing". Seriously. He didn't even giggle or smile when he said it. He may have actually been serious. The war in Afghanistan, the one that started in October of 2001, four years before Barack Obama was elected to the SENATE much less the presidency, is a war of his own choosing. Okay. Sure. Why not?

What led me to the cartoon was the fact that since this tape made it's way around, most Republicans have turned on their fearless leader and said he doesn't represent "their" Republican party. And seem like they would REALLY prefer it if he would, in fact, just shut up.



Weird. There ARE sometimes instances where politicians and I agree on something.

Happy 4th of July!

In honor of this great holiday, I give to you...a giraffe.



Nope, it has nothing to do with the holiday other than I finished it today.

But, my wife wanted a painting of a giraffe so I did one for her. This is a 4"x6" pen and ink and watercolor.

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!