ROUTINE

You know the ROUTINE when you get a new electronic gadget.

> You take it out of the box and punch the buttons, hoping you are as intuitive as the gadget is. When that fails...

> You look at the Quick Start Guide. When that fails...

> You read the big manual. When that fails...

> You ask any 12 year old for help... which is what you should have done in the first place.

DETACH

SocMo gets peeved when he has to DETACH all those cards from his magazines.

Usually, if I don't get something made for Illustration Friday over the weekend it never happens. Sunday night I had an idea that was simple enough that I could scratch it out really fast and get it posted. Whew... a low quality... quick drawing... but I goterdone!

SAIL

SocMo never could spell very well...

The SocMo for President campaign is now kicking into high gear! Yes, SocMo is THE alternative to those other other two guys running. The big buzz around campaign headquarters right now is the search for the right Vice Presidential running mate. At this moment, SocMo's people are in tight negotiations with Paris Hilton's people. A SocMo/Paris combination would be unbeatable at the polls in November. Unfortunately, the talks have hit a snag. Paris' little doggy chewed off SocMo's left arm.

If you would like to help SopcMo's campaign out, just click on the button on the right and buy 1.3 billion buttons and pass them out to all of China. Oh, buy one for yourself too... and wear it proudly!

SocMo thanks you for your support.

I am Doug Jones and I approve this message cuz SocMo is totally HOT!

ABC

Each day I look forward to seeing what James Gurney has posted on his blog, Gurney Journey. He touches on a lot of subjects I am interested in. I like dinosaurs... he paints dinosaurs for National Geographic. I try to paint plein air... his paintings look like they were cut out of the landscape and pasted on his canvas. I doodle little objects... he makes little models of fantastic machines and paints them for his Dinotopia books. He is an encyclopedia of knowledge on drawing and painting. I always learn something from reading his blog each week.

One thing he has been doing is something he calls Art By Committee (ABC). The origin is that he had some fragments clipped from old science fiction manuscripts and was setting around with friends in a coffee shop (if I remember correctly). They all took turns contributing to a drawing in his sketchbook inspired by the fragment.

Now, each Wednesday he posts a fragment and anyone can play along by doing a drawing inspired by it. He posts all the entries on the following Wednesday.

So... this is my entry for the game this week. The phrase I had to work with was, "their voices were high-pitched, piercing... but human."

POOF!

click on image to enlarge... I dare you...
I think I hurt myself on this one... :0)

SHARKweek day 6ix

Q. What is a shark's favorite food?
A. Peanut butter and Jelly fish sandwich

Muh ha ha ha haaaaa....

I thought I would end up SHARKweek 2008 with a little spot illo I did for a joke page a few years ago. Well, I have enjoyed coming up with these Shark images. I'll have to try something like this again sometime... right after I go take a loooong nap...

SHARKweek day 5ive

Well, I have enough shark ideas to go for another week... or more. But a lot of ideas are diamonds in the rough, and need a lot of polishing to make them really sparkle and shine.

For example. I really like Goldfish crackers. With a glass of milk, I can eat a bag of them with no problem. So I was thinking... what if it was SHARK crackers instead of goldfish. There's an idea. I had this scribbled down on my page of random shark ideas and selected it for today. But I didn't really give much thought to how I was going to use the idea... how I would present it... or draw it. I just did the obvious, have a hand going into the bag with a shark cracker biting the finger.

So when I finished the drawing, I looked at it and it was kind of so, so. Not bad... not great... just there. It is what it is... as they say. So today's lesson, kiddies, is that you can HAVE an idea... but it is what you DO with the idea that will make it either great or a dud.

I think I will end up SHARKweek with a little humor tomorrow. Stay tuned.