Sunday, March 24, 2013

Original Art Sundays no. 150: Surrealist Cowgirls, p.15

Here we go again! Finally remembered to scan the page.
Completed next week's page along with a scan of some long overdue past work, so good to go for a few weeks again.
As you recall, our stalwart band had jumped into the miles of solid crystal inside the pyramid and were slowly falling through said crystal.
On they go...
I had some issues rendering a pattern on the floor/ground, and decided to go with a random pebbling, a sort of loose cobblestone effect. You can still see the intended large tile pattern through it, but it looks plausible.
The story is building to something big.
As the story builds, I think the tone/direction is changing. I originally thought of the Cowgirls as advanced silliness drenched in the surreal, like Milt Gross's work. But I'm coming to see them as comedic adventure a la Bone.
That remains one of my favorite books, so I can live with that.
Next week, page 16!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Original Art Sundays No. 149: Psychotic Friends Network

Wow, I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted! No excuses!
Here's a page I did for fun during my undergrad years.
Most people don't remember the Psychic Friends Network now, though they do still have a Net presence. My kid brother was doing work for them and for a phone-in Tarot reading company for a while. He tried to talk me into doing it. During our conversation, I asked him if he really believed in what he was selling for his $25 an hour (and that's 1990s dollars!).
He gave me a long, convoluted response that boiled down to "maybe. Sort of."
Anyway, bad typography and all, here's my parody of the whole thing: The Psychotic Friend's Network!

D.S. is  a parody of Dave Sim, whose rants in the letters pages of Cerebus about homosexuals and women (and especially homosexual women) were all the talk of the comic book community at the time.
R.W. is a pro football player whose name I can't recall (Reggie White, possibly? Not sure) whose rants on other people's morality was seen by many as being at odds with his plans to become a minister, which I believe he later did.
Some fun art and BAD typeface choices here! I really enjoyed drawing the guy on the top, the one chewing up the desk. 
I printed up the text block on a cheesy home printer, using a cheesy design program aimed at housewives. I also used this program, because it was all I had, for the first couple Gentle Giant calendars.
The next page of Surrealist Cowgirls is nearly penciled. I've been poking at it far too long, but it's starting to take shape the way I want it to.
So next week... well, let's hope.