Outbursts cover

I'm currently putting together a collection of some of my editorial cartoons to submit to any one who will have me. Here's the cover. I like it at this point, but as is the case with most of what I do there is a possibility that I might tweak it a little. The Democrat and Republican fighting are a favorite of mine that I may have to change some day if the Tea Party gains some more ground.

I-Pad Fad

It doesn't cure disease, the housing, economic and job problem nor does it feed the starving, end war or suddenly cause politicians to live up to all their promises. It does however give people one more electronic device that will be left in airports, hotels,cabs and elevators. It's use will further isolate one human from another and once the next big thing is announced it will become obsolete and be thrown onto a garbage heap like every new thing that has come before. some where. I think I'll buy two!

The State of Disunion

In a nation where image has become far more important to most than substance  the idea of giving Obama a complete make over doesn't seem all that far from reality. Of course who's reality is the question? When I was in the Marines one of the t-shirts that I often saw being worn by my fellow Marines had a saying on it that seems to sum up the attitudes of a lot of people in this country. "Kill them all and let God sort them out!" Straight to the point and devoid of all the true complexities that come from living in a complicated world. In all honesty If I could live in such a world where problems were as easy to solve as the the phrase implies I might just do it. Unfortunately problems are not resolved by simply saying they are. The past year has been a rough one for most of us and although a lot of us are still unemployed but looking, working at jobs that pay far less than we are worth or are in school trying to learn new skills the underlying truth is we just don't believe in own own government any more. Those that voted for Obama are frustrated that he hasn't been able to meet all their expectations immediately and they are angry at the Republicans for appearing to have no other agenda than to see him fail. While those who were convinced that he had no chance of accomplishing anything in the first place continue their mission to create a bogus grass roots organization that makes them rich, preys on peoples fears, and spreads lies and cancerous rumors that prevent truly constructive dialog from ever happening. It's not all that surprising that in a country where people will celebrate the success or loss of a sporting event by rioting and that Sarah Palin is popular because she comes from a disfunctional family like the majority of us, is photogenic unlike the majority of us, panders to an image of America where slogans solve problems and talks in a folksy way without saying anything that we become impatient with a president when he hasn't fix what was broken when he got the job. To make matters worse when he attempts to do anything the first response people have is to say is that it won't work.  I voted for Obama for a lot of reasons and I did it knowing that he was not the overall solution to problems we face. In the long run if we are not willing to figure out some way to work together it really doesn't matter who the President is. Slogans and speeches are great but we all know that actions speak louder than words.

Profane words

Pat Robertsons recent assertion that the cause of the ills that have plagued Haiti over the last several hundred years are the result of a curse brought about by a pact made with the Devil leads one to believe that self appointed profits of doom should spend a little more time looking inward and a lot less time passing judgement on the rest of humanity.

Obamas first chaos filled year

If Obamas first year in office has proven one thing about the United States it's that despite the best of intentions no matter how hard some one tries to change the status quo there will always be a percentage of the population who are convinced that the President is out to destroy everything they hold sacred.

Haitian tragedy

We live in a nation that at times can seem petty and so self absorbed that we can begin to become isolated from one another and lost in our various day to day concerns about what to wear to work, which piece of new technology to buy, what we would say to a particular talk radio host if we ever cornered  him in a dark alley, what to do with unruly kids, which political party is more evil than the other or who is the most attractive political candidate.  To each of us the daily life that we live has a certain amount of order to it and if by chance some thing should occur that disrupts our routines just a little  a vast majority of us would be at a loss as to what to do to regain control. Now imagine if you live in Haiti and have lived in poverty all your life, suffered through, war, disease and one natural disaster after another and then stop to think what you would do if every thing and every one you knew was destroyed. Life is precious and although we will never agree on almost anything most of us should agree that we need to help those who can not help themselves. If you pray please do so for the injured and the dead and if you don't please do what ever you can to help. I'm not a rich man but I'm willing to do what I can.  Skip your morning routine and find a better use for the money you would normally spend on your latte or bagel. We are a nation that loves to express ourselves by yelling at one another. How about just this once we do what we always tell our kids and prove that actions do indeed speak louder than words.  

Happy New Year!

Once again a new year is upon us and if last year was a sign of things to come the best thing I can advise for 2010 is to hold on tight it's only going to get worse. As long as we maintain a sense of humor and a little perspective we might be able to make it to 2011 with our sanity intact. Maybe!

Happy Holidays

My annual Holiday/Christmas Card

A Walk in the Woods

Every artist has a creative process that involves various rituals. One of my favorites is going for long walks in the woods. I can honestly say some of my best and worst ideas have come to me while I struggled to reach the top of a hill. Most of the time they are good ideas but every once in a while it's an idea that may have sounded good as I was walking but once I put it on paper it really stinks. 

Blue Winter

It's been about a month since I actually posted anything here so needless to say I'm a bit behind in sharing the various things I've been working on. With that said  Here's a recent water color painting  inspired by some Japanese paintings I've seen.

Artboy character design ad

Happy Holloween.

Who doesn't like to dress up and eat to much candy?

More Shameless Self Promotion

A promotional piece highlighting some of my water color paintings.

Obvious News of the Day

Anyone who doesn't already know that text messaging while you're driving is not such a smart thing to do is probably to buzy text messaging to look up long enough to see the tree that they are about to run into.

Artboy Design Ad

The Mighty Artboy

I always loved super hero comics when I was a kid and at one time thought I might work in the comic book industry but as with most things in life my path went in a couple other directions. With that said I've decided to see what my own character would look like if he were to become some of my favorite and not so favorite characters. Thor was never one of my favorite characters but I did love the costume. Now that I think about it where did Thor get his cloths anyway?

School Daze 2009

The recent nonsense concerning the Presidents speach to schools inspired me to consider just how much parental involvement is too much.

Disney buys Marvel

Disneys recent purchase of Marvel is bound to lead to some interesting results.

Back to School 2009

The one thing I remember most about the first day of the new school year was the fact that my over active imagination always made me worry more about what was in store for me than what eventually happened. Now that I'm a parent I don't worry as much as I did but I still have a little anxiety over how my daughter will deal with the day to day world of being in school in the twenty first century.

The Party of NO, NO,NO!

Bubba to the rescue

Although I'm very happy that Bill Clinton was able to negotiate the release of the two American reporters from North Korea I'm a lttle curious as to what he had to agree to to seal the deal. Perhaps a trip to Graceland or maybe even Disney World?

The Obama Show

I admit I like our current President for many reasons, one of them being his ability to speak. Regardless of if he uses a telepromptor or not he still has a way of speaking that is both comforting and reassuring. With that said I'm begining to have my concerns about his need to constantly make appearences on various television programs in order to make his point. Thus I've come to the conclusion that he should just have his own TV or Web show that he can use to get his point acrossed, interview those who disagree with him and maybe give some up and coming bands and comedians a chance to advance their careers. The ad revenue would help stimulate the economy and Obama would be able to promote whatever issue he needs to without taking up valuable time on news broadcasts that should be spent on issues such as who Kate and John are dating or when and if Sarah Palin returns to her home world.

Artboy as Captain America

I guess I was like alot of kids who dreamt of someday excaping their small towns and making it big in the world of comic books. Of course I was a little different, I actually wanted to be a Superhero so I joined the Marines. Then I became a Cartoonist. Although I have yet to work on a purely Super hero comic I do from time to time imagine what it would be like to dress up as a hero and fight the forces of evil.

All Hail the Conquering Hero!

Hiking in the Grand Canyon

Rafting on the Colorado River

More Outbursts

Recent Outbursts

The world is a complicated and frightening place and if we can't stop and laugh at it from time to time we would surely go mad.

Iran is calling, tweeting, blogging and text messaging

Social networking appears to be the biggest winner of all in the current chaos afflicting Iran. With a majority of the population under 25 it is becoming more and more apparent each day that they old ways of surpressing protestors is not going to work. No matter how hard they try the authorities, primarialy the Supreme Leader will not be able to prevent the information from getting out.

Perspective

The problem with living in a democracy is that it becomes very easy to lose sight of what really matters. When one nation is being torn apart by riots as the result of an election that was in truth a selection our nation has riots in celebration of a sporting event. A little perspective is all I ask.

Summer time Jim

How you dress is very important. Comfort and function should always come first.