I just "donated" $200 to the Indians today, so to remain in the giving spirit, I'm throwing up one of the more popular stories from by book. I haven't released anything new in many a moon here, but the reason for that will be announced at a later date. But enjoy this little nugget!
So he decided to pay homage to his town-stomping ancestors by hanging a picture in an appropriate location. (Illustration Friday -- theme: homage)
For the past few weeks, I've started drawings that coincidentally fit the IF weekly theme. Strange.
Prints available via Imagekind, if anyone feels inclined to add this to their wall or office/cubicle space.
John approached the men’s room at the venue with some trepidation. He’d been to enough rock clubs and dive bars in the course of duty over the years to know that the only thing to expect in a place like this was the unexpected.
In the past week alone he’d been in a bathroom with no seat on the toilet, one with a full-length mirror on one wall (why, so you could watch yourself taking a dump?), and one with a pile of damp paper towels spilling over the edge of the sink onto the grimy floor since there appeared to be no trash can. John took it all in stride, though. It was part and parcel of attending a large music festival. You took the bad with the good, and he’d heard a lot of good music this week. As he pushed open the door to the men’s room, though, he knew that the bad had caught up with him in a big way.
Adriana and I are in New Mexico for the week. Today in Albuquerque, we saw this:
An entire telephone pole covered in womens' shoes. This is how one "rolls" in the ABQ, which was once described to me as a giant Kingman. If you've been to Kingman, AZ, you realize that isn't exactly a compliment. Luckily for New Mexico's biggest, it's not really an accurate description. But I digress. The home this pole o' pumps sat next to was a hodge-podge of makeshift metal sculptures, cacti, and old crap. We found it after I took a wrong turn. Hooray for wrong turns.
Don't you hate it when trees split your local office buildings in two? Don't you hate it when giant birds come to roost in your previously-respectable centers of business and commerce? And how about when said birds chomp your car? These are my pet peeves. (Illustration Friday -- theme: pet peeves)
You will probably best served viewing the larger image, which can be acquired by clicking this image:
Enjoy (or not, if you please)! Available, along with other drawings smithed by me, at my Imagekind store.
It was snowing again. Where did it get the nerve? Here it was, the First Day of Spring, and it had the gall to be snowing. This was bad form on Mother Nature’s part, no doubt about it.
When probed about this gaffe, Mother Nature laid the blame at the feet of Old Man Winter, which were usually frostbitten. No one knew why this was the case because he could afford heavy boots. Perhaps it was due to his senility – or the fact that he wore open-toed sandals year-round.
Old Man Winter’s podiatrist was on call 24/7, but he was well compensated for his services. He would have to be since he went home most nights his hands smelling of Old Man Winter’s feet. There was a reason why Old Man Winter’s podiatrist was still a bachelor at 38.
Just a quick one off:
After I finished the last whale (Heavy), I had an idea for a totally different whale. I didn't want to spend a whole pile of time on it, so I kept it pretty simple.
Heavy the Whale has fallen ill. Illustration Friday; theme="heavy."
I started this one before I saw the theme of the week, but I think it fits. Giant flying whale=heavy. A city feeling the hapless wrath of his influenza=heavy.
Created in Adobe Illustrator CS3.
Heavy the Whale is available for purchase via my Imagekind store.
So this was the brave, skateboarding Australian woman who drank a beer with me in London. She was 35 at the time of the photo. I didn't know that they held up so well down under.
I had been trying to come up with some kind of simple tribute to Gary Gygax since his death last week, but have found myself unable to devise something that pays appropriate tribute to a person whose work has had a broader and more diverse impact on my life to this point than I fully realise or might admit.
My tardiness in posting this crude homage would be even more a source of unease for me were it not for what appears to have been, over this past week, a growing awareness in the media's consciousness of the impact of his work on our society as a whole. There's no shortage of literature, TV, films, and video games that would either not exist if it were not for Gary Gygax's work, or at least would not be as popular as they presently are.
Of course, I'm sure that none of the cool cats here have ever had more than a minimal awareness of what D&D is, and that fewer still have ever rolled a d20 in anger. Regardless, I apologise for the undercooked nature of this entry, especially in light of the impact of its subject's accomplishments.
Another Illustration Friday submission (the theme is garden) and a new illustration:
I've decided to commit myself to one illustration a week indefinitely. I've uploaded this one to my Imagekind store, so it's available for purchase if anyone's interested.
John had never wondered what kind of person had cause to shop for groceries in the middle of the night, but now that he was doing so himself he had time to observe his fellow shoppers as he encountered them in the aisles. He passed one woman three times, but refrained from saying anything cheesy like “So we meet again” or “We’ve got to stop running into each other like this.” In his experience, it never paid to socialize with anybody missing that many teeth.
One by one he ticked off the items on his roommate’s list, studiously avoiding any impulse purchases. As he passed the bread aisle, though, he picked up a loaf of white bread. While he was getting eggs, he might as well make French toast. He couldn’t remember whether he had any cinnamon, though, which necessitated doubling back to the baking aisle. It was there that he succumbed to the temptation to get a box of brownie mix. After all, he was going to have the eggs. Might as well get multiple uses out of them.
After weighing a variety of options, I've decided to sell my artwork via Imagekind. They offer a multitude of choices and reasonably-priced custom framing (their frames may seem expensive on first glance, but compared to other places, they're a good deal). A direct link to my web store follows the colon: chrisleavens.imagekind.com.
Currently I'm only selling five images. Click on the illustration you like for a direct link to its Imagekind home:
I'll be posting more for sale, including images from the first IAD, as soon as opportunity allows. I create nearly all of my artwork at a 4:3 ratio and the ideal ratio for most printers and store-bought frames is 5:4 (8x10, 11x14, 16x20 are all right on or near a 5:4 ratio), so I had to resize some of the elements to make things work. Also, I've been going in and cleaning up details that I wasn't able to during the IAD project. In some cases, like Hungry Again, for instance, I even drew in a few extra elements that I meant to include in the first go around but skipped due to time constraints. If anyone's really eager to get their hands on something that's not currently available, make it known and I'll make it a priority.
CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Interview With Grover Fosdick
Aired January 29, 2008 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY IS NOT IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY CONTAIN INACCURACIES AND INCONSISTENCIES.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE - OPENING GRAPHICS)
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight. Exclusive. Shocking revlations. Terrible things will be revealed. Terrible, terrible things. Grover Fosdick. You know him as Shingle-Eatin' Sid the Shingle-Eating Kid from the Waverly Roofing Tile commercials of the late Seventies. Also did some softcore in the Eighties. Kinda weak. Not my thing. But anyway, tonight. Here. Our studio. He will reveal a dark secret that might help others who have gone through the same ordeal. Grover Fosdick. An intense and disturbing hour next on LARRY KING LIVE.
