Sunday, August 31, 2008

Wisdom

" No one's happiness but my own is in my power to achieve or destroy. "

AYN RAND

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Wisdom

" Nobody succeeds in a big way
except by risking failure. "

WILLIAM FEATHER

New Yorker Covers You'll Never See

You'll never see it because it 's not real, it's make-believe, remember . . it's the funnies ! It's the funnies until someone dare print what I don't like. Like the Obama satirical cover on a recent issue of The New Yorker. How DARE Barry Blitt or a Ted Rall draw the cartoons they do !





Wisdom

" The man with average mentality,
but with control, with a definate goal,
and a clear conception of how it can be gained,
and above all, with the power of application
and labor, wins in the end. "

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

Thursday, August 28, 2008

New Yorker Covers You'll Never See

Yeh, You'll never see it, because it's satire . . it doesn't exist, it's not real and it wasn't meant to deceive anyone, it's a figment of my imagination, it's a put-on . . Forget the lawsuit . . Now that I got your attention, forget it ! Take a deep breath . . Did I cross Plato's Divided Line ?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Diffee in Ink ! ( Not Pencil )



In one of my travels to The Big Apple . . I found myself at the Union Square Barnes & Noble Bookaellers on the second Floor where one of The New Yorker Festival events was to take place . . The Mankoffer was giving a talk on the uniqueness ( is that a word ? ) of a New Yorker Cartoon.

Roz Chast gave a talk on HER particular material she does for The magazine. Also, Diffee was to speak later and I ran into him amongst the small mob . . I asked if he'd draw me a cartoon in my handy reliable sketch pad and he said yes . . I was kind of hoping he would've done it in PENCIL . . since all of his work I've seen in the magazine is rendered in pencil . . ( I thought, WOW! DIFFEE in INK ! I felt SPECIAL )
He seemed pre-occupied so we didn't chat . . he was probably thinking, who the hell is THIS guy ? I didn't get a chance to introduce myself and that was that.

Usually, most artists BEGIN their careers in pencil and then when the confidence builds they learn the skill of pen & ink with a pen point, brush . . but now most recently just skip directly from pencil to felt-tip pen . . ( except for Comic Books, thank God ).

Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, and most of the masters went on to master the tools of the trade ( charcoal, water colors, oils, etc. ) THEN they'd go and return to the basics . . the PENCIL . . It's what was done. And nobody questioned it.

Re: The New Yorker's Robert Weber drawings . . the loose pencil cartoons show the mastery of the pencil after years of rendering his cartoons in ink, finished washes and charcoal . . THEN and only THEN, like the masters before him, he earned the right to draw in pencil . . It's only MY opinion, but what the hell do I know . .

It's like juggling ONE ball ( with 2 hands ), while your collegues are juggling 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 balls with only ONE arm and one hand !

All this is masterfully done whilst DIFFEE is being called ( by the New Yorker staff ) the most talented new find of America's crop of the NEW New Yorker cartoonists !

Yes, he makes it look easy . . It's not him, it's me.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Gary Baseman in Boca Raton



While at the NCS Bash in 2001 I also noted that Gary Baseman was speaking in one of the seminar rooms . .

He said that The Disney people had seen one of his children's books ( That famous blue dog ) and were interested in buying the blue dog and developing it in their own way. The deal was consummated and the rest is history. I love his contemorary and original style. You can glance at his dog and KNOW it's a BASEMAN DOG !

I asked for a drawing of the dog and he drew it for me and here it is . . .

Matt Groening in Boca Raton



While still at The NCS convention in Boca Raton in 2001 . . .

In one of the Seminar rooms Matt Groening was giving a talk on his Simpsons animated blockbuster show. Matt turned out to be a friendly informative guy who told a lot of interesting stories about the goings-on of the feature.

I told Matt that one of the most interesting character voices and my personal favorite was that Pakistani guy who works at the convenience store . . . I asked him if he was a real genuine Pakistani ( Since I'd had 4 of them working for me at one time, I thought I could tell ) But he said it was an Indian accent and the guy who does it is a young kid just out of High School. He does a fantastic job.

After his talk I passed my trusty sketch pad I always carry with me for situations just like this and begged for a " Bart Simpson " drawing. He said sure, and here it is.

Lt. Flap in Boca Raton with Mort walker



In 2001, While attending the National Cartoonists Society Bash in Florida, I noticed Mort Walker standing nearby with a drink in his hand and I extended my hand and asked if he'd be so kind as to draw me the Famous Lieutenant Flap of Beetle Bailey fame. He said sure and I handed over my trusty sketchbook I carry with me for times such as these . . I told him I loved the character . . He'd tackled the difficult subject of adding an African-American character to his popular strip with class and the Lieutenant went on to become one of the most fan favorites of the comic.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

No room for error . .

Thjs is one of those things you'd LIKE to do . . but common sense
always tells you ' You'd better think about this one, boy. '


Thursday, August 21, 2008

Wisdom

" Life is what happens when you're not watching television. "

JASON LOVE

Wisdom

" The unexamined life is not worth living. "

SOCRATES

Cartoon of the Day


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Life

Life is a Near-Death experience. "

GEORGE CARLIN

Monday, August 18, 2008

Say no to drugs

" I don't do drugs, because I saw what it did to my friends. I'd get stoned, and they'd look really weird to me. "

WENDY LIEBMAN

We need good coalition partners . .

It would be nice if we had more and better coalition partners next time we decide to fight a war.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Enlightenment

" They say married men live longer . .
it just SEEMS longer. "

BOBBY SLAYTON

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Wisdom

Many years ago when I purchased my first copy of The Prophet, Kilal Gibran's masterpiece,
I anxiously read it, looking for nuggets I could use in life. Someone whom I respected had told me if you buy a self-help book and you get just one idea out of it . . it was worth the price of the book. God, he was right. I found TWO nuggets . . Besides the one above, I remember the simple piece of advice somewhere buried in The Prophet: " Do not be a solver of riddles. "

I forgot what I paid for the book, but I think I got the best part of the deal.

Wisdom

" Wherever you go, go with all your heart. "

Confucius

Monday, August 11, 2008

National Law Journal Cartoon

This drawing appeared on page 23, 2008 of The National Law Journal.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Wisdom

All I know is you've gotta have a dream for a dream to come true.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Wisdom

" The ladder of success doesn't care who climbs it. "

FRANK TYGER