Robert Zimmerman

The illoz Angels

2008-09-03T02:09:37+00:00

Meet the illoz Angels!

This is a team of 8, 9 and 10 year olds playing this fall in Western North Carolina, corporate home of illoz.com.

Western North Carolina Fall Baseball is a BIG DEAL around these parts and I thought "what the hey...", if a $325 sponsorship will guarantee that a bunch of kids can get dirty and hit some balls, then we're in! Right?

Today was opening day for the Angels. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. Seeing them take the field in those little illoz shirts....I can not EVEN begin to describe the excitment of it. I wish everyone could have seen it like I did.

Our illoz Angels went up against the highly favored Astros and came away with a narrow defeat, backed by solid defense and swift base running. When the game was over, team drinks were immediately poured down each other's necks and they went and played in the creek, the narrow defeat forgotten ... immediately.

Ah, to be a kid again...

When you look at kids like this...how can you POSSIBLY not want to help them play ball?

Glad that illoz had a few bucks left over (thanks so much to everyone involved) to make this happen for the Angels. They are one chill team of characters.

Great parents too! As the illoz Angels slipped in the 4th inning to hand over the game to the Astros, parents calmly chattted amoung themselves about how hard the team was trying and how the next game might be better. Parents make a huge difference in youth baseball and the Angel's parents made it all good in the end, the way it should be.

The Angel's dugout was really the place to be. These kids hung the fence every minute and chewed a lot of gum.

Thanks to Coach Yohon Whitaker and his assistant, Ronald Blackman. I happened to snap this pic of them while they were making out their lineup and not exactly sure if they were all that happy about me wandering around on their field at the time...Like I said I was a bit excited, perhaps a bit too excited.

These guys really do have the best interests of the kids in mind at all times and I'm SO PROUD to be able to help them field a team this fall, with the help of everyone involved with the illoz project.

illoz logo by you know who

illoz link

illoz mousepads shipping out

2008-05-29T20:38:25+00:00

The official illoz mousepads designed by Mr. Gary Taxali are on the docks and ready for first shipment tomorrow! These have been a long time coming, but I assure you they are worth the wait!

These fine and highly collectible items are available only to art directors with registered accounts at illoz. So, if you are reading this and suddenly look down and realize, "Hey I'm an art director without an account at illoz"... then what the heck are you waiting for? Get an account right here and get a mousepad. There are plenty to go around!

As an added bonus, art directors also get the Official Art Director Owner's Manual, which is a handy booklet, capable of guiding any art director through the best use of the illoz system. As you may know, illoz is a lot more than a pretty portfolio site, folks. Indeed, it's filled with lots of handy tools for getting jobs done and this invaluable illoz Owner's Manual will make all these fancy gizmos easy to understand and start using right away.

Hey what is this place? A mail room? Envelopes are everywhere! Get this stuff outta here!

MAGS Talk

2008-05-07T01:01:15+00:00

The illoz and Drawger crews got lots of well-deserved props in my talk to the Magazine Association of the Southeast today, which centered around using illustration to start conversations and boost circulation. A great association, these MAGS people are and a terrific design block set up by board member, Lisa Sparer. I really enjoyed these people - they run a tight ship, which in the conference racket is a tough thing to pull off well. They did it flawlessly.

Lisa brought in myself to talk about illustration. Luke Hayman was there to talk about his current work over at Pentagram and past work at ID Magazine as well as New York Magazine. Mitch Shostak did a really cool presentation on all his current projects and showed a huge amount of illustration work he's commissioned, to boot. And lastly but not leastly, D.W. Pine was there as well to talk about his past ten years at Time.

This talk I did was an hour and a half. That's a long time to talk about something! It would not have been possible without a lot of help from others. Edel provided me with some great information from his years at Time. Brian Stauffer was a big help as well when I needed some extra insider details. Eddie Guy, Brad Holland, Anita Kunz, Ross MacDonald all also sent in stories and antidotes that were a huge help to me as well. And, I also have to thank Drawger itself, as I lifted several success and horror stories straight from these pages, including from Harry Campbell and Tim O'Brien to share with the conference.

The bonus dinner with Mitch, Luke and editor Bruce Anderson last night was a real treat for me. I got insider details on the secret Smooze Society, it's untimely demise and Shostak's covert plans for it's revival. I hope to be lucky enough to be included...

Marc Art Mine

2008-04-19T14:05:16+00:00

Yesterday by FedEx - a reMarcable treat arrived.

A signed and numbered print by Marc Burckhardt, of Robert Johnson - all for me!

It's impossible to explain how fine this print is. The brilliant colors, the luxurious paper, the exceptional quality of the print itself are all simply breath-taking. This is one truly exquisite work. The man is a master, done deal, game over.

Luckily for everyone, Marc has the same quality of prints for sale at his illogator shop, which just opened for business this week.

Check it out! Marc has his own tape!

How cool is that?

I mean, how many people have their own tape? Gimmi a break!

Off to the framer! I have the best in town!

Anita Kunz Interview

2008-04-16T16:02:48+00:00

Anita Kunz was kind enough to do an interview with me over at illoz, just published today.

I explored some of the themes I'll be discussing in a talk I'm doing for The Magazine Association of the Southeast next month in Atlanta.

Here's the interview with Anita

Anywhere USA

2008-01-17T15:56:12+00:00

A couple of years back, my daughter Lila got the idea that she needed to take a semester out of high school to work on the pre-production of an independent film, being shot in our little town. She convinced me to also get involved by naming and designing some bogus products to be used by the cast. Being that is was my daughter asking, it was an easy decision to make. The film made a remarkable journey after Lila went back to high school. From very humble beginnings, with no budget to speak of, a complete cast of non-actors and guided by the single-minded and brilliant vision of director Chusy, Anywhere USA has landed itself in the dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

My small contribution was branding and designing products to be used by the cast. They needed a beer for starters. Since the film had a South of the Mason Dixon Line tilt, I wanted a name that would sound good in the unique drawl of a Southerner. I decided on Kegger. I wanted the beer to look cheap, but distinguished at the same time. Something that looked like ordinary folks would buy, feeling they were getting high quality at a very low price. Here's what I ended up with, accompanied by a cast shot with the actual phony product. Here's a better look.

The next product they needed was a soft drink. The requirements here were that it had to look and sound like a low-level bargain brand. In other words, it had to look cheap and it had to sound cheap. Again, I wanted the name to sound good rolling off the southern tongue. I settled on BUB cola. I really enjoyed the challenge of branding something that looks and sounds like complete crap, but that you could believe would be popular at the same time. It was actually a lot harder to pull off than I thought it would be.

Finally they needed a fake dating website that was geared towards plus-sized singles. Once again, it had to look and sound cheap, but believable. I settled on RealBigLove.com. Incorporating some advertising for BUB cola and Kegger into the site just seemed like a natural thing to do. Director Chusy also wanted part of the site to feature a dramatic close up of a penis, which I am not going to be subjecting anyone to here, but I will say that sitting with the director and retouching that photo was a uniquely unsettling and hilarious experience. I may never live that down...

Fortunately for me, my cameo appearance in the film as Manudo, the bitchy and dreadful fashion designer ended up on the cutting room floor. With any luck at all, it will stay there. 16 films will be shown in the dramatic competition at Sundance, culled from 1,068 entries. It's a remarkable achievement for everyone who was involved. A lot of heart and a lot of guts went into this and it was an honor to be involved.

Vintage Commercials

2007-12-22T02:06:58+00:00

I had a job sweeping the floors at WSOC TV in Charlotte, NC in 1972. One day a guy handed me a huge box of commercials on 16mm tape that were on their way to the trash-bin. He gave them to me because I was "an art guy" (at age 13), and would somehow "know what to do with them one day" or, so he insisted at the time.

I carried around that box of commercials for almost 40 years storing them in hot attics and damp basements along the way. Last year, I found somebody to digitize them.

Even though these vintage commercials have faded and sadly lost a lot of color with the passing of time, I've decided to share them with everyone, regardless. Some of them are simply gems.

The whole project is here at YouTube.

Some of my personal favorites

The Car Man - Citgo Commercial
This one is just a pure classic from start to finish. I wonder who that girl is. There is another in the same series here.

Talking Crissy Doll
This commercial might be one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. One of the girls who starred in this actually wrote to me and said she thought it was creepy too.

M&M's - Go Fish
This one is just great television. I kinda wish there were more commercials like this.

GumBall Banks
"Thanks for the GumBall!"

Country Club Malt Liquor
They could never make a commercial like this today. Features a room full of drunks drinking a lot of beer. I love it.

Del Monte Gel Cup
This commercial is perfect. The timing, the kid, everything.

Belly Button Baby
This means something and I'm not sure I want to know what it is. If you figure it out, keep it to yourself.

Close N'Play by Kenner
I can watch this over and over again.

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illogator

2007-12-11T19:20:19+00:00

I'm very pleased and proud to release illogator.com for the perusal and pleasure of the illustration collecting public.

The illogator is designed specifically for illustrators who are selling original works, whether they be original paintings, prints, objects of desire for the home, or unique apparel items. Online shops at illogator are available to illustrators by invitation only.

My personal hope is that illogator's primary contribution will be to give art collectors a place to purchase original works that they have seen on book covers, magazines and other print mediums. The art from the cover of Time Magazine, the art from the cover of a latest best seller, the art on the annual report from IBM - these are arguably more influential to our culture than any works that hang in our museums on any given day. I'm pleased to be able to trumpet that notion and to provide a website where those original works can be made available for purchase.

The world of illustration has changed dramatically over the past decade. More and more, illustrators offer their own lines of unique merchandise and illogator.com provides professionals with a place to sell and promote those lines as well.

The site launches today, with a small group of remarkable people who have helped me test out the site and make this idea come to life. I'm very grateful for all their efforts on behalf of this project and hope it serves them well for very many years to come.

go there

Drawger Annual

2007-11-19T13:23:44+00:00

Very pleased indeed to let loose the 2nd Drawger Annual. The first one in 2006 was so much fun, it was clear that Drawger should give it another go. 52 Drawgers made it happen for 2007. You learn a few things putting together a show like this. One is that illustrators can't do anything without a deadline. When I sent word that the show was being planned, I gave Drawgers a somewhat generous deadline for entries of about a month and a half. With almost no exceptions, every single piece arrived on the last day. So rule number one when dealing with illustrators: Deadlines rule. Another thing. By and large illustrators have weird names. I defy anyone to spell Burckhardt the same way twice or Vasconcelos, Witschonke or Ciardello. I have unresolved spelling issues, and putting this together required cut-and-paste skills like I've never employed them before. For some reason, I had Brian Stauffer's name spelled three different ways on the same page at one point. He was kind enough to help me through that. New admiration goes out for all those art directors setting illustrator names in 4 point type for the margins of magazines. I've never seen one spelled incorrectly. Third and lastly, illustrators are an amazingly generous lot. If you ask them nicely and have even a measure of sincerity, they will bend over three ways to Sunday to make good things happen. The 2007 Drawger Annual is testimony to that. The show was a real pleasure to have all to myself for a while. It was like sitting alone with an unreleased classic. I've looked at each individual entry dozens of times - some of the works were much larger, with much higher resolution than I can display at Drawger, so I had the benefit of zooming in, for what I must admit to as many hours spent marveling at the skills and dedication to the art form these great people have in bewildering abundance. I hope everyone enjoys the show! If we can keep good ship Drawger afloat, we'll do it all again in 2008.

Server Tsunami

2007-10-11T14:53:46+00:00

The Drawger server suffered a big-thumb catastrophe last night at around 11pm. Five days of data was deleted in less than five seconds. The data can not be recovered - meaning that a slice of Drawger history is lost forever to the digital beyond. I am humbled, embarrassed, and terribly sorry. In the eight years I've dedicated to developing internet technologies, I've never experienced anything like this. It's a server tsunami. Here's part of the disaster back-story: I've been scrambling lately to cope with unexpected popularity at Drawger. Over the last 30 days, we've been visited by over 65,000 people who have eagerly gobbled up over 366,000 pages of content. Since Drawger was originally built as a small social club, we simply didn't have enough capacity to accommodate all the guests. If Drawger was a bar, the fire marshall would have closed the joint down a long time ago. Not enough chairs, not enough bathrooms, not enough emergency exits for the gregarious crowd. So - last week we packed up and moved to what appeared to be a bigger, better ventilated box. What we didn't realize was that the sprinkler system didn't work and all the emergency exits emptied out into oncoming traffic. What looked like a good move turned into a disaster waiting to happen - and it did. Hopefully, the members and guests will forgive me. I am taking steps to insure this can never happen again, at least not on such a massive and disastrous scale. Right now, we have temporary lodging in the server-equivalent of a bunch of FEMA trailers. By this weekend, we will be high, dry and living the good life - I promise.

illo to web VER. 1.0

2007-07-28T20:54:07+00:00

If Business Week is right and the days of the print edition of the San Francisco Chronicle are numbered, it probably means that a lot of other major regional dailies will fall right behind them.

If it's an inevitable truth that the daily news we read will soon only be found behind the smudged screens of our iphones and laptops, it might be time to start wondering how illustration follows along.

So far, no one seems to have figured this out, at least not in a way that makes much sense.

Here's an example of The Chronicle using a Joseph Fielder illustration, taken from print and brutalized with extreme prejudice for the web edition. If you miss it, don't feel bad. It's only 64 pixels wide. You can get a bigger view by clicking on the little fellow. I wonder how many people bother?

The segway from print to web isn't going so well for illustration and if you deal with web code at all, you will have a fairly good idea why this is so. It's just a hard design nut to crack, if it is crackable at all.

Some news outfits do make an effort. The New YorkTimes makes the case for illustration here with a John Hersey spot, handled as well as probably can be done. ( You may have to SIGN UP to view it )

What this sort of thing means to the art directors at the Times is that the days of designing around illustration, which the Times always handled to great effect, are over. The web likes rectangles. Wrapping type can be done on the web, but it's tedious and rarely worth the effort. Design looses out to the grim realities of HTML. Perhaps illustration does as well.

illoz interviews

2007-06-19T16:58:08+00:00

What happens when one illustrator interviews another illustrator? illoz interviews are going to try and figure that one out.

For starters, Marc Burckhardt interviewed by Cathleen Toelke

Spotted at Drawn with props to Luc.

Melvins poster by a 5 year old

2007-05-10T19:53:38+00:00

When Dale Flattum was asked to design a tour poster for the Melvins, he hired his son Eli (5 years old) to do the job for him. I dig it.

Awards Spam

2007-03-16T16:00:20+00:00

Not sure why, but today I've already received two email spams encouraging me to enter competitions and receive prestigious awards.

....

The first came from the 2007 Create Awards, who have over 300 categories, ranging from illustration to underwater photography. They have awards for just about anything you can think of!

Here's the illustration winner from 2006, which is a 3-D rendering of a living room... Okay!

....

The second spam arrived from The Portfolios.com 2007 Competition, who bill themselves as "the premiere international creative award show", so I suppose that must be true. I must be hopelessly out of the loop on what's hip, because I've never heard of any of the people who won illustration awards from them in 2006.

Happy Birthday to Drawger

2007-03-12T14:07:11+00:00

Drawger went into beta in February of 2006 with 10 illustrators helping the project and trying to figure out whether something like this might be positive for the good people of the illustration community. The site officially went live on or about March 10th of 2006.

Since then, Drawger has had it's up and downs, no doubt about it. There have been normal growing pains, weathered with good humor and patience by all. When Drawger started looking at the numbers in June, 2006 - the site was attracting around 5,000 visitors a month. The reaction at the time was, "Who the heck are these people and what are they doing here?". At last count, Drawger is close to ten times that, nudging 50,000 visitors every month. I'm still not entirely sure what these people are doing here, but it's nice to know that Drawger is providing the inspiration and connection that was it's original intent.

Drawger has gone on to inspire the upstart, illoz site. Without the ideas and encouragement of the Drawger community, it would have never come to life. I'm so pleased with the results, I don't even have words for it.

I'd like to thank everyone who participates at Drawger. It's been a solid year of entertainment, inspiration and outright joy for me, every single day.

And also: Mad props to my partner in code, Josh Carpenter. Without his help, none of this would have been possible.

Illustration at AIGA

2007-02-23T02:21:06+00:00

Just in case it's not hit your radar yet, the AIGA has a blog devoted to illustration, moderated by Christoph Niemann Here's the AIGA intro: "Illustration lies in a no man's land, somewhere between fine art and clip art. Though illustration remains a powerful and versatile communication tool, it often plays a lonely role in the graphic arts. Illustrators operate from isolated studios, ignorant of the concerns of designers, who in turn are oblivious to the needs of illustrators. Design Forum: Illustration is an online forum built to bridge the gap between these two worlds. It's a place for criticism, commentary, and dialogue between illustrators and designers, to explore the evolving role illustration plays in today's publishing environment." Hook up to it

Artists and related workers

2007-02-21T21:41:39+00:00

The U.S. Department of Labor doesn't seem to know what illustrators actually do, so why should anyone else?

"Artists generally fall into one of four categories. Art directors formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual communications media. Craft artists create or reproduce handmade objects for sale or exhibition. Fine artists, including painters, sculptors, and illustrators create original artwork, using a variety of media and techniques. Multi-media artists and animators create special effects, animation, or other visual images on film, on video, or with computers or other electronic media."

"Illustrators typically create pictures for books, magazines, and other publications and for commercial products such as textiles, wrapping paper, stationery, greeting cards, and calendars. Increasingly, illustrators are working in digital format, preparing work directly on a computer."

Read the Department of Labor frame of reference right here.

Call for Slogans

2007-02-12T22:06:21+00:00

The Communications Arts 48th Annual Juried Illustration Competition uses the tag line "The Most Prestigious Illustration Competition in the World" in their print matter, both front, back and inside. On the web, they back off a bit, saying it's just the "most important". In a world where words can actually gain market and attention, chest thumping with "the largest", "the best", "the most remarkable" starts to feel as intrusive and dishonest as spam. We're smarter than that, but apparently CA doesn't think so. What slogans like that are supposed to accomplish is provide some price insulation for the advertiser and boost my ego if I decide to buy. It does neither and with the word "communication" front and center, you have to wonder who exactly they think they're communicating with.

The Gift of Klezmer

2007-02-09T01:11:35+00:00

What started here from Leo Espinosa on September 30th of last year, landed with huge surprise in my mail box today. I am overwhelmed and so grateful for this gift, from my friends here. Since none of the group saw this collectively, I thought I'd let you have a look at how the end pages of Klezmer turned out. It is a treasure. Honestly - I don't have any words for this, which is pretty darn unusual for me.

This wonderful print from Leo has been brought low by my cheap scanner but it is going to the frame shop tomorrow! What a beauty...

Extra Goodies were enclosed. Many, many thanks for this gift from all of you! Still speachless.

Yo Picture Mechanics!

2007-01-23T02:59:53+00:00

Picture Mechanics was probably the first exclusive cyber port on the web for illustrators. It sort of sat there for a couple of years, in a state of virtual hibernation. But the site has woken up from a long sleep...

"What started out as a simple portal link to each artist's web site blossomed into a creative consortium and collectible products."

... Um...I'm not too sure about the "about" statement, but who reads that stuff anyway? It's now officially a blog and as such, more power to the good people! Should be cool to watch.

Picture Mechanics

Politics and the profession

2007-01-21T20:04:34+00:00

Drawger recently got a boost in traffic from the right-leaning blog, Little Green Football. Why did the LGF traffic arrive to wander around here? Basically, to bolster their commonly-held view that artists and illustrators, in particular, are afflicted with a severe case of Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS for short). Drawger is singled out by LGF contributors as a case study in examining the disease as it manifests itself in the arts.

The topic in which Drawger came up? An article on the much-debated Call For Entries poster from the Art Directors Club. LGF's view on the poster? It's supporting evidence that the artistic community damages the USA with a self-loathing liberal agenda. The unquestioned conclusion over at LFG is not so much that the artistic merits of the poster are highly suspect, but that it's content provides conclusive evidence of an out-of-step artist intelligentsia, bent on doing harm our nation.

Within the many comments, "...the makers of images are solidly opposed to the US war effort", fairly well summed up the unified view. "Artists who would be doing posters and other images if this were WWII are today solidly on the other side", was a quote that also got some attention.

It's informative to know how the graphic arts community is perceived in these divisive times. Clearly, the illustration community is perceived (rightly or wrongly) as an active ingredient of the far-left.

Illustrators themselves may see this differently. The profession is largely a "gun for hire" racket, after all. A professional may find themselves working for EXXON one day and SAVE THE FURRY SEALS the next. How an illustrator thinks politically rarely has much to do with paying the bills and taxes.

From an outsiders point of view however, this is clearly not the popular consensus. The left largely embraces the graphics community as their own, while the right generally views the entire enterprise as highly suspect and at the very least, not contributing to solutions.

Is this worth thinking about? LGF clearly has a political agenda that is narrow and not particularly inclusive, or tolerant of dissent. They are not the issue. The widely held perception of the graphics profession on both the left and right is an issue that might need some attention, however, if the profession is to be trusted by all.

Pratt Bound

2006-12-31T01:50:36+00:00

My daughter, Lila just received her acceptance letter to Pratt. She'll be entering the creative writing program there as a freshman in fall, 2007. This is pretty big news around here for a few reasons. One is that she was born in New York City and has wanted to go back since I hauled her down South when she was 4 years old. The second is that it's the only college she applied to. The last reason is that it gives me pretty solid bragging rights, which is cool for dad. Proud pop. She's rockin it, solid.

Illustration Forward

2006-12-15T15:11:32+00:00

It's no secret that print editorial, faced with a lot of entertaining competitors, is losing market. When the topic comes up, my suggestion for regaining momentum is simple. Offer something that no other medium can deliver as effectively: remarkable illustration paired with outstanding writing. Make it a product people really want to look at first, then seal the deal with compelling content. My concerns for print have mostly dwelled on a lack of foresight on the part of editorial management. Instead of more art, I see less. Instead of better content, it seems to get worse. Poignant art as a necessary ingredient for catching eyeballs, starting conversations and staying competitive and relevant in a changing world doesn't seem to have many buyers. Why is this the case? To me, it seems fairly simple. If you want to compete, do what you do best. It's easy to lay blame at the doormat of lack-luster and unimaginative management. They're a big target and easy to hit. But, there's plenty of blame to spread around. Imagine if some of it falls squarely at the feet of the illustration community, itself. I started imagining that recently and it wasn't a fun exercise. Anyone involved in the commercial illustration boom of the 1980's and 90's will fondly recall those salad days of cash and plenty. They were good times, but good times can breed complacency. The world of entertainment has changed dramatically, while you could argue that the basic assumptions about what illustration should deliver to an audience has stayed fundamentally the same. Illustration can still offer decoration, of course, but the demands for interpreting hard editorial content with skill and insight should be on the rise. I don't see that happening. Perhaps I'm expecting too much? I see more of the same salad day reruns. A good example of rising editorial standards is Forbes Magazine. Forbes, as anyone in the illustration racket knows, has been a long-time supporter of great illustration. They've used it well and in abundance. At the same time, Forbes has also consistently contributed hard-hitting and provocative editorial views. They remain a class act. The quality of journalism in Forbes has risen and in that regard they seem to be meeting the challenge of a new world. I look forward to it arriving. When Forbes exposes corporate corruption, poor practices and outright fraud, they often turn to the best illustrators in the business to help them tell the story. Their instincts are right. Illustrations should be able to aid this type of important content. As I was doing a casual browse through the last year in print for Forbes however, I was disappointed in the art. I didn't find even one example where the art came close to hitting as hard as the content. It was an unsettling realization for me. I say this knowing full-well that I am referring to the hard work of esteemed colleagues that I both know and admire. So, I'm a cruel SOB. I will loose friends. I don't care.

Here's an example of where I'm at, and I'm using an illustration that I personally thought was one of the best that Forbes commissioned this year. In the October 30, 2006 issue, Forbes took a brutal look inside Emgen, a biotech sector business that supplies life-saving and vitally needed medications for cancer patients. Forbes pulled no punches - they exposed a corporate climate that is genuinely creepy and quite likely corrupt. The article stuck with me for weeks and it started a lot of conversations for me. Forbes commissioned Matt Mahurin for a full page to accompany the remarkable story. Mahurin, as many will agree, is a long time professional and well regarded for good reasons. His illustration solution? A bunch of needles, wonderfully executed, pointing accusingly at the CEO of Emgen. It had every single element that I would normally enjoy: High concept, arresting composition, limited palette and very well executed in a unique voice. It had everything. Yet, for some reason I wasn't satisfied in the same way that I used to be satisfied. I wanted more.

The article itself was a huge conversation starter for Forbes. Why couldn't the illustration do exactly the same? Am I expecting too much? I hope I am not expecting too much. I'm a consumer. I just want a better product than the one that satisfied me in the 1990's. If they're smart (and I think they are) Forbes is asking themselves how the art they commission is doing anything more than decorating their pages at this point. I think it's important for illustrators to have that same conversation, as well. The articles themselves often have enormous impact, they start important conversations and actually move markets. Why can't the illustration contribute to the same conversations? They should, but right now they don't. I put all this out there as a consumer only. I'm not a critic. I don't have a masters degree in anything. I don't ever want to sit on a panel of judges. Perhaps I'm just a crabby and unsatisfiable consumer that should be ignored. I can live with that. Editorial print will survive, I'm convinced. I also believe that illustrators need to be an important ingredient for survival and growth. How that happens, I'm not sure. With that said, I honestly detest people who raise concerns without having a viable way forward.

Renaissance stock

2006-12-14T04:12:31+00:00

When religion hits mainstream newsstands, you can usually count on the art department rummaging around in the Italian High Renaissance stock to fill space. This weeks cover of US News & World Report is no exception and treats readers to a high quality reproduction of Raphael's (Raphaello Sanzio) Sistine Madonna, to match up with a controversial article on The Real Jesus. Inside, the cover article is "illustrated" by Agnolo Bronzino (1503 72), Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640, Baroque) and the always popular, Pietro Perugino (1445-1523). This is a safe editorial decision. An illustrator who's been dead 500 years isn't likely to cause much controversy. And, it's safe to say that an article, teamed up with irreproachable art, gains credibility by proximity, even though the substance might be hot-button and largely conjectural. So sure, it's a good mix: Classic art and controversial religious editorial content. But at the end of the day, sad and perhaps even wimpy. Had USN decided to hire a living artist, imagine how much more public involvement could have been created - both for USN and the artist themselves. The result would be talking points in the broader media that referenced the core ideas of the article, with contemporary visuals that added to the conversation. Instead, the brass at USN run for cover and we get illustrations by esteemed artists from history, and bold editorial content that simply hides behind them.

My Mayforth!

2006-12-08T22:00:10+00:00

Just arrived by UPS. First seen here

RubberNeckers 3

2006-12-08T21:34:35+00:00

The truth of matter is that since an encounter between my right wrist and an icy manhole cover in 2001, I haven't been able to draw that well, or very often. Before that, my skills were pretty questionable anyway, but I did land an on-going and really fun card game project with the great folks at Chronicle Books called RubberNeckers. The third in the series is just arriving on shelves, titled Flying Rubber Neckers. The art director for this, Tracy Johnson, was absolutely a dream for me to work with. I need a bit more time to do illustration work since 2001, because my wrist starts to hurt and also because I rarely like the results any more and end up doing other drawings, trying my best to make them look as good as they can be. It's kind of tedious stuff, but Tracy was fantastic. She gave me lots of time and didn't seem to mind me complaining about my lost dexterity. The writers for this are the brothers, Mark and Matthew Lore. I don't hear from them much, but when I do they're pretty hilarious. Anyway - it's cool to be able to draw every once in a while, and Chronicle Books simply rocks.

Slow Sorry

2006-11-28T14:23:34+00:00

Sorry for the recent slow-down at Drawger. It was a server problem - database goobers running amok.

Should be running lickedy-split now.

USN - Illo Watch

2006-11-21T20:53:49+00:00

Everybody needs to make a living. Some people make a living as an illustrator. Still others make a living illustrating like other illustrators. Chris Gash is just such a fellow, making a living illustrating in the same style as the well established illustrator, Mark Matcho. People who watch illustration (there are probably a dozen or so) are well-aware of Matcho and also most likely aware that Gash does Matcho pretty well. Not a big deal, really. It happens in all walks of life. Copying someone who's popular to make your way in life, it's bound to happen. What normally happens with illustrators who make a living by working in the style of a popular illustrator, is that they work along the fringes of publishing. They work the small magazines, much like a Kiss cover band gets to play the local clubs, but not much more. But, when an internationally recognized and well respected magazine like US News & World Report decides to hire Gash for a multi-page, three spot story (November 27, 2006 issue - pages 67-74), it might give the hard working professionals, who've staked a lot of time and money on refining and promoting their unique style, a bit of pause. The Kiss cover band is suddenly playing Madison Square Garden. What�s happened here? No doubt about it, the excellent art directors (and they are excellent) at USN have known about Matcho for years. The man promotes himself well. He's been at the drawing board for almost twenty years now. And, also without a doubt, the art department of USN is aware that Gash is lifting the stylistic chops of Matcho to make a living. Anyone with an eye for art can spot the alarming similarities without effort. So, let me ask a question. If Matcho is Kiss, and Gash is the cover band, and US News really is Madison Square Garden, hasn�t everybody that bought a ticket just gotten ripped off? The sad conclusion that I reluctantly arrive at is that USN simply doesn't care that much. The public won�t know the difference, unless they�re sitting on the front row like myself. It looks like Kiss from the cheap seats. Who cares? Right? Well, I for one want my money back. Mark Matcho - Chris Gash

USN - Enos Watch

2006-10-18T01:54:19+00:00

The October 23, 2006 issue of US News & World report sports some fine Randall Enos. The work is a real standout for the magazine, lately. Since the departure of former art director, Rob Covey ( went to Discovery), US News has been steadily dropping illustration as a mainstay of it's content. Hal Mayforth, long-time USN reliable has been missed for some time now, with Barry Blitt seemingly the sole survivor of the illustration crack-down. It's common for many issues of USN to pass by without a single feature illustration, which is sad for a magazine that formerly used illustrators to great effect. I think part of that may be caused by the loss of Covey, who honestly loved illustration and illustrators. He hung framed originals in his office.

The Enos work makes the issue come alive and takes what would be a fairly droll article on a slowdown in investing to giddy heights of fun. Hey, that's the job, right? Randall seems to do a bit more, though. After several issues with no featured art, his drawings seem like a wake-up call, chiming in and saying "Hey! Illustration rocks!" Enos website Enos at Drawger

Marketing Hell

2006-10-05T14:13:51+00:00

Got an email this morning from an old friend, saying they were happy as heck to be coming my way soon and staying in the near-by town of Canton. And why not? Check out the marketing for this apparently lovely little mountain enclave.

The reality? Canton is home to one of North Carolina's largest and most productive paper mills, Blue Ridge Paper. Ever been around paper being made? Not only does it smell REALLY bad for miles in every direction, the pollution output (even though they have dropped in recent yers) for old mills such as Canton's are the stuff of environmentally challenged legend.

The Playoff Sign

2006-10-03T04:13:57+00:00

The sign was stolen (using bolt cutters) from the Cross Bronx Expressway in 1987 and has gone up in front of my house every year since 1991 that the Yankees have gone into the playoffs. Yes - I have been seen tearing it out of the ground at midnight and dragging it back into the garage on several occassions... Does the NY DOT read Drawger? Yo - it was ME, and now you know where I live! Go Yanks!

Weebles Wobble

2006-10-01T17:55:38+00:00

It's a lazy sunday down South and on such days, us Southerners are apt to ponder universal truths. After some porch sitting and a spat of doodling, the only universal truth that I could come up with is this: Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down. There may be other universal truths, but I just couldn't come up with any. So, I decided to paint a Weeble, surprised at the burden it must now carry. Not that it looks anything like an actual Weeble, or is even very good, but setting accuracy and aesthetics aside, it made me smile.

September at Drawger

2006-10-01T14:02:55+00:00

September at Drawger was remarkable - and I thought I'd send out my thanks to everyone and all who have made this site an important part of my life. When I started this site up a very short six months ago, I had no clue how much of an impact it would have on me. I'm not the kind of fellow who gets mushy about much - but I don't mind admitting, this place really does get yank my sentimental chain in unexpected ways. September 11 at Drawger took me by complete surprise. The day revealed something vital here - that it does provide a real community for an amazing group of people. Edel sent me a memorial screen shot, which I have printed out and hangs in the studio - reproduced here to the right. I've put Edel's original on the server for downloading right here if anyone wants a reminder of that day and how remarkable this place has become. - sniff - Drawger hooked up with Nate Williams and Illustration Mundo in September. This tip of the hat from the outside web world was cool and also telling. It showed that Drawger has real substance - content that makes a difference and that others want to track. At this point, the Mundo connection represents about 10% of the total traffic to the site. Totals are over 12,000 visitors in September and over 150,000 page views. Fairly amazing... September also acted as the proving ground for a concept that I believed in, but wasn't so sure would actually pan out. I've had this notion for a long time that online communities can (and in fact, must) be self-regulating. When I started up Drawger, I got a lot of hand-wringing emails, people worried about what someone else might say, and how I planned on policing content that some might find inappropriate. From the begining, I believed that the good people would take care of that themselves, that the community at large would figure it out. So far, so good. I could point to a few other watershed moments, including welcoming some great new people to the site, but I figure I'd better end it here with simple thanks to all. I appreciate.

Drawger 12 Step Program

2006-09-30T01:52:26+00:00

Only $10,000, and probably worth more! ..... cover art by Mark Fisher!

Flux Mix

2006-09-26T21:57:20+00:00

Flux Mix is a collaboration between myself, the artist Kevin Hogan and my friend Chad Pry. The basics of the Flux Mix project is this: See what happens when art starts making itself, without any aesthetic over-site by humans. The project started out as an experiment, with that simple, and uniquely disturbing thought in mind. The outcome is a never-ending art piece, in which you will never see the same thing twice. In fact, you can open it up on a million computers simultaneously and no two computers will display the same thing. In short, whatever an individual viewer is looking at is a unique experience. Right now - it operates on about 40 individual elements, which are chosen, mixed together and moved around at complete random. As the project moves forward, the elements that Flux Mix will "choose" from will reach into the hundreds. Very few people have seen this thing in action. Today is the first release to the public at large. FluxMix.com

Thanks to Illustration Mundo

2006-09-20T20:42:08+00:00

Thanks to Nate Williams and Illustration Mundo for giving Drawger big props and a nod by flowing some of the content here straight into the excellent Mundo world. Even though not all Drawger articles will be fed to the marvelous Mundo machine, certain ones will. It's up to the people here which ones flow Mundo-side. One thing I'm certain of, Drawger will not disappoint. It's absolutely phenomenal what's happened here at Drawger since the beta testing started six months ago. The remarkable people here have put this site on the map. Group hug! I love this place and everything it does for me (he admits with a certain sniffle and a handy Kleenex). I hope the arrivals from Illustration Mundo find it just as inspiring.

The Original Google?

2006-09-07T03:46:42+00:00

It's still seems a bit unclear whether Billy DeBeck created the word "Google" with his remarkable strip Barney Google, but one thing's for certain, he sure did make the word popular. Without a doubt, DeBeck did indeed introduce a few other popular phrases along the way and influenced many that doodled along afterwards. DeBeck in the Drawgerpedia for fellow Drawgers to edit and update as knowledge allows.

The Drawgerpedia

2006-08-31T19:36:04+00:00

The beta-version of Drawgerpedia goes live today, ladies and gents. It may work out, it may not, I don't have a clue. This place constantly surprises me. What is it? It's a member maintained encyclopedia of any type of information we'd like to create. People that are members at Drawger should log in and check out the options. Broad categories of interest can be started. I started one initial category called "Illustrating Greats". Then I added a sub-categrory under that titled "Comic Strtip Artists" and then I added an article inside there about a fellow named James Childress. Anyone who is a member and logged in can edit that article about Childress. Any topic of interest can be added, and then added to or edited by any Drawger person. The information in the Drawgerpedia will be available to any web site visitor. They will not be able to add or edit, however. So - don't be timid about it. Jump and if you want and add a sub-category under Illustrating Greats. I intended this as a biography section. If you are super-bold, then add a new main category - whatever seems like a good idea. We'll see if this works and if we like it or not. Could be cool. Could be a giant flop. We'll see. The Drawgerpedia is pretty much open to whatever happens.

Foladable Subway Cars

2006-08-31T03:10:01+00:00

Klim Kozinevich, master toy dude and pal, is giving away free downloads of a foldable paper version of his blank subway cars, for mark-up and messing with. The one pictured above is by "Mr. Paper" himself, Shin Tanaka. Download the free foldable subway car here (for Adobe Illustrator CS only) more on all that at All City Style

. . . . .

The Plankton

2006-08-27T00:09:36+00:00

I've been coaching youth baseball for about eleven years. The past two seasons, I've done things a bit differently. The main difference is, I don't coach. I don't sit in the dugout. Sometimes I even leave and go do something else during games. The results of this non-coaching approach have been fairly amazing. The players themselves decide who plays where, what the batting order is, who pitches - the whole thing is up to them. They win. They actually win a LOT. Last season, they were undefeated. My favorite part of this is the reaction of other teams and especially the coaches. They'll be over there in the dugout or on the field, looking at this team of kids that is absolutely hammering them - and there is no adult anywhere to be seen. The only thing I really do is name the team. I think next season I'll leave that up to them as well.

Drawger for Photographers

2006-08-21T16:55:21+00:00

The beta version of a Drawger-like site for photographers will be up and running in about one week. Any working pros who have chops and the inclination should contact me here.

Drawger in the news

2006-08-17T21:39:43+00:00

A nice write up by Bill Russel at The Northern California Graphic Artists Guild web site, where Adam McCauley waxes about Drawger, and offers advice on proper blogging, such as "readers can't detect irony" . Thanks Bill and Ad! I guess the secret is out...

. . . . .

Drawger Speakeasy

2006-08-16T21:36:50+00:00

The Drawger Speakeasy is now open for business. Members here will only see the link, up top, when they are logged in. The only way for ANYONE to view the content of the Speakeasy is to be a member AND logged in. In short, the general public has no access at all to view whatever is written there-in.

It can hold as many topics of conversation as we can think up, so if you're a Drawger and want to start a conversation, log in, hit the Speakeasy button up top, and fire at will.

Name This Idea

2006-08-15T19:58:47+00:00

A new upgrade will be arriving at Drawger in short order and I am calling out for help with naming it. What it is: A message board that only members can see and only members can post to. The general public rabble that wanders through here will have no access to the inevitable complaining and client busting that will commence. I am not beneath sponsored naming opportunities. For example, The Elwood Smith Board of Bullwax and Balogna might be worth considering. At any rate, post em if you've got em. . . . . .

100 Drawings and National Security

2006-08-14T02:58:14+00:00

100 drawings (count em) had to go to final art in about 6 days, here. The sketches were laying around for weeks. Great art director, great client. Circumstances conspired against us all in the end-game.

Now that I'm done, here's a National Security suggestion for these troubling times:

I'd like to recommend 100 final drawings in six days to the CIA as a sure fire way to turn a completely and otherwise rational man into a blubbering grease spot of his former self. He will, by day six, tell you anything you want to know. The method comes complete, with a customary bright light focused on the subject day and night. Last minute changes to finals are suggested to create further distress and self-doubt . Our national security folks should know: You will break any man, he will tell you anything you want to know using this cruel but completely acceptable method of gathering important intelligence.

JD King and the Coachmen - American Mercury

2006-08-04T02:19:32+00:00

The eclectic beat soundscapes of JD King and the Coachmen, American Mercury CD arrived unexpectedly by post recently. The sonic caliopy of the Coachmen, I've since discovered, is best appreciated alone in a car driving on lonely mountain roads at night. Expands the experience to a disarming sound track for life. Thanks JD! Sample the Coachmen

Garage Band

2006-07-31T03:03:30+00:00

Probably not suitable for Drawger and more in my own peculiar personal world, but I need to send some props to the kids of Lose This Gun, who played in my garage (really) this afternoon. 15 year olds that R O C K, yall. Watch for these names in the near future: Robert Adams - Vocals and rhythm guitar Quinn Kimsey-White - Lead Guitar Corey Abshire - Bass Daniel Coombs - Drums

They had perhaps 40 or 50 kids show up in my garage. Nobody knew who this guy was but he had a rockin time, no doubt.

Frazier's 98

2006-07-29T03:18:54+00:00

Late tag-on to theLeo Espinoso note on Craig Frazier's 98 sketch book. Just received an imprint of 98 today in the mail and wanted to send out a "YO DUDE THANKS" to the Craig Man! .... The book is sublime. Should be "mandatory looking" (if there were such a thing) for everyone. . . . . .

Comic Fine Art by Chris Ware

2006-07-24T00:37:57+00:00

Stumbled by complete and happy accident into the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art where the second floor was dedicated to exhibiting the original comic pages of Chris Ware. Made me immediately think about Roy Lichtenstein - half a century ago, basically recreating comic book panels and having them widely regarded as fine art. Struck me as a bit amusing that it took another half century for actual comic panels to be regarded the same way. Don't know if it was because of the Ware exhibition or not, but the gift shop was awash in contemporary illustrator/artist wares from the likes of Baseman and Biskup. It's probably remarkably uncool, but I've posted a photo gallery of shots taken (mostly) by my son, John Z. during our Chicago trip.

The Gourd Lady - Margaret Sparkman

2006-06-30T00:37:53+00:00

I try to visit Margaret Sparkman once a year to buy her fabulous painted gourds. She just turned 90 and I missed her birthday party. I have perhaps 200 or so of her painted marvels.

Here's a great little movie slideshow about her.

I would post a few pictures of her little goard crittters but my digital camera went snorkling with me recently...

At her house with some gourd penguins.

Photager

2006-06-10T22:49:11+00:00

I have a few professional photographer aquaintences who've asked if I can set up a site like Drawger for their community. Drawger has been such an inspiration to me, on a daily basis, I figure it's my obligation to spread the goodness around. I've registered Photager.com and will go into beta on that site within a month. If you have similar friends, then pass the word and tell them to get in touch with me if they want to try it out. It will be the same deal - invitation only, working pros only. . . . . . On a similar note, the idea I floated for Designager isn't getting much traction. I might be inspired to set up a site for freelance designers - but it ain't happened yet.

Kuba inspired logo

2006-06-08T21:40:43+00:00

When a recent job came in to do a logo for a NYC recording studio, I thought back (for one reason or another) to how darn cool those Kuba Clothes were that Rob Dunlavey made a gallery about.

Where I started

I went to work right away, just experimenting. But, about an hour later, I got a call that the job had been killed. I didn't even get to show them anything! While these are completely unfinished experiments, they still make me darn happy for reasons that escape me.

Yeah, I did some more "traditional" looks, but the heck with them...

Rob D pointed out the Hammill Gallery where you can get a real fine sampling of Kuba. Here's some favorites: one and two and three

Using Odeo at Drawger

2006-06-08T01:07:30+00:00

In case anyone wants to follow Tim's example. You should use the Safari Browser when placing Odeo files on the site. If you see the text editor thing, it don't work so good.
powered by ODEO Follow this path to Odeo for sign up and get your microphone ready.

My Fifty-five CD thing

2006-06-05T02:36:32+00:00

Occassionally a friend talks me into doing their band's CD design. This one for the wonderful Joti Marra, and her band, My Fifty-five came out looking pretty cool, I think

I scanned the cover of an old gag cartoon book by Carl Rose, titled One Dozen Roses. Then I moved it around in Photoshop until it was a little square book. The horse photo I dropped in was taken by Joti's aunt. The hand writing is Joti's.

My favorite thing about the way this came out - it appears there really is a little square book inside the jewel case. It looks like it's floating inside there, waiting to be read. It's almost a disappointment when you open it and don't find the little book waiting for you - that is ... until you listen to the CD.

I used a black tray, which really makes the effect (poorly photographed by me to the right, no doubt) come alive.

White as blank paper

2006-06-02T13:01:13+00:00

Yeah - the home page and everything else at Drawger just went as white as blank paper. Anyboody who doesn't like it should file their complaints here. I'm going to have the alleged Drawger logo pull from a random list of image files - so anybody who wants to send me an alternate alleged Drawger logo, check it out here.

Mac Packaging Movie Set

2006-06-02T01:51:12+00:00

How about a movie set built entirely with Macintosh packaging materials? Moon Europa delivers on the vision.

Took these photos of the set, with director Chris Bower's permission. Pictured here are the food storage aquariums. (not that aquariums are included in Macintosh packaging that I'm aware of...but hey)

Attended a Moon Europa party in the Mac Packaging spaceship set - here's the DJ. Thought this glimpse might inspire.

Matcho Watch

2006-05-28T04:49:45+00:00

Thankfully, Mark Matcho has finally let us in, to see what he's been doing at his web site all this time. It's a treat.

Includes the sublime Gallery of Rejected sketches (perhaps, the perfect sound score for the theme).

Definately, check out Mark's movies. Mark's promo, My Life as a NewsPaper Man touched me, personaly, but there is lots of other stuff to see as well.

mckibillo baby watch

2006-05-26T03:43:53+00:00

mckibillo baby watch - for the people.

at Drawger.

Paid in Steadman

2006-05-20T16:23:01+00:00

The first real job I ever did for a real magazine was in 1978 for Mother Jones Magazine. I was living in Oakland at the time, and I rode my little Yamaha 400 across the Bay Bridge in gale force cross-winds with the illustration in a backpack. I arrived at Mother Jones and handed over the art to the art director (can't recall her name).

She said she liked the piece very much, but that there was a slight problem. That being, Mother Jones didn't have any money to pay me for the job. I don't mind saying I was counting on the money to pay for some much needed food at the time and the news came as a serious blow to my complaining stomach.

The art director asked, "Do you like Ralph Steadman?" I said that indeed I did. She asked me to follow her and I was escorted to a room where there were perhaps 10 or more signed prints of Steadman's spread out on a table. She asked if I would accept one as payment.

After picking out a print, she provided me with a mailing tube which I bungied to my little Yamaha and faced the cross-winds of the Bay Bridge home.

The print, signed in pencil below a printed signature and numbered 56/100 depicts J. Edgar Hoover and has hung in my house ever since.

Mothers Day Anniversary with Choking Victim

2006-05-14T12:51:29+00:00

Choking Victim
Mothers Day Recording, 1989
at CBGB's, NYC

Band members: myself, Mark Matcho, Mike Bartalos and Peter Thorpe.

Listen here.

The infamous 45 itself.

Luc Watch

2006-05-09T04:18:44+00:00

Fellow Drawger, Luc Latulippe - just added as a contributor to Drawn. I'm guessing between that, his new digs and The Jupitor Project , we might be missing him around here for a while.

Using the Document Upload for Flash Stuff

2006-05-05T14:03:34+00:00

I've uploaded some Flash interactive stuff in a gallery here at Drawger to give folks an idea about how to use the document upload tool of the admin.

It's fairly easily to do if you know how to put together a basic HTML page. I'm simply creating a page to hold the Flash files, and then uploading all the supporting images and files one at a time.

Here's an unfinished game based on Simon.

Here's a bunch of critters that were intended for a bigger game but never made it to prime time for one reason or another.

Fellow Drawgers - if you want to learn how to use this document upload deal and don't quite get it, ask me.

. . . . .

Yeah May 4th!

2006-05-04T16:49:27+00:00

This is the best Mayforth Day ever! We love you Hal! < (left) Mayforth in ten seconds or less.

Bonus mckibillo

2006-05-03T02:58:44+00:00

I've been using the above image from Josh McKible's bonus page today as my desktop and I'm now taking it off cause I can't get anything done. Thanks mckibillo but I need to stop staring at my screen all day.

The Unofficial Semi-Annual Drawger Design Awards

2006-05-01T13:14:56+00:00

The first semi-annual Drawger Design Awards do not include a buffet lunch, no key note speaker and have no legitimacy what-so-ever as they are based completely on what I think is nifty. For best use of Drawgers clunky and remarkably confusing interface, the top award goes to David Flaherty for his super smooth header.

Special props to David for custom article art

A close second, receiving nothing what-so-ever except big props and insane jealousy from me is Susan Crawford for her deft melding of background color and banner.

For best use of a frustrating and madly confusing color picker, loud applause and admiration to new-comer Marc Burckardt for the enviable eye candy.

The semi-annual Drawger Design Awards are based on nothing at all except what I personally think is groovy. Anyone who thinks they have been left out, passed over, or unjustly ignored can file complaints in the circular file.

Drawger Gallery Shows

2006-04-29T23:35:44+00:00

Here's a Drawger upgrade idea - would appreciate feedback. From the start, I've wanted to incorporate a central Drawger gallery for group shows. Here's where my attention deficit disorder has managed to take me so far on this concept. Each member will have the ability to launch a gallery show at Drawger. They'll give it a name, a logo if they like, and a written description of what the show is about. They will also set whether the show is curated, or the show is open to any Drawger member. If the show is curated, they will be able to pick which pieces get in, and which hit the street. Open shows, obviously will take any entry. Pieces that are submitted will appear in a new admin function. A member that starts a show will see the pieces before anyone else does. They can organize the show and launch it all at once, or let pieces trickle in as they arrive. The Drawger who starts a show will be able to organize it any way they want, by setting priorities for each piece. They will also be able to end a show. Any gallery show that is started will be viewable from the main site. They will be represented by links, based on the title of the show. Also, the shows started by each member will be viewable on the member page that started it as well. That's the thing in the works. Any add ons, ideas, bonus feature concepts will be appreciated.

Big Move Done

2006-04-28T02:09:46+00:00

New house! Move accomplished!

Very cool to see some new faces here. I guess there were no major bombs while I was disconnected, so the code works whether I watch it all the time or not. Yeah!

Best advise to anyone who is planning to move: Hire someone else to do it and pay them whatever they want. I'm too old for this and my feet are killing me.

. . . . .

Big Move

2006-04-23T00:58:42+00:00

I won't be around for at least a few days because I bought a house and now I need to move into it.

I've moved many times over the years, but I never seem to realize, or I simply forget between moves, a few simple truths about myself:

I have too many books and should never move at all, because they are just plain heavy.

There is little to no point in saving every illustration I ever did. They take up a lot of space and they don't do anything but lie in state.

Every time I move, I spend more time looking at archived stuff than I spend packing. If I didn't save old drawings, I'd move much faster.

My refrigerator is actually filled with condiments and very little food.

All of the socks I thought I lost are behind the dryer.

. . . . .

Messin with Enos

2006-04-18T03:53:07+00:00

I had to do this.

< enos

thanks to Espinosa for starting this, I think.