The Avocado: Fruit not Vegetable

Yes it has been a while since I updated, and I'm sure you all have been worried sick, so here is a little ditty I put together just for you. I've been working on other artistic pursuits lately, which leaves me little time to do the quick sketches I generally like to post here. Hope you like iambic pentameter.

First of all, the Bound'ry is back open, to follow up on the last blog post. However, I am only pulling about a shift a week over there, possibly because my manager has caught on to my nefarious plan to abandon him once school starts back.

I did play laser tag last Saturday; the science center hosted a game of employees versus volunteers, which was lots of fun. The floor plan is already designed to foster plenty of running about, so giving everyone weapons made it seem very action movie. To give you a feel of the dynamic, most of the volunteers were in high school, while most of the employees were sophomores in college (there are six of us that are the same age--weird, right?).

The science center puts me in contact with a lot of children, so I am surprised I have managed not to get sick yet. How can children be so adorable and yet so filthy? One little boy liked the rides so much that he invited me to his birthday party at Disney World. Another one spat in my face (it was not malicious; he was simply unaware of what people generally do when they talk to keep spit from flying out).

"'But suppose God is black', I replied."

I did this in honor of the fortieth anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy's assassination in Los Angeles.

My supervisor at the Science Center was out today, and it was kind of a slow day anyway, so I had a lot of time to sit and draw as I sat behind the front desk. These are some sketches I did in preparation for the cartoon you see above. Also, I got my paycheck today, which means I'm going shopping tomorrow at the art supply store (WOOHOO!)

Another Hilary-ous reason to keep fighting Obama

Here is my latest endeavor in the field of political cartooning. I think I like drawing political cartoons in a looser style to give them more of a New Yorker feel.

Additionally, this is a study I did of an Obama caricature by Rick Meyerowitz on Stephen Heller's NYT blog.

Finally, I've found that even though he is quite a bit more conservative than I am, I love the art of Michael Ramirez. When I was in grammar school, my mother used to get this opinion paper called the Conservative Chronicle that was littered with Ramirez's work. Since I've long since formed my own political values, it's really refreshing to be reacquainted with him.

My second ever political cartoon

Update: NPR reported this morning that the Nashville City Council has in fact approved the budget that would decimate its bussing system. As a reaction, I sketched this during my lunch break today.



I have found that I am letting myself get more and more riled up by politics these days, so I have recently tried to direct some of that agitation into something constructive. Thus, a political cartoon. I am going to have to practice drawing Barack Obama a lot more before I can start doing cartoons about national politics. I've got Generic Terrorist Guy under control, and I'm still working on George Bush.

My first ever political cartoon (in case you were wondering, because I know you were) I made about eight years ago regarding the 2000 election controversy. I will probably never see it again, because I made it when I was ten. Just thought I'd let you know that I have experience in this kind of work.

In other news

Also at work today, I decided that my office is pretty vulnerable to a zombie attack. I do my work on the second floor, but zombies have been shown to have little difficulty climbing stairs. My potential weapons arsenal includes:

a)The miniature flag I have of Hong Kong beside my desk (don't ask me why it is there, it just is).
--This would have to be a pretty close-proximity weapon, and if I didn't jam into the zombie's skull at exactly the right place to penetrate the brain, I would be boned.

b)My telephone with all the fancy features
--This is fairly heavy and would probably do damage if there were only one zombie. However I fear that flailing it around would cause the part you hold to your face to get tangled up somewhere, thus making use of the heavy base really inconvenient.

c)The keyboard to my computer
--This is the one I finally decided on because it has the greatest combination of mobility and weight. If I yanked it up real quick and it did not easily detach from my PC tower, I would be toast, but when zombies attack, you sometimes have to take risks.

A portrait of Felicity

This didn't really turn out the way I expected, but hey, what does? After I lettered this I realized it might not make any sense. Felicity is talking about her unborn child. Jason is her ex-lover. Just making sure its crystal clear.

Based on a childhood memory

I'm dabbling in a new style with this one. Drawing scratchy/messy requires a lot of confidence in what you're doing.

I originally thought I was taking most of the influence for this from Natalie Kocsis, an artist I only recently discovered online. Then I realized my high school pal Jobathan has been drawing like this all his life.



A new bill is facing congress right now called the U.S. Orphan Works Act of 2008. If it passes, it would require that artists register every single image they produce with a private company or their work becomes public domain. The bill also loosens the rules for creative property. This means if someone finds something you drew online, and the image is separated from your name, the finder can use it for his company and make lots of money from it, and the artist will never see a dime.

Our contemporary economy is driven by creativity; companies everywhere have realized this and now understand the need to catch their clients' eyes. If this bill passes, visual artists will be left with fewer rights than they already have.