The Bellingham School of Comics has been together now for a little over five years, I believe (I think we started in 2004). One of the coolest things about being involved in a group like the B.S. is that you get to watch everyone improve and develop their artwork. Of course, we all view our own work differently and approach the struggle with a different demeanor and demons to deal with.

patlandness hasn't been able to make it to every meeting (but then I'm basically the founder and I haven't made every meeting) and he's often been one of the most discouraged of the members. However, even in his earlier work it was easy for many others to see the makings of a caricature artist. And he's kept at it.

Just last Monday, he finished his largest collection of work, caricatures of all (or most) of his friends. If you know these people and you look at these pieces you'll clearly see what kind of talent this guy has. Pat can capture some of the truly subtle features of a person's face that are hard to name, but that make that person unique.

I'm looking forward to see more work like this!

Even though magazines and newspapers are going by the wayside, caricature should still have a huge place in journalism online. Right now it's probably a bit more like having a booth at a Saturday fair, trying to get families and passersby to tip you for your work. But a good caricature can give a serious blog a much needed sense of humor, a touch of self-deprecation that shows the blogger isn't taking himself too seriously!

Thanks, Pat!

All of my comics have been taking a hit on their schedules lately. I kind of feel like taking another week off to get back on track. But if I buckle down, I should be able to produce this week's comics and get next week's going in time. Expect HFR later today.

It's a difficult page I'm working on and took more planning than I had expected. In a way, partly because my comics don't have a huge readership at the moment, I feel like I should be focusing more on quality than schedule right now. When a comic comes out once a week, it seems to have more leeway on just when it updates, anyway. I've seen some wildly popular comics with extremely erratic update schedules.

But it makes me feel like I'm starting at square one. And when I go through my morning list of comics to read, and I see them all updating like clockwork, it makes me feel unprofessional. And that's not very encouraging.

It can be hard to put discouragement aside and kick some ass, but if I don't I'll fall further behind. So it's bootstrap time!

Let's see how many drawings I can get done today!

A foreboding tome indeed:


click for larger image

I can hear the cries of the Strombrellas now. They beckon with their plaintive whining, splines clicking with hunger...

ripworth gave me the text for this:

click to visit larger image model molemen for The Adventures of DR_SPIN From Grass Dog Studio