The Penguin

Ugh. My brain hurts. Working on my website and getting ready for my portfolio open house. It's a doozy - I have so much stuff to print and work on and everything. I'm on schedule, though, so that's a plus. I'll be heading into Lansing tomorrow to get some stuff printed. Which reminds me, I need to get my resume done...and my business cards...but I can do the business cards online through the printer, so that won't be too bad. It's just that resume that needs completing, and I'm extremely nervous about it; I'm trying something really far-out and experimental. Maybe not that experimental, but still. In case you didn't know, here's the information for the open house. You're all invited (all two of you). Location: 422 North Washington Square Lansing Community College Main Campus Lansing, MI 48933 Gannon Building, rooms 112 and 114 Date: December 17th Time: 4-7 pm Refreshments served! Be sure to save the date. I'll be featured, along with my...

Now, I've never had a knack for political cartoons, but every so often I'll whip one out. Did you hear the thing about North Korea firing on a South Korean island? NK artillery bombarded the island while SK troops were on military maneuvers; several people were killed. There followed an exchange of artillery fire in which 175 shells were used. Trés exciting, non ? Figure 1.1: "The Damoclean Sword". (Sorry, I did misspell "Damoclean" on the image). Just the thought of two small nuclear powers slugging it out, especially with Kim Jong Il being slightly senile, puts one one edge. Then again, India and Pakistan have been doing the same thing off and on for the last twenty years, and nukes never came into play. Still scary, though. A word of explanation, in case you didn't catch the reference: Damocles [Damocles]...was an obsequious courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse , a fourth century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Italy . Pandering to his king, ...

Voila: a cockroach. "Dat don't MAKE money, boy..."

Hello, sportsfans. I'm announcing the beginning of a new Dark Corner Productions project. Now I know what you're thinking: "But Rick! How can you announce a new project when you haven't even finished the last one?!" Well, because I can. And yes, because right now I'm extremely bored with Aeolus #3 , and am trying to avoid working on it (I seriously need to get my butt in gear - maybe after I finish up my portfolio, I'll go back to working on it. I promise). But The Human Cannonball is going to be a series to end all series, or at least make the next series think seriously about its options. Here's a picture of the eponymous character, just to whet your appetite: Sidelong Sidely, The Human Cannonball Yes, he's heroic, dashing, daring, and all that other fun stuff. He's also completely bonkers. They call him "Sidelong" Sidely because he's hit his head so many times his eyes point in two different directions. Wacky stuff. I've d...

Just practicing drawing the female form. Generally I'm a pretty pathetic hand at it, but at least I got two good sketches out of it: faces belly dancers A lot of times with me it's more of a confidence thing than anything else - I keep thinking, "Wait - does that look like a dude? Need to make the boobs bigger..." For me, the ideal would be to craft an unmistakably feminine form without relying on exaggeration to make my point. Faces are especially difficult; the "big eyes and button nose" combo will only take you so far.

Hello, gang. I have just acquired a Wacom Bamboo tablet, and I've been itching to try it out. Here's a couple of sketches I managed to churn out with my new toy: Sketch #1 Sketch #2 (Neither of these sketches, by the way, have anything to do with anything). Yes, brave readers, Rick has indeed entered the Information Age. Hell has not just frozen over; it is experiencing a veritable ice age: Hell mammoths! So there you have it, kids - my first digital scribbles. Enjoy. Rick Out.

Hey gang, just real quick - I'm thinking of posting some sketches regularly, hopefully, um...weekly? Bi-weekly? Maybe Monday-Thursday-Friday. Or maybe whenever I damn well feel like it. Anyway, I think regular sketches will help spice up this blog a little bit. Keep an eye out. They will be accompanied by long, rambling explanations; if y'all are good and eat your veggies, I might even color a couple of them for you. No promises, though. Rick Out.