Christmas 2012 - Merry Christmas

You got spared some really naught ideas.  I'll share the doodles later.

Merry Christmas

Christmas Card 2012 - Logo

Okay.  Christmas card 2012.  It's been mailed, and should be in most mailboxes by now.  Since I will be heading out on vacation come Saturday I'm going to set up the release of the actual card using the time delay post, and have it come out on December 25th.  But here is the logo that went on the back.  As I've said in previous post, the logo usually follows the theme of the card.  There's your clue.

One Guy Drawing - Store

One Guy Drawing - Greeting Cards

Greeting Cards Online

I discovered something the other day.  It is like Cafe Press where I have my online store for mugs, shirts and stuff, but it is for creating and selling greeting cards, GreetingCardUniverse.  I started loading Christmas cards up there on Monday, there is an approval process so they are not all showing, but one is approved and has already had sales.  Wohoo for me.  I thought that was pretty cool.

Understanding we are really close to Christmas, and seeing that their is a delay, I only loaded about 5 XMas cards.  I've started loading Valentines cards.  Then it gave me the idea to cross pollinate to CafePress.   But I'm going to fill up One Guy Drawing Cards it is so easy.

So a few of the cards you've seen from my past can now be bought and shared.

Yes, I've got this year's Christmas card done, and mailed.  I'm waiting until closer to Christmas to share with y'all.  I might start putting the roughs and scratch pad ideas up later.

This is my first Valentine card posted
Card inside:  I've got a Heart On for you

Christmas 2010 - Strip Search

There had been a lot of news and discussion all year long about new scanning and TSA searches at airports to thwart terrorist this year.  So of course Santa can't be left out.  Rudolph's look before his cavity search is funny to me as well as the candy cane g-string.

Christmas 2009 - Starting to Move Away From Family Themes

By now I'm getting tired of family friendly themes.  Now it is about what makes me laugh.  The elves crack me up.  It is a play on what guys do in New Orleans or more specifically what me and some friends would yell at this motocross race we went to in our teens, "Show Us Your Tits!"

Christmas 2008 - I Hate Family Photo Cards

 The card for 2008 was without a doubt the hardest card I ever did.  The art and coloring weren't the big deal, it was figuring out how to get the faces into the art.  I don't own a lot of technology or software that could of made this easy.  I had to cut the faces out by hand and glue them in and re-scan.  The final wasn't the sharpest color, but I do like the basic concept.  I think my idea was I hate those Christmas card that are nothing more than a family photo.  I just think they are tacky.  Please take the time to get a real card and insert the picture.

Christmas 2006 - Reindeer Games

Sperm Comic

Right in the middle of all this Christmas joy and I have to put one of these old Sperm of the Moment cartoons.  I did several of these years ago.

Christmas 2004 - Technology and Work Consumed

This was a play on how damn busy I was that year.  I was a full year into a new job and I was just flat out crazy busy.  I was controlled by my cell phone and Palm Pilot.

My Online Store

Christmas 2003 - The Art of Compromise

I really don't remember how this card got started but it seems like it had something to do with the kids wanting to draw their own Christmas cards, and my wife not being happy with my idea.  So the compromise was to have them all do their own idea, and I put them all on one card.  Personally, my snowman card is one of my favorites.  It was a play on the fact I have two boys, and we can pee in the snow, and we can write when we pee, much to the disgust and chagrin of my wife.

As I was loading all this up I recalled way there is not a 2002 card.  That was the December I was downsized out of a job.  After riding out the market crash of 2000, 9-11, Enron, growing the company footprint through this and three acquisitions, I was just shown the door when they wanted to consolidate office space in my market.  To say the least I was not in a good place to be doing a card.

After 6 months of looking I did get back to work in 2003 and the year wound up being a pretty good year.

The rough

My wife's idea

My oldest son, age 8

The colored version.  Notice the yellow snow.

Youngest son's idea, age 5

Christmas Card Logos - Various Years

I'm not going to bore you with detail of each logo.  Normally each year the logo shares something with the card theme.

Christmas 2001 - Santa Gets Hog Tied

This was done with dip pen and colored on the computer.  By this time kids are 6 and 3 so a bit of a play on them become more mischievous.

Christmas 2000 - Stock Market Crashes

I was extra ambitious in 2000 and did a card for family/friends and one for co-workers.  Both cards were done with dip pen and colored on the computer, and the family card I used computer to do the lettering.

Of all the cards I've done I think I hate this one (above) the most.  The theme is fine, there are just a lot of mistakes that I see that maybe most don't.  The theme came from the experience we had the year before where we bought a tree way too big for the room.  When we first stood it up it was bending on the ceiling.  We thought our loft ceiling was higher and didn't account for the exact spot the tree would go which was where the ceiling started to decline down.  I had to buy an extra stand, made multiple cuts to bring the height down and even then in the end I barely could reach the top to put the topper on, hence the theme.

This above card is one of my favorites and is the only time I've done one for co-workers.  I was a branch manager for a large brokerage firm at the time.  It was a play on the stock market crashing in early 2000 when the tech bubble popped.  If you were a market trader you would recognize the shape of the tree is essentially the shape of the charts of the market up to that point...straight up from 1995 to 2000 and straight from the 2000.  For those not in the know NASDAQ is the over the counter electronic stock market.

Christmas 1999

Christmas 1998 - Santa Clause Addiction

This would be about a month after my second son was born.  My oldest was addicted to the first Tim Allen Santa Clause movie and re-enacted that movie, as if he were flying a sleigh, all the time.  We began to think he would never out grow that phase.  He used to refer to the movie as Ho-Ho Fell Off the Roof.  The goofy looking ornament was a secret nod to one of my friends who would get the card.  This face is all he could draw.  He thought it was pretty cool how I sneaked that in.  I think this is the first year I used a computer to color

Christmas 1997 - Drug the Kid

This was definitely a nod to the fact as my first son got older, he was nearly 3 by now, he was not going to bed as early which caused us to have to stay up later to pull off the Santa trick.  I just notice the little white bear in front of him.  That was his best friend, Bear.  He was also beginning to understand the whole Christmas thing.  Nothing like drugging your kids to achieve a desired outcome. (we would never really do that)  

This was very clearly colored pre-copy with markers.  I used to use those Design markers, you can see how they would bleed and blend. 

Thanksgiving Day Cartoons From the Past

Christmas 1996 - Another Missing Year

I don't recall what was happening in 1996 but evidently I didn't do a card.  This strip is just an idea I've been dicking around with and I'm bound and determined to work on it until I like it.  I'm not particularly pleased with this rendition either.  It just seems to be missing something and I can't figure it out.   I almost feel like there is too much white space.

This is another go at it.

Christmas 1995 - The Torment of Kids

By this point my first son would of been 9 months old, so rest assured the lack of discipline this kid is showing would not of been a representation of my son.  I'm sure though I was more aware of kids in general and had started developing the appreciation for what constituted good and bad behavior. 

As technical note, this would of been drawn and colored on card stock.  I'd not moved into the world of digital color.  The problem I remember most was color copiers weren't as true to the original as they are now.

Back of card mock logo

Christmas 1994

Well I guess the 1993 Christmas gift of me naked worked by all appearances we are LARGE with our first. At this point we are 6 months along, due end of March.  I'm sure my wife has not ever been please with my representation of her.  But I'm a cartoonist, not Rembrandt.

I think this is the first year I put a mock logo on the back

Christmas 1993

Yep you guessed it.  Been married a couple of years and no kids yet.  Dig those fluffy pink slippers.  We were both a lot younger than the drawing suggest.  Hell I' had just turn 30 and she was only 23.   We look a couple of old farts.

Christmas 1992 - Whatever Happened To Christmas 1991?

I really don't know what happened to Christmas 1991.  My assumption is it was the first year I was married, and perhaps we just did traditional cards.   This one was a bit of a play on my consuming career as a stock broker.

Christmas 1990 - Card Tradition Begins

I'm going to do a Christmas card this year.  I don't care how bad it has been financially.  I'm going to put aside the mental effort and get it done.  Early!  So I started doodling ideas.  Since it has to be a secret you will not get any doodle posting for a while, but I"ll share the process when it is complete.

Here is what I will do.  I've been doing cards for Xmas and other holidays for years.  I'll just post those until I've completed this years contribution to holiday debauchery.

This is where it all started.  1990.  It was just a doodle on my scratch pad, I colored it with markers and had it copied at Kinko's.  I think some misinterpreted it as Santa wiping his ass with the toy list, but I meant it to be he just decided to take a dump at one of the houses, reviewed his list and was caught by this boy.

I Thought I Had A Stroke

I think I've isolated the issue, and recognize my true self.  I took an old finished strip and printed it out real light.  I wanted to trace over it with the quill to see if I could, and what it looked like.  I like the effect, but I don't draw that small when I do a strip.

 So I tried again full size and this is the crap I created.

Out of frustration I scratched out a couple of quickie sketches and inked them with the Penstix.  Below.

  

So what do I think the problem is...Well when I'm inking in I'm following very in exact lines.  Effectively I'm drawing as I go and using the sketch as a guide.  I sketch somewhat free handed to try to get the feel of the lay out and look I want.  When I ink with the quill I can freely draw.  Again I'm a pusher not puller and that inhibits my smoothness.  Also, maybe, it is just a bit of size, and need for larger nib size.

But I was getting real depressed that I'd had some brain stroke and lost my ability to draw.  Doing the Penstix drawings again reassured me I'm not a stroke victim.