Silk Screen Project

This week we are looking at a recent project I made for a Silk Screening class that's a part of my degree program. Granted, the format does not look all that different from the weekly cartoons you have come to know and love. But what you see here is a scan of a four color printed piece. In this class we are being taught how to make traditional, hand-pulled, silk screened images. This is a very labor intensive process, with a lot of subtleties and technique that I am still trying to learn properly. For those who want more information on silk screening you can visit our good friends at Wikipedia and learn more than you ever cared to know. But please, return quickly as you might miss something while you're gone; like cash and prizes.

My learning curve has been rather steep in this class and there was much room for improvement in this the final product. However, I did some repair work and added the border before posting today not only to enhance your viewing experience, but also to prevent embarrassment for myself.

This image presents a little narrative that raises some questions. The title says "What Is This?", but who's asking the question? Is it the reptilian creature? Is it the Teddy Bear? Or is it you, the viewer? Another question might be; Is the bear alive, or is it a toy? Perhaps we'll never know.

A Gift from Above

Easy Pickings

Extraterrestrials have appeared several times on this blog because it's a fun subject that offers many comedic possibilities. See past posts here, there, here again, and once more.  In this week's post we see that these off-planet visitors/trespassers/invaders have come up with a better method to obtain subjects for their experiments. Perhaps they are feeling a bit guilty about the whole "abduction" thing and see this new protocol as being a bit more like having "volunteers".

This cartoon first saw the light of day a number of years ago. I have a cousin who saw it in print somewhere and promptly displayed it upon her kitchen refrigerator door, unaware that I was the creator. While visiting her a few months later I noticed the toon, solved the mystery as to its authorship, and thanked her for the compliment.

For my international readers; here in the States the kitchen refrigerator door is a place of honor for displaying children's art works, and favored cartoons. It is high praise indeed to make it onto the old 'fridge door.

If you enjoyed this week's cartoon then please share the link with other folks. Your feedback and comments are always welcome.

Traffic Stop

I'm quite sure that we are not alone in this big, old universe. The idea that other intelligent life forms exist, does not bother me in the least. If it is ever conclusively proven that Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials, it would not effect my world view or spiritual beliefs. In fact it would only add to my awe and wonder.

When Worlds Collide

This cartoon illustrates that moment just before all hell breaks loose or the hilarity begins, depending on how you look at it. My alert readers will know that this is a riff on Velcro, one of the last century's better ideas. I've always thought that when Velcro is pulled apart, it sounds like the seat of someone's pants ripping out. After all these years, I'm still slightly amused when I hear that sound. So, I guess I'm a little juvenile that way.

Earth

Humans have been sighting strange flying objects in the sky for thousands of years. Are we being visited by extraterrestrials? If so, I figure they have not formerly introduced themselves because we humans have not learned how to play nice with each other yet. Because of our behaviour, Earth is probably considered to be a cosmic loony bin.... but with great scenery. I'm posting this toon in it's original, glorious, b&w format.

Chicken

When people eat some unusual creature from the land, sea, or air, we are accustomed to hearing them say, "It tastes like chicken". This happens so often that I have come to the conclusion that chicken is  a constant throughout the galaxies. A Universal Flavor if you will.

We have here two intrepid individuals minding they're own business, when an alien spacecraft falls to Earth. When presented with advanced, intelligent, extraterrestrial life forms, these two fellows make an interesting choice.