Sold another cartoon!

This was a nice Christmas surprise. I had sent a batch of cartoons to The Saturday Evening Post magazine several months ago. A few days ago I get a check from them and a tear sheet showing the printed cartoon. It appears on page 91 of the Jan./Feb. issue.

I won!

This cartoon "Night of the Ambiens" won first prize within the cartoon club that I belong call The Wisenheimer. It is a great online forum where catoonists chat and talk about cartoons and other important world events.

So anyhoo. Nice to be recognized.

New Cartoon...Finally!

Here is a "blue line" as I call them, or "sketch" in any other universe, of my latest cartoon idea.

Looking into new ink and halftone techniques, I will probably end up right back to my usual way of ink and wash. Who knows I may discover something fresh and set the world of cartooning on fire.

Actually, the world of magazine cartooning is on the "Endangered Species" list. So, please, donate when you can and remember, no poaching!

I'm looking into Coquille/Stipple board...yes, I'm that old.

Ad Free

I've decided to joing the AD FREE blog world again. I apologize for the ugly ads I had on my sidebar. NO more.

Good to be King!

My friend Jeremy was drawing illustrations for his version of The Emperor's Clothes.

I felt inspired to sketch.

WOO HOO! Sold 2 cartoons!

I'm excited. I sold 2 cartoons to a "men's" magazine. (wink, wink...nudge, nudge...know what I mean)

I hope to post them here after they run.

(whew!)

My NEW Website (almost)

Hey everyone! I'm in the middle of updating my website here.

I want to have it focus on my new cartooning adventure.

The only buttons that work for now are the "Adult" and the "General". Here you can see some of my latest cartoons. I'm going to try and sell some of these, but I haven't worked out the pricing structure yet.

Anyway, let me know what you think! Please!

Dave

Great cartoonist!

Tim Harries is an awesome cartoonist. Very prolific...well a Gag-A-Day as his blog is titled. Just added a link to his site.
Tim Harries—A Gag A Day

Put the mouse down and step away from the computer!

Here is another take on the blog craze.

Another New Yorker Reject

Well sent out a LOT of cartoons to The New Yorker. Wow, tough nut to crack. I've been giving them my A material, too. Not my cheezy, banquet material, but the "good stuff". (note to self: get funnier)

This one in particular I felt captured the "blog craze". I still have hopes to sell these to other markets. We'll see.

More Tom Thumbs

I posted a color one below. Here are a few more black and white.

Tom Thumbs—Color

Some OLD cartoon Strips

I've decided I had better not post NEW cartoons since I'm trying to sell them to magazines...a legal thing.

So I've decided to post some OLD cartoons.

TOM THUMBS is a cartoon strip I tried to get syndicated a few years back. I wanted to create a "Ziggy" like character that had a tough time getting through life but kept on pluggin'. I wanted him to live in a world where anything could happen. Like in the cartoon shown above; he takes a "normal" elevator ride, but ends up on the bridge of the Enterprise.

I recieved a few postive comments from the syndicates, but alas, no takers.

Anyhoo, I've posted a few now and more later...in color even.

Remember all images are © Dave James. All rights reserved. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Lunch Lady

The sketch theme this week is Lunch Lady. She's like 60 years old tryin' to look 18.

Continental Guy

This is my result for the sketch theme "Continental Guy". Check the sites of Adrien, Jeremy and Katie for their versions soon!

Body Slam!

The latest drawing challenge is "Wrestler". I was trying to think of that wrestler from that great bugs bunny cartoon...The Crusher.

I'm still here!

Please excuse my lapse in posting lately. I'm re-thinking some of my "second" career plans.

I had some success in the '80's with magazine cartooning and I'm thinking about giving it another shot. I have a day job that I like and keeps me secure, but doesn't challange my artistic abilities as much as I would like sometimes.

So, magazine cartooning will help me by providing an additional creative outlet, and writing the gags will give me a voice and maybe keep me smiling.

I hope to post some of the cartoons soon.

Dave

Just one more pin!

This is my result for the latest drawing theme "Bowling" my friend Jeremy and I came up with. A VERY talented friend and colleague Leona Jaeger has joined the fray. Check out her BOWLING sketch and more at her new blog www.fancysquiggles.blogspot.com

Bank Manager

I was doodling the other day (and we all know how embarassing THAT is) and this guy popped out. He looks like a bank manager to me. His clothes would smell like musty money.

All That Jazz

I was in a restaurant Friday and there was this jazz trio. It felt awkward to sit and sketch right in front of them, so I drew from memory. These guys were a caricaturist's dream. Actually, the guitar player had this incredible explosion of hair draping all over him and his guitar. Definitely a Pat Metheny fan...or his twin brother. I was gonna draw him that way but I had a cramped piece of paper and I didn't want to cover his guitar.

Angry Young Man

I got out the acrylics and the color pencils. Working on some coloring techniques.

Hoo-hoo!

A quick owl illustration I did for work today. The color was done in Adobe Illustrator 10 using a Wacom tablet.

Emotions Practice

Did a quick emotions study. Going from left to right; bored, glee, guilt and embarrassed.

Random Dudes

I was messin' around with an Extra Fine Sharpie. I've been so inspired by the wonderful character sketches I've seen on so many talented artist's blogs. I love this blogging thing and it is SO cool to feel like I'm connecting to artists from all over the world.

Animal crackers...I mean characters.

Toddler Corrections

I moved her eyes closer together and made the mouth smaller with less teeth. The funny thing is they may go with a creature instead, like a Guinea Pig or Hamster which would be fun to sketch.

Character Sketches

These are for a project at work. They wanted a "toddler" and my first attempt was more like 7 to 10 years. I'm happy with the second try. She still looks a little old though. What can I do to make her a bit younger? Say about 3 to 4 years old.

Mad Boys

Here are a few sketches of some boys reacting to their tree fort being taken over by girls. I'm having fun drawing their expressions. It's tough, but fun.

Tree House

I finally started the Tree Fort drawing I've been wanting to do. The title will be called THE SIEGE. 3 Girls will have taken over the tree fort from the boys and even started to paint it PINK. Well the look on the boys faces is what I'm gonna work on next.

Shed Logo

I'm working on a logo for a friend of mine. He wanted me to draw a tool shed. I am so inspired my Hans Ranun's work that I studied how he gets that fun, animation look to his buildings. I think I came close but I'm no Hans. Check out his blog at: http://hansranum.blogspot.com/

Dave

Dragon

This is a dragon sketch for a freelance puzzle. The puzzles are very simple and for the very young so this drawing probably has too much detail...but I was having fun.

Cat in Color

...and here is the Cat in color from the sketch below.

Pig In Living Color

Donkey Colored

Colored the Donkey sketch using Adobe Illustrator and a Wacom tablet to get the thick and thin lines.

Some animal sketches from work!

I won Honarable Mention...Woo Hoo!

The Santa Dragster illustration won Honorable Mention at SCBWI. (Society For Children's Book Authors and Illustrators)

The monthly contest is available to members and non-members.

Check it out at: http://scbwi.org/