Ride ’em, salamander!

Okay, so here’s the basic conversation I had with myself during this doodle:

“Hmm…looks like I decided to draw a salamander head….”

“I think he needs a hat. A beanie? 

“Nah….how ’bout a jester’s hat?’

“Oooooh, no…wait…I got it…a cowboy hat!”

“Why would a salamander be wearing a cowboy hat?” 

“Well, DUH! Because he’s a rodeo salamander, of course!”

“Better draw him ridin’ something, then.”

“Like a porcupine?”

“Ouch! No, keep it basic…a horse or a bull.”

“Okay, but that bull better be a tiny one, I’m running out of room on the paper.”

“Sure thing. How’s that look?”

“Looks more like a heifer than a bull.”

“Everyone’s a critic. Okay, then, dang it…I’ll give it an udder…Ta-da! it’s a heifer. You happy?”

“I’m lapsing into a bliss-induced coma even as we speak.”

This concludes our tour through my thought processes. Please be sure and wipe your feet as you exit the building.

TOP DOG!

Curiouser and curiouser….

On a whim, I decided to check out my blog stats in regards to the search terms people used that led them to my site. The number one search term, used over FIVE HUNDRED times, was “cartoon dogs”.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I absolutely love dogs, and I think it is abundantly clear how I feel about cartoons, but I never would have guessed that would be such a popular search topic. And, just think, those more than five hundred visitors are probably just the tip of the ice berg. Who knows how many more surfers keyed in “cartoon dogs” but opted not to visit my particular contribution to the subject?

I think I may have stumbled onto a secret cartoon dog cult!

But seriously, if you are one of my readers who came to this post because you were searching for cartoon dogs, I’d love to hear from you. Was it more the cartoon aspect or the dog aspect you were looking for? Are you a big fan of all things cartoonified, or mainly dogs? How ’bout cats? Or are there, as in the non-cartoon world, “dog” people and “cat” people, and never the twain shall meet (without a bunch of snarling and hissing)?

Please help alleviate my curiosity.

Oh no! There goes Tokyo…go go Godzilla!

By now, many of you know of my son Ethan’s love and fascination for all things Godzilla-ish. I, being the loving father (and half-crazed cartoon fan) that I am, felt it was my duty to produce a short loop in homage to the “King of the Monsters”.

Hope y’all enjoy it.

The Hirsute of Happiness

He could be experiencing cardiac arrest. He could be suffering from severe indigestion. He could be in the throes of a major panic attack.

Then again, he might just be trying to show what a manly man he is by grabbing big honkin’ handfuls of chest hair through his sweatshirt and yanking at ’em like there’s no tomorrow!

I couldn’t do that, though, and I know this from experience. All it took was one little through-the-shirt tug from my two-year-old daughter as she tried to scale “Daddy Mountain” to make my eyeballs shoot out of their sockets like bloodshot tether balls and leave me in a quivering, fetal-position heap for about five minutes.

What can I say….I’m a wimp.

If you weren’t what you are, what would you be?

If you could choose any occupation for yourself, regardless of whether or not it would pay the bills….or if you even have a talent for it….what would it be? Maybe you’re a nurse who has secretly always wanted to be a stand-up comic. Or a garbage man who has persistent fantasies of owning a car dealership. Or vice versa.

I am currently an art director/illustrator, so my “fantasy job” isn’t that far removed from my real job. I would be a comic book illustrator.

My only fear is that I would probably offend the devotees of whatever comic book character I got to work on. You see, I have a hard time taking seriously anybody-male or female, real or fictional-who wears tights or ludicrously skimpy clothing. You know the old bit of advice they give people with stage fright? The one about imagining your audience naked so you won’t feel intimidated? Well, not me pal. For me, it’s tights. Tights and capes. And maybe a few ill-advised thongs thrown into the mix, just to really amp up the ridiculous factor.

But anyway, I digress…back to my original question: What would you be? I’d love to hear from you. Tell me what you currently do for a living, and what you wish you could do for a living.

And the next time someone intimidates you, don’t forget to break out the imaginary capes and thongs.