Microsoft Word is not a design program. It's a word processing program. That's why it's called Word.
If it were a design program, it would probably be called Design...or, I dunno, InDesign. Maybe even Quark.
But yeah, Word is not a design program. So don't ask people to design in it.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
I make art
So every year, the Maryland Wine Festival hosts its annual Wine Festival Poster contest. I was planning on entering this year, and I spent the past weekend coming up with a design, but then I realized how cracked-out it was and decided not to submit it.
Obviously it's not finished, but...yeah. It's a corkscrew man. And he's all psyched 'cause he just opened a bottle of wine from the wine festival, and now he's about to par-tay. And in the background are Maryland's flower, the black-eyed susan.
I don't think the Maryland Wine Festival would ever go for something like that. I could be nice and say it doesn't fit the tone of the event, or I could be honest and say they always pick work that looks like it was created by Grandma Moses because anything else would rock their fuddy-duddy socks off. 'Specially a corkscrew man.
Oh, btw, the deadline's this Friday if you wanna enter something that sucks. You might win $1,000!
Obviously it's not finished, but...yeah. It's a corkscrew man. And he's all psyched 'cause he just opened a bottle of wine from the wine festival, and now he's about to par-tay. And in the background are Maryland's flower, the black-eyed susan.
I don't think the Maryland Wine Festival would ever go for something like that. I could be nice and say it doesn't fit the tone of the event, or I could be honest and say they always pick work that looks like it was created by Grandma Moses because anything else would rock their fuddy-duddy socks off. 'Specially a corkscrew man.
Oh, btw, the deadline's this Friday if you wanna enter something that sucks. You might win $1,000!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Everyone's going bananas over this ape thing!
Well, this is a blog about cartooning and my opinions and sometimes politics, so I guess I would be remiss if I didn't say something about the NY Post monkey cartoon.
If you haven't had the misfortune of seeing it, here it is:
A lot of people are pissed off about this cartoon, because they feel like it's racist. I can definitely see how it can be intepreted it that way, but I seriously doubt that was the cartoonist's intention. (Granted, Delonas doesn't have the greatest track record.)
That's not to say the cartoonist should get off the hook. I understand that when you're working under a tight deadline, you might not have the time to sit and consider every possible way a cartoon can be interpreted, and since you're dealing with images and not words, things can very easily be misunderstood. But for something like this, when it's very obvious that people (not to be confused with politicians, haha) are hurt and offended by what you've done, it's not good enough to sit there and say "Well, you're stupid because you don't understand my cartoon and I'm not a racist and that's not what I meant and blah, blah, blah." You need to apologize. And you need to be sincere about it.
I don't agree that Delonas should get fired, but that's mostly because I doubt that the Post would hire a new cartoonist to take his place. I think this is a great example of how powerful and important cartoons can be. It saddens me that someone who is fortunate enough to have a staff editorial cartoonist position would be so careless with his work, but like I said, mistakes happen. I'm also bothered by the fact that whenever a cartoonist or a cartoon gets in the news, it's because of something negative. And never that edgy, thought-provoking negative that cartoonists strive for.
It annoyed me so much when the Obama New Yorker cover got so much attention.
Since when is the New Yorker the go-to place for political cartoons? Satire just isn't their thing. So many people called it failed-satire, but I think it just wasn't the right venue for that kind of commentary. Had that been the cover of MAD Magazine, it would be a totally different story. I don't think the cartoon itself was bad, I just think it was a weird choice for a New Yorker cover.
The NY Post monkey cartoon IS failed satire. I get the concept, it wasn't particularly clever or funny, so just apologize for doing a stupid cartoon.
That being said, I wish people would write to their papers and praise good cartoons. Maybe instead of coming off as a liability, cartoons could once again be seen as an asset. Imagine that!
If you haven't had the misfortune of seeing it, here it is:
A lot of people are pissed off about this cartoon, because they feel like it's racist. I can definitely see how it can be intepreted it that way, but I seriously doubt that was the cartoonist's intention. (Granted, Delonas doesn't have the greatest track record.)
That's not to say the cartoonist should get off the hook. I understand that when you're working under a tight deadline, you might not have the time to sit and consider every possible way a cartoon can be interpreted, and since you're dealing with images and not words, things can very easily be misunderstood. But for something like this, when it's very obvious that people (not to be confused with politicians, haha) are hurt and offended by what you've done, it's not good enough to sit there and say "Well, you're stupid because you don't understand my cartoon and I'm not a racist and that's not what I meant and blah, blah, blah." You need to apologize. And you need to be sincere about it.
I don't agree that Delonas should get fired, but that's mostly because I doubt that the Post would hire a new cartoonist to take his place. I think this is a great example of how powerful and important cartoons can be. It saddens me that someone who is fortunate enough to have a staff editorial cartoonist position would be so careless with his work, but like I said, mistakes happen. I'm also bothered by the fact that whenever a cartoonist or a cartoon gets in the news, it's because of something negative. And never that edgy, thought-provoking negative that cartoonists strive for.
It annoyed me so much when the Obama New Yorker cover got so much attention.
Since when is the New Yorker the go-to place for political cartoons? Satire just isn't their thing. So many people called it failed-satire, but I think it just wasn't the right venue for that kind of commentary. Had that been the cover of MAD Magazine, it would be a totally different story. I don't think the cartoon itself was bad, I just think it was a weird choice for a New Yorker cover.
The NY Post monkey cartoon IS failed satire. I get the concept, it wasn't particularly clever or funny, so just apologize for doing a stupid cartoon.
That being said, I wish people would write to their papers and praise good cartoons. Maybe instead of coming off as a liability, cartoons could once again be seen as an asset. Imagine that!
I'm a bad blogger, I'm a bad cartoonist, I'm a bad employee, I'm a bad human being!!
So I haven't been very good with the blogging lately. I'm sorry about that. I've had a lot on my mind lately and I've been pretty stressed out, so blogging seems to have fallen to the wayside.
Anyway, rather than bore you with the details of my pathetic life, I thought I'd share this wonderful cartoon by Keith Knight:
http://www.salon.com/comics/knig/2009/02/25/knig/
Isn't that great? It really puts things into perspective. Except I don't have a baby. I have a cat though...but it's not so cute when she bites my nose. Her teeth are sharp!
Anyway, rather than bore you with the details of my pathetic life, I thought I'd share this wonderful cartoon by Keith Knight:
http://www.salon.com/comics/knig/2009/02/25/knig/
Isn't that great? It really puts things into perspective. Except I don't have a baby. I have a cat though...but it's not so cute when she bites my nose. Her teeth are sharp!
Monday, February 23, 2009
2nd mailing sent, and I don't know what to do!
Last week I sent out my second mailing for Berd. I'm not going to keep making posts like this, because I promised myself that I would send Berd
to five papers each week for the next year. So either you'll get tired
of hearing about every single mailing I send, or I'll run out of
papers to send stuff to.
I feel like I'm encountering problems already. I'm not
sure if I should call the papers and follow up to make sure they
received my packet, or if I should just accept their silence as a "no."
I probably picked the worst time in the history of printed media to
start sending out cartoons, so I feel like it would just be obnoxious
to call. On the other hand, maybe I could at least get some good
feedback.
Maybe I'll call one or two and see how it goes. Or not. I don't want to be a pain.
Sorry, I haven't blogged in awhile so this particular entry sucks. I'm just
kind of thinking out loud. If you have any thoughts or input, it's
appreciated. But yeah, I just don't know what to do after I send out a
mailing?
Anyone got any ideas?
to five papers each week for the next year. So either you'll get tired
of hearing about every single mailing I send, or I'll run out of
papers to send stuff to.
I feel like I'm encountering problems already. I'm not
sure if I should call the papers and follow up to make sure they
received my packet, or if I should just accept their silence as a "no."
I probably picked the worst time in the history of printed media to
start sending out cartoons, so I feel like it would just be obnoxious
to call. On the other hand, maybe I could at least get some good
feedback.
Maybe I'll call one or two and see how it goes. Or not. I don't want to be a pain.
Sorry, I haven't blogged in awhile so this particular entry sucks. I'm just
kind of thinking out loud. If you have any thoughts or input, it's
appreciated. But yeah, I just don't know what to do after I send out a
mailing?
Anyone got any ideas?
Monday, February 16, 2009
My friends are a talented bunch.
My friends are so talented. Particularly Henrique Couto. He's funny, he's smart, he makes his own movies that are really good, he hosts his own podcast and he even started his own band:
But my favorite talent of his is his ability to cope with a crazy amount of pain:
How crazy is that?!
I told Henrique he needs to move out to California, sit around on some street corner and just wait to be discovered. You just wait. Give him five years and he'll be a household name. You heard it here first, folks!
But my favorite talent of his is his ability to cope with a crazy amount of pain:
How crazy is that?!
I told Henrique he needs to move out to California, sit around on some street corner and just wait to be discovered. You just wait. Give him five years and he'll be a household name. You heard it here first, folks!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
1st mailing
Last week I sent out my first-ever mailing for Berd. I hope it goes well. After I sent it out, I realized there was a lot I should have said about myself and about the comic that I left out.
Also, I don't have any information on my website aside from a link to this blog, so I'll need to start working on that.
If you came to this blog after receiving a mailing for Berd, thank you for taking the time to check out my work and learn more about me. I've been working as an editorial cartoonist at two Maryland papers, The Aegis and The Record, for the past three years. I am a member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. Last year I won awards for cartooning and illustration from the MDDC Press Association.
I've worked on other cartooning projects during that time as well, but Berd is really the first one I've liked enough to send out to papers. In the summer of 2008, Berd came in 2nd place in the City Paper comics contest. I think it's a pretty versatile strip, and it's got a lot of potential for an alt weekly. Obviously it's a new strip, but I promise that if you give Berd a chance, you won't be disappointed.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you think you'd like to run the strip. I really appreciate any feedback, so if you've got a suggestion for me, don't be shy! Just give me a call or shoot me an email.
Thanks again for checking out the strip!
Also, I don't have any information on my website aside from a link to this blog, so I'll need to start working on that.
If you came to this blog after receiving a mailing for Berd, thank you for taking the time to check out my work and learn more about me. I've been working as an editorial cartoonist at two Maryland papers, The Aegis and The Record, for the past three years. I am a member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. Last year I won awards for cartooning and illustration from the MDDC Press Association.
I've worked on other cartooning projects during that time as well, but Berd is really the first one I've liked enough to send out to papers. In the summer of 2008, Berd came in 2nd place in the City Paper comics contest. I think it's a pretty versatile strip, and it's got a lot of potential for an alt weekly. Obviously it's a new strip, but I promise that if you give Berd a chance, you won't be disappointed.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you think you'd like to run the strip. I really appreciate any feedback, so if you've got a suggestion for me, don't be shy! Just give me a call or shoot me an email.
Thanks again for checking out the strip!
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