ANATOMY OF A FREELANCE JOB COMIX(based on a true story)

Been doing a LOT of in house freelance jobs lately, and after one particualrly "killer job" I decided to make a comic about it, as best i remember it

First thing I recieved was the deposit check and samples. The client overnighted it as promised, and I was confident they had followed my instructions to the letter. This was a massive twenty person caricature for a company poster and I emphasized that I needed good samples. To my horrow when i got into the studio i found these teeney weeney almost postage stamp sized pictures that were blurry and washed out looking. I thought my eyes were gonna roll outta my sockets to make them out. My Client had also given me a killer deadline. I called my client in desperation pleading for better pics, and also an extension if I was doomed to work with these. their answer was concise and immediate. I immediately got myself a pot of coffee on and went into automatic pilot, sketching erasing redrawing, ripping pages up, throwing them all over the studio..... Finally in the wee hours of the morning I managed to scan everything, photoshop held together and I scanned everything over.

The client loved them.

Life imitates art and life HURTS

I recently fell down two flights of stairs in my house while wearing my slippers, and since they CAUSED the fall, now I TRUELY know why thy're called "SLIPPERS!" LOL! Im bravely laughing through my pain here, and as I was home healing I came up with a bunch of comic strips featring me and my constant companion, my dog Butchie here. Enjoy. I may feature some more of these from time to time....

PUPPY POOP PIMP comic 1

Hope you folks are enjoying the comics. I'm still healing from my "humpty dumpty" fall down my stairs, and as a result havent gotten the chance to ride the trains and clown commuters. My pit bull Butchie, STILL needs to be walked, however, and since I'm cursed with this creative, capitalistic mind, I couldnt help but think of a way that i could some how turn a profit with my dog..... As i was picking up his poop, this idea came to me, and i ran to my drawing board..... stay tuned for continuing comics in this PUPPY POOP PIMP series....

2

2nd installment in the series. I once read that if you're going to make your own comics, it's best to write/draw first about the things that you know. My dog, Butchie, is ten years old, and like most "senior citizens" his stomache is kinda delicate. Every week I have to boil chicken, sweet potatoes, and rice, mix it in a giant bowl, and bag meal portions for the week. If I dont do this and feed him regular dog food instead, he WILL throw up all over the floor , and have the runs for days. He really DOES love chicken gravey too. Stay tuned for the next cartoon.

3

For those of you who are wondering, dont worrry, Im coming to a climax to this story and i'll be right back doing the caricatures you all know and love. As always, there's an element of reality in these strips, not that I work part time as a pimp, but I've been a fan of 1870's media, growing up watching Superfly, "Goldie" Huggy Bear,from Starsky and Hutch, and Rooster from Baretta. Loved the outlandish costmes the players wore, and for you youngin's out there, YES, they really DID dress like this! LOL!
My Dog, actually DOES lay down with his feet in this strange position. At first I thought he had broken his legs, but soon realized that he just had crazy flexability and liked laying donw like this from time to time. He also likes to sleep on his rug in the living room with his bowl right next to him.

4

I've got this squirrel who lives in the tree infront of my house, owns property in the back of the house, and also has carved out a space for himself and his FAMILY on the roof of my house! The squirrel "came with " the house, so i guess he feels he has "squatters rights" or something like that. I imagined if the little pest could talk, he'd probably would be an attorney. He'd probably try to stick it to me also, since he cant get into my garbage can like he can my neighbors.
The story is about to reach it's end. Stay tuned.

5

copyright infringement and creator's rights is something I, and every other artist takes very seriously. Although so called creative people may SEEM like they make great works of art easily, it really DOES take hard work. Even these few panels for this cartoon series took a couple of months of planning out and mulling over in my head. Artists deserve to be compensated for their work, even if it seems to be "crap" or "poop". You shouldnt be profiting from my poop without my consent. Lifting and profiting off of another artists' work is something that happens on the internet all the time, unfortunately. All you do is copy and paste, and it's "yours" I recall one friend who was furious when he saw HIS cartoon silk screened on a strangers' tee shirt while shopping in the supermarket! If that wasnt bad enough, the guilty party even erased HIS name, and wrote in his own! That artist,cartoonist, Oliver Gaspritz, was an editor I worked with at The Canarsie Courier Newspaper Years ago. Tom Richmond, on his blogsite, has some excellent idiot proof articles on this, that are worth reading about.

6

There comes a point in every negotiation involving males where words can no longer adequately carry the message you want to express.... nothin like a little primal physical persuasion to ensure that everyone's on the same page. In the old days a man would even respect you more if you knocked him "upside his head" especially if he knew he had it comin..
It's been my experience also, that so called "Alpha Males" have a tendency to take so called"brainiac guys" for granted, thinking they cant possibly "ring your bell" if the situation arises.
As for the punch in the eye, it's always been a fight ender for me.....

Butchie and Me Comic series two "Your Secret is safe with me"

Original Character Design for "BUTCHIE DA MUTT"

My original character design for Butchie. I wanted to have a character that was easy to animate, easy to draw, and easy to reproduce if this ever took off. I was very pleased with the design

Butchie and Me Comic series one

You cant miss doing a cartoon with a dog in it. I created this series initially as a mode of theraphy for myself when I was homebound with a severe back injury. I did a series of "Butchie and me" comix starring me and my pit bull, Butchie. I had made a "Butchie ProtoType" years earlier, but never got around to doing anything with it, until I got laid up.

MORE Character Designs for Rocketshark Ringtones.

here are just a few of the over fifty characters I created for Rocketshark in the course of the year I worked for them. These guys gave me total creative freedom, and were a joy to work for. They had the most outrageous names for their characters and even did the voiceovers themselves. I wish them all the best in whatever they do and would be glad to work with them again.

Character Desgin for Cflashwood Ringtones AKA Rocketshark Ringtones

While drawing and engaging a group of artists inside Barnes and Noble in Union Square, I caught the attention of the CEO's of Rocketshark Ringtones. They were so impressed with my verbal presentation and the subway drawings in my sketchbook, that they hired me on the spot to do a year long series of character designs for their company, Rocketshark Ringtones. One of their main characters, CFlashwood, was a Clint Eastwood-esque Phone who had numerous ringtones in his cloak, and who could literally blow away the competition. I really had a blast creating characters for thiese guys, the majority of them were lifted directly from my sketchbook itself, and modified to fit their needs.

American Tract Society Comic "Get With the Program"

This comic holds a very special place in my heart because it was my very first freelance job. A California Pastor had written the text for a tract that he wanted to use that would speak to the youth in his community. At the time, The American Tract Society was looking for an African American artist whose artistic style would add just the right amount of flavor. It seeems that God had me submit some samples to ATS at just that moment. I was thrilled since I'd been a fan of the comic art of Chick Publications for years and wanted to do something similar. I look back on the job now and smile. I used crayola markers and typing paper to do my layouts for this, and was paid a pretty decent price for a first time freelancer. It was a great encouragement.