The Four Seasons of the Born Loser

Maybe you have felt like this sometimes. I know that I have. No matter the time of the year, bad luck can get in my grill, and then I feel like the lowest of the low. Do we make our own luck? Is there no such thing as bad or good luck? Is fate really this thing that operates in a bubble that is invulnerable to our will? Am I asking too many questions? Well, back to the tangible world. This piece is ink with watercolor and it shows up kind of funky when photocopied. The last panel (Winter) was actually the first one done, and probably should have been placed in the upper right hand corner, so the piece would read chronologically (that thought just occurred to me). An alternate title was "Gravity: Master of Reality." Ouch!

Cat Nightmare

Another title for this might be Death Cab for Kittie.  Or another title might be The Mouse that Roared. In any event, this piece might have been too nightmarish to publish in Cat Fancy,  or I am like one of those people that try out for American Idol that has absolutely no talent whatsoever, but truly believes that they can carry a tune that millions of people would love. What if that is true and no one cared enough to straighten me out? Here I am wasting my time publishing these cartoons that editors across America have weighed in on as not worth it. Can't I take a hint? Apparently not.

Man in the Mountain

Here is a four-panel cartoon that was fun. It was drawn way before this cliff on Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire collapsed. I remember that the state was considering rebuilding the Profile, but I don't remember if they went through with it.  Even though it is an icon of New Hampshire, it seems odd to rebuild something that nature created in the first place. The Profile appears on the New Hampshire quarter.  Oh well, nothing lasts forever and all things must pass, and I have run out of cliches. What a shame. This particular cartoon had the honor of being rejected by Yankee Magazine. 

Disposable Income

Of course, this one was done during better economic times. But it never made my economic times any better because it never sold. It is one those ideas that spring from terminology. Why would anybody dispose their income? These types of inane observations are the bread and butter of cartoonists. It is probably a contributing factor of why cartoonists are battered around by society at times. Or perhaps it is why certain cartoons are not bought by publications. Or maybe it is only why this particular cartoon was not bought by a publication. Or maybe I should just end this pointless drivel right here.

Snow Goose

I am not sure why this goose appears to headed down a waterfall. The drawing was straight when I scanned it. But, I actually like this slanted bird. It seems oblivious to its fate. It is another old drawing, and it is probably from a professional photographer's collection appearing in some book. Is it illegal to draw from a photo which you did not actually take? Anyway, I think I intended this drawing to appear in a series of notecards that was sold at our now-defunct contemporary crafts gallery. Way back in the early 1980s, I had the patience (and time) to sit and draw involved pieces like this. I can't imagine myself drawing something like this now. That is unfortunate, because I remember enjoying such detail, but I think that I might just go bonkers if I tried this now. Maybe I should try it, just to see what would happen. I used to do pointillistic pieces also, which is now hard to imagine, but some of them might pop up in this blog. Those pieces have a different feel than this one which incorporates several techniques instead of one.

Men at Lunch

Here is a multi-panel cartoon with no gag line. I like this one, but magazines where I sent this one for publication, did not. And so it goes. It probably could have been done better, and if anybody has a suggestion....keep it to yourself! I can't go around changing every little thing just because the world is full of critics who all believe they can do it better! Just kidding. I actually only sent this around to 2 magazines. I am also lazy, forgot to mention that...

Puppet and the Puppeteer

This one definately started as a little doodle with nothing at all in mind. This one has not sold, but I never was sure where to send it. I like it and I don't like it. It might be a bit too simple. The implications are interesting, but it just kind of sits there. I guess it is good for a small "ha." But that just about is all I get from it these days. It was rejected by the Alabama Literary Review back in 1992. I have no idea why I sent it to the Alabama Literary Review.

Atomic Age

This one falls under the

category of illustration or maybe political cartoon. It is different than what I usually draw or drew. This one dates back to 1985 and actually sold twice! The original sale was to Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, and then the reprint sold to Artist's Market 1986. It started as a kind of doodle and then morphed into the final piece. So, it wasn't created to fit a publication, but I found a publication where it would fit. That is the story for the very few pieces I have sold - they are stuff just out of my imagination and then finding a place to sell it. Whenever, I try to create a piece purposely to fit a publication, it never works out. I forget this lesson time and time again. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.

He's a strange duck.

OK, I know it's not a cartoon. It's a merganser, which in some people's opinions, is a cartoon of a duck. I guess for all of you folks who prefer technical labels, this is more of an illustration. Yes, it does not have a joke attached to it. I mean it's a strange duck, so it has a cartoon quality, but like many cartoons in this blog, it did not sell, so it is brethren of the typical Ken cartoon.

Extreme Chess

I am finding that, over time, these cartoons tend to pile up. I guess I could have thrown them away and been more discerning about the ones I keep. In a sense, I guess I am doing that to some extent because I am not including all that I have in this blog. Unfortunately, I am somewhat of a pack rat. However, some of them I just don't like anymore. I object to them based on the art, or the theme, or both, or my perspective has changed over time. Some might claim that the whole kit-and-kaboodle should be scrapped, and I should start all over again. That thought occurred to me, and I know that 99% of these drawings have no future whatsoever, but here they are nonetheless. It's that pack rat in me coming out. I guess I relate to the drawings differently than anyone else because, even though most of these cartoons are very old, I can remember some details of drawing them. Many times, for me, the process of drawing was more meaningful than the actual product. Many of you may be saying, "I sure hope the process was meaningful, because the product is junk!" In any event, this particular cartoon was targeted at publication in the "Bulletin of Atomic Scientists," because they had once purchased another cartoon, which may appear sometime in this blog. Rarely has such a targeted idea paid off for me. I should try to include some newer drawings here, and I will, but a pack rat is forever doomed to be backlogged.