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This is an old screen cap from Facebook, I submitted a Zippy the pinhead portrait to Bill Griffith one of my all time favorite comic artists. I don’t have any triumphs into the world of daily comics, or any hope of getting there anytime soon. So this was a big deal to me to have someone who I admire and respect take the time to glance at something I had done. My work a day world as a graphic designer/ illustrator leaves me pretty anonymous and unkonwn, it pays the rent but I am getting too old to “make a splash”. So I takes what I can gets … and move on …
Bill Griffith is a lasting highly influential artist in this persons lifetime. First he has outlasted many famous comics people. He was a contemporary of R Crumb and other hippie artists of his time, but his comic strip penetrated into the main stream comics page in many newspapers. Thus creating a living for someone in this fickle art world. I am sure he is not rich, judging by his lack of a mansion and movie royalties. But he is rich in content. When I think of people like Danial Clowes who had two of his comics made into movies, then you don’t hear from the guy, I think he must have made enough money to not care anymore. Where as Mr. Griffith is churning out strip after strip. I have purchased some of the Zippy books and collections, I say some because even if I have 10 there are many more than that to be had. Each one is packed full of cultural references long before the likes of Family Guy made it main stream. You can pick up on many influences that stem from the mouth of Zippy, that are taken and brought into the main stream “non reading” public as fresh ideas. All the way back to the 70′s or 80′s Garfield popularized the Zippy phrase “are we having fun yet?”. Garfield has never said anything as witty before or since. I think there was a law suit or litigation
My comic Timmy Bean Brain is a rip off of Zippy the pinhead, A main simpleton character, who holds wisdom, and other antagonist character who try to apply logic to societies ills. It is a great formula. as I don’t really care about other comic formats. You have your everyone hates me format, popularized by “Charley Brown” “Dilbert” even John in “Garfield”. Your my family is making me crazy format with “Blondie” “Family Circus” and the other current one I can’t remember… oh yea “Baby Blues” “for Better or Worse” there are many of them …
So stealing a format or theme is not really news but how you work it is where you can be original. Zippy is an original format the has not been ripped off. So that is where I come in. Eventually Bill Griffith will retire, and unless he has a son his comic will fade into the past of topical comics like “Mutt and Jeff” and all those other comics that made sense at the time but no longer are decipherable to people of this age. Those comics killed back then. but now people are like wtf?
Like this:
Here are some illustrations I did for a Fred Richards article in AdWeek. I worked from Fred’s sketches and some of my own, then illustrated them in the IB style in adobe illustrator .. no photoshop!…. It’s cool that this is my job … I sketch all the time, just moving pens around paper at various times … I used to get in trouble for drawing during class instead of my work … terrible grades …
which makes me wonder … I was watching a show about moguls of hollywood on TCM last night. The leaders of those major studios were not highly educated, 6th grade education for one, drop outs for others, there are still many things you can’t learn from a book, or professor. Its a dog eat dog world. To be pack leader you have to assert your dominance. I was never one to do that. I think I may be smarter than you average bear, but I lack the constant vigilance to be a pack leader. The fortitude to dig in and bite the neck of the rest of the pack every hour and every minute of every day … the people I know who are successful at it have that drive … or an obsession with power. Even in school men align themselves to a pecking order, you can challenge it but there is always a newer younger dog being born waiting for his chance to take you out … that is the shit part about getting old, after a while you are just like fuck it, you want to do it? go for it… then you are put out to pasture with the other old bulls … eating grass and dreaming of the glory days. Some dogs never get the chance to be pack leader, they always wish they could.. That is why men engage in family making, because among your family, you are usually the biggest, even if you can’t dominate your world, you can dominate a baby. For a while you get to teach them and say I am smarter than you baby! But eventually they grow up and become a smarter younger version of you. and once again you are battling for dominance.
Some people don’t get that at home so they bring it to work, others get it at home and leave work to someone else, then still others never get it and become bitter and old then die of heart attacks. This in a nut shell is the essence of being a man. So women be thankful, you are cherished either way …
my link yesterday didn’t work out like I planned
the thumbnail doesn’t work
so when you click on the small version it doesn’t go to a large version
not sure where it went wrong
that is the problem with new software. it never works like the old soft ware…
instead of tweaking the interface and improving proformance, they usually ad new features, that may or may not work. and usually work slower. I do the same exact work I did ten years ago, on a machine that is four times faster, but it is just as slow as the old way, because the software is bloated. they need to make this stuff simpler and less complex, but stable.
a nintendo cartridge never freezes… why can’t a computer work like that?
maybe make two versions, a stable simple version, and a complicated fucked up version with a bunch of useless features like adding flash to illustrator, I am sure some people use that, but I don’t ever, so why do I need it?
anyway my first graphics computer was a mac II si with an 80 mb hard drive and 5 mb of ram
I am home on saturday night, I am too old to hang around in bars, and was never much of a drinker anyway. I usually get drunk and stupid, or stay sober and am bored. so I am listening to old new wave records and recording them to my h2 digital recorder. I am recording this waterboys album right now to mp3′s. I have had this album for 20 years or so. it was bought for $1.99 at everybodys records here in town. back then you could buy whole ablums for 1.99 now you can’t get three songs for that. it is bullshit. people don’t feel that is right so most people steal them from various sources. music is not that cool. The Waterboys are typical 80′s new wave band, from the flanger on the guitars to the extended sax parts, and the white guy vocalization. it really takes me back to high school. when things were way too easy. but at the same time they seemed hard at the time. you can never go back. it is amazing how often I think about that shit when I am out of things to do. and when I am out of things to do I write this blog for no particular reason. I guess it gives me an outlet for all the random thoughts that constantly flood my brain. Sometimes I try to use my brain to do useful things, but that can be stressful, so I focus on hobbies. anyway this h2 recorder is awsome. I just plug my numark pt-01 into the side of the recorder with a rca to 1/8″ plug cord and hit record.
Bulletin: I am looking for this album by Aztec Camera, they did a cover of van halens Jump but it was all slow and smarmy. it was very funny and sarcastic at the time. not like the rap crap people listen to today, with all the sex and vulgarity. Hey you damn kids!! get offa my lawn!!! ohh sorry about that….
