I’m happy to announce that swampbrick.com’s envious younger brother has murdered him and seized the throne for himself. Long live PatBarrett.com! And speaking of succession, the first presidential debate just ended. It was tense, but civil, as only a discussion between senators can be. Also tonight, the Mets have shown some more signs of collapse. This is a good thing, because I won’t need to continue to be weighed down by the guilt of being invested in their race at least as much as I am by Barack in his.

In conclusion, whoa-ho-ho-hoooooo-ooohh. You didn’t think I’d post some practice pages did you?? Drawing hands! The question is always, how much comes from cartoons and cartooning, how much from graphic art like illuminated manuscripts, and how much from “life” – which I suppose means Renaissance ideals. No’m sayn?

What kind of sketchblog is this? Two posts in as many days?? With prices so low, I must be in-saaane!!!! Well, here’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Our future First Lady and current Best Lady, Michelle Robinson Obama!!

I’m so sorry I don’t have more to say today, and can’t fill up your time with any thoughts on the fall of a certain empire we seem to be living through. President actually seems to be the least desirable job I could think of at the moment. But hey, perhaps this is a Franklin Roosevelt moment? Yes, it could be. It truly could be. Let’s be honest, I have nothing to add to the conversation right now. This is what you have done to me. Satisfied?

Yes, it’s true. Every single illustrator/cartoonist/comic book artist/graphic novelist/blogger in New York draws people on the subway. I even hear they do it in Chicago, too.

These guys here are both Mets fans, so I guess we’re all kindred spirits. The one playing something on his PDA was on the 7 out to Shea Stadium, and the guy in the hat was on his way home from work ’round about midnight, just like me. How about that?

Here’s that follow-up I promised. These are marked as copyright of Field Publications, but it looks like they belong to the Dr. Seuss Collection at the University of California, San Diego. They’re from a collection my mom found at a used book store called Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel. It’s by Richard H Minear and was published by The New Press, New York, 1999.

Apparently the good doctor drew political cartoons from 1941 to ‘42 for PM, a liberal New York rag, before he joined the service making instructional and propaganda films. Seeing this many of his drawings back to back to back pointed out how clearly Seuss used the silhouette to improve legibility. It’s a classic trick of cartooning and animation, that an action is clearer if it can be judged by the shape of the figure against the background (this is also a trope of character design). So, rather than sipping a drink held in front, cartoon characters turn their heads sideways and gulp it from an uplifted hand. Anyhow, the dude gets it.

I’ve also been reading Popeye and Krazy Kat and Little Nemo comics lately, and I feel like I could stand to incorporate some of the frontal, theatrical nature of old comic strips into my own work. I tend to compose cinematically, with camera angles and a sense of space, but I’m really drawn to the clarity and elasticity when the characters are at the front of the frame, and the scenes are behind them. This is something that’s worked for book illustration since the illuminated manuscripts. But what do I know? Maybe my overly-rendered backgrounds are my thing. Maybe I’m more a product of the movie theater than the stage.

Okay! That’s enough art school blah blah blah for today. Here are those drawings I’m ripping off: