Hi guys. If you have an iPad or know somebody that does, might I suggest you download the free app called Emanata? It features comics by independent cartoonists like me, and now, including me. You can read a collection of Grown Up Babies on there, and soon the Oak & Linden Compendium featuring shorts by me from O&L and other anthologies. For free! Check it out.

Speaking of free comics by me that you can read, Farmy Acres is back. Meanwhile I’ve been quite busy freelancing in comics and related fields, which has been gratifying and stressifying and fun. More on that as it comes time to post about it. I’m champing at the bit to finish a new imp comic, and also to throw myself back into some longer stories, but first I gotta do the work and make the money.

I’ve also been a-tumblin like crazy. Here’s some of my favorite sketchbook doodles from the past couple of months:

I’ve been really refraining from making any of those typical “Sorry I haven’t updated” posts–and believe me, it’s been a struggle–but Jeezum if I haven’t had a hard time getting back into the swing of blawging after my thesis hiatus. But the worst part about those apologies is that they assume there’s some vast audience just clamoring for new content from some unknown artist, and then feeling disappointed every day when there isn’t.

Anyhow, lately I’m catching up on projects I’ve wanted to get to since back in May, but you’ll see them when they’re ready. Meantime, did you know that a little-big con happened not long ago? Called SPX? Did you know that sweetheart Rob Clough said I was an artist to seek out there? Gahd, what a doll he is. He’s also reviewed my latest comics.

Well in other news, I’ve scanned a buncha doodles from the past year, but I’m not sure how I’ll present em to yizzall (here’s one for now –> ). Still got another big stack more to scan, so really, at least I shouldn’t be lacking in visuals on here for a while. Trynna get back in that weekly swing of things.

Also trynna remember how to get things done without a deadline…to be honest, trynna learn it. My secret thus far has always been to actually impose deadlines, for posting things online or bringing things to a convention, or what-have-you. Or to go to school. Maybe I’ll start promising comics to you, dear The Internet. Howzzat? After all, I really haven’t kept you up-to-date with what I’ve drawn over the last year. Why did this just occur to me now??

Yup, this is the first new Frog Blog post. We did it! We did it together. Since the last time I made a post, there was this big party for some dude who won a race or something? Also Caitlin and I got a cat. She’s stoned out of her mind on catnip and rolling around on the ground right now. Her name is Sheba, and she was Dan’s grandmother’s before she was ours. She’s marmalade, sorta fat with a kinda stubby tail, very conversational and all-around cute. Before we got her, I drew this cat:

Okay, now here are some composite sketchbook doodles from the last month or so. Can you see a theme here?

I probably should have mentioned this a while ago, but I’m putting the Sketchblog on hiatus until I finish moving it to its new home at PatBarrett.com, where it will become the Frog Blog. Very exciting. I’ll be back probably about a week after the election, when I’ll post the new blogdress. Aight?

How’s about a doodle to tide you over until then? It might not look particularly like him, but here’s Putin rearing his head in the Alaskan airspace:

When blogs are just a bunch of posts apologizing to imagined readers for not posting frequently enough. So I’m not gonna do it. I swear. ‘Cause I was sick, okay!?

This might not be the most inspiring sketchbook page ever…Anyhow, it’s from the summer. I really haven’t done much doodling lately. I’ve done some big work, but more quick illustration work than fulfilling-as-an-artist work. Feeling a little out of the groove, but also working out some more compelling story stuff for a comic I’m slow and not-steadily making.

Now I have another blog to not update frequently enough. It’s a shared one. With my roommate, Todd. Not too different from this one, in that it’s silly drawings done with red, green, blue, and black ink. It’s the dry erase board from our hallway! It will feature a new dry erase drawing every week.

Here’s an older one. October?

I’m sick of spelling. I’m sure everybody else in the world is too. Why not make phonics actually work, especially if that’s how we’re going to teach people to read and to write? Wouldn’t it make sense to condense our language a bit? (Wudn’t it maak sens too kondens aur laqwij a bit?)

Nobody needs Q as it is. But, Q looks similar to G, so it can be NG.
X is also useless, but since it’s like a crooked T, it can stand in for TH.
No need for Z either, so turn that backwards S into SH!
C can be replaced by K or S where it makes those sounds, but we need it for CH, so it will do that on its own.
G will always be hard G, J will always be soft J.

Now, I admit the vowels are much harder. This is probably the most imperfect part of my New Spelling, and I admit it could use some work. But I’m trying to avoid accents and letter combinations, and to use only the letters we already have. Then again, the vowels as they stand are pretty freakin’ imperfect.

A alone is hard like cat
AA is long like ate
E is like ebb
EE is like pee
I is like imp
II is like eye
O is like pot (and like walk)
OO is like oar
U is like up (and like what, and at least for now, also like bird)
UU is like poo
Y is a consonant!

Ookaa, yuu kan luk foor moor uv xis in xu fyuucur. Heer’s a kupl droweeqs, boox storted wix xu litl droweeqs of karakturs II’m wurkeeq on and xen II druu giis on xu traan:

It’s about time there were some sketches on this sketchblog. These are both recent drawings. The first is a subway sketch. I usually draw old men, or at least weird-looking men so that people don’t think I’m a perv. I suppose I could have a Weird Old Man perversion…

The second one came from reading Ivan Brunetti’s little lesson plan pamphlet in the most recent Comic Art. He was talking about how, when you draw somebody else’s character fast and without reference, the character maintains her defining characteristics and gains a certain charm. Actually, I drew that blissed-out naked guy first, then Charlie Brown, then Snoopy, and then the fart bubbles and thought bubbles. Man, two posts with Charlie Brown involved, and I’m not even a fan — blah blah blah, some visual blog this is!