I’ve got some doodles from the last semester up at the CCS Visiting Faculty blog! Also representing are my buddies Melissa Mendes and David Yoder. What a semester jam-packed with Livin Legendz!! Here’s a lidl preview–some drawings of Kim Deitch that I didn’t submit to the blog. Instead I horded them to share with you, my Dear Sweet Pals.

And his hands. He has the longest, cartooniest, expressive-est figners I’ve ever seen. Special bonus: they’re actually square at the end! Like a Kirby hand!!

To see my crowning Deitchievement, check out that Visiting Faculty, aight? And by the way, I keep forgetting to mention that Oak & Linden issue # 2 is now available at the shoppe. Keep your inner consciousness alert for #3, dropping in the fall.

Yesterday I biked to the Quechee Gorge to make some reference sketches and photos. One thing about biking anywhere from White River Jct is it’s all uphill from here. At least that means the ride home all just coasting under trees. There’s one other thing to know about the area. A sign for a bike route can be distracting, luring a young cartoonist away from his quarry (which in this case was a gorge) and down through twisting condominium lanes, golf courses, and farm roads. Take a look at the ridiculous course I took. Anyhow, all told I biked about twenty-five miles. And it felt great! Except for my grundle. And I came along in figuring out the act of cartooning rocks and rapids (without just ripping off Bill Watterson, Jeff Smith or Looney Tunes {all of which will probs also happen [brackets]}).

The upshot:

This is what happens to a bedroom/studio when a person gets home from MoCCA on Monday, talks to Douglas Wolk; does laundry and hobnobs at the bar on Tuesday; goes out on his bike all of Wednesday, and comes home to find his clothes still damp.

The outcome:

I’ve broken my covenant with the Internet! A whole week without a post! I’m into regimens and routines right now. At least one blog every week, doing ’shups even after my going clazy day. Also yesterday I got Wii Fit and the talking balance board told me to set goals for myself, with specific deadlines, so I can achieve! I’m a change agent! Speaking of which, I’m serious about the cartoon school thing, at least I think I am. At the very least I’m seriously sending off my materials next week. One of the application requirements is a comic featuring yourself, a robot, a snowman and a piece of fruit. It’s turning out pretty well; two out of three pages are done-zo. Not to brag or anything.

Golly, this might need to be scanned again, but on a real scanner. This green pen never scans well, I guess. Hell, it’s sorta hard to read on the actual paper. Nonetheless, I give you 2 Models:

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?

The portraits project is forging ahead, and I realized I missed a pretty good moment to do an Obama piece this week, but oh well, such is life. Harold Ramis will soon be gracing this blog, despite his not being in the news, or having a new project coming soon, or anything. I just like him, okay?

Here’s what else, cold-brewed coffee is really good. I read about it in a Times article last summer, and now I’ve done it twice. My coffee pot couldn’t have cracked at a more opportune time than this very summery early June.

Following are some pretty recent on-the-street and in-the-cafe sketches.

If only I lived in Canada, and I could pull down a sweet salary, health benefits, and pension for sitting at my drafting table, you know? I mean, I’ve been a good boy and done my work! Doesn’t that mean I should be making so much money?

I couldn’t resist posting this one last Met drawing. The museum closed before I “finished,” but I think it actually helped me not take the detail bidness too far. As they always said in foundation, work the whole page, so the drawing can be complete at any moment. I guess I’m not paying those student loans for nothing. OK, now I’ll shut up about money and post a picture:

I’m starting a new blogject, folks! One portrait weekly on these pages. If I make any decent drawings in the series, they might even make into my actual portfolio. Isn’t that just so exciting?

Now, we can’t all expect this blog-drawing gain without some sort of blog-drawing loss, can we? Faithful readers may be relieved to know the images below represent the last of the weekday drawing adventures while the other half of the expeditionary team returns to work animating kids’ shows. However, there is some talk in certain circles about forming a weekend adventure committee.

The Central Park Zoo:

Last Friday, McCool called me up and said we should go to Philly for our drawing adventure this week. It was fun, but after we took the Chinatown bus, got Tastykakes at Wawa, stopped for seriously beyond-street food falafel from a man in a Gypsy cart, walked by the awesome Philadelphia City Hall in the rain, and paid the $500 entrance fee at the Mutter Museum of Medical Oddities, it was already, like, 3:30. Weird, right? So, I only drew these two pages before they closed.

I don’t what to tell youse, the Internets, except that The Office finale was awesome, and so is River City Ransom.

Here’s another drawing from last week’s Met trip. These two statues are on either side of a wide entranceway of the European Sculpture courtyard where the Academy students make those really carefully rendered drawings of the statuary. I cheated them into some close interaction, changed the angles – you know. For kicks. For narrative. For love? Everyone who sees this says it’s a drawing of Girlf Caitlin and me.

Last week’s adventure was to the Met. It’s not as easy to just run around and find something you want to draw there as at Natural History, ’cause you really want to look. at. everything. We started in Egyptian and then we headed through Christian, so…

here’s St. Matthew, flanked by a lion for Mark and a bull [Ox! No balls! -Parsin' Pat] for Luke. I don’t know Christianity nearly as well as, say, someone who grew up Catholic, and I had no idea about the animal symbols for the Evangelists. They’re pretty cool. I redrew Mark and Luke from their fronts because I really liked how their animal hands were depicted clutching Bibles – the split hoof becoming a thumb and fingers is awesome. Yo! Art school! I just wrote “flanked” and “depicted!”