Life at the Gym

People have often told me I'm slightly more observant than the average person. People have also told me that I'm weird and conceded. All of these factors played a part in developing the idea for this comic. I've had a membership at Gold's Gym now for almost a year and have subsequently entered a whole new world. For those of you who have never been to a gym, you're missing out and I don't mean on just the health benefits and the attractive people you may see. I'm referring to the overall kind of people you find at the gym. I'm not saying they're weird, rude, cool or bad just a different kind of people and all very interesting. Oh, and a tip for other single guys out there, the married ladies don't wear their wedding rings when they work out so be cautious when approaching.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

As some of you may have noticed, most of my comics are filled with solely guy characters and have very few female appearances. I suppose that is because I'm a guy and feel inadequate to be speaking on behalf of women everywhere. I apologize to all the lady fans who have felt neglected with only male characters gracing the presence of my comics lately, but that is all about to change. From here on out I'll slowly introduce female characters and give them a more vital role to play in the comics and perhaps create some female characters that actually have reoccurring roles. I think it's important to have a balance of male and female characters for lots of reasons. It is true that I have shied away from using female characters because I didn't want people to think I was poking fun of girls (which I did a lot back in college). Just keep in mind that anything the characters in my comics say can be said of either girls or boys. With that being said, please enjoy the comic.

A "What if..." for Fast Sundays

(Warning: Read the comic before reading the following text!!) This comic was made with Fast Sundays in mind, obviously. I'm not saying anyone should invent flavored envelopes, but I think it would be hilarious if someone did. Not only would you avoid getting that nasty glue breath on Fast Sundays, but you'd probably have tons of people lining up to pay their tithing just to lick the envelopes. If these envelopes existed, my favorite flavor would have to be spearmint. Yum! (Also, I've added the same technique to this comic as I did to the character illustrations I've posted previously).

Character #2: The Blacksmith

Here is now my second attempt at drawing, inking and coloring yet another fantastical character. This time around I decided to go with a much more masculine character, the good ol' blacksmith. The type you go to when your armor and weapons are in need of repair, and the person who can fix the busted horseshoe from your horse. Decked out in studded leather and medieval steal-toed boots, nothing stands in the way of this determined blacksmith especially when he has an oversized hammer in his hands.

Character #1: The Priest, the Healer

It is time to reveal more of my "nerd" side by showing fantasy type characters I've illustrated from my sketch book. I'm a big fan of the blogs that are able to post a new sketch or drawing every other day if not everyday. It's fun, fresh, and admirable to witness artists achieve this task. As much as I'd like, I can't produce any worthwhile sketches even close to that frequency so instead I'm just going to post drawings of characters in no particular timed fashion. This way I can practice creating characters, inking them and then coloring them in the computer. In a way it's an experiment so we'll see where it takes me. Don't worry though, I'll still be posting comics in the meantime. (I've now posted two versions of the same image. The one on the left has nothing special done to it. The one on the right has had some light texture and noise added to the colors plus the black line is more of a dark brown. What do you think?)

Facebook: Taking Over Our Lives One Friend at a Time

I've been dying to do a comic that involves Facebook and hope to do more in the future. Cell Phones and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are slowly taking over our free time and integrating themselves into our everyday lives. TV shows and printed media, like comics, all use things like cell phones, internet, and other technologies in their content daily now. Remember watching those great shows like MacGyver where all you needed was duct tape and a pocket knife to solve your problems? Classic characters of the 80's never had need for things like cell phones and Twitter. Crazy how things change, eh?

Another "Friendly" Visit

I was lucky to get another job from Friend magazine a few months ago.  I really enjoy working with them.  They're a wonderful organization and I love doing illustrations for kids.  This time around I got to do about 7 illustrations to fill a double page spread.  The illustrations were scenes of a little girl and her interactions with prophets from the scriptures.  Really fun illustrations (at least for me they were)!  Here are just a few (to see more check out the June 2009 Friend).  Enjoy!

Cold Cookies

Lately I have become excited again about cooking and more importantly cooking good things. One dessert I try to perfect when I cook is the iconic chocolate chip cookie. I've found a few good recipes, but continue to experiment and try new recipes and variations on each recipe. One thing I've discovered that makes my cookies taste extra special is keeping them stored in the refrigerator and eating them cold. I don't know the science behind this and I'm sure most people would think me weird, but don't doubt it until you've tried it. Fresh chocolate chip cookies stored and eaten while cold are delicious!

Go Team, Go!

I've been meaning to post this illustration for some time.  I was asked by a friend from my mission to help him and a friend of his with a new venture they're taking.  They made a website called seatkarma.com, which helps pull all online ticket buying information into once place to make it easier in buying cheaper tickets for you favorite shows and events.  It's a pretty novel idea and I wish them the best of luck.  Anyways, they wanted some illustrations for the website and had me create this little guy.  The style and such was by their request.  It was something totally new for me to create something solely in Adobe Illustrator, but it was fun and a great learning experience.  Plus, it's "March Madness" so anyone who follows that can appreciate a half naked man eating snacks and cheering for his favorite team.

"Eyes Up Here."

Okay, this comic is based on a true experience that happened to me not long ago.  A friend and I went to a late night show at a nearby theater, and as we were purchasing our tickets the girl at the register kept staring at my shirt rather distractingly.  Finally she exclaimed something similar to the girl in the comic and had her friend come over to look at my shirt too.  I felt like I was a walking billboard, and didn't know whether to hold still and let them keep looking or to move along and break the awkward moment that was developing between us.  It was rather amusing though, because usually my friends are the only ones to comment on my weird shirts.

Mistaken Identity

Nothing fancy to write today.  The comic here is partially based on a true experience.  I have a friend who claims to have had the same confusion as Brad in the comic does.  It's hard to tell when he is joking or telling the truth about his ideas, but either way it makes for a great comic.  I hear back in the day, people had the same confusion with Hayley Mills, who played in the original "The Parent Trap."

Unanswered Text Reminder

Ever wonder why your supposedly best friend didn't respond to your text when you know they were doing nothing but sitting at home alone? Or perhaps you wish you could do something more to remind them of a received text than just a lame ring and a weak vibration from their phone? Well here is one idea I think would be ideal to "politely" remind your friends they still have an unanswered text that needs immediate attention.