Cross Section

Always a classic compositional gambit, here we have my first usage of the old "What's on his mind?" bit. I'm not certain if this is intended to be a self-portrait or not. The presence of a comic book would seem to confirm it, but the other objects seem less apropos, as it were. The bottom object, I believe, is a wrapped piece of hard candy, and the striped thing is probably a peppermint stick. I do like candy, though those aren't my favorites. The horse (?) is further afield, the barbell I don't get, and I have no idea what the object in front of the horse is... a ping-pong paddle? A mushroom?

Collaborative Piece

I assume that this started with a request for my father to draw Snoopy for me, to which I then added my slightly less "on-model" rendering of Charlie Brown.

Flying Trinacromerum

This may be an extrapolation of something in the Lee J. Ames book (as discussed in this post), but the fact of its being drawn on tracing paper may be an indication that it was traced from some other dinosaur book. I was having trouble finding any reference to "Romerum" in any English-language documents, but I eventually determined that the missing piece would have completed the word "Trinacromerum".It starts out as a pretty accurate rendering, and then goes its own way...I suppose the horn and wings are reasonable enough, butI'm not sure what I was shooting for with that strangely humanoid hind leg. And then there's the butterfly-winged snake and the bat-winged ladybug...as well as the fact that the smaller flying fish has little clawed pterodactyl wings.As usual, I was so far ahead of the other paleontologists that they still haven't caught up to me.

Yellow Submarine

Referenced, but not traced (I just went downstairs and checked) from the cover of the soundtrack album. Said album was the first pop album that I purchased entirely independently of any adult, at a short-lived record shop upstairs from my parents' place of employment. I had plenty of records that had purchased for me, and I'd previously special-ordered the Close Encounters of the Third Kind soundtrack at the same shop, but this is where it all began for me as a record buyer. I don't think I've actually listened to it in this century yet, but it's the only post-Yesterday and Today Beatles album I'd be likely to pull out. Nonetheless, they all sit there patiently awaiting being called up to duty.
I'm thinking that this was probably done between Christmas and New Year's Eve, because I'm pretty sure that it was drawn with a particularly nice set of felt-tips that my Godmother gave me for Christmas that year. I got a lot of use out of those, and I believe that I still have one or two of the less-useful colors that could still more or less function, tucked away among my art supplies.

Batman in "The Treeman Strikes"

Today we present a somewhat truncated short story for your entertainment. The story structure seems to be inspired more by the TV show than actual comics, and I believe the "Treeman" may be intended to be one of the generic villains (of whom I can find no image) included in the "Superadventure" Colorforms set I had. Note the unorthodox use of "arching" to mean "practicing archery". Also the lack of punctuation. I don't know if I just ran out of steambefore the fight scene or whether I was more interested in character and dialogue than gratuitous fight scenes. I suspect the former is more likely.

A Busy Day on the Moon

There's a lot going on here-- there's Space Station K-7 (propelled by rockets for some reason), the proposed L-5 Point Space Station, a Mercury capsule, and what I think are a couple of Robert Goddard's early experimental rockets, along with a dome-shaped lunar base and a couple of robots of my own design. A pretty odd mix.

Vindictive Cloud

I don't know what that tree did to anger the cloud so, nor do I know why I chose to depict it on a faux postcard to my grandfather ("Gaga"= John T. "Jake" Thompson, Sr. [1912-1983]). Nonetheless, I did. I'd have thought that I would have known where the stamp should be placed by that time, but maybe not.

Hurricane Fighter Plane

While that was a snappy title to borrow, I don't think this was actually supposed to be a Hurricane. It sort of looks like a Thunderbolt, but the lack of an engine cowling on the nose rules that out. Regrettably, my knowledge of WWII-era Allied fighter craft has atrophied somewhat since 1979. I'm just hoping that this is an aerial view of a plane on the ground (the immobile prop would suggest that), otherwise the pilot has a bit of a problem.

Man with Large Ears

It almost seems as if he was intended as a cyclops, but I thought better of it at the last moment and shoehorned one in on the side.

Armless Man with Hat

I don't know if he's running very fast or doing a split.

Huh?

There seems to have been a lot of thought put into this...chart(?), but what it all means is opaque to me. Some might scoff at the mathematical equation at the bottom... but did you stop to think that perhaps I was working with roman numerals? Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Beware of the Blob and his Snazzy Spacesuit

Clothes make the man, they say...so what might they do for a hideous one-eyed blob? Here are a couple of designs for exo-skeletons for Mr. Blob. The boots on the left one and the chestplate on the right-hand one seem to be inspired by stormtrooper armor. As a bonus, you get a couple of arms and an unfinished quiz or homework assignment.

Mr. Frankenstein

A companion piece to my "Monster Jokes" entry. There's also a full-length mummy drawing from the same day that'll surface here eventually. I find his pose to be reminiscent of Jon Stewart's Bush impression......heh heh heh!

Man with Moustache

I'm impressed that he can keep on grinning with that broken arm. Not to mention the fact that his right hand looks more like a foot.

Happy Tick

Okay, so it's got twelve legs...I still think it looks more like a tick than anything else. Living in the woods next to the lake, I had a good many ticks in my youth. Having dogs, I still see more of them than I'd prefer (this season's household total: 5). In 5th grade, I made it a point of finding ticks that needed a trip to the school nurse only during science class (saving them through the day until that point, if necessary). It was obnoxious and without provocation. If you're still out there somewhere, Mrs. Funchess, I apologize.

Wanted, Dead or Alive

Possibly the Batman villain, but I can't guarantee that. While I'm in the realm of conjecture here, I believe that it's possible that all the random marks may be intended to represent bullet holes.

Hoist High the Jolly Roger!

I believe that the "j R" on the stern stands for "Jolly Roger". Not the most impressive pirate ship you'll ever see...it's actually more like a pirate barge. I guess this is as good a ship as a pirate with no arms can get his (lack of) hands on. It almost looks like I was attempting to render the flag in perspective, but I assume that it's just an accident.

Scary Robots

These fellows are clearly bad news...the one on the right even has an angry face on his hand, for Pete's sake! But then, I guess that if my hand had a mouth with lasers shooting out of it, then my hand might be angry, too. I was initially puzzled at the robot's apparent scuba tanks, but it's now my belief that they're actually tanks of rocket fuel to allow it to levitate.

Interdimensional Postal Rates

A letter that I never sent to my old pal Mr. Qlxiz Qzlzi. Some stamp collector would probably pay a fortune for that uncanceled $100 Griffin stamp. Dig those crazy perforations! In retrospect, I'm surprised that I didn't use the pinking shears for that, too. I suspect that I made this at my grandparents' house, as my mother generally discouraged my use of her pinking shears for non-fabric applications.

Crime Map

I'm hoping that the criminals didn't actually leave this map to their hideout at the crime scene. I suspect it wouldn't be too difficult for the cops to identify the crossbone-headed thief from this artist's rendering.

Talcum-Powder Cowboy

My grandmother has a small desk that is off limits to all, crammed to the gills with papers and photos and mementos. I'm actually going to have to pack all of its content into boxes and put it in storage, as her house has fallen into disrepair with her not in residence any longer, and it's too moist and moldy for it to safely remain. Among those items are several toys of my father's that she would let me handle on occasion. One of them is a red plastic talcum powder bottle shaped like a stylized cowboy, with a white cowboy hat as a cap. While I've neglected to draw that hat, I'm pretty certain that this drawing is based on that bottle.

Walking Letters

These are (I believe) inspired by my Sesame Street Walking Letters set, of which this is the only image I could find that wasn't an eBay listing (though this will probably find something to show you). The actual toys didn't have faces, but I claim artistic license. Don't know what I was attempting to spell with that "GABO" business.

Gremlin

I once had a tiny (maybe 2" tall) figure of a gremlin... one of those oily rubber jiggler figures that they stopped making in the early '70s. He seemed to be based on the AMC Gremlin's mascot (or, at least, I made that association in my mind), and he was a pearlescent yellow color. While the feet are kind of small, I think that this is a drawing of that toy.

Return of the Space Cowboy

Here is the other version of this drawing that I mentioned last week. I wonder if they're perhaps copies of an image I saw somewhere, since the drawings are so similar. (though, in coloring, I seem to have turned the lasso into a balloon...which changes the mood a bit).

Death Star Droid

Drawn the same week in '79 as last Monday's entry, and unquestionably referenced from the action figure.

The Liberty Bell

...and the flag, too!

It's Casper Day!

That's right, "Casper Day"! I'm not entirely certain when Casper Day is supposed to be observed, nor why I felt it required commemorative plates, but here they are...featuring what I imagine might be the crummiest drawing of Nightmare ever. The Ghostly Trio don't fare so well, either. Still, I feel that, all technical quibbles aside, I captured the true holiday spirit . On behalf of the entire staff and management her at "Early works", I'd like to wish you and your loved ones a joyous Casper Day. Boooo! BOOOOO!

Sandwich

We just came back from a delicious feast of sandwiches at the home of Drew Weing and Eleanor Davis, so I brought those of you who could not attend a virtual sandwich as consolation.