Double Vision
The weekly news from my Little Shop of Humor
Welcome to the latest edition of the newsletter.
We’ve picked up some new subscribers, and are thrilled to have you join our comics community.
There’s a brand new blog entry waiting for you, with the week’s gags, a pipe-smoking bear, another happy t-shirt model, and, as always, an appropriate musical selection.
Since we work at least six weeks ahead of publication, over the last few days I’ve been drawing cartoons for mid-November. They featured gingerbread people, grim reapers, comic book characters, cats, and the Knights of the Round Table.
Looking Ahead & Looking Back
Here’s the happy crumbling couple mentioned above.
I painted a storybook-style CD cover in 1996 for the Metropole Orchestra’s recording of Dennis Farnon’s “Mother Magoo Suite.” These Dutch musicians and arrangers rediscover forgotten musical gems and bring them back to life.
The art was created in two layers, similar to vintage animation cels. The landscape was used for the CD tray card, and the front cover added Mother Goose, who was painted onto clear acetate.
Farnon’s suite was originally released by RCA in 1957 as Magoo in Hi-Fi. My drawing of Mother Goose trying to play a compact disc on a Victrola echoes Ed Nofzinger’s original design.
Behind the Scenes
My initial sketch for Thursday’s parrot gag was a two-panel approach. I like to mix it up with different layouts, but the single-panel version was less wordy and more effective.
This Week in Bizarro History
Laffs From the Past
I love gags involving music and musicians, and if I can throw in an umlaut, that seals the deal. On the other hand, drawing the underside of a lobster was a challenge.
This joke takes a moment to land, as it refers to a detail the reader probably wouldn’t notice at first.
Beside Myself
Here are two self-portraits with the same hat but different beverages. The drawing on the left was done at the National Cartoonists Society meeting in August. Johnny Sampson, our national membership representative, passed out sketch cards and asked attendees to draw themselves talking about the NCS.
The selfie was taken Thursday evening at East End Brewing Company’s taproom in my neighborhood. I’d popped in to grab a six-pack to go and decided to order a sample of their Britsburgh Ale nitro brew. It was a perfect crisp sip for late summer.
Thanks for subscribing to the blog and for reading Bizarro.
Keep those pipe pics, questions, and t-shirt modeling photos coming in!
With best wishes from your cartoonist,
Wayno
I always love your attention to detail. Of course, "Don't Fear the Steamer" has the requisite cowbell.
The hot dog cart cartoon is brilliant😂