Monday, August 25, 2008

Y'wanna B'Wana?

A buddy of mine loves the B'Wana Beast. I drew this as a card image for him and then completely forgot to give it to him on his birthday. I even postponed putting it up on my blog before his birthday so that if he happened to be checking out my blog last week it wouldn't ruin the surprise.
The actual B'Wana Beast comic book is fairly lame. I only have one issue but the art is not so hot and the stories are borderline stupid. But B'Wana himself is a guy in a loin cloth which merits checking out even in the worst of situations.

best,
j.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Guy for the day! Alexandre Despatie!

Any search for Alexandre Despatie brings forth the "famous" bulge shot! Alex arching backward, red speedo straining to contain...little Alex. Naturally it must be the basis for my first drawing of Alex.


Despatie really puts his all into his dives. I'm amazed at the ability of athletes to control their bodies so precisely. Heck, I can't even walk through my house without bumping into doorways and rapping my knees on furniture. I'm just clumsy, I guess. But the way Despatie twisted his body on his last dive was just incredible to me. I also caught the trampoline competition and the same thoughts arose. How do they stay on target while twisting around, upside-down and with an audience of millions? The answer, I know, is skill and practice! But still...
Incidentally, I dated these drawings for the days I drew them, after Alex's silver win on Tuesday and Wednesday. You might have noticed that the other Guy a Day posts were back dated to catch up on July's missed days. Back dating the Alex drawings just felt wrong (if I look at the drawings in a year I might think that I had a premonition about Alex's Olympic win by drawing him BEFORE he actually competed).
best,
j.



Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Guy a Day! Canada takes a Silver!

A for real guy I saw while out bike riding. At first I was simply mesmerized by his entire look...from the long hair under the hat to the pointy toed cowboy boots. He stood on the corner waiting for the light to change. Completely cool. A swagger in his step even when standing still. And then I noticed the front of his jeans. Though my drawing is a cartoon, the image does represent the real deal! Is it possible he was carrying a shotgun in his jeans?


Alexandre Despatie was the inspiration for this drawing and today he just won a silver for Canada. Naturally I missed the event but I'll try to catch the highlights on tonights news. I'll do a better drawing of Despatie in the coming posts.

Ol' swoosh-hair makes another appearance. He spent the night reading in a seedy motel.
j.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Guy a Day! Still catching up!





I find myself with not much to say today...there's a thunderstorm rolling in and my lights just dimmed. Fortunately my computer is plugged into a power bar with battery back-up so I didn't lose my connection. I do believe, however, that I will log off and sit on my front porch to watch the light show.
best,
j.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Guy a Day returns!

Travel with me back to the past...it's July 11th, the weather is hot and muggy with a high chance of rain. We're at the cottage deep in the wilds of Northern Canada. We've been swimming, lounging on the dock...letting go of the stresses of city living. Meat sizzles on the barbecue. We pop the tab on our soda (substitute favourite alcoholic beverage) and guzzle away our thirst.

The only two drawings I did at the cottage. All I had was lined paper. Maybe forgetting to bring blank copy paper was my subconscious telling me to relax the old drawing hand for the week.





The above two are Pride holdovers. I'd actually already inked the drawing of the skateboarder and so threw it into the batch. He was super cute and I love the casual way he boarded. The Daddy is loosely based on an actual fella hanging out on Church st. Not especially my type but I liked the way he wore his shorts!


Drawn after the week at the cottage, but with fond memories of jumping into the lake. When I'm older I hope I'm able to own a cottage...and have several art proteges who will visit to swim in my lake. I'll be the James Whale of the comic book scene :)
best,
j.