How do you come up with your ideas?

How do I come up with my ideas, is a question Im frequently asked. After subjecting myself to close observation for centuries, Ive discovered that I have a few methods that I use individually and in combination to assist me. Perhaps they will one day work for you.

SCREAM DRAW RP UP DRAWING METHOD
Art is not for whimps! It's warfare! you're face to face with a blank sheet of paper, a few markers, a cup of coffee, and an impossible deadline! What do you do? If you dont wanna sell pencils on a bowery street corner, you start drawing ..... A LOT. I will go through sketch upon sketch upon sketch screaming, ripping it up, throwing it across the room, drawing again and again until finally it's right!!! It this method doesnt work, I resort to method two...

RACKING YOUR BRAIN

Your Brain is your own personal computer, or File cabinet depending how old you are. Its full ideas, memories, impressions but its really hard to get at sometimes, You gotta put yourself in a place where you can take that gray matter outta your skull and examine it up close and personal until you find that idea or concept you're searching for. Be patient though and unlike the previous method, dont go throwing pieces of your brain all over the room. You wanna keep those pieces in tack because you'll have to put them back into your skull when you're done... The Next Method is similar to this one and it's called

SEARCH DEEP INSIDE YOURSELF
It the answers not in your brain, maybe it's in your heart somewhere! Keep looking be aggressive If you are patient and look deep inside your own conciousness, you will begin to make connections and associations that will jumpstart an idea for you. When searching deep inside of yourself, be careful that you dont puncture your lung. That kinda hurts...

HITS YOU OUTTA NOWEHERE METHOD

Be prepared for an idea to literally hit you outta nowhere! This sometimes happens when Im doing something totally unrelated to the work itself. Sometimes Im out taking a walk, or jogging and BAM! The Idea hits me like a Pissed off Monkey whose lost his blue jeans! Once you regain conciousness make sure you write the idea down so you dont forget it, and next time carry an extra bannana for the monkey.

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS I RIDE THE TRAIN
they dont call me subwaysurfer for nothin! Its been said that there are eight million stories in the naked city! im willing to bet that half of em can be found by riding public transportation. Riding the trains literally brings the world to you. Remember to soak in the sights the sounds, and record what you see in your sketchbook! Ive been doing this for years, and not only has it kept me interested, but most of you who read this blog also! uh OH! I hear my train coming! Gotta Go! Hope you enjoyed this cartoon segment!

Barnes & Noble Dude

There are some people who "cannot" be "caricatured" they MUST be "CARTOONED!!!" As soon as I spotted him, he had one of those faces , bodies, and clothing that BEGGED to be made into a cartoon character , so I did. he may even show up as a cast member in one of my comix one day....

draw me good or I'll hit you.

I found this old sketch of this dude I did an outdoor caricature of last summer. This person was memorable because he was VVVVEEERRRRY drunk and threatened to hit me if it came out wrong. He liked it.

Werewolf on the subway ...

Begging for change is illegal on the trains, but when a guy like this asks you for spare change, you give him your pin number also. He reminded me of a werewolf cautht in mid change. I tried not to make eye contact with him. Didnt want to become dinner.....

Happy Birthday, Kurt Russell

I know Im a day early, Kurt Russell's Bday is actually TOMMORROW March 17th, but I was so pleased with the sketch i did for Jan Obdebeek's "Birthday People" thread on the NCN forum that I wanted to post it here.
How could any self respecting New Yorker NOT love Kurt Russell? in John Carpenter's 1981 Cult Classic, "Escape From New York", his portrayal of bad to the bone, anti-hero, Jake Plissken, is one of cinemas immortal characters, right up there with "Dirty Harry""Han Solo", and "Cool Hand luke"
I drew this quickly using a thick crayola marker done in my "party style" total time on it took 3 minutes. Russell has one of those great faces that lends itself well to this technique, and had enough defineable features to make him an "easy draw" for any competent caricature artist.

The Exaggerator is BAKK!!!

okay enough of this comic book stuff for a while... time to do some exaggeration! hope you like.

Retail caricature, why we do what we do

Some folks see a street caricature artist, or artist in a theme park or at a mall working "retail" and think we bring home giant bags of money every day!

The truth is that some days, we bring home very few dollars, almost pennies...

Other days we take a lot of abuse from irate customers,bratty kids, street people, so called "real artists" who look down on us, law enforcement officials who give us hard times setting up, and other retailers who we have to fight for space! You feel like EVERYONE is using your backside for a target!

Then why do it at all? why not give up, and get a "real job?"

It's because of the FREEDOM!! of knowing that you are NOT taking a handout, NOT relying on Government aid, but making a living with your own two hands, your brains and your wit! Retail caricature tests your negotiation skills, your public relations skills, your marketing skills, and of course, your drawing skills. Everyday is a new challenge, and yesterday's work, means nothing today. You must show up for work and PROVE yourself everyday! That's satisfying and it's also AMERICAN! Ive left home without a dime in my pocket and have come back with hundreds of dollars, all because I took a chance on myself, and took advantage of what this country has to offer all of us, OPPORTUNITY. We're going through hard times now, but as long as I have a pencil and paper, I have the confidence that i will never go hungry!

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 6

There comes a point in every negotiation involving males where words can no longer adequately carry the message you want to express.... nothin like a little primal physical persuasion to ensure that everyone's on the same page. In the old days a man would even respect you more if you knocked him "upside his head" especially if he knew he had it comin..
It's been my experience also, that so called "Alpha Males" have a tendency to take so called"brainiac guys" for granted, thinking they cant possibly "ring your bell" if the situation arises.
As for the punch in the eye, it's always been a fight ender for me.....

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 5

copyright infringement and creator's rights is something I, and every other artist takes very seriously. Although so called creative people may SEEM like they make great works of art easily, it really DOES take hard work. Even these few panels for this cartoon series took a couple of months of planning out and mulling over in my head. Artists deserve to be compensated for their work, even if it seems to be "crap" or "poop". You shouldnt be profiting from my poop without my consent. Lifting and profiting off of another artists' work is something that happens on the internet all the time, unfortunately. All you do is copy and paste, and it's "yours" I recall one friend who was furious when he saw HIS cartoon silk screened on a strangers' tee shirt while shopping in the supermarket! If that wasnt bad enough, the guilty party even erased HIS name, and wrote in his own! That artist,cartoonist, Oliver Gaspritz, was an editor I worked with at The Canarsie Courier Newspaper Years ago. Tom Richmond, on his blogsite, has some excellent idiot proof articles on this, that are worth reading about.

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 4

I've got this squirrel who lives in the tree infront of my house, owns property in the back of the house, and also has carved out a space for himself and his FAMILY on the roof of my house! The squirrel "came with " the house, so i guess he feels he has "squatters rights" or something like that. I imagined if the little pest could talk, he'd probably would be an attorney. He'd probably try to stick it to me also, since he cant get into my garbage can like he can my neighbors.
The story is about to reach it's end. Stay tuned.

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 3

For those of you who are wondering, dont worrry, Im coming to a climax to this story and i'll be right back doing the caricatures you all know and love. As always, there's an element of reality in these strips, not that I work part time as a pimp, but I've been a fan of 1870's media, growing up watching Superfly, "Goldie" Huggy Bear,from Starsky and Hutch, and Rooster from Baretta. Loved the outlandish costmes the players wore, and for you youngin's out there, YES, they really DID dress like this! LOL!
My Dog, actually DOES lay down with his feet in this strange position. At first I thought he had broken his legs, but soon realized that he just had crazy flexability and liked laying donw like this from time to time. He also likes to sleep on his rug in the living room with his bowl right next to him.

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 2

2nd installment in the series. I once read that if you're going to make your own comics, it's best to write/draw first about the things that you know. My dog, Butchie, is ten years old, and like most "senior citizens" his stomache is kinda delicate. Every week I have to boil chicken, sweet potatoes, and rice, mix it in a giant bowl, and bag meal portions for the week. If I dont do this and feed him regular dog food instead, he WILL throw up all over the floor , and have the runs for days. He really DOES love chicken gravey too. Stay tuned for the next cartoon.

PUPPY POOP PIMP COMIC 1

Hope you folks are enjoying the comics. I'm still healing from my "humpty dumpty" fall down my stairs, and as a result havent gotten the chance to ride the trains and clown commuters. My pit bull Butchie, STILL needs to be walked, however, and since I'm cursed with this creative, capitalistic mind, I couldnt help but think of a way that i could some how turn a profit with my dog..... As i was picking up his poop, this idea came to me, and i ran to my drawing board..... stay tuned for continuing comics in this PUPPY POOP PIMP series....

Adventures in Retail....

You cant please everybody, can you? LOL! i have never been beaten up by a customer, but some sure wanted to!

I hate riding the train at midnight comix with dialogue

I really hate creeps who bother women who are just trying to mind their own business and get home. I see this scenario played out in many subtle ways on the traim by these "romeos" who try to make love connections which is really a form of "mock interview" to ascertain whether you are a potential victim or not. In cases like this, it's better to hit first and ask questions later. Seems there's never a transit cop around when you need one. There hasnt been a lot of violence on the trains in recent years, but things like this were the norm back in the seventies... opps, i just "dated" myself...

"I hate riding the train at midnight"

Im still at the studio healing and doing my comics with all the spare time i have. I am LOVING it. I did this one last night, and was almost giddy uploading it.

Some caricatures just stick with you. I drew this picture a few weeks back of this solitary woman riding the train and midnight unescorted. I felt there was a potential story here but couldnt put my finger on what it should be. After taking to a friend of mine, a petite woman who did a lot of late night subway commuting herself, I came up with a story with her in mind. The woman I caricatured here even is wearign one of my friend's "signature" berets. This srory, I hate taking the train at Midnight, is dedicated to all you intrepid female subway riders.

I consider Robert Crubm, to be THE best New York City Cartoon artists, so this work was also drawn with a "Crumb Vibe" Crumb, as Ive said in earlier posts is one of my influences.
Enjoy and please comment!