caricatures in restaurant

Fellow artist, Alison Gelbman, drawn below, and I did a gig together recently, and afterwards went to a restaurant where I made fun of the counter person, the guy at top and also redrew her in a more relaxed stle.

RUSH HOUR TRAIN JAPANESE STYLE!

after looking at this video, you will never EVER EVER complain about a "crowded " New York City Subway train again!!!!

It would be impossible even for the talented SUBWAYSURFER himself to draw on this train!!!!

I once saw a Flintstones cartoon where conductors were literally pushing passangers into a packed train just like this!! life imitating art of vice versa? I guess in Japan your boss doesnt even wanna HEAR the excuse that you missed your train

Merry Christmas!

This is a project that Ive been working on for the past couple of months and wanted to introduce it appropriately on the day Christians around the world celebrate the birth of Christ. (yes, yes, I KNOW it's not his "real birthday") I've had a lifelong fascination with the person of Christ and always felt that stories and animated features especially didnt really do him justice. Not that I was looking for the message of the Gospels to change, I just wanted the character of Christ, the PERSON of the God-Man to be fleshed outa little more and given a contemporary look. This work will focus on passages taken from the four Gospels in the New Testament, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I find the truths contained in scripture timeless, the stories compelling, and often times humorous. Im bound to unintentionally offend some people in the process of my story telling, but my hope is that loyal fans and readers of my work will be objective enough to let it stand on its own and to enjoy.

In case I havent said it already, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

subwaysurfer animated feature!

Here it is folks, my very first "subwaysurfer nimated feature" dont bother to go to the bathroom or buy popcorn though... the movie will be over before you get comfortable in your seats..... just here practicing some very limited animation here which although choppy, looks pretty funny. Need to refine my process. even though its limited animation it doesnt have to be THIS crude! LOL! next time I plan on doing a more consistant BACKGROUND. Im not so concerned about the foreground figures being perfect, as i feel that "sloopy choppiness : is what im looking for. Thats me in the corner there drawing, and of course, this is a cartoon of someone I observed on the train who really DIDNT appreciate being drawn! LOL! I just took the story to its violent conclusion! whats a cartoon without violence anyway?

"Where/How Do I Get My Ideas For Comics?"

HI! IM ELGIN BOLLING, ALSO KNOWN AS SUBWAYSURFER! BUT THEN, YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT DONT CHA? TODAY i WILL BE TEACHING ON HOW I GET MY IDEAS FOR COMICS. IM OFTEN ASKED THIS QUESTION, AND CHUCKLE AT THE ANSWER, BECAUSE ITS REALLY QUITE SIMPLE. EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET IS LITERALLY A WALKING BOOK, FILLED WITH BILLIONS OF STORIES THAT KEEP GETTING ADDED TO EVERYDAY! ALL THE MATERIAL ANY ARTIST NEEDS TO CONSTRUCT A COMIC STORY IS NOT TO BE FOUND "OUT THERE" IN SPACE, BUT "IN HERE" BETWEEN THEIR TWO EARS. WHENEVER I NEED A STORY FOR ONE OF MY COMICS, I ALWAY GO INSIDE FIRST FOR INSPIRATION....



USING A SHARP CLEAN KNIFE I CUT OPEN OFF THE TOP OF MY CRANIUM AND CAREFUL TAKE THE BRAIN OUT AND START SEARCHING MY MIND FOR DATA. THERE ARE BILLIONS OF STORIES, OBSERVATIONS, AND IMPRESSIONS BURIED DEEP IN MY CONCIOUSNESS THAT I JUST HAVE TO BE PATIENT ENOUGH TO ACESS. OF COURSE SOMETIMES PANIC SETS IN AND I DONT QUITE REMEMBER WHERE I PUT ALL MY STORIES. ONCE YOU GET TO THIS STAGE, CONTINUE SEARCHING, BUT BE CAREFUL TO NOTE WHERE YOU'VE PUT ALL YOUR GRAY MATTER, AFTER ALL, YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING IT ALL BACK!

IN ORDER FOR MY WORK TO "RING TRUE" I MUST HAVE A STRONG EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH IT. EMOTIONAL CONNECTIONS COME FROM DEEP INSIDE BASED ON HOW I FEEL ABOUT CURRENT EVENTS, PAST HURTS, REACTIONS TO FILMS OR SONGS, AND ESPECIALLY CHILDHOOD AND YOUTHFUL MEMORIES. iT'S ALL THERE INSIDE. ONCE i HAVE A STRONG EMOTIONAL CONNECTION TO MY WORK, i KNOW THAT THE AUDIENCE WILL FEEL IT TOO AND NOT JUST BE LOOKING AT :"PRETTY PICTURES" mOST ARTISTS KNOW HOW TO DRAW A PRETTY PICTURE, BUT THE TRICK IS TO WRITE A "PRETTY STORY" WHICH IS WHY SO MANY ARTISTS WHOSE WORK LOOKS LIKE A TEN YEAR OLD CAN BE MORE ENTERTAINING THAN AN ARTIST WHO DRAWS EVERYTHING"PERFECT".

ANOTHER METHOD I USE IS TO JUST GET OUT A REAM OF PAPER AND START 'STREAM OF CONCIOUSNESS DRAWING" sOMETIMES THE OLD IDEA ENGINE NEEDS TO BE WARMED UP, SO I JUST DRAW ANYTHING! ONE DRAWING FLOWING INTO THE NEXT, FORMING ASSOCIATIONS AND VISUAL CONNECTIONS.... SOMETIMES FRUSTRATIONS SET IN AND I START TO LET OUT PRIMAL SCREAMS OF FRUSTRATION ESPECIALLY AROUND DEADLINE TIME.....

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, SOMETIMES IT'S JUST BEST TO CLEAR YOUR HEAD AND GO OUTSIDE FOR A WALK. A SIMPLE CHANGE OF SCENERY CAN SOMETIMES HELP SPARK YOUR IDEA ENGINE. FOR ALL YOU KNOW, THE NEXT BIG IDEA CAN COME TO YOU UNEXPECTEDLY OUTTA "NO WHERE!...'

SOMETIMES OUT OF NOWHERE, AN IDEA JUST HITS YOU!! THAT'S JUST HOW THE CREATIVE PROCESS WORKS!!! WOW... THAT'S GONNA LEAVE A MARK!

Love Letter comic

Here's something different. I was in the mood to do a comic tragic love story wanted to use an animation/comic minimalist technique. We all know a little bit about heartache, dont we? Responses welcome as always.

Dont get "hung by the Tongue"

Ever notice that what the things you SAY concerning/about yourself usually come true? Think about those times in your life when you've said, " I cant do that" or " Im too old," "Im tired" "I'll never be able to afford that!" " I'm stupid..." the list goes on and on..... If we're honest, the WORKDS that we SPEAK are not just "harmless meaning less things" which pop and disappear like soap bubbles. Words have POWER! Power to transform, uplift, and heal, or consequently, to teardownk, or distroy.The Bible says ... whether you believe it or not... God created the heavens and the earth and everything in between by speaking it into existence. Since he made US, he put some powerful stuff in US too!
I was listening to a broadcast on Christian TV one day and the host was speaking on this very subject:

Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth

He then exclaimed, " I WISH I HAD A CARTOON SHOWING SOMEONE BEING HANGED BY THEIR TONGUE!!!
I immediately got to work on the cartoon, confident that I was the ONLY one who thought of the great idea to send it to this broadcaater!

Weeks later I got a very nice rejection letter, thanking me for the toon, but informing me that it would not be used, just like the many hundreds of others who got the same idea to send a cartoon in! LOL!

It's STILL a great cartoon, and still a truism.

There's a reason why your mom used to tell you to
WATCH YOUR MOUTH!!

ANOTHER subwaysurfer comic!!

This is what happens when you sit next to a disgruntled passenger who has a cup of hot coffee

"Action Pat" Pencil Test One

As You may know, in addition to clowning people on Mass Transist and at corporate parties, the surfer also does animation. To date I have done character dessign and key frames and storyboards for most of the projects Ive been involved in. For most of those projects before sending the work to the lead animators I do my own crude pencil tests on a nifty little FREE Pencil test program called "Monkeyjam" Trust me, if you can operate an ATM Machine, you can use MonkeyJam to create your own little animations like this one here, called, "ACTION PAT". This sequence is part of a larger project that included Caricature artists/cartoonists Kenly Dillard, and Alison Gelbman while we all working at Mark Stnasbury's "Screen Arts Animation" Studio on Orchard street two years ago. (it was forced to close! Sob!)This is one of the characters I co created with Alison called "ACTION PAT" based on one of the other animators in the studio, named, you guessed it, PAT! Action Pat is a young girl full of imagination who whenever she doesnt get her way, transforms herself into the super hero, ACTION PAT! Unfortunatley for Pat, her "superpowers" never quite work as plan and she always ends up with a different result than expected. In this eposide, Pats mother refuses to let her go to the concert featuring rap artist, Toe Jam, because of Pat's bad grades. When Mom leaves the room she transforms via hurricane, into her super powered persona, and jets over to the window where she will fly away. Thats when things go really bad!
It takes longer to tell this "story"than to see the animation. Enjoy.


Ive had this little animation sitting on my hardrive for some time now, but after the recent panels and frames animation seminar I attended last on Dec 5th Ive been re inspired to re investigate animation. It doesnt HAVE to be Disney, I just need to take baby steps....I'll try not to soil my diaper too much, but just in case, cover your nose folks.... and DO watch your step!

P.S. Personally, one of the best things I liked about Screen Arts Animation was learning how to make the "tornado effect" and also the "exit stage right" somoke effect. I will try to find the other key frames and up load the rest of the animation in future posts even If I have to redraw everything.

The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival R. O. Blechman, Kim Deitch, and Dash Shaw Panel Discussion

R. O. Blechman, Kim Deitch, and Dash Shaw started off discussing the historial relationship between comics and animation at the Dec 5 The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival. At one Point, Moderator, Bill Kartalopoulos asked the one question that was central in minds of every audience member in attendance, namely, "who was the COOLIEST artist on the panel?" Dash Shaw was the frist to speak up and mentioned how he was very "fashion forward" with his dynamic red scarf that captivated every eye in the room. Kim Deitch chimmed in on how his vintage Blue Jean Jacket called to mind the image of the 1960's youth culture which transformed American media, politics and music. He also added how devishly handsome he was sporting his ponytial. R. O. Blechman pointed felt that his button down shirt and crewneck sweater added an element of classic elegance to a group of panelists obviously lacking in taste and fashion sense, thus making HIM the coolest of them all. Even though Kartalopoulos had posed the question orginally, he couldnt help calling attention to his checked cotton blend shirt that paid homage to the blue collar work ethic that built American fron the ground up, and championed the proverbial "everyman". He also concluded that R.O. Blechman was a "Mr. Rogers" Wannabe in his sweater.
This comment set off a rather explosive debate among everyone else. Kim Threated to hang Dash using his Red Sweater as a noose, Dash rebutted that Kim should stop fighting baldness to the death and should return his tired ,old "Billy Jack" Dungaree jacket to the Smithstonian, before they realized it was missing. R. O. Blechman, being a dignified man was quietly and passionately telling off Kartalopoulos, who was getting angrier by the second. Without warning the entire panel was ingulfed in a giant free for all much to the the amazement and amusement of the capacity crowd!
I have to admit, THIS is what Indy Comics is all about!!!






Of course, you do realize these events occured in the alternate universe that exists between my two ears.......

The truth is while listening to the thought provoking discussions, I was inspired, as always, to draw, as I listened, and this is what came out.

My sincere thanks goes out to all the panelists for their insights! I had a great time and after I left, I couldnt wait to draw a comic, which of course, I did!

I apologized to R. O. Blechman for not drawing his picture as well based on my vantage point, and he was nice enough to write me back. What a classy guy.

Dear Elgin,


No need to apologize for the drawing. I look better as a cartoon than a photograph.
Thanks for sending it.
All best wishes,
R. O. Blechman

Cat in the hat.

Whereever she bought that hat...











I hope it's the last one.

The Brilliant Professor Charles Brown Concordia University

I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Charles Brown, M.M.
Assistant Professor of Music
Director, Choral Activities
at Concordia University recently, and this is my first attempt at doing his caricature, as promised, from memory. I had a bad pic to work with but was determined to do what I promised, so this is my FIRST attempt!
While in Chicago I had the pleasure of hearing Kapelle, Concordia’s choral performance ensemble, which Professor Brown conducts, and which my son and daughter are members. A little known fact about the surfer is that in addition to art, one of my passions are music and I sung to my kids ever since they were toddlers and apparently they inherited the gift although I'd be first to admit they are both much better singers than I am.
The Kapelle group tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has over five recordings with one currently in production. I cant wait for THAT one as my son performs a solo on it! Dr. Brown, this caricature is for YOU! More to come...

In this caricature I wanted to portray him as an
"Evil musical genius"

Ebony Mohawk Boye on the B Train

I squeezed my way onto a Kings Highway bound B Train, late for an appointment with my wife, and now frustrated that I wasn't fast enough to get a seat for the long ride. It was then that I looked down at this passenger that brightened my mood a bit.
Here was this teenager talking excitedly with his friend on this crowded standing room only train eating Chinese food out of a large Styrofoam container. We have a saying in the city that goes like this: "How Ghetto can you be?" one thing that is definitely a social "no no" is eating a PLATE of food on public transportation. Its just "too common" Too low Class, but there he was. Like most youth his age, he didn't seem to care, and kept eating and talking as if he was home at his dinner table. His appearance caught my attention as much as his behavior. He had a beautiful ebony complexion like dark chocolate that shined. He also was sporting this outrageous Mohawk mane of black hair that looked like a horses mane. His hair was trimmed neatly on the sides , almost shaven but not quite. His face was long and his frame was long and lanky. I thought he would make a perfect character design for one of my comic projects, and although Im not accustomed to drawing standing up during rush hour , I quickly whipped out my drawing pad and got started. It was challenging to draw as the train swerved and swayed, with passengers bumping into me, and me trying to maintain my balance, all the while hoping that he would not stop to notice me. I completed a few preliminary sketches hoping that when I got back to the studio I would be able to recapture what I saw. My results were more than satisfactory, and I know that i will be going back to this character for future projects. Here he is drawn in semi realistic style using a tombo brush pen and pencil.

REMEMBER FOLKS, IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE HERE, AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ME CREATE A CARICATURE OF YOU DRAWN IN  THIS BEAUTIFUL EXAGGERATED GRAPHITE STYLE, SEND ME AN E MAIL AT

cartoons4u2@aol.com

Turkey Day Caricature

Saw her on the Q22 Bus, staring ahead as if asking herself, "Gee, where did all that turkey go?'.... We both KNOW most of it went into her big gaping mouth....

Latest Wave Editiorial Cartoon

WOuld you believe there's a law on the book that hinders officers from frisking a suspicious person? This is the pic for the editoiral this week.

Big shout out to the two officers in the 33rd Street station who let me copy their uniforms for reference. Sorry fellas, I promised that I would use your faces too, but visually, you both didnt look funny enough to be used in the cartoon. Good thing too. I mean who respects an officer whose face they're laughing at?

They're Creepy and They're Spooky....

some people have a certain kinda persona that makes the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up....To borrow a phrase from the 60's classic horror sit com, "The Adams Family", "They're creepy, and They're Spooky..." This guy boards The Queens Bound C Train the other night and looks like he just walked out of a graveyard. White as the proverbial sheet with one of the biggest heads Ive ever seen on a human, wearing what looked like a child's black hat on top of his head, that was five sizes too small, a slightly oversized black overcoat, black slacks and shoes, and that dull,empty, thousand mile stare and slight smile... he looked like he just finished devouring a live rat dipped in cockaroach sauce, and was still enjoying the after taste....Never a dull moment on the Train, folks....

Red head with Big Red Nose on Q22 Bus

I was riding the Q22 Bus, and that when I saw him.... this BIG RED nose, sticking out like a roadsign directly across from me. The Q22 Bus in Far Rockaway has a short route , running starting in Breezy Point just before the Marine Park Bridge into Brooklyn, and ending on Mott Ave. Although Rockaway residnts are a mixture of whites blacks and latinos, I was riding in the bus towards Mott Ave which is predominately populated by African Americans, so it was unusual to even see such a "white looking" White guy on the bus. which made him stand out more.

The fact that he was reluctant to make eye contact with anyone made my capturing him that much easier, heh, heh.... In an effort to look tough,he adopted that standard issue "deadpan stare" showing no emotion whatsoever, and also wore his baseball cap backwards, in customary "B Boye" fashion, but his giant dumbo ears, and that shock of shaggy red hair that protruded out of the front and the back made him look hilarious. The Bulbous Clown nose, definitely stood out and I had to resist the urge to reach over and give it a squeeze! LOL!!! I wonder if it would have "honked?" This guy also had very pink salmon colored skin which made the redness on his nose stand out even more.To be honest, this picture is MORE of a self portrait of how this guy really looked than an actual caricature that I embellished. I guess some people are just "God's Live action Cartoons". This guy also had a "Bob Denver, Gilligan" type of quality about him./ Boy do I LOVE riding Mass Transit!!! All you need is a Metro card and a Pencil!!

If You like THIS caricature Folks, How about getting one of YOUR OWN? I can draw a gift caricature of YOU in this Hilarious Style! Perfect for your avatar, offline printed materials, or just  for your wall! Contact me by Email for Prices and Info! 

cartoons4u2@aol.com

Another Sneek peek at my minicomic

Ive had this on my desk for a couple of months now working through it sllllllowwwly.... its my semi autobiographical account of a Junior High School incident between me, and a local school bully, Vinnie. I got stuck in the project until I began viewing some of Ralph Batski's films and noticed his raw use of animation with real life photography. This is not a "New" device, except for me, that is, and I really do like the results. The minicomic once completed, will be posted on my sequential art blog at

www.extremelifedrawing.blogspot.com

I also have plans for printed it out along with some others for the Moca Fest in NYC coming up in April next year. God willing, I will be ready to attend with a lot of my books. Stay tuned!

This particular Panel is one of the climax shots of the comic. I thought at first about coloring the characters, but in a kooky sort of way I kind of like that stark, black and white cutout look against the color background. I took the photo inside my kid's high school a couple of years back during an open school night. I knew I'd find a use for the photo. Did some manipulation in photo shop with the filters to give it a painted look.

Couple in Orange and Blue

Didnt know if this compostion was going to work at first, but the end result was great. Im trying to take more chances and be more dynamic with my couples poses. caricature artists like Jeremy Townsend, and Nate at "Jackin faces" do great and innovative couples shots. Im constantly at their blogs studying their work.

"Just one MORE!" at Sardi's Restaurant Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

It always happens, they love me so much, they always want me to draw, "JUST ONE MORE!" This lovely lady got hers drawn by the elevator as I was getting ready to leave for the evening! Normally I would have refused, explaining that my time was up, but HEY! THIS IS SARDI'S the "Caricature Mecca" How could I say no?

Gig shots by Elgin Subwaysurfer Bolling

Been a while since Ive posted some gig shots. Here's two. One is a pencil drawing I did at Sardi's two weeks ago. Every since watching Ed Steckley draw caricatues in Pencil at an M&M store Gig we did together, and also at Chelsea Piers for the NY Rangers, Ive always wanted to do a gig entirely in pencil but lacked the courage. After seeing the results, I can see why he loves the medium so much. Sorry to just show one pic though.... The other pic is one I drew for some guests at the Marriott Hotel last summer. I JUST developed the picture outta my camera.... talk about procrastination..

Investigative reporting can be dangerous!! CARICATURES MOST WANTED LIST

Fellow caricature artist, Mark Z man and I were both feeling good on the caricature adrenalin rush we got after working another sucessful gig at Sardi's restaurant. As was my habit I started going up and down Times Square pointing out the caricature fakes, and snapping photos. We both stopped at this particular stand of one female Asian artist who had an unusually big display with caricature styles so varied that we both KNEW she couldnt have drawn all of them herself. I recognized the Superman and The Michael Jackson as immediately not being hers, and as I started to question her, and take pictures, she quickly put her hand up in front of the camera and walked quickly behind her stand, hoping we would go away and stop asking questions. When she saw that I refused to leave and was still taking pictures, all of a sudden, she came from behind her display brandishing a BIG white stick in my Direction! LOL! " hey man, I think she's gonna try and hit you!" Mark said, in shock as we both backed away. I snapped off a shot of her, and it looks like she's got a lightsaber in her hand! LOL!!! investigative reporting sure is dangerous!


Incidentally, that SUPERMAN caricature that little Con Artist had on her stand wad done by Golden Nosey Winner, CHRIS ROMMEL. The orginal can be seen HERE http://www.chrisrommel.com/christopher_reeve.htm

Caricatures most wanted list Exposing the fakes on 42nd Street

This is the first in a series of "caricature exposes" that Ive titled, "CARICATURES MOST WANTED LIST" or "EXPOSING THE FAKES on 42nd STREET" Imagine going into a shoe store to buy a pair of size powder blue size five open toes sandles,that you saw advertized in the store window, ladies, and the salesperson brings you back a pair of size 10 waterproof black combat boots. What would your reaction be? if you've got all your marbles, you would demand that the clerk bring you the shoes that you requested right? of course, right. Would you BUY the boots in place of the advertized sandels? Lets go futher with this, what if the clerk told you that the boots were the only thing he had, and furthermore, DEMAND you pay for them since he went to all the trouble to bring them to you? Unless you're brain dead, you would leave the store in a huff, and wonder why the store advertized a shoe they had for sale that they KNOW they didnt have, and demand you pay for it?
And yet, every year, millions of people come to TIMES SQUARE and give away hundreds of dollars to these Street caricatue pimps who cant even draw flies, let alone caricatures.
These caricature con artists continue to post the work of other established artists on their displays, knowing that this bait will attract tourists who willingly sit down believing they will get a picture JUST LIKE THE ONES THEY SEE ADVERTISED! of course, they DONT get what they see advertised, and PAY ANYWAY!!! It's amazing.

After leaving my job at a recent gig at SARDI'S RESTAURANT, I decided to see who was outside hustling, and came immediately to the stand of the artist pictured here. I pointed to the John Wanye Caricature that I KNOW SEBASTIAN KRUGER drew, pointed to it, and asked him "DID YOU DRAW THIS ONE????" "yes, " he replied, nodding his head several times, "ARE YOU SURE? YOU DID DRAW THIS RIGHT?" I asked again pointing at the Kruger, to which he answered yes, I did several times. "AND YOU CAN DRAW ME LOOKING LIKE THAT???" I asked. Again he said yes, and that's when I snappeed the picture, much to his dismay. He didnt like to me snapping a shot of him or his stand but could do nothing about it, since it happened so quickly.

If you see this quy on the street, tell him the subwaysurfer is watching him....