A lasting gift from Uncle John by Elgin Bolling

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

ipad Editorial Cartoon for THE WAVE NEWSPAPER

Yep folks, this is my FIRST EVER all digital Editorial cartoon Drawn for THE WAVE NEWSPAPER in Far Rockaway, New York. This illo enhances the editorial copy featuring NYC School Chancellor, Joel Klien, who is getting a less than positive reaction from the UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS UNION in response to Klien wanting to submit a "teachers report card" based on information that is "less than accurate" to put it mildly. I had some computer issues that prevented me from drawing it and hooking it up to the scanner, so I was FORCED to draw everything from start to finish with the ipad. Its wonderful what can happen when you're put under pressure.

I found the illustration easy to put together. Chancellor Klien has a hilarious face to begin with, and having drawn him previously, I was able to draw him again with no difficulty at all. Being a fan of Tex Avery, The old "kick in the pants" gag is a standard device that came to mind immediately when I read the editorial copy that came from my editor. The Art Studio app for ipad is very user friendly and since it works with layers, I was able to do the initial sketch  in the same way I would with tracing paper,and use subsequent layers for the line and for shading. Ive grown accustomed to using the Pogo Stylus, even though it's not the best tool, and now that I have the ifaraday stylus, http://ifaraday.com/  which is much more responsive, my drawing will look even MORE powerful. I was able to create this in about one hour, which is good considering that it was my first time doing it from start to finish.  I KNOW in the future I will be submitting all of my editorial illustrations, using the device, and will save lots of money on paper as well!