Newest Editorial Cartoon Wave Publishing

With the impending closing of some of the SRO's in the Rockaways, local residents are preparing themselves for an increase homless people who will soon be populating the area. Many of these people are on fixed incomes to begin with, are taking a variety of meds for various illnessness, including mental, and have scarely enough money to buy food. It remains to be seen what local officials plan to do about this problem.

911 Memories

Just a few thoughts on that awful/glorious day

"GLORIOUS" is a word that perhaps is not associated with that day, but I use it because a lot of miraculous things happened.

First and foremost, we saw how vulnerable we really are. As a result, certain security measures which should have been there in the first place were re evaluated and put in place. It's not perfect by a long shot, but we're dealing with imperfect human beings here.

It was glorious to see New Yorkers of every race color creed neighborhood come together for one brief moment and to recognize our common humanity. In a city as big as NYC you can forget that commodality and become stuck and polarized within your own neighborhood. People were actually helping each other, comforting each other , TALKING to each other! which brings me to my next point...

For one brief moment, all the NOISE of our cell phones televisions and electronic devices were cut off and as a result we were FORCED to confront and establish contact with another flesh and blood human being. Families starting talking together and re establishing contacts, old scores were settled and apologies were made.

We really thought were going to die that day.

I recall,with much heartache whether or not I should put my dog to sleep in order to spare him intense physical pain and mental suffering.


I remember being in the BOROUGH PARK section of Brooklyn, on my way to a computer class where I would be learning Photoshop Quark and Illustrator. The Smoke of the towers had already reached that remote park of Brooklyn and documents from peoples computers had blown literally across the water, and were raining down on me like confetti from a tickertape parade for The New York Yankees. I remember one man running up to me holding a page from a document that had been on somebody's desk in Manhattan minutes before.

We really thought we were going to die that day.

The indescribable feeling of death was literally in the air and the anxiety of that reality could be seen on every face.

As a believer in Christ A Scripture from Hebrews 9:27,28 came to mind


And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

As I had put my trust in Christ for eternal salvation, There was a place on the inside of me that felt settled and anchored, an assurance that i would go to meet my Lord who I had trusted, very soon. And As My thoughts turned to my family, I said prayers for them and had the same assurance for them, as they had trusted their lives to him also.

Yeah, I'm preaching here.

In fact, during this period, there was a LOT of preaching going on in the city and that preaching, and those prayers were GLADLY received. It's easy to be an agnostic or atheist, while you're in Starbucks sipping your latte and eating your bagel, but when the rubber hits the road, and your LIFE is about to end, you start thinking about what's on the other side, and maybe those "religious fanatics" Like me, are right after all.

We All Didn't die that day....
In fact,
many of us
began to Live.


FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD
THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON
THAT WHO SOEVER BELIEVES ON HIM
SHOULD NOT PERISH
BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE

JOHN 3;16

It aint just a banner at a football game folks.

Park Party and Subway Sketches

As the Summer comes to a close, Im spending as much time as I can at the park trying to coax tourists into my chair, before the autumn chill and subsequent winds set in making it impossible to draw. I've missed the majority of Summer drawing in the park due to my back injury, but thank God Ive gotten a LOT better and no longer require the use of the cain, or even the chair that I habitually carried. These are a series of sketches done at the park(which customers rejected!!) on the subway, and at a party. Can you guess which is which? Enjoy.

My New Promo Flyer

Needed to make a new black and white one. Decided to do something simple and to the point. This flyer contains a new comical cartoonicature of me at the top, plus my daughter on the right with the pony tail, and my son with the extra wide grin on the left side. The girl with the BBBBBIIIIIIGGGGGG smile is my "bugs bunny girl" one of my favorite all time caricatures. The other caricatures are taken from live subjects that ive drawn on the train years ago. All the major info of who I am what i do. ,my level of expeience are all there at a glance.

Big lady, big hair big everything!!

My latest memorable party sketch of a young woman who had big "everything" the most memorable was her blond hair that stood up in that odd way like a blond version of mount everest. I drew this sketch from memory in Dunkin Donuts following the party.

Mother Daughter on the A train

After a day of retail in the park I caught a mother daughter on the Queens Bound A train. They both had nice hairdoos

Smoking, giraffe , gun plus Kenly Dillard Produces this

If you've ever been to a "Dr. Sketchy's " Live art model drawing event, theres a point where they have a challenge and throw out a couple of unrelated words, give you five minutes to come up with a picture involving the models and the words... In this session the words, Smoking, Giraffe, and Gun were called out and this is what Kenly came up with. I was laughing so hard that I couldnt even draw my picture. He won of course.

oh yeah, I can "do cute"

As much as i LOVE LOVE LOVE to exaggerate and jack up people's faces, if I wanna pay the bills, I better KEEP doing caricatures like THESE. At parties expecially kids events parents dont take kindly to you jackin up their kids.... they WILL Jack up your wallet, and who wants THAT?

These two were part of a class of kids I did for a private school in Queens. I lectured at the school initially on career day for FREE and the response was so favorable they HIRED me to do a job two weeks later.

Take notes newbies, THIS is how you get clients. Be WILLING to do some freebies every now and then.

Latest Wave Editorial... sweeping out the dustmites

This time The Wave Newspaper Editorial is going after Queens legislators like Shirley Huntley, Malcolm Smith, who've served waaaaay too long and need to be swept out

HERE'S THE TEXT
A Zero Sum Reform For Our State Legislature

In the wake of the recent debacle on the part of the State Senate, there should be little doubt on the part of any of our readers that the New York State Legislature needs reform, and we believe that the reform should be zero-sum – that there is nothing about the legislature that should not be on the table for that reform. We believe that a number of things must be done before the legislature can be truly little-d democratic. First of all, to stop the empire-building and power-grabbing that now occurs every day, and to stop the three-men in the closed room mentality that now drives both the Senate and Assembly, we must have term limits. Those limits should mandate a set term of eight years and then out. Let the fresh air in and the new broom sweep clean. Secondly, the state must be redistricted honestly. Senate and Assembly district must be drawn along community lines, not to insure the election of an incumbent or to insure that a minority candidate wins. To this end, we need a non-partisan redistricting committee made up not of politicians, but of political scientists and community activists with no political agenda. Then, reform the campaign finance rules which now allow almost anybody to fund a political campaign with an excess zeal and without sanction. Disclosure is poor and enforcement is non-existence, allowing lobbyists and special interests to call the tune in Albany. Lastly, open the ballot so that candidates who want to run have a chance to do so. The rules for getting on the ballot in New York State are draconian and ridiculous. The state’s Board of Elections is made up of political hacks whose only job is to insure that incumbents and other party favorites get on the ballot and insurgents do not. That has to change. We need a clean sweep. Only by making all of the necessary changes will we really have a democratic process in Albany.

subway bum, or standup comic?

A lot of these bums that ride the rails must moonlight as standup comics. It's not so much what they say that makes you laugh, it's the way that they say it. This particular guy was sporting a mullet which I thought was very funny by itself. He kept harassing this lady who was desperately trying to ignore him, and had a comment for everyone who boarded the train.

Great hair day.... lip day... eyebrow day....

This guy has such outstanding EVERYTHING it was hard to focus!!! Great hair, THICK eyebrows, large lips, a very full meaty face,and a massive build, but not fat, just... huge like a Samoan, only he was Puerto Rican. He had the skinniest girlfriend though and the contrast was so interesting that I had to literally have them stand apart so not to get distracted. Wish I could have had enough time to do the bodies, but these two are definitely going to make an appearance one day in a cartoon or character design of mine!!

Just too good to draw once

Often when Im drawing couples, one of the pair is just sooooo visually stunning, that I request they pose by themselves just so i can capture them again. Such was the case of this magilla gorilla lookin dude here. He didnt REALLY look like my favorite primate, but there was SOMETHING about his face that made me wanna ask Mr Peebles how much wuz that gorilla in the window. I made a reference to that, and he didnt seem toooo happy about it... I kept drawing....all the while thinking about the Magilla Gorilla theme song.....



We've got a gorilla for sale...a yellow gorilla for sale.
Won't you buy him...take him home and try him...gorilla for sale.
See in the window, Magilla Gorilla...full of charm and appeal.
Handsome, elegant, intelligent, sweet...He's really ideal.
So if you want a yellow gorilla you can call your own...
a gorilla who'll be with ya when you're all alone.

(Magilla speaking): "Its the MAGILLA GORILLA SHOW.
Starring me and Mr. Peebles...
with Mush-Mouse and Pumpkin-Puss and Rickochet Rabbit and Droop-Along"

(Little girl speaking): "How much is that Gorilla in the window?"

Take our advice...
at any price...
a gorilla like Magilla is mighty nice.
Gorilla...
Magilla Gorilla for sale......

Roman From Utretch Art Supply Store

Last week I participated in a promo event infront of Utretch Art Supply Store on 4th ave in NYC where Roman, Kenly Dillard and I happily drew customers and onlookers infront of the store as they were having a monster sale inside and outside the store with a lot of free giveaways. Roman had such a great face I couldnt resist slamming him. When you see him at Utretch, tell him I said Hi. Utretch, by the way, is my number one art store in the city. they ALWAYS have what I need.

Random sketches from train enjoy

Beware Of Dishonest Debt Col-lectors My Latest Editorial Cartoon for The Wave Newspaper

In this Editorial segment, the writer of The Wave put the much needed, long overdue spotlight on dishonest dirty rat debt collectors who scam millions of New Yorkers out of their hard earned cash. Maybe YOU'VE even gotten a call from these con artists wanting to play "lets make a deal" over the phone, having you pay money of debts that ARENT YOURS.

Beware Of Dishonest Debt Col-lectors
New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is on a mission. Just two weeks ago, he sued 35 law firms and two debt collecting firms that operate in the state in order to throw out more than 100,000 default judgments improp-erly obtained against state citizens. Here’s the way the scam works. One day you open your mail, and you get a debt collection letter from a firm you have never heard of about a debt that you never incurred. One recent letter that has hit Rockaway homes purports to come from a company collecting for Veri-zon that seeks to collect a few hundred dollars that you owe on a phone num-ber you never had. Two or three weeks later, the telephone calls begin. When you explain that you don’t owe the debt, the person on the other end of the phone says that you do, and offers you a “deal” to pay off for half the amount owed. The letters and calls continue, and eventually the person on the other end of the phone says that the agency is going to court against you, and it does. The problem is, agents of the company certify to the court that you have been served with a subpoena to appear in court on a certain day, when in fact you have not. When you do not show up on the appointed day, the agency gets a judgment against you. That judgment is then sent to your bank, and your account is seized, even if it contains monies from social security and pensions, something that is not allowed under the law. The banks find it easer to simply obey the court order than to check where the money in the account comes from. Now, however, Cuomo wants all of those default judgments overturned, something for which we should all applaud him. As a consumer, you have cer-tain rights. You have the right to ask the caller proof that you owe the debt, but it must be done in writing. You have the right to see credit card receipts and other documentary proof that you owe the debt. And, should your bank account be seized, you have the right to appeal that with the clerk of the court, arguing that you were never served with the subpoena. Don’t take the debt collectors lightly. Many of them are crooks, out to take away your hard-earned money.

live drawing 4 today

Junk in da Trunk! Junk in Da Front! Da gurl cant help it....

Saw this gurl in my travels today...

Those Eyes! THOSE LIPS!!!

I bet if she batted her eyelashes really fast, she could take flight!!!

Thank God For The MTA

Been in a non drawing mood lately...these faces got me all excited again! Thank God For the MTA!

Diversity

These series of caricatures juxtaposed together was originally for another illustration project. As i began tweaking them in Photoshop, this whold diversity theme kept resonating within me and became an unexpected inspiration for this piece. I Guess like everyone else, as corny as it sounds, I really do want world peace....