Fall Fashion Trends

Leon Beyond breaks down all the upcoming Back-to-School fashions for you in this week's Amazing Facts... & Beyond!

Redbird Wino

Since it's been a couple of weeks and the scent is (almost) totally gone, it's probably safe to post this doodle outta my sketchbook.

Origins of the Missouri Float Trip

Last week's Amazing Facts & Beyond explored tips, trick & trivia associated with the traditional travels of inland tributaries, the recreational "Float Trip" down the river. The strip is based on a painting by one of my favorite artists and Missourians George Caleb Bingham called The Jolly Flatboatmen from 1846.I've been interested in the exploits of frontier whitewater raftsmen for a while - here's a panel from my comic Gone Fishin' (from Comics Comics #4), intended as an anarchic take on Caleb Bingham's restful and idyllic portraits of flatboat life.:Here's an old painting of mine, from a series of historical Louisville (KY) images, featuring the folk-hero / terrorist Mike "King of the Keelboats" Fink:And here's an unfinished / unpublished version of a drawing I was working on for the cover of my upcoming comic book: I was halfway through inking my Amazing Facts comic last week when I remembered that my idea to pay homage to George Caleb Bingham in a local newspaper strip was ripped off entirely from my friend and teacher D.B. Dowd, who did the same in his wonderful graphic novel The Frame Job which was serialized in the St. Louis Post Dispatch in the late 90's: Sorry/thanks, DB. At least my jolly floatboatmen weren't in port.

Campin' Sketches Aug. 1-3, 2009

Ballpoint pen & colored pencil, drawn at the Powder Mill campgrounds outside Eminence, Missouri.

Warped Miasma

The Ol' Vans Warped Tour is heading through St. Louis this weekend, and the RFT put together this first-impression bordering on free-form-poetry field guide to all 63 (!) bands playing. I made this drawing to go along with it. Can you spy with your little eye brokeNCYDE?!? I've crazy cartoon crowd scenes ever since I was a little kid, probably because of those Mad Magazine 2-page spreads that contained what seemed like hundreds (probably more like dozens) of sight-gags.

Pie

Leon talks gross food and dead animals (again) in this week's installment of Amazing Facts & Beyond. Pictured: Stargazy Pie

DIY AC

We just posted another one of our manly infographics up at Manolith. This one's about how to jerry-rig your own lo-fi air conditioning unit out of stuff you might have lying around your basement. More info here.

Here were my rough thumbnail sketches:And here was my more detailed sketch:And here's the whole thing. Keep cool out there!

Mighty Men & Monster Making

Last night at Drawing Club we made a bunch of these 'exquisite corpse' type characters, inspired by this awesome toy we all had a little kids.I cut a bunch of the iconic yellow, orange and red polygons out of colored cardstock, showed up, chowed down on some pizza, and then we all went to town. Sorry for the crummy snapshots. My digital camera is the same vintage at the Mighty Men & Monster Maker.
Anyway, until I build and upload a Flash Module allowing you to build your own, here are a few more randomly generated characters:

Lawnscaping: Clips 'n Tricks

Leon is really on a roll lately. New strip up today, bricks 'n mortar, clixxx 'n mortar.

Shark Attack II

I found this alternate version of that shark whistle illustration. Unpublished, because I don't think Shark Whistles actually exist (yet?!).

All-Star All-Star Fantasy Team

In honor of Major League festivities taking place in his hometown, Leon Beyond has carefully combed through 76 years worth of All-Star games as well as his own fantasies to assemble an all-star all-star team, the créme de la créme. Here it is (click for a larger view):1. Minnie Miñoso (OF)
2. Pete Rose (2B)
3. Willie Mays (OF)
4. Albert Pujols (1B)
5. Stan Musial (OF) / Ted Williams (OF)
6. Pie Traynor (3B)
7. Birdie Tebbetts (C)
8. Ozzie Smith (SS)
9. Dizzy Dean (P) / Rollie Fingers (RP) / Dennis Eckersley (RP)
Manager: Frankie Frisch
Umpire: Bruce Froemming

Here are some sketches:Oh, and singing the National Anthem at Leon's Fantasy All-Star Game: Huey Lewis & The News.

Scene from Nature

Random unpublished painting done for a friend-of-a-friend based on an old drawing. Makes me wish I was eating a hot dog.

Shark Whistle

Random unpublished illustration I did a while back that makes me wish I was still at the beach.

Rockets Red Glare

Leon was inspired by the hundreds of burning bug bites he got on his feet while in Florida. Here's the whole strip. I love fireworks packaging vintage & modern, and here's a painting I copied off an old Black Cat firecracker:
While I'm posting up random stuff, here's the kinda reference Leon sends me along with his manuscript when it comes time to draw the comic:
Have a safe July 4th, everyone!

Sea Water & Hot Sand in my Sketchbook

Thyme Infused Butter Drizzle

New Amazing Facts & Beyond today, in the paper and on the blog!
Leon got inspired by this recent study by the Journal for Consumer Research that reveals that "healthy dining" options included on a restaurant's menu usually leads to more indulgent & UNhealthy choices. Leon, of course, knows why:Be careful out there, and watch out for the Hypnomenutists!

Stay Sharp!

This is a t-shirt that I designed for WOOT. It is for sale today and today ONLY. UPDATE: if you missed buying the shirt yesterday, you can buy it for a limited time here. Here was my sketch:
Alternate idea:Another one (this is actually the kind of pencil sharpener I use):

Dave Fans vs. Phish Phans

Dave Matthews Band and Phish are both in town next week, and the RFT did this article which interviewed the rabid fan/phanbases of each, gauging their attitudes toward the other. I illustrated this series of charts that visualized this important data. My sketches:Another one: