Cross-Fader on What Things Do

Just in time for Halloween, the great online comics site WHAT THINGS DO has posted my behind-the-scenes -of-a- church-haunted-house story "CROSS-FADER". More info on the strip and its hidden mechanics here and here.

Gopher Guts T-Shirt

Hey Fans of Gross Food Diagrams! I've got a new t-shirt up for sale at Shirt.Woot! for a limited time only. It's another installment in my ongoing obsession with an (apparently obscure) kids' folk song.

The way I always learned it (in Louisville, Kentucky) goes something like this:
♫Great Green Gobs of Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts
Rolling Down the Bloody Street,
Mutiliated Monkey Feet
French-Fried Eyeballs,
Dipped in Kerosene
And me without a Spoon. ♫
But I still have a straw! SLLLLUUUUURP!

But I also factored in the possible variants of ♫Itty-Bitty Birdie Feet♫ (in lieu of the monkey's) and ♫Octo-Pus Tentacles♫ in place of the eyeballs. Enjoy!

APE in San Francisco

I will be in the Bay Area this weekend, hanging out at the Alternative Press Expo -- APE. Come find me to get a get a copy of my new mini-comic, Tel-Tales #1, or any of our recent Leon Beyond compendiums.Looking forward to seeing beloved old pals and burritos!

Feng Shui & Beyond

Leon's latest Amazing Facts & Beyond is really important for your mental health. Mystical/Geometrical Sketches.
Recommended listening is Metal Health by Quiet Riot.

2010 StL Cardinals' RollerCoaster ReCap

I've got this big illustration on the front page of the sports section of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch today, detailing the rise & fall, ups & downs and blow-ups & throw-ups of the 2010 baseball Cardinals. Here's a key so you don't miss any of the grizzly details:1: Albert Pujols, for the most part, being his usual self. 2: Tony LaRuss the "Genius" 3: Chris Carpenter chases the Cy Young award 4: Adam Wainwright also reaches for it. 5: Yadier Molina is still every girl's favorite 6: $120 Million-Dollar Man Matt Holliday worth his weight in sunflower seeds 7: Big Mac's first year as hitting coach 8: Jaime Garcia flirts with the Rookie of the Year award 9: Colby Rasmus seems isolated from his coach and team 10: Ryan Ludwick is traded to San Diego and is missed immediately 11: Apex of the season as Cardinals sweep Reds and regain first place 12: Reds' Brandon Phillips talks trash 13: Cincinnati contends 14: Injuries derail the season 15: Brad Penny hurts his back hitting a grand slam 16: David Freese’s torn ankle means we don't get to hear Pearl Jam at the ballpark for the remainder of the season 17: Jason LaRue’s kicked face concussions mean we don't get to see his moustache again EVER 18: Bill Dewitt Jr. with his hands in pockets 19: John Mozeliak makes halfhearted repairs 20: Redbirds consistently plunging into the muck with terrible teams

Summer's End Doodle Dump

Council Bluffs, MO. Above: Dinner. Below: Designs for a camping toilet (patent pending):Lake Barkley, KY. Above: Mort the Dog. Below: My Dad & Uncle Doug, Living Room in our Cabin.Dunton Hot Springs, CO. Above: Mountain Vista. Below: Ghost Town, Mystery Outfit seen in Airport (???).

Brides on the Bat

I painted this sign for our good buddies Dave & Barbara's bachelor/bachelorette bash at the ballpark. The whole weekend was a blast. Congratulations to them again!

Ink Vehicles! Art Show

I've got an art show here at the St. Louis Artists' Guild opening this sunday, September 5th. One o'clock to 3 o'clock. It's a fancy wood-paneled room that will be chock full of prints and drawings. Whoever can tell me exactly how many hot rods and out-of-socket eyeballs are hanging on the walls will win a piece of original art. Probably featuring a hot rod and/or eyeball.

Pocket Protectors Summer 2010

These are the shirts I drew and silkscreened for our summer bowling squad, the Pocket Protectors. Thanks to Will Horton for the Iron Maiden font & Bill Keaggy for the ligature advice. Front:Back:
The team, which placed (tied for) fourth in the Saratoga summer Monday night league.

L to R: B. Keaggy, W. Horton, D. Zettwoch, J. Burmester. We'll protect the pocket better this Fall!

Revved Up

I've got a drawing in this art show of Car Engines at Lula Cafe in Chicago, opening tonight. If you're in the neighborhood, drop by! Thanks to my pal Anders Nilsen for letting me be involved. Above: V8 with Orange Wires, Ink, white-Out & colored pencil on chipboard, 11x14".

Literary St. Louis

I've got a bunch of illustrations in this week's RFT -- including the cover and a big indexed map -- for a feature story on literary goings / geographical locales / (mostly) unflattering mentions of our fine, hot dilapidated city. It's kinda similar to this ARCH MADNESS map I did, but specially about book 'n writers 'n stuff.
My first impulse was to do a pop-up book, and for a while I tried to make an actual 3D pop-up book that would be photographed:
I had a hard time making that work, with the angles and actual street data, so I went back to the 2D drawing board. I built my map with vectors... Then hand-traced it with a lightbox:I did a bunch of li'l spot illustrations ...and added them -- along with new type and color and everything -- here:
We stuck with the "literary tourist" idea for the cover illustration:
And I drew it.
Good luck, and stay cool out there book fans!

Moon Man back in Orbit

For what is sure to be a crazy pennant race! I've printed another edition of my Mike Shannon "The Moon Man Speaks" poster for anybody who missed out the first time around. Same spec's as the original: 3 colors (Navy, Red, White) on chipboard, 18" x 24", edition of 100. Feel free to drop me an e-mail for info on ordering. Get up Baby, Get Up! Oh, yeah!

Missilefits Rocket Ideas for Later

Because I'm sure that I'll lose this bowling scoresheet before next summer, I'm scanning and posting the results of our brainstorming session here.

Seed Saver!

This is a cover I illustrated for the Albuquerque Alibi, for a feature story on seed saving: The two directions I explored were a mock-montage poster for a fictional action movie... about the art of old-fashioned seed saving, And an excuse to explore my usual love of cut-away/contraption, applied to a decidely non-technical practice. We went this direction:Here were my main two pieces of inspiration/reference:
Initial layout:
Ink drawing:Final, vectorized & colorized drawing: