TAKING THE CAKE!!!

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  We have crossed the halfway point of May and are rapidly heading into the homestretch!  The smell of BBQ permeates the air with each ticking second as the summer winds come crashing in again!  I can't focus right now with all the awesome things rapidly coming our way, so why not focus on something else pretty awesome to tie us over for a bit?  What is it you ask?  Scroll down and see!  Enjoy...

Oooooooooh...  That's one bad boxer dog!  You just can't trust those flat-faced menaces around any kind of food, let alone large pastries!  Today's art came about when Animal Alphabets picked Cake as its theme for the Letter C.  Well, I didn't have to look too far for inspiration on this one as my dog, Beau, is ALWAYS getting into literally EVERYTHING, hence the reason I chose Dog for this theme!  Although, in all fairness, Beau has yet to tackle a cake yet, but I'm sure he will eventually!  We got Theme C and Letter D off the draft board now!

Well, one more week to go in the Merry Month of May, but I'll make sure we end things on a fun note, so be sure to come back for the grand finale!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

COMPLETE CORGI CONTROL!!!

Welcome to August CRAZIES!!!  Sadly, no Comic Con recap this year, because, well, stuff.  Things are slowly starting to head back in the wrong direction again, but I'm confident we'll get back on the right track, but that's neither here nor there.  Art has returned to the CRAZYVERSE!!!  So let's just cut to the chase, shall we?  Enjoy...

It's a bird!  It's a plane!  No!  It's Rylee, the Guardian Corgi, aka Heavenly Kibble!  Faster than a speeding cat, louder than a squeaking toy and stronger than stale Pedigree, Rylee is the creation of cartoonist Joie Foster, a dear friend from the con circuit who's making quite a name for herself these days, not only in comics but in animation too!  Her comic series, Heavenly Kibble: Guardian Corgi, is a fun all ages read about a corgi and her human fighting to save the world from evil!  What I like about this series, besides the fact that it's silly as all get out, is that there are a lot of great homages and nods to classic anime and manga, namely Sailor Moon.  I also like the fact that Rylee, the corgi in question, is not anthropomorphic.  She's drawn as a realistic dog, a stubby little corgi who can only go as fast as her short legs will take her!  I met Joie back in 2014 at WonderCon.  We were in the same aisle and became fast friends with a mutual love of cartoons, 80's nostalgia and the sad fact that neither of us had much luck that year, though our luck would change and quick!  We also share an interest in wacky clothing, as I tend to wear funny novelty shirts while Joie wears funny novelty pants!  Between the two of us, we've probably put a few Spencer's employees though college!  One of things I miss most about cons is seeing all my pals that I literally only get to see at shows maybe once or twice a year.  Hopefully next year, we can all get together again for some comics, food truck staples and silly clothes!  Until then, keep those corgis rocking Joie!

That's all for today.  Next week, come back and we'll do some moose stuff.  What does that entail?  Hell if I know?  We don't have moose in San Diego, though my nephew eats like one, such bad table manners that boy has!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

ALL IS FAIR AT THE SAN DIEGO (DEL MAR) FAIR!!!

Welcome to July CRAZIES!!!  Things are moving along as the world starts to recover from the pandemic.  We clearly aren't out of the woods yet, but the light at the end of the tunnel continues to get brighter.  Here in California, the state is by and large reopened now and numbers have largely stayed low, so, I reckon that's progress in some regard.  I myself am fully vaccinated but proceeding cautiously.  "Safe-than-sorry" is among my mottos in life. Things have improved here though, and because California has done a good job with vaccine rollout, many of the things we love so much have come back, like the San Diego County Fair, or Del Mar Fair for us old schoolers.  It was a scaled back version of it, but any fair is better than no fair, so put on some loose fitting pants and grab some sporks because today, we are going to the Fair!  Enjoy...  

My nephew, Dante Jr, and my niece Kristen.  Both have big appetites and both are more than happy to rub in the fact that their teenage metabolism can burn all this food off much more quickly than mine can!  By the way, those are Cowboy (BBQ tri-tip) Fries, Piggy (BBQ Pulled-Pork) Fries and Pastrami Chili Cheese Fries on the table.  And all were insanely good!

Zucchini fries?  Chicken and Waffles?  Fried Frogs' Legs?  Deep-fried, bacon-wrapped pickles?  Deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos?!?  I swear my brother's kids want me to stay fat!

The Dog Show was a lot of fun.  Not a whole lot was going on this year, due to the scale back.  These diving doggies were a nice little break though.  The pig races were also fun, albeit too crowded to get pics of.  Perhaps next year.

Because all the big shows couldn't happen this year, street performers, like this juggler, roamed the fair grounds and offered a much more intimate experience for us.  A lot of these performers were really good too.  Under normal circumstances, you couldn't have these guys perform because the grounds would be too crowded! 

Initially, there were only two rides open during the first weekend.  After the state reopened, 16 more rides came in!  It wasn't a huge Fun Zone,  but it was great to see some of these come back.  They even had one of those cheesy funhouses!

Food is a big part of the SD Fair and this year was no exception.  They usually have well over 100 food vendors at the Fair, but this year, only 40 were allowed.  Some real heavy hitters didn't get to come this year, but the ones that did certainly didn't disappoint.  Hopefully next year, they can all come back.

Speaking of heavy hitters, they don't get any bigger than the Legendary Chicken Charlie!  The picture up above with all the fried food in it came from THAT booth!  These guys actually have a restaurant out here too, though the Fair is where they REALLY test the limits of one's appetite!

The SD Fair's iconic Ferris Wheel.  Just like the Comic Banner at the Convention Center, no trip to the Fair is complete without a picture of this neon wonder!

Some of these rides really light up the night with their beautiful lights!  I rarely go on carnival rides largely due to them just not being all that safe.  But I do love seeing them lit up at night!

One last shot of the rides at night!  With any luck, they'll bring back the bungee jump attraction next year.  Watching people chicken out is one of the most entertaining things at the Fair!

And that was the San Diego County Fair this year.  Dubbed "Home Grown Fun," it was vastly smaller than what we'd usually experience.  Admittedly, they probably could've done a lot more than what they did, but at the same time, there was really no telling where we'd be once June rolled around back in April when they were planning all this.  That we were able to get any kind of Fair was a miracle in its own right.  Hopefully, things will continue to improve and hopefully next summer, we can have a big fair again.  Only time and fate will tell.

That's all for today.  Hopefully y'all aren't missing the art too bad this month.  I just wanted to try something different for a change.  People really miss the Comic Con pics, as do I, but until cons come back, it just stings posting them.  Long Beach Comic Con IS scheduled for September, but they have been very slow on tickets.  Hopefully that will be fixed soon.  In the meant time, be sure to come back next week and check out some of the things I've been doing in my garden!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

BLAME IT ON THE DRAGON!!!

We are back again CRAZIES!!!  So pumped to have gone to the Fair again!  At least I hope so.  I write these well in advance, so I have no idea how well it went?  I went to opening day the last time the Fair happened and was stunned at how small the crowds were!  I'd always imagined that would be among the busiest days of the Fair.  Historically speaking, I always worked on opening day, so the opportunity never came to go until 2019.  I got parking up front even, so, lesson learned!  I'm not getting much of a break on the excitement factor though, as I'm going back to Knott's on Friday!  Should be interesting.  But enough about that.  What few of you still read this blog want some art, and I'm here to deliver!  Enjoy...

Copernicus looks like a dog woken up by its own fart!  That'll never happen in his comic of origin, but it would be funny if it did!  Copernicus is a dragon dog and part of the crew from Dana Atnip's wonderful comic Galactic Dragons, the tale of a brave, and short, dragon captain attempting a dangerous rescue mission with a ragtag crew of inept civilians...  IN SPACE!!!  Until I drew this, I'd drawn all but one of her characters, Copernicus, the dragon dog.  Well I had to remedy that, and Inktober provided a good opportunity to do just that!  Dana's a very dear friend who's done so much whimsical fan art of my characters.  I always feel like I'm cheating her when I return the favor as my skills don't even come close to hers!  Dana's easily among the 10 best cartoonists in webcomics today.  Why Disney or Nickelodeon haven't come knocking on her door yet is beyond me, but their loss is our gain!

And that's all for the midway point of June 2021!  We'll be back next week with a relatively familiar face because he appeared recently.  I should've spread this one out more, but I just can't pass up an opportunity to do fan art for such a funny character!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

FREDDY'S GOT BACK!!!

We are back!  I have particular reason to be excited this week as I'll be heading back to the San Diego County Fair on Friday, or the Del Mar Fair if you're an old schooler like me.  It'll be greatly scaled back from past Fairs due to limited attendance, but the Fair folks have promised there will still be animal and plant exhibits, a few rides and PLENTY of life-shortening BBQ and deep fried food to clog what few clear arteries I have left, so it should still be fun to an extent.  The return to normal will be slow, but we will get there, day by day.  In the meantime, here's some art!  Enjoy...

This is Fred.  He's a dog, or rather, an alien disguised as a dog!  The creation of Dawn Griffin, Fred was part of her amazing comic Zorphbert & Fred, the tale of two aliens, disguised as dogs, studying human nature.  The comic ended a few years ago, but still leaves a big impression on the webcomic world.  Dawn was among the first pros to really befriend me when I started my journey as a cartoonist on the web, so I always try to work in at least one piece of fan art for her every year.  The series had many great characters, with the weird kid probably being the one most of us related to the best, but Fred was always my personal favorite of the cast, as he reminded me of a dog I'd had as a teenager.  He was a boxer named Buddy who very much embodied his namesake.  Goofy, lovable, large and ever so gassy, Buddy was a dead ringer for Fred, and that was years before I ever met Dawn or discovered her comic!  Funny how things work out on a cosmic level that way.

That's all for June Week 2!  But fear not!  We got more ink lines coming next week!  And it features a character I had never drawn before either, so it's kinda groundbreaking even!  That or my house's foundation needs some serious repairs!  In the meantime, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later! 

THE LOAF OAF IS HERE FOR BOTH!!!

We are back and Marching further into March!  Spring isn't officially here yet, but rapidly arriving.  'Course, when you live in San Diego, most days are typically spring-like throughout the year.  But enough about that.  Today's the day we meet a long lost CRAZY character!  Who is it you ask?  Well, scroll down and see for yourself!  Enjoy...

The Loaf Oaf!  Funny, fuzzy and colorful.  What more can be said about him?  Well, a little bit actually!  A while back, some pals and I on Twitter were goofing around with some word play and rhymes in our tweets when Zombie Boy creator Mark Stokes decided to join in.  I can't recall exactly what lead to him saying it, but he mentioned a character named the "Loaf Oaf."  We all had a good laugh over it as I replied that the "Loaf Oaf" sounded like a character name out of a 70's Hanna-Barbera cartoon!  Mark had a big laugh over it too and said he wanted to see the Loaf Oaf, so I drew him!  Leave it to Mark to come up with a hilarious character on the spot, though I'm not sure if even he pictured the Loaf Oaf as a dog!  Originally a Twitter exclusive, he's now been cleaned up and polished for the blog!  I don't recall having a backstory for him other than he's a fat, dumb, clumsy dog that loves sandwiches, hence the name, "Loaf Oaf."  Perhaps one day he'll make his way to Bubble Fox.  Being a dog and all, he's a good candidate!

And that's it for this week!  We'll be back next time with a fun posting highlighting some wonderful art that was gifted to me recently!  So hopefully y'all will come back and give it a look.  Until then, take care and I'll catch y'all later!