Archive for November, 2008
Doggie Look-Alike
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
Banditt the Beagle (also known as “Smooshbucket”) submitted by Georgette Vaughn
Pooch Cafe Reuben Entry for 2006
Thursday, November 27th, 2008Here, presented for the first time anywhere, is the Pooch Cafe Reuben Award entry for the 2007 Reubens (which is actually for work published in the year 2006). I say “presented for the first time anywhere” since, if you can believe it, my entry got lost in the mail. I had never submitted an entry prior to this one, this was to be my first, and I got it all primped and ready to send off way ahead of sched (a feat quite outside my normal operating procedures for almost anything) and decided that since I still had a month why not just pop it in the good ol’ regular mail? It wasn’t even to save the few bucks on courier costs, it was simply that I didn’t want to wait around a few hours for the courier to come pick it up. For some reason a number of weeks later I got one of those Spidey sense tingles and decided to call to make sure my package had arrived. Not only had it not, but it was past the already extended deadline date by a few days. Evidently my Spidey sense is going to be useless in battle, it’ll kick in several hours after The Rhino has already left me trampled and gored and is on the boat back to Africa.
Anyhoo, I got an e-mail from Reuben head office about another month after that, the envelope had finally shown up, eons too late for consideration and without any explanation from the post office as to where it had been hiding for the past two months. These were the strips bundled up within:
Poncho responds to Izzy
Thursday, November 27th, 2008My dearest, darling Izzy;
Please do not take my slight as personal, my sweet one. You have the face of an angel and the eyes of a moonlit sky. But I’m married to the road. Garbage is my middle name (besides Perry). We would be cute as buttons together side by side on the garbage truck, it’s true, but as much as I might try to love you, garbage will always call my name. But I will keep your love for me close to my heart and cherish it on cold, lonely nights.
Poncho
PS: I am neutered.
Advance Panel of the Two Buds
Wednesday, November 26th, 2008
Here’s a shot of the boys from an upcoming Sunday. J’accuse, Poncho!
Oh, Poncho, You Heart-Breaker
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008Dear Poncho,
Thank you for your prompt response. But I needed time - alas, rejection is bitter medicine. Ah, the garbage man, a worthy contender for el amor, and yet, I believe garbage is meant to be shared. Think it over Poncho; you atop the garbage truck and me ripping the bags open. We would be sooo cute together. See attached photo.
Eternally,
Izzy
(Senorita Isabella Lopez)
PS – I like rawhide bones too! We have so much in common…
Monday, November 24th, 2008
Here’s another piece I did while at the Citizen. Don’t recall at all what the details of the article it was for. I do know that I’ve got a stockpile of arcane bits of information from reading articles on business, science, culture, etc, that I had to dissect in order to produce accompanying art. Do you know how many types of bacteria are in the average public restroom? I do.
My Path To Syndication, PART 3: Step Aside, Thor
Sunday, November 23rd, 2008So it was that I entered the advertising phase of my career. By year three of college I was an advertising major with editorial minor. (For those of you who don’t know, “editorial” is illustration for articles in magazines, newspapers, etc.) I graduated Sheridan College and quickly found work as a night-watchman at a tractor factory. I was supposed to patrol the grounds while a senior watchman manned the front gate, but I’d find an empty board room and spend the night watching movies and drawing comics. I figured it made no difference, since if I saw anybody robbing I wasn’t about to confront them weaponless and at minimum wage.Then I got my first job at an ad agency. It was a pay cut. I worked on the “stat machine”, a now outdated piece of equipment which was really a glorified photocopier on which you would make photo-prints of lettering and such for paste-up (before computers made paste-up obsolete). I worked in a darkroom 8 hours a day and began to resemble Gollum. Just before my skin became completely luminescent and I lost all social skills they made me a junior in the art department and I got access to fun assignments and daylight.About a year later my editorial teacher from college recommended me for an on-staff illustration job at the Ottawa Citizen Newspaper. Because they didn’t want all the art to look like it was done by the same person they encouraged me to experiment with as many different styles as possible, the combination of unionized job security and complete artistic freedom has probably never been heard of anywhere in the art world. Over the next 8 years I estimate I did probably 5,000 pieces of art for that paper. A few samples:
And the peace tower logo I drew for the masthead, my legacy of sorts:
How Many Panels Can Float On The Head Of A Comic Strip?
Saturday, November 22nd, 2008
There was some discussion a while ago about the number of panels in Pooch Cafe. Although there’s usually 4, I haven’t imposed any hard rules about it like Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, Ink Pen, etc, where there’s always 4 and they’re always the same size. (I think I saw a Peanuts once where it was a one panel tipped sideways, Chuck and his kite-eating tree, I believe. Then again it could have been just a dream, sorta sounds like madness now that I think about it).
Someone asked if there was a maximum, and I started to wonder about what my own personal high score is for a daily. I think the above, clocking in at a fighting-trim 9 panels, is my champ.
Look Alike
Friday, November 21st, 2008
Chloe submitted by Suzette
Suzette claims that if Chloe was a cartoon dog, she’d be Poncho. Look closely, you can almost see little Chloe’s inner clown juggling and pulling a toy train. She tries her best to speak English, but so far has only been able to tell you the texture of sandpaper and what’s on the top of a house.
Pooch Up Your Desktop
Wednesday, November 19th, 2008
Some more Poncho Folder Icons are up and ready to fill your desktop with joy. There are instructions for both Mac and PC users on how to download and put them into use. If people like ‘em we’ll try to add some of the other Cafe patrons.
Poncho Rockwell
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Here’s a side panel from an upcoming Sunday paying homage to illustration legend Norman Rockwell. This riffs on a painting of himself, a self-portrait of sorts. Poncho smoking a pipe tickles my funny bone.
Poncho In Our Nation’s Cap
Saturday, November 15th, 2008OTTAWA, ONTARIO
Here are the pics of Poncho from Canada’s beautiful capital city of Ottawa courtesy of Poncho host Crystal-Ann Pyne. Here he is in front of the Parliament Building; at Majors Hill Park; at the Art Gallery; on Sparks Street; in front of an historic building on good ol’ Bank St.; in front of a Mamon sculpture; and refreshing himself with a pint. I used to live in Ottawa so these shots really bring back some memories. Thanks, Crystal-Ann!
Guilty Dog
Friday, November 14th, 2008 
This above is a series of sketches I drew of Poncho having an extremely guilty reaction (with Poncho’s design it’s very difficult to show him in classic guilty-dog tail-between-the-legs style) for one of the upcoming Ringtales animated shorts. We’ve very close to completion on the first 4 shorts, the launch is eeking ever closer…
We’ll Always Have Paris
Thursday, November 13th, 2008Dear Poncho,My name is Izzy, short for Seniorita Isbella Lopez, called Ilo by some, and I am a hot little Yorkie/Poodle mix with black fur and smouldering dark eyes! I think I’m in love with you Poncho. You are such a hunk. What are my chances? I have attached photos.Love, Izzy
PONCHO:Dear Seniorita Lopez; I must repay your compliment with a compliment: you are observant, and have excellent taste in canine hunk-age. Alas, like any good dog, my heart belongs to another, the kind and nurturing central figure in my life: the garbage man. My heart flutters each time I hear the tearing gears that trumpet his approach and the divine stench that whispers his name. I dream of joining him one day and riding atop his garbage truck like a Dalmatian on a fire engine, forever. But hey, baby, romance is fickle, if you wanna take a stab at me I do accept gifts, rawhide bones are my favorite.
Guest Drawing
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
Here’s a Poncho done by 7 year old Sydney. I love it, it’s so warm and innocent, in stark contrast to the subject. Of course the stool he’s atop of appears to be the sort one might find in a house, so we can assume he’s defacing an interior wall with graffiti. Nicely captured, Sydney!
Hog & Dog: Best Friends
Monday, November 10th, 2008
This is a funny little pairing spotted by Luke and Jen Wetzel on their way home from a pumpkin patch and reported to me by Dave Coates: “a stray dog palling around with a feral hog. Apparently they were busy trotting off through a field on their way to an adventure when Luke and Jen spotted them from the car and bounded out to take pictures of what was surely one of the greatest events ever to occur in the history of mankind.
Obviously, the animals couldn’t explain how their unlikely partnership came to be, or what the dynamic was when/ if they came upon a portion of food only large enough for one of them. Actually, they very well might’ve been magical talking wish-granting animals, but Luke and Jen are pretty damn wholesome, and such selfish notions wouldn’t be the first to occur when happening upon this sort of scene. So, Jen being a tremendously talented (and prepared) photographer, she dutifully documented this landmark moment in inter-species relations.” Makes a dog palling around with a pigeon or a fish seem downright every-day.
Dog Remembrance Day
Saturday, November 8th, 2008
Turns out Pops was a war hero! (at least, that’s the way he tells it). This is an upcoming panel from the day of. A glass raised to all who sacrificed.
Zen Poncho
Thursday, November 6th, 2008
Here’s an uncharacteristically relaxed and balanced Poncho. Perhaps Fish’s Buddhist teachings have hit home, or perhaps he’s just eaten his weight in pork chops, or perhaps he’s just feeling better about the world now that Obama is comin’.
Open Letter From A Look-Alike
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
“Oh, hey, i really want to be on the pooch cafe website……i always
sit with you guys when you read the funnies. i wanna be there the
next time you read a week’s worth of pooch and hammer? can i, huh?
can i? can i? can i, huh? oh, i promise not to hurl my bed, but i
gotta keep up with the howling through the neighborhood. yeah, the
girls across the street are always impressed and i know the 2 dudes
behind us hear me and then the other guy over on the next street
sometimes chimes in…….i wanna catch some more bugs……those
CHIPMUNKS ARE DRIVING ME CRAZY……..GET THEM OUT OF MY YARD OR LET
ME AT THEM ALREADY!!!! Gonna take it out on the waves….they always
disappear when i bite them…….”
Attica!
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008The other day my master left the house without putting me in my cage then when he got home he was all pissed cause I made a mess. Is this my fault or his?
Spencer
PONCHO:
Freud said there are no such things as accidents. But then he lived in an age before Carrot Top. Still, I endorse keeping behavioral expectations as low as possible, so go ahead, make a mess, and where possible blame it on any available cats, aliens, or exiting Presidents.
Hello, Dominoes?
Sunday, November 2nd, 2008
Here’s an advance panel from an upcoming Sunday. I know how some of you like to take guesses as to what’s going on in these advance shots, I can personally guarantee no one will ever guess this one. (which is kind of an unfair thing to say, seeing as I can pretty much have Poncho go to the moon if I want to, seeing as it’s a comic).
How Fish Does Halloween
Saturday, November 1st, 2008Blogger NinaGeeka very kindly sent me this birthday card. A perfect Halloween costume for a fish. Although I’m reminded of the time Poncho tried to “pimp my fish” and the “bling” caused Fish to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Anyway this is a killer shot. Takes me right back to being a scared little kid watching Jaws (but what doesn’t?).
