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My Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Warm-Up illustration for April 22nd – Book Characters.

by on Apr.23, 2020, under Books, Illusration

Off the top of my head illustrated three main characters of books I’ve just finished.
First is Cluny Brown of the book with the same name by Marjery Sharp.
The next is a drawing with no reference of Thomas A. Edison. I just finished ‘The Edisons of Fort Myers’ by Tom Smoot.
The last is the evil, madman, Warren Latch, of ‘The Loner: Brutal vengeance’ by William Johnstone.

All ink on paper.  No pencils. No plan. Just started drawing.

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My Daily Warm-Up Live Video on Facebook Today at 3pm!

by on Apr.20, 2020, under Cartooning

The first of my Daily Warm-Up Live Video is at 1pm here.
This will be shorter videos of about 15 minutes or so.
Each day I’ll be drawing something to get the day started…mostly due to my day typically ending around 5am. 🙂
Feel free to jump in. Often i’ll take suggestions from those coming by. We can also chat a bit. 🙂
 
Then at 3pm today I’ll follow up on my new Cartoons by Rob Smith, Jr. page where these warm-ups will regularly be just about every day.

You can see it here:
https://www.facebook.com/CartoonsByRobSmithJr

 
That page will also have longer live video of me working on projects.
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My Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing #18 from Saturday!

by on Apr.20, 2020, under Cartooning, Illusration

Here’s the Ha-Ba-Da-Bee #18 Live Drawing I did Saturday.
Made up as I went along from words given by those watching in a bit over an hour.
All improvisation with no pencils or preparation. Just ink on blank paper.

Next live Ha-Ba-Da-Bee broadcast: Tuesday at 3pm here.
Come on by and let’s see what we come up with then!

Thanks to all who participated!
I’ve included links to those with sites I know & think you all should support.
Those held over from Tuesday –
Julie Stephens Pointer (Julianne’s Coastal Cottage): Hillsborough River State Park (The setting)
Terisa Glover (http://bomartrophyshop.com/): Bubblegum blowing dragon, Viewmaster, Harmonica, Trilby
Diana u’Rico: Zuber, the cat.
Janice McGovern Moffitt: Flowers
Sharon KnowsNothing Baker: Hummingbird
Gar Thaddeus Gernstein: Harmonica
Melanie King: Butterflies
Angela Powelll: Shih Tzu
Contributed Saturday –
Karen Rontowski: Octopus, Cell Phone
Nancy Ingle Kiffer: Puppies
Bill Hinds (https://www.gocomics.com/tankmcnamara/) : Flying Monkeys
Denise Lappe: Giant Mutant Mosquito
Leann Handley: Shark
Mike Wilke (https://tinyurl.com/yc9dzpyf): Cuppa Coffee
Bill Johnston: Two Triceratops Wrestling
Gregory J. Canales: Sandwich,
Barbara Harris: Manatee, Mushrooms

Due to popular demand –
If you wish, you may contribute whatever you want for these hi-jinks:
https://www.patreon.com/RobSmithJr

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Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing – Saturday – 3pm!

by on Apr.18, 2020, under Cartooning, Illusration

Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing – Saturday – 3pm!
On my Facebook/RobSmithJr page!

I’ll be live creating an illustrated story entirely based upon the interactions I have with those of you that tune in.
No telling what will happen and what i might draw!

I’ll be over in my neighbor’s garden with the babbling fountains…where i’ll be babbling, too.

Forecast is for rain. If that happens, i’ll move it all inside….
and babble there instead.

I have some news to babble about.

Below, please type a thing or two I might start with to create the story.

For your consideration: https://www.patreon.com/RobSmithJr

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My Ha-Ba-Da-Bee #16 Live Drawing #Easter Egg Hunt!

by on Apr.14, 2020, under Cartooning, Illusration

Here’s the Ha-Ba-Da-Bee #16 Live Drawing I did Saturday.
Made up as I went along from words given by those watching in a little over an hour with gray later added.
All improvisation with no pencils or preparation. Just ink on blank paper.

Thanks to Tony Petry for his great help during the broadcast!
Also thanks to my neighbors, the Fishers, for providing the setting!

Next live broadcast: Tuesday at 3pm.
My host, Phil Fisher has requested a setting of medieval times.
Come on by and let’s see what we come up with then!

Due to the next day being Sunday, I called the setting to be an #Easter egg hunt.

Thanks to all who participated!
– Marguerite Cavanaugh: Large kitty
– Cherrie French: Playing marbles, Squirrel with eggs, Clothes on line, Ducks
– Ryan Stoker: Ducks
– Candy JonesBeefy King
– Michelle R Bauer: How about a target with a bullseye?
– Terisa Glover: Peeps, Chicken, Kangaroo, Clint Eastwood, Twinkies, Opossum, Peacock, Trilby.
– Steve Daniels: Ostrich
– Melissa Busby – George formby, Hydrangeas, carrots and chicks
– Angie Thomas Daoud: Chihuahua with bunny ears
– Diana u’Rico: Koala
– Mike Wilke: Fly

 

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Book: ‘Birds Of Florida’ by Frances W. Hall

by on Apr.08, 2020, under Books

Birds Of FloridaBirds Of Florida by Frances W. Hall
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’ve probably got a dozen copies of this and most of those are different editions. Probably had most for 30 years or so. Never read any of them, but did use them for reference.

Decided to aid ‘Draw a Bird Day’ by doing a live video of me showing how to draw Florida birds. Nabbed a half dozen Florida bird books off the shelf to talk about. Decided to finally read this one.

This suffers from age. Publishing in the ’40s was tough involving photographs and back then it was tough to get photographs, especially birds. So, the author drew the birds. Just not all of them. So, the wiring of each bird doesn’t have an image of a bird to go with the description. Many of the drawings are not even on the same page of the description. Again, limitations of printing at the time.

The descriptions are a bit slight to tag a bird in the wild. Even the drawings are pretty loose. Though, the illustrations are very good.

Something else this book suffers from age-wise is that some of the information is no longer accurate. The dusty seaside sparrow is now not proliferating, but extinct. And the ibis is no longer low in numbers. There’s more.

Still a great effort for it’s time.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 4 out of ten points.

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Book: ‘Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand’ by Leonard Peikoff

by on Apr.07, 2020, under Books

Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn RandObjectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand by Leonard Peikoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Want to know or understand Ayn Rand’s creation, ‘Objectivism’? This is IT.

To the music video-video game crowd, this will seem cumbersome in ideas and reading. In the past few decades the education has been a backward one of emotion and not reason. This book well explains why folks can take the emotion and altruistic route. but also explain why that is a route to a cliff to fall off. Young people need to read and read books like this.

I don’t even agree with a bunch of this. Young people just need to really read and accept challenging their thinking.

Peikoff does a very good job presenting Rand’s ideas and theories. He slips at times with flimsy writing and obtuse examples. This is especially the case in his presenting ideas of ‘Capitalism’ being “real” after hundreds of pages explaining the importance of empirical truth. It’s pretty tough to support the man-imagined ideas of financial exchange as a truth that exists beyond faith, a mostly bad term for Rand. Especially when Peikoff labels those who won’t accept Rand’s view of ‘Capitalism’ as “stupid”.

Peikoff also struggles through the chapter about ‘Art’ with the similar problems with ‘capitalism’. Both also happen to be the last chapters.

This is mostly not the case. Peikoff does an excellent job of presenting Rand’s ideas of “Whim Worship”. Some despise her views of this. i think those against the idea would have trouble getting around Peikoff’s cogent explanation.

Another excellent entry is laying out the ideas of “rights” in the ‘Government’ chapter. Separating Rand’s views of “rights” (Which i disagree with) and how “rights” are generally perceived (Which i also disagree with). The chapter is well crafted and worded. Great work!

I’ll write the book starts off clunky and, as pages turned, gets very focused. The last few chapters are a bit sloppy. The last chapter seems to have been constructed separately and is the best part of the books.

Bottom line: i recommend this book. 9 out of 10 points.

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My Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing I did Saturday!

by on Apr.06, 2020, under Cartooning, Illusration

Here’s the Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing I did Saturday.
Made up as I went along from words given by those watching in a little over an hour with gray later added.
 
Thanks to Tony Petry for his great help during the broadcast!
Also thanks to my neighbors, the Fishers, for providing the setting!
 
Next live broadcast: Tuesday at 3pm.
Might draw live something else Thursday at 3pm.
Come on by and let’s see what we come up with then!
 
Thanks to all who participated!
Melanie King – Springs flowers, butterflies
Ellen Hunter Simms – 1930’s automobile, A dog playing in a sprinkler, A moth putting on make-up, Ant Hill, A hammer and saw wielding carpenter bee, A hog wielding a butterfly net, Ravens pecking at an apple pie,Christmas wreath in the diner window, An old fashioned sign advertising Mom’s Diner, A tiny gorilla on the diner roof, caterpillar, A wild turkey with a telescope, A top hat and tuxedo wearing lizard, Ferris Wheel, Slip-n-slide
Judy Smith Dickerson – Elvis
Cody Phillips – Otter on top of car, spoonbill
Julie Stephens PointerJulianne’s Coastal Cottage bag with Kermit’s Key Lime Pie on a Stick inside and Palmetto Bug
Cherrie French – Horse Fly
Debi O’Driscoll – Alligator blowing bubbles, porcupine on crutches
Tom Stemmle – Dean Martin (On the Slip & Slide)
Mike Wilke – A bald eagle with a hairpiece.
Pamela Guenther and Andrea Kuczynski‘s Caleb – Kitty
Andrea Kuczynski – Rose, Balloons
Charles Bailey – John Crozier (In the Waffle House shirt.)
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Book: ‘Asterix the Gaul’ by René Goscinny

by on Apr.05, 2020, under Books

Asterix the Gaul (Asterix, #1)Asterix the Gaul by René Goscinny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

First, I love the storytelling and illustration throughout. Outstanding work that sails waaaay past the dodgy story told. There really isn’t a story. It’s more about one side picking on the other side and vice-versa with a simple story device to conclude it all. There is little intrigue and the Gauls and Romans are nominally defined to care about any of them…except for the excellent illustration work. That is really the only reason to look at this. It’s also interesting to see the artwork make a bit of an alteration over the course of many pages. Seems Uderzo may have had this as a rush project and figured it out as he went. Still a great portfolio of cartoon work.
Consider this a picture book than a story to read and the reader will be far more satisfied.

Bottom line: I recommend the art and not the story. 5 out of 10 points.

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Book: ‘Bad Kitty School Daze’ by Nick Bruel

by on Apr.04, 2020, under Books

Bad Kitty School DazeBad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

As I try to navigate through what is available these days for young people (apparently the intent), I pick up what I come across. This got put before me, so I read it. Never more than after this do I pity the folks slogging through nasty stuff like this and thinking this is child worthy.

This would’ve been better presented as text than with the horrible art attached. The drawings are inconsistent and the person illustrating flips the card of lack of training with the near entire lack of setting. The characters, or whatever that is drawn, are so inconsistent and poorly rendered. The cat is a swipe of ‘Bloom County’s ‘Bill the Cat’. Unfortunately, the illustrator shows little to no ability to present an illustrated story. Knowing the history of children’s literature, how this found a publisher is baffling.

I wrote that this would be better as just text. That would be true, if a coherent story was attached. Instead the plot involves a cat presumed bad and sent to a school. The reasoning for this is barely explained. The school is also left to the imagination except for a name on a page. This goes on involving shoddy writing about interactions among those in the class and situations trod far too many times in various media.

The best written parts are asides that are mostly text that don’t connect well with the over all story.

There’s a short comic book-like few page story that is supposed to look crudely drawn. These pages are the best rendered of the lot. Story is typical bad guys versus good guys stuff involving the characters seen in the story preceding.

Of all the children’s books out there, parents are advised to choose on of the hundreds of thousands available better than this.

Bottom line: i don’t recommend this book. 2 out of ten points.

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My Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing for March 31st, 2020!

by on Apr.02, 2020, under Cartooning

Here’s the Ha-Ba-Da-Bee Live Drawing I did Tuesday.
Made up as I went along from words given by those watching in a little over an hour with gray later added.
 
Next live broadcast: Saturday at 3pm.
Might draw live something else Thursday at 3pm.
Come on by and let’s see what we come up with then!
 
Thanks to all who participated!
Cherrie French – Six Gun (Which gave the setting), dancing shrimp (Combined with Ellen’s ‘Rockettes’)
Terisa Glover – Seal
Ellen Hunter Simms – Kayak, Queen Elizabeth, Hoola Hooping Porcupines, Rockettes, Vulture, toothpicks, coyote, hot air balloon
Randy Bish – Gabby Hayes
Melanie King – Waterfall, willow tree
Michelle Chapman Ferguson – Dolphin, deer
Cheryl Ann Otero-Jacomet – iphone
Darren Harvey – Mexican food (Taco Bell)
Gar Thaddeus Gernstein – Unicycle, Doctor Doom, Gar the Ghoul (Squirrel)
Steve Daniels – Skunk, yo-yo
Bill Johnston – Badger
Diana u’Rico – Sean Connery, squirrel (Dressed as Gar the Ghoul), owl
Denise Lappe – Hair stylists
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