I attended Presidency 5 on September 22nd and 23rd at and near the Orange County Convention Center. The gathering is of Republicans from all 67 counties in Florida, along with delegates who participate in a straw ballot to determine who the state is supporting for the presidency on the G.O.P. side.

I found myself wearing many hats during my time there which was okey dokey with me. Manning the information booth at the Rosen Plaza for a few hours for the Florida Federated Republican Women, of which I am an associate member, had me making use of my extensive knowledge of the area. On the 23rd I went onto the main concourse of the Orange County Convention Center and helped out in the Herman Cain campaign booth folding t-shirts and making tickets for an event the night of the 23rd, which I’ll detail further in Part 2.

The sketches above are from day 1, the 22nd. Below is a view of the concourse at the convention center from one point in both directions. This is at the end of the day and we were closing down. The night before this area was filled with people waiting to get into the Presidential debate.

For a short while I drew caricatures for the Florida Federated Republican Women. This is George Mann, who is a multi-generation Florida native whose family has been in the cattle business for over a century in Florida. He also is a Cracker storyteller.

On the left is Ann Archer (with her daughter Pam Archer) who is the longest serving on the Florida Executive Committee. At this point over 60 years. She was at one time in Dade County. On the right is the first black woman to serve on the Dade County Republican Executive Committee. I introduced these two and they shared stories of their times in Dade County.

More than 40 years ago political cartoonist for the St. Petersburg Times switched over to draw for The Orlando Sentinel and moved from Pinellas County to Orlando’s Orange County, here in Florida. He brought with him his Cartoon Museum that he had started in St. Petersburg. The Cartoon Museum was an early version of the comic shop you see today. He also had a slew of original comic book and illustrators artwork. He re-established The Cartooon Museum and started Central Florida’s first comic book show, The Orlando Con. Jim brought in the top in the cartooning profession and even motion picture celebrities.

The Con had it’s long time home at The International Inn on International Drive in Orlando. It’s owner at teh time and now, Harris Rosen, had a father who was a caricaturist who had his celebrity caricatures up in the Waldor-Astoria in New York City. Harris, being a cartoon fan, gave Ivey a terrific deal to have the Con at the International Inn and it was a success for all.

When I was young, my family would stay at The International Inn and then attend The Orlando Con each year. It was great fun and I have very fond memories of the Inn, the Con and Jim Ivey. Harris Rosen has been going around and, wisely,  renaming hotels he owns in Central Florida with his name. The International Inn is now The Rosen Inn.  Recently I was near the hotel and wished I had a reason to stayt there for old times sake. While planning on attanding the political convention, Presidency 5, I realized I had a reason to stay there and did this past September 22nd.

When I got there I ran into a fellow, Chuck (above), who has worked at the hotel since about 1980. He told me about his helping Jim setup the Con in it’s later years to it’s end in the late-80s (It is now known as the Mega-Con and held at the Orange County Convention Center.). He showed me around where the Con used to be, now part gift shop and work room. He remembers meeting folks who drew for MAD, Car-Toons, etc. He loved being around the whole cartooning motif.

I had to draw him as my little thanks for his help. He’s holding the drawing above. It’s him opening a closet at the hotel and superheroes and comic books falling out. Thanks, Chuck,for helping bring the joy of comics to Central Florida!

A watercolor caricature I painted today!

Did the caricature thing Saturday. Here are some photos from the fun event!

Was doing the live drawing again using Justin TV and in 3 hours got a ton done! below shows the lot drawn which includes Tuesday’s editorial cartoon, Tuesday’s Swampy’s Florida, a bunch of book illustrations for a client, a character sheet for another client, a drawing of Ronald Reagan for a Justin TV viewer, etc. The Sketch O’ Week is also in the mix and shown above. Contributing subjects were Joe Read, “Monkey” , and TDebondt, “Fire & Baseball”. That was a tough one, but I did draw it right on the spot after the subjects were provided.

Introduced the newest Swampy’s Florida coloring book Saturday at a back-to-school event in Marion County at our Springs Festival tables. This new coloring book features the springs in Marion County and illustrates how a spring operates. Over 500 coloring books were given out to young folks that came through the events. All in conjunction with promoting the upcoming Marion County Springs Festival, September 24th.

Above is me before the event started with a couple of helpers. Below is the organizer of our Springs Festival contribution, Lisa Saupp, with a coloring book  that I drew a drawing for her in.

After a computer crash, getting a new one, new software, etc., I’ve fallen waaaaay behind in posting here. Gonna try to catch up this week. First, here’s a recent watercolor illustration I painted.

What if the problems with the TSA could have been seen in the past?

Here’s a rare posting of one of my editorial cartoons here, just cause it ain’t all that controversial. 🙂 That and my editorial cartoon blog is not working right now due to a delayed reaction to a move from one server to another.

If you feel brave, you can click here and visit a slew more of my editorial cartoons at Glenn Beck’s site.

Today is the International Sunflower Guerrilla Gardening Day 2011 and I decided to participate. Here are seeds, hoe and a Black-eyed Susan to monitor my progress. After I planted the seeds the Blackeyed Susan gave me a thumbs up.

Made a trip to pick up the new Swampy’s Florida Lakeland coloring book. Along the way stopped at a Steak ‘n Shake and had a burger and shake with my father and looked over some comics I recently pulled out and took the photo below. Above is a sketch I made there to wrap up the March Sketch-A-Day.

Heading home I stopped for something to drink at a convenience store and came out to a car that wouldn’t start. I quickly called the Allstate roadside help number and waited. This the the third time this has happened since December. The car has been looked at a number of times. Replaced batteries, changed out wires, etc. And here I was again. After a while a car pulled up with a Pop-A-Lock sign on the top. A locksmith with a battery charger had been sent. I was hoping for a bit more… and I got it. The fellow asked what happened. I said I’ll show him. I got in the car and turned the key…and the car started. Was I embarrassed! We stood and discussed the various earlier efforts to fix it in the past and potential causes. The fellow, Julius, figured it out. It’s the starter. It’s missing internal teeth. The car will usually start. BUT if you happen to try and start it when the starter is in a spot of a missing tooth, it won’t start. Now I know the problem. First I have to get through a busy weekend and then next week deal with a bad tooth.