HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics and Art

Draw Graffiti Murals

2011-10-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy week of Drawing Graffiti Murals inside various offices. The top picture is a work in progress from earlier today at a media company on Spadina today and the bottom two are from a real estate firm in Yorkville that I finished earlier this week.

COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS and VIDEO GAME ART

2011-10-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! That's me playing the new comic book drawing HEY APATHY! Video game at Nuit Blanche. Special thanks to the collaborative team of Michael Richards (programmer), Dan Morphy w/ Tor-Q (musicians) as well as Alice Dixon and the Urban Space gallery for the opportunity to show! THANKS ALL it was awesome!

MANGA DRAWINGS !

2011-07-17T00:48:00.000-07:00

Comics Online! Weird Strip # 654

2011-07-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Weird Comics Online

Comic Book Blogs Canada Day Long Weekend - Work & Play

2011-07-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for the summer outdoor art festivals...

CBE and HEY APATHY! Limited Edition T-Shirts!

2011-06-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

MORE INFO HERE

COMIC BOK DRAWINGS "ALL WATCHED OVER BY MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE"

2011-06-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS

nature, man and mechanics in joyous synthesis

inspired by the manifesto and Adam Curtis documentry of the same name...

ALL WATCHED OVER BY MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE

COMIC BOOK BLOGS more MOGWOMP SOUP...

2011-06-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

COMIC BOOK BLOGS WEBCOMIC CUT UPS

Comic Book Blogs SNEAK PREVIEW LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRTS

2011-06-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK BLOGS!

SNEAK PREVIEW OF A NEW LIMITED EDITION

HAND PAINTED T-SHIRTS.

MORE INFO COMING SOON!

COmic Book Blogs Mogwomp Soup

2011-06-08T17:06:00.000-07:00

COMIC BOOK BLOGS! Now Serving Mogwomp Soup

READ UNDERGROUND COMICS ONLINE

2011-06-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

STUPID COMICS!

READ COMIC S ONLINE

Read Comic Books Online

2011-06-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE

A Surreal Cityscape.

Getting ready for the NEW ARTS FESTIVAL in Ottawa this weekend and enjoying the incredibly hot weather with some cityscape cartooning while sitting in Kensington Park. It was so quiet and beautiful there today. I hardly even noticed and drug addicts and saw a lot of families with their little kids. Total meditation. The wind was extremely powerful and for the first time ever, I could actually feel the giant tree that I sit under swaying back and forth as though it were a twig! The gust help to keep the heat and humidity down, it was a beautiful day. READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!

smaller version....

READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE An Eyeball Horror

2011-05-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!

A commissioned drawing for some cosmic horror written by Rajeev Mullock.

COMIC BOOK BLOGS DRAWINGS OF TREES

2011-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

COMIC BOOKS BLOGS Drawings of TREES

Now that the weather is getting nice and hot and finally dry enough for some outdoor sketching I've been making my wayround the city getting some strange ideas down on paper. It's kind of like working the streets but a lot more introverted and a lot less stuff to carry. Got to love the hot summer for people watching, city watching and unusual inspirations... READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!

READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE

2011-05-29T21:46:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE

A weird little strip from the future. As if cigarettes weren't enough but as we all know nothing is ever relly enough when it comes to satisfying man's cravings and desires.

HEY APATHY! this ain't really life...

2011-05-28T19:14:00.000-07:00

Just a quick link to one of my all time favorite songs, R.I.P. Gil Scott Heron ...

Otherwise today I existed only outside of my self. It is both my sister's and my crazy little nephew's birthday this weekend ( he almost stole his mother's date the rascal!) Happy Birthday Amanda and Lil Darroch Gorden!

Comic Book Blogs The Metamorphosis

2011-05-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

Comic Book Blogs Gregor's Metamorphosis.

I just can't shake this horrible feeling that I'm turning into something wretched. Life just feels so empty and pointless right now and I can't make any connections with anyone else. I had one friend who seemed to understand me but she just flipped out and turned into a yuppie. She told me I was nothing, just a cockroach and there was no point in my disatifaction with a existence built on slave labor, mass hypnosis and shitty popular culture. "Just accept it! There is no use is yelling and screaming about world!" But if I don't do it, who will? I am so sad right now. At least I'm still a cockroach, it's a far more respectable than being human ...

COMIC BOOK BLOGS METAMORPHOSIS

2011-05-25T14:01:00.000-07:00

COMIC BOOK BLOGS METAMORPHOSIS

COMIC BOOK BLOGS SURREAL ALIENS!

2011-05-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY!

COMIC BOOK BLOGS! A Surreal Alien Origin story! You know the one where a planet is doomed so they send their kid to camp earth . Not only does the child escape certain doom, but his rather ordinary existence on the otherworld is replaced by one of extrodinary prowress on our meager planet! More silly cartoons from my mid-life crisis sketchbook. Read comic books online!

Comic Book Blogs Work in Progress

2011-05-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK BLOGS!

Hah, I just got back from a 2 o'clock Saturday night stroll down party lane ( College Street) to buy some chips, get some fresh air and a stretch. I saw people falling over, huddled in clouds of cigarette smoke, could determine which bars were serving vodka as opposed to the ones serving beer and every alley and empty storefront reaked of marijuana. The highlight of the staggering stinkfest had to be the idiot who dropped his pizza right in a pile of unidentifiable ooze, he picked it up and almost fell over but that didn't stop him from eating that slice. Now just to be fair I'll expose a little of my own filth. When I got back in my studio my desk looked like this ( above pictures). I found my mess a little comical so I took a couple pictures

Comic Book Blogs! The Future of Reading Are Kindles Recyclable?

2011-05-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

COMIC BOOK BLOGS "THE FUTURE OF READING!

Some press today about the Kindle ebook out selling paper editions. No big surprise the future is yesterday now and things like this are to be expected. Just a couple questions came to mind though, considering the ever growing pile of computer landfills and the never ending life expectancy of plastics... are Kindle's recyclable? Well apparently if you don't throw them out and go through a number of tedious forms and services you can eventually send the ebook back to the company after you are done with it, but really what are the chances of anyone doing that. The steps involve filling out personal information, printing a UPS free-shipping sticker, packing it and mailing it to the Kindle recycling plant. Wow, maybe a couple of hard core hippies will do it but I doubt that you will. It's very encouraging though (that Orwell's 1984 won't be available due to copyright laws until 2 years after the book predicts all human language will be completely reverted to newspeak lol!) that numerous corporate blogs pomoting the ebook as Eco-Freindly and Green-whatever also have this on their sites ....

As if that's going to stop us from throwing them out...

Surreal Animations

2011-05-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Comic Book Blogs "SURREAL CITY"

2011-05-17T02:28:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Drawings And Strange Stories

Inspired by my new housemates who have decided that the no smoking rule doesn't apply to them when a) they think no one else is home, b) they think everyone else is asleep, c) it is raining outside and d) if they have company over despite repeated warnings and a recent notice of eviction if the problem persits. Also a low income housing project that some of my friends from the graffiti street art days used to live in burned down last week thanks to a similiar problem.

Comic Book Drawings & Graffiti Street Art

2011-05-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Drawings & Graffiti Street Art!

The end of an era, (so to speak) I got a phone call from a long time collector who I met while working the streets yesterday who was wondering if I had any of my old canvas’ left for sale. I used to make a bunch of acrylic on canvas’ works ranging from 8” x 10 “ to 30” x 40 “ which I sold while performing on Queen Street West in downtown Toronto. So I scrambled through what little I art I have stored in my apartment and discovered there are only 4 pieces left. Pretty amazing considering I was cranking out anywhere from 25 and 50 small canvas’ works a week between 2006 and 2008. That equals about 2500 artworks ( mostly 8 x 10”) hanging on weirdo’s walls world wide. And this total does not even include the small prints or ink on paper works I was producing before graduating to the finer canvas’.

It pretty crazy and well feels really good to look back on that accomplishment and say hey those were some damn good times. I’ll never forget one morning when I set up my stuff and this guy with a really thick Australian accent approached me with the following question “ So you just sit here and draw pictures all day?” My response was “Pretty much, here let me tell you about this one …” He cut me off before I could explain it saying “ oh I know all about the City of Gears, I have one in my house in Australia, my daughter bought one here the last time she was visiting.”

COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS and MONSTER ANIMATION

2011-05-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS & MONSTER ANIMATION

OK this is pretty freakin cool. I am working with graphics designer Michael Peters on a new series of 3D paintings in which we are going to render my surreal cityscapes in a virtual video game style format. These interactive artworks will be projected on the gallery ( any interested galleries out there?) walls and the audience can navigate there way through them using a video game joystick. Er, um, I think this is crazy amazing and the closest I've come to interactive art since I left the streets. More as things develop.

Comic Book Drawings! Everyone's Favorite Webslinger ...

2011-05-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

A little bit of childhood nostalgia, this one's for my friends at Whitechapel and absolutely everyone else who is, was, or wishes they still were 10 years old. ( Spider-Man is a trademark/copyright of Marvel Comics but I think it's o.k. to post fan art once in a while)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULII!!

2011-05-13T11:34:00.001-07:00

MONSTERS

2011-05-10T21:11:00.000-07:00

Random Nudity for Warren Ellis' WHITECHAPEL website

2011-05-09T21:50:00.000-07:00

THIS PAGE IS BASICALLY GRAND CENTRAL FOR CROSS POSTING. Anything that I need to post around the net that doesn't require it's own blog is going through here first.

It is what the title says, and Warren tried to tell me WHITECHAPEL wasn't socially significant.

These are images I knicked from PAPRIKA's blog He was hating on the naked beard pictures but it only took me about 30 seconds to find these in his archives.

Out of the Slump ....

2011-05-09T12:05:00.000-07:00

Been feeling not good lately but I got a very special message from some very good freinds today -

I am revitalized. Thanks VALENTE click on his name the artwork is amazing.

Comic Book Blogs SELF PORTRAIT metamorphosis

2011-05-09T00:02:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Drawings

Ok so the last few weeks have been less than inspiring. I've been really, really down. I'll run through my situation quickly just to give any reader’s out there a sense of why I kind of wish the universe would end these days but even worse why I almost stopped caring. 1) ADDICTION: like so many of us I’ve been trapped by addiction for holy s—t 18 years or so now and I just can’t take it any more. 2) MONEY –For the past couple of years I have been financing my projects with the support of various art council granting programs. I thought I was building a future and some strong relationships here but this year after spending 2 months writing essays and filling out forms I received a grand total of $2000 municipally and a glorious go fuck yourself from the Canadian Arts Council, (next year I’m going to draw them a picture of a beaver driving a Newfoundland schooner across a map of Canada) 3) MY SOUL- people keep calling me to do commercial work and I had to take some for the first time in over 10 years, I feel like bloody Winston with my face in a cage full of rats, 4) THE WORLD- I am so stupid that I actually tried to discuss the problems of the world with a group of Americans, I got so frustrated that I turned into as big of an asshole as those people are and virtually lost all faith in mankind. 5) ALL OF THE ABOVE – have put a serious strain on my 6 year relationship and my girlfriend, who was basically my wife, isn’t talking to me right now.

Deep breath, I’m dealing with it all as best as I can. The self portrait at the top of this post is my first drawing in weeks but at least it’s more positive than the one I did near the end of April ( reposted below). keep on truckin , just keep on truckin ...

Toronto WEED March 2011

2011-05-08T12:51:00.000-07:00

Toronto's WEED MARCH In Queens Park May 7/ 2011

Yesterday, May 7 2011, Toronto hosted some sort of Freedom or Weed march in our lovely little Queen's Park. I’d no real intention of investigating the situation but happened upon it on my way home from the TCAF ( Toronto Comic Arts Festival ) so I thought I might as well walk through to see what these political revolutionaries were up too. Unfortunately the smell, incredibly akin to an unkempt public washroom, prevented me from investigating the scene too closely.

I walked around the edge of the park listening to the bronchial chorus of coughing while dodging a few errand Frisbees. Although I understand that there are many benefit’s to the use of hemp and medicinal marijuana, and fully support the freedom of choice as to what people do with their own bodies, i.e. weed should be legal and regulated like alcohol (a narcotic reasonable folk have agreed is not be used in public parks nor do we parade around the city under the influence) however I didn’t really receive any of those messages from this peaceful group gathering .

Nope I just saw a lot of under age suburbanites getting looped off their rockers (put in a more hip term here if you know one I don’t really care), eating corporate pizza and “picking up” (in this instance “picking up” refers to romance as well as to drugs). In one instance I saw two young girls sprawled out on a blanket looking fairly magazine-like but they were so stoned they didn’t realize they had sat behind the portable toilets and beside the sewage pumping truck. It was kind of sad.

It was also very strange and certainly noteworthy that as I left the gathering and continued walking the city it was easy to spot anyone on their way to the “march” (here “march” refers to a bunch of people sitting around stoned in a park, I believe there was a parade but I didn't see it). Although fashion was one indicator there seemed to be a rather diverse grouping culturally and the real signifiers had nothing to do with decoration. The truth is these people were marked by an unusual slouch, unnatural flesh tones, squinting eyes, and a POWERFUL STENCH. It’s almost like Big Brother coated them with a smell designed to slow them down. I saw group of kids riding their bikes no handed, dangling their arms all free-like wearing dark sunglasses and staring up at the sky. They were all chilling and smiling like children on a trail. Only it wasn’t a trail, it was the middle of University Avenue on a very, very busy Saturday afternoon. Sure the third eye might have been opened but how are they going to see anything all squinty with smoke in the way?

William Burroughs’s put it quite elegantly when he spoke of cannabis as a mind altering hallucinogens. He said that after you use such a drug you can learn from it, access that state of mind again, without actually having to succumb to repeated use (kind of hypocritical for a junkie but wise nonetheless). In my opinion these protestors must take to this advice. If these people really want “FREEDOM” and the right to smoke weed, next year they should have a SOBER march. It would show the world that they are respectable, intelligent and reasonable people, and not merely addicts or disgruntled party-kids. I mean imagine if anti-prohibition co-coordinators got drunk before going to court? Show everyone you know how to think and communicate and use the drug responsibly. This will be far more likely to impress a critical public consensus and all of the business people who make our laws as well.

Wow man ,my camera got stoned man, man thas cool

TCAF Toronto Comic Arts Festival!!!!

2011-05-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the TCAF it was rocking. My word there were more people there than there are at some of the main stream conventions I attended last year. I saw Chester Brown and for once he was too busy signing books too talk with! The whole place was packed, it was actually really hard to check out the comics but I pushed my way around( as politely as possible) and saw tonnes of amazing drawings. No freaking way was I meant to be a spectator though and my agoraphobia got the best of me, I eventually had to run for my life. Couldn't find the Sequential crew unfortunetly but I did get some impressively awkward attempts to avoid eye contact with me from another small press company that rejected my work last year. Ha that was a fun. I might try to go back earlier tomorrow because I didn't really get to talk with any artists it was just too busy ( I can't afford to buy anything so it wouldn't have been fair to eat up there time). Get your butts down there if you can!!!

WHY THE UNIVERSE MUST END a not so WEIRD TALE

2011-05-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Weird Tales

I woke up a bit early this morning in hopes that the cafe I sit at had recovered my lost knapsack. It is the only place I went yesterday and they are often pretty good about returning articles that get left on their bench. No luck though I really hope that whoever got the bag ate my groceries and is using the brand new sack as opposed to savagely investigating it in hopes of finding money or drugs before tossing it in the garbage. Very likely the latter of the two scenarios.

So I had to abandon all hopes of retrieving my new backpack and artist's supplies (notice I'm reposting old drawings these days can't make any new ones) and got myself a coffee. The young girl behind the counter proudly announced that she was going to the WEED march today and my heart sank. If it was a march to support hemp products and medicinal usage I could get on board, but it isn’t, in all honesty it really isn’t but I’m not even going down those thought processes right now, I couldn’t handle it.

The bench is outside but is covered by an over-hang and heavily decorated with No-SMOKING signs in compliance with both the city's bylaw and common sense. There was only one seat left beside a fairly respectable looking and recognizably regular member of the community, probably between the age of 45 and 50, who sat there with his beatnik hat on backwards smoking.

I approached him politely as I prepared to take my seat and said "Excuse me sir, you are not supposed to smoke on the bench there are notices everywhere".

"I know" he replied continually smoking.

"I'm sorry I don't understand, does that mean I have to sit beside and inhale your cigarette smoke"

"I guess so," he responded bluntly puffing on the fag.

I sat down and as calmly as I could and continueed, "If you don't put that out or stand out on the walkway like everyone else I'm going to get the owner." For the record the owner of the cafe is a tough cookie, often referred to as the coffee Nazi a la Larry David, and is not fond of smokers because as odd as it may seem he is the one who will receive the $1000 fine if the officers catch people smoking on his property.

"Get the owner."

Was he trying to call my bluff?

I got up and went to get the owner. Now in all honestly I was rather upset and disrupted by the utter disrespect this individual showed me. I was a little shaky; I mean this was almost absurd except that it happens everyday. When I returned with the owner the man had fled the scene. He had certainly been through this before but for some reason had chosen confrontation over common sense. I read a page of my book without catching a single word before I was able to calm down enough to restart my day. Just another reason why the universe must end. ( at least writing it out feels fairly therapeutic though taking that cigarette a putting it out in his eye would have been a lot more fun).

Dark Drawings and Human Erosion

2011-05-06T19:20:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! DARK DRAWINGS

I must say it almost feels like I’m falling apart. The expression “when it rains in pours” comes to mind only it doesn’t quite suit my situation. It feels more like a small drizzle that just won’t stop, it keeps tapping lightly at my skin, almost unnoticed, but is creating an accumulative effect of erosion. I am eroding.

First of all I’ll state that while I wouldn’t exactly describe my living conditions as ‘poverty” it is necessary for me to work under a very strict budget in order to subsist. As an artist with no real employer or gallery representation I never really know when or where the next cheque is going to come from. Fortunately there are few frivolous things I desire and am reasonably content as long as I’m well fed and have my artist’s supplies. In fact almost all of my belongings fit into a knapsack which I just replaced after an entire winter with holes and broken zippers.

I have been feeling kind of down lately and thought that a hearty meal and a bit of productivity would be the best cure for my blues tonight. So I went to the market and filled my new knapsack to the brim with groceries came home. had a nap and awoke ready for food and work. Somehow, and I can’t remember the last time that this happened as my whole life is in there, I have lost my new bag. I have lost my new bag, my fresh produce, my pens and my ink. It is 10 pm on a Friday night and everything is gone. Like I said I’m not exactly destitute and can replace most of these things tomorrow but tonight I am without. Just like that my dinner, my supplies and my new bag, gone.As I metioned I don't exactly live in poverty but I am not wealthy either.

It all sounds so trivial when I put it on paper but add the fact that some one has taken up smoking in these non-smoking shared accommodations, I really just don’t feel well. Every few hours and particularly late at night my room is filled with grey nausea and yet it seems difficult to identify the culprit. Once the smoke gets in your nose everything smells like that and it becomes very difficult to trace the source. Nothing tragic or grandeur to excite the reader or even really worth while to complain about, it is just all sorts of little things wearing at me, drizzling. I was so looking forward to that fresh salad. I was so tired of the old knapsack with holes in it and it really wasn’t in the budget to replace the two $40 pens and a $25 bottle of ink I carry around with me. Ah yes, right on schedule, now I can smell the cigarette smoke coming up through the vent again.

I don’t even have any right to record this silliness but I can’t draw any pictures again tonight, I can’t refresh myself with a big meal and I have no other means of distractive productivity. Maybe I can look back at this post and laugh in the morning? Maybe everything is going to be just fine? Maybe I will be younger tomorrow than I am today? Maybe, I am eroding.

GRAFFITI STREET ART COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS untitled

2011-05-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY!

I am trying so hard to care about anything today that I started to realize how much I miss being a street artist. Truth be told it's a young persons game and I couldn't go back under any circumstance but when I was out there I could always find hope. I sometimes look back at that adventure like this:

I remember standing at a party with a beer in my hand way back at Art College. I was thinking about how I’d spent my entire life to that point in the suburbs where there was little of interest to talk about. No one out there knew who Neil Gaiman or David Cronenberg was, I hadn’t even heard of Chomsky was and if you didn’t play hockey you were likely to get beat up or labeled. This complete lack of interest nearly turned me into a recluse so I ran for the big city, made a bunch of paintings and got involved in the college. I started to get excited.

Here was this giant institute of ideas with professors of the world, controversial courses and critical thinking. I learned about radical behaviour and had many of my concerns regarding consumerist culture and the decline of western civilization validated. I even found hope in the possibility of artwork being used to incite social awareness. I discovered the Dadist’s and learned more about the theatre of the extreme. I read about people who used artistic expression to cause trouble, to educate, to question the state of our unsustainable existence. Marcel Duchamp, Cindy Sherman, and my first exposure to Banski. It actually made sense, we, the artists, were warriors, the last known defender’s of common sense and human decency. This was were I wanted to be. ( Actually I wanted to be Batman but this was as close as I was going to get)

So I was standing there at the art party and saw a circle of classmates forming. Most of them were recognizable as top students and they all had begun to make names for themselves in the scene. In fact if I told you who they were now you’d likely even know of most of them. Their artworks have become reasonably successful and I’ve seen them all in magazines. So I got fairly excited and sort of out of character I shed my recluse and slipped quietly into the circle. I was excited to join the intellectual think tank.

They were talking about Hockey, not theoretically, not conceptually, not critically. They were talking players, goals, fist fights, stats and scandalous behaviour. And I, in my infancy spoke out about something else. I made a remark regarding the negative sociological affects that such fist fights must have on a young audience. Needless to say the circle went silent. In fact not only did this grouping of Artist’s stop their conversing but so did the entire bloody room. Everyone stopped talking and stopped drinking and stopped laughing, the keg let out a whisper, even the DJ stopped mid-groove. I could hear my own heart stuttering. The light directly above me illuminated to an uncomfortable level like it does after a concert so I calmly retreated the discussion and the party resumed. It was as though I’d ceased to exist. This is not where I wanted to be.

It wasn’t until a few years later, after this sort of situation continued ad nauseam, in the classroom, at the galleries and even the museums, that I finally cracked and decided there was no other alternative. I made a big sign, like any respectable derelict, and went to the streets to protest the world. The amazing part of my time there sitting on the side walk was that I’d finally found a place to discuss alternative ideals. People started stopping and my “save the world “ sign kept getting bigger and every single conversation was about problems and solutions and taking actions towards change. I met thousands of people from all over the world and in each individual instance, we were discussing philosophies, growing and learning from each other’s experiences. I was no longer reclusive but in fact quite the opposite and I never had listen to selfishness or meaningless consumerist bullshit out there.

Well I’m old now and my knees hurt and it’s not much fun to sit on the sidewalk, but worse than the physicality is that I’ve found myself back where I began. Without my huge sign I’ve nowhere left to turn for hopeful stimulation. Every where I go people are lapping up the American lifestyle, worrying about cars and sporting events, money and themselves. I can’t seem to find any more sympathizers nor any intellectuals and I miss all those zen marches out on the street.

BACK ON THE BIXI BIKE ( continued from the God's are Advertising

2011-05-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

Ok I’ve done as much research as I can possibly handle. According to every article, most of them are not really articles but simply advertisements posted online, the BIXI bike is absolutely wonderful and has no fall backs what so ever. I also found a number of images that make the system look reasonable. Fair enough, some of this can work and I do believe in riding bicycles but no one anywhere has shown us an image of the eyesore in the park. All of the pictures are of stations in the downtown core and I have to say that the vehicles make sense there. It’s a wise idea and I hope the Bay Street District takes advantage of the project but now I absolutely have to go outside and get a photo of the unit in our park. In the park where we like to eat, read, chill out and be merry, there is a giant robot making money and taking up space. It’s rather absurd and quite contrary to the wonderful promotion the project is getting everywhere else.

Man I stop drawing for 22 hours and all of a sudden I'm a blabbering diaryist, I guess it's just my nature and likely I will never escape be rid of this compulsion to tell stories.

The Godshave been Advertising and there are Corporate Robots inhabiting the Park

2011-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today is weird (period). The sun is shining and people are smiling, the market is flooded with spring hormones and stupid fashions and everything appears dandy. It isn’t (period). On one side of things I see life and people growing, there is a lot of positive energy out there. In particular the local Longboard skateboarding shop is teeming with excitement. They are one of the last best things this neighborhood has got. The sport is purely uplifting both spiritually and physically and I must revel in their success. They are opening a new store and while you’d never know it from the appearance of the previous location this one is much better equipped, in a better location and well going to be a success. I a very happy to see this and so is the community. It’s a sport made for kids and promotes healthy living, (Thanks Ryan you are really making a difference!).

However there are also a couple of absolutely hideous things growing here also. The first terrible event happening right before my eyes; the Gods started advertising! Five jet planes started criss-crossing across the big blue airwaves leaving sky written commercials all over Toronto. Now this isn’t really anything new and has been done for decades but the technology is certainly more sophisticated and the impact is the same. Suddenly hundreds ( and that is only what I could see in my peripheral) of people were starring up at the sky at what sort of chemical compound I dare not imagine. I will not perpetuate the advertising by stating the brand title but I will say I feel mind-raped and won’t soon forget it. Not only does the technique require a magically chemical compound but product itself was some sort of cosmetic. Have we really failed to progress past these manipulative parlor tricks, in the year 2011 do people still was there faces with alcoholic concoctions believing them to be a fountain of youth. Obviously we have failed.

The second problem involves the city’s new bike racks. These giant electronic rental stations are popping up all over town. Now to call them the ”city’s” is likely mere confusion as they would appear to be privatized and not really public at all. First of all the one that appeared here in Kensington Market runs the half the length of the parkette and is a terrible eyesore. I’m serious this park is probably only 250 feet long and the rack is at least 100 feet and is using up a lot of space. Secondly the machine is only accessible to people with credit cards which pretty much excludes everyone under the age of 18. Not only is the machine ridiculously cumbersome but the bikes themselves are uselessly designed giant pieces of junk. They are really clunky and have at the most 1 or 2 gears and are not particularly ideal for getting around. Hooray for the environment? Well yes we should be riding bi-cycles but the bikes are eating up our parks and are reserved for people with lot’s of money ( a $250 dollar deposit is required) which means that they will just sit there for the majority of the week. I can’t believe that Toronto doesn’t care about this marketing technique, I mean a company can set up an automated business just about anywhere but they nearly arrested me for selling artwork in the streets!

Anyways I ‘d like to add that I’ve spit this all out completely on intuition and have not yet done any research into the matters at hand. I think this is important and I’ll be doing in more regularly because it might be interesting to note my initial reactions before I do either confirm or refute by researching the details. I’m going to look into these bikes a bit more later on this afternoon and add some more commentary after I find out what the newspapers say.

“HEY MIKE WHERE ARE THE DRAWINGS?” I’m not drawing nothing maybe not ever again. I am feeling so totally disgusted by the world and all of it’s stupidity that I don’t want to draw anymore, I simply can’t see any point.

Finding fun in the Darkness Artwork by Daniel Miranda

2011-05-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

I've been having some really tough times lately. I'm not going to get into the details but I'm feeling really dark and really despairing right now. Nightmares telling me terrible prophecies and an evil inside me I can't get away from. The only thing that is giving me any pleasure right now has been gorging on David Cronenberg films and checking out other peoples artwork. This one made me feel pretty excited today so I had to share it...

ART BY DANIEL MIRANDA

Daniel Miranda is pumping out some really creepy beautiful check out his work at http://ladbjet.blogspot.com/ and I just realized that he is fellow Canadian ( one up on me though he actually speaks french!) tres bien Daniel

POLITICAL COMICS

2011-05-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

"TALKING TO AMERICA"

HEY APATHY! POLITICAL COMICS

I recently got into a "debate" with a few all-American chaps in which we tried to discuss the connections between the 1st world's consumerist mentality and it's effect on the rest of the opopulus and the environment as it directly relates to the rise of terrorist and anti-American activity. However the response was less than literate and the American's refused to claim any responsibility in the matter, in fact they pretty much refused to take part in the debate and decided it was more appropriate to chant U.S.A. and yell out slanderous remarks. On the subject of sweatshop labour world exploitation and unsustainable environmental practices the general concensus was "That's Reality live with it". My concern is that long as we continue to live with that reality we will also have to live with anti-American factions, terrorist-bombers, hatred and the destruction of innocent lives. Certainly the people involved in these activities are all insane, the business men, the politicians the mad bombers, they are all freaking nuts! Make Peace not Products!

MONSTER DRAWINGS!

2011-04-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

Comic Book Monster Drawings

Addiction can be a monster, this creepy comic creature is made of sugar, tar, and many things bizarre, yet for some reason we keep going back for more .

READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!

2011-04-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!

As I’ve mentioned before my comic book website has been somewhat of the bane to my existence. Not knowing the first thing about HTML or the internet I really struggled to put the thing together. Yes I did it all by my self, which unfortunately means I can’t blame anyone else for the 300 improperly constructed pages I have. DAMN it, well I’ve learned a bit through much mistrial and error and have started to fix the thing with a bit more success. The past few days I’ve been working on re-building my online comics so I though I’d just do this post to re-promote them.

Comic Book Drawings Hockey from hell ...

2011-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Here's a handful of commissioned comics I'm doing for sports/weird writer Rajeev Mullock. I'm not to much of a sports fan and I hate doing commissioned works but for some reason my instincts told me to hook up with this strange character I met at a comic con. Rajeev used to report for TSN (the sports network) and is currently building a slightly off website about hockey and poetry? Anyways things have been dark and interesting and amazingly the collaboration seems to be working.

Canadian Art

2011-04-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY!

2011-04-24T14:07:00.000-07:00

In case anyone wants me dead, this is what I look like and what I'm all about...

READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE

2011-04-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! READ COMIC BOOKS ONLINE!!!

A banner I did today for my weekly webcomics.

Gonna do the text tomorrow and add it to the site

Free Online Manga -Weekly Webcomics page 19

2011-04-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Free Online Manga!

Page 19 of the ongoing monster, mad science, weird tales and superhero story arc presented free every week. (I was a bit slow in March but things are rolling again.New pages every week!!!)

Comic Book Drawings

2011-04-20T00:17:00.000-07:00

More comic book drawings from the land of Neuroberg, I don't know maybe some day I'll actually go outside again and have something more interesting to draw than the details of my own personal mental decomposition...

Comic Book Drawings Skateboard Designs.

2011-04-17T01:28:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! Longboard skateboard designs. These samples show a number of the different styles I work in ranging from detailed comics to bold cartooning and graffit street art.

Cityscape

crazy manga robot battle

Underground Comics

exploding heads

Superhero Fight

Scene

the Machine heads

Toronto Landscape- early Longboardliving screenprint deck ...

... and the first mural I did for Ryan's Longboard shop back when it was still hidden in the cellar of a house. Just thought it made for a nice comparison after seeing the more recent ceiling mural featured in the promo at the top of this post. More about Longboardliving and their new store here!

more art/stuff at HEYAPATHY!

Monkey Drawings for a better Future

2011-04-15T00:56:00.000-07:00

Charity T-shirt Design for the Canadian Ape Aliance Fundraiser

MONKEY DRAWINGS! “Congo Classrooms for a Better Future” is an upcoming Canadian Ape Alliance charity fundraiser to help support environmental schools in Kahuzi-Biega,,. My friend and musical/ artistic collaborator Mark vanZyl is organizing the event and amazingly enough will be travelling to the Congo to do research later this year. Along with several musical acts, Mark has got a bunch of local artist’s to create t-shirt designs for the event. Mine is a collage depicting the schools, the apes, children, a map of Africa highlighting the Congo and a little bit of jungle vegetation.

Same design w/text, just wanted to see them on the screen to compare.

Comic Book Drawings NEUROBERG

2011-04-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS

A little surreal interpretation of life in the computer world, welcome to Neuroberg

This is the same image suped up for a little internet contest. Mr Warren Ellis uses fan made images for his web-cast station id and gives a little link traffic to the entries he likes. However, this is totally not the style he's looking forcompared to the the previous winners and has no chance of being picked but it's fun to participate anyhow.

COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS

2011-04-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

HEY APATHY! COMIC BOOK DRAWINGS!

page 18 on the Free online comics at heyapathy.com

Comic Book Drawings Online Manga Monster!

2011-04-04T04:30:00.000-07:00

COmic Book Drawings Manga Monsters

FASHION DRAWINGS Spring 2011

2011-04-02T00:06:00.000-07:00

"Whately's Success" - Short suit & coat

"Superheroo Swimsuit" Spring is a great time to wear your under wear on the outside, however it is highly recommended that you also use the mask.

"U.S. Ganster"

"Pop Star Fantasy"

These are the last of the spring collection fashion drawings. Below is the full runway...

Fashion Drawings

2011-03-31T19:30:00.000-07:00

Fashion Drawings # 10 "It's what's inside that counts"

and a little comic book fun for whitechapel

Comic Book Drawings make the papers ...

2011-03-31T11:45:00.000-07:00

Writer Jessica Hume did a really nice feature on me for the Toronto Star today. Thanks Jessica I'm really pleased with your storytelling!

FASHION DRAWINGS

2011-03-31T00:55:00.000-07:00

Fashion Drawings "Sport Resort"

FASHION DRAWINGS

2011-03-30T01:36:00.000-07:00

"Singulaity with Style" Fashion Drawings Spring 2011

Comic Book Drawings

2011-03-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Printing Nightmare Comic Book Drawings. This image is for K6cards upcoming Toronto Comic Arts Festival. I didn't register for the show so this will be my only way to participate this year ( damn ). It's pretty cool though, the small press company is sponsoring the zine and they hired me to fill the honorable 5 x 7 space they have reserved in the book. Seems like everyone is helping everyone else here and everyonen wins, and not coincidentally, that is exactly what the alternative comics community is all about.

Tartu, a King of Kensington

2011-03-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

I don't know, sometimes I get depressed with fears over the passage of time and the utter uselessness of existence. One of the things that keeps me going, just a brief, almost unconscious, yet glorious recollection, I think about seeing Tartu in the park. No matter how s---y things might get, the thought of that smiling canine romping through park and jumping over me as I read, creates a sensation that is, well hope. Honestly I see this furry guy maybe once a day for a total of 5 minutes, but I think about him when I'm down. Today I have to think about how he is very sick and likely is not going to be around at the end of the week. Tartu is 6 and a half and very much loved all thoughout Kensington Market. this sucks

sorry for the terribly rotten post, I had to put this somewhere because as long as it is inside me it keeps pushing water out of my eyes.

FASHION DRAWINGS

2011-03-28T22:19:00.000-07:00

Fashion Drawings #6 "Sheik Chic and imported accesory"

uuntitled business suit

FASHION DRAWINGS

2011-03-28T01:43:00.000-07:00

More fashion drawings. Almost done this little series, have a busy week coming up , am yired will explain these works later ...

FASHION DRAWINGS

2011-03-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

more fashion drawings ...

CAt and Lizard

2011-03-26T19:34:00.001-07:00

Fashion Drawings

2011-03-24T23:35:00.000-07:00

Fashion Drawings The first in a new series of spring designs from the monstrous metropolis.

Cult of the Cat People Weird Stoires

2011-03-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

some weird stories artwork just because it's fun

Dragon Drawings

2011-03-17T20:41:00.000-07:00

dragon drawings

Drawings of Dragons ...

2011-03-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

Commission drawing in progress of St. George vs the Dragon.

and a weird picture. ?

Graffiti Street Art An old post from Blog T.O....

2011-03-04T14:46:00.000-08:00

Was googling my name looking for pictures from a 2009 fashion show which are absent from my porfolio when I found this pleasant article from 2007. Neat and belated thanks!

p.s. Anyone have photos from the Gallery 1313 fashion show 2009? I saw some great ones online awhile back but can relocate them, also found this video ( my performance is at 6:15 -7:15 on the vid...)

Music Comics

2011-03-02T11:32:00.000-08:00

Graffiti Street Art bathroom mural

2011-03-02T10:51:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Graffiti Street Art Murals. A commissioned street style painting for a private washroom, go figure!

Animation Drawings

2011-02-16T22:09:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Animation Drawings

Okay, so the story goes like this: for the past 8 or so months I have, among many other tasks, have been working on an extensive hand drawn animation. These films involve several thousand illustrations and take a long time to produce. In fact after 3 quarters of a year I’ve yet to actually make anything move. So under the mental duress of a mounting pile of un-photographed stills, in essence a movie lying dead waiting for the resurrection, I cracked. Putting the detailed and tedious work aside I grabbed a pile of scrap paper and decided to make this “flip book”. The goal being to see what I can make, start to finished film, in one day. Well the drawings were no problem but the transfer to video stretched out for three days before I got what I’ve posted above. The primary, if not only, reason for the extended work period seemed to be my slow learning curve on the software. I’m doing my best but I am terrible with computers. At any rate the film is up and I think I could cut the post way down next time. With a tight ship and functioning computer I am confident I could produce shorts much better than this on a regular basis. Animation is fun.

Happy Birthday Mr. Ellis

2011-02-16T12:00:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday Warren

Weird Comics

2011-02-13T19:55:00.000-08:00

Murals at Longboard Living

2011-02-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

Mural

2011-02-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Comic Book Art "In the Trenches

2011-02-08T00:39:00.000-08:00

Last week's late webcomic. Drew the damn thing a week early but never lettered it, got busy, and well the dogs ate the aliens who stole my quill pens ... more comics soon

Comic Book Animation tests

2011-02-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Art

The CITY OF GEARS! From a distance the city reveals itself as an ominous gear propelled by an endless sea of faceless denizens. Who are these people? What is the metropolis? And where do I fit in? The “City of Gears” 3d animation (test shown above) is the first digital installment my animated artworks. Working with graphic wizard Laurie Ronne, we have started to bring the ink drawings to life. I have been working simultaneously on a hand drawn stop-motion version of the Gear and the two finished artworks will be displayed as a diptych. One of the most interesting aspects of the two interconnected projects is the real time comparison between the differing processes.

The hand drawn animation is a time consuming and labor intensive activity involving thousands of hand made drawings and a sort of improvised approach and aesthetic. I do all of the work for these animations myself, giving me complete control over the output, though that also means total responsibility for all menial tasks.

The 3D process, from my perspective, is almost the total opposite to the hand drawn production. In this case the majority of my process involves conceptualizing and describing the movements/ideas to the artist, like a film director, with absolutely no hands on work. Laurie then takes my instructions into computer land, makes tests and consults me. It is also an extremely precise approach and aesthetic in which little room is left for improvisation. The frame rates and movements must be mathematically configured to the finest detail in order for Laurie to recreate what I see in my mind. In the meantime I go back to the drawing table and two things happen at once.

Not only are the two drastically different approaches to animation being developed congruently but they are also moving towards a cohesive juncture. By using the same image for both the hand drawn and 3D graphics compositions the two pieces introduce a public conversation between the past and the present while also expressing a shift in my own artistic progress and ultimate acceptance of technology. The amazing outcome of these experiments so far has led me to insurmountable and indescribable ideas, plans, even schemes for future artistic assaults…

Comic Book Art Animation test

2011-02-03T23:54:00.000-08:00

by

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Art. 3d Animation test by Laurie Ronne

Comic Book Drawings, Process Shots and Camera Troubles

2011-02-03T03:17:00.000-08:00

this weeks commission progress shots finally retreived from the camera, sort of.

Ambient Electronic Electric Experimental (Music)

2011-01-31T18:11:00.001-08:00

Some random blurry clips repeated over a cut from our weird jazz, dub, ambient electonic, electric and experimental grooves. I tried to get footage of the group but the studio is so small I couldn;t get anything but clips of me moving the camera around, so that's what I used. As well as endless ink drawings, I also take part in a weekly jam session in hopes of one day performing live scores over my animations... Read the Webcomic

Comics Online

2011-01-28T22:48:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Weekly Free Comics Online

Page 16 of the omgoing Surreal Webcomics

Comic Book Art Fairy Tales & Superheroes

2011-01-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Apathy! Comic Book Art

not much writings these days but can you blame me,on look at all the damn artwork! Above are this weeks selection of 12 x 7 inch pen and ink comic book drawings.

Weird Drawings Alternative Comics

2011-01-27T02:20:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Weird Drawings and Alternative Comics

Another long day at the drawing board, here's one of several panels I worked on today, must sleep, will post the rest tomorrow., I was trying to draw an opening shot for my imagination cartoon series when suddenly I had a 7 panel montage explaining the city and it's tribulations. One day turns into two then three, multiplying uncontrollably, and so do the drawings.

Comic Book Art

2011-01-25T23:48:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Comic Book Art

Some artwork from the past 10 hours...I'm hungry

Weird Stories Weekly Webcomics!

2011-01-24T22:13:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Free Webcomics

After a grueling battle and brief moment’s recuperation, the two weird assistants finally replace the dreaded banker. Really late finishing last week’s comic for various reasons that I need not share. At any rate, I went ahead and finished the next few pages to make up for it, promising to be on time for the next few weeks at least. More Comic Book Art

HEY APATHY! Experimental Soundtracks

2011-01-24T00:18:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Live (very) Experimental Soundtracks.

I practically froze on my 15 minute walk into Kensington Market today to practice music with my friends. We play almost weekly at the Dancing Days Studio, an amazing little garage turned jam space located behind one of the clothing stores. Though mostly therapeutic fun, I have also and have future plans to work with these musicians on the scores and soundtracks for my animations. I am a bit behind on the webcomic this week but decided not to rush the new page, Instead I thought I share the only video clip of out music. This was taken a few weeks back but gives a bit of an idea what our sessions are like. Unfortunately the video cut out before we really got warmed up and somehow I was able to choose an angle that doesn’t let you see any of us. I really want to edit some of the best recordings from these improve together but accidentally lost my editing suites when I cleaned out my computer awhile back. Check out the free comics online

Alternative Comics Commissioned Editorial Cartoons

2011-01-22T09:04:00.000-08:00

Alternative Comics

The team from before time … Artworks for Rajeev Mullick’s hockey website. I don’t do much commissioned work and never do commercial gigs but when I met Rajeev he asked me if I could draw some cosmic hockey players and some weird stuff for his site that is not only a celebration of, but a warning against, the massive monster known as sports. Rajeev does all sorts of weird stuff from interviews with NHL players and legends to random poetic musings about the psychological effects of the game. It is turning into an interesting project. See some of my other commissioned artworks here.

Weird Tales and Online Comics

2011-01-20T22:58:00.000-08:00

Weird Tales & Comics Online

A monstrous plant, an elevated city, the amorphous glob macroverse all merely precursors to the penultimate alien invasion!!! Read the 13 Stories, Forbidden tales of the impending apocalypse! Or at least enjoy the illustrations. I still haven’t edited the stories yet and things are pretty messy over there. Nevertheless it was necessary, as part of my new years website clean-up, to make some adjustments and take the stories out of the NEW WORKS section and give them a page of there own. As if I didn’t already have enough on my plate as it is. Well you just go wherever the inspiration takes you and I really enjoyed re-presenting these weird tales online over the past few days, plus I’m not one to leave things unfinished. Feeling a little bit of computer-burn out after hours of posting put was really digging the new calligraphy and illuminated text so I figured I’d share it here too. New WebcomicsTomorrow

Newspaper Comics! Ideological Battlegrounds

2011-01-18T10:39:00.000-08:00

"GREAT FNORD, WE'RE SURROUNDED!"

Alternative Newspaper Comics

Ideological warfare breaks loose on Election Day as suburban thought processes move in for the kill! I made this editorial newspaper comic a few months back following Toronto’s 2010 election but never gotten around to scanning it until yesterday. I spent my entire Monday (from noon- 6:30 am) working on the computer. My new works page, while one of the most trafficked, was a real mess. I took the time to update the page, which, although entitled NEW WORKS, had not actually been worked on in over 6 months. Well the efforts yesterday proved fruitful and I managed to rebuild and redesign the entire presentation. The best part is the new format is a little more blog-like allowing for easy organization and frequent updates. I am particularly pleased with the direction the new ink drawings have taken. Oddly enough the online presentation of these drawings has actually inspired and enhanced the conceptual conversation I am trying to initiate. Anyways back to work, I’ve a commission to wrap up today and then I’d like to get back on the website for a little fine tuning. HEY APATHY

Alternative Comic Book Drawings

2011-01-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comic Book Drawings

Damn Toronto was cod today, but the sun stayed on strong enabling me to enjoy my morning coffee sitting on the bench outside. My fingers barely even froze. Otherwise I spent the entire day (and possibly a few more hours still) slouched over the computer doing menial design tasks I neither enjoy nor am suited to or trained for in order to update my NEW WORKS page on the website. It has been almost six months since I’ve added anything other than the weekly webcomic and things go stale online really quick. So I’ve been scanning, resizing and adding titles to my 2011 output and should have the thing up and running within the next couple of days. The image posted above is of a Neuroborg, a telepathic avatar projection of the human psyche as it exists in our current technological age. The term “Neuroberg” is the name of the place where these strange electric astral citizens currently reside. It is going to be a part of the new new works page. More Comics

Free Comics Online! Superhero Battles!

2011-01-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Free Comics Online

A giant terror machine attacks the City Square! As the mad robot battles our tiny strange hero the billboards capture and illuminate the drama. As the large flickering screens project and announce the thrilling scene the crowds turn impulsively to watch the event unfold. Staring wide eyed at the images the people watch with mesmeric paralysis completely unaware of the threatening chaotic destruction smashing through the streets only a few feet away. HEY APATHY! Weekly Webcomic featuring the Superhero, the Surreal, two Strange Surgeons and the City of Gears!.

Free Comics Online Shadow Creatures

2011-01-15T20:05:00.000-08:00

Hey Apathy! Free Comics Online

From the skyscraper’s towering over the monstrous metropolis to the deepest corners of unexplored nature, an indescribable relationship between all things on this planet exists. No event is ever singular, though few are aware of these connections, and fewer still have ever actually travelled amidst these hypothetical waves. Shannon Lilde, a young scientist for the Making Life Perfect Corp., discovered a means of doing exactly this. During a series of product tests involving light manipulation, solar power and cybernetics , the aspiring lab assistant developed an unpatented means of teleportation. Her formula enabled one to enter and exit a molecular expressway hidden in shadows. Though the destination was not limited by any geographical obtrusions, the routes which could be conquered followed a distinctly logical repetition. The shadows would only connect to places affected by each other. For example the shadow of a table might lead to the factory in which it was assembles or to the forest where the wood originated. In fact this it exactly what happened the first time Shannon tested the technique. It was a combination of terror, incited by the factory conditions, and wonder, a result of a forest unlike any she’d ever seen, which caused her to excessively investigate the world behind the shadows without permission from the company. On the morning of June 10, 2010, Shannon, her formula, and research vanished without a trace. There was little reported in the press but word of a bounty has since spread amongst those who are concerned with such things. There is also a bit of a whispering around the offices about a Shadow like phantom disrupting certain shipments as well as a rumor that last week a CEO vanished during a meeting and was found 15 minutes screaming like a mad man in a sweat shop in Peru.

If only I needn't sleep, Alternative Comics and Animations in progress ...

2011-01-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Free Comics Online

Spent the better part of today working on the webcomic, probably the most fulfilling of all my chores. I I don’t know but there is something really fun and rewarding in creating panel to panel narrations. I also did a bit of work on the “Faces” ink drawings (above). These are just quick studies I’ve been doing when I haven’t got much time for other projects. This usually occurs in the time between meetings and at the end of the day when I want to wind down after concentrating on the bigger projects for extended durations. It is the end of one such duration that I am approaching now. Although I still have some scripting for the kids cartoon, and piles of hand-drawn animation to get done, I am exhausted and am going to scribble only a little more before I call it a night. MORE DRAWINGS

Comic Book Drawings Work in Progress

2011-01-12T22:51:00.000-08:00

Alternative Comic Book Drawings

A long day of fidgeting with software and devices, failing to get the instant single frame video capture I so desperately require. Otherwise I did a bit of ink work and put in some time on this week’s webcomic page. The photo I posted is kind of neat because you can see the two step process I use to develop comic book drawings. The first step is most apparent in the background where I have done a quick outline with a thick pen. Most comics artist pencil in the pages but I just go at it with the ink. The second step uses a smaller nib for details, rendering and shading as can be seen in the fore ground of the picture.. I also ate some food, drank coffee and water, used the facilities and am soon going to sleep. Free Comics Online

Neurological Cyborg Monster Drawings

2011-01-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Free Comics Online

It’s been a ridiculously quick three or four days since my last post. I spent the weekend working on the webcomic and animations while watching a bunch of old movies. Yesterday I was all over the place, the bank, the camera shop, the art store, and so on and didn’t have much time for any extensive work. On days like that I like to work on rapid studies which require little thought or energy. The images in the photo above are of my new “Face: drawings. This series is an attempt to compare the human psyche to the human body, taking in to account all the wonderful vices & variables available as part of life in the modern metropolis. Brain doesn’t work today. Can’t get the new camera to work properly either (note the terrible discoloration in the above documentation). Busy week ahead, a large commission, a small commission and a pile of dreadfully blank pieces of paper. more Art here

The Bankers Battle Continues! Free Webcomics Weekly

2011-01-07T18:53:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Free Webcomics Weekly

The two unusual assistants of the mysterious mad scientist have infiltrated the office of an executive banker. As part of some weird plan the twins have been systematically replacing various denizens of the gear with laboratory made duplicates. Up till now the task has been a simple one, but the assistants haven’t faced any foes near as threatening as the almighty director of the city bank. New pages every Friday as part of the ongoing HEY APATHY! Surreal Comics mythology. HEY APATHY!

Fast Food, High Speed, Low Life

2011-01-06T17:44:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Alternative Comics Online

Slouching over my drawing table with a grumbling stomach I worked through all the ink I’d poured out before noticing the late hour. It had been nearly ten hours since I’d boiled the first pot of coffee and a conglomeration of little lines was amassing on the page. The creative process can often be addictive and even more so under the duress of deadlines. I stood up for a stretch and was thinking about pouring more ink when the hunger manifested tenfold. There was no point to continue, I had to have food.

The dishes were done and the kitchen was prepared, I even had almost everything that I’d need for a good meal. However I felt rather put off when inspecting the cupboard. It wasn’t the metallic tinge of the canned goods, or even the stern warnings from the media against milk. No I simply didn’t feel inclined to the task of making up the food. Suddenly, as though the theatre had just darkened, I was struck by a loud flashing neon advertisement and a head full of loud noise. I recalled seeing my neighbors carrying home take-away sandwiches and knew that the counter was open late at night.

I’d only ten dollars in cash, meant for tomorrow’s grocery, but I figured on treating myself justifying the act knowing the sandwich would get me back to work. I left the house quietly so as to not awake Julii and was out and back with the goods within a matter of minutes. Standing on the front porch I reached casually in my pockets when I noticed that I’d forgotten my key.

These things happen when you are starving at 3 in the morning; nevertheless the doorman would let me in. Much to my surprise he was not at his post. I pondered my next step for a moment before the attendant returned. My sigh of relief was cut short by a moments terror for the face was unrecognizable, this was a new night watchman! My courtesy thwarted I had no choice but to call up Julii. I picked the cell phone from my coats lining and turned the it on.

Beep. The battery died so I walked over to the buzzer. All the codes and names on the directory were either faded or out of date. For the first time I realized that I didn’t know our own code. Not to worry, I thought, there is a payphone around the corner.Though it was working, and I had some quarters I drew a blank at the dial. I did not know the number. On my cell the number is programmed and I always just press 1.

By now I was starving so I sat on the bench by the entrance and devoured my sandwich. Although well seasoned and relatively delicious, I felt full but hardly revived or re-nourished. The empty card board calories and seeping sweet sauces did little or nothing to improve my famished state. There was nothing left to do but to wait and hope that someone I know passes in or out of the building. At three o’clock on a Wednesday the chances were slim.

The night was getting colder and the snow was blowing around when I finally notice a car pulling up. Finally an opportunity, I’ll follow them in. I no longer cared if I knew the tenants or not I would casually stroll up and follow them politely back in. Sure I looked a little rough after wandering around in the cold, but I had every right to be in the building and would hardly arouse any suspicion. The lights of the car beamed brightly on the drive so I sat patiently in order to time the move well.

It would be vital that I approached at exactly the right moment in order to catch the door. If I arrived too early I’d appear odd without keys, and if I was too late, well then back to the snow. The lights grew closer and I took a deep calming breath. In my mind I was already inside, nothing could go wrong.

The car lights flashed across the entrance window and the vehicle began to slow. It pulled right up to the door and I stood up timely ready for the approach. Then the most dreaded thing happened as the car neglected to stop. The lights moved passed the entrance and shone luminescent on the wall. They appeared like the eyes of an owl scowling the area in search of prey. The car turned slowly until the lights hit my face. Nearly blinded and completely surprised I stood frozen by the bench. The lights stopped dead in my direction a the doors of the car swung open. “Freeze, this is the Police, please identify yourself.” It appeared as though the new security guard had taken notice of my presence and was very nearly likely as bit of a go-getter. The last thing I remember was a spine tinkling shock-like sensation which turned my joints into jelly and set me into a fit hysterical laughter. In my mind I could visual my identification papers sitting on the desk upstairs just beside the door. My keys are probably there too but that is of little consequence, at least I won’t be sleeping out side tonight! HEYAPATHY pen and ink artworks.

The City of Gears Kids Comics and Cartoons

2011-01-05T21:06:00.001-08:00

HEY APATHY! THE SERIES STARRING

Robots, Monsters, Superheroes and the City of Gears! A group of artists and musicians battle strange technological terrors in the City of Gears! I spent a few hours this evening working on these character studies for the imaginary television series. I did a quick concept sketch for this before Christmas and promised myself that I would work it up a bit after New Years. Well it’s already the sixth of January and I hadn’t found anytime for this yet, which resulted in a guilty little nagging voice acting out as a constant subconscious reminder of my unfulfilled commitment. I finally caved, boiled up some coffee a made the time I’d committed to, to work on the pitch. I made drawings of 5 of the 7 team members and did a lot of meditative orginazation of their origins and the story,. Anyways I’ve got some commission work, and appointments to do deal with tomorrow and I am so close to finishing a scene in the animation that I’ll probably won’t get to finish this roster ( and all the villains) until early next week.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the kids comic book characters shown above

1) Instructor Howie- art teacher, zen master

2) Timmy- young artist, tablet can project 4-dimensional avatars the Timmy draws on the screen

3) Argenta- computer witch can communicate and gets along with any electronic/digital/ artificial intelligence. In the City of Gears everything from the sewer system to the skyscrapers is automated, giving Argenta abilities surpassing the greatest of history’s sorcerers.

4) The Robot- a strange computer chip is corrupting peaceful robots. When Argenta discovers and removes the chip the Robot tells her that it not only had the device made him do bad things, it also made him feel bad. Thankful for his freedom the Robot re-programmed himself to join and protect Argenta and her friends.

5) The Flutist Gale- music instructor and majestic flutist whose notes conjure nature and whose music battles the machines….

That’s it for now, damn it 3:49 am and I have to be a train station tomorrow by 9! Good night. HEY APATHY! FREE WEBCOMICS

Surreal Artist FACES and BODIES

2011-01-04T14:51:00.000-08:00

HEY APATHY! Surreal Artist Ink Drawings

Introducing the HEY APATHY! surreal “Face” pen and ink drawings, a series of disproportionate silhouetted metamorphosis’ depicting the transformation of man to machine and the telepathic ramifications of our artificial millennia. The images illustrate a strange comparison between the human psyche, the running teleplay behind ours eyes, and its detached relationship to our mechanical bodies of flesh and bone. The ballooned portraits reveal a dark omnipotent force meddled with an array of simultaneously emotional and technological features. The astral interpretations manifest themselves as large bleak forms hovering above and beyond the small vessels from which they originated. These separated bodies, though somewhat autonomous, perpetuate routine existence by means of mundane mannerisms and meaningless interactions with miniature electronic devices. “Faces” is an all new attempt to expose the modern man as neurological cyborg, who, though devoid of actual robotic body parts, exists entirely amidst a virtual construct.

NOTES ON MAKING THE INK DRAWINGS

These abnormal drawings of people represent the first body of fine artwork illustrations that I have worked on in over two years. The “Faces” are being produced through a creative process I tend to refer to as a “formula series” in which a restricted set of visual symbols, material, and techniques are repeatedly examined in order to develop a cohesive set of images. This is probably the most traditional approach to creating gallery works and one I used extensively from 2000-2008 prior to my increasing interest in comics and animation. There are several advantages as well as disadvantages to the “formula” approach as it offers an invaluable means of artistic exploration but often results in creative limitations and ultimately the commercial entrapment of the participating artist.

For the better portion of my career, leading up to the end of 2008, I utilized the aforementioned “formula” method to develop a series of large gallery installations. At that time I would decide on a particular theme, format, drawing tool and technique and proceed to experiment with multiple variations in a singular style. A good example of this can be seen in my 2004 works, “HARD RAIN”. In this collection I developed an unusual comic borders made of scratchy shapes, weird buildings, and ominous orifices. Within the strange borders I would then drawing little scenes of solitary chaos. The entire series featured over 300 illustrations all done using the same drawing technique, a large pen for borders and perpetually smaller pens for the comics themselves. By using a single approach I was able to masterfully explore all the possibilities of this particular visual vocabulary and eventually obtain a sort of meditative state while creating the works. Once the formula is achieved the artist no longer needs to struggle with his/her materials but may concentrate more fully on the ideas, messages and symbolic aspects instead. This meditative state of experimentation proves especially valuable when the formula involves minimal technical maneuvers and rapid production.

This manner of artistic processes proved especially useful during my live street art performances as I had little worry about my materials or approach and could give my full attention to interpreting the audience and determining the imagery accordingly. However it was also while working the streets that the formula style started to reveal several limitations. Starting from very simplistic visuals, each year I seemed to add more and more element to my drawings. This ultimately led to single bodies of work exploring multiple themes, characters, and narrations as opposed to one unified symbology. As time passed I started to bore with repetitious drawings and really wanted to produce work that moved through images, processes and concepts quickly rather than extensive studies of a particular theme.

At the end of 2008 I decided to forsake gallery style works and the “formula” method altogether in favor of producing comic books. Here I could weave my way in and out of themes, techniques and parables much faster as a comics page takes far less time to make than a large scale drawing. The comics also offered varied formats allowing for offshoots or impulsive changes in the creation that would not work well in a series of drawings. The comic can flash-black, change scenes or even intrude upon one another permitting, even necessitating the use of different techniques and approaches. In gallery works, the commercial representative tends to request a collection of replicated works at a marketable size and often similar to previously saleable images by the artist. This method of presentation can present infinite restrictions towards the artist’s whim and ability to progress.

Circumstances, mostly financial, put a hold on my intended devotion to comics and graphic novels last year as I was awarded some grant money to work on animations. In many ways this new direction appeared even more hampering than creating formula works as animation is the most repetitive and tedious of all artistic processes. Not only do cartoons require thousands of duplicate drawings but the production can leave ab artist working for weeks at a single scene of concept. Basically this turned out to be the exact opposite from what I’d planned for myself, nevertheless the opportunity to animate is certainly a rewarding one.

So it stood that I was trapped in one of the most extensive “formula” works of my life when all I wanted to do was dance through a barrage of surreal vignettes and strange dreamscapes. Well subconsciously all these creative desires started swelling and without realizing it I found my self, between hours at the animation stand, writing stories, sneaking in a weekly webcomic, and finally working on a new series of ink drawings. All of these little asides occurred naturally, without intent, and likely a result of the undeniable urge permeating throughout my existence.

I just started these new artworks a few days ago but was able to jump right into the meditative state, drawing freely and fluidly. I’m using two nib pens and a brush for flat washes. The works consist of a large tribal portrait and a small modern figure drawing. That pretty much the formula. The work seems far less restrictive after working in animation and the little non-formula-formula, in which one images is repeated and the other open-ended, allows for endless investigations. At any rate I plan to use this technique in small batches, 20 drawings maximum before attempting another new style. Though I’d grown weary of this way of drawing, I have found it useful again primarily because these quick studies can be produced with little set-up or effort and let me play around a bit after long hours of rigid animation work. Everything else I’m doing right now requires so much attention that whipping off a few creepy ink stains at the end of the day is proving rather relaxing and possibly even therapeutic. VISIT HEY APATHY!