Cartoonists Northwest's Annual Toonies Awards

Cartoonists Northwest held their Annual Toonies Awards this last Saturday. I was honored to receive a certificate of achievement for outstanding creativity in web comics. I thought I would have fun with the topic of awards in this Return of Stickman strip.

Jared and I go to Cartoonist Northwest Meeting

The other day I got an email from another cartoonist who lives here in Tacoma. He tracked me down via my MySpace page. The cartoonist name is Jared Music and he also does animation. His cartoon blog is called Drawn with Flippers and his animation blog is Jared Music’s Online Portfolio Anyway, I told him about a Cartoonists Northwest meeting that was being held in Seattle. I’ve heard the speaker, Jeanette Smith of J'netsmith.com , give a presentation before. She always has something new and interesting to tell me about licensing. I asked Jared if he would be interesting in going. He was, so we carpooled up together.

It’s a custom for folks to do cartoons, or bring one along, to enter into a contest called the not-so-bashfully The Best of the Northwest. I was so overwhelmed by the affection shown upon my arrival that I was inspired to draw this cartoon.


I did not win this time. If you want to know who did, then you will need to sign up for the Cartoonists Northwest newsletter Penstuff. It’s a good thing I went to the meeting. My dues lapsed and I was able to get caught up. At a mere $30 it’s one of the cheapest organizations you can join.

Polly's Hats and her blog Art Word Tea

Polly Law started up her first blog this month. I like the title: Art Words Tea. I first met Polly many years ago during a Graphic Artists Guild when she was the National President and I just a lowly proxy, filling in for a chapter rep.

She has an interesting project that involves creating dolls. These are some odd creations. I always looked forward to the conventions because we
never knew what Polly would show up with. She loves making and wearing hats. I have a suspicion that she had one or two favorites, but it’s hard to say because there were so many. Here’s one I tried to draw from memory.

One of the things we used to do at the conventions is play board games. Yeah, that’s what designers and illustrators do when they hang out late at night, drink cheap wine, and play Risk. While the others tried to take over the world, Polly and I would play Scrabble. We still do, through Facebook. Of course, one game will take weeks, but that’s okay. I don’t think I’ve increased my vocabulary much. I tend to stick to four and five letter words. But, I love trying to squeeze a word out of my gray matter. If you do, too, you might want to ask Polly to play.

"I find you sexually inadequate." Napkin Sketch

When I think of a cartoon gag, even one that is in poor taste, I try to make a quick sketch. Now I can look at this and think of how to rework the image: Maybe the socks need to look a bit more like socks; maybe use buttons as eyes; maybe I should skip the whole button option altogether. Then I have to decide which would be better to submit this cartoon to, The New Yorker, or Playboy? The choice is clear—The New Yorker, they pay more.

Character Development

A little over a year ago, I did some character development intended for a website. And you know how things go; stuff gets shelved and never sees the light of day. And sometimes stuff comes off the shelf and does see the light of day. If you would like to see these characters in context, just click on the link.

Monlux Gets Blurb in Create Magazine

Create Magazine has an online network which allows creative professionals to post a little self-congratulatory propaganda. I took advantage and posted a few items there. It came as a pleasant surprise to discover that I had been selected as one of the top eight illustrators on the network. The image I call “Bulbs” was featured in a write-up of the just-released Jan/Feb 2008 West Coast edition of Create Magazine, page 38.

My Chemical Romance

I was talking with my good friend and buddy, Sam Day, about gun-toting dentists when somehow the subject switched to romantic relationships created through the common denominator of drug addiction. (Sam and I have the greatest conversations.) Anyway, I mentioned that a few years back I did an editorial image for an article on that very topic. He didn’t remember seeing it. So, I decided to make it my first post of 2008.