The Home of the Creative Mind

Welcome to PooBahSpiel, the online voice and home of the creative mind of Mark Monlux, Illustrator Extraordinaire. Prepare yourself for an endless regaling of art directly from the hand of this stellar artist. And brace yourself against his mighty wind of pontification. Updates are kinda weekly and show daily sketches, current projects, and other really nifty stuff.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Return of Stickman #480

Back in the day, I coveted mood rings, but I never managed to get one. What a bummer. I still remember watching Martin Landau on television, showing off his mood ring to Merv Griffin, when Landau was the star of that very popular science fiction show, Space 1999. The premise of the show was that the moon would leave earth’s orbit and wander around the universe. Who would have guessed that the reverse would happen? Rather than having one less moon, there would be thousands, wandering around everywhere.



Thursday, June 28, 2007

Fish Festival T-shirt Design

Doing an annual t-shirt is a fairly sweet gig, even if the budget is low and the topic is a bit obscure. We all know the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Well, when life gives you Bucketmouth Ling Cod, make one freaky fish t-shirt. Just wait ‘til next year. I already have a fun shirt design lined up. Speaking of shirts, the client promised me one. I’m waiting with baited breath. Heh heh, get it? Bait? Breath? Cod? Sheesh, no sense of humor at all.



Monday, June 25, 2007

The Comic Critic Reviews Lucky Number Slevin

Yikes! It’s been a few weeks since I posted one of my cartoon movie reviews. Something that should be expected with all the traveling I’ve been doing… First it was a trip to Denver and then a trip to New Brunswick. The latter’s return trip was absolutely miserable. The flight was delayed by seven hours. I’m just glad that I can get one out this week before I head out on yet another trip.



Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Return of Stickman #475

This The Return of Stickman strip was inspired by my mom, who had a big influence on me as I grew up. She didn’t like it when people swore, so now I hardly swear at all. And there are some swear words I can’t use without thinking that I’m a complete jackass. Thanks, Mom.



Thursday, June 14, 2007

The Return of Stickman #474

This The Return of Stickman strip was inspired by one of the many bits of advice I give other creative professionals. I actually spend a lot of time answering questions about pricing, contracts and ethics. In fact, I’m thinking of starting a blog for my “Dear Mark” column that I’ve been writing for a few years now.



Monday, June 11, 2007

The Return of Stickman #471

I finally finished my The Return of Stickman rant on funerals and the like. One of the rules I’m learning about a daily cartoon is that you need to keep themes short, down to one week at least. Unless you’re drawing an action or a soap serial. I’ve been doing a lot of traveling this year, which inspired today’s strip.



Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Golf Themed Greeks and Other High Art


One of my projects last week was to create some Greek-themed images for my friend Denny Osthus. One of those images was a Caesar-type figure holding a golf club. There was less debate over whether or not the figure should be wearing sunglasses than you might think. I thought it was an excellent suggestion on Denny’s part. It’s nice to know that colleagues can work together to create memorable pop culture moments such as this.

Monday, June 4, 2007

The Return of Stickman #469

This The Return of Stickman was inspired by real life. While sorting through Grandma’s belongings, we discovered a pile of photographs. Thankfully, Grandma was pretty good about writing descriptions on the backs. But considering that she had never met my parents, finding a picture of their old Saab in their driveway was just a little bit on the bizarre side.