Showing posts with label Clowns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clowns. Show all posts

Saturday, August 16, 2025

Hats and Horns in Space

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 


Greetings from your nose-to-the-grindstone cartoonist.

I'm planning to escape the studio for a bit, so I've been doing extra work to put more distance between myself and our deadlines. Subsequently, I'm too tired for a lengthy, clever intro today. Consider it my gift to you for the week!

Thanks to all of you who responded to the Igor Stravinsky quote about imposing constraints as a way to spark creativity. My appreciation for our readers has increased yet again.


Let's jump directly to this week's pipe pic. It's a terrific shot of a fisherman, taken in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, somewhere around 1906.


This comes to us from the website of the Library of Congress, where the original glass negative is archived (assuming it hasn't been destroyed for being a legitimate historic image).


Although my art may never end up at the Library of Congress, I'm preserving it to the best of my ability. Here's your look into my archive for Week 33 of 2025.

Not to mention plenty of overhead storage.

I think I worked there at one time.

The doomsayer carrying an ominous warning is a stock gag cartoon character, and this guy turned up on the drawing board a while back. He's not fully committed to the bit.

I opted for a vertical strip layout, positioning the Secret Symbols closer to the protagonist. I dropped one symbol from the strip, which only has four, while the panel has five. I'll do something like that very occasionally, figuring that nobody is likely to see both versions. Oh, wait a minute...

If Spotify's A.I. disc jockey were choosing the music for a drive, I'd consider steering into a fire hydrant to escape.

The strip layout required some serious rearrangement, but it works rather well.

Full disclosure: I drew the character once and made a reversed duplicate in the digital realm. The theme is carried through to the identical pairs of Secret Symbols.

The strip layout has a slightly different rhythm, with two word balloons instead of one with two tails.

That's the current batch of quirky quadrilaterals from Bizarro Studios. We'll deliver another six-pack one week from today. Thanks for checking them out.

In addition to the blog, I send out a free weekly newsletter, which always includes a peek at an upcoming gag, along with some old art or design from the files. You can read it here, and if you choose to subscribe, it'll arrive in your digital mailbox every week.

Bonus Track

Maynard Ferguson: Theme from Star Trek
From Conquistador
Columbia Records LP, 1977


Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006) was one of the most popular trumpeters of his time, and his performance style was often as hammy and over-the-top as William Shatner's. Ferguson was known for playing in the trumpet's highest register, and no doubt was hated by dogs.

When I was in high school, the band nerds were crazy about him and often referred to him by his first name only. This recording, with a gigantic band, is representative of his output in the late 1970s.


Scads of Bizarro Stuff

If you enjoy what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


   

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Saturday, June 21, 2025

The Terrible Fives

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 

The real composer thinks about his work the whole time; he is not always conscious of this, but he is aware of it later when he suddenly knows what he will do.

Igor Stravinsky


During a recent presentation I gave about the day-to-day work of producing six cartoons a week for the past seven-plus years, someone asked how long it takes to write and draw a gag. 

That's tricky. Drawing time can be estimated, as it's accomplished physically, but I can't quantify how long it takes to write a gag. I said something like, "In a way, the writing happens all the time." Not as elegantly as Stravinsky might have put it.

Each weekly batch begins with a "writing day," when I make rough sketches of at least six gags to draw as finished panels. In reality, I had been scribbling words, phrases, or doodles in my sketchbook for days or even weeks before tightening them up into usable material. Any number of things can be the seed of a cartoon: a bit of overheard conversation, a word that pops up in a puzzle, an unconscious scribble made during a phone call, even a typo in an email. 

Long before I begin the sketching phase, my brain tinkers with those kernels of ideas in the background. It's as if the conscious mind did some initial sorting and told the unconscious, "Here are a few that have possibilities. See what you can do with them."

No doubt this is more the result of skills gained through practice rather than anything mystical, but it's fascinating to step back and think about how humans create.

Igor could have been referring to any type of creative work. I'd love to know what seeds led to him composing The Rite of Spring, which reportedly set off a riot among the audience when it premiered in 1913.


Today's pipe pic is a jaunty nutcracker fisherman (or is it a fisherman nutcracker?) sent to us by Bizarro reader Larry B. of Beverly Farms, MA.


Larry wrote:

Just a little nutcracker from my ever-burgeoning collection. It’s displayed every Xmas in our home.

Thanks to Larry for sharing this charming photo.


To the best of my knowledge, none of the latest Bizarro panels sparked a riot.


My beloved Italian grandma had plastic slipcovers on the furniture in her living room, along with plastic floor runners so you didn't have to step on the carpeting. She also had a plastic-free "front room," where we played games, watched TV, and enjoyed the wonderful aromas of the food she prepared in the nearby kitchen. I'm sure many friends have similar fond memories of their immigrant elders.

It works every time. They just can't resist turning that crank.

Wednesday's panel was the rare gag that was fully formed when I first thought of it. Each successive "Z" should be read a little quieter than its predecessor.

The strip version presents the image to the reader first, followed by the nested balloons. Both layouts work, but in slightly different ways.

Wolfie was ready to retire before he turned six.

I often search for reference images when drawing specific items or people, and this one was no exception. Here are the pictures I studied when drawing the panel:

Oil painting (1767) of young Mozart by Pietro Antonio Lorenzoni 

A 1775 portrait of Anna Maria Mozart by Rosa Hagenauer

Mozart's childhood home in Salzburg

An 18th-century child's wagon
I overdid the homework on this one, but it's my idea of fun.

Friday's panel is the latest example of a verbal construction I refer to as a streptonym. After fourteen years, I'm still waiting for the term to catch on.

This caption might have been inspired by a typo or an errant autocorrection.


That's our blog for Week 25 of 2025. Drop by next Saturday for another six-pack of cartoon fun.

Bonus Track

Jane Aire & the Belvederes: "Yankee Wheels"
Stiff Records 45 BUY26, 1978


"Yankee Wheels," which was recorded by Akron's Jane Aire and written by Akron's Liam Sternberg. It doesn't feel like summer until I spin this old favorite.


Alternate Bizarro Outposts

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


   

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Saturday, May 31, 2025

What a Card

 This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 


AI agents... are largely bad to use, especially now, and in most all contexts. Their dangers are environmental, economic, and existential. As a "tool" they are far too destructive.
~Frank Elavsky


Last week in this space, I argued against AI "art" and advocated for works created by human effort. Not long after that, my BlueSky feed displayed an essay titled Stop Saying That AI Is Just a Tool and It Only Matters How It Is Used.

The epigraph above summarizes Frank's premise, but I recommend reading the whole treatise. It's more than convincingly damning and makes a solid case for humanity.

Mr. Elavsky is not only a brilliant researcher but also a creative and kind person, which I know firsthand because he's one of my neighbors.

I hope you enjoy Frank's post and consider all that he has to say.

This week's pipe pic is an elegant shot of music critic Ralph J. Gleason, looking rather Sherlockian.



Bizarro field correspondent Nate D. brought this one to my attention in January, writing:

I’m reading a fantastic book called Three Shades of Blue: Miles Davis John Coltrane Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool. Ralph J. Gleason came up so I went to his wiki and saw this photo.
Thanks to Nate for the image and for recommending the fascinating book on three important musicians.


As always, this week's Bizarro gags were created without the use of artificial intelligence.


Monday's panel adds to the familiar phrase, "Check your ego at the door."

Tuesday's gag featured sour, surly streamers.

Moving from "id" to "ID" in two days, we peek in at some joker trying to buy alcohol.

The character's outfit was based on a vintage playing card design.

Later, these two closed down the Diminutive Distillery.

We once looked at a home on a nearby one-way street, across from a schoolyard, but we decided there was too much traffic noise. We were relieved to have walked away from it when, a few years later, a bunch of tennis courts were retrofitted for pickleball.

Every occupation has its hazards.


That's a wrap on another week of words & pictures from Bizarro Studios North. Drop by next Saturday to see what shenanigans we come up with.

Bonus Track

Bob Dylan: "Jokerman"
Live on Late Night With David Letterman
CBS-TV, March 22, 1984


Dylan delivers an energetic performance backed by Los Angeles punk trio The Plugz (who later became The Cruzados).
Trivia note: Plugz guitarist Tito Larriva was also an actor whose first role was in the 1981 Pee-wee Herman Show, playing a smart-aleck kid named Hammy.


Bushels of Bizarro Bric-a-Brac

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


  

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Saturday, May 17, 2025

The Ink Monkey Speaks

This is the weekly dispatch from Bizarro Studios North, where I have been writing and drawing the Monday through Saturday Bizarro comics since 2018. My partner and friend Dan Piraro created Bizarro in the late twentieth century and continues to do the Sunday comic from Rancho Bizarro in Mexico.

Wayno 


Greetings from Bizarro Studios North, where the cartoon sausage is made. Recently, I put in some longer hours to get extra distance between myself and our neverending deadlines, and I have had some success.

I'm using the breathing room to prepare for a rare side gig later this month: I'm scheduled to give a talk for the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators about my prior illustration career and discuss how I ended up doing Bizarro. I've written my script and am starting to assemble a PowerPoint deck. After that, I'll review them and try to make the presentation as non-boring as possible. Wish me luck. You know how I can ramble on about cartooning...

Who knows, there may be some material I can share in the blog or newsletter.


Today's pipe pic comes to you courtesy of Bizarro reader Grieg T.


Grieg writes:
I found these at a local auction. "Fun for all ages." These kiddies look dazed: the girl—and the boy—with far away eyes. But they look happy!
Big Bizarro thanks to Grieg for this relic from the good old days, when the young ones had toys to model adult addictive behaviors.


I'll include a few recent cartoons in my presentation to the illustrators' group, based partly on their Instagram popularity. If you have any particular favorites from the year so far, let me know what they are.


Meanwhile, here's the latest batch of words & pictures.



Health-conscious ghosts avoid sugary cereals such as Boo-Berry.

 
Did you know that Oscar Wilde's gothic horror novel was based on an ancestor of his who was a marotte carver?

If the customer had requested "ranch dressing on the side," Henri would have pulled up a chair.

For our international readers, ranch dressing is an odd American item developed in the 1950s, and some citizens consider it a staple. 

In early 2024, while enjoying a wonderful Lunar New Year dinner at our favorite Chinese restaurant, we overheard patrons at a nearby table express disappointment that ranch dressing wasn't available to go with their menu items. The inevitable follow-up question? "How about ketchup?"

This panel arrived less than a week after our previous clown-based gag. We have a reputation to uphold.

Friday's panel takes place in a lab that conducts some major league research.

According to Urban Dictionary, hyberdating describes "a situation in which two people date so exclusively that you rarely see them." 


That wraps up Week 20 of the year 2025. We'll return next Saturday with more of this material if that interests you.

Bonus Track

Dave Bartholomew: "The Monkey"
Imperial Records 78/45, 1957


Dave Bartholomew, who lived to be 100, was a major figure in New Orleans music and American popular music in general. He was a bandleader, composer, musician, vocalist, producer and arranger. Bartholomew co-wrote, arranged, and produced many of Fats Domino's big hits, and his band backed Domino on records and onstage.


Scads of Bizarro Stuff

If you like what we do and appreciate that it's free, we encourage you to explore the following links.


  

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