This was a little cartoon I did when I worked at Taws which was an art supply store located in Center City Philadelphia. This was for a short-lived newsletter published by the store called 100% Rag. I thought I had a copy, but I couldn’t find one. It may have gone only two or three issues. I think my little French man was on the back in the upper corner and was part of a column on technical tips and tricks for artists.
The Interior of Henry H. Taws as it was in 1991
Long before fine dining in Philadelphia took place in makeshift shacks made of forklift palette wood and plastic tarpaulins haphazardly situated on the pavements and streets outside of the actual brick-and-mortar restaurants, people read newspapers. They were actual newsprint newspaper and printed with ink and were available everywhere for a couple of coins, and it was how people got the news. In addition to the news, there was also sports scores, movie listings, comic strips, celebrity gossip and horoscopes. People enjoyed the paper whether it was broadsheet or tabloid. These cheaply printed conglomerations of events and fluff made money back then. When the newspapers made money, they had money to spare on illustrators like yours truly to provide illustrations to break up all of that boring text with cartoons like the one above. The editors and publishers thought it worked. Who was I to argue with them?
It was 97º yesterday, and the only relief we city folk could get was a dip in the local pool. It was Heaven!
There’s nothing better than a blueberry lemon loaf with coffee on a lazy Sunday. The blueberries in the market are plump and juicy, it almost makes the ungodly heat bearable! Continue reading
Here is another scanned 35mm negative in the Photo Elective category. We’re back inside Bill’s No. 7 which was on Main Street in downtown Willimantic, Connecticut. I must have been in there between the breakfast and lunch rush. At its peak, it had a huge customer base, and it would have been tough to find a seat unlike this photograph.
All sophomore students majoring in illustration at The Philadelphia College of Art were required to take a minor course in photography where the students would take and process black and white, 35mm images and make prints. I lived in and shot photographs around the school’s downtown Philadelphia campus, but I had my camera loaded with Tri-X in tow when I returned to Willimantic for a visit. It was probably Thanksgiving of 1981.
One hundred nineteenth in a continued series creating a collage using five elements.
Spotted on Christian Street, the car that failed the Disney Pixar “Cars” audition.
Back when tattoos were still novel and newspapers had readers and thus advertising revenue and thus budgets to hire freelance artists, I did this cartoon for The Philadelphia Daily News. My illustrations accompanied an article entitled Chambers of Commerce which promoted new, hip and happening eateries, bars and small businesses such as tattoo parlors. It was aimed at suburban commuters in the hopes that they would stick around rather than hopping on the regional rail or a PATCO train home straight after work. Stay in town after you clock out, and SPEND that money! Continue reading
Here’s another scanned 35mm negative in the Photo Elective category. This one was from the interior of a fantastic old diner on Main Street in downtown Willimantic, Connecticut. Through the window you can see Willimantic’s famous foot bridge.
All sophomore students majoring in illustration at The Philadelphia College of Art were required to take a minor course in photography where the students would take and process black and white, 35mm images. I lived in and shot photographs around the school’s downtown Philadelphia campus, but I had my camera loaded with Tri-X in tow when I returned to Willimantic for a visit. It’s probably Thanksgiving 1981.
It’s summer, it’s hot, and I’m all about avoiding turning on the oven whenever possible. I prep the vegetables in the morning, which helps to make quick work of getting dinner on the table later on. Ramen noodles cook in about four minutes, and you can pull this dinner together in about 20 minutes. Bonus – leftovers reheat nicely for lunch the following day! Continue reading
Still open at 8th and Christian. Still insanely busy.
