gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

"fred 43": work in progress- day one

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Like they say, when you fall off your horse, the first thing to do is get right back on it.

After Fred 42 died earlier today, I got right back to work. Behold "Fred 43". Ink & pencil on paper. 23 x 30 inches. It's been a busy morning, to say the least.

I'm already liking this one. We'll see where it goes...

By the way, to answer a frequently-asked question. I consider these large pieces "cartoons", I do not consider them "fine art". I consider myself a cartoonist, not an "artist".

So there!

r.i.p "fred 42"

I'm sad to report the premature death of my good friend, "Fred 42".

This happened earlier today, when my pen exploded.

It happens.

All is not lost. I already have a New Evil Plan. Hurrah! I'll let you see it when it's ready.

I spent about twenty minutes being really bummed, then said, "To Hell with it. "Fred 43" will be EVEN BETTER."

It's all good...

cut the art crap

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Cranked out this one quickly today. "Cut The Art Crap", May, 2008. 24x24 inches, pencil on wooden Ampersand Gessobord, varnished with spray acrylic. I might sell this one... thinking it would go well in somebody's New York apartment. We'll see what happens etc.

"fred 42": work in progress- day six

[Close-up of "Fred 42". Click on image to enlarge etc.]

Yesterday [Day Five] I hardly touched Fred 42. Maybe ten minutes, tops. My brain was all wrapped up with all the Blue Monster stuff.

Like I told somebody the other day, if I just tried to be a full-time cartoonist, I would fail. If I just tried to be a full-time marketer, I would fail.

Somehow it's managing to balance BOTH spheres that keeps it interesting for me... and ipso facto, interesting for the people that pay my bills. And all this, of course, feeds back into The Sex & Cash Theory, from Chapter Seven of "How To Be Creative":

"The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task in hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended."

"the blue monster is the future of marketing"

I haven't talked about The Blue Monster for a while.

The Blue Monster, as you will remember, is a cartoon-based "Social Object" that me and my Microsoft buddy, Steve Clayton, unleashed on the good but unsuspecting folk at Microsoft. For those unfamiliar with it, you can find the backstory here on Google.

One of the reasons I haven't talked about it much lately, is simply because there is no longer the need. To paraphrase Steve, "It's already out there, it's already working its magic. It has a life of its own and it no longer needs us."

Exactly. And as my friend, Tara Hunt so rightly pointed out, to push it too hard, especially with Microsoft management giving it a big thumbs-up, would somehow defeat the purpose. If overused, "Subversion as a marketing tool" can be counterproductive, especially if it comes from above.

In 2007, the conversation was all about "THE" Blue Monster. But in 2008, a new conversation seems to be emerging: "A" Blue Monster.

Let me explain:

I've been talking to some companies recently, talking about doing some new business with them. Without any doubt, the question I get asked the most is, "Can you make a Blue Monster for us?"

Obviously, when they're talking about "A" Blue Monster, they're not talking about a wee blue cartoon character with pointy horns, that hails from Redmond, Washington.

What they're talking about, of course, is a "Social Object", not necessarily a cartoon, designed to create what I loosely describe as "Marketing Disruption".

It's not unlike when you're talking about Seth Godin. When you say, "THE" Purple Cow, you're talking about his wonderful and seminal marketing book from a few years ago. But when you talk about "A" Purple Cow, you're just talking a about a product, any product, which from a marketing standpoint has been designed so well, it does not need any traditional marketing per se. It's so "remarkable" for what it is, people can't help but talk about it. And so the word spreads, almost by magic. Seth actually gives a really good example of exactly that here.

So what's the difference between a Purple Cow and a Blue Monster? Well, we could split hairs on that one forever, but for me, the main difference is Purple Cows have their "remarkability" baked into the product. Blue Monsters are more about the "Social", the interesting bit is the interactions that happen AROUND the product. That's what gave our little wine company the edge when marketing Stormhoek. The VAST majority of our conversation was not about the wine in the bottle. The conversation WAS ALL ABOUT the people drinking it. As we were fond of saying, "Wine is the ultimate social object. It's only interesting AFTER the cork is pulled."

So in conclusion, yes, something has recently evolved in my thinking. Though my relationship with Microsoft remains as strong as ever, "Blue Monster" now means something far bigger to me than just cartoons, gapingvoid, Microsoft, Redmond etc. The Blue Monster is all about the Social Object.

I have often said, I believe Social Objects are the future of marketing.

Let me modify that slightly: I believe the Blue Monster is the future of marketing.

[UPDATE:] Steve Clayton sent me the following message on Twitter:

I replied back:

[Afterthought:] Understanding the Blue Monster means understanding the need to be "bigger than yourself". Exactly.

"fred 42": work in progress- day four

["Fred 42". Click on image to enlarge etc.]

[Close-up shot.]

Yesterday I wrote, "When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing."

Hmmm... That does not explain the 8-10 hours I put into the drawing yesterday. What the hell, I guess I was on a roll.

In the last decade or so, I always had a job to hold down, or a business to run. I always had a thousand different things to do BESIDES making drawings. My drawing time was always "stolen" from the other stuff going on.

But now here in uber-laid-back West Texas, suddenly I have more time on my hands.

Or so it felt, yesterday.

"fred 42": work in progress- day three

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Yesterday (Day 2) I hardly touched the drawing. I was busy doing other things.

Today I fooled around with it for a couple of hours in the morning. Quite pleased with the results, so far.

When I do large pieces, I rarely do the long, 18-hour obsessive stints that so many artists are known for. I prefer to whittle away at it in brief spurts over time- a little bit there, a little bit there, that kind of thing.

I'm guessing "Fred 42" will be done by month's end, if all goes well. Rock on.

"fred 42": work in progress- day one

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[Close-up: Click on image to enlarge etc.]

Today, once I had finished with work for the day, I decided to start on a a new drawing. 18 x 24 inches. Pencil and pen & ink on paper. Working Title: "Fred 42" [I'll explain the title at a later date].

So far I'm having a blast. We'll see where this all takes me. I have no idea how long it'll take me to complete, but I'll let you know when it happens. Rock on.

ian murdock: sun keynote

[UPDATE: You can watch the video here- See Chapter One.]

[UPDATE: You can see photos from the event here.]

[More photos here.]

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Last week I was in Austin. One of the reasons I was there was to help design some slides for Ian Murdock's keynote, "Innovate. Collaborate. Integrate", which he gave today.

Above are the slides. They start off as a giant, black, haystack-shaped software monolith, then evolved outwards into "Open Source", and finally, to the Sun logo. The sixth cartoon is just a humorous drawing projected behind the other panel members who were sharing the stage with Ian.

I'm told the screen was fifty feet wide, so I'm guesing they would've looked rather spiffy. These were all drawn in pencil on 3.5-inch card [Business-card size, obviously]. The actual drawings didn't take that long to execute; though getting them to work cohesively and conceptually took a long time, a lot of collaboration was involved.

It was a cool gig; I hope to do more like it. Thanks to the very groovy Sarah Dornsife for making it happen. Rock on.

moleskine 43

[Another one from the notebook. 5x7 inches approx.]

moleskine 42

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[Close-up view]

"Moleskine 42". A wee sketch I did over the weekend in my Moleskine notebook. Approx 5x7 inches.

moleskine 41

moleskine 40

moleskine 39

moleskine 38