HARPY_90 minutes

Typically there are more than one of these monsters in the mythology that they originate from - but I only had the energy to draw one. That convention in San Diego wiped me out, I tell yah. It'll be business as usual soon and the frequency in which I post will pick up again. One more show and that'll be it for the year.

Speaking of which: I will be at Wizard World: Chicago with Dustin Nguyen (no, not the fella from '21 Jumpstreet') - the talent that brought you 'The Authority' and currently on his creator-owned book called 'Manifest Eternity'. I'll be there selling an artbook called 'Fusion:Junction' and if you can't make it to the show, you may order directly from here. Also, I'll have the 'Beauty and the Beast' sketchbook available - a book that has both my art and the art of super-talented storyboard artist/director Lauren Montgomery (and no, not the adult film actress). Or order the book online here. Hey! lookit that - two people who have two *other* people named after them! Neat.

BTW, you folks should look at Lauren's blog and ask her nicely to put up more of her sketches. The key word being 'nicely'. She's a mean lady, but you may catch her on a good day and she'll accomodate you. More later. Pictures from the show(s) maybe.

TWENTY SIX_90 minutes

"...the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." - George Eliot

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH_30 minutes

A perennial favorite: soft melted cheese and pressed, buttery toast.

Ingredients:
2 slices Cheddar, American, or Swiss cheese
2 slices white bread
2 tablespoons butter

Preperation:
Put the cheese between the slices of bread. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet or grill and when melted add the sandwich. Gently press down with a spatula once or twice during the grilling. When one side is golden, add the remaining tablespoon of butter, turn the sandwich over, and brown.

Variations:
Grilled Cheese with Bacon. Fry 3 slices bacon until cooked but not crisp. Pat dry of excess fat, add on top of the cheese, and grill as directed.

Grilled Cheese with Ham. Put 2 thin slices ham on the cheese and grill as directed. Serve with sweet pickle.

Onion-Cheese Sandwich. Follow the recipe for Grilled Cheese Sandwich, but lightly coat 1 slice of bread with Dijon mustard. Sauté 3 to 4 slices onion in butter and put on top of the cheese. Cover and grill.

Tomato-Cheese Sandwich. Follow the recipe for Grilled Cheese Sandwich, but add two thin slices tomato to the sandwich before grilling.

MACARONI & CHEESE CASSEROLE_30 minutes

Baked macaroni and cheese with cheddar cheese and eggs, along with milk and butter.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
paprika, for the top

PREPARATION:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.
Cook macaroni in boiling salted water, following package directions. Drain well; return to pot. Add butter and stir until melted. Add 2 cups of the shredded cheese.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with the milk.

Add the milk mixture to the macaroni. Stir until well combined. Spoon into the greased pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup cheese on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned and casserole is cooked through.
Serves 4 to 6.

BEBOP_90 minutes

This one took time to set up. I realized without the proper reference these characters wouldn't look right. Hell, even *with* reference I still couldn't make them look right. Oh well - it still took 90 minutes to draw, and that's the point of the excersise.

BTW, dogs are difficult to draw. So are women. So are lavatories. So are Spike and Jet and androgenous looking girl/boys.

SARA'S 100!_90 minutes

I read somewhere that Top Cow Production's 'Witchblade' book is about to hit issue #100. That's an awesome feat.

ANIME EXPO

-Total spent on items that *hopefully* I'll use someday (some not pictured here): $450.00+.

-Money spent on food and other types of consumables ('Dippin Dots' is supposed to be the 'Icecream of the Future'?): $50.00+.

-Gas and parking fees to park at Downtown Disney (because the convention center's all full by 10AM): $45.00.



-Going to a convention where guys like this are walking around in a 'Faye Valentine' outfit, buck-wild and care-free: Priceless.

TRANSFORMERS_90 minutes

"More than meets the eye..." The movie is really depressing. Prime dies? So that what? So that the whiny kid can take on the Matrix of Leadership and screw up the resistance? Optimus died for Judd Nelson?!? That sucked.

And to top it all off, this was the last movie the late, great Orson Wells (Unicron) ever did any kind of acting for - voice-over or otherwise. Prime *and* Citizen Kane died in order for this movie to happen?! Like I said - depressing.

Just kidding, kids. The movie was awesome. I loved the animation and the level of violence was unparalled for an animated movie of its time. I was floored when as many robots got 'killed off' as they did. Looking back now I don't know if they could ever pull off the stuff in a cartoon as Transformers did. I mean, every episode had them blasting each other with guns, violence motivated plotlines, robots at the main protagonists? That ain't ever gonna fly in this day and age of politically correct, sacchrine-induced, children's programming.

THE MAIN MAN_90 minutes

Anime Expo is in town this Independence Day weekend and I had the opportunity to attend yesterday. It was a fine time. I took no pictures, though I should have because the 'cosplay' was in full swing - at day one, no less! I was being stupid and critical and asked my friend how fanatical someone has to be to come dressed up as an anime character or whatever. He answered with something sobering, "Dude, in about three weeks, you and I and a crowd twenty times bigger than this are going to flock to a convention center in San Diego and celebrate our version of pop culture. It's like the pot calling the kettle black."

I told him to shut up. Have a safe and happy 4th of July, folks.