Middle School Was A Trying Time

Middle Finger (minus thumb)

Addendum: None

Strictly speaking, it's stylized "Play-Doh." Did I think about putting "MOM" inside that heart?

Our first political cartoon! This drawing has a sense of aloof criticism. George W. Bush gets his appearance from his ears and nose. At the time, I didn't understand Bush's political choices, but I was immersed in internet lore surrounding him. It was cool to hate George W. Bush not just as a political leader, but as a stupid person who spoke poorly. The bottom right and left corners are two scenes I saw enacted often in middle school.

hot damn!

Addendum: "2006/5"

This was drawn in response to my music teacher announcing to the class that we would be watching Stravinski's "The Firebird." We were supposed to draw our own interpretation of what we thought a "Firebird" looked like; this was my contribution. I'm not sure I was self-aware enough at the time to make a joke about my own short attention span, but that's what "look! A monkey" seems to say.

This next page will make you go, "WTF?"

Addendum: None

A series of two. First:

Then:

I've had my fair share of disclaimers. They seem less about warning the viewer of the content and more as a message of themselves. Or maybe they served to excuse me from any negative social consequences my drawings could have had at the time they were drawn (and now!). I stretch the anatomy of the animals in this drawing to fit them to their function. The head of the giraffe has been erased and redrawn in erasable pen.

Abstract Land (crazy!)

Addendum: None

I don't think "abstract" necessarily means "crazy," but I guess I was trying to play down my actual interest in abstract drawing. Is the blue scribble in the top right a human figure(s)? The bottom left hand scene of violence seems completely unrelated. One man (my stick figures, unless indicated, were all male) is having his neck pierced open by another man wearing sunglasses. His hands move involuntarily to his neck to try in vain to stop the bleeding. Chllgh!

Bob's Ambulance

Addendum: None

This is Bob (the hamma-stoppa)'s ambulance. For some reason, he's not the driver. If you look above the CENSORED bar, the top of a "p" is just visible. The stick figure being run over has sacrificed his body for a joke. I'm not sure if the subterranean creatures are moles, voles, mice, or something else.

Oliver, Oliver...

Addendum: None

This is a picture of a piece of broccoli playing a flute in the streets of London. Oliver Twist can be seen in the lower left corner. The grid pattern is meant to represent cobblestone streets. I didn't know how to draw perspective very well.

CHKLLGH!!

Addendum: None

Although the first two victim stick figures look like they're suffering similar punishments (?), one is burned while the other is electrocuted. The third stick figure is the only one with a substantial body (for a cannonball to go through), and the last stick figure is the only one with a substantial face (for the grappling hook spikes to stick into). I don't actually know how to draw cylinders.

puzzle Time!

Addendum: None

This piece consists of two pieces of paper layered on top of each other. The top paper is cut around the donkey.

When you lift the top sheet off, it reveals what is underneath:

This was my first vaguely political drawing. I expressed distaste that George Bush had won the election and was being manipulated by Dick Cheney. I don't think I actually knew much about these issues, I just read about them in Mad Magazine or the like. I'm also unsure whether I was trying to poke fun at the apparently cryptic language of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" or whether I was just messing around. Both seem equally likely. On the back page, we have Bob "the hama-stopa", a donkey, a stylized "4" that is in danger of becoming a swastika, and a bird shooting lasers out of its eyes. At the top is "mar-yuh-loo", a mispronunciation of "Mary Lou" by the character Zero in Louis Sachar's young adult novel "Holes". I wonder why "gay" was written to describe the donkey, then vigorously crossed out?

If Pens Could Talk, This is What they Would Talk About - By: Rollerball

Addendum: None, it's two sided

Side 1:

Side 2:

Once again, apologies for the time between posts; any semblance of routine dissolved when I graduated high school.

There are a lot of possible explanations for this piece. I used to like to collect pens. I liked the various textures and feelings or writing with different writing utensils. I wanted to be able to use all my pens at once. Thus, this. I characterized each of my various writing utensils that I had in my work area and let the story (if you could call it that) happen. I suppose it shows that I used to think about sex a lot more than I thought about thinking about sex. This plays out like a bad reality television show in fast motion, with many men clamoring for sex with the one woman that exists within the confines of their reality (the ostensible "pen-only zone"). Some things that called my attention:
- Spelling of "yeah" without an "h"
- Pervasive internet-speak
- Pictoral depiction of "fuck you" by Ballpoint
- Racial implications of "minorities" in a "pen-only zone"?
- Why Cleveland?
- Is Blue Fusion a negative caricature of women?
- Why do I say "do it" instead of "sex" or something more explicit? Was I afraid?
- The words to describe sex start out in quotes, then lose them
- Implications of the fact that the story is written by Rollerball?
- Asexuality of Fusion, Felt Tip, and Pencil (although perhaps Pencil is just not as in touch with his sexuality as the others or he's witnessing the sex of a different species altogether)
- "Your hopeless, ballpoint."