Illustration Friday: Blur

Cartoon of boy and mom. Son says, "I don't know what the principal told you. For me, the food fight was a blur."

I have to admit, I wasn't usually the boy starting a food fight in the cafeteria. I was the kid observing the whole melee, hiding and admiring the troublemaker for his chutzpah. It's much safer that way, and the teachers like you better.

I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "blur."

I drew this comic in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Wrapped Up in Apologies

Student Apologies, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon: Student says to teacher, "For anything I may do this school year, I'd like to offer a blanket apology."

Also works for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "wrapped." This guy is wrapped up in getting his apologies out of the way first. There's a few sports figures and politicians that could learn from that. Just apologize in advance when you're elected or get that multi-million dollar contract.

Please ask before using this cartoon. I can provide a watermarked free image upon request.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3

Illustration Friday: Idle

Spear Cartoon 3493, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon of mom to idle son: "How's your summer vacation been so far?"

This is also for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "idle."

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Illustration Friday: Hollow

I needed to illustrate a can drive for work, so what better way to combine business with another business?

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3. I had fun on this one using the pen tool instead of the pencil or brush tool. I am finding it gives a smoother line and the paths can be edited in much the same way as you can edit a brush stroke. Sorry I'm getting all technical. I just feel geeky today.

This will be part of a clip art series. If you are interested in purchasing this image, contact Warner Press at wporders@warnerpress.org.

Illustration Friday: Worn

Illustration Friday: Worn, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Here is my take for Illustration Friday's "worn." This giraffe is the perfect model for a neck tie. Personally, I'm glad I haven't worn a tie to work in years.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrtor CS3.

Illustration Friday: Unfold

These boys are enjoying a couple of marshmallows around a campfire. Will there be scary stories? Will a coyote or owl disrupt their outing? Who knows what will unfold next.

This is part of my clip art assignment for Warner Press. They own the copyright. If you would like to use it, you must contact them at wporders@warnerpress.org.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Illustration Friday: Craving

Cartoon: son to dad, "Well school is out for the summer! I don't know about you, but I'm craving some adventure!"

I'm guessing there are many kids craving adventure this month. Here's to hoping they have an exciting, and safe summer.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3

Illustration Friday: Adapt

When I heard this word, I thought of those poor polar bears who may need to learn how to adopt to subtopic conditions.

Surfing the big waves may have to replace boogie boarding on the ice.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3.

Illustration Friday: Cracked

This is my take for Illustration Friday's word, "Cracked." Goldfish always look so relaxed and trusting considering the sad fate these poor creatures often face. 

When I was little, I threw a toy pistol through our ten gallon aquarium. How was I to know it would break? Mom and Dad must have had patience of steel that day.

Illustration Friday: Contagious

Cartoon: Boy to teacher, "Nobody will play with me, Mrs. Hunt, just because I told them I?m extremely contagious."

This week's theme for Illustration Friday is "Contagious." I had this idea swimming around my mind as all the hype about swine flu was going on a couple of weeks ago. This looked like the perfect opportunity to bring the idea to life.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3

Cross armed girl

Cross armed girl, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Character sketch of a girl in an oversized t-shirt. She has a look of confidence. She has a preteen, "take on the world," look.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3 using Live Paint.

Middle-age couple on computer

Middle-age couple on computer, originally uploaded by speartoons.

The other day, I saw a lady operating a computer at church. I drew a sketch of the scene.

It amazes me how pervasive technology is becoming. People who I thought would never have a computer are now using them. PC's now seem to be a part of every church. Hi tech has hit mainstream!

Illustration Friday: Hierarchy

Spear_1992, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Illustration of a man cowering behind a desk. I originally had this for cartoon 1992. When I heard Illustration Friday's theme was "hierarchy," I thought this fit the bill.

It made me think about all the business troubles going on in the banks and Wall Street. It takes a lot of courage to make it in this business climate. But be strong and courageous! We'll get through it!

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2.

Spear-Cartoon_2975

Spear-Cartoon_2975, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon of man to woman, "I always thought falling head over heels in love was an impossibility."

"Head over heels" has always sounded like an impossible cliche to me. Then again, I guess our heads are always over our heels, right? That must mean everyone has a chance to fall in love.

I originally drew this cartoon several years ago. When Illustration Friday announced this week's word was "impossibility," I went searching through the archives and came up with this one.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Spear Cartoon 3207

Cartoon of a man in his back yard. The neighbor's dog is raising a fit. The man says, "Love your neighbor and put-up with his pooch."

Love towards one's neighbors can be a challenge, especially when he isn't a model citizen. Sometimes, the neighbor can be all right, but his dog may act like an obedience school drop-out.

To all my neighbors, I hope my dog has not been acting like Cujo lately. I promise I will try to be a model citizen. If I fall short a few times, please forgive me. I'll show a little mercy too. Let's face it, we all need that from time to time.

This was a cartoon I drew seven years ago. I updated it and posted it the new version to my website at www.kevinspear.com.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2.

Spear Cartoon_3486

Spear_3486, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon: Boy says to girl, "If God loves a cheerful giver, why are you supposed to give 'til it hurts?"

We always get conflicting messages in this world, don't we? To be fair, though, "Give 'til it hurts' is not found in the Bible.

However, the Apostle Paul did write, "God loves a cheerful giver." in 2 Corinthians 9:7.

I thought of this idea while thinking about today's financial climate. Giving is down in some areas because the economy is so shaky. But sometimes the cure for financial uncertainty is to just give and don't worry about tomorrow.

Today, I'm going to find some ways to give. How about you?

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3

Spear-Cartoon_3485

Spear-Cartoon_3485, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon of vampire at dentist office: “Before the dentist sees me, I have to know some things. Can he work without that obnoxious light? Did he have anything with garlic for lunch? And does he respect abnormally large incisors?

At first glance, you may think Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" series inspired this cartoon. That would be partially true.

Actually, a trip through one of my sketchbooks inspired this one. I was looking through a 1988 sketchbook. I came across a poor, awkward vampire at high school. He was having trouble with the school lunch. His fangs were sensitive to the goop they were serving that day.

It was one of those gags that got cheap laughs in my high school and college newspapers. You can't go wrong dissing the man with the goop.

However, I couldn't use that one today. Instead, my mind wandered to how difficult would all these vampires lives be if they had to live in our world. Would dentists be as feared as Buffy? if anyone would have dentophobia, it would have to be vampires, right?

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Spear cartoon 3484

Cartoon of Dad to son, “How long before I’m old enough to search for significance online?"

Every once in a while, you hear how people are using the web to replace real interaction. I was thinking about this one day as this cartoon came to mind. It seems you can search for information about almost anything. Some of the info is great, some is, well... needs a little editing.

Hopefully, I'm not finding significance in my art and cartoons. Nothing man-made can ever replace our need for interaction with people and God. That is where I fin my significance.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Spear-Cartoon_3483

Spear-Cartoon_3483
Originally uploaded by speartoons

Cartoon of Dad to son, "Don’t think of them as chores, but as opportunities."

I thought of this ideal because my kids are on spring break this week. My wife asked one of our kids to do a chore the other night. You would have thought we just told him to hold his arm in a barrel of leaches for a "reasonable" amount of time.

Suddenly, I thought of an image of a motivational speaker trying to get his kid to do his chores. Perhaps this speaker can challenge a corporation to reach for excellence and a government bail out. But I'm guessing even this captain of blarney couldn't get his son to clean the commode.

I've been experimenting with how to create my cartoons in Adobe Illustrator. In this instance, I used the shape tools such as the ellipses and rounded boxes to get the basic shapes. Then I warped them and distorted them how I saw fit.

I used my raw drawing right out of my sketchbook as the template.

When I had all the shapes just so, I converted them to a live paint object. This is my new, favorite tool in Illustrator. Not only can I use the paint bucket to colorize the fills, but I can also use it to apply different line widths to the strokes. It's a major time saver.

I am also testing wether I can handle just a black and white drawing for the weekdays and if anybody notices. I'd rather get several black and white cartoons out in a week than just one color. Alas, time keeps flowing and I'm caught in the undertow.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrtor CS2

Illustration Friday: Poise

Spear Cartoon 3481
Originally uploaded by speartoons

Cartoon of dog, cat and woman. Dog says to cat, “Run between her ankles again. Whenever you do that, she has such poise."

This is also my entry for Illustration Friday: Poise

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3