Illustration Friday: Confined

Illustration Friday: Confined, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Illustration of a mom and two children looking at the snow from a window. There is nothing like a snow day to bring the joy to children and depression to parents.

Yes, my kids have a snow day today. And mom is home with the gang. I hope she is having a better day than the poor women in this illustration.

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

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator

Cartoon: Musical Tech

Spear-Cartoon_3560, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon of boy and dad at computer. Boy says, "You're listening to classical music on the Internet? Doesn't that violate some techie code of conduct?"

I drew this comic in Adobe Illustrator CS2. It also is for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "music."

Webcomic: The Plague of Chores

Cartoon of Moses and a boy. Boy says, “It’s not fair being Moses’ son! If I don’t do my chores, you send a plague."

Have you ever noticed life isn't fair if you make someone work? What they're really saying is "It's only fair if I don't have to lift a finger!" Oops! Looks like I better change my attitude and do a little more work!

I drew this web comic in Adobe Illustrator CS2

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

Webcomic: Internet Language Lessons

Cartoon of boy at a computer. Mom says to him, “We didn’t get you a computer so you could learn how to call someone a moron in seven different languages.”

This is an illustration I did back in 1996 for the sixth edition of the "New Rider's Internet Yellow Pages."

I envy today's kids. The Internet is a vast resource for people looking for subversive ways to insult friends and loved ones. It's one giant thesaurus, baby!

New Rider's Publishing and me own the copyright to this image. Please do not use without permission.

Webcomic: Health Insurance

Cartoon of boy sick in bed. He says to his mom, "But if we have health insurance, why didn't it keep me from getting sick?"

Have you ever tried to explain insurance to children? It's not the easiest thing. One would assume health insurance would keep you from the flu bug. Then again, that same logic would say life insurance would keep you from dying. I suppose it depends on whether you get term or whole life.

I drew this comic in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Webcomic: Skinny Halloween

Spear-Cartoon_3551, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Cartoon of girl and dad. Girl says,"I don't know. I was hoping for a Halloween costume that makes me look skinny."

I've noticed Halloween costumes have gone from the old, traditional creepy crawlies to the more... oh... bewitching. Come one, people! kids have enough pressure on body image. Give them a break!

I drew this web comic for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "skinny."

I also drew this cartoon in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Webcomic: Monster Mashed

Cartoon of a mom and boy. Child reacts to monstrous plate. He says, "Mom! My favorite! You made Monster Mashed Potatoes!"

This is what happens when I have "Monster Mash" by Bobby "Boris" Pickett running through my mind. I better stock up on some more candy.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Comic: Revising Dad's History

Cartoon of a man behind a boy at a PC. Man says, “Mom told me you used the web to prove I really didn’t walk seven miles uphill both ways to school every day.”

This is an illustration I did back in 1996 for the sixth edition of the "New Rider's Internet Yellow Pages."

New Rider's Publishing and me own the copyright to this image. Please do not use without permission.

Illustration Friday: Frozen

Illustration Friday: Frozen, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Webcomic of a dad and daughter. The daughter says, "I just realized your wardrobe is frozen in time."

Every dad will one day face the disgust of his daughter. Fashion can play a big part of that. Fashion is just another way of saying, "What were you thinking?

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

I drew comic in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Webcomic: The Family Blog

Cartoon of a boy at a computer. Boy says to Mom, "I'm writing a blog. Does your family or Dad's have the most sordid details?"

There are no sordid details in my blog... at least none I'm aware of. It seems safe to talk about yourself as opposed to loved ones. If that doesn't work, make a cartoon out of them and distort the details enough so no one recognizes themselves.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Cartoon: Kitchen Serenade

Webcomic of a mom and boy with guitar. The boy says, "Let me serenade you before you see the mess in the kitchen."

Music can cure the savage mom. Just be sure to sing something she likes. I know, it may hurt your musical sensibilities, but if you're already in trouble, you might as well be flexible.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS3

Cartoon: Health Care Veggies

Cartoon of mom and son at dinner. Mom says, “It’s MY version of health care reform. Eat your veggies."

My mom was a nurse. This is the kind of thing I could just hear her saying. She would sneak wheat germ and shredded carrots into anything she could. I guess I shouldn't complain. I'm healthy today. Thanks Mom!

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Cartoon: Love and Homework

Cartoon of dad and son. Dad says, “Your mom didn't marry me for my hair. It was because I did my homework. Now go do yours.”

I'm sure my dad used this ploy on me. Bless his heart, I never remember him with much hair. But he's always been a hard worker. He's done his homework, and so has Mom. That must be why she married him.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

Cartoon: The Finest Computer

Cartoon of dad and son. Dad says, “Welcome to the computer age, son! I got you the finest Commodore 64 money can buy.”

This is a classic cartoon I did back in 1996 for the sixth edition of the "New Rider's Internet Yellow Pages."

I remember the Commodore 64. A friend had it in college. I was jealous. Does that make me old? I wonder if my son would like a Commodore 64? I'll ask him after he's finished playing on his XBox 360.

New Rider's Publishing and me own the copyright to this image. Please do not use without permission.

Cartoon: parenting butterflies

Cartoon of caterpillar child to parent butterfly. Caterpillar says, "Nag, nag, nag! I can't wait until I get a chrysalis of my own."

Insects must have it easy. Even though their parenting skills are nonexistent, they don't have to deal with a generation gap.

Then again, they don't know the joys of parenting either. I guess it's about how much you invest. Go ahead and give your time. Sooner or later, that caterpillar will emerge as a stunning butterfly.

I drew this in Adobe Illustrator CS2

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

Sketchbook 0903, page 067

Kevin Spear Sketchbook 0903, page 067, originally uploaded by speartoons.

A few weeks ago, I drew this set of kids and moms at church.
I liked the expressions of the kids. It's as if they were nervous because two parents were communicating. Kids get nervous whenever adults band together in the same way parents fear organized kiddie coups.

I drew this in pencil

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

Sketch of father and son sledding

Sketch of father and son sledding, originally uploaded by speartoons.

Pencil sketch of a father and son getting ready to go sledding.

There is just enough snow on the ground to get a guy thinking about sledding. I drew this in pencil within my sketchbook.