See You At MCBA Fall Comic-Con, Oct. 8

abeb16_ec83dcaeef5443cab3d7e26da1b95403This Saturday (Oct. 8, 2016) is the MCBA Fall Comic-Con. It’s a huge gathering of comic book fans and creators from all over the Midwest, held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul. As usual I’ll have a table where you can purchase booklets of my Sketchbook Silliness cartoons, get a free Pose Drawing Sparkbook bookmark, or just stop by and chat.

Below is a map of the show floor with a big red arrow pointing to my table (click to enlarge). You can get more info about the Con on the official website. It’ll be a lot of fun. See you there!

mcba-fall-comiccon2016-map

Sketching for St. Jude

NCS North Central Chapter members Kelly McNutt, Phil Juliano, and Cedric Hohnstadt.
NCS North Central Chapter members Kelly McNutt, Phil Juliano, and Cedric Hohnstadt.
Hundreds of people attended the St. Jude Walk/Run for childhood cancer. Sept. 24, 2016.
Hundreds of people attended the St. Jude Walk/Run for childhood cancer. Sept. 24, 2016.
Kelly McNutt draws with a young artist.
Kelly McNutt draws with a young artist.
Kelly McNutt and Phil Juliano share cartooning secrets with the next generation.
Kelly McNutt and Phil Juliano pass on some cartooning secrets to the next generation.
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Yours Truly (left) and Kelly McNutt (right) getting in touch with our inner children.

The National Cartoonists Society, of which I am a member, partners with St. Jude by sending cartoonists to hospitals around the country to visit and draw with sick kids (more info here.) This past Saturday (Sept. 24) was the annual Minneapolis St. Jude Walk/Run for childhood cancer, held at the brand new US Bank Stadium. I was there along with two other local NCS members, animator Kelly McNutt and cartoonist Phil Juliano who draws the strip “Best In Show”. We spent the morning drawing with kids, answering their questions, and offering a few pointers. It was a lot of fun.

I mostly drew popular cartoon and video game characters, but since we were at the new home of the Vikings I also managed to doodle a few vikings of my own:

Color sketch by Cedric Hohnstadt of a cartoon viking holding a shield and sword. Copyright © 2016, Cedric Hohnstadt. All rights reserved. https://cedricstudio.com

Color sketch by Cedric Hohnstadt of a cartoon viking waving a purple flag. Copyright © 2016, Cedric Hohnstadt. All rights reserved. https://cedricstudio.com

Color sketch by illustrator Cedric Hohnstadt of a viking running with his sword. Copyright © 2016, Cedric Hohnstadt. All rights reserved. https://cedricstudio.com

St. Jude is a terrific organization that does great work, and patients are never charged for any of their services. If you want to help them in their fight against childhood cancer you can chip in a donation on their website. Even small gifts make a difference.

Donate

My Annual Good Friday Post

Today is Good Friday. For Christians this is one of the most important days of the year, the day we pause to commemorate the torture, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ. You may wonder, why would a day like that be called “good?”

Because even though it was a terrible day for Jesus it was a very good day for you and me. How’s that, you ask? Over the course of my career I’ve had the privilege to work on several projects that help explain:

Are You A Good Person? Cartoon

Are You A Good Person?
First, here’s an 8-page cartoon Gospel tract I illustrated a few years ago for the ministry of Living Waters. Nine million copies have been printed in English and it has been translated into over thirty languages. You can download it for free or purchase printed copies from Living Waters.

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Based on the tract’s success, Living Waters also hired me to produce an animated version, which I supervised with the help of two terrific animators (Michael Foster and Chance Dodd). If you like it you can download a free HD version to use however you’d like.

What’s In The Bible? “The Meaning Of Easter”
Finally, VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer recently completed a DVD series called “What’s In The Bible?”. I had the privilege of doing some animation and character design work on a few episodes.

Here’s a clip from the episode explaining the meaning of Easter:

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I don’t make any money or royalties off of these items. I just believe in them and want to share. Thanks for indulging me. Here’s wishing you a very happy Easter filled with smiles and jelly beans!

How To Not Miss Any ‘Sketchbook Silliness’

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During Inktober I decided to try adding a little humor to my warmup sketches, and pretty soon it became a regular thing. People seem to like it so I’ve started collecting them into a series for easier following and sharing. I originally called it “Drawing Dad Jokes” but decided I like the name “Sketchbook Silliness” a lot better. I’m still not exactly sure what I’m going to do with all these drawings (if anything), and I can’t promise they will be published on any sort of set schedule, but if they make you smile, laugh, or groan you now have several ways to follow them:

Funny Stuff Only:
If you just want to see my dopey doodles and nothing else, they now have their own website: sketchbooksilliness.com. It’s very much a work in progress but has an RSS feed if you are into that sort of thing. I’ve also given them their own Tumblr feed and a page on the webcomic site Tapastic. I’m also considering offering a subscribe-by-email service. Let me know in the comments if you think that would be worth doing. (EDIT: The email subscription is now available below in my website footer.)

Funny + Not As Funny:
If you don’t mind seeing the silly sketches mixed in with serious artwork and other updates from my studio you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, as well as my regular Tumblr feed. And of course there’s always this here blog.

This whole thing is an experiment but I’m having a blast. Mostly I’m just grateful so many of you seem to be having fun with me.

Dave Coverley’s “Night of the Living Worms”

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Dave Coverly is one of my favorite cartoonists. His award-winning strip “Speed Bump” is a clever and goofy gag fest. It kind of like The Far Side, but wittier and better drawn. I’ve met Dave once or twice and I even have an autographed original of one of his strips on my studio wall. So yes, I’m a fan. He’s also a super nice guy and I envy his brilliant, wacky sense of humor.

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(Click to enlarge.)

I was recently sent a review copy of Dave’s new children’s book, Night of the Living Worms. It’s a fun story about the Early Bird’s little brother, also named Speed Bump, and his feathered buddy Slingshot. Since Speed Bump can never live up to his popular brother’s reputation (Speed Bump has tiny wings and likes to sleep in), he and Slingshot decide to go on a nighttime adventure. They discover a dangerous trap set by some night crawlers that might mean the death of Early Bird! Can Speed Bump save him before the sun comes up?

This is a heavily illustrated chapter book for young readers, with entertaining black-and-white drawings on every page. The writing is loose and casual, jumping from scene to scene at a fast clip.  The humor is jokey and silly, although the tone probably skews more towards boys (there are gags about bug-eating, burping, and a couple of potty jokes). It’s a bouncy, winding story that should keep kids engaged and entertained. If I’d been given this book as a kid I’m sure I would have re-read it a few times.

Dave Coverly is an award-winning cartoonist for good reason. This is an entertaining book and I’m happy to recommend it. You can order from Amazon here.

Random Silliness

TeddyRooseveltDinosaurMoon

Some guys take a break from work by going for a walk or grabbing a smoke. I photoshop Teddy Roosevelt riding a dinosaur on the moon. (Click for larger version).

#teddyroosevelt #dinosaur #humor #silly