Summer Better Than Others

"Summer time, summer time, sum-sum-summer time . . . " I really hate to see it go. The long hazy days, the katy-didz as they shwiz-shwiz-shhhwizzzzing in the trees and the smells of the pool chlorine and suntan oil permeate the air. But I would have to say that this Summer has been one of the best on record for me. Maybe it is because I am getting old-ER but I seem to have held on to many of the trappings of the season. I have been reaching for my younger days, the music, the laughs, the zany friends that made those times so special. Some would call it "middle age crazy", I call it applying the spice of youth to the boiled rice of redundant days.

To anyone who follows or cares (and if it is you -AWESOME!!) I apologize for the long quiet distance between posts.

I am working on a project that is really cool. It involves a new planet of characters called "Freelings". The concept is pretty cool and the Freelings are FUN, FUN, FUN!!! I will put a picture up later today. Al is gaining momentum in my thoughts but remains a mild distraction for now (sorry buddy). I will add more soon.

Shalom my friends. nik

SHIP-SHAPEing up!

Step by step, inch by inch the mighty . . . . ah heck, it's just a balsa wood frame. BUT IT's MY SHIP!!!! So far the mainframe has been assembled and I am in the process of putting together the many splines that will form the skeleton of shape AL's spaceship.

On a creative note I have to say that the process of designing and developing something that I have envisioned for so long is AWESOME. Seeing the ship that I have drawn for years come to life is just a thrill.9 AND the idea of making AL EoN into something tangible is a jazz to the power of 10. (it's an artist thing, i hope you understand).

"AL EoN Encounters -The Strip" is cooking up nicely. I have 6 strong story ideas and hope to get them drawn soon. The strips will establish his presence and how he got/gets here on earth.

I guess that's it for the ol' nikster today. Come back soon and let me know what you think of all this AL EoN stuff. I am quite sure that it is more cool to me than you but how much so. Let me know.

Shalom.

Strip Tease

Sometimes getting started isn't as easy as one might think. Even though Al has been around for roughly 30 years, appeared in dozens of strips in several different publications he hasn't really ever made it in the BIG TIME!!!! Well, as it turns out there's a ray of hope in these latter days of the great planet Earth. A publication called the Morse Messenger (a small but noted rag published in the Cicero area) has shown an interest in the "Al EoN Encounters". The strip above is the first official appearance of Al in a publication in years. It was written by my pal Kevin Daugherty a few years back and is now making a debut.

Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming Al strips. Perhaps this is the launch (pun intended) of a new American hero . . . . or just an intergalactic shlub. Either way, here come da "Aleckian . . . Al EoN"

Sha-sha-shalom

Model Behavior

Ahhhhhhhhh YES!!!! that creative bug bit me again. Yes indeed a buddy of mine has been urging me to create a 3D image of my pal AL for years so I guess the time has come. The photo posted shows some sketches of AL and a couple of shots of his head in clay (the thing coming up from underneath is a stick that I use to hold his head in place) thus far.

I am truly excited to see my cartoon-buddy come to life. When the model is done it will be in two versions. One of AL in the ORBO1 and the other will be the standing pose that you see in the sketch. The cool part is that Russ (that's my buddy-who just so happens to be in the model kit business) will be casting and reproducing AL as a model kit. I know, I know, you are asking "who the heck would buy a model of a character that nobody has heard of???". I can hear you asking that because I am asking that too but HEY! it's AL EoN in the flesh, or I guess resin. Well I am hoping that AL's charm, good looks and natural charisma will draw (HA -PUN) people to have him on their fireplace mantle.

Anyway, if you think you are interested in an AL EoN model kit PLEASE LET ME KNOW. You can reach me at Nick@CartoonUps.com . I would love to hear your thots. Gotta bounce (hahhahaha -that's right I said 'bounce'), soooooooooooooo have a great week!

Shalom

Same SHIP Different Day

Every ALIEN has to have a spaceship. Al is no exception. I would like to introduce you to the ORBO-1, Al EoN's intergalactic transportation creation. The ORBO has to be my favorite thing to draw when I think of Al. First of all it screams ALIEN! Second it is as traditional ALIEN as you can get. IT'S A FLYING SAUCER!!!!!!! In the old days Al had added a set of nacels (like on the USS Enterprise) but he took them off when he could't keep them from sagging (inside joke).

Anyway, I have put up a preliminary set of drawings for the model that a buddy of mine and I are working on. The sketches kind of show the ORBO in action. I will post photos of the model as it progresses. HAPPY SPRING EVERYBODY!

Well AL be!

Another month a new project direction. My ol' alter ego 'Al' seems to be calling to me from the creative beyond. Al is the guy that you see in the ball on the front page of my website. He is my oldest, dearest character and, if i may, embodies a big part of my own personality.

Some background on 'AL EoN' is that he is an A L I E N that really doesn't care if anyone knows it or not. His interaction with people is fairly sparce as he tends to be sarcastic and frustrates easily as he "thinks" that he knows more about "stuff" than they do. Of course his understanding of the world around him is mostly literal. He believes that he is a simple thinker but in fact over complicates almost everything. He has a companion that acts as his conscience, a chrome sphere that goes by the name of Baub.

AL's purpose, his motivation is that he must (due to circumstances I will discuss later) live in our world but hold on to who he is according to his world. The refreshing aspect of AL is that he doesn't fall into situations as blindly as one would expect. I have been sketching some ideas and am working on some storyboards. More to come later.

That Wacky Duck

Currently I am working with a web based company that wanted to have a fun mascot. The picture to the right is the main mascot image. His name? Zack, Wacky Zack. I have to admit that I have done mascots before but Zack is really fun.

I have added some of the new sketches just to illustrate what I have been working on lately.