Working with a new WACOM Cintiq 24"

Shots of me working on an album artwork project with my new WACOM Cintiq 24" - prior to getting this technological beast, I was using an old, but trusty, WACOM that had no screen. It's live-drawing area was a gray square, forcing me to look at my monitor to see what I was drawing, rather than be able to focus on my hands.

This made line-work in particular take much longer than it needed too (constantly having to redraw lines that didn't quite come out right, and then shave those lines down with the eraser tool after). It also made working on art projects much more frustrating than need be (9 of 10 doctors recommend their artists use Cintiqs).

Speaking of doctors, using the old WACOM, which could only be laid flat on a desk that is, really, at a terrible height for my own ease of use and comfort, was giving me some serious Carpal tunnel syndrome in my right wrist (a combination of the height and angle of my arm and the extreme pressure I was exerting to keep those lines on target without being able to see what I was really doing). The new Cintiq, as you can see, is mounted on a stand that allows one to rotate the Cintiq to a comfortable angle. Placed on a new desk, it actually allows me to stand while I draw, which is also a relief for my back.

“A man of purpose is a man on an assignment.”

Episode 1, Page 1: First Born Pencil-work

Episode 1, Page 1 initial pencil layout for my in-the-works graphic novel: First Born. Can't believe I'm actually drawing it finally. 6 years since the initial idea, 2 since the initial season 1 writing and now I've got 1 page of pencil work. Woohoo!

The state of Hawaii's elected representatives

Looking at the gaggle of Congressional District 1 candidates rushing to try and fill Colleen Hanabusa's soon-to-be-vacant seat (as she attempts to supplant Brian Schatz from his seat in the U.S. Senate), it's hard to know who to vote for. None of them stands out as a particularly strong candidate. Some have had lots of experience sitting in legislative bodies, but have accomplished little, while others are idealists and reformers who have never held elected office and are much too likely to burn bridges and make enemies, preventing any of their reforms from ever taking place.

Looking at Hawaii's history of elected representatives, either from the Territory or the State of Hawaii, we have had titans of politics sit in Congress and fight for Hawaii in the past. Robert Kalanihiapo Wilcox, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, Samuel Wilder King, Jack Burns, Dan Inouye, Tom Gill, Patsy Mink: for better or for worse, these men and women fought hard for what they believed was best for Hawaii. Although not every idea they implemented was a success, not everything they accomplished has survived, and not all that they believed in turned out to be in the best interest of Hawaii's people, they still got shit done. These are the figures that shaped modern Hawaii, as representatives to Congress and, as was the case for several of them, as governors and U.S. senators as well.

Compare them to our current selection of choices and it seems the quality of our politicians, both in terms of leadership as well as sheer political skill, has declined. This is the argument that is made in a soon-to-be-published essay on the Hawaii Independent for which this illustration was created to accompany. Once the article comes out, the link will be posted. Where is our modern day Wilcox? Where is our Mink? I hope to see them enter the political arena soon.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Yes, that is the Dome of the Rock in the last panel, converted into the Thirty-Meter Telescope. If this incredibly sacred mosque in old Jerusalem, built in 691 AD on the Temple Mount site where the second Temple of Jerusalem once stood, were to be converted into the TMT, a lot of people would lose their shit. The name is derived from the site's significance to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths: the rock it is built upon, known as the Foundation Stone, is sacred to all three religions. We hope that by drawing a giant telescope coming out of such a holy place, we remind people that Mauna Kea is just as sacred to Hawaiians. #MaunaKea #WeAreMaunaKea #TMTshutdown #TMT #aoleTMT #BulldozeYourOwnTemple

For there are indeed valleys low enough.

Ozymandumbass

All that you need to know about this comic is wonderfully encapsulated in Sam Laird's article on Mashable. Of course, if that doesn't do it for you, there is, literally, a metric shit-ton of news on this, largely from Europe and the Middle East because, well, America doesn't generally give a shit about soccer. At least not during the NBA finals.

By the way, you might notice that this comic was created not entirely just by me, which is mostly why it's a lot better than the first three. No really, having someone you respect in your field (comics, in this case) vet your work first will make it much better. When that someone is your Freshman year roommate who kicks ass at being hilarious, and actually takes fairly large segments out of his day to work on the script with you, the comic is going to be cash. Or at least, collectible Magic the Gathering cards. Which could be sold for cash.

Thanks so much to Vince Fitzgerald for whipping this comic into shape and helping me with several more in the works. For you, the reader, I hope this means more laughs and more insight into this crazy world of ours.

Reporting in Honolulu, but not necessarily paying all my attention to it, I'm Will Caron. Thanks for reading.

Watch less T.V.

Burnin' Down the House

Hopefully a fairly self-explanatory comic. We now have four heavy-weight political contenders for the office of Governor: incumbent Neil Abercrombie (D), James "Duke" Aiona (R), David Ige (D) and Mufi Hannemann, who just declared his official entry last week as the newly formed Hawaii Independent Party candidate.

But honestly, the capitol building could literally be burning down and these guys still wouldn't stop being politicians. I really don't know who the best choice would be among them. Abercrombie has proven that he doesn't keep his promises (a new day in Hawaii my ass); Aiona is supposedly a stand-up guy, but he's probably still too close to the Hawaii Republican Assembly view point when it comes to equality and helping the working class (which is to say he won't); Ige is fairly unknown, other than the fact that he's managed the state budget for awhile as head of the Senate Ways and Means committee; and Mufi (former Honolulu mayor) is, by many accounts, a vindictive bully, albeit an efficient one.

All I know is, none of these talking heads are really who I'd want to see as Governor, but at least the choices are better than they are in Idaho.

Not a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but not far from it.

Why couldn't they have taken Rush Limbaugh instead?

You might have seen the dozens of celebrities, including Michelle Obama, that have tweeted pictures of themselves holding up a #BringBackOurGirls sign, in support of the 300 or so Nigerian school girls that were kidnapped by radical Islamist and terrorist group Boko Haram.

Of course, holding signs isn't going to bring a happy ending about on its own, but it helps raise awareness and might help build a critical mass of people who actually give a shit. Once this critical mass of shit-givers is achieved, maybe the Nigerian government (which has been doing a horrible job of handling the situation) will actually get its ass in gear and go after the dirt bags.

Speaking of dirt bags, Rush Limbaugh (naturally) felt it was more important to find something to criticize Michelle Obama over than to be an actual human being, and made fun of the First lady's hashtag picture saying, "look how sad and pathetic she looks." Well, Rush, I think you'd look pretty sad and pathetic if it had been you that had been kidnapped. Unfortunately we weren't that lucky.

If you're like me, you watch The Daily Show as often as possible and, if so, you probably saw the episode where John Stewart goes after Rush for being such a dick. He came up with the hashtag #FuckYouRush, and I intend to help get as many people using that tag as possible... by making a comic about it.

Even though we still have to put up with you, Rush, while innocent school girls are being held captive, at least I can make myself feel a little better about it by imagining what that stupid, pathetic face of yours would look like if you had been kidnapped, and then drawing it.

#FuckYouRush

Introducing "In Honolulu" 001: Golf Corrupts

This is the first strip I'm classifying as an "In Honolulu" strip. Unlike TSASOTM, In Honolulu will not generally feature consistent characters or any semblance of plot progression. It will simply be.

The name is derived from my online magazine INhonolulu which, together with my work for The Hawaii Independent will form the backbone of my idea-mining (idamining).

In fact, this first strip was created along side a story I wrote for the Independent about ethics violations among city employees. The strip also appears as the accompanying image for the story post, which can be viewed here. What I found most interesting is that there were around 40 city employees that took "gifts" of free food, drinks and golf from a company here in Honolulu, many of which reimbursed the company immediately, thus avoiding penalty. But there were a few who didn't. But this Ethics Commission report singled out the employee who used a sick day to play golf as the one who deserved suspension. Because the other gift-recipients used vacation time, they still got to play on the naked pizza trampoline.

And yes, there really is a Cheese-rolling Festival in Gloucestershire, though I (unfortunately) have never attended. It involves chasing wheels of cheese down a rather steep hill. Each year there are several broken bones, ruptured organs and putting-out of eyes. You win if you catch the cheese and your prize, naturally, is more cheese.

The primary goal of In Honolulu will be to highlight the absurdities of what goes on in this city, vis a vis politics, news, nightlife and lifestyle. The artistic style has also changed from a moderately realistic, comic book/manga feel to a straight-up-and-down web-comic look, clearly influenced by my favorite web comic, Penny Arcade.

Other comic-related news is that I will be sending some editorial cartoons to Civil Beat for a trial run at becoming their new in-house cartoonist to replace John Pritchett, who's work--in my opinion--has really gone down hill in the past 3-4 years.

There will be more... something.

Pow! Wow! 2014 Finished Murals

My photos of the finished Pow! Wow! Hawaii 2014 murals down in Kakaako can be found here.

Kensuke Ishida #3

Kensuke Ishida is the main character in the manga First Born, which is currently in the early production stage for the first "season." Still working on his final appearance.