Caffeine Appreciation Day

Coffee is super.

Butters

South Park is my favorite TV show, period. I’ve been obsessed with it since 5th grade, and it only gets better. My favorite character is Stan, however a close second is Butters. He is the most naive, harmless kid on the show; and for that reason, anything he says is priceless. On tonight’s episode he was arguing with Wendy, when he dropped this line on her. It caught me off guard and I laughed hysterically. I grabbed my sketchbook soon after.

If you are unfamiliar with Butters, or love Butters, watch this video..

Think Pink

Saw an episode of The Pink Panther on Boomerang this afternoon, it reminded me how much I love the cartoon.

Swine Flu

Damn it Porky, cover your big-ass nose when you sneeze. Look at what you started.

Grim Lettering

Awesome logo, awesome cartoon.

Brainy Smurf

No reasoning needed; Smurfs are the shit.

Snoopy Wants Supper

One of my favorite artists ever is Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts gang. Not only am I influenced by his art, but I’ve read a lot about his life, and consider him one of my role-models. He based the entire series after his own life, with Charlie being a representation of himself, and his personal relationships (for example, he also had a crush on “a little red-headed girl”). Anyway, I was looking through one of my many Peanuts books today, when I saw this image and immediately began drawing it.

Calvin & Hobbes

A childhood favorite of mine. Calvin’s imagination is incredible.

8-Bit Mario

What better to draw on graph paper than the characters
they created with the 8-bit graphic power of the original
Nintendo. This is Mario as he appears in “Super Mario Bros. 3.”

The Pharcyde

I was flipping through one of my Far Side books tonight, when I saw this dog wearing headphones and I immediately began drawing it. Once I drew him I realized he needed an ipod. Subsequently, he needed to be listening to something. So what better than The Pharcyde, (pronounced “Far Side”) a 90’s hip-hop group from Cali.

Click here to watch their video for “Runnin”

Marvel+Disney

Disney just bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. My first thought was how crazy the next comic-film’s budget is going to be (!) and my second thought was how funny some comic-book characters would look with a Disney twist. So I went ahead and drew Spidey+Mickey, and Venom+Goofy. I suspect I will come back to this theme in the future; because I had a lot of fun with this one.

Mayor of Townsville

The Powerpuff Girls is such a good cartoon. My favorite character on the show is the Mayor of the Townsville, who always calls on the girls for help.

Heathcliff

Might as well keep the cat theme going this week, so I went with Heathcliff -mainly because I’ve always loved that logo and really wanted to draw it. After I scanned it I realized I should just add some color to it. Doing so, I found a quicker way to add color in Illustrator; so now that I know how easy it is, I will be adding color to a lot more of these drawings in the future.

Furrball

As a kid I watched a ton of “Tiny Toon Adventures”; which was basically kid versions of Looney Tunes characters. This is Furrball, who clearly resembles Sylvester; he was one of my favorite characters on the show. It’s always interested me how so many cartoon cats are drawn with tape, (or bandage?) around their tale. It’s amazing how that little detail will automatically make the character appear more rugged.

Garfield

One of first characters I started drawing when I was young was good ol’ Garfield, so I can definitely say my style is heavily influenced by Jim Davis’ characters.

I actually drew a picture of Garfield and Odie on a 3rd grade “create-a-calendar” project (which is basically a frame for those mini desktop calendars), and it has remained on my parents’ fridge for the past 15 years, updated with the current year’s calendar. It’s amazing what a laminated piece of paper can withstand.

Underdog

I was wearing my Underdog shirt today, and I realized I don’t think I’ve ever drawn him before. If I had a mascot, I’m sure he would be most fitting. I’ve been the underdog my whole life, and living in Cleveland I have become accustomed to always routing for the underdog as well. However, he proves there’s something to be said about determination; I hope to do the same thing.

Dino-Might!

This is one of the Dino-Mights from the old video-game Bubble Bobble. As a kid I always borrowed it from our neighbors. I absolutely loved it; the characters, the music, and the simple fact that it was endless. The whole point of the game was to capture all of the enemies inside the bubbles which would then turn into fruit or power-ups. I love the simplicity of old-school video games so much that if they never made a new system I wouldn’t mind at all. I’m more than content with my NES, SNES, and N64.

Sideshow Varejao

I felt like keeping the Cavs/Simpsons theme going, so here’s another obvious connection. Show me someone who doesn’t see the resemblance in Sideshow Bob & Anderson Varejao, and I’ll show you my Harvard degree.

Moe

If Moe Szysak (bartender in the Simpsons) had a favorite basketball player; who would it be?

Why, Mo Williams of course.

Log! Log! Log!

I was watching some old Ren & Stimpy recently, and I was reminded of just how much I watched it as a kid. The style of humor on the show matched mine dead on. Also, it’s amazing to see just how influenced modern cartoons are by it. Spongebob & Flapjack both use similar facial expressions, gestures, and overall obscurity. Anyway, Ren & Stimpy always had fake commercials, and one of my favorites is for Log.

“What’s great for a snack, and fits on your back? It’s Log, Log, Log!”

Click here to watch the Log commercial.

Timmy Turner

The Fairly Oddparents is such a good cartoon. Caught the end of an episode today, and knew I would be drawing something from it. The simplistic shapes and heavy outlines make the characters so crisp and vibrant. The voices are also top notch, especially his real-world father.

Chowder

One of my favorite “new-school” cartoons is Chowder. The characters, the intro, the backgrounds, the textures, the voices, you name it; it’s awesome. I was working on something today with the show on in the background, and even without watching the TV I was laughing out loud at it. That is the reason for this drawing; because hearing a slew of Chowder screams and burps was one of the highlights of my day, and I’ve never drawn him before.

Lemondhead

Lemonheads are a classic candy, and the mascot character is just as classic. After visiting their website and seeing retro packaging, I noticed the same character has represented them since their creation in 1962, with the only changes being a new stylized graphic approach.

Creative Cat

I was sitting on my couch today, and saw the box for Cranium in the closet. I really like the little characters they have in the game, and will probably end up drawing all four eventually. This is Creative Cat, who represents the “Sketching & Sculpting” category.

Honey Nut Cheerios

Not much of a reason behind this one. I’ve just always really liked the character. It doesn’t hurt that the cereal is ridiculously delicious either.

The Big F’n Drink

Recently when I became drastically thirsty, I told my friends I needed a “Big F-n Drink”, this quickly became BFD, and the reference was instantly tied to the old children’s story “The BFG” (Big Friendly Giant).

Coraline’s Dad

Watched the movie Coraline the other night and took a liking to the character designs immediately. As a kid I used to watch cartoons and pause them to draw the characters, so it’s only fitting I return to my roots to begin this project.