Fish Hooks Crew *Mandatory Meeting* Notes

I Suppose I Should Have Been Doing
More Listening, Less Doodling. ...Nah.

Coffee-Stain Guy and A Hard-Boiled Egg

"Coffee-Stain Guy and A Hard-Boiled Egg"

An Almost-Random Selection of Doodley-Sketches

Name that Doodle!

Another sketchbook exploration through the subconscious.. this time drawn with a red felt-tip marker.

What could it mean? What horrifying secrets lay hidden between the lines?

Naked Guy Eating an Apple, Testing out Tombows and Other Red Felt Pen Doodles

These are all from the same sheet of letter-sized copy paper...
and here it is...

Ka-Kaw! La!

The Cadet Was Taken By Surprise

Hee Hee…It Tickles!

"Focus on Mouse Enter" - a Post-It note Doodle Haiku

A Post-It note Haiku-ish poem…

Here's the whole crazy thing spelled out like some kinda Beat poem...

“Merge visible…
Eraser is not ind
Camera PDF Customize.
NEW/Fixed BUG
Build 14
2.1 Build 14
Prefs now unlocked
is --
NEW TOOL
Light Table | Cutter
Merge visible.”

Backstory? This is what I was doodling while I was on the phone with the I.T. Department!

Abandoned Chihuahua Cartoon Project – Learning How to Draw a Chihuahua

A few years ago (when Nickelodeon Magazine was still alive and well) my pal and editor Chris Duffy asked me to pitch him some comic strip ideas...


 \
I didn't know where to start. Chihuahuas were kind of a big trend at the time, so I started thinking about how to draw Chihuahuas.
I went to the library with my post-it notes and started trying to figure out how to draw a cute little cartoon Chihuahua…
After looking through tons of pictures and doodling my sketch studies, I couldn’t help falling in love with the little critters. They’re so cute with those big round heads and bulbous eyeballs and those teeny little bodies.Once I felt comfortable with the basic animal anatomy I started to cartoon it up a little bit…
…and then finally I came up with this little guy:

The marking on his forehead was scribbled quickly, and when I gave it another look, it looked like a chili pepper. Then the name popped into my head: “Chili Chihuahua!”

So this is the final result of those cartoon drawing explorations. I was really happy with it! And you know what? I tossed it all in a folder and haven’t done a darned thing with it since.

Oh, and lest I forget: Chili Chihuahua is TM and ©2011 by Sherm Cohen! ---After all, I might want to come back and revisit this little project someday :)

Stylish Dino

Yet another break-time doodle. Who needs a sketchbook when there's so much copy paper floating around.  Drawing is fun!

Untitled Ridiculousness

More cartoony doodles from a few minutes of downtime. This time I brought a grey marker with me…I better be careful or soon I'll start bringing my whole art kit into the conference room.

Wuzzat? Assorted Bloops & Another 2-Faced Guy

Wuzzat you say? It's just more free-associated randomness from my pile of sketches.

Yes, I said "pile of sketches." I have never been fond of sketching in a sketchbook...the fact that it's bound in a book cuts off the spontaneity mojo right away. I prefer drawing on scraps and post-its, and then tossing 'em into a folder.

If you're wondering what those "bloops" are all about, join the club. The bloops started showing up in my drawings about a year ago -- I enjoy drawing them because they're just pure shape/form/designs. It's kinda nice to un-hook from trying to make something "look" like something.

Then there's the whole recurring "two faces on one guy" theme...ay, yi, yi. A shrink would have a field day!

C’mere, I’ll PUNCH Ya!

X-Xing - aka: drawing doodles during down-time

One of the best times for me to get some doodling done is while waiting for an animatic screening or a storyboard pitch to get started. I always grab a slice of paper and a pen, pencil or marker before heading into the conference room; Anytime you're waiting for a big group of people to assemble you can count on having a few minutes of down-time.

Being in the middle of my work day, I'm totally in drawing mode, but since I'm away from my desk I all of a sudden feel free to just let the drawing take me where it will. It's a little improvisational "cartoon jazz" that yields surprising results simply because there's no "goal" other than the love of drawing. Y'know…like when we used to draw for FUN.

I scanned a bunch of these scribbles recently and I'll be posting a bunch in the coming days. Enjoy!

DIY Doodle Wallet

I made myself a Doodle Wallet the other day. I drew on a blank Tyvek DIY MightyWallet using Sharpies. Just straight ahead, too. Had no idea what was gonna come out. This seemms like a good follow-up to my previous post about drawing on scraps and odd surfaces. This pic got a lot of nice comments on FaceBook, so I'm posting here, too. Fun!

I was going to order a Star Trek wallet from the MightyWallet store, but it hasn't come out yet. So then I just decided to make my own. 

Some old SpongeBob doodles on a scrap of illustration board

Click on image for full-size SpongeBob doodle

As much as I hate sketching in sketchbooks, I LOVE doing doodles on oddly-shaped pieces of stuff. Anything with a writing surface. Newspapers are good. I also have an old "Voter Information" publication with a lotta sketches inside. I like doodling on newsprint with a roller-ball pen. My current fave rollerball is the Bic 730R. You can get 'em at Staples. Oh, and I'm also doodling in a copy of the expired TAG union contract. So? I dunno.

I prolly drew this during the third or fourth season of SpongeBob. I've always liked drawing SpongeBob...he really makes me happy ^_^ Sketched with a PITT artists Pen - brush tip. One of my favorite drawing tools.

Hope you like it!

Would you buy a used car from these guys?

I drew these a few years ago as a favor for a friend -- he needed some multipurpose "clip art" figures for his website. Don't think he ever used 'em, so here they are on my blog!

Click on the image below for the full-sized collection of Car Salesmen cartoons