happy (first day of the working) new year

Posted on January 4, 2021 by Pam Bliss

Another holiday season is over, for what that’s worth, and with it a year that most of us won’t be eager to repeat.  A lot of things are happening this January,  and if they go even fairly smoothly, it will do a lot to take us around the first corner.  

Courage and an open heart will both be needed more than ever before if 2021 is going to even begin to walk back the consequences of 2020.   And here’s wishing you plenty of hot coffee or whatever you need to help you take a deep breath and get back to work.

Posted in other stuff | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

the possum lady of old kekionga

Posted on December 25, 2020 by Pam Bliss

(Our now traditional post for Christmas night, an invented-on-the-spot bit of Kekionga folklore, originally posted in 2013.)

One Christmas night we got home late from spending the holiday out of town.  Our dog sitter left the Japanese lantern on beside the front door, and in the thin layer of snow on the front walk I saw the distinct tracks of two passers by: a woman’s small boot prints and the pawprints of a large opossum.

In the house, nothing had changed, but I was sure the Possum Lady had been there.  In Kekionga, the Possum Lady and her possum visit on Christmas night after all the celebrations are over.  She doesn’t bring material presents like Santa Claus does, but if you have made a significant effort to be a decent person during the year, she may walk by your house and give you a small dose of inner strength or an extra dollop of the will to keep moving when things get difficult– gifts that adults can appreciate.

possumlady1

The tracks were soon covered by the snow that began falling heavily as we unloaded the car and let the dogs out, but here’s hoping the Possum Lady thought well of us this year.

You too.

Posted in other stuff | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

waiting for christmas

Posted on December 24, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Our annual Christmas Eve post, featuring the drawing of the day from December 24th, 2009. 

December 24, 2009

This little creature in his cave, looking out into a wintry landscape, will always make me think of Christmas Eve.  Here’s hoping you will find whatever it is you are waiting for.

Posted in other stuff | Tagged | Leave a comment

hulk-ku: cake. is multimedia.

Posted on December 22, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Hulk see cake.  Make poem.  Also, phone photograph actual cake.

  • Hulk Must Buy Cake
  •  
  • Piece cake, “white or yellow”.
  • Uncanny cake resemblance.
  • Like look in mirror.
Posted in other stuff | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Handprint Turkey!

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Between world events and the utter disaster that WordPress has made of my blog, I have not been around for a while. I am going to try to figure things out on the technical front, and everything else can take care of itself. But now it’s Thanksgiving and I drew you a handprint turkey like I do every year, and that’s important enough to break through. I hope you are having a happy day.

Posted in other stuff | Tagged , | Leave a comment

inktober surprise, page 1 (inktober day 11)

Posted on October 12, 2020 by Pam Bliss

small-Inktober2020-11-stormNobody was more surprised than I was to discover a Mr. Rock space opera minicomic hidden in the “official” prompt list for this year’s Inktober.  I just took the prompts from the 11th -19th and mixed them up … Page one of the as-yet-untitled story for day 11, with the prompt from day 17 and one of the classic opening lines for a melodrama.

Posted in other stuff | Tagged | Leave a comment

inktober! is going on! plus an inktober surprise

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Haven’t seen much of me lately?  That’s because I am working on a special Inktober project– this year it’s Mr. Rocktober, with a new Mr. Rock cartoon every day, based on the prompts from the official prompt list Some of them will even be in color.  I will be posting some of my Inktobers here (see the announcement below), both as they go and in “best of” posts after the month is over.  But you can see all of them fresh on the day on the Official Pam Bliss Facebook Page !  Remember that this is a public page– you don’t have to be a member of Facebook to read and (I hope!) enjoy it.

Now here comes an Inktober Surprise.  Starting later today (October 11th) and running through October 19th, I will be writing an drawing a Mr. Rock minicomics story using the prompts for those days.  Of course, they don’t make sense (to me, at least) in the order they are presented on the list, so I will be rearranging them.  So full on Mr. Rock Space Opera starting the 11th and running through the 19th, using the prompts from those days, but in my own order.  I will be posting the pages here, probably on the morning after I draw them.

So stand by for space adventure!

Posted in other stuff | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

on friendly sharks

Posted on September 25, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Over the last few troubling years I have been finding a weird kind of comfort in the company of the Friendly Shark.  It probably started with the Friendly Shark characters in other peoples’ comics, and with my own giant IKEA shark plushie and his loyal, undemanding companionship in the studio.  Sharks have been getting Friendlier in real world popular culture as well, with “Shark Week” style documentaries turning away from the lurid, bloody “shark attack” genre toward mellower natural histories, searches for rare species and explorations of shark personalities and habits.  Peaceful video encounters with the mightiest sharks are the epic payoff scenes.

It’s no surprise that more and more Friendly Sharks are appearing in my sketchbooks.  Salmon sharks in particular interest me since they look like very small Great Whites (which of course are the “sharkiest” sharks) so they fit in better with other characters.  Note that I do know that “very small” is comparative– real world Salmon sharks are six to eight or nine feet long and can weight up to 600 pounds, which is probably large enough to ride if they happened to be through the air.  They are not small enough to float through the air while behaving nicely on a leash.  That is purely a Friendly Shark fantasy.

I actually worked pretty hard on the harness design for the pet shark.  I decided that these little guys are as likely to float higher as they are to bolt forward, so it made sense to put the leash connector underneath.  This allowed the use of a simple double loop harness  passing on either side of the mighty dorsal fin.

These are the things Friendly Shark cartoonists think about.

Posted in comics and cartooning, writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

this animal is thinking about …

Posted on September 16, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Do you ever wonder what the Mysterious Animal (or is it a Horrible Creature?) is thinking about in one of these sketchbook drawings?  Hint: it is probably not going to advance the implied plot too much.  Also, it is not much of a surprise.

This drawing was originally intended to be about the interplay between the characters inked with the scritchy-scratchy pen and the powerful figure inked with a brush.  It was supposed to be an adventure illustration kind of thing.  But now it’s mostly about a younger version of Bud in a very groovy costume and one of Those Animals With Black Ears.

And one of the best sentences I have ever written.  “This animal is thinking about hummus + pita.”  Bet you are too, now.  With an arrow and everything.

Posted in comics and cartooning, food, writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

hulk poem september. also poetry hulk picture.

Posted on September 5, 2020 by Pam Bliss

Hulk poem September.

(Not Hulk-ku.  Sorry.  Hulk make many kind poems.)

  • Light all gold. Spider web.
  • Cottonwood leaf already fall.
  • Hulk find chocolate Easter egg
  • Way back in cupboard.
  • Best September.

Also, here picture Hulk.  PB draw just today.  Borrow Hulk gel pen.  Not biggest one.

Posted in comics and cartooning, writing | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment