Day 58: a mime

27.02.14: did my best to not go with the obvious choice on theis one, but I think I failed miserably.  At least I had fun. There is just so much you can do with Gus!! Hope you thought so too.

     It is almost the weekend...

(All characters copyright and trademark C. A.Aabø 2014) 

Day 57: a panda

26.02.14: had you really expected any other panda? REALLY??!!??

     A little of model but I had a lot of fun drawing this one. Another year to wait for part 3!

Day 56: a layer cake

24.02.14: tried to hard and ran out of time. That ancient artist curse; if I could only do without sleep!?!? 

     It was suppose to be a tip of the hat to the movie "Layer Cake" combined with a ITW (among too many other) Jon Pay Xmas story by Doc Monster, it fell short. Apologies.

     Good night. 

Day 55: Fiji

24.02.14: first off; a major, HUGE, heartfelt apology to anybody from Fiji!!! I am sorry!

     So, here's what happened:

     I look at my wife; "honey?". "Mm?" Her eyes almost glance up from her glossy magazine. 

    "You got to help me with today's drawing, I have no idea what to draw..." The sound of a gossip filled page being flipped, fills the room. "What's the theme?"

     "Fiji... I mean, I've looked at these pictures of beautiful beaches with amazing palm-trees and exotic island. And the colorful culture... I mean WHAO!!!" Another page flips...

      "But you see, I know nothing about the place. I just don't know where to start. You went there, didn't you? What do you remember? What can I draw?"

     The latest chapter narrating every second of the lives of the rich & shameless is finally lowered and the love of my life looks at me; "coconuts!!"

     Silence.

     I must have heard her wrong. "What?!" I venture.

     "The €&@£#'#$¥ coconuts!!! They almost killed us. You couldn't walk two feet without almost being hit by one..."

     So there you have: the dangerous secret they won't tell you about in the travel brochure and the one memory from a once-in-lifetime trip boils down to one thing: coconuts. That is my story and here is today's picture:

Day 54: New Jersey

23.02.14: okey, like earlier explained, when I look at the "thing" of the day, I try to draw the first thing to come to mind. Now (and I know I am leaving a LOT of extended family and friends out here, but) nothing says NJ to me more than my two big brothers, Doc Monster and the Crayon King. As this may not say NJ to others as much as, oh I don't know, the Turnpike, I drew NJ state as well. And if that still ain't enough for you, both boys are wearing a new (baseball) jersey. (The fact that the Crayon King is wearing a Yankee jersey has to do with the fact that his wife would have killed me if it was any other jersey!!)

     Go Jersey!!

Day 53: a surfboard

22.02.14: wipe out... Ouch...

Good night!

Day 52: a water tower

21.02.14: miracle of miracles; I am posting before midnight.... It's still light outside even!!

     Took my time with this one and had the chance to pitch Jon Pay against  the Magpie (from day 18 and from "Tears on Rain Street"). I always enjoyed drawing water towers as they spice up flat building roofs. 

     Now it is almost the weekend! Happy Friday, everyone!!

(All characters copyright and trademark  C. A. Aabø 2014)

Day 51: a paper airplane

20.02.14: okey breaking a few rules on this one. First off, an apology for trying a little too hard to be smart (and failing) and for starting with the apology... (Which you should never do!!) Also, this was rushed. Some emergency baking had to happen. 

     Anyhoo, the general idea was that Gus had thrown a paper airplane straight at us and it crashed into the invisible "barrier" between us. I did not get the angle right, so the idea get a little lost. Oh,well, it was worth a try... 

Day 50: a synthesizer

19.02.14: first off, I could not have day 50 without Jon Pay!!!

     And for those of you saying that I have not drawn a synthesizer, I say you are obviously, painfully and embarrassingly not familiar the work of Lord Kelvin, Dayton Miller  and Herman von Helmholtz. Of course  doctor professor von Fricken-Flicken-Blicken auf Brickenstein has improved upon (or failed to appreciate the genius of) Lord Kelvins harmonic synthesizer by making it a 30- instead of 32 element or component harmonic synthesizer. And if you did not notice this, then for shame!!!

     Thank you to those of you who have been around for 50 days. Here's to the next 50!!

(All characters are copyright and trademark C. A. Aabø 2014)

Day 49: a crystal ball

18.02.14: yeah, this guy seems authentic... I'd trust him with my fortune and at the poker table...

     Figured it's been a few posts since I posted a double page-spread. It's when you see them side by side, these sketches get even more bizarre. Hope you are enjoying them as much as I am enjoying drawing them.

     As always, feel free to leave any comments or thoughts you have, and please tell your friends.

Day 48: a sun dial

17.02.14: ... Or better know as: 

     "Jon Pay in Dial 'S' for Sun"... Okey, title may need some work. 

     Once, just once, I'd wish I'd listen to my wife when she says "just draw a balloon" or "a paper clip, that won't take you long". Somehow I don't think that will happen. I wonder if Jon and Gus will ever solve the mystery of the garden of sun dials, cause that is actually the beginning of the actual mystery of "Dial 'S' for Sun"...

(All characters copyright and trademark C. A. Aabø 2014)

Day 47: jelly beans

17.04.14: when all else fails, I put the boss in there and I'll give you one guess as to what her favorite color is...  Everyone has their favorite jelly bean. Which is yours?

Day 46: a bag of hammers

15.02.14: okey, this one I had to look up to get. Evidently it is a older phrase that at one point referred to the level of a persons intelligence, as in stupid as a bag of hammers. It stopped being used for a while and returned as a phrase associated with looks; ugly as a bag of hammers. According to on PhD I consulted in the matter it refers to people with "faces that have humps, bumps and bits sticking out!". So that is what I went with. Could have called this one hammerhead if I wanted to... Oh, and the actual bag of hammers are in there too!

     Hope everyone is having as nice a weekend as I am having. Nothing beats the Irish country side. This country is gorgeous... when it stops raining...

     Have a great weekend, everyone. 

Day 45: a jar full of pennies

14.02.14: done AFTER the romantic family dinner while my wife attempts to get the boss to sleep after I've failed... 

     Happy valentines day!

Day 44: a juice box

13.02.14: late and messy. A certain young lady in this household like her juice boxes, so there you.

     May be difficult to deliver for the next two days as it's family trip time, I guess that's all part of the challenge. Time will tell when the next post will be...

Day 43: pom-poms

12.02.13: ... I just know I'm gonna get in trouble for this one... But you do notice her pom-poms right!?!? But seriously, you can't draw pom-poms without drawing the cheerleader, and let's be fair; I did crop out most of the cheerleader so the full focus would be on...well, the pom-poms...right? ...'cause...you know...I'll just stop talking, I think that's better...

     GO TEAM!!

     (I hope everyone in Cork are safe and dry, and that all my friends and family in NJ &NY are safe and warm. Gots to love this crazy weather...) 

Day 42: synchronised swimmers

11.02.14: ... Got no excuses or explanations. It was the only way I could actually complete this one that was not simply a bunch of feet sticking out of the water and that didn't appeal to me... Thus this...

     And we had snow today, you know for five minutes...not like NJ or NY. Hope everyone is okey over there.  

Day 41: a gold medal

10.02.14: where to start... Any resemblance to any actual cartoon characters is purely accidental. Yeah, I went Pixar on this one. It is suppose to be Vanellope von Schweetz and Ralph from Wreck-it Ralph fighting and climbing to get the hero medal. Other than the Olympics (which I am so keeping up with... It's summer Olympics, right?) this was the only medal that popped in my mind. And I can't even blame the three years old for this one. Love these movies!! And Ralph is definitely worth a watch!!

     Hope you all have had a great Monday...Well, as good as they come, anyway... 

Day 40: a tulip

09.01.14: anyone who knew me growing up will know why this was the obvious choice today. Apologies today go to fans of the movie and of Alain Delon; rough artwork and even rougher likeness of the actor. 

     I watched the movie a hundred times as a kid. I did not speak or understand a word of French, and the Norwegian subtitle did me little to no good as well as I believe I was just learning to read but I loved this movie to bits. Wonder if it would have the same effect on me today...? Any thoughts?

Day 39: a submarine

08.02.14: almost didn't happen today. Internet issue not resolved and further tech issues almost stopped the posting. 

     I guess yesterday's "tribute" kind of stayed with with me. This is most definitely a Spirou tribute/rio-off, but I can't say which artist as I look at several different versions of the sub. I paid further tribute/also ripped off Hergé with the settings. If none of this ring any bells with you, I made all this stuff up myself; my sub, my seaweeds, my fish and most definitely my character!! 

Day 38: an old key

07.02.14: an old key. How simple can that be, just an old key? I had to go and complicate that too, didn't i?

     This time around I found myself with the opportunity to pay a tiny bit of tribute to the amazing graphic novel "Locke & Key" by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. If you know what I am talking about, you will (hopefully) recognize some of the Lovecraft keys. If you don't know what I am talking about, I strongly recommend you try to find out. It is a fantastic read with stunning artwork and flawless story telling from both author and artist.

     Have a good weekend!

Day 37: a knot

06.02.14: I thought this one was a little obvious and not to original, but for some reason this is what popped in to my head and that is how I am trying to do these; whatever idea pops first I just run with. Now technically this is called a "Hang mans noose" not a knot, but what are you going to do. And where all these cowboy themes are coming from, I really can't say. I blame my dad for making me read all those Lucky Luke and Blueberry books when I was young (Thanks, Bello!!). Anyway, I did try to do the whole storytelling thing as much a space would allow. You can fill in all the blanks yourself. (But I will tell you this much; it does involve a last-minute-heroic rescue of the intended "hangee" by the girls from Miss. Kitty's saloon!!)

     We have almost made it to the weekend, everybody! One more day! Hang in there!?!

Day 36: the Milky Way

05.02.14: okey, here is a perfect example of me taking a simple concept, overthinking it, getting my ideas mixed up, overcomplicating it and realizing that I am stuck with what I got because it is too late to rethink and start over...

     To get this you must A) know your movie posters, B) know your candy bars, C) know your candy bar commercials and D) how some understanding of how my brain works... So sorry. If you get please explain it to those who don't. 

     My apologies to Al Pacino, Sean Penn, the Milky Bar kid, the Blue Car, (and the Red Car for being excluded,) Milky bar, Milky Way bar and the designer of the "Carlito's Way" movie poster. A last but not least, to the person who suggested that "the Milky Way" should be the "thing" for day 36...

     At least I had fun...

Day 35: head in the clouds

04.02.14: oh, come on?!? Do not tell me I was the only one who saw a giant head in the clouds over a frontier town in full panic when they read the words "head in the clouds"?!?!? I mean, this was SO the obvious theme for today!! No...? ...only me?? Oh, well, I guess I'll have to live with that...

     Loose idea, so loose pencils. Coulda/shoulda/woulda gone tighter but my bed beckons!

     Am hoping that I have enough minutes on my phone plan to post this... Our internet is down... One week after getting a new router... Ain't technology a wonderful thing?

     Hope everyone in Cork is safe and dry in this LOVELY weather we are having?

Day 34: a balloon

03.02.14: ... The balloon is there!! Look!!... Seriously, I have no idea where this came from, but I like it and I really enjoyed this one. And you know there is AT LEAST one story on there. Will have to see what else pops up. (And, yes, his pants are suppose to be that baggy!!)

     This one was a little difficult to crop as the page split runs diagonally which put a spoiler in for tomorrow. In all honesty, I actually did not read that till I was done with today's "thing"... Maybe I can say I've done tomorrow's too and have a day off... Nope, will have to come up with something for tomorrow too. I will eventually miss a day, but I will push forward as long as possible.

     Thanks for watching!!

Day 33: a spigot

02.02.14; yeah, I managed to turn spigot into a gangster/1930s theme. This is Machine Gun Kelly's whiskey still....that's all I got... Am watching "how I met your mother" for the first time in over six months, not focused.

     And here's the latest double spread. Have a great week, everyone.

(All characters are copyright and trademark, C. A. Aabø 2014)

Day 32: a peg leg

01.02.14: what do you mean "it said peg leg, not pirate"?!? How can you draw one without the other?!?... Well, to be honest, you can. There are a lot of cool pics of actual peg legs that would make great studies, but again, I had to go with my spark of inspiration and have fun. And what better way to kick of month number two! 

     Hope you all survived January and that February will be good to you.