This is a silly gag that’s been floating around in my head for about a month now. Even though it’s a fairly small cartoon (5″x9″), its composition took me a fairly long time, because there’s so much going on and it has to be chaotic but intelligible. I spent a lot of time trying to get rid of tangencies, spots where the edges of subjects touch but don’t overlap, which confuse depth perception. Of course, tangencies happen all the time in real life, but our brains usually don’t have as much trouble with them then. I wasn’t entirely successful eliminating all the tangencies in this drawing – I really don’t like how the delivery man’s left arm lines up with the passenger-side door, for instance – but I like to think I’m getting better all the time.

I am in constant awe of artists who can create female characters who are simultaneously sexy and funny. As many horribly unentertaining Cameron Diaz pratfalls attest, such a synthesis is much more easily proposed than executed. One of my life goals is to be able to draw a beautiful woman making a funny face. The flecks of bloody gray matter currently clinging to my dining room ceiling are attributable to the mind-blowing art of Jaime Hernandez, whom I am only just now really “discovering.” In addition to doing just about everything else in comics perfectly, J.H. can draw a woman crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out, while still making her obviously beautiful.

This is the first non-SNitLoE cartoon I’ve scanned with my new Mustek scanner. Thanks mom and dad!

EDIT: This cartoon is now for sale on my Etsy page!