Trying Out Something A Little Different.  Here's My Reading Of The Short Humor Essay "The Gusher" By

I could explain that this is a photo of Walt, my character in the surreal dark comedy theatrical musical Aisle Six, who long ago had Hondo the hand puppet as his best friend and co-conspirator in mischief such as trying out the toilets at Home Depot, and this image was among those used in the show during a flashback slideshow of Hondo explaining his and Walt's storied past.

I could justify posting this to my art blog by pointing out that I did a serviceable photo manipulation job; at the photocall I was actually seated in front of a plain wall on a plastic chair.

I could reinforce this picture's value as a portfolio piece by pointing out the fact that I sourced a copyright-free public domain image to use as the background, so as not to cause the production any potential problems or costs.  I could then invite the viewer to hunt down and examine the aspects of the original I had to manipulate to get a usable background.

But I won't do any of that.  Instead, I'll just announce that this will probably be the most awesome photo I'll ever appear in and leave it here.

Motorola MicroTAC 9800X 1989

The MicroTAC 9800X was not only the smallest and lightest mobile phone of its time, it was the first to feature the trend-setting "clamshell" type design where a mouthpiece flipped to cover the keypad when not in use.

Featuring a dot-matrix LED display, very advanced for the day, the MicroTAC and its immediate variants remained in production well into the 1990s and formed the basis for much of the world’s idea of what a "cellular phone" looked like.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my series of paintings of historical telephones.

An excerpt from my lies-about-Doctor-Who book.

An excerpt from Doctor Huh?!, a book in progress.

3 September, 2004: The Making of a Logo

“Right,” said Russell T Davies, pouring himself another mug of tea before turning back to his art team. “Now, on to the next issue; the logo. Suggestions?”

“Let’s reuse the Diamond Logo,” said junior...

I have some post-it notes illustrated with Tom Servo of "Mystery Science Theater 3000." For today's daily doodle, I added some more Servos to one.

In the interest of art-blogging something as quickly as possible which isn't my big ol' face, here's an illustration commissioned by Brad Carter for the Phone Losers of America book.  It's the first of three illustrations of mine appearing in the book, for which I also wrote the foreword.  You should probably go purchase a copy right now, before you've had time to think it over properly.

Archival inks on acid-free paper, 8x6".  Scan is low-res.

Stromberg-Carlson upright phone 1894

When Alexander Graham Bell’s patent on the telephone expired in 1894, American Bell Telephone Company employees Alfred Stromberg and Androv Carlson went into the telephone-manufacturing business for themselves.

The telephone shown here is Stromberg-Carlson’s first upright desk phone, nicknamed "the Coffee Grinder" by enthusiasts due to its unusual shape and side-mounted hand crank.  Few of these unique members of the "candlestick phone" family survive today.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my series of paintings of historical telephones.

I did a rotten thing.

My current business card.  The design was slightly accidental; I was playing with some vintage photos of my ancestors to pass the time while trying to come up with a new business card design, when I realized the distraction I'd been fooling around with would be just the thing to use.  It's a bit more "me" than my previous business cards.  I'd like to think my late great-grandparents would approve.

Background skyline is adapted from this public domain image.

Printed on 3x2" cardstock, with glossy coating on the front and rounded corners.  The reverse is blank, the better for writing any additional information the situation may require.  The cards are also quite useful for getting old food out from between one's teeth, though I always make sure to not use my relatives' corners for that.

Ada Lovelace (December 10, 1815-November 27, 1852)

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace was a writer and mathematician who worked on Charles Babbage's early mechanical computer.  Her work in what she called "poetical science" led her to a legacy as the first computer programmer, and continues to inspire generations of hackers today.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my September 2015 set Luminaries of the Hacker World.

I’ve long tried to do something creative every day if possible, whether it be something huge and refined or a small sketch I throw out and never think of again.

For 2016, as I focus on getting myself back into a good creative place after a very difficult 2015, I’ve decided to try and make a project out of daily doodles.  Here’s Day One, a 10-minute MyPaint self-portrait.  I hate doing self-portraits and timed drawing, so what better way to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit?