Getting there is half the...well half of something

Dinosaur and Skunk are on a trek through Nebraska. They begin a NEW adventure on 11/12 which I'm excited to share with you in the next post! Below are some photos of western Nebraska (go Longhorns!) Yep, Dinosaur will be trekking from east to west on his journey. 

Jurascals and Poetry: A New Adventure

After working on the "ART" inspired comic strips (the Best of is from last month's blog), I decided to work on an even more daunting task for the next segment of JURASCALS (which is found at present exclusively in the print edition and e-edition of the Auburn Citizen). I have decided to start addressing the LITERARY world! The above comic strip from 5/28/2012 actually tells it all. The characters, Lina and Dinosaur, are on Monet's boatstudio on a waterway and they realize they are about to go into uncharted waters. This is true for many levels, not the least of which is a metaphor for myself-I'm going to stretch the envelope of my own abilities to come up with a compelling story that primarily discusses literary figures and concepts and still do it within the context of a comic strip. And as their first "mission" in this new storyline is to discuss POETRY (in much the same way I discussed "ART" in the previous work), it was fitting to start off with a poem by Whitman from Leaves of Grass. (see below)

Now I finished out May using the crayon as they moved down the canal but I really missed the sharp look of acrylic paint for the main characters so I decided June 1st, I'd transition back to the acrylic.

Also please note I began actively throwing in more "shout outs' to fans of Jurascals within the context. One friend of Jurascals (a Jurascal-pal) is from Alabama, so I drew the Yellowhammer in the foreground on the above comic strip for him. The initials MV on the trunk are for another Jurascal-pal and there are plenty more to come!

As one can see, I'm adding more references to poetry within the context of the story-little bit of Coleridge after some Whitman earlier...

And I will post even more as time allows! My main focus is to create first and foremost so I apologize if the website is not updated as often as I would like. The facebook page is more of the tool for the updates so if you like what you see, please like us on facebook at facebook/jurascals

If you do not have a facebook account, please drop a line via email at rascals@jurascals.com  or make a comment in the blog-would love to hear from you!

And finally, one Jurascal-pal liked Jurascals so much she emailed her local newspaper and requested that they run it! That's wonderful and if you do the same, please, please please let me know!

Best of Jurascals: The Art Series April-May 2012

Jurascals by J. Timothy Quirk is a daily comic strip published in the print edition of the Auburn Citizen, the newspaper of record in Auburn, New York. Jurascals follows the adventures of Lina and her rascally Jurassic Dinosaur and in this series, from end of April to May, they explored the world of ART! Each day is an opportunity to entertain and to provide some educational value so I took the opportunity to create parodies of different styles and artists in what I considered to be a fun way. It's one thing to know the name Picasso, and it's another to see the style represented in the family friendly comic strip with your favorite dinosaur! To the extent that any reader is inspired to find out more about the real artists parodied here, the greater I feel I achieved a part of the goal of Jurascals!  One "reader" was a young friend inspired by his art teacher to do his own "Van Gogh" and his Mom emailed it to me! I enjoyed it and wanted to share it with you! So without further adieu, here are some of my favorites which includes a young person named Tommy's Van Gogh which is one of my favorites too!

Warhol parody

Lichtenstein parody

Jackson Pollock parody

Magritte parody

Picasso-blueperiod Parody

Picasso RosePeriod Parody

Sendak parody

Hopper parody

Van Gogh Parody 1 Starry Night

Van Gogh parody 2 Night Cafe (this references  www.youeatwhaticookyou.com a father and son cooking duo in the Central New York region where the comicstrip is printed)

Degas parody

Monet Parody

Two young friends were inspired in school to create their own Van Goghs and their Mom kindly emailed me at rascals@jurascals.com  this photo of art! I liked it so much I wanted to share it with you!  Here's Tommy's Van Gogh!

Thank you Tommy M !!!!

It's Official! Daily Comic Strip begins 4/11/2011!

Jurascals begins as a daily comic strip on 4/11/2011 in the Auburn Citizen. The Auburn Citizen is a wonderful newspaper focusing on the information and entertainment pertinent to their readers in Cayuga county! I am excited to be able to share stories I believe will be of interest to this community.
Jurascals will be specifically daily comic strips for now (no Sunday edition for the comic strip at this time). Since there will be no Sunday edition, you can read this sample Sunday page I created as a rough draft to give a flavor for the comic strip.