MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

Work begins on a Daily Jurascals comic strip!

The Jurascals characters have a lot to say and a daily comic strip would showcase their stories really well so I have begun the next phase of the Jurascals venture by working on a daily comic strip. Keeping the details quiet for now however it should be noted:  I think a LOCAL comic strip has greater value than a nationally syndicated one that speaks to everyone and yet no one at the same time. So by local I mean there would be a great value in having the characters walk through an actual city/town and get into adventures there. Bear in mind, the comic strip doesn't have to be local to ME but has to be local to the readers of the particular newspaper.

The purpose of a comic strip is to sell a specific newspaper.

There used to be such a thing as exclusivity where one newspaper printed one comic strip and the competitor printed another one and let the better comic strip prevail! This has not really been the case for a long time. The same comic strips are written to be sold to all markets within the country (and potentially to outside the country) and to the same papers in the same markets (for the most part). When I travel to different regions of the country, I love watching the local news and reading the local newspaper yet the comic strip section winds up being the same page in every region, wholly uninspiring in terms of learning about that location. In fact on that one note, I learn nothing about the region by looking at that page.

I would love to see a resurgence of comicstrips. I believe they have the ability to expand newspaper readership if done correctly.  Local material is the reason why someone would buy a newspaper in the first place. I believe that should extend to comicstrips. There is a need for local editorial cartoons but beyond that, local stories can define a town or city or region and that is found in the local news but could even be found in the fiction form of the comic strip.

So that is the focus as I work on this daily for Jurascals.

HAPPY CNY (Central New York)

Exciting news: I have created a new one panel cartoon for the Skaneateles (New York) Journal entitled Happy CNY (CNY is short for Central New York). Skaneateles is a magical place, right at the tip of the Finger Lakes region (on Skaneateles Lake). The cartoon celebrates the area in a very happy (hence the title) non-cynical way. As a result I was not able to get my material for A in Atlanta book to Whistlepig Press timely and so the release date will have to be for December.

I have created another site to archive the material for Happy CNY (http://www.happycny.com/)

Here is the first Happy CNY that went to print:
http://www.skaneatelesjournal.com/articles/2010/11/17/news/cartoon/cartoon03.txt

FINAL WEEK FOR OILPAINTING SHOWING AT ARTWELL

The gallery exhibit Dreams and Nightmares closes on 11/14/2010. Here is a photo of the first Jurascals oilpainting on display.  The painting looks rather nice in the frame above the plants!

AND THE WINNER IS...

Georgia! The readers have spoken and with a 60% of the vote, it has been decided that Lina and her Dinosaur will travel to Georgia for the next story. With that in mind I am proud to present the cover for How Many A's in Atlanta? which will be the next 8 page easy-to-read story! I will be working with the jurascals team: Whistlepig press, creative consultant Carlo Dall'Olmo and Educational consultant Maureen Manning to complete the book in the coming weeks and it should be available by month end!

For November's poll, same question: Where should Lina and her dinosaur travel? From all the responses during the month of November, the top answer will be the location for Lina and the dinosaur's next easy to read book! Thank you to all who voted on this poll and I look forward to presenting How Many A's in Atlanta!

Jurascals Oil Painting on Display!

This is the first oil painting done for the Jurascals series. It is called "But who was chasing the dinosaur?"
The dinosuar is seen running near the Carrie Welton Fountain on the Waterbury Green in Waterbury, Connecticut. The Carrie Welton Fountain is a representation of Carrie Welton's horse named "Knight". I debated calling the painting based on a riff of the name but ultimately I came to the conclusion that a simple title that befits a children's book, one that asks a question of the child seeing the painting was more appropriate. So I chose "But who was chasing the dinosaur" and I think it fits quite well.

The painting will be on display at the ARTWELL GALLERY in Connecticut for the exhibit entitled DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES which will be held 10/23/2010 to 11/14/2010. For more information on artwell gallery, see their website at  http://www.artwellgallery.org/  or visit the good folks there on Water Street in Torrington, CT.

More will be posted on this topc soon!

WELCOME TO JURASCALS!