Tag: Bearman cartoons

  • Things to know when visiting Costa Rica

    Sites of Costa Rica Cartoon

    Normally, when I take a well deserved break from cartooning for a few weeks, I kick my heels up at home and just take a mental break from blogging/internet.  But this Christmas, we went away on a trip to Costa Rica.  I have been to Belize and Mexico but never had any intestinal issues before.  Even in Costa Rica, I kept with the experts advice to only drink the water at the hotels or bottled water.  And yet I spent more time in the bathroom than I have in the last six months combined.

    But it didn’t keep me from seeing the incredible sites of Costa Rica and experiencing the extremely genuinely nice people of that country.  The only thing I missed out on doing was the zip line tour.  I didn’t want to have to crap on people from the trees as I swung by…even though I saw a few monkeys do it.

    So for anyone preparing a trip to Costa Rica, I offer you the ten things I learned that I didn’t know about this wonderful country before I went.

    1. They disbanded their army in 1948
    2. More so than other Central American countries, Costa Ricans are mostly of  European descent.   Some sites claim that disease brought by the Spanish settlers killed off much of the indigenous population.
    3. Costa Rican woman have a high self-esteem.  Which was explained to us by a guide as we passed a large woman, who may or may not have recently given birth, wearing a bikini.
    4. Even in the dry season it rains (a lot).
    5. You can find souvenir vendors all over the place but what they don’t sell but need to are battery operated fans and sweat towels.
    6. Bob Marley must have been Costa Rican and NOT Jamaican (as evidenced by the number of Marley beach towels and tshirts for sale everywhere.
    7. For a country that prides itself on tourism, it doesn’t take much pride in completing roads to get you anywhere.  If you are lucky you get a two lane paved road.  I saw one road construction worker the entire time I was there, and he was on his lunch break.
    8. If you are on a antacid like Nexium, Prilosac, etc., you may be more prone to intestinal issues as the reduced acid in your stomach allows the bacteria to take hold in your stomach.
    9. Due to issues with processing toilet paper in water treatment facilities, most public restrooms have a garbage can next to the toilet for you to deposit your used TP.  I thought it was surprising that it didn’t smell.  My wife said several of the women’s restrooms did.  I think men are more courteous and wrap their poopy TP nicer than the women.
    10. Given the previous two points, it seems only fitting that they named their currency the COLON.

  • Guest Cartoon: Noel Curry

    Bearman Cartoons Guest Cartoon by Noel Curry

    When I returned from vacation, I was pleasantly surprised to find a guest cartoon from the illustrious Noel Curry waiting in my inbox.  Noel is the mind behind both DJ Bogtrotter Cartoons and Milton’s Life Cartoon.  And if that weren’t enough, he is a prolific twitterer and the mind behind Tuesday Sketch. 

    Tuesday Sketch is a weekly challenge for anyone who wants to put pencil to paper and draw the weekly challenge.  Follow Noel on Twitter and each Tuesday he announces the topic and those willing post their results to the Tuesday Sketch Flickr Group.  Yours truly has submitted in the past (see here and here).

    Thanks again Noel.

  • Guest Cartoon: George Ford

    Bearman Guest Cartoon: George Ford

    And last but not least of the guest cartoons is George Ford of Addanac City.  George continues to claim that his cartoon is PG but with little ones like this cartoon, I beg to differ. 

    I love how George has me actually owning my own business as if I had an ounce of entrepreneurial skills.  George thanks for coming through yet again and a big shout out to all the guest cartoonists the past couple weeks.

    Missed a Guest Cartoon?  Here are the Links:

    – MJ Cartoonist
    – Roland Perez
    – Tony McGurk
    – Colleen Dick
    – Ken Drab
    – Frank Hansen
    – Aidan Casserly

    UPDATE:

    While I was away, I got another great guest cartoon from Noel Curry of DJBogtrotter and Milton’s Life.  I’ll post on Wednesday.

  • Guest Cartoon: Frank Hansen

    Bearman Guest Cartoon: Frank Hansen

    The interesting thing when I put out a call for guest cartoons is that there is always a surprise in my email inbox from someone I had not yet come across.  Frank Hansen is a cartoonist and illustrator.  He is preparing to launch his own comic in the near future but already has a vast collection of impressive illustrations on his site.

    I really love how he is so adept at shading with the pen that he can color an image in just a few colors and it adds some warmth to the illustration.  I might have to try that one day but I don’t have the patience he does for many little lines.  Astute readers will notice the game Little Bear is playing.

    Make sure to check out his work and his blog and give him lots of love here too.

    Next up on Thursday isAidan Casserly of Scapula.

    Missed a Guest Cartoon?  Here are the Links:

    – MJ Cartoonist
    – Roland Perez
    – Tony McGurk
    – Colleen Dick
    – Ken Drab

  • Guest Cartoon: Colleen Dick

    Bearman Guest Cartoon: Colleen Dick

    Today’s homage to the gravatar that is known as Bearman comes from a recent commenter at Beartoons, Colleen Dick of Tix Comix.  Now I only have two problems with this image.  One is the beer gut.  She claims where she comes from anyone over 25 without a beer belly is considered a girly-man.  The other issue is that she thinks I would be drinking PBR.  Now my brand is Avalanche, Fat Tire, Smithwicks, Harp or even Miller Lite.  No Pabst Blue Ribbon, no Red White and Blue and no Natural Light.  Then again, if I wanted a cheap date, those might be OK.

    I asked Colleen to explain what Tix Comix is for my readers and she says “Tix Comix chronicles the amazing semi autobiographical adventures of alterego Tix Branco, an introverted multicultural geek musician, as she and her friends confront the daily insanity of real life. Super powers occasionally come into play.” 

    Thanks Colleen.  Next up is Ken Drab of Rick the Stick.

    Missed a Guest Cartoon?  Here are the Links:

    – MJ Cartoonist
    – Roland Perez
    – Tony McGurk

  • Guest Cartoon: Tony McGurk

    Bearman Guest Cartoon: Tony McGurk

    Up today is Tony McGurk of Life According to Tony.  Tony has only recently released on the world his artistic talent.  I have been following his exploits in Tasmania and of course the exploits of his dog Dixie, but it is only recently Tony has joined the cartooning world.

    Such talented spiders.  Not only can they weave a Bearman web but they know the difference between a Bear Maniac and a Bearman-iac.

    Keep commenting and spreading the joy.  Next up is Colleen Dick of Tix-Comix

    Missed a Guest Cartoon?  Here are the Links:

    – MJ Cartoonist
    – Roland Perez

  • Guest Cartoon: Roland Perez

    Beartoons Guest Cartoon: Roland Perez

    Today up is Roland Perez of Metal Jaw Comics.  Roland asked for a do-over.  Some of you recall he did this guest cartoon back in June where he spoofed the movie Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.    He thought many people hadn’t heard of that movie so this time he decided to spoof a classic.  Blades of Glory, starring Will Ferrell and Jon Heder.

    Remember to help promote this toon on twitter, etc.  Next up is Tony McGurk of Life According to Tony

    Missed a Guest Cartoon?  Here’s the Links:

    – MJ Cartoonist

  • Editorial Cartoon: Christmas Pariah

    Editorial Cartoon: Salvation Army - The Christmas Pariah

    Every year in the United States, the charity organization Salvation Army has volunteers standing outside of grocery stores and retailers with a red kettle ringing their bell for patrons to donate.  Sometimes I give, sometimes I don’t.  There never is any rhyme or reason to when I do or don’t.

    Last year I saw a client of mine out volunteering so I stood with her for ten minutes as she rang her bell.  I noticed a strange phenomenon.  Most of the people who made eye contact seemed to donate.  However the vast majority chose not to donate and in doing would look down or away as they walked past.  It was as if by looking at the volunteer as they went by they might get some sort of disease.  I got to thinking that I have probably been guilty of the same thing.

    So this year, I made a pledge that no matter if I was planning to donate or not that I would acknowledge every single kettler (I don’t know what they are called so that works for me) and give them a cheery “hello” ….as I then walk on by.

  • I am a “Shameless” Thief

     I have a google alert on “Bearman Cartoons” and “beartoons” just in case anyone gives me a shout out that I was unaware of.   On Monday, I had an alert and  clicked on the link to see this Entry:

    Bearman Cartoons Shamelessly Copies Me.

    The Herbert TSA cartoon over at Bearman cartoon is dated November 21, 2010. I published mine November 12. A major political cartoon flagrantly copied me!! By Dr B

    The same day a similar comment was posted on the pic (I initially missed it because I don’t tend to look for comments on the pic page but rather the blog page).

    So for comparison here are Dr. B’s and my cartoons:

    Editorial Cartoon: TSA Pat Down

    Now at first glance you might think “Bearman, you ARE Shameless.  However there are several things that must be corrected in his post.

    Shameless – In order to be shameless, there has to be something you should be shameful for and choose to do it anyway.  Because I never saw his cartoon until this week, that would be impossible.   I use google images for reference pictures when I draw celebrities or characters.   Nowhere in the top 100 images of “Herbert, Family Guy” did this image pop up.  In fact, in the past, I have abandoned ideas when similar cartoons showed up in a reference search.

     I did a long post on the topic (last year) of how and why several cartoonists coming up with the same idea.  In short  talks about how certain events in the news can drum up similar gags.  September 11 caused many cartoonists to draw the Statue of Libery crying.  Similarly when you think about the TSA potentially hiring creepy guys to perform pat downs, Herbert is on a short list of creepy guys (also to possibly include Ron Jeremy, David Hasselhoff, and the Burger King guy). 

    Now “shameless” are the people who have been copying my wrestling signs and holding them up at WWE events without plastering my URL all over them to drive  some traffic over here.

    Major Cartoon(ist) – I love this adjective but once again doesn’t apply to me.  One might assume that in order to be a “major cartoon(ist)”, I would have to be making some money off this venture.

    Artwork – Obviously if you look at his artwork and then mine, There is a BIG difference.  He can draw perspective and I suck at it.

    Now to his credit after I responded to his comment here, he did back down and even took the word “shameless” off his post…yet “flagrant” still remains..haha.  Keep up the good work Dr B. and now that I know you are out there, I’ll be stealing crap from you from now own.

  • Editorial Cartoon: TSA Pat Downs

    Editorial Cartoon: TSA Pat Down

    I have noticed over the last week a sudden uptick in visitors looking at my previous Body Scanner cartoon.  So I thought I would delight them with what turned out to be one of my own personal favorites.

    For those of you who are unfamiliar with the creepy old guy depicted, he is Herbert, the creepy old guy from the Family Guy cartoon.  I was going to have him say something about excusing his shaky hand but thought this was better.

    And of course, I had to jump on the bandwagon with my own “Don’t Touch My Junk” shirt.

    Don't Touch My Junk T-shirt

    Plus right now is a good time to buy this as you save $10 on orders of $50+ in my shop during the CafePress Friends & Family Sale November 20-23.  So shop our store, wacksack.com and use code: Friend10.

    CONTEST:

    Now since our friend Brit is out there with a contest trying to get followers by offering cookies, I thought I would try my own.  The first person to buy the “Don’t Touch My Junk” t-shirt and gets video of themselves going through airport security wearing it will win a $50 Cafepress Gift Certificate that you can use on my store or any other Cafepress store.  (Update: So the wife had a point that it might be against airport regulations to take pictures at security so as not to get anyone in trouble I’m switching things up.  If I get at least 5 people to buy the shirt and send me a picture of them wearing it in a funny situation, I’ll have my readers pick their favorite and that person will win a $50 Cafepress Gift Certificate.)