Tag: Beartoons

  • Editorial Cartoon: Occupy Police Crackdowns

    Editorial Cartoon: Occupy Wall Street Police Crackdown

    Today’s Editorial Cartoon is sponsored by your local police department.  OK maybe not but the cops are getting some bad reputations all over the U.S. as cities try to figure out how to manage the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests.

    First, I am a huge supporter of the police in general and the tough job they do.  And they are just following orders in many cases.  However, some of the tactics they have engaged in during the sweeps of the occupy locations are questionable at times.  Maybe it is adrenaline or maybe it is just a few assholes on the force happy to show who is boss, but there has to be a better way.

    Now I don’t for a minute think that in all cases the protestors who claim innocence are in fact so.  When you come at a cop with a potential weapon or show aggression in response to an order, all bets are off.

    But to let a group assemble for an extended period only to decide you have had enough and aggressively remove them without warning is wrong IMO.  I get it though.  If the cops announced they would be removing people at a specific time, they run the risk of additional protestors coming out in force to try and stop it putting officers at risk.   Maybe a better way would have been to surround the park with officers and announce to the protestors that they had 30 minutes to remove themselves and any belongings they wanted to keep from the park.  After that the park would be emptied with force if necessary.  Seems to be what they are doing in Toronto by serving eviction notices.

    Any thoughts on how to best manage the occupy movements so that they can remain peaceful, without crimes, sanitation issues and other problems that tend to start after prolonged encampments?

  • Correct Way to Recycle a Pizza Box Cartoon

    Cartoon on How to correctly Recycle a Pizza Box

    Another multipanel cartoon (which you people love to see and I hate to make) on the proper way to Recycle a used pizza box.  This is another comic that comes from real life.

    It was only about a year ago that I learned that before you recycle a pizza box, you are supposed to cut out the grease stain.  Supposedly grease can’t be recycled (at least in that way).   So has it changed my behavior?  No!  Unlike the cartoon, I still throw the whole thing in the recycling bin.  Let them figure it out at the plant, my conscience is clear.

  • Editorial Cartoon: Greece Mathematics

    11-6-11-Bearman-Editorial-Cartoon Greece Mathematics

    Today’s editorial cartoon is inspired by the financial crisis in Greece.   Where is Pythagoras when you need him? How is it that a culture that is known for their advancement in certain areas falls away from what made them great?

    Many would argue the same is happening in America today.

  • I am the 1% T-shirt

     

    It has been a while since I created a new shirt design for my shop.   This one screamed to be done.  The great thing is it works whether you are part of the Occupy Wall Street (or Elm Street) crowd AKA the 99% or if you are part of the 1% crowd.  See how democratic I am.  Appropriate for all political spectrums and income levels.

  • Create a Custom Jack-O-Lantern Pattern in Photoshop Express


    It has been a while since I have done a tutorial so in time for the season, here is the How-to create a custom Jack-o-Lantern pattern in Photoshop or Photoshop Express.  What could be scarier on your front porch than George Ford (of Addanac City fame) greeting all the kids in the neighborhood.  I swear I would pick on someone else sometime but the rest of you don’t post enough pictures on the web.

    Step 1

    – Open a new document (I made mine about 8inx8in), paste your picture in the document and resize it so there is some white background showing.

    – Using the brush tool, make a white border around the entire picture.  I used a 10pt brush.

    Step 2

    – Color the background layer black.

    Step 3

    – Select Image>Mode>Grayscale

    – You want to make sure the color is balanced.  My original pic was too bright so you can adjust by going to Enhance>Adjust Lighting>Brightness/Contrast in Photoshop Express or Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast in full Photoshop.

    Step 4

    – Select Filter>Adjustments>Posterize (Express) or Image>Adjustments>Posterize (Full).  Choose 3 levels and select and it will give you a Black, White and Gray Image.  If the outline that you did in Step 1 is full white, change it to 50% gray.  You should get above.   You will notice that it has bits of color all over the picture that you don’t want to have to carve so,

    – Using your pen too set to black, white or gray color in the image to remove some of the dithering and random color spots.

    Step 5

    As you can see in the above pic I cleaned up the image to make it into cutable chunks.   In the end you are going to want to shave off the skin of the gray area, cut the white area completely through, and leave the black area alone.  Look at your white area.  If there is danger of you cutting away detail of the gray you need to adjust your picture more.  As you can see in the final template in the first image of this post, I added more gray area around the nose so I wouldn’t cut my nose to spite my face..haha

    George was too scary to carve so instead I did Bearman.

    Here is what it looks like unlit.  It was my first time trying to use a dremel so I need to clean it up.

    As you can see, in this one I only posterized to 2 colors (black and white).  For the white, I pulled off the skin and the black I left alone.  I then put two full holes in the eyes.

    Here is the the final look when lit.

    And in case you want to make your own Bearman Pumpkin…here is the template.

  • I am the 1%

    Steve Jobs is the 1 percent Beartoons

    It started with Occupy Wall Street and has since spread to different parts of the United States and the World. People who are upset about joblessness, opportunities, corporations in bed with government and a host of other things (many legit, several absurd).  Those in the 99%, feel that too much power and money are being held by the 1% and positioning that the 1% is evil (and the 99% are not).

    I support many things that the protesters are seeking.  Tax reform to wipe out loop holes and shelters, limiting corporate (and PAC – which isn’t brought up enough) donations to political candidates, etc.  One I would like to see is limiting betting against companies stock going up and increase the tax on gains if you don’t hold the stock for say 30 days.  I am not a financial expert, but in my limited purview these tend to cause major negative swings that can be avoided.   But there are so many people with different agendas that I wrote this on Google Plus.

    People are sharing the Occupy Wall Street videos all over G+ and while I fully support their right to protest, I have a question:

    What is the end game? I hear 1000 different reasons why people are there and if it is just to blow off steam or even to be heard, that is great. But if there is going to be that point where the protesters feel they got what they wanted, it isn’t clear what that is.

    Had some nice discussion about that.  But beyond that, I created this poster to show that everything the 1% does isn’t necessarily bad and just because I am in the 99% doesn’t mean I am necessarily good or can relate to the needs of those in the bottom 10%.  We can’t broad stroke anyone.  Not all banks were involved in subprime lending, not all of Wall Street is out to hurt the little guy.

    We can get into whether Jobs is the best example given his notoriety for not being philanthropic like a Bill Gates or because his manufacturing is done overseas, but I am interested in your thoughts.  What is the top 2-3 things that would fix this (or your) country?

  • Friggin Loon Caricature

    Kim Jong Il Friggin Loon Mashup Caricature

    So the final winner of my caricature contest was the Friggin Loon.  There is no one with a more hidden identity on the web than she.  But a few key details have sprang forth via her talkative friends (ahem Susi Spice)

    • She is obsessed with all things Kim Jong Il
    • She has wild crazy hair
    • She creates her own tear gas.  How about that for a WMD (Weapon of Mass Disgusting)

    So I think in reality the Friggin Loon IS Kim Jong Il’s female identity.  Who else would give themselves so much press.

    Enjoy the Mashup.

  • Free Caricature

    That’s right, it is back. You can win a digital caricature of you, a friend, your dog or your favorite celebrity.   This is an exclusive contest for those following Beartoons on Facebook.  Don’t worry for those of you who don’t have Facebook, I will be doing other contests soon.

    Here are the guidelines:

    • Go to the Beartoons Facebook Page and hit the Like Button
    • Add a comment there that you want to be included in the contest
    • Share the contest with your Facebook friends for an additional entry.  Let me know in the FB comments
    • Enter by Midnight Tuesday July 5.
    • Winner will get a free digital version of their caricature.  Use it as a gravatar, on facebook or however you would like.

    Entrants must allow me to use one of their source pictures in a blog post to show the results and as always my disclaimer is there is no guarantees that you will think the finished product looks anything like you.  But that is a better guarantee (and price) than those crappy street caricature artists give.

    Good luck

  • Dialogue Free Comics Day

    Bearman Cartoons - Dialogue Free Comics Day

    May 13 is Dialogue Free Comics Day.  It was started last year by Noel Curry of DJBogtrotter.  I of course couldn’t wait.

    Every year so many people work hard to get into shape for Marathon season.  Sadly, each year I hear reports of someone suffering a heart attack on the route.   So of course I had to think of it in terms of a pompous exercise freak that looks down on those not quite in shape.  

    Don’t forget to support the charity challenge.

    Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge

  • Charity Challenge Week One Results

    Bearman Cartoons Charity Challenge

    Week one is complete and we started out thing with a bang.

    First though, let me thank the folks at the Webcomic Alliance for letting me hijack their site today and blog about the challenge.  If you are a cartoonist or interested in cartooning as a business, they offer a wealth of information, so check them out.  In addition, since several of their members are behind the Webcomics: What’s Cooking Book which is also raising money for hunger,  I promised to pay an additional $5 for every book they sold this month.  I’ll update at the end of the month on that tally.

    Here is the week one breakdown:

    $2 each for 11 new followers me on Facebook

    $2 each for valerie_smith, drawntobewild, CincyCasino, DigitalAdhesive, ChewyHuman, Beefstu409, Wombie, CincyLiveMusic, manchesternova, InfctiusCharity, Foreman_8157 for following me on Twitter.

    $10 each for including me in their cartoon:

    $5 each for those adding a link or banner to Beartoons on their site:

    $10 each to those who blogged about the challenge:

    Please let me know if I missed anyone!!!

    Which gives us a week 1 total of ………$204

    Let me know if I missed anyone. If you want to find out how to get involved just click the image above to go to the post that explains it all.