Category Archives: history

That’s a LOT of Squirrel

What a long strange trip… I’m still on…

November 29, 2022 will see the 7,000th Bob the Squirrel comic strip. We’re still here. Not entirely sure if this is out of spite, stubbornness or quality of the product… maybe a combination of all of that and some other stuff. Either way, thanks to everyone who’ve been on the ride from strip #1 or or 6,999. I hope I never disappoint you (too much). Here are the other 1,000 milestone strips in order…

Strip #6,000 – March 4, 2020

This was just before the lockdown hit. Not that I really noticed any thing different (hint – I never go anywhere and like to stay home)… everyone else AROUND me did though.

Strip #5,000 – June 8, 2017

Not much to say about this one… I did put together a giant GREATEST Hits show for this one. Took a lot of tape and Funtac to put that show together.

Strip #4,000 – September 12, 2014

Our wedding was in October of that year and I was keeping our plans and anxiety alive and well in the strip… and pretty much in real time. It all worked out to be an amazing day…

Strip #3,000 – December 11, 2011

I was closing in on ten years of Bob the Squirrel at this point… and I questioned if I should continue doing the strip.  I had a small, loyal fan base, but the likelihood of the strip being my only job was looking like a longer and longer long-shot. Should I quit and try something else that maybe would benefit me financially? Or did the squirrel talk me out of it?

Strip #2,000 – March 22, 2009

We were in our new house just under a year when I drew this. This was also when I was really into the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream pints. Lucy’s favorite was Pistachio Pistachio … I would get a spoon and feed it to her right out of the container. I tell Lez that she should have known what type of guy I was by witnessing that act. She had every opportunity to grab Lauren and run… 🙂

Strip #1,000 – June 20, 2006

I wasn’t sure if I should include this one… despite it being the 1,000th strip. This may sound horrible… well, it DOES sound horrible.  I sometimes forget that I was married once before… and that I had a whole other life in a whole other city. But, I did… and I have the strips to prove it.  And really, aside from a few bits of clothes and my drawing board, the strips are the ONLY things I kept from that life.

So, that’s the strip… thousand by thousand. Hope we’re all around for the 7,000th – which, barring any life complications, should be appearing November 29, 2022.

Categories: history illustration illustrations studio thoughts

SCI-FI BOBS complete…

YOU FINALLY DID IT!

The Sci-Fi Bobs series, 100 images of Bob as Sci-Fi characters from movies, television and other media is complete.

Not going to lie – This one was a struggle. Several times I thought of wrapping it up before 100. But, I kept going.  Often, I would complete a whole week of them (five) in one sitting. Some are better than others… really, I few of them I think I just phoned in… and called a wrong number on top of that.

I’m going to take a week or two off from series work. I have an idea for a few series, but they may be paired down… 100, in certain contexts, is an awful lot.

Hope you enjoyed these. I’ll keep you posted as to what I decide… as for now…my Prismacolor pencils and toned paper are getting shelved for a while.

Categories: art history space

Frank Page Triple Self-Portraits

The tradition continues

A new-ish tradition for me (Since 2017) is to recount my life to that point by doing a self-portrait in the style of illustrator Norman Rockwell’s famous Triple Self-Portrait.

It’s an interesting way to document what things (at that point) are important to me and to see what, in my mind, has dropped off the radar.

Here is this year’s installment along with previous years so far. Click or tap on image for a larger version.

Categories: fun history illustration

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A tail of a milestone comic strip squirrel

6,000 squirrels

I suppose today is a milestone comic strip.

Today, March 4, 2020 marks the appearance of the 6,000th Bob the Squirrel comic strip. No bells or whistles… in fact I only started really keeping track of the number after I hit 5,000 a few years back.

But, using modern technology (and my obsessive compulsive nature of keeping good dated backup files) I’ve dug up every previous milestone comic strip.

Strip #5,000 – June 8, 2017

Not much to say about this one… I did put together a giant GREATEST Hits show for this one. Took a lot of tape and Funtac to put that show together.

Strip #4,000 – September 12, 2014

Our wedding was in October of that year and I was keeping our plans and anxiety alive and well in the strip… and pretty much in real time. It all worked out to be an amazing day…

Strip #3,000 – December 11, 2011

I was closing in on ten years of Bob the Squirrel at this point… and I questioned if I should continue doing the strip.  I had a small, loyal fan base, but the likelihood of the strip being my only job was looking like a longer and longer long-shot. Should I quit and try something else that maybe would benefit me financially? Or did the squirrel talk me out of it?

Strip #2,000 – March 22, 2009

We were in our new house just under a year when I drew this. This was also when I was really into the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream pints. Lucy’s favorite was Pistachio Pistachio … I would get a spoon and feed it to her right out of the container. I tell Lez that she should have known what type of guy I was by witnessing that act. She had every opportunity to grab Lauren and run… 🙂

Strip #1,000 – June 20, 2006

I wasn’t sure if I should include this one… despite it being the 1,000th strip. This may sound horrible… well, it DOES sound horrible.  I sometimes forget that I was married once before… and that I had a whole other life in a whole other city. But, I did… and I have the strips to prove it.  And really, aside from a few bits of clothes and my drawing board, the strips are the ONLY things I kept from that life.

So, that’s the strip… thousand by thousand. Hope we’re all around for the 7,000th – which, barring any life complications, should be appearing November 29, 2022.

Categories: blog bob comic history ideas illustration laugh life love self-critique Show thoughts

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