I’ve gotten spoiled rotten by working on a Wacom Cintiq for a couple of years now. I haven’t used a regular tablet during that time at all, but here I am… On vacation, trying to get some work done and my beloved Cintiq is approximately one billion miles away, or so it feels!

So I ran off to the store yesterday and bought a really cheap Wacom Bamboo to use while I’m gone. It’s a decent size at around 10″x10″, but the actual drawing area seems to be closer to about one square ultra microbial millimeter. And I have no control over the pen. I think my art skills have regressed back to elementary school level in a matter of 24 hours. Oy!

Hey all! And thanks for reading the strip. There is going to be some lag time in the next 2-3 weeks as the old country calls once again. I’ll try to get strips up here and there, but there will be some days I won’t be able to – like the next 2-3 days. I need to conserve a little bit and recoup and then we’ll get into things again mid July. So stay tuned. I try to at least keep posting to the blog as often as I can and I also will put up some strips whenever I have a chance.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but the boys are going off on vacation, too. We’ll check in on them at the beach where they hang out whenever possible, though.

Guest Strips

If ANYONE is interested in doing a guest strip while I’m gone, I will have a computer and would LOVE to see other people’s take on the characters. Anything goes, as long as you don’t kill off the two leads… C’mon, this is your time to let lose, swear and do whatever you won’t do in real life or with your own strips. It’s strangely therapeutic!

Thanks again so much for reading. When I’m back in the States I’ll make a few originals available through contests (for free) and I’ll show you some new t-shirt designs and have you vote for which should go on the shirts.

Also, I’m going to still be on Twitter at @cocknbullcomic.

Live long and masturbate!

This whole week, all the strips posted here are originals drawn with ink on Bristol vellum. Yes, I still know how to do that, although, I’m sure those of you who come by regularly are able to see a little difference.

This is rare, though, and I thought I’d put the strips up for auction on eBay for those who might be interested in a rare original Cock and Bull strip. I will put a “Buy it now” on it, so anyone really interested can just go snatch it, but the starting price will be pretty low.

Frankly, I suspect you could get it for the change in your sofa cushions… This is also because my strip might not lend itself to be hanging on a living room wall. Unless you intend to go for the shock value and ice breaker during dinner parties with those colleagues of your spouse who you barely know and who smell faintly of paint thinner (one good thing – they probably won’t come back OR invite you to their place. There’s always an upside when it comes to Cock and Bull)!

I will come back with more details in the morning. The plan is to have the strips go up at 12 noon East Coast time on the day they’re published and each strip’s auction (seven total) will run for a week.

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On another note… As I mentioned in one of the comments – heck, let me quote myself so I don’t have to type it all again:

I’m so sorry for my absence around here recently. I’m on a deadline that’s nearly killing me. I have three weeks left and I HOPE I might be able to finish, if I don’t sleep and cut significantly down on meals…
Really, though, by the end of the month, I should be back to normal and I have quite a few things planned, so I hope you all hang around until then. There’s going to be strips up every day, at least!

Thanks for your patience everyone!!

So… I know there are those of your (Tony, Carlisle, and more) who I haven’t been able to respond to lately, and I feel really bad. But with a lot going on work-wise and a computer that’s needed a lot of help recently, there just hasn’t been time. Forgive me! I beg you!!

Anyway, please come back again tomorrow for updates about the auctions! And take care!

At the risk of mixing things up a bit too much, I just thought I’d share a page from the project I’m currently working on. It’s from book two in a series of graphic novels that I both write and draw. This one’s about monsters – my favorite subject of all.

Two chances to get yourself some original Cock and Bull art coming up. First, on Thursday (the 30th) at 2 PM Eastern time, I’ll be drawing live on Cock and Bull TV and handing out an original to the happy winner of a contest yet to be decided. So stay tuned for that and please come take a look on Thursday.

Then, the week of May 11th through May 17th, all the strips that go up, every day, are drawn on paper instead of digitally and the strips will be put up on eBay for auction. Most likely, it will be a good chance to get some really cheap original art… I’ll remind everyone here at the site and through the Facebook Group when the auctions draw near.

So please come back frequently to check in on these original art opportunities! I’ll see you soon!

Recently, I talked to Tom Racine of the Tall Tale Radio podcast along with the very talented John Sanford of the very funny Chippy and Loopus.

Under the title “Fuck Syndication”, we talk about how liberating it is to swear without repercussions, among other things. I had so much fun talking with these guys and I hope you’ll enjoy listening. TTR is an excellent initiative and a gem to all those involved in the cartooning world and it was a real pleasure to participate.

OK, it finally happened… I have been censored!

I drew a strip a few weeks ago and went back to it today to upload it to the site along with some other ones. I couldn’t quite believe I had drawn it – I must have been drinking too much cough syrup at the time. Geez, it’s so lamely offensive and stupid it may as well have been written by the nitwit Lisa Lampanelli. So for the first time ever, I have been censored – and I had to do it myself to get it done!

This one will never see the light of day, I’m afraid.

So this is pretty cool. I’ve received my very first piece of fan art for Cock and Bull. And it’s from none other than the very talented Antoine Gagnon of The Drunken Fools. Check it out!

How awesome is that??

More! I want more! I’d love to see others’ take on the characters. Now go check out The Drunken Fools, OK?

And then, another piece popped up, from our friend Don in Germany, a frequent commenter here at Cock and Bull:

Very nice! You can follow Don on twitter. In fact, I suggest you do!

Keep ‘em coming!

Finally time to leave Norway. Have to get up in about five hours, at 3 AM. Lovely. I can’t wait to get back to my work and to get a chance to start being creative again. And to start eating some food that contains less than 89% sugar. I wasn’t able to draw much while I was here, but I plan to make up for it soon. There’s nothing like a short break to get you scrambling for the Wacom pen.

And if by any chance you’re at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam on Tuesday between 8:30 AM and 1 PM, feel free to look for me. I’ll be the guy with the five year-old boy, wearing a blue Old Navy hooded sweat shirt, and looking like someone who’s been away from his wife for two weeks. Probably around the Mediterranean restaurant… Can’t miss me.

OK, I’m going skiing tomorrow. If you don’t hear from me by Monday, don’t hesitate to call in the search helicopters.

Haven’t been able to get much work done while visiting the old country. I know I’m on vacation, but I need to do something. So this evening I drew a Cock and Bull strip. In bed. Can’t say I highly recommend it. Non-sturdy surfaces such as mattresses don’t make for good drafting tables. At least I had the good sense not to use bottled ink, which is probably the most positive thing that can be said about the experience.

Anyway, very few people or animals were hurt in the process.

So, now I have my very first original Cock and Bull comic strip, at least! I suppose that’s something. If I don’t have my Cintiq, I don’t care much for drawing on the computer, so there you go. When the strip is published sometime in May, I might put it up on eBay or whatever. I’m just scared to put it up there – what if nobody bids on it…? I think the embarrassment would be too much to handle. Or what if it sold, but for something like 19 cents! That’d be even worse.

Now, I’m scared.

So, I’m enjoying my vacation and am even reasonably optimistic about surviving the trek into the snowy wild. Just remember, if I need saving and you send out one of those St. Bernard dogs with the barrel around its neck – make sure to fill the barrel with 12 year-old Dewars Scotch Whiskey. If the good Lord intends for me to expire, I’d like to go out on a high note.

Thank you very much.