Tommy, The Tomato Plant Must Stay Inside.

 

I drew this after buying a tomato plant when it was still too cold to put in the ground. (I must report that Tommy is doing fine and is now in the ground, breathing the fresh air and soaking up the sunshine).

  Oh, yeah, that is me and my cat, Chloe wondering why I am talking to a plant instead of to cats, like normal people do. Her face is not white but it was easier to leave it white to get her facial expression.

Mick and Hoppa Discover a Goldilocks Planet

                                           This is a page from my comic zine, Space Crusade.'

The Evolution of Hoppa & a VERY Early Drawing.

 I am the kind of person who does not easily get rid of stuff. 'Springy and Nosey' lay dormant, from 1970, a long time but at some point, in the 1980s they morphed into Mick and Hoppa. 

 Below is my recent cartoon from Space Crusade and Hoppa has become more human in shape, just like a Disney anthropomorphic character. I am unsure if I'll continue drawing him that way.

Below is the Springy and Nosy drawing by 11 year old me in 1970. I didn't really go anywhere with it until I was in my 20s and it became Mick and Hoppa.

Since then the characters have gone through different phases of depiction and adventures. 

I never really wanted Hoppa to look like a real kangaroo but more like Mickey mouse, as I liked the light bulb shaped black nose and big ears! I also made him yellow rather than brown-grey.

   

Below is a cartoon based on my cycling, hitching adventures in America in the 90s. I took a sketch book along with my backpack. Mick and Hoppa filled in for me and went where I did. Basically, they were my alter-ego. (Note, I didn't volunteer for the bowling ball and chainsaw show but someone did!)

)

This one is from 2018. I extended the strip to more social commentary.

Back cover of my Politically Incorrect Adventures of Mick and Hoppa, 2016

One of the cartoons in the comic. Whilst people like to rib President Trump I made a gentle reminder about other leaders but, no, I took artistic license with Lincoln's 'divided nation' comment at Gettysburg. But I did have a cat called Sheena.

A 2013 cartoon inspired by my stop in Hawaii.

Cover of my 2016 comic

A zine from a few years back. Mick became less child-like and more impish, with distorted facial expressions.

Portrait group in Yellow

 

Liz Sketching

 A 25 minute sketch at our portrait group...

                                                   Mick and Hoppa always were iconoclasts...

Anyhow, I am trying a looser finish for this cartoon with colored pencil rather than digital color. I'll be selling this zine in black and white, color and black and white with color covers. The rest of the story is still under wraps.

Lake Guthridge Monster

 The city of Sale has a very nice man-made lake frequented by walkers, joggers and picnic makers. Unfortunately, the man-eating geese have frightened certain female joggers who thought they might be woman-eaters.

  Fortunately, CSIRO, ever helpful, provided the Wellington council with the solution. A plesiosaur with intact DNA enabled cloning. Although fish make up most of the plesiosaur diet it is an opportunist and is making short work of the pesky and nastily defecating water birds.

  Strangely enough, the female joggers are no longer in evidence.