The Goth Queen

I feel like this pin-up has been years in the making! My comics pal Lynx Delirium—and lead colorist for my YBIL book—had asked me so long ago for a pin-up of one of his characters. I agreed in my usual "I'm too busy" fashion. Then I think Lynx delayed his plans for the pin-ups, and perhaps even changed his mind which of his creations to feature. Tick the clock forward, to a request for the Goth Queen. This time, I did not hesitate with my consent, and after a spell Lynx shared the bio and design sketches with me. And—to my surprise—I actually followed thorough. And, promptly! So here we have the Goth Queen in her tattered prom dress, sitting on some grimey floor. Her legs look a little weird, but overall, I am happy with it. Lynx will color her for an upcoming publication of his. As Lynx loves to say: "Meow!"

Arbeit Macht Frei

Knowing how to party on vacation, I took a day tour of Austwitz. It was a very powerful experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity to go. By the end of the day, I was emotionally drained. When I got back to Krakow, I tried to read in the park. However, sitting there in the Planty with my book, all I could do was stare off into space contemplating the horror, and feeling thankful for my life and circumstances. Then I realized large very smushy spiders were crawling on me. Freaking out, I went to my tourist apartment and did a full body search, finding spiders under my shirt, and one in my underwear. I reiterate "freaking out." Perhaps a fitting end to the day?

The final sketch page has some misc. stuff... my frightening taxi experiences in Prague and Krakow, and the woman I saw in the Planty. She caught my eye because her neck was so fat. A second look showed her huge gut. But other than her fat neck and huge gut, she was not a large woman. I mean, she wasn't svelte or anything, but definitely disproportionately fat in the neck and gut areas.

Planty

By this stage of the trip, I'd spent ~ 2 weeks in Germany, 4 days in Czech Republic, and had transferred to Poland. I liked Krakow very much, but the travel was wearing on me, and you can see it in the moody sketches. On the left, "trappings" illustrating how I feel my life is boxed in by 4 key reasons. On the right is a lovely sketch I made of the Planty (green ring aroiund Krakow's medieval city center). The sketch was the inspiration for the setting of Michael's BF's lakeside cottage in CAVALCADE. The page is a TPB exclusive, so you won't see it until the book hits the shelves in December. If I'm lucky!

Statement and response

On the outskirts of Wittenberg (a university town and where Luther supposedly nailed his thesis to the door of the church, sparking the Reformation), was a seedy looking bar. No name on the establishment, but a neon beer brand logo sign; a condom machine (common for most public men's rooms in eastern Germany); metal guard door pulled down and padlocked shut. On the metal door was spray-painted a grafiti request: "HEY BOYS—FUCK OUR HOT PUSSY'S [sic]" along with a grafiti response: "NO THANKS." So, I am assuming this was a gay bar.

A better plan

Friday night, I U-Bahned down to Kreuzeberg and grabbed a quick curryworst @ Curry 36. Either I was far off the tourist track, or I did not appear too foreign, because no one approached me in English. After walking around the neighborhood and grabbing a beer @ a gay cafe, I U-Bahned over to Charlottenberg to get to the A-Trane jazz bar. Two 12 year old boys approached me in German, and were visably annoyed when I told them "Spreken sie kein Deutsche." The next day, I was back on the clock for MIT, and had an awful encounter with an alumnus. We were talking along fine, when suddenly:

Alumnus: "What are your career aspirations?"

Tim, diplomatically: "Well, I have a great job @ MIT, and I—"

Alumnus: "How old are you?"

Tim: "...38."

Alumnus: "YOU NEED A BETTER PLAN."

Of course, I have a plan, but my role is to represent the school, not myself; nor is it my place to minimize MIT with an explanation of my complex thoughts of the future. I couldn't do anything but nod my head and smile awkwardly in response. The rest of the day was a struggle to be cheerful. But, things looked up as we boarded the MS Frederic Chopin.

Comiczeichner und Künstler

Day one of my trip, I walked around Schöneberg, the goverment area, along the river Spree, through the Tiergarten, and was introduced to yummy Baumkuchen by yummy Felix. Baumkuchen is this cake-like treat that is a dough layered with chocolate and mayeb ground almonds; the layers are very fine, so it looks a bit like pinstripes. Then, it's covered with chocolate. That evening, I did a presentation @ Prinz Eisenherz to a cozy crowd. I was slightly nervous this time, and spoke a bit fast for non-native English speakers. And, I forgot to provide my handout listing the resources I spoke about. Arg! The next day, I spent some time @ the Pergamon Museum, and sketched out the cutest gay boys there.

My pretentious Euro-tour

I recently took a 3-week jaunt to Europe! About 2/3 of the trip was for my day job, and 1/3 was Tim-time. I sketched every day, but I will only share the most fun sketches with you. Oh—before you ask, I did not forget my camera as I did on my last trip (see prior sketch blog entries)! My office travel office screwed up and never bought my ticket. They had to scramble at the last minute to find an affordable ticket. The resulting itinerary sent me to Berlin via Rome. That turned out alright, as I got frisked by a very hot security guard!

Artistic eyes bigger than artistic stomach

A few months back, I was inspired to draw Leela and Frye from one of my favorite shows, Futurama. Actually drew Frye in Adam's sketchbook, and he inked it. My rendition was a bit more "Tim Fish" but Adam made him a bit more Frye. I had intented to color them, and draw all the characters from the show Fish-style. Well, above is as far as I ever got. Enjoy!

Johnny's Crush

The last of the G-rated sketches I scanned from my collection in Adam's sketchbooks. This one is based on a sketch Adam drew of a fellow whom Johnny (a.k.a John, a.k.a. JD) saw on the subway or maybe spoke to or something. Seemed like a hot but angry looking guy. So I gave it the ol' Tim Fish try and Adam added the thought bubble, a tormented moment of sensitive desire juxtaposed with the jock's angry body language. Johnny should have called him!

And yes, if you read between the lines above, I scanned many X-rated sketches by me from Adam's sketchbook. Adam's sketchbook is the official home of my dirty drawings.

Boy Wonder

Found this gem of mine in Adam's sketchbook. It's Robin girlishly kicking a villain (presumably), allowing us a nice view of his package. That may be unfair, since classic Robin always offers package opps with those skimpy speedos. Not sure what else I can say about this one.

Mythology

Another set from 2 years ago, I think. Adam had started a series of sketches in his book: sexy tellings of myths, and sexy drawings of the Greek/Roman gods. I added three to his series, two featured above: Mercury and Apollo. Adam inked Apollo. All Adam's entries were gods in the buff, but only my rendition of Mars is naked (well... he has some armor and a helmet, but nothing protecting his wing-dang-doodle). It's only pencilled, and it really deserves to be inked (some day) as it's the best one!

Herman and Sissy

Gosh, it's been a long time since I posted to my sketch blog. I admit it's more work than I'd bargained for. But I have found a few fun older drawings I can post, but also have a number of new ones to post in the coming days. For now, here is an old drawing I did for an art fair jam comic in 2004. Page 1 was this little boy Herman balancing a ball on the tip of a triangle, about to reveal what he was constructing. My revelation on page 2 shows it's a time machine, and adds a sidekick, "Sissy." I thought I did a nice job on my page, but then a mom and child added pages 3 and 4, sending Herman back in time to a Florida Dunkin' Donuts. I was really angry.