Happy Thanksgiving, You Turkeys!

Tits & Tats*

*If I'd had the guts, that's what I would've called this blog!

The Front-Runner

I got a last minute call the other day to do a portrait of Hillary Clinton. My style of doing caricature is sort of all over the place...they don't have the uniform look of a Trenholm or Sturdevant, and tend to all come out a little different, depending on how the process plays out. Anyhow, this particular illustration edned up going in an entirely different direction than I originally intended it to, but I'm pretty happy with the results.

Richmond Con Stories

Two or three times a year, the affable Brett Carreras of Brett's Comic Pile here in Richmond throws a comic book convention...and god bless 'im, he almost always invites me to exhibit as one of his guest artists. Problem is, every time I go, I always seem to sit there all day and not talk to anyone except the other exhibitors. Which leads me to believe that folks don't to go to the Richmond Con to meet artists...they go for the voluminous amount of dollar boxes and fifty cent comics.

That's what I always thought, anyway. Turns out they just couldn't be less interested in me!

I guess if you go to enough SPX's and Crafty Bastardses, you start to get a little bit of an inflated ego. You think you can sell your stuff anywhere. A few hours at Richcon cured me of this misconception right quick.

A couple highlights:

• A dude came up to James "Barf" Callahan, who was sitting next to me, and asked him to sign his show poster for him. I lent Callahan my silver sharpie, he signed the guy's poster, and then the guy walked away. Both our names were on the poster.

• Another dude (also waiting to talk to Callahan, as I recall) took a glance at my table. Here's how the conversation went between him and his girlfriend.
  "Do you want a That's Just Super button?"
  (pause)
  "Nah."
  "They're only seventy-five cents."
  "That's okay."

Nice. It wasn't long after that that I packed up my stuff and left...I didn't really want to miss that big Browns/Steelers game, anyway.

Enchantress Final

Snow and Ski

Here's a blast of job I did last week for the fine folks at the Boston Phoenix, for their annual Ski + Snowboard Guide. I've provided the actual cover with all the text in place as well as the final cover art, which was cropped a bit for print.

Now In Color

I posted this Wonder Girl illo awhile back, right after I inked it...I took a few minutes last night to throw some color down. Dig it, tigers!

Enchantress Inks

Enchantress W.I.P.

Happy Halloween!

I used to do a hell of a lot more fun stuff on Halloween than I do now...which is a drag, 'cause it's one of my favorite holidays. My old hometown of Kent, Ohio used to close off a few downtown streets so that everyone could slap on a costume and walk around and have a great time...these days, I never seem to know where the cool parties are. Ah well, at least there'll be trick or treating with the kid in a couple years!

Anyways, here's a few random Halloween-centric spots from the archives, and an all-new skelly girl for the occasion!

Death Dealing

The Stranger tackles perhaps the scariest subject of them all in this week's Halloween issue: DEATH! They take a pretty whimsical approach to the topic, aided by a baker's dozen of illustrations by yours truly. It's funny 'cause it didn't happen to you! Enjoy!

Aquagirl

The Crowd Goes Wild

In Savage Love awhile back, a woman wrote in to ask about the commonality of a certain kink: a guy she'd recently met was extremely turned on by applause, of all things. So why would such a guy go to a sporting event, you ask? Maybe he's from Cleveland so he figured he'd be safe...

A Quick Note About the Orders

If you're one of the fine folks who ordered Atom-Bomb Bikini #5 or any other books from me recently, thanks! I truly appreciate it. You're no doubt wondering when exactly your stuff is gonna show up, so let me take a minute to give everybody a general update.

I got a huge boost in orders thanks to the Boing Boing post two weeks ago where Mark Frauenfelder reccommended the book. So many, in fact, that it's taken me awhile to get on top of all of them, considering that I was already scheduled to be out of town the following week at SPX, and because a good deal of the books, which are all folded and stapled by hand, had yet to be assembled! Thankfully, I'm just about caught up, and all of the remaining orders should go out by early this week. So if you can just give me a few more days, I'll have your books and stickers in your hands before too much longer!

Again, big thanks to everyone who ordered, and especially to Mark Frauenfelder for the awesome shout-out!

Alternate Jersey

Ullman/SPX Interview at Washington Post Express

Last weekend at SPX, Scott Rosenberg and Christopher Porter walked up and shoved a camera in my face, asking if I'd do an interview for the Washington Post Express. Being a whore for any attention, I said yes, of course. They asked some good questions, we talked about hockey, it was a blast. The interview, along with clips with over a dozen other artists and bigwigs from the show, is now online for your enjoyment/enlightenment. Thanks, guys!

Talkin' Tribe

I'm officially feeling it. Although it might not happen tonight, with the Sox leading in the eighth, I think this is the year the Cleveland Indians finally reach the World Series and win it for the first time since 1948. It's a hard thing to even imagine, after enduring all those last-place finishes growing up in Ohio in the 70s and 80s, and all the close-but-not-quite playoff runs of the 90s. It'd be all the more satisfying, too, should the ALCS victory come at the expense of the Red Sox...Boston fans are some of the most vociferous whiners in all of sports, constantly bemoaning their heartbreak and misfortune despite winning championships in all four major sports in the last 35 years. If any of you fackin' pussies wanna know real suffering, spend a few years as a Cleveland fan!

Catwoman

A commission I did for a guy a couple years ago.

SPX Haul

(photo stolen from Dustin Harbin)

SPX was great! I'll post a more lengthy report once I manage to steal some more pictures, but for now here's a look at all the great stuff I got!

Aalya Secura

I caught about an hour of that last STAR WARS movie on HBO yesterday afternoon, then came across this quick prush-pen sketch I did of Jedi Knight Aayla Secura right around the time the movie came out last evening. Not using her more was just one of about ten thousand mistakes George Lucas made in making those prequels.

RKU on the Dollar Bin

A few days ago, the fine lads over at the Dollar Bin posted a short interview I did with their intrepid reporter Adam at the Baltimore Comicon last month. Give it a listen, it'll only take a few minutes. While you're there, you might take a listen to some of the other audio they have to offer, as it's usually quite good!

Also, until I pointed it out, the listing for the interview had my name misspelled as "Rub Ullman". Mmm-HAH!

Small Press Expo 2007

SPX 2007 is a mere two days away! Man, I love me some Con Season. On the merch front, I'll have internet sensation Atom-Bomb Bikini #5 on sale, my new stickers, and even a little pin-up girls button set! Also making a return appearance at this year's show: The Original Art Fire Sale! So for god's sake come on out and see me and my pal J. Chris Campbell at table #H15-16...It's gonna be a party!

Beautiful Dreamer

I've been reading a lot of Kirby lately, specifically the handsome Fourth World Omnibus volumes produced by DC. One of the bigger surprises in reading these stories is how much I've been enjoying the Forever People chapters. I've long been aware of the book, but never really gave it much thought, thinking it looked too corny even for a Kirby fan like myself. I was right about one thing...it is completely corny, but also completely entertaining. If comic books were still like this I'd probably buy a lot more of 'em.

Lost Contact

C'mon, help a girl out, won't'cha?

Crafty Bastards!

So the Ullman clan took a nice little jaunt up to the nation's capital for the Washiington City Paper's fantastic Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts fair last weekend. We drove up on Saturday afternoon (didn't want to leave too early, as we were making our first non-grandparents overnight trip with the midget, and you just never know how a three-month-old is gonna react to a whole mess of unfamiliarity) to Brooke's BFF Alycia's house, smack dead in the middle of the gritty city. Had a fine dinner of Gino's East Deep Dish Chicago Pizza (delivered directly from the restaurant in Chi-town) with Alycia, her husband Jim, her brother Aaron and mom Linda, who are just about the nicest goddamned people you could ever hope to meet. Later, not even a close, exciting Florida-Auburn football game could keep me from falling asleep by a little after ten.

A little after nine the next morning, the girls dropped me off at the Marie Reed Learning Center in Adams Morgan to get ready for the show. The whole shebang is held outside, and the weather was fantastic. I checked in with PopIdiot pal Kelly Alder and threw my table together. I had some new goods to sell (Cartoon Cuties stickers and button set, Atom Bomb Bikini #5) , and I was really anxious to see how they'd do with the public.

The next seven hours are a blur of confusion, conversation and commerce. The people really turned out for the show...it was crowded all day long. So crowded, in fact, that aside from a few trips to the Port-o-let, I didn't have a single chance to walk around and check out the other booths. It was a madhouse. It was a mad-hizzouse! Brooke, Evie and Alycia showed up at around noon after grabbing some lunch, as did my BFF Billy Burg with his wife Laura and little girl Addie. Unfortunately, with all that was going on, I didn't get to shoot the breeze too much...but it's always a treat to see the guy!

A little before five, I closed up shop and packed up my things for the return trip back to Richmond. Evie, who'd been an absolute trooper all weekend long* needed a bottle and a diaper change, so we stopped at a Burger King along I-95 and decompressed a bit. Good thing too, because without food in our bellies and a clean diaper on the midget, the hour we spent in crawling traffic twenty minutes north of Richmond might've resulted in disaster or homicide, rather than just abject frustration.

*Really, I can't say enough about this kid. In the face of all kinds of visual stimulation and a sea of loud noises, not to mention being held by like twenty different people in the space of 24 hours, Evie kept her cool completely, never got more than a little fussy, never freaked out and screamed...she just did her thing, napped here and there, smiled a lot and basically showed everyone that she's the cutest baby ever. How lucky am I?

Stick-toitiveness!

As I mentioned in Saturday's post, my stickers are printed and have arrived in my hot little hands! I'll be updating the Merch page of robullman.com eventually, but for now, if you're interested, you can order them right here using the PayPal links provided below!

Screen-printed on high-quality vinyl, these stickers are UV coated and designed to take a beating, holding their color without fading for upwards of five years! Each is $1.50, with an additional fitty cents added to cover postage and fees. Stick 'em anyplace that could use a little cuteness!

And remember, if you were one of the first five responders to my focus group a few weeks back, you have a free sticker coming! Email me your address and your choice, and I'll get it out to you pronto!


Buy Creamsicle Sticker! (2.00)

Buy ZigZag Sticker! ($2.00)

Buy Both! ($3.50)

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

Crafty Bastards is tomorrow in D.C., and just in time, my shipment of stickers arrived and my copies of Atom-Bomb Bikini #5 made it back from the printer! So, I'll have a ton of cool new stuff for sale! If you're gonna be in or around our nation's capital this weekend, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's gonna be sweeeet!

Seeing Red

From the upcoming Atom-Bomb Bikini #5:

Bright Eyes

From the upcoming Atom-Bomb Bikini #5:

TV Time

It's Sunday night, and I can't decide which I want to watch less: The piece of shit final season of THE SOPRANOS winning a dozen Emmy Awards, or the piece of shit New England Patriots winning another football game. Guess I'll dick around all night on the internets instead.

Speaking of the Patriots, they really seem to've decided to own this cheating thing...I was shocked to see this t-shirt for sale on their website the other day!

Coming Soon

Shooting for an A

From this month's "Olden Times" in Virginia Living Magazine:

"As the students of Campbell County’s Union Hill School arrived for the start of classes in the fall of 1932, they were armed with the critical supplies required for the coming year: books, clothing and, of course, their Winchester rifles. They would put the weapons to use almost immediately, mounting an aggressive attack on an insidious school enemy. Mice and rats were running rampant throughout the campus."

Baltimore Postgame

Had a great weekend at the Baltimore Comicon....I haven't been since the show's infancy back in 2001, and its evolved into a pretty amazing, fun show. J Chris and I were talking about how one of the best things about it is that, like Heroes Con (and unlike those awful Wizard shows and, increasingly, San Diego), it's all about comics. Odd that that should be the exception rather than the norm, but that's this crazy business for you.

Anyhow, with J Chris a little under the weather and me wanting to do nothing more than have an uninteruppted night's sleep for the first time in ten weeks, we decided to avoid the festivities of the Harvey Awards Saturday night and just hang out at the burrito place next to the convention center, drink some sodies, and catch up on everything. It was pretty awesome.

Bal'mer Comicon

I don't know why it always seems to happen this way, but it always does. I've been so busy taking care of the midget this week that I completely forgot to mention that I'll be exhibiting at the Baltimore Comicon this weekend! I'll be driving up and sharing space in Artist's Alley (Space # 95-96, to be exact) with the lovely and talented J. Chris Campbell. I'll have all of my comics on hand to sell, along with Lurid.com T-shirts, buttons, and tons of original art. I'll also be doing as many sketches as time and fatigue will allow! Unfortunately, my stickers won't be arriving from the printer in time to have them at the show...but watch this space for details about how you can order them later this month, or pick them up in person at Crafty Bastards or SPX!

It'll be my first trip to Baltimore since becoming hooked on THE WIRE, which, while I don't think I'll be signing up for the Reality Tour anytime soon, has given me a strong affection for the city...as opposed to the deep, burning hatred I've long felt for their NFL team, the Ravens.

Tool Time

Back in 2001, my wife and I took our first trip together, to New York City to visit some friends. One day while strolling about, we stopped into this great stationery store in midtown and, among other things, I picked up a 6"x9" Cachet Ecru sketchbook. I thought the off-white paper was really cool and would be fun to draw on. Since then, it's been my sketchbook of choice. I've gone through about a dozen of these sketchbooks since buying that first one. I've bought a few at the bigger (7"x10") and smaller (5"x7") sizes too, just to switch things up a bit (the big one is especially fun to mess around with), but the ol' 6"x9" is the one I constantly carry around. Any idea I have, every illustration I do (not to mention every strip in Lunch-Hour Comix), pretty much begins here.

They're a little hard to find, so I buy them one or two at a time via mail order from Dick Blick. I somehow just can't even stand to sketch on plain white paper anymore, so I don't want to risk running out and having to settle for something else. I'm always trying out new stuff, but I'm pretty picky about my art supplies, and I tend to find something that works and stick with it.

The spread. My goal is to trade them for a house in France someday:



Looks somewhat impressive all stacked up, I guess:



I always stamp the date inside the front cover I begin a new book. I'd never remember otherwise:

Granny Panties

From 2005's Atom-Bomb Bikini #4...old lady underwear never looked so good!

31 Days

I said at the beginning of the month that I wanted to do a post every day in August...and except for one night where the weather was supremely uncooperative, I pulled it off! For some bloggers, that's no big deal and pretty much the status quo. But for a lazy artist like myself, it's reason to celebrate! Thanks to J. Chris Campbell for matching the post-a-day challenge and look for the posts to keep a-coming as I try to stick to a pretty regular three times a week schedule from here on out! Have a great weekend, all!