LOEB: First Job

For some time now I've wanted to do a series of more anecdotal posts to give my viewers a better sense of who I am. The League's latest topic of "firsts" seems like an ideal opportunity to share two particular --- that are especially relevant to me right now.

First (Real) Job

After my college graduation in 2010, I entered a competition held by a clinic called Sleep Care. They were looking for a pair of black and white single panel cartoons for their website.  I produced some samples and soon received a cash prize and was given the opportunity to create additional illustrations for the company.

It was the best kind of post graduate experience I could have asked for. A regular stream of new projects that give me the chance to use my imagination daily and create an image that can tell a story. It was a great opportunity to learn while I earned. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Other League Firsts!

* Life of Fandom goes back to the sewer to talk Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

* Diary of a Dorkette spills on She-Ra!

* Pop Culture Rewind sets the wayback machine to classic Atari Games!

* Goodwill Geek gabs Garbage Pail Kids!

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 4: Skinny Santa

The epic conclusion! Thanks to Santa's CPAP machine, not only does he get plenty of rest, but he also manages to lose a lot of weight, and is more active and awake during his late night job. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night's sleep!

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Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 3: Santa CPAP

Santa Claus receives the gift of a CPAP Machine to help his night time breathing and make sure he and the Mrs sleep soundly.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 2: Santa Snooze

Uh-Oh! It seems Santa's sleep problems have become a disruption on day-to-day operations at the North Pole.

Seeing Santa sleeping on the job is no stranger to illustration.

Heres a famous example by Norman Rockwell:

And here's a less famous depiction from James Williamson (image courtesy of Today's Inspiration)

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Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 1: Santa Snores

Sleep Care provided me with an interesting challenge to cap off the end of 2011. My editor suggested a series of illustrations that would run weekly through the month of December chronicling Santa Claus overcoming his sleep disorders such as snoring and narcolepsy. I was fed this idea just before Thanksgiving, which also had a tie in illustration that would need to be done in record time. Then I was told these Christmas illustrations would be in full color.

Anyway, it was a close call, but I managed to finish them. I just wish that SleepCare had taken the same approach as the Salvation Army with their Christmas illustrations and asked me draw Christmas over the summer so I would have had more time, but what can you do? Heres hoping for an extra little stocking stuffer along with my next paycheck.

Anyway, here's part one:

I knew that somewhere along the line I'd have to do an illustration of distruptive snoring, so I had a file of reference photos ready. Problem was I didn't expect the party in question to be such a large iconic figure, so it took some tinkering with the composition to make sure Santa was identifiable. 

It appears Santa's holly jolly snoring has caused Mrs. Claus to break out the tarmac earmuffs.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Tryptophan Thanksgiving

SleepCare gave me quite the challenge with a series of holiday related illustrations just  shy of two weeks before Thanksgiving. I cranked this one out quickly so that it could be on the site and have a least a weeks worth of relevance, and hopefully buy me some time to work on the Christmas illustrations.

I don't know why this woman is so thankful for Tryptophan. It this means is that she'll be the one doing all the dishes while everyone else is snoozing. I've been told that the man in the foreground bears a slight resemblance to myself. There might not have been so much similarity if not for the glasses, which I only added because of a Robert McGinnis painting that stuck in my mind while I was searching through my inspirational swipe files for people asleep in chairs.

Have a great Thanksgiving and if you can, use the time off to catch up on some sleep.

Can't Sleep

Not much to this one. The guy drinks too many energy drinks, gets the shakes and can't sleep. He can't figure out why, while his wife wonders just how big of an idiot he is.

Operating Room

First the Straw Farmer, now this? It was surprising for me since I rarely get two different projects finished in under a week, though thats because I rarely have more than one project to work on at a time, but lately I've had a bunch of work heading my way. Thank God, its about time!

Anyway, I'm back to drawing illustrations for SleepCare. After the Sleepwalking Zombie and Dr Jekyll and Mr High, I decided I wanted to back off from the horror themed, because I felt the concept were starting to conceal what they were trying to convey, both were very crowded compositions, and I could tell that my editor was hesitant with such ideas. While I understand his reluctance to go fourth with my parody of "Alien" idea  ("Apnea", starring Sigourney Weezer) , I still protest that my idea of a vampire in his coffin scurrying away from shafts of light coming through a broken window would have been an absolutely perfect accompaniment to an article about the dangers of light in the bedroom when you're trying to sleep. Ah well.

So this is my attempt at getting back to basics, well as basic as I can get, since I seem to have once again gone overboard on excess details. Originally there was going to be an X-Ray machine in the on the left hand side, but I thought made the room look too cluttered and distracted from the snoozing surgeon and the perplexed patient.

The idea isn't too complex. Sleep Care says twelve hours hospital shifts are a bad idea, and the caption sums it up easily. Not much of punchline, but then again my editors typically long for something short and sweet, so there you have it.

The Caffeinated Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. High

My latest project for sleepcare.com. This comic depicts a man drinking a caffeinated nightcap and unable to sleep (my editor wanted me to be sure I depicted the sleeper suffering severely) But while he is tossing and turning, he gradually transforms into the beastly "Mr. High", only to wake up groggy and disheveled, wondering if it was all just a dream.

Sleep Scales

My latest illustration for sleepcare.com. This one is meant to show that when you don't get enough sleep you need to eat more, but when you get plenty of sleep you don't need to eat as much. I especially enjoyed going through fast food ads for reference and inspiration for the top scale, and rendering all of its greasy grimy glory in fine details with a new set of technical pens. Bacon looks awesome close up.

Aaa to Zzz

My latest illustration for sleepcare.com. This time illustrating the difference between zombies and sleepwalkers. 

Originally I just wanted a side by side comparison with some bulletpoint text highlighting similarities and differences such how sleepwalkers act like their going through their daily routine which zombies return to familiar places based on loose memories. The main idea was to demolish the notion that sleepwalkers walk with their arms out strecthed, which they don't.

My editor latched on the idea of having a woman wake from a dream of being chased by a zombie, to see her husband sleepwalking. I don't know that this is the best exitcution of this idea, but I didn't intend on arguing with the guy who writes my checks, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't have fun with this one anyway.

Pets in Bed

Two new illustrations I did for sleepcare.com about pets in bed.

Evening Expo

Illustration I did for sleepcare.com

I should hope the moral of the story is made obvious by the additional caption.