In other news, the Toronto G8/G20 summit has ended with mixed results. Toonpool.com artists have anticipated these in last week’s cartoons, mostly referring to the different approaches of Europe and the United States (1,2,3, 4). There are, however, unexpectedly few cartoons on the issue. I don’t know if this is due to the abstract issues discussed, the already toned-down expectations or the World Cup.
Introducing…
Ed Heals AKA Birdbee is based in Halifax, Canada. His trademark character is .. well.. half-a-bee & half-a-bird. Birdbee (the character) is huggably melancholic and he rides a tricycle. I particularly enjoyed the cantilever chair frustration, the “not-a-trike-town” one, and the one with various hats. Apart from these very effective digital drawings, Birdbee (the artist) also has also contributed some cool illustrations. Part of these are ‘manual’ paintings (1,2,3), others are digital. Be sure to check out the cool money-for-nothing-ish 3D model illustations (1,2,3).
Cartoons of Interest
This week’s favorite is “12 Punsch” by Schwoe. Technically it’s a cartoon – it has a caption and all. It roughly translates to “After those 12 glasses of punch I had last night, a massive iceberg would be the best medicine.” I don’t think this is funny, though. Still, Schwoe manages to create such a somber and surreal mood here, that I can’t stop looking at this piece. Had I seen this drawing when I was a child, I’m pretty sure it would have caused some intense nightmares.
Apropos of nightmarish technology: here are a couple of strange devices by Portuguese artist Raim: 1,2,3. They are not funny either.
Finally, there’s a very interesting experimental “graphic poem” called “More Road” by Chris Beckett from Great Britain. And, no, as far as I can tell it’s not funny.
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