Friday, February 24, 2006

Pillow Billy and Mother's Goofs

For the past couple weeks I've been working diligently at scanning in my old Mother's Goofs strips, adding tints, cleaning up blemishes and typos and fixing glaring errors that had slipped past me the first time around. All this work has a purpose: an all-encompassing collection of my Mother's Goofs comic strip, featuring every cartoon from 2001-2004, with the exception of two or three which back then were done so hastily as to satisfy my deadline that they weren't of good enough quality to include in the book.
There's still no official release date for this graphic novel, but I'm closer than ever to having the book ready for print. I already have a guest artist pin-up drawn by Mark Bode (son of Cheech Wizard cartoonist Vaughn Bode) of Snow White which I'm including in the book, and I'm currently soliciting other cartoonists for their own renditions of my characters. Pleasant Hymns cartoonist and pal Adam Talley has offered his services in helping me package the book, and I may have a printer lined up. So for the few Goofs fans out there, this may be something you'll want to keep your eyes open for. More news as it comes.

My children's book, Pillow Billy, is coming along very nicely, and is shaping up to be some of my best work in any genre to date. My imagination's been dry-docked for the past couple weeks in my attempts to come up with original designs for Cinderella and Prince Charming, two famous names who figure largely into the story's plot.
But last week, while at a dinner theatre with Laura and her family, I drew a quick sketch of this freckle-faced waitress with the most amazing curly red hair. Though I didn't realize it at the time, I had found the perfect model for my Cinderella. A few costume changes and her character was complete, and she looks great. As for the prince, I drew inspiration from my old character Stoutheart, made some design changes, and voila, I had my Prince Charming.
With these last two crucial designs completed, I look forward to finishing the illustrations and diving into the coloring. For the first time in a long while, I'll be setting aside Photoshop and returning to my artistic roots, using colored pencils to add vibrance to Pillow Billy's world. It's all set to be something special to see, and I'm anxious to show it to the public when it's complete.

So that's all the news for now. Keep checking back here for future updates and breaking news to spare!

Sunday, February 19, 2006

And Finishing Dead Last, The Saginaw News...

Finally, weeks after the interview took place, the powers-that-be at the Saginaw News had a slow enough news day to fit in the story about me and my contribution to the Yenny comic book. Here's a link to the online story:

http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-18/1140348208311450.xml&coll=9

I would like to give my utmost appreciation to my friend Jessica Soule who wrote the story and who bears absolutely no responsibility for how long it actually took to print. I think it's a great article and I truly appreciate the coverage. Better late than never, as the saying goes.

Monday, February 13, 2006

CMLife Beats The Saginaw News To The Big Scoop!!

Fellow Delta College alum and recent CMU student reporter Rachel Lodewyk wrote one of the best stories about me ever, and it appears in today's edition of CMLife. If you want to see it, either go to www.cm-life.com or click the following link:

http://www.cm-life.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/02/13/43f002c937591

She hit every point about me and the Yenny comic book without misquoting me once. I'm very thrilled about how it turned out and want to express my appreciation to her for writing the piece, Dave Alvarez for giving her a really nice quote, Terry Rock (Delta College PR Director) for being interviewed for it, CMLife for agreeing to carry the story, and my friend, old Collegiate editor and journalism wunderkind Justin Engel for giving what was possibly the best quote about me EVER in ANY news story, which I'm reprinting here for your enjoyment:

"I saw Jay's work as very daring, in-your-face and bordering on getting me fired for letting it publish. But his humor grows on you and his drawing abilities are undeniable...He does things most cartoonists don't dare to do. He's not afraid to voice his opinion through his comics, no matter who it might offend."

Given the current situation with Muslim opposition to the Dutch cartoonists' editorial depiction of their beliefs, I take Justin's comment as the highest praise, and I'm truly honored.

I would also like to remind people about the radio interview to be featured on 91.5 FM tonight between 6-6:30. If you want to listen to it on your computer, here's another link to do so:

http://www.bca.cmich.edu/wmhw/

And possibly, not definitely but possibly, my OTHER article will run in the pages of The Saginaw News sometime this week, maybe even today, so keep an eye open for that, too!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Okay, I'm Done...

The Saginaw News still hasn't run the article.

Because this is more a news blog than a personal diary rant, I'm going to strain to be diplomatic in my expression of feelings here.

Suffice to say, I'm through dropping fistfulls of change on a newspaper from a town that I don't even live in anymore in order to find a story about me that's not even there.

If anyone out there stumbles across this "alleged" story about me (which could run anywhere from tomorrow 'til a year from, depending on how many more harrowing tales the news is obliged to print about aerobic workouts for old people and their pets, effectively pushing any story about me back indefinitely), please let me know.

Better yet, give me a free copy if you have extras. I think the news has bilked me out of enough cash for one lifetime.

Friday, February 10, 2006

Why Must I Be Made A Liar?!

It seems every time I post about something that's coming up on a certain day that it somehow gets set back either to a different date or indefinitely. Well guess what? Happened again!

The article about me in CMlife didn't run today. Instead, I'm led to believe it will be in Monday's edition. Why they didn't run it today is beyond me, though in a way I'm kinda glad. Historically, Friday's edition of CMlife rarely gets a lot of readers, since so many of them sleep in from boozing it up the night before or head home for the weekend without seeing the newspaper. So if the article does indeed appear in Monday's edition, you can check it out at www.cm-life.com.

Having said all that, I have it on good authority that the radio inteview I'm a part of will indeed still air on Monday on 91.5 FM between 6-6:30 PM. Check my last blog for a link to the website where you can stream it to your computer.

As for my work in the Yenny comic book, Dave Alvarez tells me that Alias Comics has been pretty bad with their shipping schedules, so he's not sure when the issue will be sent out to stores. He tells me that the entire comic book has been sent to them, though, and should be packaged and ready to go. So let's just keep our fingers crossed that it achieves the February launch date that I'd hoped for.

And my interview for the Saginaw News is still slated for Sunday, so keep an eye out for that, too.

Hopefully I'll have some more definite and less schedule-challenged news to share with you in the near future.

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Jay Fosgitt: King Of Mount Pleasant Media

I was in Mount Pleasant today where I gave a radio interview concerning my thoughts on the controversy surrounding the Dutch cartoonist-created editorial cartoons which lampooned Muslim beliefs. The interview will air on 91.5 FM on Monday February 13th between 6-6:30 pm. If you have access to a computer, you can stream it by going to this link:

http://www.bca.cmich.edu/wmhw/

For the record, I fully support the cartoonists' rights to free speech, and applaud the editor for his support of their work and for encouraging such a hot topic to be lampooned. While I bare no particular hostility towards any one group, I believe every person and every group is susceptable to the harsh spotlight of an editorial cartoon. An editorial cartoon is a political statement that manages to get its point across without violence or global hostility. The Muslims who take physical action against these cartoons should intead take steps similar to the cartoonists' in making their views heard rather than succumbing to the violent measures that the cartoons accuse them of. All they're doing is validating the cartoon's messages and giving the cartoonists' more ammunition.

Secondly, CMLife is running that article I'd previously mentioned in tomorrow's edition. You can view it at www.cm-life.com. Let me know what you think of it.

Extry? Anyone? Somebody? Mom...?

Okay, the most recent news on the cartooning grapevine (the grapevine in this case being my friend and reporter Jessica Soule who covered the story) is that the Saginaw News piece being written about me will run in this Sunday's edition (2/12/06 for you number junkies out there). Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen, but to be fair, this has been a pretty big newsweek both nationally and statewide, so I can understand the story getting bumped back.

Also, another friend and journalist, Justin Engel, has set another reporter on my tail to cover the story about me doing the Yenny backup story in issue four. This story will run in the pages of Central Michigan Life (my old college paper that I worked on), and I should know when it will be released by this afternoon.

On another topic, I completed my mural at Swan Valley Middle School last Thursday. Seven hours on a ladder is murder on your back and feet, but it was worth it. I'm happier with this mural than I've probably EVER been with a mural (I'm a harsh critic to be sure), but more importantly, the school kids and faculty seemed to like it. It's nice to think I'll have a legacy at my old school and that I won't just fade into obscurity.

Lastly, I will be drawing caricatures this Friday night at the very exclusive Saginaw Club. The event declares itself to be a kid's party, which is generally what I'm best at handling. But the club's members tend to be very well to do business people, so I'm a little intimidated. The last really posh gig I worked was this past summer in Bloomfield Hills, and I felt like a hobo at cotillion. Still, the money's green, the blood is blue, and I walk out a little red faced, but it's almost always a unique experience.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Okay, Maybe "Extry" Was A Little Presumptuous...

The article wasn't in the Saginaw News when I'd previously said it would be. In fact, it hasn't been in yet. But it will run at some point, so best I can do at this point is encourage you to keep looking. I surmise it'll be in there sometime this week, especially now that Superbowl is over and there's room for more articles about me drawing comics.

Secondly, I'm here to advertise my services in drawing caricatures to anyone interested. If you're in the Michigan area and would like the best damn caricaturist between Saginaw and the U.P. for your party, then I'm your man. My rates for events are $100 per hour, plus travel expenses (i.e. tank of gas and motel if it's a late event).

If you're interested in a caricature of someone specific for any kind of event or occassion, I'm also available. All I need is a photo (or photos) of my subject(s), some specifics as to what you'd like to see, and of course, payment. You can e-mail me the photo or snail mail it, whichever you prefer. The cost is negotiable and varies from project to project, but shipping and handling will be included in the final price.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: jay@jayfosgitt.com. I'd love to add a portrait for you to my portfolio, and to add my artwork to a special event in your life!