THE CONTRACT COMETH, play news and a memoriam…

Even I was losing faith, just a teeny little bit, but lo and behold, I got an e-mail from Ape Comics telling me my contract was in the mail, and that same day, my mailbox proved Ape to not be a liar. Along with the contract, the good folks at Ape were kind enough to send me some of their comics and graphic novels as reference towards what Dead Duck will look like in printed form. And let me tell you, Ape does NOT put out a shoddy product. These were some of the glossiest, tightest books I'd ever held in my hands. So you can imagine how cool my Dead Duck graphic novel will be. All I'm waiting for now is my layer, Nick "Pro Bono" Duono (or Boner Donut, which is by far more hilarious) to call or e-mail me with a time that he can view the contract and make sure it's all good to sign. On my end, Dead Duck is still rolling along with my latest story being produced as we speak. I'm not hitting it quite as hard as I would normally, due to my involvement in the play I'd mentioned last time, but in under a month, the show will have wrapped, and it'll be full steam ahead on my comic.



And speaking of the play, here's the info you guys will need if you want to come see it. It's called "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel," written by Mitch Albom and starring, among others, myself as one of the two duck hunters, and my wife Laura, as the lost love of one of the other characters. Showtimes are:

March 7th&8th--8:00 pm
March 9th--3:00 pm
March 13th, 14th, 15th--8:00 pm
March 16th--3:00 pm
The box office opens March 3rd, and you can order tickets by calling The Bay City Players at (989) 893-5555 between 12-2pm and 7-9pm.

So mark it down, people. Much as I want to see as many of my pals in the audience, I don't want to have to commit this info to memory and repeat it ad nauseam a bazillion times. So no excuses, folks. All you need to know is here!

Lastly, a very influential personality in the world of comic books has left us, and I wanted to make mention of it here. Steve Gerber, probably the one guy most responsible for my ever having created Dead Duck, succumbed to a long battle with pulmonary fibrosis last week. He was the creator and writer of (among countless other popular comics for various publishers), the comic book "Howard The Duck" for Marvel in the 1970's, which was one of my most favorite books as a kid. It put me on a path of cartoon duck worship, and, as I've mentioned, led me to create my own cartoon duck. So in tribute, I created this cartoon. It's not much, but it's the best little candle I could light in his memory.



So that's it for now. More news as it comes.

Jay

Hey, I'm posting a new blog in under a month (but just barely)…!

Let's just hit the ground running, kids. Y'know that play I mentioned last time? The one called "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel" written by Mitch Albom and being put on at The Bay City Players? Well thankfully, I got in the show and got the part I wanted! I'm pretty excited, since I haven't been in a show in just over a year, and even then it was just some small "filler" roles that were purely walk on/walk off, plus some barking dog sound effects from off stage (Don't get me wrong; I LOVED doing all that). But it's been even longer since I've played an extensive role in a show, and the role I'm playing in "Duck Hunter", loveable misfit hick hunter Duell Early, is very crucial to the whole play. So right now I'm studying my lines and preparing for a month long rehearsal. I'm nervous but very excited, and I'll let you guys know the performance dates when we get closer to curtain.

In other duck news, I've just completed my latest Dead Duck script, my longest one to date. Nineteen pages of pure 80's pop culture nostalgia, as filtered through my satirical and oft-times scatological sense of humor (though come to think of it, this may be my first script with no fart jokes in it! Heaven forbid!). Beyond that, all I'll say is that Dead Duck and Zombie Chick encounter loose parodies of some famous 80's toy icons and the death of their comrade. I think it's a really solid piece, and a landmark for its length alone.

I've also completed another Dead Duck script that I haven't begun illustrating yet. This one's a story that I'm slapping on the beginning of the impending graphic novel before any of the other stories I've already created, its intent being to introduce the comic's theme, setting, characters and all pertinent info. But at the same time, this isn't just a meet and greet; it’s a story like any other, and in my opinion, it's one of my best. I actually dug through my library of old sketchbooks and found an old dusty volume from 1992 that featured my first-ever complete Dead Duck story, drawn when I was a junior in high school. The story is based on a story from Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" which I studied in high school. So using that old story became the basis for this new intro story. Using it just felt right, and made me see that all the components for my current Dead Duck comic have always been there, and I was surprised as to how little changes actually had to be made. So I'm hoping to begin illustrating that soon, but it may be put off until I learn my lines for "Duck Hunter." That'll require a buttload of concentration.

I've been in contract with David Hedgcock of Ape Comics, and he assures me that the contract is written and will be sent to me soon. He tells me we're looking at a March 2009 release date for the book, which means I have to have the whole thing packaged by October of '09. I feel confident that I can do this, and I look forward to all the cool promotional stuff I'll be doing in the meantime:

*I'm dusting off Web/funk/Jedi/Tetris and Hogwarts Headmaster Jeremy "What the Foc you lookin' at?!" Foco to build a brand new Dead Duck section for my website (more news to come!).

*I'm going to be producing an online Dead Duck comic strip that will be featured on Ape Comics' website, as well as a quarterly full page Dead Duck comic for one of Ape Comics' magazines.

*Ape Comics will have an online store for Dead Duck merch that will require me creating a bunch of cool art for that.

And LOADS more to come!

In related news, there's going to be an aesthetic change to my website very soon. If you've been following my website for the past four years, you'll recall that on the main page there's my "Jayfosgitt.com" logo, and just beneath it, a cartoon of myself at the drawing board with my old character The Krazybread Man popping out at me. Well, given the recent popularity of Dead Duck and Zombie Chick, I'm retiring Krazy and bringing DD & ZC onto the board with a whole new graphic and logo. I'll always love Krazy and his old comic strip "Mother's Goofs," and who knows, he may come back in a big way someday. But Dead Duck predates him by a decade, and it's the duck's time to shine now. So I'll let you know when the change to the site occurs.

On the "Other than Dead Duck" branch of my artistic career, I've had my hands full creating artwork for a couple of fun clients. The first I have to show, however, wasn't for a client, but for my birth mom Penny's birthday. She works in a hair salon, so using that as inspiration and choosing to include her two co-workers in the gag, I created the card below:


This card was a lot of fun to make, and she gave the best reaction I could hope for: "Jay, you are so COOL!" Believe me, I didn't hear that a lot growing up. Still don't. So hearing it from her was a landmark event for me.

Next up, I was commissioned by Jim Lent, the guy who screen prints the t-shirts I design for the township and who also coaches JV girls basketball at Hemlock High, to draw his team's picture. The only instructions were to make the caricatures "bobble head-style," which basically means tiny body, oversized noggin. So I drew one generic body, scanned it into my computer, then drew individual heads and plopped them on. It was a pretty simple process, and I was happy with the end results:






























Not long after, I'd heard of actor Heath Ledger's death. I've always enjoyed his work, and his 2001 movie "A Knight's Tale" has a special place in my heart. So in tribute, I drew him and the cast of that movie, just because.













Once I was done with that, I got a call from a client of my birth mom's who was looking for a caricature of a retiring co-worker. He sent me a photo, told me he was retiring from The Flint Journal and that he liked to fish. The end result was simple but, I think, effective.













And immediately after that, my friend Jason Pintar asked me to draw some promotional art for his band, "Across The Aisle". Using photos from their Myspace page, I threw together the following piece.



It was met with positive responses, though there was concern that I'd drawn the lead singer's breasts too big. I guess after drawing Zombie Chick and other voluptuous cartoon women for so long, it just kind of spilled over into this commission. I will say, however, that I ran the drawing past Laura and she thought it was in good taste, even complimentary. Regardless, after a hasty Photoshop boob job, I sent them the following re-do:


















The most current project I'm working on now is for my friends Evan (also a hell of a cartoonist) and Carla (a hell of a sweet person). They're getting married in June and have hired me to draw artwork to decorate the tables at their reception. They requested I draw various versions of them in equally various themes, and the list was a cartoonist's dream challenge. I managed to complete all nine illustrations in a day and am a bit less than half way done coloring them. I'd show what I've finished here, but I feel it inappropriate to do so before the couple have even had the chance to take a peek. Still, I feel confident that they'll like them. I'm pretty please with how they're turning out.

So that's it for now. As always, sorry for the delay in posting a new blog. But when there's no news, there's not much to say. Luckily, it seems there's all kinds of good news on the horizon, and I look forward to sharing it with you guys. 'Til then, take care, and keep dreaming.

Jay

WHAT IS IT WITH ME AND DUCKS.....??

I have a feeling.

A feeling that suggests I need to do something.

I've had this feeling before.

Once, back in May of 1999, when the opportunity to audition for the play "Beauty and The Beast" came around, for example. Through a friend I discovered that this play, one of my favorite fairy tales, was being produced at The Midland Center For The Arts, and that the director still hadn't found her Beast. Now here was a character I'd always identified with; a monster, misunderstood at that, with a mysterious lineage and a prediliction toward the ferocious. It was like playing myself. Now, I hadn't performed on stage in a good six years at this point, since my grand ol' days in high school drama playing ghosts, murderers and supervillains. My kinda people. Now, circa 1999, as I found myself in the enviable position of filling a dream role that no one else obviously wanted, I froze. Do I try out? Do I bail out? I was scared to death and unsure of my ability to perform. But a nagging feeling deep inside was puling me towards giving it a shot. Still, I wasn't sold. Deciding to let fate determine the outcome, I pulled up to a gas pump, proceeded to fill my tank, and declared that if the pump shut off at $10.00, I'd audition. If not, I wouldn't, easy as that. So I squeezed, moved back and waited.

And with a click of the pump, a ten dollar price tag was waiting for me at the cresting levy of my gas tank.

Did this mean that the Bush family not only controlled the free world via its oil stock holdings, but also held dominion over the realm of fate? Whose to say? All I knew was, I didn't need a burning bush to beat me over the head. I knew a sign when I saw one, however ecologically corrupt it may have presented itself.

So audition I did. And the coveted role of the Beast (from the original dark fairy tale rather than the almost as good candy-colored Disney animated musical) was mine. Such was borne one of my fondest experiences on stage, and an event which, as I can trace it back now, set into motion a domino-spilling of occurances which culminated in my meeting the love of my life and eventual wife, Laura Tanner, in Central Michigan University's theater department three years later.

How's that for a story? True, I assure you. And very important in my faith and perception of life. So now here I am today, the dawn of 2008, and that old familiar feeling is washing over me like a ginger ale tide, very sweet, with bubbles of anticipation filling up around me from all sides. And what, you gotta be asking yourself by now, is the source for this feeling?

Why, another play of course. Jay Fosgitt, blue collar cartoonist and occasional participant in the performing arts (I have a minor in theater after all) is dusting off his acting chops and preparing to audition for a play at The Bay City Players, a hallowed venue where many great memories have been made, not the least of which being the marriage to my wife on their very stage.

The play is called "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel" by "Tuesdays With Morrie" author Mitch Albom. When I first heard many months back that they were putting on the play, the title alone piqued my curiosity and made me consider auditioning. Then just today, I borrowed a copy of the script from the Players, just to see if it's something I'd really want to try and be a part of.

I read it cover to cover in two hours, and immediately found THE character I wanted to play. He gets to be funny and dramatic, plus he holds a connection to the type of role I so relished in my old days on stage. I find myself VERY excited, and I don't excite easily. That feeling is kicking a hole in my chest and looking to spill out in enthusiastic gushes all over the place. Now, does this feeling assure that I'll get the role? Not in the slightest. There's a lot of talented guys in Bay City with far more pull at The Players than I have who could probably play this role as well or better. I'm not arrogant about my talent or chances. But I know what I want, and I'm willing to give it my all to get it. If it doesn't come to be, well, it won't be due to a shortfall of effort and determination.

So this is my latest news. If you're looking for a connection to my usual artistic medium (i.e. cartooning), then how about this: "Duck Hunter Shoots Angel." I write and draw a comic book called Dead Duck, about a dead DUCK who works for the ANGEL of Death. Now if that isn't a burning bush, I don't know what is. Auditions aren't until the end of the month, so it's a while off until I try out and anything can be determined. But rest assured that, as always, I'll be here to share the results, as well as any and all news that comes of my various and kooky artistic endeavors. Nothing but love, muh peeps. Hey, baby ducks peep, don't they? Another sign!

Jay

LAST FOZ BLOG OF '07.....

(A few days prior to Christmas, Dec. 2007)
What's MY Christmas wish? That people would step away from Myspace and Facebook for a bit to check their actual E-MAIL ACCOUNTS, take note of any e-mail I send them with a link to my blog which they would then click on and subsequently read the contents of my newsletter once in a blue moon. Of course, for you cynics out there who would tell Virgina to go screw herself because there is no Santa Claus, then my Christmas wish is an exercise in futility. But for those of you who still believe, both in Santa and myself, my heart goes out to you on this holiday season, and an extra big present shall be dropped beneath your tree.

There's been a lot happening in the month since I last beamed about my Halloween exploits and shared sample artwork from my various creative endeavors. First off, I've been busting my hump (to employ an oddly sexual sounding vernacular) to appease the powers that be at Recycled Paper Greetings. For those keeping score, the current situation is this: They still dig the three cards they chose from my first submission, and seem to like at least one of the cards that I'd re-tooled (actually re-re-tooled) from my second submission. So I have to whip up some new material to send their way ASAP so they can have a complete selection of my work to post online for a focus group to review for them. Once they get feedback from that group, we’ll know if I've got the stuff to freelance for them. I'm still feeling good about this, so hopefully I'll have something more concrete after the arrival of the new year.



My other big push to break into Ape Comics with my comic book "Dead Duck" (seen here in a fun piece I drew titled "Freddy VS Jason VS Ash VS Dead Duck and Zombie Chick") has been producing some juicy fruit (and I don't mean gum!). I've persistently dogged one of their editors, Kevin Freeman, with at least one e-mail per month since August, and each of his responses made me more hopeful that they would in fact publish Dead Duck for me. We discussed marketing Dead Duck, what our target audience would be, and the format that the book would be presented in, all sorts of good stuff that made it look like it was finally happening for me. Then this past weekend I got an e-mail from David Hedgcock, who's the financial manager of Ape Comics. He wanted to schedule a teleconference to discuss the future of Dead Duck. The call took place last Tuesday, and while I'm not at liberty to divulge too much of the conversation, I will say that we're VERY close to signing a contract, and that Dead Duck will be a graphic novel, which was the format I'd always dreamed of. Now, nothing's etched in stone just yet, and the winds could change between now and then, but I've never been this close to my artistic destiny before, and I'm all for keeping a positive attitude and locking my gaze upon the horizon. More news when the time comes, and believe me, LOADS of news there shall be with the coming dawn of 2008!

In other artistic news, I've been the steady plow horse, trudging through the fields of art gigs, both good and could-be-better. For the most part, I've had some nice experiences drawing caricatures for events at Northwood University and some neat family portraits for various clients (see samples further down in this blog). But I've recently been involved in a situation where a certain unnamed party stiffed me fifty bucks and breached our contract. I'll only say that the matter has been handled, but the relationship with the party, whom I've dealt with for about fifteen years, is seriously strained and potentially done for.

(The day before New Year's eve, Dec. 30th, 2007)
Thanks to the characteristic hustle and bustle of Christmas (plus a nagging back ache that made it difficult to slouch over a keyboard), I had to step away from my ramblings and enjoy the holidays. But I'm back, and to continue where I left off via paraphrasing: fifteen-year association with a business colleague goes up in smoke due to breach of contract. News at 11. Moving on...

I finished a bunch more pages of my Dead Duck graphic novel during my blog-sabbatical, and I'm very happy with them. I'm up to twelve pages now, making it the longest Dead Duck story I've done yet, with likely another three or four to go before I'm done. Finished may be overstating, as though the pages are fully illustrated, they have yet to be scanned in, cleaned up (i.e. erase little errors that only I would notice) and colored. But for me, the crux of creating the comic is in the hand drawn pages. Everything after that is just the wrapping on the Christmas present.

For those who are a wee clueless as to the nature of Dead Duck, my first thought is that you don't normally read my blog or follow my work. Dead Duck's all I've really spoken about for the past year. But in the spirit of giving, let me lay it out for you Spark-Notes fashion: Death employs minions to bring him spirits of the deceased which he then processes and sends off to their respective afterlife destinations. My comic is about his number one minion, Dead Duck, and his sidekick Zombie Chick. The graphic novel will be a compilation of separate adventures where the duo will make various pick-ups in varying points of history and realms of reality. So there you have it.

I've been hammering away at celebrity caricatures for my portfolio in my spare time, and I've been pretty happy with the results. Here's a selection for you to pour over.


















































































It's often difficult for me to present these time-consuming cartoon endeavors to the masses I encounter at my various caricaturing gigs. But I do it anyway. More often than not, it gives them something to do when I'm drawing them. But the difficulty arises when sticky little kids turn it into a game of "How fast can we whip through the pages and still streak the book with the highest booger count possible?" I've also had a hard time keeping a rein on the collection, as inconsiderate patrons tend to run off with it to show their friends across the venue, leaving me to cross my fingers and hope they have the consideration and sobriety to return my portfolio to me. Still, I trudge on, creating these caricatures to hone my skills in the medium and to promote my work.

I've also had my share of personal caricature assignments from folks who wanted their families and significant others cartooned in time for Christmas.

I drew this caricature for the people who own Print Express, the print shop I frequent in Shields. I highly recommend their business for anyone with printing and office supply needs. Great prices, great service and great people.













My friend Melissa commissioned this piece as a Christmas gift for her boyfriend, with the only instructions being to incorporate their interests of bowling, knitting and drinking.















And this commission came after a co-worker of my friend Melissa saw the one I drew for her. Aside from scrapbooking, the interests I was asked to incorporate into the piece hit close to home: zombie horror movies and comic books are familiar subject matter for me.



My last bit of news sees the sun set upon a pen name I've employed for at least twenty two years. You may have noticed that in some of these pieces, "FOZ", the signature, is absent, and in its place stands my full name, Jay P. Fosgitt. Though only time will tell, for now, this is intended as a permanent change. It has nothing to do with growing up and shedding my childhood image or anything like that. You know me. I'm Jay, child eternal, Peter Pan incarnate. Growing up's not an option. What it is is me wanting to make damn sure my audience knows just who I am. I couldn't tell you how many caricaturing gigs I've had where the people I'm drawing ask me to sign my full name, or ask me at great length who "Foz" is. So this is my remedy for those situations. I've found a nifty style for my full moniker and that's what I intend to use from now on. Having said that, Foz is still my accepted nickname, and I fully expect people to call me that 'til the end of time. It'll probably be on my tombstone when the day comes. And for as long as this blog functions as an all-encompassing newsletter for all facets of my art, The Foz Chronicles: news from the fozfront it shall remain.

I'll wrap this up now with a personal note to the many friends and family I have seen over the holidays this far, and the handful that await me after I post my blog. I love all you guys, and 2007 has been a wonderful year to share with you all. 2008 looks like it'll have some cool stuff to offer, and I look forward to sharing that with you, too. My best to you and yours, and despite the religious right that would have me do otherwise, I say HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you all in your individual beliefs and traditions. I've got mine, you've got yours, and we all have each other. That's how it should be.

Hugs aplenty,

Jay

THE LATEST-Part 2: Back in the saddle again!!

It seems like the second, and I do mean the second that we'd put away the last folding chair and pitched the last trash bag of decorations from our wedding reception, I was right back at the ol' drawing board (or more accurately, new drawing board that Laura bought me for my birthday). Just before the wedding launched on October 27th, I was bombarded with a bunch of art stuff that had to be done between Halloween and November 12th, so I had precious little time to make it all happen. But I'm dedicated to my art like I'm dedicated to my wife, and I knuckled down and brought it together to the best of my ability. However, I wasn't so busy that I was about to let my all-time favorite holiday EVER slip past without paying it some serious tribute....

Halloween isn't just another cruddy little Hallmark moment tacked on the end of October. It's a state of mind, a way of living, a point of view. And it's my favorite holiday, hands down. So this year, Laura and I made a Devil's Night pilgrimage to the Midland Mall to see what kind of last minute Halloween costumes we could throw together from all the picked-over refuse lying next to the impending white squall of Christmas display decor. For our efforts, Laura put together a very cute Devil costume, while I chose to pay homage to one of my favorite movie monsters, Jason Voorhees.



We headed over to Laura's dad's place in Auburn to pass out candy. It was adorable watching Laura hand out candy to the cute little toddlers and gradeschool kids. However, watching me interact with the slightly older kids who knew who Jason was and knew just as well that they weren't comfortable taking candy from him was less than adorable. Truth be told, I scared the shit out of more than a few. Two little girls I sent running back to the street before they even approached the porch. Guess I played the part well. Anyway, it was the first real Halloween celebration Laura and I have experienced since we began dating back in 2002, and we had a real ball.


Back on the art front, the first post-wedding priority I had waiting for me was an assignment for Interlude Magazine, now called Tri-Cities Magazine (or Trimag, as I've coined it). They wanted me to draw a double-page spread about area DJ's for a story they were featuring, and they needed it by November 2nd. The story posed the question, are DJ's really cocky and arrogant, or is it just an act? So, using the swelled head metaphor, I came up with the resulting artwork:


What's strange is that just as I completed this piece, the most famous DJ in the line-up, Johnny Burke, had gotten himself suspended from 96 FM for some racist jokes he made on air and on their website regarding school kids from Flint. So Trimag's director tells me there's a chance they might have to cut all of Burke's responses in the article, and erase his and his sidekick's caricatures from the art, just to avoid negative controversy for their article. Fortunately, Burke was brought back after two days, and I made a point to send a few e-mails to Trimag to make sure they knew, and to not alter my artwork in any way.

The next major project to complete was for Recycled Paper Greetings. As I'd mentioned in my blog a month ago, RPG liked the card ideas I'd submitted to them back in April and were intent on buying three of them. But they wanted to see some more "everyday cards" from me to include in a collection to show a focus group. Everyday cards consist of "Happy Birthday", "Get well soon", "Just for laughs," and other non-holiday specific occasions. So, rifling through my old unused cartoon idea surplus as well as concocting some new gags on the spot, I whipped up ten new samples and sent them out a week before the Novemver 12th deadline they'd given me. Here's a few of the better ones:






So currently I'm waiting to hear back from them and see what the next step towards paid work is. More news as that progresses.

My next mad rush to artistic completion was a family portrait done for my friend Steph Witt. I've drawn Steph countless times in the seven or eight years that we've worked together, but this was the first time I had to draw her whole family for a paying gig, so the pressure was on. Here's the end result:


So I'm happy how this turned out, and to the best of my knowledge, Steph is, too. If this gives any of you guys an idea for a Christmas gift for your own families, don't hesitate to get ahold of me. I'm always available, and will produce my best work for you.

Once the dust had settled and I got yet another art gig out of the way (a two-hour caricaturing stint at Northwood University for which I produced a whopping two whole caricatures but still made my standard hourly rate), I sat down and began producing some art just for the fun of it, for myself, like in the old days. My best stuff comes from those free-release sessions when I'm my only audience and boss. This time around, I had a hankerin' to do some caricaturing. Good celebrity stuff. I began by rounding out the freaky foursome of classic horror actors that I first showcased here a month ago (Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi, if you don't recall). This time around I chose to create Vincent Price and possibly the scariest actor of them all, Christopher Lee. Here's how they turned out:
































I'm very happy with these. I've had more fun creating what I refer to as my "Four Horsemen of The Apocalypse" than any other caricatures in recent memory. Not that that stopped me from creating others, as you'll see...

Jennifer Aniston had a look I've wanted to draw for a good long while, so she was doomed to be doodled...


















Willem Dafoe is a god of an actor, and he was due for some cartoon canonizing...


















And Wilson and Carell own Thursday nights these days, so I figured I should own them on paper.


So that's all what I've been up to since the wedding. In January Laura and I are trying to plan a total get away honeymoon, so hopefully that'll be a good release from all the chaos. But after that, it'll be back to the drawing board again. Ape Comics still say they're interested in bringing Dead Duck to published reality, so I have to stay on top of that. Plus there's more art gigs coming up between now and December, and unknown projects that are just waiting for me to tackle them as soon as I heard about 'em. Thanks for hopping aboard this wild ride with me, folks. I enjoy the company!

Jay