The Silver Snail brought the party again for Free Comic Book Day.  That’s when the whole comic book industry goes in on giving away specialty ‘Free Comic Book Day’ editions of whatever comic books the publishers are trying to showcase.  The whole industry uses it as an excuse to have a party with costumes, guest artists, freebies & prizes.

I’ve been a guest artist at the Silver Snail for Free Comic Book Day regularly and it’s become an annual tradition here on my blog to post my Free Comic Book Day drawings for the fans.

Perhaps my favorite drawing of the day, this person wanted Deadpool:

Always happy to do the superheroes:

Mother’s Day played into a lot of people’s requests.

It was this kid’s birthday…

…and here’s what he got!

Two takes on The Green Lantern:

Another satisfied customer!

Star Wars is always a popular theme:

This girl’s name is Mandi.  She has been coming around stuff I’m doing since she was a little teenager.  When she fell in love with her dude, she brought him to me to have me draw their portrait.  And now it’s a tradition they do every year!

Here is the 2011 edition…

This minimalist Batman was a big hit…

This was a request from a cool kid who wanted “something Modest Mouse…”

To see even more of my drawings from Free Comic Book Day at the Silver Snail plus some of the costumes worn by the staff, see the gallery on my Facebook art page: facebook.com/SeanWardSuperParty

And to see last year’s Free Comic Book Day drawings, click here!

One thing that I got a little bit known for ’round the way in San Francisco was drawing pictures of people. Not caricatures, but ‘custom cartoon portraits’.

One Friday afternoon, I carried a card table and a kitchen chair to the corner at Washington & Polk advertising “Free Cartoon Portraits”. While I waited for takers, I drew a few demo drawings to post as billboards.

Thanks to Rando Calrissian for snapping pics of them.

Music and cartoons go hand-in-hand. Spongebob sings. So did The Smurfs. The Jackson 5, The Beatles, New Kids On The Block; they all had their own animated series.  Fictional cartoon bands were once a TV staple from Josie & the Pussycats to The Impossibles to Alvin & the Chipmunks.

Now that cartoons are acceptable viewing for a much wider audience than in previous decades I am surprised at the lack of cartoon shows, whether broadcast or online, featuring real-life bands.

Here are five groups I think would make for a good cartoon show. Who would you like to see animated? Leave your ideas in the comments below!

1. THE BEATLES – I know it’s been done, but this is a band who keeps getting reinvented, decade after decade, by every new generation of music lovers who discovers them.  Their music and image remain as relevant as ever, and I think that playing with them in a modern context would be a lot of fun.
2. WU-TANG CLAN – Their image has become sufficiently iconic that you can put them in any situation and have it still be authentic.  Wu-Tang in Space?  Wu-Tang under the sea?  It all works.
3. THE DONNAS – These ladies were once offered a cartoon series and turned it down for fear of the general public mistaking them for a spin-off of the series.  That was pre-Web 2.0.  Had the ladies been born six years later, and been releasing Turn 21, Spend the Night, and Get Skintight now, this would be a slam dunk as a web series.
4. KANYE WEST – Cartoon wonder-worlds are so central to his creative vision, and he’s such a chameleon with his image, that I’m surprised this hasn’t happened already.  I picture it as a hip hop Yellow Submarine crossed with Tron and Star Wars.
5. UBIQUITOUS SYNERGY SEEKER – Of all of the indie bands emerging out of the Canadian music scene, none have such an iconic or boundary-pushing image as this duo, and I’m not just saying that because they’re friends of mine.  Amongst our circle of peeps, we’ve been cross-pollinating each other for years and it’s been exciting to see the levels they’ve taken the vision to as darlings of the music industry.

What band or performer do you think would make for an awesome cartoon show?  Let me know in the comments below!

Each department was invited to have a stall, carnival style. The photography department was selling ice cream and selling off their photo albums cheap. There were a whole bunch of contests going on. There was a blackjack tournament. The spa offered massages for $1 per minute. I went out on my own and offered to draw portraits for people.

It was so awesome, and it totally sucked. It was awesome because I had the biggest line up and my portraits – or, “kustom artwerks” as my sign said – were a big hit. it sucked because I was in a shitty chair, at a low table, and by the end of it my back and eyes hurt terribly and I could barely speak or walk.