Tag: Adobe Illustrator

Categories
wisdom

What to Do?

Illustration of man with shrugging expression

Don’t you wish life really was like any blog or article that spews advice? Lately, top ten lists have been all the rage. Someone touts, “Here are the top ten things you need to do to get your kids to become little angels!”

I love watching parents at their kids’ games. You’ll hear someone shout, “Kick the ball, Dylan!” I have to giggle and wonder if the kid is thinking, “Well if it was that easy, Mom, don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?” It’s easier for the advisor to advise than for the advisee to follow the advice.

It’s too easy to spout advice. I am very guilty of that. But I must remember each bit of advice I give has to be tempered with grace and mercy. It’s easy to give parenting advice when you don’t really have to deal with the kid. It is sanctimonious for me to lecture a parent on how to handle a hyper, ADHD child when neither of my kids showed those symptoms.

Yes, I’ve learned doing the right think is neither easy nor simple as spouting advice.

Categories
webcomic

Voila! It’s a Duck

Cartoon of a boy in a magician's costume and a duck. The boy says, "I'm sorry, Sis! I didn't mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!"

Cartoon of a boy in a magician’s costume and a duck. The boy says, “I’m sorry, Sis! I didn’t mean to change you into a duck. I meant to turn you into a dog!”

Siblings really do love each other. It’s just that there are so many possibilities when you have a magic wand and hat. It makes me wonder what I would do today if anything was possible. I want to make it clear to my siblings that I’d keep them just the way they are. They’ve turned into very nice adults, thank you. Besides, I don’t have a duck pond.

Categories
children cartoons

Leap Day Choices

Cartoon of a boy with a big mouth about to consume a birthday cake. The caption reads, "This choice may come back to haunt him."

Cartoon of a boy with a big mouth about to consume a birthday cake. The caption reads, “This choice may come back to haunt him.”

O why must birthday cake be designed so that it is not wise to eat the whole thing? I guess it’s because birthdays are meant to be shared with other people. You learn real quick in life to share some things or the choices will come back to haunt you.

it must be hard to have a birthday on February 29. But it could be fun too. Wouldn’t it be nice to live forty-eight years, yet only be twelve years old? The only hard part would be waiting for birthday cake every four years.

Categories
Off the Chip

Off the Chip: Hi, Jack!

Comic strip of two office workers. One is disturbed that the other was friendly and said, “Hi!” I drew this comic strip in 2000.

The other day, I was jogging and passed a professor I knew rather well. I said, “Hi!” He looked mortified. Perhaps it was because I was in jogging clothes. Maybe it was because I was hurtling by him at the blinding speed of six miles per hour.

I come from a small, midwestern, Indiana town where everybody knew your name and what you were up to. I thought everyone gave a nice, “hi” to everyone until I went to the big city. I soon learned to to make eye contact and give the appearance you didn’t realize the passerby on the sidewalk existed.

It’s strange, but I’ve felt more alone in big cities than I ever did in my hometown. So excuse me if I see you and assault you with a “Hi!” That’s just the way I was raised.

I drew this comic strip for a ministry that reached out to programmers in Silicon Valley. Let me know if I can help you out with a cartoon or illustration!

Categories
Illustration Friday

Can You be Popular?

Cartoon of a girl with a can of tuna. She is surrounded by cats. The girl says, “Popularity is easy. All you need is a can of tuna.”

How can someone be popular? Why is it some people always have a flock of admiring fans around them? Some people have charisma. Others have money, skills and a winning smile that seem to flock people around them like cats to a can of tuna. I can’t control whether I get the red carpet treatment, but there are a few things that I’ve learned will help.

Be Generous

It doesn’t matter if you have much or a little. I’ve seen rich people who were selfish and poor people who were generous. Guess which ones were more popular? Generosity with your time, resources and compliments always bring people your way.

Smile a little

So often, I forget to smile. Yet when I do that simple thing, it’s amazing how people react to it. It’s another thing to be generous with. We all search for a pleasant look and a friendly face.

Forget About It!

Whenever I’ve fretted over what people thought of me, I’ve made myself so nervous I didn’t want to be around me! It’s one of those paradoxes of life. If I fret about being popular, I turn people away. When you relax and just be yourself, people will begin to relax around you too.

I drew this cartoon for Illustration Friday. This week’s theme is “popularity.”