Fall Is In The Air Cartoon!

With September now here, it is essentially Fall. And so, with fall in the air, that always brings to mind camping and campfires. Not that I'm big into camping, but I have done my share. This cartoon is one I especially like. I can just picture a group of kids gathered around a campfire and out comes the story-teller. They're expecting some scary and spooky stories but the next thing you know the story-teller starts his\her mime routine. I can see their faces. Their mouths drop, their eyes widen, and a feeling of bewilderment fills their souls. I did a take off of this with kindergarten students sitting in a circle at story-time and out comes their teacher in her mime clothing. I'm not sure which one one I like the best. Although, if I had to choose, I'd go with the camping toon over the kindergarten toon.

On a different subject; if you haven't yet taken the time to click on over to http://www.plumlococomic.blogspot.com/ ,you should. Roy Delgado and Peter Plum have been hard at work with their joint venture of the comics Plum Loco and Buljert. They have sent off the Plum Loco comics to the different syndicates in hope of becoming, well..., syndicated and have been getting back responses. Check it out to see how their doing. Also, they are in the process of creating a substantial number of Buljert comics in preparation of sending to the syndicates. Take a look them, fresh off the presses. I think you'll like them.

So, until next time, if there's something you've always wanted to do, but didn't think you could, get to it! You can't accomplish what you want, if you don't first attempt it!

New "NEW" Logo

At the top of the blog you can now see my new "NEW" logo. Based on some friendly advise from long time cartoonist and owner of a sign company, Roy Delgado, I took the word "cartoons" off the top of the logo and added back the "star" I had on my original logo. He thought that repeating "toons" as in ZELLTOONS and cartoons, didn't work as well as it could. I agreed with him and thus the change was made.
Hope you like it.
Until next time!

Back In Business Cartoon

I know it's been a few days since my last post, however I have a good excuse. I took a few days to "get away". You may be able to tell by the cartoon below where I was for those few days. Take a look and see if you can figure it out.
This cartoon was from the web comic my older son (Mike) and I did for 2 1/2 years. It's name was\is RESET and you can still read them all on line at www.gamelemon.com/reset . This was a weekly comic about roommates and video games. My son did the writing and I did the illustrations. It was a weekly comic which both my son and I really enjoyed working on as well as working together. However, after 2 1/2 years and not having a really strong following, we decided to bring it to and end. Actually, it ends rather abruptly right at the beginning of a new storyline. We both felt it was time though. Well, if you have a moment, take a look at it and let me know what you think. One thing that has always bothered me about this comic illustration was that I had the train speeding down the track but the smoke stack of the train gives the appearance of the train standing still. I was thinking about correcting it for this post, but chose to let you see it as it was originally uploaded.

Good to be back in business.

Stay "tooned" for a new NEW logo thanks to some much appreciated input from my good friend and mentor Roy Delgado. In fact you can see his comment and my reply on the posting from August 17th introducing my new logo.
Later!

Wet-Day Cartoon

We've been having so much rain the last couple of days that I thought I would upload a "weather" appropriate cartoon. I think this guy has the right idea. As Eric Idle from Monty Python would say, "Always look on the bright side of life, ta-toot, ta-toot, ta-toot, ta-toot!" (envision little musical notes floating up and around the text.) And, with days like these The Three Stooges wouldn't have been able to say:

Moe: "Excuse me partner, is that the sun up there?"
Curly: "I don't know, I'm a stranger in town."

I think we can all learn something from this little guy, "always keep a good positive atti-toon"!


Until next time. Stay dry!

Summer Cartoon of the Week!

During the summer my son likes to wear Hawaiian Shirts. His place of employment has what you would call a "casual dress" Friday, so he started wearing his various Hawaiian shirts each Friday. As time went on a number of his co-workers picked up on the trend and they too began wearing Hawaiian shirts on Fridays. Well, not everyone joined in though and that is when I came up with the above cartoon idea. I actually made him a t-shirt with this very cartoon on it which he wears proudly.

I hope you get a little kick out of it. And, don't forget to wear your favorite Hawaiian shirt this Friday. What, you don't have a Hawaiian shirt?! Well, get to it. You have plenty of time to get one before this Friday rolls around.

Until next time! Aloha!!!

New Logo Design

I just replaced my old logo (see below) with the "NEW" logo above. I've always wanted to use "ZELLTOONS" as part of my logo and finally decided to do it today. I think the word "ZELLTOONS" just flows really nice and has that "cartoony" ring to it. So I played around with a number of different designs and with the help of my wife and younger son decided on this one. I had wanted to keep the star in it (see the old design below), but it just didn't look right no matter where I placed it. Both my wife and son thought it looked better without it. So now it is ZELLTOONS Cartoons by Gary Zeller.

I hope you like it. If you feel compelled to tell me whether you like the new logo or not, please be my guest. Who knows, you may yet see the star return.

You'll probably notice that I changed the entire look of my blog too. It may change again and again over the next few days. I didn't like the plain blue background and so I am going to look at different styles and looks until I find what I like best. Hopefully I will find one I do like.

Stay "tooned"!

Have a great day!

Todays Think-Toon!

Has this ever happened to you?

Try, Try Again!

A while ago I created the above gag. It never sold. It "almost" sold to an environmental magazine, but at the time they had an overstock of cartoons and decided they would have to pass on it. None of the other publications I submitted it to seemed interested.

Well, I thought it was a pretty good gag (as most cartoonists think about all our gags). So, I decided I would rework the drawing, but keep the original gag line. I then marketed it to an entirely different group of publications. And, what do you know, this time it was picked up by the SUN. Here it is below. The SUN did change the gag line a bit on me, as you can see they took out the word 'nuclear". And, they also changed my name a bit, as you "can't" see, by cropping it out entirely!

The moral of the story. If you think you have a good gag, (as most cartoonists think about all our gags) don't give up on it!

Until next time.

Happy 50th Rich!!!

We just celebrated my Brother-In-Law, Rich's 50th birthday today. What a milestone! That's half a century old! So, I wanted to do something special for him that I thought he would get a kick out of so I tried thinking, "now what does he really like to do". Well, then it dawned on me. "Texas Hold'em"! He thoroughly enjoys playing Texas Hold'em Poker. He goes to many of the local tournaments in his area throughout the year and really gets into it. So with that in mind, I began thinking of different types of play on words involving Texas Hold'em and I finally came up with "Texans Hold'im". All I could picture was a room full of cowboys grabbing all the incoming unsuspecting entries and holding them in headlocks while other cowpokes took turns paddling their rear ends. Weird? Yeah, maybe, but I couldn't stop laughing to myself while I was picturing it in my mind. Thus, the finished product is what you see now. It isn't exactly how I pictured it, but I wouldn't be able to fit all the extras and it would have taken more time to complete than I had available. (I had to put the second coat of paint on the kitchen this morning before we could go to the party.) I'm not extremely fast when it comes to my cartoons.

It was penciled in around 20 minutes during part of my lunch hour this past Friday. Then early this morning, I got up and (after working on some bills and household accounting items) I inked it on my light board. It had to be ready by late this afternoon (and I still had plenty of painting ahead of me) as his surprise party was a dinner party, so I had to work fast. I used for the first time a set of Staedtler pigment liners ranging from 0.1 up to 0.7. I mostly worked with the 0.5 & 0.7 but I did use the 0.3 for some small detail lines. I then scanned in the inked product and brought it into my Photo Shop program to touch up the inking. I have a VisBoard Tablet Monitor. Not nearly as sweet as a Cintiq Wacom tablet monitors, (none of the bells and whistles) but only a 5th of the cost. It's so much easier than using the mouse. Also, I draw left handed, but I use the mouse with my right hand. So, drawing gets extremely difficult when trying to use the mouse. This monitor works great for me. Some things I use with the pressure-pen in my left hand and others I use the mouse in my right hand. I then added the color and the various text. In most of the web comics I had done for 2 1/2 years with one of my sons, (he was the writer and I was the illustrator) I usually used shading on my comics. However, for this gag I thought I would leave the shading off to give it a more "cartoony" appearance. All-in-all I think I used 7 different layers.

Well, that's it for now. Happy Birthday Rich!
So, "toon" in next week.
Same Gag-Time, same Gag-Channel!!!

A Cuttle-Cartoon

Cuttlefish are actually not fish at all. They are mollusks. They can change their color and patterns to suit the environment in which they happen to be. Cuttlefish live it tropical areas in shallow waters. They are a very smart species. They are related to the squid, but not nearly as fast. They are carnivorous and great at using their 10 arms to capture their prey. Cuttlefish, like the squid, can eject a dark cloud of ink when attacked that can allow them to escape from their attacker.
Looks like this little guy above could be in for a big surprise!!!
Until next time.

Saturday Night Summer Cartoon

Have you ever been camping and wondered how some folks can create roaring fires in no time at all, while others can't seem to get past lighting the match? Or, lighting multiple matches. Well, now you know the secret, "belly-button lint".

Actually, this gag was inspired by a different type of lint. Both my boys were in Boy Scouts and the secret to lighting a fire quickly on campouts was "dryer lint". Yes, that's right. If you are planning on camping this summer and want to start your campfire fast and easy, just add some dryer lint to your stack of twigs and small sticks. Also, if you want it to really catch on fast, place your twigs in a teepee design and place a handful of dryer lint smack dab in the middle of the teepee. Light your match and touch it to the dryer lint. The dryer lint will ignite immediately and quickly spread to the sticks and twigs. Works every time. So save that lint you pull off from your dryer lint screen and put it to good use the next time you go camping. Better yet, prior to going on your campout, make a bet with your friends as to who can create a fire the fastest. With dryer lint, you'll win every time.

I thought it being the middle of a steamy hot summer, this gag would be most appropriate. I hope you get a chuckle from it. If you feel up to it, let me know what you think.

"One of the Funniest..."

Well, it's official. I am now "one of the funniest people around". It's true! Jump on over to Eli Stein Cartoons web site at www.elisteincartoons.com/ . I have won this weeks "Cartoon Caption Contest!!!"

This has been a great week, "cartoon" wise, for me. First Roy Delgado becomes a follower of my blog and now Eli Stein names me "one of the funniest people around". It must be a sign! After a few months off from cartooning, I need to get back to thinking funny, creating cartoons and mailing them out to prospective publications. So then, off I go. Wish me luck.

Cartoon Of The Month

Well, it has been a while since my last post. I won't bore you with the reasons behind it, I will simply say' "It's good to be back!"

More important is the fact that I now have two additional followers. And, the best thing is that my very first follower, (other than myself) is none other than one of the masters in the gag cartoon industry; Mr. Roy Delgado! Welcome Roy, and thank you for becoming the very first follower of the Cartoons by Gary Zeller Blog. It is an honor and a privilege to have you as a follower. Roy has had his cartoons published in just about every magazine you can think of. Ah..., well, there is one..., but he's still working on that. And, from what I can see, I'm sure he'll get there too.
When I'm browsing through the magazine racks at the local bookstore, (looking for recently published cartoons), I can identify his cartoon style immediately without having to check the signature on the gag. Roy it truly a master at gag cartooning. He has inspired me many times with words like, "It takes persistence, a lot of hard work and you must go after it with the zeal of a crusader, never thinking or giving the thought to the possibility of failure, or defeat." Or words such as, "Socrates said, You learn to play the flute by playing the flute. Draw, Draw, Draw. And in time, you'll do it." Or his truest words to me, "Remember this: If you want ( really want ) to become a successful cartoonist, you WILL become a successful cartoonist."
Thank you again Roy for being my blogs first follower and especially for the inspiring words! You can see Roy's work on his newest cartoon blog, "Plum Loco Comic". http://www.plumlococomic.blogspot.com/ Check it out. He's got some great gags there!

I also want to thank my second follower, Ricardo Agusto or Guta Dias Cartoons. You can find his cartoons at www.gutodiascartoons.com/. Check him out. He's a very talented cartoonist living in Southern Brazil. Welcome Guto and thanks again for following my blog!

You may have noticed the "Cartoon of the Month" just above. This was published by Woman's World last year just about this time. I thought it was an appropriate toon for this time of year with back-to-school just around the corner and me back-to-my-cartooning-blog. I hope you enjoy it. If you can, please take a moment and leave a comment to let me know what you think.
See you soon.

Cartoon of the Week

Cartoon of the Week

This toon is the very first cartoon of mine that was ever published. It was published, a number of years back, by a publisher of a magazine for children entitled R.A.D.A.R..

You'll see as I post more of my cartoons that my style has changed over time. I hope you enjoy it. The fish obviously do!

First Cartoon of the Day

I thought I would start off with a cartoon I did based on the medical term of "hurry cases". Hurry cases are the emergency cases where you need to act fast. First-Aid cases. I would say these two fine young men have acted fast! Hope you get a chuckle out of it!