What a Wonderful World

I think we can all agree that there is a lot of worthless stuff on the internet. But every once in while something comes along that cuts through the madness of it all, something so inspirational that it makes you stop and wonder about your place in the universe. This week I saw not just one, but two of these things:

1. A lone lizard decides to pick up a leaf, sits back against a log, and starts playing it like a classical guitar. We may never know what sweet music was in his heart, or what secret longing drew him to pick up the leaf in the first place, but one thing is for sure - there is beautiful music living in all of us.

2. A weasel jumps onto the back of a woodpecker, and they embark on an incredible journey together; the wind blowing on their faces as they soar through the clouds, and the ground passing beneath them like a movie reel. Where did the go? What did they experience? This brief and beautiful flight will someday be long forgotten, but for one extraordinary moment, the whole world was forever changed for these two creatures.

It's Jibo!

This week I have a special and unusual treat for you - it's a new segment called 'It's Jibo!'. If you are unaware of who or what Jibo is, this website will answer all of your questions - www.myjibo.com

I'm hoping that this is the first ever Jibo cartoon. This could become a regular Land of Le Beef segment or just a one-off, so please let me know what you think.

Gratitude - Staedtler and Uni-Ball

I believe that one if the most important things that a person can do is express their gratitude and appreciation for the people and things that enrich their lives, and this is something that I would like to start doing more of.
Today I am going to start off by expressing my gratitude to a couple of tools that help make the Land of Le beef: Staedtler Pencils and Uni-Ball Uni Pin pens.

Me hugging my comically oversized and slightly scared looking drawing tools...

I have been using Staedtler pencils (and erasers, lots of them) since art school, and I have never looked back. They have always made a high quality, reliable product. I especially like the HB (although I would never turn down a 2H either). Staedtler pencils provide the foundation of all of the Land of Le Beef sketches.

The pens that I use, Uni Pin by Uni-Ball, are a relatively new find for me. When I started the Beef a couple of years ago, I didn't put too much consideration into which pen I used. Eventually I had bought a bunch of pens just to try them out, and I would just randomly grab one whenever my sketches were ready for ink. Some pens would frustrate me by how fast the ink flowed, or their lack of precision, but I always felt great when I had a Uni Pin in my hand. Now I can't imagine using anything else. They come in different thickness; I typically use 0.2 for the main lines, and 0.1 for small details and shading. If I happen to be doing a larger illustration I might use a 0.3 or even the 0.5.

Anyway, to sum it all up, thanks Staedtler and Uni Pin. You're awesome.

The actual pens and pencils in all their glory...

the Beef

What is art? Perhaps it is looking at something, and seeing something different. What is beef? Perhaps it is a cow laying seductively on a couch.

the Land of Le Beef

Snowmen! Snowmen! Snowmen!

There is a rule of blog posting that says if you can't think of a title for a post, just shout something three times - in this case, Snowmen!

Anyway, this is a very special Beef cartoon, because it has not one, but two different endings. It's sort of like a 'glass half empty, glass half full' situation. Which one do you like more? 

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Snowmen!