This is a series of posts hi-lighting some of my favorite pieces of sketchbook art from ‘skineart.com. For an explanation of what a moleskine is and a look at the first part of this series check out this post:

http://antithesisart.com/the-best-of-skineart-com-part-i/

I am continuing to sort from oldest to newest posts that I starred for future viewing in my RSS reader.

Skeleton of a Deer by Phadria

Virginity is a harsh mistress by Moreno

Dallas Skyline by Susan Rudat

Tarbes France by Rene Fijten

Dia de los Dragster by Jason Chalker

Squids by Kyle Wilson

Sketches for a Novel by Justin Sirois

Sketch after a Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painting by Ester Wilson

Pisa by Joseba Alexander

I hope you’re enjoying theses!

The ‘skine in skineart.com is short for “moleskine”. For the uninitiated, a moleskine is a wonderful little sketchbook that comes in various sizes, papers, and bindings. They are kind of pretentious. Those of us who love them feel they justify the pretentiousness. In the same way that finding a pen that always does what you want it to, moleskine’s just work.

Skineart.com is a blog that accepts submissions from ANYONE who has done anything from a doodle to a grand work of art in a moleskine, an approximation of a moleskine, is willing to lie about the sketchbook they are using really being a moleskine, or is honest enough to admit they don’t own a moleskine and just want to show off some sketch.

Because of this, there is a log of less-than-inspiring stuff to wade through in order to get to the gems. With that in mind, I’ve been starring the drawings that I love for one reason or another for years now anticipating that I would one day start a series of “best of” posts. That day has finally come. I’m starting chronologically from the oldest in hopes that I can weed out things as I don’t remember why I liked them.

Random Faces by Nacho Yague

Farmer’s Market by Susan Rudat

A Poltergeist with far too Much Dandruff by Angie H. Iver

Sketch of an Image by Sean Foreman

Moleskine Exchange Entry by Josh Burggraf

Uncle Vernon by McThrill

The Hound by Kyle Wilson

Custer and Sitting Bull by Alexandra Beguez

Anne Pike by S. J. Guild

The Snail Princess by Rin Ascher

So that’s the first installment. I’ve got pages of these things to wade through, so expect more in the future.

The guys over at Pants Are Overrated have created a gem.  They imagined Calvin as an adult with a daughter (named ‘Bacon’ after Francis Bacon, to continue the theme).  Now, if Mr. Watterson will only see clear to letting these guys continue with it.  The artwork is as spot on as it gets and the storyline in the strip is so ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ it’s just scary.

Two posts in one night.  Groovy.

I stumbled across the website of one Calamity Jon.  I really like this guy’s artwork.  it’s colorful and fun.  Sort of reminds me a bit of ‘The Mighty Heroes’ in spirit, although the artwork on Jon’s site is actually superior in my opinion.  Check it out!!!

The folks at Antithesis Art never promised me anything.  We are just a group of people who like to draw.  Now, from time to time, when we all have a lot of extra time, you will see artwork from all of us, and other times, one of us, and sometimes from none of us.

Lately, there have been a lot of ‘Casey and Scotty’ entries, simply because I have been fortunate enough to have a few hours a week to tackle a strip.  It’s been running non-stop for an entire year, but yo unever know when the Gravy Train will come to a sudden halt.  But, there are no judgements from my fellow Antithesis Art knuckleheads, when and if that happens.

Which brings me to my point.  We started drawing Casey and Scotty in 2003.  At the time, I thought I might be able to make a living, or at least a bit of money doing comics.  However, I soon realized that there are a lot of talented people out there who draw.  I met ‘Brian Anderson’ from ‘Dog Eat Doug’ as soon as he started drawing it and posting it online.  We spoke several times before he was published and it did not take long for that to happen.  I had 4 other comic ‘mentors’ in addition to Brian, but he is the only one who got published, and the only one who is still churning comics out every day.  I tried several times to get into a Webcomic Collective.  There was Boxcar Comics, the Lunchbox Funnies and a few others who I reached out to, with no results.  At first, I thought maybe Casey and Scotty was not good enough, but I soon found out that collectives come and go so quickly that most of the really nice ones, the ones that were family friendly, didn’t really last long. 

This week, I stumbled across a really great collective that had a great idea.  There were seven artists and all of them had weekly strips.  I had posted the bookmark, and then it got shoved down to the bottom of my list and so when I went back out, it was still there.  I had been reading one strip all along, (Gronk), and I decided this week to reach out to the artist to ask if maybe they had a day that I could take and post Casey and Scotty.  She quickly responded and said that the collective had basically disbanded.

What a shame, though.  It was a great collective, all the strips were first class, and they were all family friendly.

So, although I thought being part of a ‘Webcomic Collective’ was my ultimate goal, I have decided not to have a goal.  ‘Casey and Scotty’ is the Sweathog of Web Comics.  We have a small, but loyal and feisty group of readers, and you know, that’s enough for me.  We have readers in the armed forces, and in Australia and our BIGGEST readership, besides my hometown, is Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.   I mean, that’s pretty cool if you think about it.

So, my friends with Antithesis Art, and the readers of this site, I’ve heard it’s more about the journey than the destination, and Casey and Scotty will continue its (so far) 8-year mission.  Maybe one day a collective will come calling, maybe it wont, but at least I’m doing something I enjoy.  And that’s more than a lot of people can say, I guess!