490,000 excuses to draw

700 Things
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

So things have started to snowball over in the ole' Flickr pools, and now there are several several several collaborative artistic projects lined up in which anyone with a flickr account may participate. The fun starts here. From there you can learn more about 700 Zombies, 700 Robots, 700 Underwear Clad Vigilante Mutants, 700 Bunnies, 700 Unicorns, and 700 things of which there could conceivably someday be 700 illustrations of. Whew!
Even if you can barely draw, join in the fun. Users are currently building master lists for each pool and it's only a matter of time before the drawings, photos, sculptures, etc start pouring in.

Thanks T!

Smiley Tate
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Smiley Tate, made to order. A happier hobo you'll never meet.

Dirty Decker

Dirty Decker
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Named by D. of Santa Barbara, CA. Thank you.

Let's make it 1000, shall we?
I'm finding it difficult to simply stop drawing hoboes after a year and a half, so I'd like to enlist your help. Here's the deal: you come up with the hobo name and I'll draw it for you on a postcard for the low low price of $10.00. In color even! and I'll throw in the 24 cent stamp. What do you think? I've added a paypal shopping cart link if you are interested in this hobo art offer. I'll be sure to post any and all takers here and on flickr (though not in the official 700 Hoboes Project pool).

It is finished.

767 Dr. Know
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Thank you all for your cooperation, support, and friendly dispositions.

2 left

526 Washington State Amy Swipe
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Watch this space....

This is not a hobo.

In theaters now.
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I only have a few hoboes left and I'm taking my time on them. Plus, I'm kinda busy.
This is a new idea I'm working on--illustrating movie titles and then having you all guess what the movie is. This one has already been answered over on flickr.
I'm not sure how many of these I will end up doing. Likely not 800.

Someone's got to do it.

460 Overload-the-Dishwasher Mac
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

That's some fine oboein'

706 Pauly Twin-Oboes, the Double-Reed Man
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

15 to go.

blurred silence

Panel Discussion Dan Loaf being drawn on youtube.

If my count is correct...

653 Simon Squirrelskin
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I'm on the back 50 of 800 hoboes...

meep mop

Robo face
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Are you interested in seeing blurry, over-exposed photos of MegaCon Orlando 2007? Then click on the robot face and enjoy!

Gravity

725 Dickie On-Star, the Satellite Man
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Another meeting of Illustration Friday and the 700 Hoboes Project.

Hirschfeld on Disney

Hirschfeld on Disney
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Click on the image, then on all sizes to read Al Hirschfeld's assessment of the animation in Walt Disney's Snow White.

t is for shirt

Y is for Yeti
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

My illustrations from the Alphabet of Monsters are still available in t-shirt form, here.

meep meep

215 Roadrunner "Meep Meep" Fabong
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

...with apologies to Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble.

100,000

736 They Call Me MISTER Dumps
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

At some point over the past few days I surpassed 100k views on flickr. Thanks for dropping by, you nameless, faceless, writhing mass of humanity, you!

more ape than lad?
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Someday my hand will be the same size as that of a 6 year old gorilla. Till then a lad can only dream. *sigh*

100 to go!

557 Unconditional Gavin
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Unless I've skipped a couple somewhere somehow.

sketchbook

I've done about 4 of these sketchbooks so far, but not all of my hoboes are drawn this small.

HoboTube

I've uploaded another video of myself drawing yet another hobo. Again. When will I ever learn?

505 William Carlos Williams

505 William Carlos Williams
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

...and his trusty red wheelbarrow.

Hobostration Friday

306 Red Ball Pnutz
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

This is my entry in today's Illustration Friday thing. The theme is "red".

These are not hoboes.

color version
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

On the right we have Iron Man punching the shield of Captain America. This is based on a comic book cover illustrated by Jack Kirby. The king.
For more information, visit your local comics shop. At your peril.

Hobo 652

Another video of me drawing a hobo. This time it's Luke "the Lifestyle" Dammers (hobo 652).

Woodsy Phoenix

Woodsy Phoenix
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

USDA Forest Service officers have been instructed to burn their old Woodsy Owl costumes. (Read more about it on boingboing.)
I hope they appreciate the fact that he's an owl and not a phoenix.

When will it end?

716 Stalling Pete Puts-You-Off
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

In about 186 hoboes, that's when.
More soon.

Hobo 302: Sackfist, the Tapdancing Trombo

Gopher-State Sam

Here's a video of my enormous hairy hand drawing my 600th hobo. Enjoy.

Fast approaching 600

250 Ma Churchill
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I'll try to have something special planned for my 600th of the 700 hoboes. Does anyone know a good sky-writer?

Merry Christmas

Wreath
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

May your days be merry and white, and may all your et cetera. You know the deal.

Bob the Cat

Bob the cat
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Another threadless submission, up for voting here:

Another sunset, another hobo.

670 Flaky Mike Psoriasis
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I'm swiftly approaching my 600th hobo, though I can't promise where or when I'll complete the milestone.

This book is full of monsters

The Alphabet of Monsters, now available in book form.
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

The Alphabet of Monsters is now available in book form via lulu.com, id number 523250.

Sketches o' Superman

Superman sketches
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Look! Up in the sky, etc........

Another Christmas Letter

Christmas Letter 06
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

This has been an annual tradition since our first Christmas as a married couple oh so long ago. Click on it for a readable view.

Click on this link and vote for my design on threadless.

Walt woulda been 105 today.

Happy Birthday Walt.
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Read more about him here.

Want a postcard?

Hansel and Gretel
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

So VistaPrint is having a clearance sale so I'm having 100 of these printed up. I have no idea what the quality is like, but drop me a line if you want one. Supplies are limited and I may not actually get them for a few weeks.

Now available here, with room at the bottom for customization.

Unpublished

Granny
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I've uploaded several illustrations from some recent unpublished projects. Click here yo.

Click on the picture to see what I learned from this important film.

Buy this book!

The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I found this on abebooks.com for around $10, including shipping. It is amazingly beautiful in several respects:
First of all, it's huge. I should have included a nickel for scale in this photo, cuz it's about 14 inches high.
There are over 300 pages packed full of vintage comics up through about the 50's. Sometimes entire story arcs are included.
Elzie Segar, George Herriman, Fontaine Fox, George Herriman, John Held Jr, Frank King, George Herriman, George Storm, Bud Fisher, George Herriman (did I mention him already?).
The reproduction quality is beautiful. I've not seen anything like it, and I have read lots of books about old comics over the years (the first book I ever checked out of a public library was about Rube Goldberg. I was 6.)
Each page is a reminder of what is so very wrong with the comics pages nowadays. Well maybe not so much the last dozen pages or so. There's a bit of modern stuff, but nothing past 1978 when this was published.
So, to borrow a line from Krusty the Klown, if you find a better enormous book about comics from the early 20th century with amazing content and beautiful reproduction quality, YOU BUY IT!

HTTP Errors

416 Requested Range Not Satisfied
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Click on the picture to see a set of illustrated HTTP errors, which you can use on your blog or site or whatever you want.

I failed to mention something.

Number 149 Blackbolt King of the Inhumans
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

The one year anniversary of my involvement in the 700 hoboes project came and went a few weeks ago.

We are now operating under a new name. Hobotopia.
We'll see how it feels for a few weeks.

Number 251

251 Pappy Churchill
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

From the Churchill section of the list of 700 hobo names by John Hodgman. There's also a Dark Crystal section a [place name] O'[surname] section and a section of increasingly smaller Roberts.

Illustration Friday: Thanksgiving

667 Turkeyballs Paco
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Another week's gone by and another collision of worlds: the 700 hoboes project meets IF.

Lots of thumbprint size hoboes

708 Stunned Silent Hopkins
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Click on the picture to be taken to my flickr account. There are quite a few new hoboes this week, several of which started out as small blotches of orange.

Yes he would.

193 Woody Damn
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I really should bust out the watercolors more often.

Moooo

Hobo moo cards
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I ordered some minicards from moo.com with the obvious subject matter.

500?!?

629 Deke Hidden Hornets' Nest
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Here's the 500th hobo I've done.
Only 300 to go.
...yeesh, what have I gotten myself into?

This is all it takes.

How to be a successful comic artist
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

The secrets of cartoon success rediscovered!

If your life were a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
Here's how this meme works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, winamp, media player, iPod).
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. New question-- press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

Opening Credits:
Over My Shoulder — I am Kloot

Waking Up:
Cripple Creek Ferry — Neil Young

First Day of School:
A Conjunction of Drones Simulating the Way in Which Sufjan Stevens ... — Sufjan Stevens
A conjunction of drones sounds about right.

Falling in Love:
Hang on Little Tomato — Pink Martini

Breaking Up:
She Smiled Sweetly — Rolling Stones

Prom:
Here it Comes — Modest Mouse
Considering I didn't go, maybe the line "the place and the time when we knew everything would go wrong" is appropriate.

Life's Okay:
I'm Amazed — Frank Black
Honestly, I didn't cheat.

Mental Breakdown:
I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to be Nicer — the Cardigans
...and I don't even drink.

Driving:
Thorn in My Side — Eurythmics

Flashback:
Let Me Tell You About My Boat — the Life Aquatic Soundtrack

Getting Back Together:
More Adventurous — Rilo Kiley

Wedding:
Like Spinning Plates — Christopher O'Riley covers Radiohead

Birth of Child:
The Woodlands National Anthem — the Arcade Fire

Final Battle:
This Old Guitar — Neil Young
What a downer of a battle that's gonna be.

Death Scene:
Something Against You — the Pixies

Funeral Song:
The A-Team theme song
...and what an awesome funeral!

End Credits:
Tomorrow on the Runway — The Innocence Mission
Kleenex available at the exit. Please watch your step while exiting the theater.

Check out Ward's entries, where I hitched my wagon to this meme.

Hobo tools

hobo sketchbooks
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Here's a picture of the sketchbooks I've been using for the last couple of months to draw hoboes. Click on the photo to see all of the explanatory notes on flickr.

Hey wait a sec...

548 Ollie Ebonsquirrel
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

I forgot the cigar.
Ah well, there are still 324 more chances for me to encourage the filthy habit.

I wonder if I can add this to my resume.

Damon
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.

Amid Amidi at Cartoon Brew saw this picture and praised my obvious parenting skills. I am humbled and honored and would like to thank all the little people who made this possible. The little people being Lucas and Damon and the Bowling Pin.
Those of you who like to draw and have yet to read and absorb Preston Blair's masterpiece had best get cracking.