Mr. Scotsdalian!
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Name Over
in progress
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
At some point today, the "list of hobo named submitted by you for me to draw" passed the 200 mark and the submission form on the right was retired. Thank you to everyone who ordered a name.
Keep watching this space and my flickr account for piping hot hoboes delivered right to your eyeballs.
Sometimes I'll be posting pictures of my working process, and maybe even a video or two.
If you missed the opportunity to purchase a hobo name, keep watching this space for future opportunities to own original drawings and stuff.
Opportunities like this:
If you order a copy of my book, The Alphabet of Monsters (via that Lulu.com button on the right sidebar there), then email me your address I will send you a signed drawing on a sticker for you to place in the front of the book so it looks like I signed it. Free! I'll even buy the stamp.
Once again, thank you.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
The opportunity will soon pass...
Old Caboose Graveyard, Cottage Grove, Oregon
Originally uploaded by Pixel Packing Mama.
As this list shows, we have just about hit the 200 hobo mark. Watch this space for Ginger, Trashy Trey, and more-- beginning tomorrow.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Tomorrow night I will have the updated (and possibly completed*) list, and Monday the hoboes will start rolling in. Thanks again everyone.
*This means the opportunity** to own an insanely inexpensive piece of hobo art on a postcard mailed to your door will be coming to an end very soon. Probably forever.
**The opportunity may be ending, but the fun is not.
Also please note: I am incredibly pleased with the awesomeness of that photograph.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Look out, here they come!
768 Manny Gills, The Underwater Breather
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Here is the list as of 10:30 EST on Thursday March 22, 2007.
They will be drawn in the order in which they were received and posted and mailed on the day they're done.
I plan on starting up, full force, on Monday and will try to complete them all over the course of a month. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions or concerns.
Also, check in here often. I'll be posting a handful on youtube, so you can see them being drawn.
Once again, thank you.
That was the motto of the Century of Progress Exposition held in Chicago in 1933. The same exposition that my grandfather George Berger hopped a train in order to attend. No job, only the clothes on his back, and probably a few friends in tow, he briefly lived the life of a hobo. But he didn't succumb to the siren song of the open rail and soon after that summer settled down like most of us do. Which brings me to the reason for this post.
I'd like to make clear one minor differentiation that most people seem to have a pretty good handle on. Homeless vs Hobo. The hoboes I've depicted are informed by the history recorded in John Hodgman's aforementioned book, as well as the pioneering work of Sid Caesar, Emmett Kelly, and Spike (Snoopy's underappreciated and highly emaciated brother), to name a few. True hoboes are hard to find these days, and may in fact have vacated earth entirely, as Hodgman contends.
My illustrations are not in any way meant to disparage or belittle the modern homeless and downtrodden who, often through no fault of their own, are forced to live on the streets.
Thank you.
There is a list coming your way tonight.
Finally, click here to read more about the Century of Progress and it's incubator of real babies.
I'm up to my eyes in hobo names!
123 Cheesequake O'Lennox
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
That's okay though! I have a plan. I'll have more details tonight about how this will all work.
To all who have entered a crazy hobo name in that box there on the right, thank you very much. I shall do my best to represent your nomadic vagabond in a manner fitting their majestic ilk.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
INCOMING!
Galaxian
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Hey everybody! If you are just dropping in from the post on boingboing.net, welcome to the insanity, and thanks for visiting!
A few things I should make clear:
I originally only planned on doing 200 of these hoboes submitted by you, bringing the overall project to a nice even 1000 hoboes. So, if it takes a week or three months for 200 names to come in, time is limited.
Also, I'll do them in the order I've received them and post them here and on flickr as soon as they are off the drawing board.
They'll go in the mail on the same day they're posted.
Also, I'd love to be able to do more custom stuff (like from photos and such), but for the most part I'm asking you to trust my hobo judgment. If you're not familiar with my work or the preceding hobo art project that lead up to this click here to learn more about this silliness. Also, if you haven't read John Hodgman's book The Areas of My Expertise, I highly recommend it.
There have been a lot of funny names ordered so far, so keep watching this space as they roll in. If you have ordered a hobo name and have any questions, feel free to contact me.
And once again, thank you!
Jackhammer Jill
Jackhammer Jill
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Ordered by E. of Riverside (my hometown!), who I will assume is a fan of boingboing.net since this was ordered shortly after they had a link to my blog yesterday. Thanks!!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
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.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Thanks T!
Smiley Tate
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Smiley Tate, made to order. A happier hobo you'll never meet.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Monday, March 12, 2007
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).
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).
Thursday, March 08, 2007
It is finished.
767 Dr. Know
Originally uploaded by Ape Lad.
Thank you all for your cooperation, support, and friendly dispositions.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
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.
