#95: Claws of nature

Hello nature lovers,

Sometimes all you need are some carefully chosen cartoons, perhaps a little on the absurd side. And, maybe, that sometimes is now. Like, right now.

This week we see nature at its most precious, and look at an issue that not even the most modern technology can fix.

Picking sides,
Chris

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Caption: “Don’t look, I’m out of season!”

Would you feel a bit, you know, naked?

Oh sure, when your branches are full you want the whole world to see. But when it’s winter and all those leaves have made their triumphant exit, maybe you don’t want some passersby staring you down.

I think I might feel a bit naked.

A little artist’s note: I know, I know, a second tree cartoon in so many weeks. What can I say? They come in seasons… cue cymbal clash.

Although, in fairness to me, the ideas for these actually came around a year apart but they’re only just seeing the light of day now. I feel like I’m building a delightful, secret life of trees kind of series. But I guess I’m probably going to need a few more than this to call it a series. A small gathering of tree cartoons, maybe?

Visually, this is one of those ones where it’s best not to overthink it. Which was, you know, something I did at the start (it’s my creative MO). But then I realised that the most important thing, the thing that really sells this one, is simply the look on the face of the tree. I mean, just look at it.

There’s just wondrous desperation in their face. Like a look of fear that you could only get from a tree that has lost all their leaves.

Caption: “I swear these claws are rigged against us.”

What will you do to stop the robots taking over?

Will it be a war? Will it be a virus? Or will it be a simple design flaw? Because, really, how effective are the robots going to be if their hands come from carnival claw machines?

If you’ve ever tried to win a prize with a claw, you’ll know why this is a winning strategy.

A little artist’s note: Growing up, I sunk a lot of money into claw machines. You know, because when you would drop the claw down, you were sure you had that stuffed toy. But then, when the claw came back up, the toy just slipped from its grip. It’s almost as if it was planned that way. As if your skill amounted for nothing in this scenario.

Both cartoons this week keep their backgrounds to a minimum. And, as you would expect, part of that is due to time and laziness, but the other part, the part I’m talking about here, is very intentional. Because, although a background could help, in the end it could also be a really annoying strategy.

In terms of the way the robots are drawn, I really wanted to establish how I wanted robots in my miniscule universe to look. So the look of these robots is based on a previous robot I drew for this cartoon:

So, a tiny splash of continuity there. It’s not the Marvel Cinematic Universe just yet, but, you know, I’m clearly acting like it could be, one day.

Thanks for reading The Mid-Week Squiggle.

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