The Razz Years Begets My True Calling

 July 25, 2025

   Still jammin' on the Cave Creek Canyons concept. Experimented with a lone cloud. Closer, but still not where I want to be. 

Daily Whip Out:

"Lone Cloud Over Elephant Butte"

Okay, let's get back to the uncomfortable stuff

Back To My Delusional Past

  After my syndicated cartoon strip debacle (1970-72) I turned my scattered attention towards doing an Arizona humor magazine.

Razz Re-donkulousness

with "Wonderful Russ"

   That adventure lasted four years and made zero money, but my partner and I—Dan "The Man" Harshberger—learned a couple more things, the hard way. First off, we thought Arizona needed a monthly humor magazine, not realizing the state already had a humor publication that came out every day—The Arizona Republic. Dang!

   I remember thinking, "I have always thought of myself as a diamond in the rough—I just wasn't expecting this much rough!" Also, intuitively, and by studying my heroes, I knew I had to go through a "delusional" phase where nobody believed in me, where I looked foolish and where I questioned myself daily, but I knew if I kept going I would eventually arrive at where I wanted to be. Imagine my shock and surprise when my delusional phase lasted thru the 60s, the 70s and half of the 80s. So much for the "overnight success" label.

   But enough wallowing in self-criticism and hatred. In a van Gogh kind of way, what am I doing today that builds on all of that failure?

   This morning I put this guy down on paper.

Daily Whip Out: "Bisti Badman"

Their first mistake was sending him to boarding school. Their second mistake was thinking he was slow.

"Atmosphere."

—Max Brand's one word take on my artwork.