This one’s about the Grand Jury selection process.
This one’s about…it’s hard to say. It’s supposed to loop.
More Courtroom Drawings
Courtroom Drawings
My Tax Dollars At Work
I know it’s bad timing that I made this on Veteran’s Day – I assure you it has nothing to do with veterans. It does have something to do with “the Law”. Click for full size.
Grand Fucking Jury
Pardon my French – or is that legalese?
As of today, I’m required to serve as a grand juror for the next two weeks. Meaning I had to cancel my only paid work for the month, speaking at Alma College in Michigan. The court said essentially, “tough shit.” Ironically, if I’d been mugged on the street for the same $ amount, I could initiate a trial in the very same criminal court I’m “serving” in!
Unlike trial juries, Grand Jury allows no excuses; they don’t interview you. If you’re breathing, you serve. The fact that I’m morally opposed to the drug laws that half the cases are based on is irrelevant; I’m simply advised not to vote on those.
I’m also sick – still coughing even after a month with this virus, whatever it is – but don’t have insurance or a regular doctor to write the official written excuse on official doctor letterhead. Besides, that would only postpone this; once you’re called, they keep calling you until you’re seated. They mentioned that sometimes jurors get sick while serving; one collapsed on duty recently. If I actually collapse, they’ll send a doctor. Otherwise, tough shit.
On the brighter side, I get to see up to six cases a day. Lots of fascinating stories, especially the ones that aren’t about drugs. And however much it sucks to be a juror, it sucks worse to be anyone else in that room.
Oh, and if you’re wondering why I have such a bad attitude about the law, maybe it’s because I broke federal law to make my film, and could have faced jail time myself? Or that most people I know are technically criminals also?
Don’t expect much from me until after November 23rd. I do get weekends off. And tomorrow, which is Veteran’s Day.
More examples: TMI?
OK my peeps, your feedback on the preceding post has been excellent. Here are 3 more images to compare and contrast:
What’s happening here? Do we even need to put it into words?
How about this? Does the addition of the flowers help, or hurt, or just make it different?
Same idea, different rendering. This one has still more information – which might be confusing the point. It’s cuter, but it might be Too Much Information. Or maybe it’s Just Enough.
What do you think? The more I understand how you “read” these images, the better I’ll be able to “write” them. Big thanks to you.
How much hand?
I’m working on a new project – a book, or comic book, or illustrated book, or graphic something about free culture/free content. I’ll probably use a mix of styles and techniques, since that’s how I roll. But I’m trying to figure out the dominant one. And the question is: hand drawing with ink on paper, or drawing directly into the ‘pooter using a vector drawing program (Flash)? Behold two approaches saying basically the same thing:
“HOW MEMES REPRODUCE”
The image above was “drawn” with the Cintiq, directly into Flash. I like it because it keeps the focus on the idea and not on the humans.
Same idea, different technique. It’s much “warmer” and friendlier. But it draws you into the humans, more than the meme they’re sharing. Drawing humans like this, they each need genders, clothes, and other identifiers which are mostly irrelevant to the point I’m trying to make. On the other hand, warmer drawings may attract more viewers, which is desirable, and may be sufficient for the idea anyway.
What do you think?
Update: per Richard O’Connor’s suggestion, a hybrid:
The problem with this is that the meme looks sterile, while the people look warm and alive. I’m trying to express that it’s the memes that are alive; that we humans are just their humble servants.
Thoughts?