Hiatus

I must apologise to everyone out there who have visited my blog and not seen anything new for a few months.  I've changed jobs, moved house and replaced the old PC with a new iMac in the last few months, as well as doing heaps of cartooning and writing.  Anyway, I've recently launched my new website at www.bestwordsandpictures.com and am making myself familiar with the ins and outs of Joomla.  I'm presently trying to link this blog with my site so everyone can access both.  Please bare with me on this, I'm not the most computer savvy person.

I've been really getting into my writing at the moment.  I'm editing my first e-book on the Wild Strength! program based on my experiences in the gym.  Stay tuned for it's release.  I'm also working on a children's book idea I hope to publish in the near future.  It's based on animals doing sports.  And as usual, I'm submitting articles and cartoons for Ironman and MILO (that's right, in the next issue of MILO, they'll be publishing my Gym Follies toons with a strength training slant).  When I find a spare hour or two, I do a set of toons for submission to Mad - one of these days I'll get published in Mad, mark my words!  I'll post some images very soon.

Disturbing medical trends coming our way...

Here's a couple of toons I've been working on lately.  I'm not happy with them for submission so here is the next best place for them.  I'm going to re-work them completely before sending to Aussie Mad.  Hope you like...

Just Imagine...

Here's a set of toons I submitted to Aussie Mad mag.  I've titled them 'Just Imagine...'  I've made several improvements in my style, caricature skills and digital colouring skills.  All it takes is practice, practice, practice.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hughesyyyyyyyy!

Here's a caricature of comedian Dave Hughes.

Evolution of a cartoon

Thought I'd give you a quick step-by-step process on how I do my toons for Aussie Ironman.  First, I start with a basic sketch, then trace it onto art paper, ink it with india ink and a nib or brush, scan it onto the computer and colour it in photoshop.  Parts of the process are here.  Hope you like...

Caricature of Mel Gibson

I went through some old sketches the other day and found this one.  It's one of my better ones.  Mel is hard to capture but this time I got it right.  Thanks for visiting...

Publicious

I went to a free workshop hosted by the Gold Coast City Council at Robina Library the other day.  It was a one hour info session hosted by Andy McDermott, author of "the Tiger Chase".  He gave us some very good information about publishing a book.  He was first published by a big publishing house in the USA, and later self-published his book worldwide.  He gave us some of the highs and lows of being published and shared with us the process he went through to bring the book to life. 

Because he experienced first-hand the pitfalls of being published by a big publisher, he's started his own business to help authors self-publish their work, and promote and sell them globally.  It's called Publicious, and you can contact them at http://www.publicious.com.au/ or e-mail them at andy@publicious.com.au, or phone Andy on 0402807440.  They also build and design websites for a fair price.  Check them out!

Comic Strip

I'm working on a comic strip idea for syndication.  It's based on the antics of the unique animals of Central and South America called "Black Jungle".  Here's a sneak peak:

New Ironman Issue

The February issue of Australian Ironman Magazine is on newsstands now.  I have an article titled "Just the Facts, Ironman!" in there and a toon as well.  This month's toon is one I'm particularly proud of as I paid more attention to the background and lighting.  Now go out and buy a copy!

Next Article

My next article will appear in the March edition of MILO (hopefully), titled 'Strength for Strokes'.  It is a detailed description of the strength training I do with the kids at Nerang Swimming Club.  I've also submitted another article for MILO about putting strength training first in your list of priorities.  Should be in the June or September issue.  I've been doing some strength coaching with the Under 20's Colts NRL team and learning lots about strength training for football.  I'll keep you posted.

Besty

Caricatures

Occasionally, I like to do caricatures of my favourite action movie actors.  I've already posted Arnold on my home page and Steven Seagal in a previous blog.  Here are some others (all my own work).  I draw and ink them by hand and colour them in photoshop.  From top to bottom is Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and Mickey Rourke.  I'm working on a few more.  I hope you like them, and if you want me to do one of your favourite movie star, drop me a line and we'll talk turkey. 

More slang toons.

I'm working on many more.  Unfortunately, Aussie Mad didn't want to publish them for now, so maybe someone else will.  We'll see...

Aussie Slang Cartoons

I'm working on a series of toons based on Aussie slang phrases.  Above is a sample.  I've done several versions and have submitted them to a few publications.  I'll keep you posted if and when they get published.

Australian Ironman article and toon

Well, another article and 'Gym Follies' toon in the can.  I mentioned this blogsite in the article, so if you're reading these posts after reading my article, welcome!  I hope you enjoy my articles and find something of value for your own training.  I'm working on several projects at the moment.  I'm updating my cartooning portfolio, and I hope to have some new work to submit to Australian Mad Magazine soon.  Getting published in Mad is extremely difficult, so I'm constantly honing my technique and style to show them something they'll like.  I'll keep you posted.  Attached are some toons from previous Ironmans. 

Also, the next deadline for MILO is 11th February.  I've got a few articles in rough draft I can edit and submit and I'll let you know which ones to look out for closer to the deadline.  If you don't read MILO, I urge you to go to their website at http://www.ironmind.com/ and have a look at what they offer.  If you're a no-nonsense heavy lifter in the gym, ironmind will become your new favourite friend.  The Editor-In-Chief, Dr Randy Strossen, knows his stuff when it comes to the world of weights and strength.  He wrote the Ironmind column in the American Ironman Magazine in the nineties and the world weightlifting coverage back when Ironman published them.  He, along with a few other writers, inspired me to lift, coach and write about weightlifting.  They sell some great equipment too!  Post soon...

Nicu Vlad

Here's a photo I came accross the other day of me with world and olympic weightlifting champion, Nicu Vlad.  Nicu, along with a few other Bulgarian and Romanian lifters, competed for Australia in the mid-nineties.  I was fortunate to meet him and watch him train at the National Championships in Canberra in 1995 (I think).  I was one of the assistant coaches for the Queensland team then.  To watch him train was amazing.  He was easily snatching 200 kilos for reps(!) a few days before competing.  Outrageous!

The Wild Strength Program

I'm currently finishing the rough draft of a book I'm writing about strength and conditioning training called the Wild Strength program.  When I've completed the manuscript and have copies to sell, you'll be the first to know!  For the curious, I've posted the first few paragraphs of the introductory text.  If you like what you read, let me know and I'll post tidbits of the other chapters in future blogs.  Happy reading!

What does Wild Strength mean to me?  Wild Strength (WS) is a way of strength training that doesn’t rely on technology or power to follow.  WS means strength training the way it used to be done in days gone by.  WS is a program based on strength activities that wild men and women, namely hunters and gatherers, perform in order to survive and thrive in the natural world around them. 

Wild Strength is real strength training the way it was meant to be done before the advent of technologies such as the wheel, the farm and the computer chip.  WS is based on strength training activities best suited to the human body, much the same way the caveman diet (in all its many forms) is the diet best suited to the human body. 

The human body developed over thousands of years to labour at activities that kept it alive.  Activities such as hunting, gathering, building shelters, making tools and carrying, holding and throwing heavy odd objects such as rocks, logs, tusks, slabs of meat, bones, antlers, and weapons, were fundamental physical activities humans participated in (and still do in parts of the world) to ensure their survival in the wild. 

Without them knowing, they built their health and strength to very high levels using these methods of survival, levels that would rival any modern professional athlete.  Because WS is a program based on what humans did prior to the agricultural revolution (and still do), it is a program that all humans can follow and a program that all humans did in fact follow in ancient times.

Wild Strength is the one and only program that is designed to fit homo- sapiens genetic make-up and physical body.  Everyone trained this way once, and with the introduction of the WS program, everyone now has access to the type of program that removes all the guesswork from strength and fitness training for the human body. 

Some fitness programs are based on what animals do in the wild; some are based on what our closest cousins, the apes, do in the wild; and some are based on older civilizations such as the Spartans, the Greeks, the Indians, the Japanese and many others in an attempt to discover the best methods for training the human body. 

Whilst these programs offer some insights into fitness training for modern humans, this program goes back even further in history to discover the common activities amongst all cultures before they formed, by examining ancient mans activities at their most basic level. WS encompasses all ancient and modern training programs in a systematic, scientific, and practical manner without confusing or segregating any part of the human population.

Wild Strength is the only program that sheds light on how humans are meant to move their bodies in order to build super-human levels of strength and fitness.  It focuses on homo sapiens when they first appeared on the planet tens of thousands of years ago and also on human hunter-gatherer tribes that still exist today.  By doing so, it gets to the heart of the matter, by revealing how we as a species should be exercising. 

Steven Seagal Caricature

This is the large version of the Steven Seagal Caricature that appeared in the 200th issue of Australian Ironman magazine, volume 17, number 9, September 2010.  I did this from his TV reality show 'Lawman'.  It's not a bad show, but it could showcase more of his martial arts talents.

I've just finished my next article and toon for Aussie IM.  Now I'm working on a series of toons based on aussie slang.  Stay tooned.

Besty

Happy New Year 2011!

Hi and welcome to my blogspot!  I'm not the most knowledgeable person on computer systems, so this is my attempt at keeping you up to date with all that's happening in my world of words and pictures.  Hopefully, as I get more computer experience, I'll launch my own website with all the bells and whistles.  Until then, I hope you visit regularly.

Firstly, many of you have found this site through my writings for Australian Ironman Magazine and MILO.  As you may know, I'm a strength and conditioning coach, writer, and cartoonist.  My toons also feature in Ironman, and I hope to get many more published this year with other publications as well.  I'll continue to write for these fine publications, and expand my published works on this blog and a book I hope to complete by the end of the year.  It will be titled Wild Strength!, and I'll talk about its contents here in more detail over the next few months.

Secondly, I must stress I won't turn this blogspot into a space to rant.  In order to prevent this occurring, I'll set some specific goals.  I aim to use this space to expand on my existing writings, answer strength and conditioning related questions, and post some of my toons and illustrations I think you'll like.  I'm not going to discuss anything outside those specific topics unless they somehow relate to them.  And I'm not going to rave on about what Aunty Ethel got up to on the weekend!

Thirdly, I welcome feedback and questions from you in relation to the above mentioned topics.  I'm happy to discuss the latest training talk, answer questions you may have about training, and give advice if you also have an interest in writing and illustrating.  I won't enter into debates about world politics, religion, news and personal issues - there are plenty other blogs for that I'm sure. 

O.k., now we have that out of the way, we can talk about fun stuff.  I'm currently working on an article for Australian Ironman Magazine that's due by Monday.  Of course, I can't disclose the contents, but it will be of great benefit to all you beginner ironslingers out there.  And I've submitted an article to MILO that will hopefully be in the March edition about what my swimmers get up to in the weight room.

Talking about swimming, I'm back from a camping holiday and ready to put the seniors through their next phase of training.   For those of you who don't know, I'm the strength coach for Nerang Swimming Club on the sunny Gold Coast.  We have six seniors going to Nationals in Adelaide in April, and hope to field a team of ten competitors by then.  Their next phase of intense training (both in the pool and out) begins in a few days. 

I've also got to colour my next 'Gym Follies' toon by the weekend, and I'm doing plenty of concept illustrations for a children's book idea I have in mind.  I've submitted my portfolio of sketches to a few major publications recently, but no positive feedback yet.  When I know something, you will too.  Anyhow, this intro has gone on long enough.  Must get back to work.  Speak soon,

Besty