So I almost gave up on this week’s Psycho Bunny sketch. There was other things I had to do, and no ideas for a Psycho Bunny sketch was popping up. That was, until I just happened to glance upon a box of girl scout cookies.
Ah-ha!
Introducing the Psycho Bunny sketch of the week for Feb. 25th, 2020.
Psycho Bunny inquired about flavors of Girl Scout cookies. Based on the comic written and drawn by Michele Witchipoo, Feb. 2020. On WitchesBrewPress.
Tomorrow I’ll have another episode of Comic Book Convo W/ Michele on WHCSradio.org. . You can now stream live every Wednesday between 7-8 pm ET. This Thursday night will be the closing party for the group art exhibit at SAGE, in which I have two pieces on display.
This may or may not be the last Inktober 2018 sketch from me. It was going well at first, but then I decided to work on a new mini-comic. So technically I did draw everyday for the month of October 2018. It just wasn’t Inktober related. It happens.
For the Inktober prompt # 30, which was jolt, this was my sketch. Jolt, as in Jolt cola.
Anyone remember Jolt cola from the ’90s? I remember a rumor that early ’90s ravers used to gulp this down after doing a hit of acid or ecstasy to get a bigger rush. It was marketed as “All the sugar, twice the caffeine!” It doesn’t sound very healthy in 2018.
I had Jolt cola a few times back in the early ’90s. It didn’t taste bad. Didn’t matter, I’m not a soda person. Never cared for soda. Most soda flavors taste disgusting to me. Never understood the appeal. Except for Jolt cola, or Faygo, but for different reasons. Faygo is just kinda trashy. Both soda brands were sold at Dollar General last year.
As of this post, today is the last day of Inktober 2018. If I do another Inktober sketch, it’ll be posted tomorrow. Technically, I did draw everyday in the month of October. Not everything was Inktober related. It’s okay. As they say, there’s always next year.
Forgot about Inktober 2018 prompt # 12 – whale. So I included the first two that popped into my mind. Fudgie The Whale, that Carvel ice cream cake, and a narwhal.
I had a friend who loved narwhals. Even did a narwhal art postcard for her. We fell out when I didn’t want to take part of a collaboration. It was a silly joke band called The Conscientious Gasbags. Outsider music with twisted lyrics. The lyrics were good. I had some of the equipment. Imagine if Big Black meets Shonen Knife. That’s what we were aiming for. Last year scheduling was tight. I had just moved out of a ten year residence, completing school, working, and working on my art. Wasn’t even time to do my Psycho Bunny sketch of the week. I had no extra time to spare. Something had to give, and it was the band. So I informed her of my decision.
She didn’t take the news very well.
When I broke the news to her in a diplomatic manner, this is what she said:
“Don’t ever speak to me again. Do not contact me in any way, shape, or form.”
So seven years of friendship meant nothing to her. It hurt. On top of that, she even managed to turn another ‘friend’ against me. This was all because I didn’t want to do that project with her. So I went ahead, deleting anything on social media that I set up relating to the band. It was really extreme on her part, but if I was going to be treated like public enemy number one, so be it. It wasn’t the first time a former friend turned against me. It still hurt. It was also very unnecessary.
Six months later, I found out on Facebook she had died.
I didn’t gloat in her passing. Instead, the whole thing was just sad. I mourned silently. In her honor, I went to Sweet Jane’s. It’s a neighborhood bar that I had taken her to when she visited me in NYC. She loved that place. So as I was toasting to her life, I was with another good friend. My friend was comforting me, telling me that Julie’s spirit was here and Julie forgave me. Afterwards we proceeded to get a little too drunk. Oops.
Still have Julie’s book of poetry, the skull jewelry boxes she gave me, and assorted accessories. Most of all, I still have the memories. Will leave it at that.
With death comes forgiveness.
Geez. Didn’t mean to turn this Inktober entry into a candid post, but hey.
Anyway. Back to the Inktober sketch. Along with the grumpy narwhal is Fudgie The Whale. Fugdie is an iconic character from Carvel’s line of ice cream cakes. My mother, who also passed away in 2015, used to get me an annual ice cream cake for my birthday during my childhood. It was very late ’70s/early ’80s thing to do while growing up in the outer boroughs of NYC. The Beastie Boys’ debut single was a tune called Cookie Puss.
The sketch itself. Not one of my best. Kinda looks like a rush job, which is kinda sorta was. The story behind this goes as this. It’s the narwhal’s birthday. While other narwhals are happy, this one is a cantankerous sort of creature. Worse of all, this grumpy narwhal is miffed that his birthday cake happens to be Fudgie The Whale. Thus Inktober 2018 prompt 12, whale.
Inktober 2018 prompt # 12: whale. Narwhal doesn’t like Fudgie The Whale. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo. Oct. 2018.
Still trying to catch up on the Inktober 2018 sketches. Revisiting a subject I’ve drawn before – Squeaky Squeakums.
Squeaky is a female tuxedo cat I adopted in 2009. She came from a household that basically had too many cats. The other cats would gang up on her. Poor Squeaky had to hide. In the meantime the other cats would steal her food, prevent her from using the litterbox, etc. By the time she was rescued, Squeaky was skin and bones. Both her fur and eyes were dull. Such a sad cat. She didn’t even have a proper name. As it turned out, Squeaky also needed major cat dental surgery – which her previous humans failed to inform us about. That wasn’t cool. After her dental operation though, Squeaky was a brand new cat. Now she’s quite vocal, friendly, and extremely loyal. She’s intelligent as well. Despite being a pen thief.
One thing she never did get over though, was lack of food. Squeaky has something known as “food panic.” She’ll eye your dinner like prey as you vainly try to eat your meal in peace. Therefore Squeaky must eat!
Squeaky Loves To Eat! Pencil sketch from 2011. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo
As I’m doing these Inktober sketches, it was time for prompt number six; drooling. So here’s an updated version. Titled ‘Squeaky’s Torment.’ It’s tormenting especially for her. For the time being, we had to ban Squeaky from human food scraps, as they’re not good for her overall health.
Inktober Oct 2018 sketch. Prompt: Drooling. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo.
This week looks pretty busy. My weekly Psycho Bunny sketch might be delayed until the latest, Tuesday evening
In the meantime, check out my rendition of Cap n’ Crunch on Sketch Lottery. Alas, because my scanner isn’t doing too well, the colors aren’t coming out so crisp. The sketch was done in colored pencil. Not my usual brand either. Prang colored pencils don’t blend in as well as Prismacolors. The scan has the colors come out a lot lighter.
Regardless – I always knew that Cap n’ Crunch was always a player!
Don’t forget to check out the other artists as well on Sketch Lottery.
Happy July 4th everyone. Here’s a vintage Psycho Bunny sketch dated 2007. Thought it went well with the weekend’s theme of cook-outs and BBQs. The original is in black and white, this 2016 version is in color.
Psycho Bunny cooks. Vintage Psycho Bunny sketch from 2007. Updated in 2016 with color. Based on the comic by Michele Witchipoo.
Soon it will be Thanksgiving. Some people use the time off to do some holiday shopping the day after. Hence the term “Black Friday.”
Not everyone is thrilled with this concept. Psycho Bunny particularly isn’t. Then again, he’s always broke anyway.
Psycho Bunny’s thoughts on Black Friday shopping. Drawn by Michele Witchipoo, Nov. 2015. Based on the comic by WitchesBrewPress, created by Michele Witchipoo.
However, if you do plan to do some shopping, may I suggest buying some self-published comics and/or art? You can always go to my Etsy shop, or to my website to purchase your own copy of Psycho Bunny. PayPal accepted. Afterwards, hit Facebook to “like” Psycho Bunny’s own page.
I’m also accepting commissions, now that I have some downtime. So don’t hesitate to ask. Email for inquires. You won’t be disappointed at the results.
It was just only a few weeks ago that some folks were getting upset over these red Starbucks cups. Now we have bigger things to worry about.
Anyway, while some were complaining about ‘the war on Christmas’, Psycho Bunny has other plans…
Psycho Bunny and those red Starbucks cups. Based on the the comic Psycho Bunny, created by Michele Witchipoo. Nov. 2015.
As usual I’m going to mention about getting your own copy of Psycho Bunny through any of these two channels…there’s my website and my Etsy store. Psycho Bunny even has his own page on Facebook. Until next time!
Continuing where I left off with the last post. Also brought during my trip to Austria was these mini milk chocolate bars. I really brought them for the nostalgic novelty.
Austrian milk chocolate candy, complete with old fashioned graphics and retro artwork.Austrian milk chocolate candy with retro wrapping.
In my last post “Rock Me Amadeus” I showed these two photos. Thought I would show up close pics of the wrappings.
Up close of the Austrian mini milk chocolate bars.
Thanks to my In-Design professor, she taught me to pay more attention to graphic details. Actually I’ve always did, but in recent years I was trying to get away from anything mass consumption. She did point out how important it was to keep up with current magazines, design, and she does have a point. So I began to stick my head out of the self-imposed rabbit hole a little more often.
I’m a sucker of yesteryear images. Which is why I brought the chocolates posted above. As they say, ‘as above, so below’ and hence below is another close-up inspection.
Up-close scan of Heidel milk chocolate with retro design. Brought in Austria.
My personal favorite here is the puss in boots illustration.These are from the Heidel brand. Brought from a touristy confection store in the New Town of Salzburg. Heidel has a variety of designs.
Confiserie Heidel Schokoladen Mini Euro.
Similar to chocolates with US dollars images on the wrapper found in the American souvenir shops, there were mini bars displaying the Euro currency design. I didn’t purchase this item.
Since a Billa supermarket was close to where I was staying, I also brought Haribo gummy bears with the German packaging. Besides the German language, there’s a difference with where the gummies are being manufactured. If I can recall, in Austria Haribo bears are made in Germany, while in the US, the bears are made in Turkey. Not too sure on this, but since I threw out the wrapper, I’ll have to go by memory.
Anyway, a little bit of edible memorabilia here.
Oh yeah, now that I’ve finally blogged about Heidel candies, they can now be taken out of the fridge to be eaten. Yum.
Before going to Salzburg back in April, I was told that Austria had some of the best dairy products. That advice did not disappoint. One of the first things I ordered, after settling into my hotel room was a glass of milk. Immediately you could tell the difference between the local Austrian milk, vs. the American factory mas-produced product. For starters, you didn’t taste any sort of chemicals. If there was, I couldn’t tell.
So besides the yogurt and the cheese, I checked out some of the local candy. Chocolate in particular. True, this entry isn’t proving to be very vegan friendly, but hey, when in Austria, right? Although I did refrain from meat products.
Anyway, on one of the last days of my Austrian adventure, I ventured inside this confection store. It more or less catered to the tourist crowd, as tales of Mozart and the Sound of Music danced in their heads. For myself I picked a few marzipan pieces in the shape of bunnies. Then I stumbled upon this:
Austrian milk chocolate candy, complete with old fashioned graphics and retro artwork.
Kinda cute, huh? Here’s another photo…
Austrian milk chocolate candy with retro wrapping.
Of course, the main selling point of Salzburg is having been the birthplace of Mozart. So everywhere you go, you’ll see images of the Amadeus everywhere. Salzburg even has an annual classical musical festival, which I guess probably brings a good amount of revenue into the town. Since the composer is one of the main selling points, you’ll spot Mozart chocolates being hawked all over the place.
Near where I stayed was a small local supermarket chain called Bila. Trying to beat the tourist mark-ups, I brought a whole bunch of these products:
Mirabell Mozart kugeln. As of this blog entry, this is the last one left, reserve for my friend.
Mirabell Mozart kugeln chocolates comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, mostly round chocolate shapes. The ones I brought had a pistachio and chocolate mix, which I was told much about during my trip. My only disappointment was when I turned over the bar package, and discovered that Kraft was the manufacture of these products. Not that I have any against Kraft, but while I was in Austria, I wanted purely Austrian products. I wasn’t looking for anything connected to American companies.
Top lid packaging Reber Mozart Kugel chocolates.
There’s a few brands of Mozart chocolates, and the one I recommend is Reber. Mozart Kugel gourmet chocolates was lovely. With some of the ingredients such as sugar, almonds, cocoa, cocoa butter, whole milk powder, hazelnuts, pistachios, glucose, invertase (natural softener), lecithin (emulsifier), natural and artificial flavors, etc. Oh, and the milk chocolate contains min. 20% milk solids. For the most part it’s natural. Usually I hate getting chocolates as gifts, but maybe for next Valentine’s Day, I might make an exception for this.
Straight from Austria. Reber Mozart chocolates. Highly recommended.
My only regret with these purchases is that I had brought more of the Mirabella Mozart chocolates than the Reber ones.
Just found out that you can order more of these online. So maybe when I become nostalgic for Salzburg, perhaps I’ll just get these.
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