2004 Volunteer Banquet

[Fozzie Bear]

Hiya,

So, most of ya's know that Muley (my character) and I volunteer a LOT for the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis. It's where the kids go who are being treated at St. Jude for really bad diseases like cancer and lukemia, they live there FREE with their families and it's all paid for by contributions and money raised at events, which Muley and I attend and perform or talk or whatever.

When the invitation to the Volunteer Banquet came, it was addressed (as all invitations are) to Kevin L. Williams and Muley the Mule, so of course I took him.

Well, Tuesday (4/20/04) was the Volunteer Banquet and they passed out certificates and such for how many years you'd been on board as a volunteer, etc.

I began day-dreaming about a Muley show (I'm supposed to be providing a plot synopsis to a guy by week's end), and I suddenly heard them call Muley's name, so I grabbed him up and carried him toward the podium, and was thinking the whole time he had won a certificate (last year's banquet found him being named the Official SpokesMule of the RMH).

It was then that I really woke up and heard them say, "...and the winner of this year's Volunteer of the Year Award goes to Kevin Williams!"

Needless to say, I feel good enough helping raise money for such a cause as the RMH and going down and visiting with the children, getting some of them to do some theraputic stuff that they think they're doing just to have fun, and seeing them smile; but, to be awarded for it even further with recognition is awesome! I felt really good, then!

Just wanted to share with my friends here at MC.

Kev

BTW: For pics, which will be up by mid-next-week (HA!), see:
www.picturetrail.com/muleythemule (there are pics there now from events, mainly 2004 Rock 103/RMH RadioThon).
visit RMH at www.rmhmemphis.org

 

[Whatever]

Yyyyyaaaayyyy, Kev and Muley! You rock!

 

[Luke]

Congratulations Kevin and Mr Muley T Mule. Your work for RMH is fantastic and you thoroughly deserve your award. YAY !!!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Thanks, gang! I can't wait to get pictures up online for it. Ronald McDonald was there, and my mom, him, and Muley all had a photo taken of their shoes.

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

Congratulations on a job well done, Kevin!
Erin

 

[Erine81981]

Congratulations Kev! I was wondering on ur characters. Do u draw free hand or do u draw w/ Circles when drawing Muley? The reason I want to know is I draw free hand on some characters of my and some I use circles but I just wanted to know because I'm starting my first comic strip. I'll send it to u when I finshes. Thanks again Kev for helping me on starting a comic strip.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Thanks, ya'll. Photos will be up next week.

Ern, I've always drawn Muley free-handed, but that's because I have a clear visual of what he looks like all the time. It's been 24 years since I've had him now, so I had BETTER have a clear visual of him, huh?

I say, whatever feels best and gets the best results--the most professional art--draw it that way. If you have a character that you can draw well free-handed, do that. When I use the circle methods on Muley, he comes out all wrong and flat and no character or personality; but, when drawing Charlie Brown or Mickey Mouse, most especially Goofy, circles are a must!

Go to the art store and get you some Bristol Board, a Magic Erase (or Magic Rub?) eraser, a #2 pencil (draw LIGHTLY first before you ink), and a Staedtler inking brush pen (has a brush on one end and a felt tip on the other). NEVER use notebook paper or anything from a spiral bound book for art you'll submit; and start saving $$ now to get a proper portfolio (you'll need it one day). And PLEASE get a ruler! LOL!

Now, take your ruler and draw out your comic strip frames. If you send me a postage paid envelope (like 60 cents) I'll send you photocopies of the frames I use. They're originally on 11x17" paper, but I use a light table and using light behind the bristol board I trace the frames to the board creating the best frames I need for the strips. Thing is, most people think you ahve to draw and letter the comic strips in 2-inch boxes, and that's just not so. I used to do that until someone told me to do it differently. Draw big and reduce the size and it will also clean up any shaky lines, etc.

LETTERING! Important! Comic strips with reading in them is skewered if you don't have good lettering. Use your ruler and get straight lines on the paper, then carefully write the words to the comic strips, remembering balance and space for the characters you're using. What I do, because my hand-writing sucks, is that I type out on the computer (centering each character's dialogue on the screen) and print that out, using the light table to trace over the letters onto the bristol board. You'll want to use an 18 or 20 point level on your font, and choose either Arial or Comic Sans fonts. They're easier to write. I tried to pull a "Schulz" once while a character was typing, and it got SO monotonous tracing Times New Roman font, that I scrapped the whole comic and went back to have the character WRITE their story (in which case I didn't use the computer printed letters, but was CAREFUL to print the letters).

Also, check your local comic shops and art stores and see if someone is doing cartooning classes!

Practice makes perfect, and I'm usually brutally honest when someone shows me their cartooning because that's what is most helpful! I won't ever forget once many moons ago someone told me that Muley was boring and not a character they could care about; nothing in the lines of what to do to make it better--so, I had to do all of that on my own and now he has personality (so much so everyone around here refers to him in third person, totally seperate from myself).

Hope this helps, and I'm here for ya!
Kev

 

[Manda:-D]

Hiya,

So, most of ya's know that Muley (my character) and I volunteer a LOT for the Ronald McDonald House of Memphis. It's where the kids go who are being treated at St. Jude for really bad diseases like cancer and lukemia, they live there FREE with their families and it's all paid for by contributions and money raised at events, which Muley and I attend and perform or talk or whatever.

When the invitation to the Volunteer Banquet came, it was addressed (as all invitations are) to Kevin L. Williams and Muley the Mule, so of course I took him.

Well, Tuesday (4/20/04) was the Volunteer Banquet and they passed out certificates and such for how many years you'd been on board as a volunteer, etc.

I began day-dreaming about a Muley show (I'm supposed to be providing a plot synopsis to a guy by week's end), and I suddenly heard them call Muley's name, so I grabbed him up and carried him toward the podium, and was thinking the whole time he had won a certificate (last year's banquet found him being named the Official SpokesMule of the RMH).

It was then that I really woke up and heard them say, "...and the winner of this year's Volunteer of the Year Award goes to Kevin Williams!"

Needless to say, I feel good enough helping raise money for such a cause as the RMH and going down and visiting with the children, getting some of them to do some theraputic stuff that they think they're doing just to have fun, and seeing them smile; but, to be awarded for it even further with recognition is awesome! I felt really good, then!

Just wanted to share with my friends here at MC.

Wow!!! Congrats, Kev! You deserve it! I love to hear all your stories a/b volunteering!

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Thanks! I hope I inspire others to volunteer more, especially at places that make whole families happy by your good work!!

 

[Erine81981]

Thanks u Kev. I'm trying a little more into volenteering. Not in away ur might think but I LOVE THIS GUY!!!! *hugs*