Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Big Girl



These are a couple of old drawings, since I haven't produced much lately that I can show.
The bottom drawing is on manila drawing paper, using my kids' watercolor set when I was first deciding to get into watercolor, about five or six years ago. Up to that point, I avoided paints like the plague. I work very quickly and never had the patience for paint. It's still very difficult for me because I am not the most disciplined creative force in the world.
The top drawing was an experiment with a monochromatic color scheme, and I like the way it turned out. One of the most common mistakes I make when working with color is to just use the whole box of crayons. I learned it's always best to limit my palette. I'm not that great with color, so I often default to a complimentary color scheme just so I will at least have some contrast.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Missing something.


Every once in a while I will scan in a drawing and it's not till then that I see an opportunity to make something work better.  I will try and add a thing or two back behind these guys.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mystic Woods - In the Garden


Gift for my Nephew


This is a gift I painted for my nephew, who is in the Boy Scouts.
I didn't think to scan this in before I framed it, so sorry about the weird angle and glare from the camera flash.

My nephew is really into books like Captain Underpants and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, so I thought he might appreciate a bit of grossness.

And Now A Word from Linus ...



I'm not a very religious person, but I love that scene. It's soft, sweet and it took a brave Charles Schulz to convince the network to keep that in his Christmas special. I'm glad they did. I still get goosebumps when I hear Linus say, "Lights, please."

Happy Holidays to Everyone, Safe Travels and Have a Great New Year!

Cheers!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Mrs. Scrooge


Here's a nice piece by Carol Ann Duffy, illustrated by the great Posy Simmonds in the Guardian.

Beautiful, beautiful work!

Hat tip to Paul Giambarba.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Close Ups - Original Comic Strip Art

(Click to enlarge)

The Cisco Kid -Jose Luis Salinas




Blondie - Chic Young



Abbie N' Slats - Raebuen Van Buren




Reg'lar Fellas- Gene Byrnes




Steve Canyon- Milt Caniff




Little Lulu-Marge




Casper - Ernie Colon




Off Main Street - Joe Dennett




Mickey Mouse- Sergio Asteriti




Rusty Riley -Frank Godwin

More faces.


I had fun with this while I was doing it and it was hard to stop after a while.


Cartoon Statues

Beetle Bailey

Andy Gump



Tintin


Steve Canyon


Joe Palooka

Thursday, December 18, 2008

How Comic Cartoons Make Fortunes

(Click to enlarge)
















Modern Mechanics, November, 1933

Earliest Published Work of Charles Schulz


This is the earliest published work of Charles Schulz. Ripley's Believe It or Not, 1937.

I'm also a big fan of Robert Ripley, who with great skill undoubtedly wrote about and illustrated more subjects than any other person on the planet.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Early Sparky Drawings






Beethoven

Here's a painting I did of Beethoven a while back. My reference was a wonderful statue of Beethoven in Vienna.


I've tried using oils twice and this was one of the subjects. The oils were water soluble, as I wanted to avoid brain damage. I got so frustrated with the painting, I took it to the kitchen sink and washed it all off. It left a faint blue image which re-motivated me, as it made a great underpainting. The next result, above, wasn't great, as I trashed the painting, but I enjoyed the challenge of giving color and life to the statue image.

Happy Birthday, Beethoven!


The great Richard Thompson reports on his blog that today is Ludwig's birthday.

While rummaging through some of my things, I found this card given to me by my wife's aunt, Jan.
I previously posted about these cards here.

This is an unique birthday card because it is not telling anyone Happy Birthday, other than Beethoven and the card is celebrating his 200th birthday, which means the card was out on the market in 1970. I wasn't even born then.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Beethoven!
And thank you Sparky for creating such a cool greeting card!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Forensic Reconstructions

I am fascinated by the work of forensic artists. The best seem to have the ability to find the perfect balance of science and intuition through their skill.


Bach

Copernicus


Tutankhamen


George Washington @ 57, 19 and 45.


St. Nicholas


Yeshua


Ramses II

It's a long story


India ink on Strathmore Bristol