EASTER Bunnies!

Hello, again!

I thought I'd surprise everyone with another April blog post, so soon after my last?.. Just keeping everyone on their toes.. hah  Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!!

This morning, I made a visit to our local Rexall drug store to pick up a few things.. And (I guess) not surprisingly, I saw that they'd already set up a kiosk discounting all of their unsold Easter candy. My eye was immediately drawn to a "Storybook" package design for a popular brand of "Save-Your-Life" candy rolls..

This past Summer, a friend at a marketing/branding studio had asked me to brainstorm a series of action poses for this same Ad campaign, featuring their Easter Bunny character.. Which on-the-surface sounds like a pretty sweet gig. right?.. But as with most Advertising work, the client wanted all of the finished artwork yesterday?!
So, I pulled an all-nighter. And the above sketch, was one of 4 images I was able to finish..

The biggest job frustration for me though, was being forced to work with a previously-created Design for the Bunny.. In reality, there was no bonafide "model".. As it had only ever appeared/existed in one illustration they'd already commissioned. No character style bible. No rotation or turnaround, establishing proportions, etc..
Looking back on what I'd done, I realize now that I'd spent far too much time trying to work out how the rabbit was constructed, instead of solely creating drawings that were appealing to look at..

About a week or two later, I hauled out the 4 drawings.. I decided that it might be a learning experience to create my own rabbit character, from scratch.. The above doodle page, was the result.
As usual, I started out by looking at what other artists have done. The rabbit at the Top Left is a bald-faced copy of one that Disney used in their 'Tortoise & Hare' adaptation.. And the rabbit at the Bottom Left, bears a slight nod to the 'Nestlé QUIK' bunny. The tiny one looks like I may have thought MGM's "Droopy" would make a good bunny?! heh
By the time I got to the big-headed shorty in the middle of the page, I feel like I was finally onto something.. Still probably too much "Bugs Bunny" in the face features; but I like the proportions.. I'm guessing that by adding the weird lederhosen outfit, I imagined it would look more unique?

Anyways, all-told,-- it was a fun exercise.. And hopefully, I'll be better prepared to deal with any future jobs of a similar nature, that happen to fall into my lap..

That's all for now.. See ya, later!!

Goshdurn DOODLE Dump!

It's hard for me to believe that I let another entire month slip by, before updating my Blog.. I had the best of intentions to post something in January. And had started a number of drawings that I thought would fit nicely. But alas, Life seems to always find a way of impeding my completion on these things...
In any case, I'm well past due for a Blog update. So I went thru the vast pile of unfinished illustration ideas & unearthed a couple of older sketches. Composited in a bit of "newer" stuff, too.. And figgered this would make a sufficient posting? I hope so..
Below, is one of these:

Some of these sketches are pretty loosey-goosey. My stuff usually ends up more finished-looking.. But I think the 2 weird figures at the Top Left were supposed to be a kind of strange Charles Burns -esque 'Santa Claus'?! I can't even remember why I did these..
The gaggle of more-finished "inked" figures are Elves, which I may still use in a future Christmas Card. I like how most of these turned out.. There's a nice contrast in the overall variety. I can recall the l'il marching ones, were adapted from a Frazetta 'Funny Animal' comic.. Always a fun exercise!
The other blue-pencil ones along the Bottom, were studies I'd done from a pre-code 50's Horror anthology, I purchased recently. In fact, I'm 99% sure the Ghoulie-Guy rubbing his hands, is from a Jack Cole story.. Cole was a brilliant artist whose artwork I cannot seem to get enough of!

The above sketch page, is a little more finished.. But again, the ideas/concepts were never incorporated into anything I felt was worth completing. The inked stuff along the top, are studies from a classic Wally Wood MAD story, entitled: "Wreck Of The Hesperus".. The idiot daughter in that one, never ceases to crack me up! hah
The bottom tier is quite Wood-sy, too. Essentially, more riffs on his style.. A couple of weird Alien figures, in all of their resplendent nekkid-ity!
The stern-looking Male faces thru the middle, were an idea I once had for a kind of 'NICK FURY' -style Super Spy. He was supposed to look a bit like Robert Mitchum, I guess? I can't recall.. But I did like the way all of the l'il Ass Chins turned out on these! haha

Anyways, hope you'll enjoy perusing some of the detritus from these projects?..
Because I'm pretty positive there'll be more Doodle Dumps, in my future!

DAREDEVIL Doodles!

The month of March is almost over, so I figger I'm probably overdue for a Blog update? Life has been awfully busy, so I unearthed a couple of old sketches. And added a bit of "new" stuff to the mix, as well..
I've never been a huge Gene Colan fan.. But I've always loved Marvel's DAREDEVIL character! Wally Wood did some killer stories, back in the day..
The doodle page above, never quite got nailed down. The Foreground Leg gave me a few fits.. And I left a few ghosted versions of it in, so you can see where I was going with it. The inking is a little scatterbrained here, too. But that's what sketches/doodles are for: exploring variations!

This 2nd sketch is a little more finished. I think it probably started out as a Kirby study, from some of his NEW GODS work.. But halfway thru, it struck me that the Figure looked a bit like "Ole HornHead".. So I converted it over, into DAREDEVIL. The inking is a little more polished, in this example..
More recently, I've enjoyed seeing some of Kevin Nowlan's DAREDEVIL commissions.. I think he does a fantastic rendition of the character. And it'd be a real treat to see his do an entire story with DD some time!

Anyways, hope you've enjoyed the Posting..
I'll try to be back soon, with s'more stuff!

Police and Thieves!

Okay, here's a couple of 'Noir'-esque doodle pages..
I do these when I'm bored. Or sometimes, when I'm trying to get out of a drawing funk. A bit of both, in this case..
Essentially what I do, is drag out a bunch of my favorite Golden-Age CRIME comics.. And start drawing the Faces & Figures that strike me as the most interesting/intriguing. Sometimes, I'll do a straight facsimile. But more often than not, I'll attempt to "push the pose" by distorting the proportions. Or even, change Heads & Costumes from one character to another..
It's fun exercise & a great way to build an understanding of another artist's process!

As usual, most of the Ne'er-Do-Wells on these sheets, were inspired by looking at a lot of early Will Eisner & Jack Cole artwork.. It's a mix of Cops & Robbers. But as you may have noticed,-- it's mainly the Gangsters that got the full "inked" treatment. I suppose I just find the Bad Guys more fun to finish.. Humble apologies, to John Law!

Most of the Gunsels on this 2nd Page, look like they're from an early installment of Eisner's 'The SPIRIT'.. Probably from the Jack Cole period of that comic-strip series. I can't get enough of his slick cartoony artwork. Fun poses, always. But also, always beautifully drawn!

I'm not entirely sure where I pulled the crazy walleyed Lummox on the Bottom Right from? He definitely looks like trouble with a capital "T", though!

Hope you likey.. Talk to y'all laterz!

S'more "Funny Animals"!

Okay, here's that page of "Funny Animal" development doodles, that I mentioned earlier..
Granted, a lot of it is still quite sketchy.. But I hope it gets the idea across?
The 'Pulp'-style crimefighter here, is obviously supposed to be the Rooster dude..

A lot of this, was inspired by looking at a lot of early Will Eisner & Jack Cole artwork.. I even gave the Police Commissioner owl in the Lower Left, a 'Dolan' -esque hairlick! Most of the other characters on the page, are various ne'er-do-wells of different sizes & shapes.. I think the weird monkey character in the fedora, was riffed off a Jack Cole 'Silver Streak' character..
I looked at a fair share of Milton Stein stuff, too.. But I don't think any of that, really shows itself in these sketches?

Hope you likey.. See y'all laterz!