Kevin Klis, R.I.P.

When you're a child, you hold to this idea that only elderly people die.. But as you get older, you realize that this isn't the case. And as I rapidly approach my own half-century mark, I've begun to lose some very dear friends! One of those, was an artist named: Kevin Klis. He passed away last month at the age of 46, after a lengthy struggle with lung cancer..

Kevin was a couple years younger than me, but we found we had many similar interests. We first met in 1983, when we both attended Sheridan College's 'Classical Animation' program.. As 1st Year students, we were assigned neighboring animation desks. So it's no surprise that we became quickly acquainted. Rather than live in Oakville, we both chose to travel to-and-from college, via the GO Train. Myself, from Scarborough. And Kev from a little further east, in Pickering/Ajax. As a result, we spent most our school days together..

Initially Kevin told me that he had little interest in animated cartoons.. He was only interested in how the program would make him a better comic-book artist. Sheridan had shut down it's own 'Cartooning' program a few years earlier, much to his chagrin..
I had pretty much forgotten about comic-books, myself. But still had fond memories of the ones I once owned as a kid. Kevin was a huge Neal Adams fan! Particularly, Adams' work on 'The BATMAN' title.. Kevin knew where all the good comic-book shops were on Queen Street West. So, when we both didn't have afternoon classes (and sometimes when we did! hah), we'd both agree to make a book shopping junket, before continuing on to Oakville.
I spent most of my money re-buying all of the old comic-books I'd once owned. In addition, we both became pretty excited by the more-adult stuff published in 'HEAVY METAL' and 'EPIC' magazine..

Through some scheduling quirk in Sheridan's 1st Year programming, students were allowed to work on a Group Film. Usually a project reserved for 2nd Year students.. Kevin and I decided that we'd try to make a short film using the characters we'd seen in 'EPIC' magazine: Arthur Suydam's 'CHOLLY & FLYTRAP'..
We came up with a contrived storyline entitled: "The Repercussion"; about 'CHOLLY' shooting a few snail characters. I can recall that Kevin did an amazing Run Cycle, that I did a BG for.. Kevin had taken the time to cel-paint these cycled drawings, using a white oil-based house paint. Shooting it all toplit under the camera, it all looked very good. But in short order, the oils began seeping out of the applied paint. And Kevin found all of his cels gummed together!
I have very little of Kevin's artwork.. But here are a few of Kev's layout sketches from that project:

That's 'CHOLLY' in the last panel, in the cockpit of his flying vehicle.. Kevin added a few tourist stickers. One, from a trip to Florida. And along the dash, ones for Hollywood and Disneyland! hah

By the time we got to our 2nd Year Group Film project, we were a little more serious about things.. Disney-style cartoony animation, wasn't really our thing. We both preferred the Fleischer 'SUPERMAN' shorts.
On top of that, we were both huge Frazetta fans.. In 1983, the animated 'FIRE AND ICE' feature made with Ralph Bakshi, came out.. And a year before that, Milius' 'CONAN' came out.. We still had Frazetta on the brain, so we decided to try and make a film about a gladiator-styled "Pit Fight"..
Kevin not only designed our "hero" character. But had the audacity to sculpt himself a small maquette to help him draw the character from multiple angles! I don't have a photo of the sculpture, but here's what Kevin's model sheet looked like:

Kevin always spent a good deal of time deciding on a character's "name".. I didn't think it was a big issue, but I could tell it was very important to him. Perhaps because his character was a bit Germanic-looking and had long blond hair, Kev settled on: "Kruger"..
I was supposed to handle scenes with our "villain". And was less-interested in what he'd be named. Perhaps that's why we never called him anything beyond: "the Brute".. My designs for "Brute" don't have Kevin's flair, but here's basically what he looked like:

We knew that the amount of work involved to get everything finished, would be gargantuan. Even so, we felt like if we could get enough of the film done to show our teachers the "potential" of our project, we'd pass the Review process at year's end. We didn't spend too much time on plot/story. But we knew the sequence of the scenes needed. And the choreography necessary, for what was essentially an animated "fight scene"..
Here's a page of Notes that I unearthed:

I couldn't find any model sheets showing the scale between these 2 characters.. But I suppose it's important to mention that "Kruger" was literally supposed to be about half the size of "Brute". We wanted to establish early on, that the cards were heavily-stacked against our hero! Kev had some great shooting ideas for playing with this sense of contrast.. Here are a few of his layout sketches:

Now somewhere along the way, our production got sidetracked with (what we concluded) was an innovative foray into "rotoscoping" technology.. Occasionally during our lunches, we'd make a trip over to a nearby Oakville mall to go shopping for toys & videos, etc. During one of these junkets, we came across some Fisher-Price Viewers that would allow you to pop in a plastic cartridge and view short animated clips from various studios. I can recall buying a couple Disney ones. I think "Clock Cleaners" was one. Another was about a "Haunted House"..
Having been an avid Super-8 filmmaker in high school, I guess my curiousity got the best of me. And I wanted to find out how the damn things worked.. So, I slowly pried one of the plastic cartridges opened. And was amazed to find that the Viewers used super-8mm clips, in a closed loop. Maybe 30 seconds worth total..
I suggested to Kevin that if we could shoot some live-action reference of each other, portraying the action we needed for our scenes.. it'd be really helpful! I already had the super-8 camera. All we needed was to build a few flimsy props & simple costumes..
Here's a rough tracing of me, from live-action. With the translated animated version of "Brute", for comparison:

Anyhoo, long-story-short.. We actually did shoot all the live-action film in a spare room at the college. And used it all for direct reference. But the time wasted on this ambitious venture, really put us behind the 8-Ball, schedule-wise. Basically, we just envisaged a grand meal that was just a little too big for our plates! But isn't that what college kids do best?.. Imagine & Dream..
While our teachers admired the scale/scope of our ideas.. There simply wasn't enough finished animation footage available to assess, for them to allow myself and Kev to graduate to 3rd Year. To our great disappointment, we both would have to repeat our 2nd Year.
Halfway thru my "repeat" year, my interest in animation was waning. I dropped out to work at a comic-book shop in Toronto. Kev continued on, and eventually graduated the program. Later on, I helped him get a job at 'Andromeda'; a comic-book distributor. Eventually, he'd return the favour and get me a Layout Test opportunity at Nelvana. Where in 1989, we both got our start in the Animation business, working on their "Beetlejuice" cartoon series!

In 1995, I began working as a Freelance artist, under my own company name. Kevin continued on at Nelvana; but would often "moonlight" doing work for the same studios I worked at. We remained good friends, though I saw him substantially less than I once did. I know he had many other friends too, as attendance at his funeral clearly attested.
Kevin was always a friendly and helpful guy. If there was a bitter side to his personality, then I never saw it. On top of that, his artwork was always top-notch and superbly executed. I've seen a lot of fellow artists "hack" out work; especially as they got older. I never saw evidence of that with Kevin. He took pride in everything he commited himself to. I will miss him, very much..

Deconstructing the Frazetta Female - Pt. 2

Hello, again!

Today, I thought I'd add one more drawing to the ideas presented in a previous blog posting, re: attempting to "figure out" how Frank Frazetta's comic-book women are put-together? For me, they're easily the most appealing female figures in the history of comic-books.. I can't stop looking at them!

Presented here, are a few more classic poses of some of the women that appeared in Frazetta's 50's-era comic artwork. I set them up on a line, so that I could work towards building a formal Turnaround -type model sheet..
I compared them to my prior attempts.. And the proportions stack up fairly consistently with them. And while I have no knowledge of Frazetta's familiarity with the Andrew Loomis instructional drawing books,-- I was surprised to find that (for the most part) the proportions match-up rather closely to those, as well.

Granted, the Frazetta women tend to be a little fleshier. I think I detected that Frazetta draws the breast-line a tad higher. His women are also a little more "hips-y".. And definitely feature a little more exaggeration in the Derriere department!

Illustration Friday: "RIPPLE"..

"A small ripple in the water, stirred the enormous creature from it's slumber.."

Here's this week's installment towards the online "Illustration Friday" experience.. Once again, I didn't get the image as finished, as I'd have liked. But the discipline of having a weekly deadline, is forcing me to work faster. Something that's never been my strong suit. And a part of my Skill Set, I'm hoping to improve upon. One more reason, why I wanted to start contributing regularly!

This week's subject is: "Ripple". And here's what I came up with..

As should appear obvious,-- I (again) chose the opportunity to exercise my Frazetta muscles! The composition and staging, definitely owes a lot to his Fantasy Art.. There are some details that still need some tweaking. And it could probably use a 2nd "scrub" in Photoshop, to remove some of the visual noise. But I'm kinda happy with the way it turned out, for the most part.

Years ago, I finished a similar image to this one, featuring Mike Mignola's HELLBOY character. I think the experience of working on that, helped this one. I can also see where there's a bit of a Bernie Wrightson influence coming thru in the creature pose.. But of course, Wrightson was something of a Frazetta devotee back-in-the-day, too..

If I have time, I'll update this pic with a color version.. Dunno if I'll make it by Friday, though. As another freelance Design/Layout job, happily fell into my lap today..

Illustration Friday: "TRAIL"..

Hello, again!

I've been attempting to continue my participation in the online "Illustration Friday" experience, for the past couple weeks.. But something always seems to prevent me from completing my images. Last week, was chock full of Family functions. And the week prior, saw me busy with an extensive freelance Design assignment..
Even so, I was happy with the sketches I'd begun for both: "Early" and "Slither".. And I hope to finish these "Theme" subjects, if only as added Portfolio items. Perhaps when I get them finished, I'll be able to post them here on the blog, too.

This past week's subject was: "Trail". Here's what I came up with..

I wanted the theme "Trail" to work both as a Noun & as a Verb, in the image.. So, I came up with a "Fritz" (Frazetta) funny animal vignette.. Which featured an old Dawg Detective (and his fine-feathered sidekick) hot-on-the-trail of some nefarious Forest creature!
I would've loved to give this a slick 'Thick&Thin' inkline treatment.. But it's Thursday evening already, so that would pretty-much be a pointless exercise. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring the next "Theme" subject, closer to full completion. Perhaps with some color added to the mix, too?

We'll see, as they say..

Frank Frazetta, R.I.P.

While downtown this afternoon, I heard the news that Frank Frazetta has passed away due to a stroke, at the age of 82.. He was easily my favorite artist of all time. Perhaps not a great surprise to anyone that has followed this Blog?

When I was a wee lad, I happened across a copy of Ballantine's 'FANTASTIC ART OF FRANK FRAZETTA Volume 4' at the Cole's Books shop on Yonge Street, near the old Scientology offices. I recognized the paintings inside that book, as the same mesmerizing images that I'd seen on my favorite Paperbacks, at our local libraries. So in the weeks that followed, I spent all of my available allowance money at Cole's, buying up all of the previous 3 Ballantine volumes of Frazetta's work!

Words fail me, in knowing where to begin to describe how his artwork has affected me personally.. I've probably written about him on my blog, more than I already should have, for fear of boring everyone. But if you're interested,-- you can peruse my earlier postings on Frazetta, simply by clicking on the "Frazetta" label on the bottom of this post..

I know that Frazetta has had a very difficult time lately, with the children squabbling over his artwork & museum. I wish that he didn't have to live long enough to witness any of that ugliness, firsthand..
And with his history of health problems, it must've been a heavy cross for him to bear. But I had a hunch that when his wife Ellie passed away, that it would likely have made it very tenuous for him to go on.. And part of me is actually happy that he's found a peace where he can finally join her, once again.

See ya, Frank.. You were quite simply the Best that ever was!

A Few More Frazetta Gems..

Hello Blogosphere!

I've been quite absent, haven't I? Humble apologies, ..again! I'll conveniently blame the Holiday Season hullaballoo, for my inactivity here.
In lieu of a personal Art posting, I'm going to share some of the fine Frazetta trinkets that arrived in my morning mail.. A bunch of color photocopies of some of his Frank's gorgeous comic-book/illustration work, which were shot/scanned directly from the 'Original Art'!
Presented here, are 4 of the 12 illustrations that Frazetta created for the men's magazine, entitled 'GENT'; as published in their August 1966 issue.. Ain't they purty?! The female figures were intended to represent each of the 12 months in a Zodiac Calendar..

Unfortunately, none of the plates seem to be labelled.. So I'll allow you to make your own best "guess", as to which beautiful lady pertains to whichever specific Astrological Sign? Some of these have been reprinted in a number of different venues, over the years.. But these copies are the most detailled, that I've yet seen..

And even more surprising, is.. After checking these images against the ones in my Frazetta files, I discovered that the Brunette undressing in front of the mirror does NOT match the version printed in 'GENT' magazine. A similar (but different) pose was used. And the woman appears as a Blonde, rather than a Brunette.

Hope you'll find them all as enjoyable to look at, as I do!

Deconstructing the Frazetta Female - Pt. 1

Hello again, folks.. Sorry for the long delay, since the last post!

Today, I thought I'd present a couple of drawings that were an attempt to edu-ma-cate myself.. On why exactly I find the women in Frank Frazetta's comic-book work, so durn appealing?
My first guess is,-- that it has everything to do with his take on Proportions..

I'd really like to be able to (eventually) draw women like the ones Frazetta drew in his early comic-book career. So to examine things more closely, I decided to grab a few classic poses of some of the women that appeared in Frazetta's 1952 comic-strip: "JOHNNY COMET".. Set them up, along (and build) a formal Turnaround -type model sheet.. To better see how I can construct them, myself. As well as find out what precisely, makes them tick!

Here are some of my results:
It's important to remember, that I'm talking about Frazetta's comic-book work, and not his oil paintings. The women he painted in those, are probably more recognizable to fans.. And I enjoy them, too. But those Female figures, are much more fleshy & exaggerated. And for me (at least), are somewhat too caricatured, to be useful as an effective Female model for telling a story anywhere outside of a Fantasy setting..
As you can see, I kinda copped-out on the pure Profile view. But you get the general idea..

I guess my conclusions were, that despite a few unique nuances in the Legs/Hips/Waist.. The overall approach was similar in many ways to the classic versions that Andrew Loomis presents, in some of his educational drawing books.
I should add that I also referenced my very favorite Frazetta book of all time, to fill in some of the details.. The 1973 oversized Russ Cochran 'UNTAMED LOVE' book, reprinting four of Frazetta's 'Personal Love' romance stories..
It's an absolute classic collection!! And if you can still find a copy on eBay.. I'd definitely advise you to grab it!

Another Fritz "Funny Animal" rarity..

I found the following Frazetta artwork, on DocDave Winiewicz's blog, awhile back. Ain't it a beauty?

As you can see at the bottom, it's signed from "Franky".. Pretty unusual, for Frazetta.
It's a pen/ink drawing, dated from the mid-1940's. And was intended as a "gift" to fellow artist George Roussos. Who was a comic-book artist in his own right. And later on in the early 60's, he'd garner fame as "George Bell"; one of Jack Kirby's more successful inkers.
During this 1940's period, many young artists were clamoring to find "the good stuff".. Comic-book illustrations by artists of the past, which they could reference (and I mean reference, not "swipe" necessarily!) to help improve their technique/skills, in creating their own artwork.
Usually at the very top of that list, was: Hal Foster.. Especially his work on the 'TARZAN' newspaper comic-strip. Hence the message Frazetta wrote to George at the time: "You can have this George... but please get me those Tarzans!" And eventually, Frazetta did..
You can read the full story behind this, on DocDave's blog.. by clicking here!

Well almost a month ago, I happened to score another Frazetta comic-book gem off eBay.. This time, it was a copy of 'BARNYARD COMICS' #24; published by 'Standard', way back in 1949.. The Seller didn't mention Frazetta content in his listing. But fortunately, I have a number of checklists for this stuff. And I was able to snag this old book which included: TWO complete Fritz stories, PLUS another 2 text illos, as well!
All that, for just over 10 bucks?! Huzzah!!

Rather than selfishly hoard this material for myself, I thought I'd share the 'Hucky Duck' 3-pager with the wider Internet world.. Not only because I was amazed by the similarity of the large Bear pose, to the Roussos "gift" drawing.. But also, because it's one of the few Frazetta "Funny Animal" stories that hasn't been reprinted elsewhere. At least, not to my knowledge..


Amazing, isn't it?
The coloring is always so inaccurate & clunky.. But it has a real warmth to it. And I sometimes find that the bleeding of the colors, can actually enhance some of the panel work.. The lighting effects on Page One/Panel Three, work especially well! heh

See y'all next time!

Mushroom Girl WIP

Yeah, I'm still here.. Though I'll forgive those of you, that figured I must've flown the Chicken Coop! WOW,-- I didn't really want to believe that my last Blog Post, was more than a month ago.. But I guess it's True?!
Truth is,-- I've been exceedingly busy with Work, lately.. And that's left me with virtually ZERO time, to update things on here.

I'm still freelancing for the "Two Presidents" animation studio. Working as a BG Layout/Location Design guy, for their "Will & Dewitt" children's cartoon series.. From what I'm told, the show has already aired here in Canada. And if it hasn't already,-- it'll be airing on the WB Network pretty (I'd imagine) soon, in the U.S.A.


So what to Post?
Well, I've got about a half-dozen Pics that're in various stages of completion.. The idea was, that as I got them finished, I'd post them up.. But I just haven't found time, to give them the attention they deserve.. So, I thought I'd just post one of the better ones, as another WIP..
That's fancy Artist Talk for "Work In Progress".. Which really means: "Please excuse this half-assed rough drawing that I didn't honestly have the time or inclination (or bravura) to complete.."

I've been calling this Pic: "Mushroom Girl".. I'm not a Fantasy Art nerd, per se. But I suppose she's a kind of Forest Nymph -type girl. Influenced (obviously) by the kind of work Frazetta does, from time-to-time. Maybe like his "Pillow Book" artwork, if you're familiar with that stuff? Hopefully, there's a bit of a Dave Stevens feel to it, too.. As that too, was my intent..

I tried to clean it up as best I could, using Photoshop.. But it still looks a little rough, in spots. There's a bit of inking done on it. But you can see where I've left myself some Revision notes, too. Overall though, I'm happy with the way it turned out..

Hope to have something more substantial posted again, soon.. Thanks, for all of your kind patronage & patience!

I LOVES Me Dem "FUNNY ANIMALS"!

Anybody that knows me.. Already knows that I'm slowly assembling my own scrapbook/binder of Frazetta's old-timey 'Golden Age' comic-book work. And a big chunk of that, was the beautiful "Funny Animal" text illos & stories; that were published by 'Standard Comics' in the mid-to-late 4o's..
Today, was an awfully good day for me.. As I received the last of 3 different "Funny Animal' books that I'd been waiting on, won off eBay. This last one, was entitled: 'BARNYARD COMICS' #20. And not only did it have 3 different (2 of which, are featured here) text illos. But it also had a very nice 7-page "Barney Rooster" story!


If memory serves,-- both the 'Big Ears' and 'Forest Concert' illos were featured in the Kitchen Sink 'Small Wonders' trade paperback; published in '91. But I have a complete Checklist of the entirety of Frazetta's comic-book output.. And it's pretty shocking just how much artwork, is actually still missing from that particular book..
Plus, it was only published in black&white. To truly appreciate how gorgeous this stuff looks, it behooves you to see them in color! There's something about that slightly off-register printing on old yellowing pulp, that really enhances the "warmth" of these Pics!


Featured above, is the custom Christmas Card that I created for my family, in 2005.. It was my own attempt at staging some "Funny Animals" in a similar way. Unfortunately, I recall that the yellows didn't printout all that well; skewing towards a more-greenish tint.
This digital JPEG-version is actually closer to the original intent of the color scheme.

Off-and-on, I've also been developing a 'Pulp'-style crimefighter story, using s'more "Funny Animals".. I hope to get some of that stuff posted on here, later.
'Til next time, see ya!

Frazetta's 79th Birthday!!

That's right, True Believers.. The mighty Frank Frazetta turns a hearty 79 years old today! So take the time to say a little prayer, for his continued good health & happiness.. After all, the guy deserves a little respect for all of the great artwork he's sent our way, throughout his long & diverse career!
If you've got artist friends that still prefer a Boris Vallejo -- or heaven forbid: a Mike (Rip)Hoffman -- over The Main Man, himself?.. Slap 'em & tell 'em to their face, what dumbasses they be.. And then go out and find yourself a new batch of friends! heh

Just check out this asstastic.. er, I mean.. fantastic example of the man's handiwork.. Painting a selection of foxy Frazetta chicks for Harvey Kurtzman, as only 'The Living Legend' can!


I know most of you are probably much more familiar with Frazetta's fantasy art oil paintings?.. Maybe others of you, prefer his pen & ink illustration work? Yours Truly loves ALL of it, don't get me wrong.. But I do have a particular predeliction for Frazetta's comic-book art!
That's right.. COMIC-BOOK artwork, amigos!!
Many fans aren't even aware that Frank had a career as a comic-book artist.. Let alone, just how much of it, he's actually done!

About a year ago, I noticed some attention on Internet blogs, being focussed on Frazetta's prodigious "Funny Animal" catalog.. But beyond those lovely Text Illos,-- it's a rare day indeed, when I see someone post (or write) about the actual Story Art, found in those old-timey Golden Age books..

As a hardcore Frazetta fan,-- that's one of the things that has always bugged me.. That even the so-called "experts" tend to be completely dismissive of Frank's cartooning skills.. The oil paintings get all the Glory. And I guess, we should expect that. But the guy completely kicks ass when it comes to creating pure "cartoony" goodness, in his comic-book material!

For your perusal.. Check out the Title page, of this LOOIE LAZYBONES story; as it appeared in 'THRILLING COMICS' #68 [October 1948]:

Ain't that splash page, a beautifully designed thing?!.. The staging & composition, work so well together! And all of the character posing, reads exquisitely.. I'm also very impressed by the color work.. Even if the registration of the printing plates is a tad wonky,-- you've gotta admire those color-to-color skylines!
These LOOIE LAZYBONES stories were clearly bald-faced imitations of Al Capp's L'IL ABNER.. But the stories were done in the late 40's. And as far as I know, Frank only began working for Al Capp as a "ghost" artist after the JOHNNY COMET/ACE McCOY strip ran outta gas. That would put Frank's "Start" date at the Capp studio, around late '53 I think?.. Suffice to say,-- quite a bit after these LOOIE storylines originally saw publication!

Here's page 3 of the same story:


For all you Frazetta trivia buffs..
Note the foreground tree in panel 4 of page 3.. You'll see that Frank has depicted a carving into the trunk, which reads: "Fritz Loves Carol". This was the name of a dancer that Frank was dating at the time, before he met & (eventually) married Ellie!
Frazetta confessed that he grew to become obsessed with Female legs & calves, as a result of dating this "Carol" girl.. And you can witness examples of these (somewhat) muscular Female dancers' legs, in his 'PERSONAL LOVE' #28 romance story, entitled: "Empty Heart".

Okay, so this next one isn't an example of Frank's comic-book work.. But I couldn't resist posting it, anyhow. It's a watercolor rough, for Frazetta's memorable 'The High Side' oil painting! This prelim was up for bid, in one of the more-recent 'Heritage Auctions'..
Ain't she a beauty?! If only had the cash!


Thankfully, the lack of a reliable Frazetta comic-book compendium, will soon be addressed.. Arnie Fenner (publisher of the most-recent trilogy of Frazetta art books) made an announcement on the 'Frank Frazetta Art Forum' ..
If things go as planned,-- Underwood Books will be releasing the first 128-page collection of Frank's comic stories in: 'THE COMIC ART OF FRANK FRAZETTA' in the Fall of 2007!
There will be somecolor examples in the book, but the majority of the material, will be printed in black&white.. Much of it, made directly from negatives of the 'Original Art' pages. The current plan, is to do at least one initial Volume. With perhaps two more Volumes, in the future.

Jim Smith's CHESTACLESE!

Many moons ago,-- I worked as a Layout Artist on 'The RIPPING FRIENDS' cartoon series.. Overall, the experience was bittersweet. But one of my favorite memories from that show, was working with Spümco art director extraordinaire: Jim Smith; who worked in-house with us for a few short weeks.. Looking over his shoulder, watching him put the "Stinky Butt" episode storyboards together, was a bee-yoot-iful thing!

And if you haven't already heard the Good News: Jim Smith has also joined this here new-fangled Internuts contraption! Lots of terrific artwork to ogle.. And you can learn more about his latest 'CHESTACLESE' animation/comic-book project, by visiting either his Bloggywog or Website

Just recently, I'd helped Jim figger out a few of Blogger's finer Posting details. And he kindly offered to send me a "free" Drawing, as a token of his "Thanks!".. To which I counter-offered: "Hey, send me that Drawing.. And I'll send it back to you Inked!".. Before too long, he'd e-mailed me a 'Chestaclese' rough to work on.. And boy howdy,-- this was gonna be FUN!!

There were a few miscommunications along the way.. Which I blame mainly on trying to talk about Artistic approaches, solely thru e-mail? Sometimes the meaning & subtleties of what you're trying to actually say to someone, can get a bit muddied & skewed..
My initial inking attempts were overly-detailled. And I was beginning to lose the very "guts" of Jim's original sketches. But by my 2nd Pass on it, (I like to think that) I solved most of those shortcomings.


After I finished the inks.. I decided to throw some Color on it, too. It's mostly colored pencils, over a basecoat of light pantone markers. The BG was a definite cheat.. I sampled (what I imagined was) an appropriate/suitable Frazetta painting. Blurring it slightly, to soften the halftone printing dots..
I'll let the Frazetta fanatics, try and guess which painting it was! haha

Thanks for letting me take the old College try on this one, Jim.. I had lotsa fun.. And I hope you're satisfied with the results!