Illustration Friday: "LAUNCH"..

Well, I'm getting a bit better at my "Illustration Friday" participation.. I actually got to the "inking" stage, this time 'round! I had hoped to add some color, too. But I have some urgent freelance work, that's going to prevent that idea. Maybe next time?
Here is my entry for the this week's Theme: "Launch".

Earlier in the week, I'd stumbled across a Tumblr that had a cute photo of a little tyke in a crazy retro Space Helmet, gazing intently upon a Toy Rocket. Serendipity, or Synchronicity? I dunno, but I took it as a cue for my drawing, here..
Here's what the Final Art ended up looking like:

As you can see,-- I used a combination of col-erase pencils and ink. I'm fairly happy with the results. The drawing came together quickly, with only a few probs. More disconcerting to me, was the trouble I had with the inking. My old eyes just aren't what they used to be, I guess. And even with relatively-new reading glasses, I still had trouble seeing the smaller details. Thank God for Photoshop, eh?! hah
I think I can credit the facial expression to my heavy Wally Wood influence. But I also see a bit of Rick Geary here, too. That came as a bit of a surprise to me, as I haven't looked at his artwork in a very long time..
Hope you enjoy seeing this one!

Many thanks, for dropping by.. See ya, next time!

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!

WOLVERINE dry run..

Okay.. Time again, to "Feed The Blog.." Damn, this thing gets hungry!
Anywayz,-- here's a WOLVERINE pinup I've just finished..
WOLVERINE is easily one of Marvel Comics' most-popular characters. When I was a wee lad, I guess I was quite a fan, too. I can remember drawing him a number of times, when I first got interested in comic-books, etc..
However, tastes change over time.. And ole WOLVIE doesn't really do it for me, anymore. And isn't a character I'd necessarily gravitate towards drawing.

Even so, I'd promised myself that I was going to make an art contribution towards the "Visions Of An Icon" Gallery that accompanies each year's 'Joe Shuster Awards'; annually highlighting excellence in the Canadian comic-book industry.
Last year's theme featured Joe Shuster's SUPERMAN character. But with the recent Hugh Jackman film still fresh in everyone's mind.. I guess the organizers thought that perhaps a down-home Canuck character like WOLVERINE, might generate a few good art pieces, too?
I've gotta admit he is a fun character to draw!

I'm not entirely happy with the way this pic turned out.. I told myself to keep it simple. So I picked a pretty generic pose.. It turned out a little stiffer, than I'd have liked, though. And I got a little too cute, with parts of the inking...
I'll probably do another version, for my actual submission. This one, was up for auction on eBay.. Right now, my own sad state of impoverishment is my current favorite "charity"! haha

Hope you enjoy the Posting, just the same.. See ya!

Inking & Coloring "cartoondavid"..

Hello!

Do you happen to know who "cartoondavid" is? If you've perused all of my Blog Links, then you would have already come across his artwork.. His name is: David Gemmill! A talented young cartoonist/animator, living in California..
I was first introduced to Dave's work, via his postings to 'The Drawing Board', many years ago.. But since then, his work has gotten exponentially better. And his popular Blog, has been a pretty regular pitstop for me, as I stumble my way thru the krazy InterNut-mo-sphere..

This is what some of his Drawings look like:

Mr. Gemmill's 'Funny Animal' creations, are amongst my very favorites.. I find them to be truly hi-larious! As I feel Dave has a very unique "take" on this normally staid & traditional genre. I'm always impressed by the way he's able to stylize his creatures.. A nice blend of lively/flowing linework, supporting fun Figure poses; which always feature an interesting set of contrasting shapes/volumes, to their overall proportions..

Unfortunately,-- very few examples of these critters have really been "nailed down" into finished Portfolio pieces. And the ones that are, have never been polished-up in a way that I (personally) feel suits them..
Not meant as a knock against Dave, by any means.. I just wish some of 'em had a lusher inkline around them. And were colored with more, than a purely "digital" Photoshop palette..
My guess would be that these ideas, simply don't interest David.. Or perhaps, that he just doesn't have the time to ink & color, every single one of them?

Either way, I wanted to take a stab at inking one of his Drawings, myself.. And though I've had this piece half-finished for many months.. I finally got 'round to getting the whole thing inked! Here' what it ended up looking like:
It may be important to note.. These 2 characters did not appear together, in Dave's sketches. I composited the pair together, because I thought it might make for a funny scenario.. Surmising the Poodle -type girl as a streetwalker.. With the little Fox/Wolf dude, as her pimp?! hah
To really sell the Staging, I needed to add some changes/edits to Dave's original work.. I hope that he doesn't feel like I overstepped any boundaries? Please lemme know Dave, if I have! I'll take the Post down, immediately..

As I'd taken it, this far.. I figgered what-the-hell,-- I might as well throw some color on them too..
Here's the final result:
I kinda like how everything turned out.. Though I think the Fox/Wolf guy's outfit, ended up making him appear more like a Vaudeville comedian, than a streetwise pimp.. I shoulda made the Poodle's tail the same shade of red/pink as her bouffant hairdo, too.. Oh, well.. Maybe next time.
'Til then, folks!

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!

3 Years Ago, Today..

I see on my calendar that it was 3 years ago today, that (Bryan) Rodney Dunn passed on from this Earthly plane.. He was definitely a one-of-a-kind character, a genius artist & quite a good friend of mine. An odd guy in many ways, to be sure. But that's not uncommon amongst schizophrenics, I'm told.
He suffered from bouts of depression & paranoia, towards the end. And despite heavy medication,-- I think it's why he ultimately chose to take his own life? It still saddens me.
To read more about him & view examples of his artwork, you can follow THIS link!

Every once in a while, I'll be digging thru an envelope filled with old artwork of mine.. And I'll be reminded how Rod had reacted to it, and/or what he'd said. Sometimes he absolutely LOVED it.. At other times, he had no shortage of advice on how it could've been improved. Oh well,-- I guess I probably offered the same service to him, come to think of it..

The other day, I found this old photocopy that Rod gave me.. To my knowledge, it was our sole collaboration together!
This "CatGirl" illo was something I'd done for Lisa Petrucci.. A West Coast artist, that managed a vintage collectibles catalog, called: 'The Pussycat Catalog'. It specialized (then) in back-issue Men's magazines & weird 50's/60's videos, etc.
I'd worked out a trade for some stuff with her.. In exchange, I agreed to create for her some artwork, that she could use inside her catalog.. Dave Stevens had worked out a similar arrangement with Mike Vraney & his "Something Weird" catalog. And if memory serves, Lisa Petrucci was married to Vraney? I'm not sure..

Anyways, as is usual with me.. Despite getting a good jump on the pencils, I unduly procrastinated on the inks.. When I mentioned to Rod that I was hoping to eventually re-use the illo in a Sketchbook I planned to publish.. He immediately offered to do the inks, himself. And within a week, it was complete!
I think I disappointed him a bit, with my cool reaction. Though I admired parts of it, it just wasn't what I'd had in mind. So I eventually finished my OWN inking on it.

In retrospect, I thought it'd be fun to post Rod's version here.. As a way of commemorating him, I guess? Hope you likey...

Nelvana monkeyshines..

My entry into the Animation business, began in '89.. I passed a test to become one of the Layout Artists on Nelvana's popular 'BEETLEJUICE' cartoon series. I continued doing Layout on crap like 'BABAR', etc. But Layout, is incredibly intensive work.. And I sooned burned-out on it.

In 1993, I heard that Nelvana might be adapting Mark Schultz' 'XENOZOIC TALES' comic-book into an animated series, entitled: "Cadillacs & Dinosaurs".. And as I'd heard that Design was a much lighter workload than Layout,-- I thought I'd apply for any positions that might still be available..
Long-story-short, I got the job.. And began working with a very small (but very talented) group of artists: Ted Bastien, Leif Norheim, Mike McKay, Kurt Lehner, Koko Maung, and Franc (Francisco) Reyes, among others..
Design, was (is) very different than Layout.. There was a lot more day-to-day kibbitzing & kvetching, than I was used to.. People had the time to throw Gag Drawings around, back-and-forth. And even though I stank at drawing them, myself.. I got quite a few, tossed in my direction. And thankfully, had the foresight to save most of them..

Ted Bastien, was our Design Supervisor.. A very talented artist, that basically showed me what Design was all about. I definitely learned a lot from him. And because our Final Artwork required very-finished linework.. I was also able to teach myself "inking", at the same time!
In hindsight, I suppose I was something of a whiner & complainer. I can get frustrated when a Production isn't running, the way I think it should. And Ted, (of course) picked up on this! Here's a couple of funny drawings that he did of me:

That's Ted, peeking around the corner.. And me, complaining about Ray (Jafelice) who was our Director on "Cads & Dinos".. I was an early fan of Dan Clowes' 'EIGHTBALL' comic-book, too. And I used to bring them into work..
Ted seemed quite taken with the David Greenberger 'Duplex Planet' 1-pagers, that appeared in that comic.. The writing of these strips, were based on the verbatim (and largely incoherent) ramblings of the Retirement Home citizenry; where Mr. Greenberger worked his Day Job.. Hence the obtuse "Run like a Goddamned Deer" comment.. heh

Another guy (who wasn't on our crew) that liked to poke fun at others, was: Dave Thomas.. Later, he turned out to be a quality Storyboard guy on shows like 'DOG CITY', etc. He always had a very dry wit & killer sense of comedic timing..
He seemed to like to draw me with a bullet Head & Body.. I guess the 1st one, was intended to be me as a "Simpsons" character? I dunno.. The color scheme makes me think so, though.

Mike McKay, was another dry wit.. Later, he would go on to be a much-in-demand Effects Designer. Which meant, a lot less Drawing for him to do. Mike is the guy that coined one of my studio nicknames: "Two Dawgs" Dannys.. All because I had the temerity to eat 2 whole hotdogs for Lunch, one afternoon?! Didn't seem like a very Big Deal, to me.. But I guess it was, to him! heh
He also also got a kick outta calling me "Dick", rather than "Rich".. Hence, the following caricature:
Ted Bastien musta liked the sound of that.. 'Cuz while we were working our way thru the "Cads & Dinos" Production schedule, he concurrently worked on his own pet project: a comic-strip, featuring different members of our studio crew.. I think that Mike McKay was a bit put-off to find out that his sole cameo in the strip, involved being portrayed as a derelict vagrant -type, that me & Ted (as the main Detective characters) ran over with our old-school Sedan? haha

The big hulking dude crashing thru the wall of Blayne's (Burnside) Variety store, is none other than Pat Rowsome.. He wasn't on our crew. And I didn't really know him, all that well. But Ted loved drawing him as a raving sociopath. And he was definitely the so-called "Villain", in his storyline..
I can recall watching a Super Bowl game at Pat's house once, with fellow friend: Rob Walton.. I dunno where Pat is, now.. I heard he got married to a girl named Sheryl.. And (I think?) may be now working in Ottawa..
Speaking of Rob Walton.. He did this killer Gag Drawing of Pat & myself, facing off against each other.. Rob liked to call it: "Clash Of The Titans", if memory serves? I found the joke a lot less funny, after Rob explained to me that I WASN'T necessarily being portrayed in Perspective, here!! heh
Even so, I think I could still give "The Pat", a run for his money..

"Clash Of The Titans" was (I believe?) inked by virtuoso artist: Goran Delic.. A Serb import to Toronto, that I didn't really get to work with fully, 'til we both began working in Design, on Jim Lee's 'WildC.A.T.S' cartoon series..
At that time (around '94, I think?), it wasn't uncommon to see me schlepping my way into work (up Atlantic Avenue), most mornings.. Wearing my usual "uniform", ably illustrated by the following Goran ink sketch:

I recall him saying: "Here you are, Reetch.. Now, you are truly a WILDcat!!" heh
Those that know me, realize that the outfit continues to be 'de rigeur'.. I still like my coffee, t-shirts, and jeans.. And though the Doctor's Bag isn't nearly as pristine as it once was.. It continues to carry all of my valued Field Guides, Layout Notes, and reams of Animation Paper.. Cintiq & Sketchbook Pro, be DAMNED!!

A little insight into some of my Nelvana Daze.. 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!

The Mighty THOR!

Okay.. Time again, to "Feed The Blog.." Damn, has it already been a whole week since I last fed this thing?!
Anywayz,-- here's an unfinished THOR sketch I'd been workin' on..


Marvel's THOR Essential Vol. 2 was easily one of my favorite purchases, of last year..
The 1st THOR Essential tpb was okay, too. But Vince Colletta's inking is a little harder to take, in that one. For whatever reason, his stuff just holds up a little better in Volume 2..

I couldn't resist drawing a Kirby-style THOR running along the Rainbow Bridge, with Asgard in the BG.. Lately, I've been doing a whole series of Kirby characters running, for some reason. I think it's probably just an unconscious attempt to try and analyze the dynamics of why I find Kirby's work so powerful? That whole "exploding off the Page" idea..
This sketch is obviously unfinished. And if you look hard enough, you can still spot where I've been second-guessing some of my creative decisions.. I guess I just got tired of fiddling with this one. So, I filed it away..

I thought it'd make a nice Post, just the same.. Enjoy!

S'more CHESTACLESE!

Okay, I was gonna keep this hidden from public viewing.. But with Jim Smith's blessing, here it be! Both the pencilled & inked versions of the 1st Pass at CHESTACLESE..

Probably the biggest difference from the 2nd Pass,-- is that my initial take on it, was much more detail-oriented.. I added more muscletone, where there wasn't any featured in Jim's initial sketch. I guess I felt more free to add my own touches with the Battleaxe & the Lower Legs.. As they weren't even featured in Jim's drawing..
I've always enjoyed the way Berni Wrightson would add those bigass Tricep muscles to Arms.. So that's probably why I added that? I don't think the "feathered" inking works quite so well here, though..

I was sorting thru older Drawings.. when I dug up an older 'CHESTACLESE' sketch, that a guy named Marc (from Dorval, Quebec) had commissioned from me at a 2005 Toronto comic-book convention..
It freaks me out a little bit, how savage I drew him.. This is closer to the older model of 'CHESTACLESE' that Jim featured in his sketchbook, a few years back..

More of a crazed CONAN-esque barbarian/brigand? I like the way the Demon turned out here.. I think I must've been calling up imagery from that weird 70's-era Ernest Borgnine horror movie: "The Devil's Rain".. heh

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!

HORROR From The CRYPT Of FEAR!

My good friend & fellow 'Original Art' collector: Bill Leach, is the Editor of his very own EC Comics 'zine.. It's entitled "HORROR From The CRYPT Of FEAR". And it's a neat little self-published book, that (I think) is still available from 'Bud Plant Books'..
I did a couple of illustrations for him, in the past.. And this was a half-finished Ink Sketch, I'd intended to contribute to his most-recent issue.. Unfortunately, I (again) missed his production deadline!
I liked the way the Sketch turned out, though.. And will probably revisit it & fix all the problems I now see in it.. Though I'm happy with the "GhouLunatics" figures.. The overall layout/composition is still looking a bit too crowded, for my tastes.
The 'zine features terrific articles about EC Comics history. And even showcases rare "unpublished" artwork, by those EC artists that're still around.. Unfortunately, with George Evans' recent passing.. that number seems to be in rapid decline.