Stumble into my TUMBLR!

Hello!

It's been more than 3 weeks,-- so I guess it's time for a Blog post? In case you hadn't noticed it yet on my personal Blog links, I've broken down and finally joined the current Tumblr craze..
I'm a pretty active Blogger, but bypassed the whole MySpace experience. And I'm not enough of a narcissist to tweet all day-and-night about myself, and become a Twitter twit.. But I do find social networking sites useful. And regularly use both Facebook and LinkedIn to keep in contact with Friends and people I'd like to be friends with!

I've decided that while the Burlesque/Striptease postings here on my Blog have been fun to do.. They actually don't "fit" theme-wise here, in what was initially intended to be an online showcase for my own personal artwork? I don't intend to pull any of my previous Blog posts down. But will now be using my Tumblr exclusively, for any and all posts on that part of my collecting hobby. I guess unless it specifically pertains to my artwork, too. Which is always a possibility..

Like this old sketchbook drawing of 50's-era showgirl: "IRMA The Body"..

Judging by the stats on my blog's SiteMeter, I get a fair number of visits from websurfers looking for information or images on specific Burlesk performers of the past.. If that's your thing, like it is mine.. Then I hope you'll take an added trip over to my Tumblr.. I've spent time scanning & posting parts of my obscenely-large collection over there. And I hope you'll find it as interesting as I do?

You can get there by clicking here!     Thanks.

Bettie Page!

I was digging thru a few of my older drawings, when I came across this one.. I did it as a commission for a friend, almost a half-dozen years ago. It was a bit rushed. And though it was close to what I'd intended, I was still never completely satisfied with the finished results.. So, I thought I'd revisit it to "fix" the parts I didn't like. And take some time to apply some color to the image, as well..

Bettie Page was perhaps one of the most-famous pinup models of the 1950's era. She died a few short years ago, at the age of 85. Preceding her by less than a year, Dave Stevens (the artist most-responsible for bringing her back into the public eye) would also pass on, succumbing to a rare form of cancer.

Even so, the memory of Ms. Page endures thru (literally) dozens of Internet websites, blogs, and tumblr sites.. And she will undoubtedly reappear in a 'ROCKETEER' comic-book anthology series, scheduled to be published by 'IDW Publishing', sometime in 2011. Can't wait to see what that project will look like!

That's all for now.. TTYLater!

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!

"Checkers Girl" redux!

Hello, again!

This is an older Pinup drawing, that I finally got 'round to coloring. I used a similar method to the way that I'd approached my Burby baseball cards. Essentially, colored pencils over top of lightly-toned markers.. In my opinion, this gives an image a slightly warmer, more organic "feel"?
Perhaps ironically, I'm not the biggest fan of pure digital coloring.. Even though I love tweaking my drawings (including the color elements) inside of Photoshop!

I'm pretty pleased with the results, here.. The only thing that sucks, is that occasionally some of the linework gets corrupted (or worn out), after applying repeated layers of colored pencils. You can lose some of the pure black. Eventually, I'd like to get to the point where I can save the linework as a seperate layer in Photoshop. And work out the coloring on a blueline (or something similar) of the drawing..

The woman (and pose) featured, is based on a composite of different photo reference pics. But mostly, on a nice photo I had of 50's-era actress: Barbara Nichols. She never had much of a career in film, unfortunately.. But you may recall the small role she had in the 1957 noir classic: "Sweet Smell Of Success".. Where she appeared, opposite Tony Curtis and Burt Lancaster.

Thanks for dropping by.. See ya, later!

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!

Darwyn Cooke's "PARKER"!

As I get older, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find stuff at my comic-book shop (The Beguiling) to get genuinely excited about.. Maybe it's because my tastes run a bit too "Old School" for today's product? I'm not really sure. But there are very few working artists today, that really whet my appetite..

One of the few that DO garner my attention, is: Darwyn Cooke!
Some of you may be more familiar with Darwyn as an Animation artist, working alongside Bruce Timm etc. over at Warner Bros? Or, perhaps the 'Men In Black' cartoons, he directed while at SONY Animation?
Well, what really impressed me,-- was that at the height of a very secure Animation career -- he simply walked away from it all. And pursued his first real love: Comic-books!
How ballsy is that?!

Darwyn has already set the World on fire with his terrific 'NEW FRONTIER' project, amongst others.. And again,-- instead of playing it safe & sticking with DC Comics.. What does he do? He decides to blaze his own path, developing more-personal projects with IDW Publishing & the like.
Now, that's bravura folks!

Darwyn's latest and (in my humble opinion) soon-to-be greatest project, is: 'The HUNTER'.. The first of 4 adaptations of Donald E. Westlake's (written under the pseudonym: Richard Stark) "PARKER" novels.. Gripping, gritty crime-dramas that have all of the 'Film Noir' touches that make the material a glove-fit for Cooke's raw talent..
Beginning in the early 60's,-- Westlake wrote roughly 30 of these "PARKER" novels. 'The HUNTER' is the first of these.. Here's another tasty Cooke morsel from this adaptation, that has been posted online:
Unfortunately, Cooke has no real online presence. He has a 'Yahoo Group' which is pretty much dead. Recently however, a fellow named: Calum Johnston.. has managed a blog that is (literally) "Almost Darwyn Cooke's Blog"..
He also runs a comic-book shop called: 'Strange Adventures' in Halifax, where Darwyn Cooke now lives.. Anyways, he's recently been running a Contest to giveaway "freebie" copies of 'The HUNTER' to the Top Five "PARKER" images that artists submit to him. So, I thought I'd take a crack at it, too!
Here's my Entry:
I'd read a great interview with Darwyn at Tom Spurgeon's blog.. Wherein he stated that Westlake had initially imagined actor Jack Palance as the visual model for his "PARKER" character? I liked the idea of trying to draw a young Palance in the role.. I don't think I completely nailed the likeness. But hopefully it'll suitably impress some of the judges, at Contest's end! hah

See ya later, gang!

The DOLLMAN!

Heya!

A long time between Posts, I know. Been busy trying to track down some solid employment..
To keep my skills sharp, I jumped onto this month's JAM Thread in the 'Superheroes' section of 'The Drawing Board'.. This month's Theme is: "Weird Science".. In other words, any character that is featured as a Scientist. Or, the creation of a Scientist..

Well, being a HUGE fan of Golden-Age characters.. Particularly, anything that was done by Reed Crandall or Lou Fine.. I chose to add an illo of "The DOLLMAN" superhero; who happened to be both a Scientist, as well as his own creation!
Part of me thinks (also), that perhaps my choice may have been influenced by my fiancée's current obsession with Barbie Dolls? If you haven't checked it out, yet.. She started a new Blog that's JUST about that subject. Click HERE to give it a look-see!

Yup.. It was in 1939, that scientist Darrel Dane (working in the Lab of his mentor: Professor Roberts) developed a serum that was designed to shrink a man down to the size of Doll.. But rather than go thru a series of ultra-boring "testing",-- he decides instead to play the role of Guinea Pig, himself.
The serum works.. And he immediately shrinks down to approximately 6 inches in size! But his mind can't cope with the rapid change. And initially, he goes a little insane.. nearly killing his colleague/mentor: Professor Roberts..
Fortunately, he soon masters the ability to change size.. And can eventually do so, at will. But rather than gaining wealth & power as a criminal mastermind.. He decides that these amazing skills must be exploited, for the wider Good of the World. And commits himself to devote his newfound powers to "crusade against all Crime & Evil!" *yawn*
Just kidding..

On the upside for him, apparently his girlfriend Martha (the Professor Roberts' daughter, natch) has no real problem with the fact that he's now hung like a gerbil!! ha ha
Pretty understanding of her, don'tcha think?! *wink*

See y'all later!

Sorceror Supreme!

'By the Hoary Hosts Of Hoggoth',-- it's been a LONG time between Blog Postings hasn't it?! Yipes!
Well, as it turns out.. My Freelance work for the '2 Presidents' animation studio has now ended.. So I've found some time to clean up my workspace floor.. Trying to decide what project I should start on, first?..
I sorted thru a number of half-finished pieces of artwork. And stuff, that I'd intended to revisit & spruce up.. Hoping to (maybe) make them into something workable, re: a future Sketchbook, or whatever.

I decided that this 'DOCTOR STRANGE' commission from 2004 would be a safe bet..

This was a slightly-rushed Job, that I did for an "Alex T" from Thornhill, Ontario..
And I never really liked how I'd handled either the Face or Legs. So I cleaned up some of the Linework, and made the necessary adjustments.. Then, zapped the whole dingus with an appropriate color scheme!
I've always liked this Marvel character. Beginning with the most-excellent original stories done by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko. And later, thru the Paul Smith's knockout run on the book.. This one here though, was probably MORE inspired by the beautiful Kevin Nowlan covers, of the recent past..

Anyways,-- with work done now.. I'm hoping to be more of a "regular" Blogger, for the foreseeable future. So don't be a Stranger & drop by, for more soon!
See ya..

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!

ULTIMATE Spider-Man!

I've been meaning to become more active in some of the "Drawing Jam" threads that exist, over at 'The Drawing Board' community I'm involved with. I've been a Moderator in their "Instruction" section, for a number of years now..
They have a number of "Jam" threads stickied throughout most of the different sections.. If you're interested in joining, please do give them a look!

I chose to submit to the "Spider-Man" thread in the 'Superheroes' section.. It was a Drawing that I'd had sitting around half-finished, for a long while. And as it was finally apropos, now.. I decided to finish inking and coloring it..
You can view the original inked drawing, by clicking here!

If it hasn't already been completely obvious to you.. The image is meant to be a riff on the artwork of classic MAD Magazine's artist: Don Martin.. I had an old 3-pager he'd done, that featured a number of funny gags using Marvel's Spider-Man character.. Of course, I had to make sure that I also used one of his unique 'Sound Effects', too! hah

Don Martin passed away in 2000, after a battle with cancer. He was 68 years old..
In 1987, he stopped working for MAD. He'd gotten into a disagreement with it's publisher: Bill Gaines.. And for the next 6 years, did work for MAD's competitor: 'CRACKED'..
Sadly, Martin had degenerative eye condition, which made it increasingly difficult for him to draw, in his latter years. He had a number of operations, to try and remedy the problem.. But still required special magnifying equipment, and a handful of freelance"inkers", to help him complete most of his work..

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