Haughty BLONDE Hottie!

Hello!

Not much to report.. But I felt like the Blog deserved a new posting..
Here's something that I've been sketching, over the past couple of evenings:

This is my first run at a Head turnaround, that's designed to act as a kind-of model sheet for a Blonde woman character. I'm hoping to use her in a short comic-book story, I'm working on. I did it mostly, to try and figure out the landscape of her face. And to also try and come up with one consistent version of her hair..
Unfortunately, she looks a little different here, in each of the views! Oh, well..

She's supposed to look a little aloof & snobby, though.. And I'd like to think that I was a little more successful, in that particular regard? Hope so!

"DAISY": From 2D to 3D..

Luke Seerveld is one of my best-est buddies from my High School daze. Along with our other good friends: Marty Sytsma & Ed VanBeilen, we toyed with the idea of eventually creating our own Film/Media company; as a possible future business. Even going so far as to load up with equipment & make a couple of Super-8 films together..
Marty & Ed went on to other things.. And I continue to struggle to make a living as an Animation artist.. Of the four of us, only Luke has gone on to become the multimedia bigshot, that we'd all dreamed we'd be..
After attending college in the States, he moved to the suburbs of San Francisco.. And now owns & operates his own successful production company: Seerveld Media!

In October 2004, he surprised me with an e-mail.. Asking if I might help him out on a job that he was doing for a company named: Fat Box Films. They needed a Cow character designed that would serve as a computer-animated spokesperson, for a Cheese processing plant?!
Not one to turn away a job,-- I jumped at the assignment! And began sketching out a few ideas:
They had already had some previous design work done on it. But Luke (and the client) felt that the "look" was all wrong. And that their Cow needed to be: "happier, kinder, gentler.. and feminine, but without being too sexy!"
They specifically asked for something that has a: "Toy Story" or "Finding Nemo" quality.. As I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, I opted for a more traditional 40's-era Disney-esque style to it?
After feeling things out a bit.. I came up with the Turnaround that you see below.. Isometric views that would help their CG artists better engineer an effective 3D model.
I think I probably photoshop'd-out the "steaming dump" at her feet though, before sending it off. A touch that I'd only intended for my buddy Luke's personal amusement! haha
The cow was to be a simple brown Jersey, named: "DAISY". She would act as a sort of 3D "hostess" for tour groups visiting the Cheese factory; narrating live-action footage on the specifics of how their Cheese is made, etc. As shown from monitors set up throughout the processing plant's 'Visitor Center'..

Luke told me that the client was somewhat startled by my "retro" take on "DAISY".. I'd spent a fair amont of time trying to figure out things like: costuming details. Or, how I could convert her Hooves into a pair of expressive hands that might help her "act", during her video performances?
I think that the client appreciated my attempts to add a bit more sentimentality to her. But they still made a few slight adjustments to what I'd done, before they got to their Final Model..
Which looks (in appearance) closer to a Preston Blair -type cow:
Here's what "DAISY" ended up looking like, fully-modelled & with her colors added.. Nice, eh?
I was happy to see that they kept the Lipstick'd mouth and the cowbell necklace I'd played around with. But I guess I had imagined that she'd appear more as a full-standing figure; rather than a character seen only from the chest-up?
Removing the Horns was a very smart move, tho.. It immediately makes "DAISY" different from "Elsie", yet retains much of the overall feel!

A fun Conceptual Design assignment that I wish I'd get more requests for.. Any takers out there? LMK!!

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!

COUCHY On The Rampage!!

Okay, Folks.. Sorry for the extended dry spell, Posting-wise!

I've been very busy lately, due to a number of Life details. Only one of which, has been putting together a formal Illustration portfolio. Essentially, evaluating a lot of the artwork I've done over the past few years.. And seeing if I can somehow "juice 'em up.." enough to make them a viable addition towards this effort?
This process usually involves tweaking any really obvious mistakes, found in the original art. And then coloring the black-and-white drawings with a splash of Digital Color, to give 'em a bit of the old ZING!

Here's my most-recent example..
This illo was completed for my friend Warren; who works at the Hunter-Straker Ltd. advertising/marketing agency, here in Toronto. I first met him at one of the local comic-book conventions.. He was kind enough to purchase a copy of my published Sketchbook. Bought a bit of my artwork. And then later on, he commissioned me to do a T-Shirt design; which was to be used for an annual Sporting Event that he organized with some friends..

Warren (along with his brother, I believe) stages an annual Sporting Event.. Which involves getting a whole group of drinking buddies together for a kind-of 24-hour Sports marathon.. He told me that the group attempts to play: (a) ONE full round of Golf, (b) ONE 3-period game of Ice Hockey, and (c) ONE 9-inning game of Softball.. All within a 24-hr period!
Their enthusiasm & stamina, (apparently) fuelled by copious amounts of beer and (possibly?) other libations?!

The first T-Shirt I designed for Warren, essentially featured their mascot "Couchy" (the couch potato, natch!), dead-drunk in an alleyway somewhere.
The one featured here, is my 2nd attempt.. For this one, Warren told me that he wanted more of a GODZILLA -version of "Couchy", terrorizing some non-specific Ontario township..
He seemed genuinely happy with the results, thankfully.

I'm by no means an "expert" when it comes to Digital Color.. But I'm getting a little better, each time out. With this one, I experimented a little bit with the 'Gradient' apps found in Photoshop. Some of which worked better than expected, like his bloodshot eyes..

I'm hoping to have an actual Portfolio "link" posted in my Blog's sidebar sometime soon. So please do check back & look for it, if you find the time.. Thanks!

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!

Shirley Jean Rickert, R.I.P.

It was with some sadness and a bit of regret, that I read of Shirley Jean Rickert's passing, in this morning's newspaper.. I certainly didn't know her as more than an acquaintance. But we'd enjoyed a pleasant correspondence together; exchanging a number of e-mails, from around 2001 - 2004.
As regular visitors here are already acutely aware.. I have a fascination with 50's-era Burlesque/Striptease. Apart from hunting down & collecting vintage Men's Magazines,-- there really isn't a whole lot of substantial info to be found on the Subject.. Apart from talking to the principal performers, themselves. And most of them, are either senior citizens now.. Or simply put, are deceased.
Fortunately, Shirley Jean was computer savvy enough to create her own website, entitled 'www.measuresup.com' .. "Measures", being the name of her 2nd husband.

Shirley Jean was a Feature Performer, back in the 50's.. Dancing (mainly) under the stage name: "Gilda & Her Crowning Glory". This is what she looked like 'on stage', at that time:
But before Shirley ever got to a dancing career in Burlesk.. She had already enjoyed a very busy Show Business career as a child actor. Her own mother was a frustrated actress. And quickly established herself, as a very strident Stage Mom. Eventually , getting young Shirley a semi-regular gig on the beloved 'Our Gang' series of films.. Where Shirley usually played-up the role of the spoiled Rich Girl with the spit-curl hairdo..

You may recall that role, once you see this adorable photo:
After 'Our Gang' ended.. She found a steady role as the "Tomboy Taylor" character in the 'Mickey McGuire' series, starring: Mickey Rooney. Ostensibly, the series was based on the Fontaine Fox comic-strip of the same name. But the producers never fully secured the licensing deal from the cartoonist. And eventually the series ended, upon threat of a lawsuit..
As a young teen, she appeared in an early John Wayne serial, entitled: "Neath Arizona Skies". But as she got older, her cute child actress cachet diminished. And she found it very difficult to find steady work..
To keep busy, she studied formal dance.. And as she grew into an attractive young woman, she found uncredited dancing parts in many of Hollywood's most famous musical films, including: "Royal Wedding" and "Singin' In The Rain"..

Dance careers are understandably short. And those jobs too, began to dry up.. Which is when she walked into L.A.'s New Follies Theatre & got the idea to try her hand at a career in Striptease.. After only 7 months in their chorus line, she began performing as a Featured Act.. And continued to tour thru the U.S. & Canada, 'til she retired in 1959!

By the time I met Shirley thru the Internet,-- she had been suffering a number of personal setbacks. She had lost all of her personal memorabilia, in a house fire a number of years prior. And was bothered by a number of nagging health problems, too..
Her doctors had prescribed steady use of an oxygen tank, due to emphysema. And Shirley also underwent a number of surgical operations on both of her legs, to rectify circulatory problems.

Fortunately, I was in a unique position to help out with getting Shirley some of her lost memorabilia back. Not "originals", granted. But I made (and mailed her) extensive photocopies of some of the articles that I'd managed to collect of her, over the years.
She was particularly delighted to regain a copy of the following Pictorial that appeared in the October '56 issue of 'CARNIVAL' digest.. It shows a hint of (I think) Shirley's acting skills very well! A series of Funny Face photos, that she really got a kick out of seeing again:
I had asked her (in my e-mails) about some other Feature Performers she might have known.. But as she correctly pointed out to me: Featured Acts followed each other into each venue .. And rarely ever crossed paths. A detail, that I hadn't really thought of before! heh

The angioplasties she'd undergone had "worked wonders..", as she told me. And Shirley enjoyed another good stretch of personal health. But she was choosing to slow down. And by 2004, had moved into a Retirement Home in Ballston Spa, NY.. She seemed very content & happy with this existence.. But admitted finding it difficult to get by, purely on Social Security..

Many of her fans, continued to help her out. Replacing old photos & films that she'd appeared in. So much so, that she was now actively selling autographed Prints online, of her more popular photos.. I made sure to get a copy of this "cheeky" Pose! haha
After 2004, I kind of lost contact with Shirley.. Not intentionally, by any means. But "Life" got busier & the lapsed time between e-mail exchanges, got ever longer. We'd discussed doing a formal interview about her Burlesque career, someday. But never got it together..
I can recall in her last few messages, that it was her fervent Birthday wish to go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride with her grandchildren, before she died. I dunno if she ever got to fulfill that request.. But I hope she did!

She knew of my career as a freelance artist. And I made sure to send her a copy of my Sketchbook, once it was published. She wrote back to me, with her reactions : "The pictures are great.. I'm fascinated by your mind! -- Love'n' stuff, Shoil"

She was a sweet old lady, that passed away last Friday (February 6), at the age of 82.
She's survived by her daughter: Melody Kennedy.. As well as two grandsons and two great-grandchildren.