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!!

Another Head Turnaround..

Hello!

Where have I been, right?!.. Sorry, I'm just getting back into some regular drawing, after my cataract surgery. It's taken some time to shake all of the rust off.. But here's something I finally feel comfortable sharing:

This is another Head turnaround, that's designed to act as a kind-of model sheet for a showgirl character. I'm hoping to feature her in a short comic-book story, that I'm working on. I tried something similar a few years ago, and hit a complete dead-end. I'm confident I'll have some better luck, this time 'round..
She still looks like 3 different women here, unfortunately. But it's a first run-thru, and issues will begin to streamline themselves as I continue drawing her..

Hope to be able to show you more on this, as I get the images down on paper.. TTYLater!

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..

Illustration Friday: "SOAKED"..

Hello!

It's been awhile since I participated in an "Illustration Friday" .. But here is an entry for the this week's Theme: "Soaked". For whatever reason, I imagined a poor Clown being soaked by a bunch of misfit kids. Perhaps the setting is an oldtime kid's show like "Howdy Doody", where a bunch of audience members are allowed to soak "Seymour The Clown" with a bunch of different spraying devices? I dunno. Who's to say where inspiration flows from..

Here's what it ended up looking like:

I didn't bother inking or coloring this one. Not enough time, currently. And the drawing has a few probs. But on the whole, I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out. It has the Wally Wood/MAD magazine qualities that I was hoping for, at least.

Thanks, for visiting my Blog.. See ya!

Big Green HULK(s)!

Well, I've been shamed into a new Blog posting by my good friend: Dave.. He brought to my attention, that an entire couple of months had slipped by since my last post?!.. Thanks, Dave.. That's what friends are for!
Here goes..

Here's an old drawing of 'The HULK' that I just finished coloring.. My favorite comic-book characters are usually the most iconic characters; and HULK is certainly no exception. He reminds you first, of Frankenstein's Monster. But adds an interesting Jekyll/Hyde dynamic, too; which contrasts the anemic Dr. Bruce Banner against his angrier, green alter-ego..
I contributed this drawing to a Charity Auction at one of the early Paradise Comicon shows. And I found out later that it was won by one of the organizers of that convention: Kevin Boyd. He has the original black-and-white artwork posted in his CAF Gallery, here.

This was an attempt on my part to try and create a version of HULK, in the art stylings of Jack Kirby. The artist that invented the character.. And who (in my opinion) still epitomizes the best take on the character!
I'm fairly happy with the way it turned out. Though I noticed as I was coloring it, that I goofed on the Light Source. The shadows simply don't jibe with the position of the Moonlight..

Years earlier, I did a more-cartoony version of the character.. Which I included in the sketchbook that I self-published, in 2003. Different time of day, granted. But very similar.. I've always described this HULK as more of a confused, drunken midget wrestler.. I recall that when I e-mailed this image to Dave Stevens, his immediate response was: "Love the drool.. hah!"

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!

"When CAPTAIN AMERICA Throws His Mighty Shield!.."

So,-- here's a rough CAP sketch that I just finished.. Did you know this character will be 70 years old, next March?! I don't think he looks a day over 30!

I couldn't resist drawing a Kirby-style CAP running headlong towards those dirty Huns.. Hence, the whole "exploding off the Page" motif..
This sketch will be part of a more elaborate illustration. The weird sketchy stuff along the top may (or may not) be added to the final composition..I'd love to include the transformation of the scrawny Steve Rogers. And also, the Red Skull. But I dunno if I can fit it all in? We'll see..

The Marvel Essential CAPTAIN AMERICA volumes are pretty fantastic reference.. Not only is there some terrific Jack Kirby stuff in 'em. But you also get some of the "groovy" Jim Steranko artwork, too!
I'll confess that I can't really relate much, to the modern "Ultimates" -version of the character.. He always seems trussed-up with a crazy helmet, suspenders, goggles, elbow/knee pads, etc.. Has he gotten weaker, since I read him, back in-the-day? I doubt it.
I recently saw a cover where CAP was even geared up with an AK-47 machine gun?! Dat's just plain screwy, I sez!!

I know that Hollywood is currently preparing a live-action "Captain America" feature. So, I guess having him appear more like a U.S. soldier makes better sense than flashy spandex? The production pics I've seen, look quite intriguing.. (Especially casting actor Hugo Weaving as: "the Red Skull"!)
The film is being directed by Joe Johnston. Yup, the same guy that brought Dave Stevens' "The ROCKETEER" to the silver-screen.. At least we know the movie will "look" half-decent..
But let's face it,-- Hollywood's track record for translating comic-book properties into films, is notoriously piss-poor.  And for me, traditional 2-D animation still seems the most logical way to create a movie out of a comic-book!

Anywayz, I thought this'd make a nice Post.. Enjoy!

"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!!

Cheese Products!

Yes, it's finally come to this, Dear Friends..

Last month, I was contacted by a friend that works at a local Ad Agency.. I'd done some freelance illustration work for him, in the past. But this time, he promised me that he had "real work" for me to do..
Turns out his company had been hired by an International Foods conglomerate, to reinvent the Character Design for a line of their peelable Mozarella Cheese.. They'd been market-testing their existing Character model.. And found it wasn't really connecting with the 11-12 year olds, like it was intended to..

Now I'd done some freelance illustration work for advertising, before.. But this was going to be a bit different, in that it was purely "Development Art".. Rather than, finished packaging artwork.
They wanted something that was fun & light-hearted. A bit kooky. But with a little Hollywood "cool", as well.. He supposedly leads an "active" lifestyle. So they suggested he might possibly be an X-Gamer or Superhero -type, too..

This was my first pass, on the thing..

Really, I just wanted to try and nail down what Body Type he would be, first.. The long & wiry scheme that they had already, seemed to work best. It shows off the flexibility best, etc.. It's such an odd foodstuff, that I imagined maybe an off-the-wall Wally Wood -type Alien guy might work, too. But it ceased looking like the actual stringy Cheese product..
I did a number of different approaches.. I think they liked this guy, the most. Though they mentioned it was perhaps looking a bit too "retro". And was skewed too old for their target audience..

I kinda dug the idea of doing a few Superhero -types, too.. The one guy in the cape, was a riff on the character designs of cartoonist: Benito Jacovitti.. I confessed to the agency, that the small cheese snake, was (in fact) a verbatim ripoff of one of his designs. And really wouldn't be a good idea to use..

My girlfriend Suzanne & a few other Animation friends, liked that one best..
The "Cheezkateer" was a last-minute idea, of mine.. Trying something a bit different, just to see what the reactions would be..

One of the ad execs suggested that perhaps a Jack Cole 'PlasticMan' or FF's "Mr. Fantastic" might be a good jumping off point.. given their flexible/bendable nature? I liked the idea, immediately. But I wanted to retain the goofiness.. So I came up with "Cheez-Lad". Who I imagined as a kind of pimply/awkward Teen.. The kind that used to appear on those 'Firesign Theatre' comedy records! haha
As an afterthought, I also did a Surf Dude.. I wanted someone not quite as goofy. A bit more Beatnik & Bohemian.. Yet, still "active". I like the way the jaunty walk turned out, here..

Though I didn't tell the agency outright, I wasn't terribly keen on the 'X-Gamer' approach.. If only, because it would entail adding a lot of inane Safety Equipment (Helmet, Knee Pads, Elbow Pads, etc).. bogging down the overall silhouette. And killing the stringy hairlines, I'd been working out..

In the end, I think I liked the Surfer Dude idea the best.. It could just as easily be Snowboard or Skateboard, I suppose.. I amped-up the thin/stringy quality, and felt I was getting closer to what I wanted..
The one featured above, has the slacker/hedonist thing going.. But he still looks a bit too poufy/gay.. Maybe it's the damned Turtleneck, or something? He has that arrogant Parisian "look" about him.. And, that wasn't my intent.

Anyways, the job was real good FUN!!
It's not often you get paid decent money to just "play" with Visual Ideas.. And I'd certainly welcome the chance to do s'more of it again, soon!
Though I've been paid for my work .. I have (unfortunately) not yet heard how the Project is proceeding.. I know that there were a few other artists that were also contributing Designs for this.. So perhaps, they've chosen to go in a different direction entirely..

Sorry, for the long delay between Postings.. I'm hoping the next one, won't take quite so long.. See y'all later!!

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!