For Dave: IRMA The Body!

Heya!
Time for another of my Stripper/Burlesque posts, methinks?
If you're a comic nerd like me.. Then you already know that the San Diego Comic-Con 2008, has just ended. I didn't get to go, this year.. And I'm not that sure that I'll ever go, again. I keep hearing how crowded it is. And how it's changed for the worst, lately..
To be honest, my main reason for attending the convention in 1999, 2001, and 2003.. was to meet my favorite artist: Dave Stevens!
I had been e-mailing with Tom Ranheim for many years.. He's the webmaster of the official Dave Stevens website.. And, also a good friend! We decided we'd go make the trip to San Diego together, in '99. And again, in 2001..
By the 2001 trip, we'd gotten to know Dave quite well.. Gone out to dinner with him. And we were invited to his home/studio, too. It was quite a revelation, seeing all of his Original Art up close.. Intimidating, too!
In any case, Dave & I shared a passionate interest in 50's-era Striptease/Burlesque. And as it happened,-- I'd just acquired a slew of great stuff off eBay: the personal photos & scrapbook clippings of "IRMA The Body"; one of Burlesk's top performers, back in the day!
I picked them up in California, during the trip.. Fortunate for me, the Seller lived just north of San Diego!
Well, Dave couldn't wait to dig thru my cache of goodies.. And decided then-and-there, that he would love to do a painting of "Irma" (her real name was: Mary Goodneighbor). For reference, he borrowed the 2 candid photos, shown below:
"Irma" was a real looker, don'tcha think?!!
The one on the Left, was taken during a photoshoot celebrating her engagement to a man attending a Naval Academy. The relationship didn't last, and they never ended up getting married..
I prefer the photo on the Right.. I think she really looks great, in that pose! Hard to believe the photo was taken in 1970.. She still looks so young. And I'm pretty sure she had "retired" from performing, by then.
Dave sent me back the photos thru the mail, once he'd made copies.. I honestly dunno if he ever got 'round to painting "Irma". I guess we'll find out when his big 'Art Of' book gets published, sometime next year..

Today, would've been Dave's 53rd birthday.. When he passed away from Leukemia earlier this year in March.. It didn't hit me quite as bad, as it does now. I guess I associate him so closely to the San Diego Comic-Con.. A convention that he volunteered at long ago, way before he ever became a professional artist..
Here's one of the last illustrations that Dave completed before he died.. It was a commission for fellow CFA-APA member: Wally Harrington. A great guy & a personal friend of Dave's, over many years..
I've been trying to find some online reports about the "Dave Stevens Memorial" panel at SDCC '2008, without much luck.. If anyone knows where I can read about how that event went.. Please post a weblink, in my Comments section.. I'd love to see some photos & read what was said!
It's sad for me to think that there won't be anymore "new" Dave Stevens artwork to anticipate.. Hopefully, there'll be a ton of unseen gems in the Arnie Fenner -produced hardcover, due in 2009!
I picked up the most recent issue of 'The Comics Journal'.. There's an excellent Dave Stevens memorial piece in there, written by his dear friend: Bill Stout.. I was surprised to learn that Dave had been diagnosed with his cancer, back in 1999. A terminal diagnosis, that generally means the patient has only months to live.. Dave hung on, for a full 8 years longer!

I'll cherish the memories of "hanging out" with Dave, the few times I did. I'll miss his e-mails especially.. He had a very witty writing style, even when he didn't write often..
I hope that he's up there somewhere, without pain.. Sitting in the Front Row of the best dang Girlie-Show that ever was!!

Coupla HELLBOYs..

Last weekend, me & Suzanne caught a matinee of the HELLBOY sequel.. It wasn't as good as the IRON MAN movie, but a vast improvement on the first HELLBOY film. Which I only caught up with recently, on cable..
We both enjoyed Del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH quite a bit. So the Design work we saw in the Preview ads, really caught our eyes. You can read Suzanne's comments on the movie here, on her BLOG..

There was a time years ago, when I was quite the ravenous HELLBOY fan.. I read all the comic-books. Bought all the collected volumes, etc. Wore a HELLBOY baseball hat, everywhere I went.. A friend bought me the HELLBOY lighter, even though I don't smoke.. I even picked up one of the HELLBOY lunchboxes, 'cuz I thought it looked too cool..

While visiting the San Diego ComicCon a number of years back,-- I even bought a few pages of 'Original Art' from Mignola himself.. He was even kind enough to throw in a complimentary (and highly-collectible!) HELLBOY coffee cup, which I still drink from every morning!
I was so enamoured with the character, that I even tried "animating" a HELLBOY rotation! You can view some of my attempts at this, both here and here..
In short, I was once a total HELLBOY nerd!!!

But somewhere along the way, the character's mystique got a little flat & tired for me.. Maybe it's just that I found the stories becoming too familiar. I still enjoy Mignola's artwork.. But lately, he's got so many other artists doing the stories.. And that has zero appeal for me.

Even so, I noticed after going thru some of my own older artwork.. That I've drawn Mignola's character a remarkable number of times! Some were done to just satisfy my own curiousity. Others, were commissioned work, done at conventions, etc..
Here's one from 2004, that I did for a guy named "Otto" from Warren, Michigan.. I think I may have met him thru Jonell Napper's dandy HELLBOY messageboard..

And here's another (more elaborate) HELLBOY image, from around the same period. Maybe, a bit later? This illustration was done as an eBay Charity Auction item, that was won by a guy named "Poom" from Chicago..
The Auction was designed to help raise $ to help cover the medical costs for Rick Cortes, who had suffered a stroke, at that time.. He & I, both helped Jonell Napper early on, when she was putting together her 'www.hellboy.com' website..

Rick Cortes, is also the main guy at 'The Drawing Board' messageboard, that invited me to become a fellow Moderator.. He's got a HELLBOY 'original art' collection that makes my meagre set, look like a mere pittance. But I don't hold that against him..
He's a helluva nice guy. Who not surprisingly, answers to the name of "HellboyOne" as his DB moniker!

Well, that's all for now.. See ya around!

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...

The Pajama Game!

Hello Folks!

Apologies for the long delay between posts.. But over the past couple weeks, I've been busy with a freelance illustration job, which fell fortuitously into my lap..
A friend of the family, has a wife that is a member of a theatre group that performs here in Scarborough. She'd recently won the lead role in their upcoming production of: 'THE PAJAMA GAME'. And he thought it'd be a nice gesture to commission a poster recreation, to celebrate the event..
He provided me some of the required Photo Reference. And a rather poor JPEG of the movie poster, which he found online. It was so gauzy, I couldn't see what was going on.. So I dug around downstairs & found (fortunately!) an old MOVIE LIFE mag from October 1957, that had not only a full-page ad for the Doris Day film.. But also some great color ref, for the actual pajamas..
Originally, the client had asked for an authentic Broadway poster recreation, based on the original play. But felt that a recreated movie poster ,would work better as a "gift". So, that's the direction we went..
Amongst the photos he lent me, I found a nice headshot of his wife, that was perfect for the Doris Day pose.. But he also wanted EIGHT other cast member profiles, featured off to one side?! Oi-Vey, that was gonna be a whole other conundrum!
Luckily, their theatre group: 'Spotlight Musical Productions' has an excellent website.. With a number of terrific 'Photo Gallery' pages from past shows.. I was able to dig thru those & find a few other suitable shots, to fill out the rest of the image..
The initial deadline was excruciatingly tight.. He wanted the finished poster completed & printed, so he could present it at the After Party (April 26th) of the closing show.. That only gave me about 5 full days, to get it done.
By Friday evening, I knew I'd never make the deadline.. I suggested working towards just getting the central figure of his wife (as "Babe") done. And then getting a single Poster composited & printed with all of the other elements blocked-in, so that he could show off what the final product would look like? It was the best compromise I could think of..
So at about 11pm, I drove like a madman to a downtown Kinko's -- got it printed at full size (14" x 22"!).. And raced back to the 'Fairvew Library Theatre' in Scarborough, where they'd just begun breaking down the sets backstage..
I think I impressed my client with my personal hand-delivered shipment, just past the Witching Hour! hah
To my great relief, he was very satisfied with the results.. And now that the show's deadline was past, I'd be able to finish the rest of the Poster, at a much more relaxed pace!
Initially, I thought I could save some time by using the scanned-in pajama top, for my final image. Which is why you see "Babe" (above) in 3 disjointed parts? I was gonna composite those onto the pajama top, thru Photoshop.. But the chunky halftones were simply too distracting & looked out-of-place with everything else. So I went back, and drew up a whole new tunic..

All of the color work was done, using a combination of Pantone markers and pencil crayons.. Mostly Col-Erase pencils, actually.. Which tend to go down on the page a bit smoother..
I had met the client's wife (Teresa) before.. So, I knew instinctively what she looked like. That makes drawing a person, so much easier!
I had no such help, with the other 8 character heads.. And they proved a much tougher challenge. Especially, with the limited number of good photos I was able to glean from the theatre group's webpages!
I'm sure a few of these folks, are gonna be appalled by their likenesses?.. Sorry, gang! I did the best I could, given the circumstances..
Here's a JPEG showing their progress..
I thought the final assembly of the image would be easy? Not so!
The text pieces were okay.. Most of it achieved, using Pagemaker and/or Photoshop. "The Pajama Game" masthead was hand-done & that took a wee bit longer.. The initial printout was also showing that my Yellows were all skewed too "Green". So for the Final Image, I went back & changed them to a richer hue..
In hindsight, it seems like I spent oodles of time simply "compositing" things to the BG.. I dropped in some small figures along the baseline, directly from the cleaned-up scans from my vintage poster ad. And then used Photoshop's cloning tool to create a nice "soft" edge transition, around all of the main character elements.. Hopefully these bits of extra attention will pay off, once the File is taken to the printers? We'll see..

Well, that's how the whole thing came together.. Hope I didn't bore you too much with all of my Process Talk? All in all, I really enjoyed working on this Job. And I hope that I get a few more like it, in the future..

TTY'all Laterz!

Andy Knight, R.I.P.

It was with genuine shock that I read of Andy Knight's recent passing (due to a fatal cerebral aneurysm), at the age of 46.. My first exposure to this news, came as a result of reading Paul Dutton's thread on the 'Animation Nation' messageboard. Frustrated that I couldn't find anything else about it, online.. I sent a quick e-mail to Amid Amidi at 'CartoonBrew' .. And he's kindly initiated a posting, that'll hopefully act as a kind of makeshift "Memorial" page..

I first heard Andy Knight's name mentioned, when I was working over at George Elliott's earlier studio: 'Pictor Entertainment'.. We'd been subcontracted by Nelvana to do Layout work on "Ned's Newt". Which was based on a terrific Animated Short, that was produced/directed by Andy.. A cartoon that was very simple in it's Design; but beautifully constructed/staged & animated.. Definitely one of the better series that Nelvana was involved with!
When my friend Jens Pindal was later hired at Andy's studio,-- I'd occasionally drop by. And would always be dazzled by the amazing artwork that they had posted in the hallways & walls, showcasing the different Animated Commercials they'd been (or were currently) working on..

In 2000, 'Cambium' chose Andy Knight's studio, to do work on episodes of "The RIPPING FRIENDS" cartoon series, that they were co-producing.. And I was hired on, as one of their Senior Layout artists. Essentially setting up Scenes, for the Posing artists I was paired with..
It was a Production that had a few bumps & bruises, along the way..
Outside of the main Pitch Pack, we had very few Design sheets to work with. And by the time Week 4 rolled along, we were still waiting on Model Sheets/Turnarounds for the 4 main characters.. So, Andy took it upon himself to create his own "Expressions" sheet.. Perhaps, only as an exercise. Or, to satisfy his own curiousity about how they might look like? I can't say.. But here's what the results looked like:
Even though it obviously wasn't Spümco, in it's "style".. I found it really interesting, nonetheless. Sadly, it's the only real example of Andy's artwork that I kept, during my stay at 'Red Rover'. I wish I'd grabbed more stuff out of their trash!
Even so, I think you can see how easily the act of "drawing" came to Andy. I watched him do a few of these.. And it just seemed so effortless to him. With a real economy to the amount of linework he needed to lay down for these!

Though the Production was a "bust" in some ways.. The joy of working at Andy's studio, prevails as a fond memory.. He was a class act, throughout. And a fun guy to be around.. I'll remember the Snooker Table lunches downstairs at 'The Charlotte Room'.. The "Beer Friday" afternoons, that turned his studio into a drunken frathouse.. The 'Bowlerama' Christmas Party, etc.. And especially all of the quality artists/friends that I worked with there, at the time.

I understand that Andy's stroke occurred, while pitching new Animated Projects in France. And that any pain he may have experienced, was (thankfully) short. My sincere condolences go out to his wife Linzi, his 3 children.. And all of the fine folks at the studio, who must now find a way to carry on at 'Red Rover' without him.. Rest in peace, Andy!

What I Did Last Summer..

Hello again!

Well, seeing as the "Will & Dewitt" cartoon is now airing episodes regularly on both YTV (Canada) & Kid's WB (United States).. I thought it'd be safe for me to post some of the BG Design work that I'd done for them?
After a particularly distasteful experience, working at 'CORE Digital' on their "Iggy Arbuckle" series.. I started looking for new work at some of the other local Toronto animation studios.. Sending out a few Resumé/Portfolio samplers, here and there. As I happened to be in the area,-- I dropped one off personally, at 'Two Presidents Productions'..
I did not know Michael Carter, previously.. But was somewhat acquainted with Alan Kennedy, the other co-owner.. I knew Alan a bit, back when he ran his previous studio: "Canuck Creations"; which was located inside the 'A Space', at the corner of Spadina/Richmond.
Thankfully, he remembered me too.. And promised he'd keep me in mind, should any new Layout or Design work arise.. And in mid-July of last year, asked if I could do some BG Design work on their new "Will & Dewitt" cartoon, for 3-4 weeks..
Well, fortunately for me.. 3-4 weeks quickly turned into a much longer 6-month stint!
And I'm happy to say that it was a very satisfying show to work on.. Not only did they allow me to work remotely, from home. And upload the finished artwork to their FTP and CAS (Client Approval System) sites.. But they allowed me to work traditionally (pencil-on-paper), too.
To my knowledge, all of the other artists were working digitally, and in-house..

The show is a very simple Flash cartoon, aimed at a preschool audience.. They're half-show episodes (2 x 11 minutes/half-hour). Featuring a boy named "Will". And his magical morphing Frog friend (named "Dewitt"); who acts as a kind of conscience/advisor/life coach, to young William..
It was directed by Paul Riley. With the Design Supervision, ably handled by Andrew Hickson..
My good buddy Dave Pietila, served as my main 'contact' during the production.. He engineered & managed the Layout/Paint/Setup system.. And kept me busy with Shot Lists to work on, for each episode..
For the most part, my role was to "fill rooms with stuff.." for the Layout crew. Who would take my drawings.. Vectorize & tweak them.. And send them over to the Painters. My layout drawings here, all feature hard pencil "holding" lines.. But if you've seen the show, then you already know that the "look" of the BG's is much softer, with a color-to-color finish on them.. Which makes the character poses stand out, a lot stronger.
The 4 layouts (above), were for an episode that took place in a Library.. As "Dewitt" morphs into a Cowboy, Spaceman, Pirate, and Dinosaur.. The bookshelves on the BG also transform into the appropriate Settings, around him.. All of these, needed to be designed upon the same Template, re: shelf positions..
More examples of "stuff" crammed into the BG drawing.. Toys, this time!
I know it looks quite crowded, as is. But much of it eventually gets changed by the Layout crew, working in-house.. Where they work their Photoshop "magic" on it.. Removing stuff they don't want. And/or shifting elements around.. My main responsibility, is to ensure that every part is drawn using the same Perspective scheme. Otherwise, things can really start to go awry!
Here's one of the last shots I did.. An episode about the importance of Ecology. And how polluting a community creek, really sucks!
If you've got small children in the house,-- I'm sure they'd find the cartoon appealing.. You can find the show's "Official Website", by clicking here! There's a Preview to watch. And (I think) a number of online Games to enjoy, too!

WEHT Dave Stevens?

WEHT: "Whatever Happened To Dave Stevens?.."

That's a title for a Discussion Thread, that I've seen on a number of different Internet messageboards, over the past couple of years.. Frustrated 'comic art' fans & enthusiasts, wondering aloud where Dave Stevens has been? And what has he been up to?!
In hindsight, it turns out.. Dave spent most of his time, simply attempting to restore & retain his health, as best he could..
I was aware that he'd not been feeling well, of late.. But was surprised to hear of his personal battle with Leukemia. Sadly, it was a war that he lost, sometime on Monday, March 10...

Like most other fans, I first got to know Stevens' artwork, in the early 1980's.. In the wake of the rousing success of his 'The Rocketeer' comic-books. Even now, I still marvel at the excellent draughtsmanship & lush, slicker-than-slick inking! Amongst many favorites, Dave quickly became "the favorite comic artist.."
In 1985, while attending a comic-shop signing.. I even convinced another favorite: Mike Kaluta.. to draw me a sketch of Dave's famous creation, for me.. A chore he relished, he told me. As it was his favorite current comic character, as well..
If you're like me.. Once you've familiarized yourself with Dave's art.. Then you can't begin to imagine a reason why anyone would draw things, in any other style.. The slickness of his linework, initially sucks you in. Yet it's always solidly-drawn.. And radiates a slightly cartoony vibe, as well.
That "animated" quality, found in the movement in the Posing & Staging, may be due to Dave's pre-comic career, as an Animation storyboard/layout person. He worked for a number of years at Hanna-Barbera, before launching 'The Rocketeer'..
I think this 'Catwoman' illo for DC's Who's Who series, was one of his very best:

In 1988, I wrote Dave Stevens a gushy Fan Letter.. Along with a few of my Art Samples, for him to look at.. To my surprise, Dave took the time to send me back a lovely handwritten letter.. Turns out, he was looking for "extra hands" to help him pencil the 3rd installment of 'The Rocketeer'.. And was wondering if I'd like to take a crack at a page?!
Well, you could've knocked me over with a feather, at that prospect!..
Unfortunately, (for a number of reasons) it never came to pass.. Dave may have gotten cold feet on handing this kind of opportunity to a relative novice?.. Eventually, he gave the work to 2 more experienced hands: Art Adams and Sandy Plunkett..

In 1999, I attended my 1st-ever San Diego Comic-Con. I travelled there, with my buddy: Tom Ranheim.. A Norwegian fellow, who still runs the 'The Authorized Dave Stevens Website'. We both made a quick beeline for Dave's table. And he was very generous with both of us, despite our completely nerded-out behaviour..
When we both attended Comic-Con again, in 2001.. Dave allowed us to visit his studio in L.A., afterwards.. A cherished memory, to be sure!! Here's a photo of 'Yours Truly', nervously cradling one of the many pieces of 'Original Art' that Dave had lying around his studio space. You can see that I'm leaning back a bit, so as not to dribble any of my drool, on the Bristol Boards! ha ha
During that period, Dave had been busy working on an ambitious Illustrated Novel, featuring his latest creation: "Mimi Rodin"; a female heroine, designed after the likeness of fitness model: Marla Duncan.. The page on top, shows 'Mimi' in profile.. Underneath that, you can barely make out a half-finished watercolor illo, featuring 'Mimi' in the underground Catacombs of turn-of-the-century France..
Dave also gave us a quick tour of the Art College he was attending.. I forget the name of it now, unfortunately.. But Dave was quite enthusiastic about the place. He was studying 'Oil Painting', there. And occasionally, he would e-mail me JPEGs of his efforts, to show his progress.. Most of them, featured straight-ahead Portraiture.. Like this example:

In 2003, I managed to self-publish my own sketchbook: "WANG-DANG-DOODLE!".. (the namesake of this Blog!) The format for which, was largely based on the kind of sketchbooks that Dave had been publishing/selling, during this same period..
Thru e-mail, I tentatively inquired if Dave would perhaps allow me to try selling my book, from his own Comic-Con booth?
Though I had the money to make the trip down to San Diego. I really didn't have enough extra $ for my own table.. Dave graciously allowed me to sit with him. And the experience of sharing time with him during the 2003 show, was another truly amazing experience!

The last e-mail I received from Dave, was dated from March 23, 2007.. Almost a year ago.
He asked me how things were going.. And I wrote him back, to keep him appraised re: how my Life was going.. I wrote him back a couple of times, after that. But didn't get a response to either message..
Not unusual for Dave.. But given the circumstances now, I wish that I'd tried a bit harder to get in contact with him..

Dave had told me then, that he'd been hard at work, putting the finishing touches on his upcoming bigass hardcover/coffee table 'Art Of Dave Stevens' book. It was to be published in 2007, thru Arnie Fenner; the genius behind the recent Frank Frazetta art volumes..
Dave e-mailed me the following JPEG, to show some of the recent coloring work he'd done..
It's excruciating to me now, to imagine that Dave will be gone forever.. And that we'll see no more "new" artwork, for our eyeballs to lavish over.. But I'm hopeful that the book he'd been so diligently working on, will still someday (somehow) see the Light Of Day?.. It'd truly be a shame, if it didn't..
Last I'd heard,-- the title had been changed to: 'Dave Stevens: A Creative Life'.. An appropriate title, for a guy that's done everything from 'The Rocketeer'.. to storyboarding Spielberg's 'RAIDERS Of The LOST ARK'.. to working with Michael Jackson on his 'THRILLER' video?!.. I can't imagine a more diverse Resumé, to be honest..
The book was set to be released at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con.. Let's keep our collective fingers crossed & hope that this happens.. I think it'd be a great legacy for him to leave behind, for all of us..

It was an honor to consider you a Friend.. Rest In Peace, Dave!!