During much of August, I spent some quality time taking in the beauty of God’s creation in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina – the sun, the sand, the surf, and the various shapes, sizes and personalities of humanity.
Often in walking down to the beach, I would take along my sketchbook wondering who might be my unwitting subjects for the day. Will there be some kids burying each other in the sand? How about a good looking couple whose physiques will allow me to brush up on my muscle knowledge? Or perhaps there will be a little old granny riding the waves on a boogie board. Regardless, there is always someone of interest to sketch at the beach, and hopefully I won’t get caught doing so.
On this one day in particular, it wasn’t hard to notice this family who set up shop next to my family. They broke out some lawn darts to toss – not far from my head. Besides seeing sharp pointy objects that glistened in the sun flying through the air in my general direction, I noticed the fun that these adults were having, in particular the patriarch of the family.
This individual was a large man. He was tall with an imposing presence. His size was only equalled by his personality which was evident in the fun he was having with his sons and daughters-in-law tossing those weapons of mirthful competition. They partook of some friendly trash-talking, and this gentleman was not above striking silly poses to get the goat of family members, even to the point of performing mock hulas. This large man was, in short, a big loveable character. I had to draw him.
Well, when one is drawing strangers, one must be as discreet as possible so as to not offend nor frighten the subject in question. I am usually very good at that – usually. As I was about to finish my sketch, I overheard some of their family commenting on my drawing from behind me. I had, in fact, been discovered. This is what they saw:
Click on image to see it a little larger.
Thankfully, no one seemed offended nor upset by my doodle. If they were, they never told me. Though I wonder why they sat down the beach away from us for the rest of the week after that? Hmmm. Oh well.
Come back again tomorrow as I’ll be sharing with you some more doodles of beach goers who did NOT catch on to my observances.
I know, I know. It’s ME – not you. I have been unavailable to post images here for the past month due to being out of town without a scanner. But it doesn’t mean that I’ve been sitting on my thumbs. In fact, the pages of my sketchbook have been filling up with muses and musings while on the road – well, I mean that metaphorically. Some were drawn while in the air.
That being the case, I thought I’d start with a selection of sketches of people drawn in airports. While waiting for flights, some people read, some work on computers, others just sit there washing out reality with earphones. Me? I embrace the world around me by documenting it in my sketchbook. Where else (besides jury duty) can you find a real cross section of humanity than in an airport? People are coming and going from all corners of the earth carrying with them their customs, their costumes, and their quirks. I love it.
So enjoy these airport doodles. Some were drawn in Los Angeles, some in Dallas, and even more in Virginia. All total, I was in five different airports in awe of the diversity of society.
I thought this lady was interesting. Her chin seemed to stick out like her belly.
I just wanted to apologize to all those of you who follow my blog. I haven’t had anything new and exciting posted here in a few weeks, and wanted to let you know it will be a little while longer before I return from a very welcome vacation.
If I could pack my scanner with me, I’d have some things to show you. Things such as the sketches I did in the Los Angeles and Dallas airports, or the doodles of all the interesting beach walkers that have paraded past me here in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I’ve also been doing some cartoony watercolor pieces that will find their way to the upcoming D23 convention in Anaheim. Oh, and I even squirted out a sketch or two at my very first monster truck show! Wow. The South has EVERYTHING!
So, when I return to sunny (and from what I hear blazing) California, we will pick up where we left off. Deal? Deal.
This year the San Diego Comic Con hit its 40th anniversary. This is the comic book fan convention that started them all, and continues to set the standard – well, if the standard you are looking for is an all-media convention. This con’s focus is primarily on movies and television for which the filmmakers and performers come out in droves to promote their upcoming projects. Comic Con also celebrates toys, card games, animation, video games, illustration, fantasy, science fiction, books and – oh yeah, comics.
This shot featuring a lifesize Transformer helps show a little of the crowded experience that defines Comic Con.
While I don’t attend every year, when I do go, it is purely to seek out and revel in the creative accomplishments of cartooning. If you can squeeze your way through the throngs of 125,000 fans (many of which come dressed as their favorite pop culture figures), you just might stumble across a great artist or two tucked between a few mega corporate booths. Many of these artists are creating spectacular work that really MUST be seen, but usually is not heralded by companies with big distribution channels. The independent spirit is alive and well at Comic Con.
The Great Silver Age comic book artist Gene Colan with his wife Adrienne and Chad Frye.
But most of all, Comic Con is a spectacle. Every time you turn your head it’s another astonishing display. You might see giant robots, movie actors such as John Heder and Richard Dreyfuss, moms with strollers carrying lightsabers, movie directors, the cast of NBC’s Chuck or CBS’ Ghost Whisperer, someone speaking in Klingon, a girl who made a dress out of Warner Bros. big cloth giveaway bags, Matt Groening, Sergio Aragonès, twelve Wonder Women, a girl dressed as David Shannon’s book A Bad Case of Stripes, film score composers like Christopher Young and Bear McCreary, security throwing out people without badges, a family dressed like The Incredibles, etc. etc. Comic Con is a veritable wonderland.
So, for those of you who missed the menagerie, I have a few photos to help you experience Comic Con. Maybe next year you’ll grab your deerslayer and lightsaber like this fella and come as your own Jedi detective, too!
Sherlock Holmes envisioned as a Jedi – he even has Argyle socks!A blue-haired fan chatting with great cover artist Adam Hughes.Chad Frye with wonderful illustrator Steve Chorney standing in front of some of Steve’s originals.The amazing comedian and voice actor Stan Freberg with his wife Hunter at their very first Comic Con appearance! Stan was the beaver in “Lady & the Tramp”, and did a host of voices for Warner Bros. such as Pete Puma, Jr. Bear, and one half of the Goofy Gophers among others.A terrific Captain America who spontaneously got into a fight with this other costumed character who was on stilts! Some of these fans go all out when they make their costumes!I hung out at the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) booth quite a bit. Here Richard Thompson (cartoonist of “Cul-de-sac”) is chatting with John Kovaleski (who was selling collections of his “Bonanas” comic).This is a set piece used in the upcoming “Where the Wild Things Are” movie.One of my favorite things about Comic Con is hanging with cartoonists. Here at one party I’m hangin’ with Andrew Pepoy (“Fables” inker), Dave Dotson (“Outzkirts” comic strip), me, Denis LeBrun (formerly of the “Blondie” comic strip), and my writer friend Steve D’arcangelo.Some folks came in teams of costumes. Never saw these people buy anything.Sometimes you’d see the real deal on the show floor. Leonard Nimoy was there for several days cleaning up signing autographs at $60 a pop.Chad Frye with terrific artist Jim Lee.Former Seinfeld writer/producer Tom Gammill who now creates the comic strip “The Doozies” with David X. Cohen (co-creator of Futurama), his wife and Chad Frye.A great trio of Disney villains.Some booths just have huge neat geeky exhibits and photo ops.A homemade Han Solo in carbonite costume. I was happy to just put on my store bought clothes.
Each year at Comic Con, the Eisner Awards are given to the best and brightest talents in comics. Hosted by Bongo Comics’ Bill Morrison and assisted by his lovely wife Kayre, the Eisners have become a fun event of professional schmoozing and back slapping. It’s a true blend of the new young talent all the way through those who helped set the standard. If you attended, you would have rubbed shoulders with Neil Gaiman, Paul Levitz, Jane Wiedlin, Murphy Anderson, Stan Freberg, Bernie Wrightson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Gary Gianni, Scott Shaw!, Kazu Kibuishi, and many others.
The Eisner Awards (named after Will Eisner) honor the best in the comic book business. Here Mark Evanier and the legendary Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker) are presenting the Bill Finger Award for lifetime achievement in comics writing.Comedian and voice of Ratatouille Patton Oswalt at the Eisners. The Eisners were hosted by my friend Bill Morrison who strangely is not in any of my photos, but his lovely wife Kayre is here in the background as she tended the trophies.Eisner presenters and the writers of the Night at the Museum movies Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant on either side of Chad Frye.The best part of the Eisners was when my friend Russ Heath was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Here he is accepting his trophy from Sergio Aragones.Here’s a closer shot of Russ with his Hall of Fame Eisner trophy. As the only living recipient this year, Russ said, “I’m just glad to be alive to accept this thing. Thanks!” That was it! He got thunderous applause.There’s no better way to complete my Comic Con photos than with a shot of my favorite costume from the 4-day affair. Nothing says “The End” like a whoopie cushion.
My friend, Stan Sakai, has been drawing his terrific comic book Usagi Yojimbo for the past twenty five years. Two weeks ago, the San Diego Comic Con paid tribute to Stan and his creation with a panel and by featuring it in this year’s program book.
I belong to an LA based professional comics writer and cartoonist organization known as CAPS (Comic Art Professional Society), even having served as it’s president for four years or so. Stan Sakai is one of the founding members of the 30+ year old organization. Somehow, without Stan knowing, we all got together and did drawings of his famous character for a special tribute page in the Comic Con program book.
This is my interpretation of Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo created for the CAPS tribute.
Compiled by fellow member Jim MacQuarrie, many of the guys participated with their version of Usagi. In case you can’t read their signatures in the image below, beginning with the top row, here are the names of the contributing artists: Mell Lazarus, Stan Lee, Jim Wheelock, Chad Frye, Dan Spiegle, Dean Yeagle; 2nd row: Gary Goldstein, Nat Gertler, Bob Foster, Scott Shaw!, Mike Gray, Jim MacQuarrie, Tim Burgard; 3rd row: Andy Mitchell, Steve Greenberg, Randy Reynaldo, Benton Jew, Michael Aushenker, Rubèn Procopio, Sergio Aragonès; 4th row: Kazu Kibuishi, Bill Morrison, Doug Gray, Anson Jew, Mike Kazaleh, and Floyd Norman.
This is the tribute page by members of CAPS as seen in the 2009 San Diego Comic Con program book.
If you are a professional in the cartooning biz, and are interested in learning more about CAPS, please visit their website at CAPScentral.org.
Welcome to the last of my “Haiku Ewe” posts. If you haven’t been following along, “Haiku Ewe” is a web comic by Big Al the gal on GoComics.com. She asked me to fill in for a week when she injured her drawing hand. It was fun illustrating Al’s sweet, little lamb by putting her into scenes of impending doom all while set to contemplative haiku poetry.
Today, you will see the lamb intrigued by some berries, despite a fierce bear about to get all naturey on her. Below are the various steps from sketch to final comic. Enjoy!
This is the rough pencil drawing submitted to Big Al the gal for approval.Here’s the colored pencil line that was drawn onto some nice watercolor paper.The uncropped watercolored piece. Details to be finessed in the next stage!And here’s the final with Big Al’s haiku. I have worked quite a bit for Disney, and am a Disney guy at heart. Only one friend noticed the hidden Mickey in this piece. I even used to hide Mickey in still life oil paintings back in art school.
Well, thanks for following along with these “Haiku Ewe” posts. If you missed any, please CLICK HERE to see a list of them here on the blog, and enjoy! Next week I shall return to thoughts and art of a different nature. Perhaps I’ll share with you some photos of my experience at this year’s San Diego Comic Con!
Welcome to the fourth in my 5-part series of the step-by-step creation of my week’s worth of “Haiku Ewe” comics seen on GoComics.com last week. Thursday’s comic once again pits our little lamb in mortal danger – this time at the hands of a conniving wolf. While that is indeed scary, what might be scarier is the realization that wolves can write, and sheep can read.
Well, that is neither here nor there. Let’s just get on with the artwork, shall we? By the way, all the images today can be enlarged if you click on them.
Enjoy!
Here is the pencil rough drawn on tracing paper. While Big Al always wrote the haikus, I had my bit of fun coming up with the words on the signs. It’s not every day you get to be punny.Here’s the final pencil drawing (with colored pencils) with just a splash of paint on the background so far. I typically paint the element that’s furthest away first, and work my way to the front.The painted version without any finishing touches like additional colored pencil or highlights, shadows, words on the signs, etc.Here is the cropped final with all the little touches that make the artwork pop.
Be sure to come back tomorrow to see Friday’s final post on my guest artist week of “Haiku Ewe”!
Below is the third of my step-by-step of the process in doing the “Haiku Ewe” comic illustrations that appeared on GoComics.com the week of July 20-24. This particular comic was there just one week ago today.
Today’s comic continues the week long theme of the lamb being in mortal danger, but unlike the other days, this one shows her escaping what would surely have been a death of starvation down in that pit. It was nice of the gophers to lend a hand – er, head – wasn’t it?
Well, below are the various stages that I took the time to scan with limited comments. If you’d like to see previous posts on this series, just CLICK HERE!
Here’s the rough pencil version drawn on tracing paper. I will later tape this to the back of watercolor paper and trace it through by using a light table.
Black Grape Prismacolor pencil for the final line once again, with various stages of lighter colors the further back you go to help create depth.
Here’s the final uncropped painting. You can see that I used an airbrush in the pit. This was to help evenly darken areas without losing the integrity of the brushed on paint underneath it. You can see on the left where I was holding it.
And here’s the final with Big Al’s haiku. That “pop up” text kept me thinking of gophers popping up to help the lamb. A friend said something about it in conversation that led me to have her using the gophers as a kind of ladder out of the pit.
Come back again tomorrow to see all the art leading up to Thursday’s final image.
