“Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted, but getting what you have, which once you have got it you may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.”
– Garrison Keillor (1942 – )
A Prairie Home Companion came to Los Angeles this past weekend. Lake Wobegon was a long way from home when Garrison Keillor brought his well known NPR show to the famed Hollywood Bowl. Regrettably, I let the opportunity slip by to get my tickets to see the rare recording of an actual radio show – a true dwindling art in the world of entertainment.
However, I did have the good fortune to be able to meet Mr. Keillor when he did a book signing the next day at the wonderful Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena. Vroman’s has been a Pasadena staple for over 100 years. It is a beautiful locally owned two-story book store that really understands its community far better than Amazon ever will. They host countless author chats and signings, and champion local community events and causes.
Garrison Keillor, in his white summer suit and trademark red sneakers, was so charming and affable to each and every customer who came out to buy his new Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny book. He exhibited every bit the gentle, down-home persona that you hear on the radio. I was so intrigued by his unique face, that when I came home from the signing, I felt the urge to draw him.
So, enjoy the drawing, and if you aren’t familiar with Garrison Keillor’s work, take a listen any weekend on NPR to his tales of Lake Wobegon “where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.”
Every now and then I get asked by a kid to draw something that is completely out of my repertoire. This past weekend a young second cousin of mine was out here in California with his dad on a father/son sightseeing trip, and he asked if I could draw a Tazmanian Devil for his friend. I’ve never drawn Taz professionally, and it had even been years since I tried it just as a self-amusement exercise.
I remember reading once that the great Charles Schulz was at a public signing event drawing his Peanuts characters for children. He looked down and asked a little boy what he would like to have. The boy replied, “I want a drawing of Popeye.” Schulz said that from then on he learned to draw a few other characters in case a moment like that should come up again!
I, however had the luxury to do my Taz drawing in my studio where I have access to reference materials. So, I did this pencil sketch of Warner Bros.’ popular Looney Tunes character The Tazmanian Devil for young cousin Jason – or his friend, and did a second one so they both could have a drawing.
He shouldn’t have been too hard to draw. I wake every morning looking at a molded Taz alarm clock complete with moveable menacing arms!
Drawing Taz was really fun. Bugs Bunny and his pals were the few cartoons I was allowed to watch while growing up. They instilled in me my love for animation. Unfortunately, I have only had the opportunity to work on one Warner Bros. project – a Michigan J. Frog coloring book. Not long after finishing that book, I moved to California where I became a Disney guy for almost ten years. In hindsight, it is kind of ironic that my one WB project spoofed a Disney movie. It was titled Croakahontas.
Well, enjoy Taz, although I’m sure a Popeye drawing by Charles Schulz would have been much more interesting!
This past weekend I made a quick trip from my California home to visit my parents in Delaware. I’m not usually the fast jet-setting type who just flies off to the other coast for the weekend, but this was a very special occasion – a milestone if you will. My father was turning 70.
Technically Dad turned 70 back at the end of May, but we were gathering to celebrate it here in June unbeknownst to him. Carefully laid plans for this momentous family celebration began last year. We wanted it to be a grand festive time with food, family and friends. Mother tried to find clever ways to get Dad out of the house so she could have freedom to make her preparations. I worked on getting invitations into the hands of their many friends both near and far – a list that seems to grow shorter with each passing year.
Dad was born in the thick of World War II in May of 1942. He was the second of two sons born to a photographer and a home maker. WWII was the impetus for what we were going to do for the party. I began with researching old war propaganda posters when creating the painting for the invitations. One poster in particular reached out and slapped me like the Allies did to Hitler. It had a ferocious yellow sky with bomber planes and a rugged Uncle Sam right in the middle. I made my Uncle Sam hold a baby that resembled an infant version of my father, and the bombers became a flying fleet of storks ready to drop their bundles of joy onto unsuspecting families.
Changing the word “Dave” to “Dad”, I sent my father a birthday card with this art a week or two before the surprise party.
Carrying the WWII theme inside the invitation was a newsreel spiel I wrote appropriate for the occasion:
NEWSFLASH:In late May of 1942 in the midst of WWII, the stork visited Kenneth and Jeanetta Frye of Wisconsin, U.S.A. with their second little bundle of joy. That year the advance of the evil Axis was curtailed, Bing Crosby opened up a Holiday Inn and had time for a trip to Morocco with Bob “Where’s My Oscar” Hope, Glen Miller earned the first ever gold record for riding the Chattanooga Choo Choo a million times, Bambi lost his mother, General Douglas MacArthur promised to return, and Sam was playing it again in Casablanca.
The day of the party was very special. Somehow through all the planning, Dad never caught on and was genuinely surprised to see us all there in the kitchen where he stood dripped in sweat from a golf outing with my uncle. Along with my aunt and uncle, all my siblings travelled from their far away homes, and old friends from Arizona, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Tennessee joined those newly formed friendships from Delaware. We had times of reflection, played games about 1942 and made fun of growing old, listened to 1940s music, and enjoyed good food and greater laughter. Best of all, we were able to give thanks to the Lord for the wonderful life He has given my father, and in respect, the life He has given us for having been a part of Dad’s life.
The next day as we all dispersed into the haze of our own corners of the country, the thought struck me that we aren’t promised long life, good health and happiness. We just take each day as a gift and live as we can before the Lord. I love my dad, and look forward to however many more of those special days God will give us together, and be grateful.
Last week I attended an advance screening of Pixar’s latest film, Brave, at Disney’s El Capitan theater in Hollywood. The folks at Beyond the Marquee invited me to write an actual review of the film.
Writing a review for a film in an industry of which you are a part is a tricky thing. You want to be fair, but not write anything to alienate you from being hired to work on animated projects in the future. It takes a long time, usually four to five years, to create a feature animated film with much hard work and sweat going into every decision. Having been there, I have tremendous respect for what goes into a project. At the same time, the length of those years sometimes can be numbing to the point where an insider isn’t sure any more as to whether or not something is funny, touching, or wise to include.
So, I didn’t write any spoilers that the trailer didn’t already give away except for one thing that I didn’t feel was wise to include – the inclusion of nudity in this film. Yes, nudity.
To find out more before the movie opens tomorrow, pleaseCLICK HERE or on the image to see my article onBeyond the Marquee.
The third film this year to feature archery (following “The Hunger Games” and “The Avengers”), Pixar’s Princess Merida takes aim.
“In the old days villains had mustaches and kicked the dog. Audiences are smarter today. They don’t want their villain to be thrown at them with green limelight on his face. They want an ordinary human being with failings.”
– Alfred Hitchcock (1899 – 1980)
Thankfully Hitchcock didn’t add “obvious combover” in there, too, or this drawing would be totally screwed.
While most of what I draw and paint skews mostly to the cartoony side of life, now and then projects arise that just deal with type. I actually was trained in school as a graphic designer where dealing with type is VERY common, but I never worked as one. My focus was always illustration and cartooning, so it is interesting when illustration projects come up that deal with typography.
A few weeks ago I was approached with a project to help out my Sunday school class. The class name is called GraceLife, and they already had a logo designed years ago that they used for everything. For this piece, they wanted the logo given a handmade treatment. It was to be used on the cover of a keepsake book for one of our class’ pastors who was leaving us to pastor a church in Ohio.
So, it was drawn on a beige piece of Canson paper, given an ink wash, some red watercolor paint, and a dash of white highlights. It was then finished up with colored pencils and a spritz of ink from a toothbrush.
One week ago today I had the opportunity to attend a Q&A session at Warner Bros. Records with the one and only Danny Elfman. Noted film score historian Jeff Bond sat on a makeshift stage in the woodsy outdoor setting and conducted an interview with Danny for almost two hours including a generous amount of questions from the rapt audience. Danny’s latest film score, Dark Shadows, was released by Warner that day on CD and marks the 14th big screen collaboration Danny has had with film director Tim Burton that began twenty-seven years ago with Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure.
As a genre, I am enamored with film music. It is music that tells a story – quite literally. As an illustrator and artist for animation, my drawings are also used to tell stories. There’s nothing more appropriate to draw to than a great film score. In fact, I created this little caricature illustration of Danny from the Q&A while listening to his hauntingly beautiful new score.
Danny Elfman at Warner Bros. Records on May 8, 2012
I first became aware of Danny when I was in high school. Tim Burton’s gothic Batman was unlike anything we had seen before of the Caped Crusader on screen, and that music with the swirling moody melodies and the creepy chorus was just exhilarating. Mr. Elfman has continued to carve out a most unique voice in the world of film music, a few of my favorites being Edward Scissorhands, the rapturous Black Beauty, Good Will Hunting, and Standard Operating Procedure. He is having a busy 2012 – still to come will be Men In Black III and his 15th Burton movie, the black and white stop-motion animated Frankenweenie.
Thank you, Danny, for all the auditory enjoyment you have summoned from the shadows thus far, and yet to come. Whether or not you agree when looking at this piece, my drawings truly ARE better for it.
The news of Maurice Sendak’s passing this morning over breakfast sent a pang through my drawing hand. Hundreds, maybe thousands of new children’s books come out every year, but only a few will stick in the heart of a child as they grow into an adult. Even more so, few illustrators have such a unique vision that their work lives on for multiple generations. Maurice was one such artist.
While Sendak had worked for many years on many books, he is best known for Where the Wild Things Are that was first published in 1963. It had already been republished several times when little Chad discovered it about 16 years later while first learning to read. How could I not LOVE the tale of young Max, my peer, having adventures with those enchanting beasts (although, I was decidedly MUCH better behaved than Max <cough cough>). I likely read the story from the library because until a couple of years ago, I didn’t own my own copy. However, the fact that a brand new copy can still be easily acquired is testament of the appeal Mr. Sendak’s story has had for generations.
A couple of years ago, my friend Cory Godbey had an inspired idea. Cory, an amazing illustrator himself, invited me to do an illustration in tribute to Mr. Sendak’s most famous work. I was very happy to participate, as were the other 179 artists who also contributed. Cory put them all together on a website called TerribleYellowEyes.com where you can still go to enjoy them.
Chad Frye’s art for the “Where the Wild Things Are” tribute website TerribleYellowEyes.com.
So, while there is a twinge of sadness in the news today, Mr. Sendak’s work will live on to entertain and inspire many more children over the years as it has done with their parents and grandparents before.
LET THE WILD RUMPUS CONTINUE!
I originally talked about this Where the Wild Things Are tribute piece back in 2009 and showed step-by-step its creation in eight parts. If you’d like to revisit those details,CLICK HERE.
