Do you care to see what a cleaned up cartoonist looks like? I have PLENTY of photos to share with you from the black tie Reuben Awards banquet held last Saturday night on May 24. We COULD give these awards out wearing T-shirts and jeans, and maybe someday we will when we have enough categories to give one to everybody (cough-Grammys-cough), but for now there is something very classy about a tuxedo and gown (so long as they are not worn by one person at the same time).
Dad & Mom getting ready to attend their first Reuben Awards banquet.Wonderful comic book artist Stephanie Gladden and her husband John Miller all ready for the evening’s festivities.Yours truly (I waited to be in the pictures once I was all fancy) and Simpsons artist Bill Morrison who was about to run all the technical elements to the awards show.There were plenty of places where cartoonists could get some refreshing Arrowhead water such as this scene with Karen O’Connell, Brian Walker (“Hi & Lois”), and King Features’ Brendan Burford.I don’t know who this cartoonist is, but I like the cut of his jib.Animation guy Gary Goldstein and his wife Jayme enjoying the cocktail hour.Tom Gammill with his compact Cathy Guisewite accessory.Here I am with Wiley Miller (“Non Sequitur”) who was kneeling to get into the frame with me.After the cocktail hour, it was time to enter the Omni’s ballroom for dinner.After an opening film, NCS President Tom Richmond had some welcoming remarks for the audience.Master of Ceremonies Tom Gammill (writer for “The Simpsons”) opened with an enthusiastic, and rather long song about how the show was not going to go long.Having been dormant for a number of years, the NCS presented the A.C.E. (Amateur Cartoonist Extraordinaire) Award once again to a celebrity who had wanted to be a cartoonist. Former “MAD” editor Nick Meglin made the presentation to……Weird Al Yankovic who gave a heartfelt, and semi-sincere speech in a suit that was surprisingly NOT made of Hawaiian shirt patterns. (Wiley Miller must have bought the only one.)The next acceptance speech came from John Reiner & Bunny Hoest (“The Lockhorns”) who were bestowed the Gold Key Award which inducted them into the NCS Hall of Fame.Sergio Aragonès presented the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award to the legendary Russ Heath, who was having trouble keeping his rented tuxedo pants up due to suspenders being errantly absent from his rental package.I was next to Russ for dinner, and we snagged a nice shot together with his award at the beginning of the intermission.Disney Imagineering Legend Tony Baxter was in attendance along with Karen Evans who helps her father, Greg Evans, with the writing of his “Luann” comic strip.During intermission, Bunny Hoest put her hands in the air like she just didn’t care.Terri Libenson (“The Pajama Diaries”) engaging in some calisthenics.Jerry Van Amerongen (“Ballard Street”) wearing some inconspicuous vision correction lenses.When the awards were once again underway, Dave Whamond won the Silver Reuben for Magazine Illustration.Last year’s co-Reuben Award winners Rick Kirkman (“Baby Blues”) and Brian Crane (“Pickles”) presented the Silver Reuben for Greeting Cards to……Mark Parisi who also draws the “Off the Mark” comic strip.The Advertising Illustration Silver Reuben went to the very giddy and very talented Rich Powell.Patrick McDonnell (“Mutts”) presented the Silver Reuben for Book Illustration to William Joyce who was not on hand to accept. The plaque will look very nice next to Joyce’s Oscar.Brian Walker entertained the crowd with his rendition of “My Way”, after which he handed the Silver Reuben for Magazine Gag Cartoon to……Matt Diffee who draws for “The New Yorker.” Interestingly, Matt contemplated out loud how it was odd for him to be winning the award when his parents had never subscribed to the magazine while he was growing up “because they were not Communists.”Have you ever seen Mark Evanier in a tuxedo? We all did when he presented the Silver Reuben for best Comic Book.Sergio Aragonès was only happy to accept the Comic Book award from his old pal and frequent collaborator for his work on “Sergio Aragonès Funnies”.Jerry Scott (“Zits” & “Baby Blues” writer) made it to the stage in time to mug for the camera with a cut-out of Ernie Bushmiller, creator of the “Nancy” comic strip that Jerry had a turn at drawing back in the 1980s.Ryan Pagelow seemed stunned to win for On-Line Comics – Short Form for “Buni”. Either that or he was contemplating becoming a dad for the first time as his pregnant wife Nicky looked on.The many faces of Australian native Jason Chatfield. Can you believe they gave this guy a Green Card?They also let Chatfield present the Newspaper Panel Cartoon Silver Reuben to Dave Coverly (“Speed Bump”).Michael Ramirez (“Investor’s Business Daily”) won the Silver Reuben for Editorial Cartoons giving his speech next to presenter and fellow editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich (“The Atlanta Journal Constitution”).In the shadow of Tom Gammill’s Dean Doozie, Lynn Johnston (“For Better Or For Worse”) presented the award for Newspaper Comic Strip.Isabella Bannerman happily accepted the Newspaper Comic Strip Silver Reuben for her work on “Six Chix”.Then the moment all were waiting for. With four nominees this year, the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year was presented by Mell Lazarus (“Momma”) to Wiley Miller for his work on “Non Sequitur”.And thus was the end of a long, but shorter than last year, show. (Stephen & Heidi Silver)
To see a list of all the winners in this year’s Reuben Awards, CLICK HERE to go to the NCS website!
There are more photos yet to come from the Reuben Awards weekend’s last day!
These photos were taken one week ago today during the National Cartoonists Society’s (NCS) Reuben Awards weekend in San Diego, California. Many of the NCS members are not usually in front of the camera since most of us have a face for cartooning. WARNING: Cartoonists may not be as funny looking as you would expect them to be.
So, on Saturday, May 24, the convention festivities continued. There was a lovely buffet breakfast, followed by a business meeting, then four great seminars after lunch before the black tie Reuben Awards banquet in the evening! Read on to see what cartoonists do when they get together…
Despite a late night of socializing the previous day, bleary-eyed cartoonists wandered out of their rooms into a nice buffet breakfast. Seen here from front to back are Ralph Smith, comic book legend Russ Heath and his daughter, and “Hogan’s Alley” editor Tom Heintjes.“New Yorker” cartoonist Mort Gerberg and his wife Judith chatting at breakfast with Sergio & Charlene Aragonès.Despite the name tag, this is actually NCS President Tom Richmond (“MAD Magazine”) presiding over the super secret club business meeting. None of us can ever remember the secret handshake, though, so it took awhile before the meeting could start.Jeff Bacon (who organizes NCS trips with the USO to draw for the troops), Todd Clark (“Lola” comic strip), and illustrator Jerry Dowling.Bill Janocha, assistant to “Beetle Bailey’s” Mort Walker, is presenting a citation to Marine CPL McKelzey for the Marines’ involvement in the No Greater Love organization’s “Ring the Bells for Freedom” campaign this year.Lynn Johnston (“For Better Or For Worse”) caught in a bemused moment across the room.Matt Diffee (cartoonist for “The New Yorker”) contemplating the cartooning business at hand.Gag writer Helene Parsons backed by Suzy Spafford and Sergio Aragonès.The first seminar of the day was all about Rube Goldberg, the namesake of the Reuben Awards. On hand for the talk was Rube’s granddaughter Jennifer George, and Charles Kochman, editor of the recent Rube Goldberg art book published by Abrams.John McMeel (Andrews McMeel Publishing), Bill Hinds (“Tank McNamara”) and Dave Blazek (“Loose Parts”) riveted by the Q&A.“The Family Circus'” Jeff Keane just being Jeffy.David Folkman (“Hogan’s Alley” art director) with our second speaker of the afternoon, Sandra Bell-Lundy (“Between Friends” comic strip).Separated at birth, cartoonists Grey Blackwell and Jack Pittman.Patrick McDonnell (“Mutts”) with his wife Karen O’Connell.“Rhymes With Orange’s” Hilary Price.How many cartoonists does it take to make Powerpoint work? In this case, three: John Reiner (“The Lockhorns”), illustrator Adrian Sinnott, and John Lotshaw.The third speakers of the day were Bunny Hoest (seen here) and John Reiner of “The Lockhorns”.John Reiner followed Bunny by sharing with the audience examples of his skills at caricature.Animation character designer Stephen Silver with “MAD Magazine’s” Sam Viviano.Bill Holbrook in a rare state of rest after often laboring over three comic strips.Aaack! It’s Cathy Guisewite!The final speakers of the afternoon were moderator Mark Evanier who interviewed comic book legend Russ Heath.Sergio Aragonès and his famous mustache taking in the work of Russ Heath.Marie and Tom Stemmle from New Jersey.The great Stan Goldberg attended after he and his wife, Pauline, recovered over the winter from a terrible car accident. Stan commented after Russ Heath’s talk that as the colorist for Timely Comics back in the day, he hated obscuring Russ’ beautiful line work with colors.
Up next, photos from the black tie Reuben Awards gala!
Yes, the time has come to allow all you little people to have a peek into the lofty lives of we cartoonists. Each Memorial Day weekend, the National Cartoonists Society blesses a random city with its presence. They like to choose a community that never ever has the opportunity to see a real live cartoonist, so this year they chose San Diego, California. (What’s that? The largest comic convention in the world? Each July? Really?!) Moving on…
The view from my room at the Omni. Having only been to San Diego during Comic Con, it was hard to believe that you could ever see the ground around the convention center.
Cartoonists from all over the world descended upon the Omni hotel located directly across from the convention center where Comic Con rears its nerdy head every summer. The Omni is also located directly next to the ballpark where the Padres play. In fact, they had their own ramp right from the hotel into the stadium. The Cubs were in town that weekend, and also chose our hotel to rest their weary heads where they could dream about what it might feel like to be in a World Series.
The Omni Hotel directly next to Petco Park where the Padres play baseball. Sadly, no baseballs were hit into my room.
Things really got underway at the Reubens at 1pm on Friday, May 23rd. That is when the seminars began. I’ll let the photos tell the story…
The first speaker of the weekend was Eddie Pittman, a former Disney Feature Animation artist who recently worked on “Phineas & Ferb” and draws his own web comic “Red’s Planet.”John Lotshaw (on R) ran the technical side of all the seminars. Here he is helping Chris Houghton (on L) set things up for his talk.Having travelled from Spain to be there, Josè Villena from the online strip “Onion & Pea” talking with Tom Gammill, cartoonist of “The Doozies” and writer for “The Simpsons” television show.Chris Houghton, the first recipient of the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship five years ago, spoke about his work in comics and animation.Hector Cantú, one of the creators of the “Baldo” comic strip chatting with “MAD Magazine’s” Sam Viviano.Mell Lazarus (“Momma”) chatting with Lynn Johnston (“For Better Or For Worse”).Bill Hinds (“Tank McNamara”), Wiley Miller (“Non Sequitur”), and John Hambrock (“The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee”) chatting between seminars.The third speaker for the day was Greg Evans, creator of the comic strip “Luann”. Despite the photo, no, he did not blow lots of kisses into the audience.Nick Meglin (former “MAD” editor), Linda Maloof, and Grant Geissman (composer for “2 1/2 Men” and author of a new book on MAD man Al Feldstein) all riveted by Greg Evans’ talk.Darrin Bell (“Rudy Park” and “Candorville”) chatting with Mike Cope who does a variety of work.The most familiar view of David Folkman who is always gracious to be the official unofficial photographer of the Reubens.Two little Mr. Burnses making their maniacal presence known at the Reubens.The two little Mr. Burnses turned out to be Caiden and Macey Silver (who seem to still be feeling the effects of the masks), the children of Heidi (seen here) and Stephen Silver as Pauline Goldberg (Stan’s wife) looks on.Another shot of Mell Lazarus catching up with old friends.Suzy Spafford was our last speaker of the day who spoke all about her world of “Suzy’s Zoo” that she has been creating for 45 years!
After Friday’s four seminars were through, it was time for the opening night party where everyone gathered by the pool at the Omni and enjoyed a buffet style dinner with friends, family and colleagues!
Winner of a Reuben Award last year, Brian Crane (“Pickles” comic strip) meeting my mother, Barbara Frye.Cartoonists Sean Parkes, Stephen Silver, and Ed Steckley/Mr. Hyde.John Kovaleski examining Randy Rider’s tonsils.Chris Houghton with his wife and fabulous cartoonist, Kassandra Heller.My parents, David & Barbara Frye, having a marginal meeting with “MAD’s” Sergio Aragonès!Nick Meglin (“MAD”), Jerry Van Amerongen (“Ballard Street” comic strip) and Charlene Aragonès.Bill Holbrook (“On the Fastrack”, “Kevin & Kell” & “Safe Havens” strips) with his daughters chatting with Suzy Spafford (Suzy’s Zoo) and her husband Ray Lidstrom.Scott Ketcham who has taken over much of the writing of his father’s creation “Dennis the Menace”.Stephan Pastis (“Pearls Before Swine”) with Jerry Scott’s wife Kim, and daughters Abbey and Cady Lane.The new Charlie’s Angels: Jennifer George (Rube Goldberg’s granddaughter), Heather Steckley, and Heidi Silver.Greg Evans’ very cheerful wife Betty sharing a laugh with my mother, Barbara.Jerry Scott (author of “Zits” and “Baby Blues”), Stephan Pastis wearing a broken cloak of invisibility, and Dave Coverly (“Speed Bump”).
If you want to see MORE fun photos of cartoonists not drawing anything, stick around. There are more from the Reuben Awards yet to come!
A few weeks ago some friends had me over for a dinner of ribs with good cartoonist company. I’m not sure exactly why this strange image came to mind, because there were actually no cows there eating themselves, and as far as I know, I was not inadvertently eating my own ribs. It just tickled my funny bone (and no, we didn’t eat any of those, either).
Personally, the ONLY time I’d want a rib taken from me is if it meant that when I woke up, a beautiful woman was made from it just for me.
I’ll bet you thought I was done talking about my painting that is on eBay this week being sold to raise money for some friends. Well, I’m not. Just as if it was your birthday, I have a bonus gift for you – a peek at the art that happens BEFORE the art!
When I create an illustration like the one I posted on Monday of Usagi Yojimbo attacking, I always do a preliminary drawing to plan my own attack for the final art. Working on a Cintiq (a special computer monitor that you can draw on), I sketch out my scene using Photoshop. First comes a really rough sketch to get the idea out on the page very quickly. Most folks would have a hard time understanding the image at this point, but it is just meant to give me an idea of the overall composition. The size and placement of characters and scenery are worked out in this stage.
You can see the initial drawing is pretty rough. The birthing process is never pretty.
In the case of this Usagi Yojimbo piece, the tighter digital sketch that came next (seen below) clearly identified the details of the scene. Then, so as to prevent a lot of experimenting in the painting stage, I worked out all the color choices right onto the rough sketch which was then printed out and taped up next to the final paper on my very non-digital drafting table. This made it so much easier to follow when mixing paint and laying down the watercolors.
The image is all planned out now, and ready for paint! Just stay away from the business end of that blade!
If you compare this final color sketch to the final painted piece I posted on Monday, you can see that even more changes were made to the drawing when I transferred it to the watercolor paper. A sugegasa, a Japanese conical hat, was added, along with one of Stan Sakai’s little lizard creatures that often make an appearance in his comic book Usagi Yojimbo. Otherwise all the details are there ready for the traditional makeover as a watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustration!
If you are interested in owning the final piece that will be published in July by Dark Horse Comics in The Sakai Project book, it will remain on eBay until this coming Sunday, May 4. CLICK HERE if you’d like to bid on it!
Yeah, yeah, I know. You are probably thinking “Easter was last weekend. Why did he save the bunny for this weekend?” Well, I’ll tell you…
This is my Usagi Yojimbo illustration that will appear in Dark Horse Comics’ “The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo” being released in July, 2014.
My good friends Stan & Sharon Sakai have been going through a tough time over the past couple of years. Sharon has had an inoperable brain tumor for many years that slowly started altering her quality of life. While she was able to function normally for several years, in the past two years it really took hold and has made it so that she is completely dependent on 24/7 medical care with random emergency visits to the hospital (where she happened to go once again this week with pneumonia).
Taken in 2004 during healthier days, Stan & Sharon Sakai visiting the ancient aqueducts of Segovia, Spain.
Stan happens to be a fellow cartoonist having created the comic book Usagi Yojimbo (published by Dark Horse Comics) that is celebrating it’s 30th birthday this year. As a freelance artist, Stan has indeed had medical coverage for his family, but Sharon’s around-the-clock care has required more than what his insurance will cover.
The members of CAPS (the Comic Art Professional Society based in Burbank, CA), of which I am a member and a former president, got together and decided to put together a fundraiser for Stan & Sharon. Many fans and colleagues started sending in thousands of dollars for this dear couple, and original art also began pouring in.
Many artists were sending in original creations of Stan’s ronin rabbit, Usagi Yojimbo. It became evident that there was more that could be done than just sell the art. Why not a book? Dark Horse quickly gravitated to the idea and offered to pay for the publication and promotion of a book with all the proceeds from the sales going to the Sakais. The book was put together as CAPS’ first major publication under the guidance of CAPS member and professional editor Bill Morrison.
So, the bunny above is my contribution to the book The Sakai Project: Artists Celebrate Thirty Years of Usagi Yojimbo. Created with watercolor, gouache, and colored pencils, it is a large illustration (15.5 x 20.5″) of Stan’s character in a forest of bamboo lethally dealing with mysterious attackers.
The book will be released in July just in time for the San Diego Comic Con, and can be pre-ordered from your local comic book shop right now! It will include art by Jack Davis, Mike Mignola, Adam Hughes, Tim Sale, Frank Cho, Bill Morrison, Sergio Aragonès, Stephen Silver, Dean Yeagle, Kazu Kibuishi, Oscar Martin, Dan Brereton, Art Adams, Joyce Chin, Jeff Smith, Tom Richmond, Al Jaffee, Tom Richmond, Craig Thompson, Eric Powell, and hundreds more. Stan himself did the cover art which CAPS will be selling on eBay in the coming weeks.
Stan Sakai himself created the cover illustration of the forthcoming “The Sakai Project” book from CAPS and Dark Horse. Stan’s piece will be sold on eBay in the coming weeks.
In fact, all the original art that was donated by the artists is being sold by CAPS on eBay right now! Since March 6, CAPS has been listing 35-40 items each Thursday evening with auctions ending ten days later on Sunday evening. While it would be swell of you to be bidding on lots of great items as I have been, it would be even sweller if you bid on MY piece. It just went live on eBay last night!
Sure, bunnies can be cute, but you would be ill advised to taunt one that is holding a sword.
I very rarely part with my original art, especially fully painted illustrations like this one. If I did, I would be asking $1,500.00 for this one. CAPS started this piece at $9.99 and there is NO minimum. This is a chance to acquire one of my published pieces for a potentially VERY good deal. More than that, you would be helping a very sweet couple in need.
Have you ever had one of those weeks where all you can think about is caribou? Boy, I have! Caribou this, and caribou that. Naturally, I did a caribou sketch. How could I not?!
I like to draw from real life. This was about the silliest caribou I’ve ever come across in the wild.
