Illustration Guy Blog – The Chad Frye

Creative musings about creative stuff by a creative cartoonist.

Drawn & Quoted: Garrison Keillor

“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…
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The Tazmanian Devil

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.…
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Dave Is Seventy

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…
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Pixar’s BRAVE

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…
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Drawn & Quoted: The Villain

“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) In response to Mr. Hitchcock, “Oops.”
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GraceLife Logo

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…
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Danny Elfman

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…
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Maurice Sendak 1928-2012

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…
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