Last month a new version of Stephen King’s It was released in the movies. I have not seen it. Despite enjoying creating monsters all the time, I embrace the silly, not really the spooky. Also, I remember seeing the television version of It back in the early 90s, and it ruined me. So, no thanks to any new scares.
It was the television version that I returned to for inspiration for this birthday card I made for a friend this past summer. Tim Curry’s version of the creepy clown Pennywise has done more than its share of damage to my dreams thank-you-very-much. So, here’s my silly ink and watercolor version for Emily’s birthday card…
I’m sorry, but all that candy and what-not can’t possibly be very sanitary down in the sewer.
This past weekend I attended the birthday party of a friend. A few weeks before, she had told me a story of how a few years back she was on a quest to get a pink Eeyore doll that The Disney Store had produced. She had told several friends about it, and then within a day, she was given multiple copies of the pink plush. D’oh!
As her birthday approached, this story had stuck in my head, so I went ahead and made Lauren a picture of more of the gang in this off-model color. Well, all were off except, of course, little Piglet who felt right at home in the color.
Someone must have washed them together with a red shirt.
While the above piece is a traditional watercolor and colored pencil painting, just for kicks for those of you who enjoy seeing more of the process, I’m including the original rough sketch that I did in Photoshop. I cleaned things up when I traced this rough onto the final watercolor paper.
Pink Pooh. Sounds like a medical problem, doesn’t it?
Sometimes I really don’t know why certain ideas pop into my head. It can be completely empty one minute, then BAM! A completely random thought quickly inspires a completely silly drawing. Thus was the case this past weekend.
Without provocation, somehow my mind zeroed in on Charles Lindbergh’s historic first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, then in an instant, I wondered what an old man might feel about this event today had he been a child at the time. Then this drawing came to mind. Really, these thoughts all took place in a matter of seconds not having seen anything about Lindbergh. It was totally random.
Of course, if one were to do the math, this guy would be REALLY old. Lindbergh’s flight was in 1927, so if this guy was alive and remembered it – let’s say he was five years old back then. That would make this chair jumper 95 today. More power to him.
Anyway, I grabbed my trusty tan paper sketchbook, and this scene came forth.
This summer the Frye family did something it had never done before. We had a family reunion. Yep, my parents, my siblings, their spouses and kids, and yes, even I, gathered on the beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Seventeen of us descended upon two beach houses.
Of course, any good family reunion requires a family T-shirt. For some strange reason, that job fell upon my shoulders. Imagine that! Well, when duty calls….
Now, I’m not saying my family looks like this. We look much sillier in bathing suits.
I got to thinking that good ol’ Blackbeard, the scourge of the sea that he was, happened to spend the last of his days in the Outer Banks. His end was untimely, of course. No self-respecting pirate dared to live into a life of old age, but was he felled by the sword? Or did Blackbeard and his mates meet their end foolishly surfing the untamed shark infested waves in a hurricane? History says one thing, my drawing says another.
A family self-portrait in red.
As you can see, everyone seemed to enjoy the shirts. However, a few nephews wondered out loud why Blackbeard’s beard was actually purple. Uncle Chad’s answer? Because.
Yes, believe it or not, Flag Day is a thing. The United States adopted an official flag to represent the new country on June 14, 1777 – the flag good ol’ Betsy Ross sewed for George Washington.
Of course, as the country grew to have more than 13 states, the flag changed from the 13 stars to the 50 we have today. However, it wasn’t until 1916 that President Woodrow Wilson declared June 14 to be Flag Day, and it was backed by an act of Congress. Unfortunately, it is not a holiday that warrants a day off from work.
So, celebrate by hoisting a flag in honor of us having one to hoist!
By the way, the late Stan Freberg was a good friend of mine, and I just LOVE his comedy album from the 1960s called “Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America.” Stan takes you through the early years of our nation’s history and turns it on its ear. Done in a sketch comedy style, the album remains my favorite all-time comedy album. Just felt like taking one of his jokes and giving it some visuals today. If you think of it, seek out Stan’s album whether via YouTube, or better yet, a real record or CD of it to listen to over and over. GREAT for summer road trips!
Just to give you a taste, here’s the Betsy Ross skit on YouTube. Please forgive the frenetic visuals. Those aren’t Stan’s. Just the audio, and he plays George Washington himself!
This started as an exercise in trying to sketch an interesting tree in my sketchbook. Suddenly it became a thing. Can you tell I create art to tell stories?
Over the past year, Bongo Comics’ Bill Morrison and I have been working on putting together a fundraiser for the National Cartoonists Society Foundation. This week we launched the auction on Ebay.
We have 85 items featuring the work of over 70 of the nation’s top cartoonists, illustrators, and animators, most of whom donated their own work to our efforts for which we thank them!
All the money raised goes to the NCS Foundation, a fully licensed 501(c)(3) charity, to help them continue their work in assisting cartoonists in need, providing scholarships to students, and further promoting the cartoon arts which has been the hallmark of the National Cartoonists Society since its inception in 1946.
To see the art and to place bids, CLICK HERE to go directly to the NCS Foundation seller page on Ebay!
