Category: Cartoons

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!

 

 

And just because now you are curious, here is Psalm 98 in its entirety, something I did not include in my printed Christmas card:

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory. 2 The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. 3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. 5 Sing unto the Lord with the harp; with the harp, and the voice of a psalm. 6 With trumpets and sound of cornet make a joyful noise before the Lord, the King. 7 Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. 8 Let the floods clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together 9 Before the Lord; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.

Categories
Animals Art: Colored Pencil Art: Painting Art: Watercolor Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations

2016 Monster Month: Day 15 – Final Frontier

You know what they say: “Never ever get between a mama bear alien and her cubs.”

This, most definitely, is the astronaut’s final frontier.

 

The dark side of the moon is about to get darker.
The dark side of the moon is about to get darker.

 

It is hard to believe it, but we are now 3/4 of the way through Monster Month! Come back again Monday for more demented doodles!

Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

2016 Monster Month: Day 6 – Eyes on the Ball

Today is Columbus Day, which means here in the States that many people have the day off from work. The weather is still nice in much of the country, so I imagine there will be quite a few who will make it out to whack a few balls around the course. I love playing golf, but my play is usually pretty monstrous.

As you can see with today’s monster, it is actually a repeat of my Monster Month logo eyes, but in a way you haven’t seen them before! A couple of years ago, my pal Mike Kunkel (creator of the comic Herobear and the Kid) got a few cartoonist friends together to play a round of golf in a mini tournament that he called The Cartoonist Cup. One of the requirements of play was that we had to get our own golf balls made, which I thought was a terrific idea. It isn’t hard nor too expensive to get your own design onto a golf ball.

 

My evil eyes ball is flanked on the left by Mike Kunkel's ball, and on the right is Jason Lethcoe's custom golf ball.
My evil eyes ball is flanked on the left by Mike Kunkel’s ball, and on the right is Jason Lethcoe’s custom golf ball.

 

We had a GREAT time on the course that day with a foursome that included Mike, myself, Jason Lethcoe and Stephen Silver. The reason you only see three balls in the photo is because Stephen didn’t realize we were supposed to get balls made, so at the end of the game, just the three of us traded balls with each other. They serve as a fun reminder of a good time with friends.

There is talk of getting together sometime to do this again, so perhaps in a future Monster Month I’ll have a new golf ball to share with you!

Categories
Art: Inking Cartoons Chad About Town Character Designs Comic Books Monsters

2016 Monster Month: Day 5 – Bad Apples

My friend Rick Detorie, the cartoonist of the syndicated comic strip One Big Happy, has a collection of vintage produce labels originally intended for the sides of crates back in the day. They are all gorgeous old designs in immaculate unused condition. Rick doesn’t like them the way they are, though. He asks his cartoonist buddies if they would draw all over them.

So, Rick let me choose one, and this one with three big apples just spoke to me. I immediately could see their potential. First of all, I was amazed at the magical apple tree that could grow three different types of apples, so that impressed me. Secondly, I could tell those were bad apples that needed to be exposed.

So, with a little white gouache and some black ink, this produce label takes on a much improved form…

 

I like a nice still life painting, don't you?
I like a nice still life painting, don’t you?

 

I especially like the touch of the small print that came on the label which says….

 

It's nice that these apples come with a guarantee like this.
What a nice guarantee. I wonder whose hand these apples picked?

Be sure to come back on Monday when more monster madness will continue!

Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Cartoons Character Designs Illustrations Monsters

Do You Instagram?

Earlier this year a friend talked me into joining Instagram. I was apprehensive at first because it was going to be yet another thing to update constantly, but when I took a look and saw all the amazing creativity there, it felt like I should have joined that party long ago. So, I got on my computer and joined it, not realizing that the only way to post was to do so from a mobile device. As a non-mobile phone user, this complicated things.

Well, I got it worked out, and have been posting lots of art there. While some drawings only make it to Instagram, some also get posted here on the ol’ blog. So, I invite you to check it out if you also are an Instagram user, and follow me there. My handle is ChadFrye_IllustrationGuy (naturally), and you can get to it by CLICKING HERE!

You can also be whisked away to Instagramland by clicking on the image below that features some Instagram posts.

 

Some of the many pieces posted on my Instagram. Click on the image to check them out!
Some of the many pieces posted on my Instagram. Click on the image to check them out!
Categories
Animals Art: Animation Art: Colored Pencil Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Painting Art: Photoshop Art: Watercolor Bible Art Caricature Cartoons Character Designs Disney Illustrations Monsters Random Doodles Sketchbook

Mell’s Piano

My recently departed friend Mell Lazarus (cartoonist of the comic strip Momma) has a white baby grand piano in his living room that he invited visiting cartoonists to draw on. It has sketches on it from the likes of Charles Schulz, Gary Trudeau, Will Eisner, Eric Goldberg, Gary Baseman, Bil Keane, Patrick McDonnell, Mort Drucker, Stephan Pastis, Barbara Dale, Tony Bancroft, Jack Davis, Lynn Johnston, Mike Kunkel, and many, many more. Perhaps you’ll recognize the characters even if you don’t know the artists names.

Back in 1997 when this project was pretty new and there were only a handful of sketches on it, Mell invited me to add a drawing. I had JUST moved to California to work for Disney, and was only a kid in the biz, so it was pretty intimidating – so intimidating that I drew a pretty terrible drawing. A few years later after the piano had filled up much more, I saw my bad drawing and asked Mell if I could redo it. He agreed (both to it being terrible, and to redoing it), so he pulled out some sandpaper from the piano bench, and I gently rubbed away my old drawing, and redrew the exact same thing, only better. 

You can see my piece around the 2:28 mark in this video shot by friend and fellow cartoonist Rick Detorie (One Big Happy comic strip). Best of all, Mell’s legacy lives on as you hear him talking about the piano.

 

Categories
Animals Cartoons Disney Sketchbook Videos

Batman vs. Superman

With all the ads out there lately for the next couple of big costumed caper movies, it seems like none of our imaginary heroes are playing nice with each other anymore. Marvel has their Civil War, and this week, DC has Batman v Superman. Can’t we all just get along?

SPOILER ALERT! I am about to show you how the epic battle begins between the Dark Knight (Ben Affleck – Batfleck) and the Man of Steel (Henry Cavill). Not having seen the actual movie myself is really of no consequence. I KNOW this is what happens, and by refusing to remove their capes, you can only guess the troubles to come…

 

epic battle
Edna Mode knows a thing or two about cape calamities.

 

I liked how Batfleck turned out, so here's a close-up for you.
I liked how Batfleck turned out, so here’s a close-up for you.
Categories
Art: Drawings Art: Inking Art: Photoshop Caricature Cartoons Comic Books

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is all fun and games for everyone, except for those being eaten.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

It's all fun and games until someone gets eaten.
We’d be all eating roast eagle if Ben Franklin had his way in making the turkey our national bird.
Categories
Animals Art: Photoshop Cartoons Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook