Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans. Stay safe out there!
Categories
Art: Colored Pencil Art: Drawings Art: Inking Character Designs Random Doodles Sketchbook
Category: Art: Colored Pencil
Here in the United States, today is our Memorial Day. It is a day we honor our fallen warriors who gave their lives in the service of our country no matter which war over the course of our country’s history. We are grateful to all our veterans and heartily applaud them for their service today and especially on Veterans Day (which will be November 11 this year), but today is the solemn remembrance of those who gave their lives in service.
When I worked for Disney Feature Animation a few years back, our country entered into war after the events in New York and Washington D.C. on September 11, 2001. It was a scary time, not knowing if other parts of our country were also going to be attacked. We had received word that possibly the movie studios in Hollywood could be attacked, and security got really tight for a while with bomb sniffing dogs, checking all employee cars for bombs in trunks and underneath, and etc. We were appreciative of the troops that were being sent to the Middle East to try to prevent such a thing from happening again.
During that time, the studio put forth an effort to have employees draw, make cards, and participate in care packages being sent to our troops. I was asked to create a poster in support of these efforts. This Goofy image is what I came up with, and it was on display in the lobby of Feature Animation in Burbank, CA, for a while.
I was extremely honored to be asked to do it, and did so with an eye on the old posters for World War II. It was my goal to stir folks into helping out by hearkening back to the sacrifice many Americans made during that daunting time in our history. No one knew how long our latest efforts would take. Unfortunately, those efforts continue today, but we also continue to SUPPORT OUR TROOPS!
Two years ago I was fortunate to visit the Middle East and Africa with several of my cartoonist mates as we traveled with the USO to bring a few smiles to our soldiers. We visited with many of them listening to their stories while drawing for them. We brought to them a little piece of home, and they brought to us the realities of war. It was a sobering time that I shall never forget. (CLICK HERE to see previous posts of that trip here on the ol’ blog.)
I mention that because I brought this Goofy along with me on that trip. The USO printed up cards that each of us could give to the soldiers as a little memento of our visit, and this was the image that graced my cards. The cards brought many smiles to the folks overseas, and hopefully reminded them of all of us over here in the States.
On this Memorial Day, thank you to all the soldiers who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and I wish comfort to those they left behind. I thank our veterans for their service, thinking especially of my father, David Frye, who served during the Vietnam War. And thank you to the thousands of you serving today in some pretty rough places in this world. After having spent just a few days in some of those places with you, I came away with a greater appreciation for what it is you do and where you have do it.
No matter how tough things get in life, I always try to keep this passage from the Bible close to my heart:
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Now, I know that title above sounds a bit politically auspicious, especially to those of us who know Bill Morrison, but no, I’m not suggesting anything regarding Washington D.C. Rather, I’d like to call attention to the National Cartoonists Society that is about to invade Portland, Oregon for their annual Reuben Awards Convention over the Memorial Day weekend, and they are being led there by NCS President Bill Morrison!
If you don’t know Bill, he is an amazing illustrator/comic book artist/art director/editor/and probably a few other things that escape my memory right now. You’ve seen his work in the past as cover artist for many Simpsons comic books at Bongo Comics, he has drawn comics for DC and Dark Horse, he art directed the animated Futurama show, and back in the day he illustrated movie posters for films such as House, The Little Mermaid, Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Land Before Time, and Mickey Mouse in The Prince & the Pauper to name a few.
Two years ago Bill asked me if I’d do a caricature of him for use in the NCS member magazine, The Cartoon!st. I dragged my feet, wondering what I could do in a clever way. As Bill and I were talking about plans for the Reubens this year, and with his hair style, and the fact that I drive by Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, CA all the time, it seemed like I should draw “Big Bill” holding a Reuben Award instead of a hamburger.
In case you don’t know what Bill Morrison looks like in real life, here’s a photo of him back when he was President of another comic art organization in Los Angeles called CAPS on the night of a banquet in honor of Stan Lee when he received CAPS’ coveted Sergio Award.
So there you have it. If you live in Portland, get ready because the cartoonists are about to invade your fine city led by Bill Morrison and his wife Kayre who have planned what is sure to be a GREAT convention!
Spent some time doodling in my sketchbook this week. Went back to the well of one of my favorite things to draw – bears! Here’s a bear excited for the accidental meal he thinks he’s about to have. How this ends is probably not in the bear’s favor.
Here we are at the end of the week, which means we have come to the final post in this step-by-step explanation of my Indiana Jones and Rocketeer dynamic duo. Once again, if you are just joining this party, perhaps you should start back at Step 1 to truly understand the anatomy of this painting. CLICK HERE to do so.
STEP 5
While Indy and the Rocketeer were outlined with a black Prismacolor pencil, the nuances of their inner details utilized many colors. Lilac, parma violet, deco yellow, violet, cream, sand, some greens, various reds, pinks, and maybe more not coming to mind right now. The point is, colors are important to the success of the piece!
Take for instance this close look at the Rocketeer. There are so many colors working together to create his details. See the lighter highlights on his flight jacket? That’s deco pink! The same deco pink creating highlights on his hands and on his pants. It was a nice gentle light color that also happened to tie him in with the colors around him on the background. You need your figures to look like they belong in their setting, and to do that is to use the same colors as would happen in real life with the idea of reflected light. (I’m not going into a deep explanation of reflected light, but you can look it up.)
And with that, the piece is all done! Here is a scan (not a photo this time) of the final art ready to be framed and hung in a gallery.
THE SHOW
On April 22, the Rocketeer art show opened at Creature Features in Burbank, CA. There were MANY great pieces created in all mediums such as oil paint, sculpture, latex, metal work, vinyl, watercolor, marker, acrylic, ink, and the ever popular digital media.
FOR SALE
ORIGINAL 18X24″ WATERCOLOR & COLORED PENCIL ILLUSTRATION – $1,750.00
13X17.25″ HAND-SIGNED PRINTS – $40
FREE SHIPPING WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
ADDITIONAL FEES MAY APPLY FOR INTERNATIONAL
CONTACT CHAD@CHADFRYE.COM
Yesterday I finished explaining the painting stage of this Rocketeer/Indiana Jones mash-up illustration. Today begins the explanation of incorporating colored pencil into the piece. This is when the details begin to come forth. If you are just joining our discussion, perhaps you should start with the first post for context. CLICK HERE to start at the beginning!
STEP 4
With the painting portion all done, and the focus having been on the central characters for a while, let’s look at our supporting cast – the Nazis. Now, I’m not in favor of glamorizing Nazis, but I sure don’t have a problem with showing them about to get their hindquarters kicked by a couple of legendary heroes. All that red paint has hidden our villains of the piece, so it is time to bring them back so our heroes can see who they are about to beat down.
I use Prismacolor colored pencils in my work. They sure are expensive. I remember when they were about 50¢ per pencil, while these days it can be $1.50-2.00 each! I buy mine in bulk which helps get the price down, and am happy to utilize rebates that Prismacolor often offers, but they are still very pricey even with discounts.
To get the Nazis going, I chose a violet pencil. Ultimately this color didn’t stand out enough on the red background, so I went over the lines later with a darker violet blue pencil. Using a purple color on the soldiers helps to tie the piece together with the central characters who, as you may recall from yesterday’s tutorial, were shaded with purple paint.
Once the soldiers were outlined, two pencils were used for the highlights. White? Nope, white wasn’t one of them, though your eye may think there is white in there. Working from back to front, I started with a nectar colored pencil, then lightly applied deco rose for some brighter spots. Both are shades of pink, and worked well against that red BG.
In keeping the soldiers primarily the red of the background, using these two highlight pencils makes it feel like you are sculpting the characters out of the scene. You are bringing them forth from the flatness of the paper by giving them a bit of dimensionality with well placed tones.
And just like that you have a Nazi army poised to cause trouble. Our heroes aren’t quite ready to respond in kind to their imposing enemy. They are still locked in the realm of nebulous paint. They require some definition, too.
Originally I was going to outline Indy and the Rocketeer with a really dark purple pencil called black grape, but when I started using that, their outlines looked a little foggy. There wasn’t enough contrast between the outlines with the color of the BG. I hesitate to use black pencil for outlining in a painting, but it was the only color darker that would work with the color choices in the piece. The lines needed to really pop not only because of that intense red, but because I was thinking about Dave Stevens’ masterful inking in his comics and wished to channel a little of that sensibility.
Come back tomorrow for the final step that finishes up our heroes, and to see a couple shots of opening night at the Rocketeer art show in the gallery at Creature Features!
I rarely promote other people’s Kickstarter projects here on my blog, but boy howdy, I’m excited about this one!
My friend Greg Preston is a photographer. Over many years he has been taking photographs of cartoonists, illustrators, and animators in their home studios. His first collection of them was published in a beautiful coffee table book by Dark Horse Comics a few years ago called The Artist Within, and was a huge hit at San Diego Comic Con where it had its debut.
Well, Greg is ready with his second batch of photos and has decided to self-publish them in a second volume called The Artist Within 2! I am excited because I love Greg’s work, and can’t wait to see more friends and colleagues portrayed in this way.
The second big reason I am excited is because I will be in this book, too! Yep, a few years back, Greg came to my place and took my photo for his collection – the SAME DAY that he took a photo of famous illustrator Drew Struzan!
Other such great folks in the book are Ollie Johnston (one of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men), character designer Stephen Silver, fantasy illustrator Donato Giancola, The Family Circus‘ Jeff Keane, his brother and former Disney animator Glen Keane, John Lasseter, Disney animation director John Musker, comic book guys Steve Rude, Carmine Infantino, animation director Chris Sanders, and the list goes on. He even has the world record holder for longest working cartoonist, the 96 year old Al Jaffee who continues to do the fold-ins for MAD Magazine. I feel very honored to be in such company.
Here’s the Kickstarter video describing the book:
So, the book itself is a real prize, but there are also extra special things you can pick up through this Kickstarter that the artists have been donating – things such as this one-of-a-kind original art I created with ink, watercolor, and colored pencil!
Or perhaps you’d like the opportunity to acquire one of three prints of my Frankenlisa painting, prints that have never before been offered for sale. I chronicled the step-by-step making of this painting here on the ol’ blog back in 2009 (CLICK HERE for a refresher), and it just so happens to be the painting sitting on my drafting table in my photographic portrait that will be in The Artist Within 2!
So, please consider pre-ordering a book through Kickstarter so this amazing tome can be published. I plan to order a few myself! You only have until April 27, 2017, to do so! Here is the handy-dandy link: The Artist Within 2!
“A truly elegant taste is generally accompanied with excellency of heart.”
– Henry Fielding (1707 – 1754)
