Just before the holidays, actor Daniel Roebuck called me up to ask if I’d be able to help with the poster art for a local theater production he was producing, directing and acting in, Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys. I have a vague recollection of the George Burns/Walter Matthau film version from some Saturday afternoon television airing in my youth, and thought the assignment might be a fun one.
The story focuses on two elderly actors who had hit their prime as young men in the days of vaudeville. Daniel wanted the image to show the two lead actors as they are now in their twilight years, and also show them from their bygone days of the stage all while expressing that the play is a comedy.
A very stylized version of actors Daniel Roebuck and Jim Roope as young vaudevillians on the left with their elder counterparts looking down.
In researching old posters to elicit a nostalgic feel, I stumbled across a great French poster for The Marx Brothers movie A Night At the Opera. It provided a style and layout that would fit the needs of the play perfectly! I don’t often follow another artist’s vision so closely as I did this time, but I figured “why not?” After all, the French artist liberally “borrowed” his caricatures from the great American artist Al Hirschfeld.
A 1936 French poster for the Marx Bros. famous film “A Night At the Opera” that is clearly based on the caricatures of Al Hirschfeld.
I believe the art will also serve as the cover of the program. If you’d like to get your own copy, Dan Roebuck’s play opens tonight in Burbank, CA and will be playing for two weekends (January 7, 8, 9, 14 and 15) as a fundraiser. If you are interested in seeing the production, tickets are available by calling (818) 504-4400.
Well, another year has come and gone. Living here in Los Angeles, Christmas has a way of sneaking up on you. I blame the weather. Sure, we have had some frigid temperatures here of 40º, but usually that’s at night for a week here or there. As I write this, it is 2:30am and only 52º outside right now. So, not having cold winters gives Christmas a chance to tip-toe up through December without one being entirely aware.
That being said, I am a bit behind in getting my Christmas card art created. With having some recent freelance, then being sick for a week, it was looking like the card might not happen this year. That would have been a personal tragedy because if memory serves, I have prepared a fresh & tasty original Christmas card every year since 1995.
I know what you are thinking. “If you know Christmas comes every year, why don’t you do the art in August?” My answer to that is, “If you think warm LA winters hurt the mood of the holidays, try dreaming of a white Christmas in August!”
That being said, I finished the art on December 18 by the hair of my chinny chin chin. This year inspiration came by way of the great Christmas hymn O Come All Ye Faithful. It was originally written in Latin, but thankfully years later it was translated into English. (I spared you the Latin.) Set to a soul-stirring melody, the verses of this song celebrate the story of Christ’s birth and what it means to those who trust in Christ – the “faithful” to whom the song speaks. Also included is the Bible passage found in Matthew 11:28-30 that seems to compliment the message of the song nicely.
So, presented to you here is my 2010 Christmas card celebrating the birth of Christ whose sole purpose was to die for the sins of man. Can you truly be counted among “the faithful”? It is my prayer that you and yours may experience the joy of Christ this Christmas by trusting in Him.
This past summer I was contacted by Daniel Stelzer, Art Director for Answers Magazine, to possibly work on an illustration assignment for them. I had not seen Answers Magazine before, and learned that it is a magazine that deals with scientific issues and other worldview topics all from a biblical perspective. It is the periodical produced by the Answers in Genesis organization, the folks that are behind the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky.
Dan had sought me out having seen some of my previous work created for a series of Bible lessons for kids. He said he wanted me to create five pages of graphic novel-style illustrations all about the details of how a white blood cell works. The graphic novel thing I understood because I’m a cartoonist, but also because I’m a cartoonist, I couldn’t figure out why he wanted me to do serious science art. After a pause on my part, I said,
“You’ve seen the work on my website, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you don’t want me to put funny faces on the cells?”
“No.”
“It’s just straight up micro-biology illustrations?”
“Yes.”
So, the challenge presented in this assignment was intriguing. The white blood cell process had to be turned into a panel-by-panel “story” so that it would be more readily understood by the layman picking up this magazine. I decided to accept this mission, knowing full well that the magazine might disavow any knowledge of me should I screw it up.
They provided rough thumbnail concept sketches of what they wanted, and since I don’t happen to have a microscope of my own, they also sent some great reference material to help me along. We were dealing with real science and nothing of fantasy, so it had to be right. This meant we had MANY discussions back and forth discussing each step in my creative process which included rough drawings, tight pencil drawings, a rough color pass, and then final color. Changes were made along the way to make sure some things were more accurate while others were more understandable.
Stylistically, the Art Director liked my previous work with watercolor, but also liked the sophisticated computer coloring found in many graphic novels today. So, I had to come up with a hybrid of methods to pull off a look that was both slick and organic. The art ended up having an inked line as you would see in comic books, with a coloring job that combined traditional watercolor paint and additional Photoshop work. I thought the combination of methods turned out pretty good….
The splash page of my five-pages of illustrations detailing how white blood cells work. “Answers Magazine” laid it out with the type. (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE A LARGER VIEW.)
If you’d like to see a little more of my work on this project, including some preliminary stages of the art, you should check out Answers Magazine on Facebook where they posted some extra steps in the process of this article.
Or, if you’d like to order your own copy of the magazine with all five pages of the published art in it, it is available now in the Oct-Dec 2010 issue. Just go to Answers Magazine‘s website and contact them about ordering this special issue!
Last year, as part of my Drawn & Quoted series, I created a pencil drawing of a wide-eyed fuzzy monster that just exuded optimism (If you’d like to see it again, just CLICK HERE!) It received wonderful reaction from folks. It is fun to know that such a positive pencil drawing elicited such a positive response. I got to thinking that perhaps this purveyor of positiveness should see the light of day in full color!
So, fresh from my drafting table just today comes this turquoise Joyful Beast in living watercolor paint and colored pencil:
The pessimist in me thinks the monster is noticing his own reflection in the mirror, while the hopeful optimist in me thinks he’s met his perfect match. What do YOU think is floating his boat? Leave a comment!
Well, here we are – Day 31 of 31 days of Monster Month – a fresh and tasty brand new monster drawing each day in the month of October. I truly hope you have enjoyed looking at each creature as much as I have enjoyed creating them. There will be other monsters here on the blog now and then along with other art that keeps me busy, so please visit again to see what is new!
We all have them in our lives – a person who is there just to suck every last bit of childlike wonder we have inside. They say things like “You wouldn’t eat THAT would you?” just as you are about to take a bite. “Those haven’t been in style since MC Hammer!” as you are walking around in your favorite pants. Or “You can’t drive BACKWARDS on the freeway!” when you clearly are navigating your vehicle quite well on your own.
All I have to say is, don’t let them bring you down!
There’s always a killjoy in every sewer, isn’t there? Sheesh.
I have a beard. Primarily I have a beard because I lack a fondness for shaving. Shaving is a painful inconvenience. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a little facial fuzz. It sprouts there on it’s own, so who am I to hinder its existence.
Now, this fella, on the other hand, has issues with his stubble – it’s sharp. I suppose that is prone to be the case when your “stubble” is really yellow horns protruding from your chin. A standard razor can’t do the trick on this one. He probably needs a hedge trimmer to cut through those barbs. The only trouble is they grow back in overnight and the routine starts all over again the next morning. Actually, now that I think about it, you had better steer clear of his 5 o’clock shadow as well.
Of course, after Hank shaves, he uses refreshing Aqua Velva even though it stings.
Remember kids, it’s always safest to go into the woods with a buddy – preferably a buddy larger than yourself to increase your chances of him getting attacked first so you can get away…
