The Chad Frye - Illustration GuyI grew up in Florham Park, New Jersey where the fire department was valiantly staffed by volunteers – not an uncommon phenomenon in the East Coast suburbs. To think that these guys were ready and willing to run from wherever they were to help a family in need in that way was and continues to be phenomenal. They are trustworthy heroes all.
THAT being said, I wouldn’t trust this particular “fireman” one bit…
Every couple with children really should schedule a date night from time to time. You know, an evening for just the two of you without the kids. The children tend to consume your every waking moment to the point that you need to be reminded of your love for each other.
Go back to a time in your minds when your young love was budding – no mortgage to worry about, no children, no responsibilities, and quite possibly no money. (If that last one is the case, zip forward just a scooch to when you don’t have to negotiate with the maitre d.) Sounds nice, doesn’t it?
It’s settled then! Go get yourselves a babysitter right away to take care of the little squirts so you can head out to a nice romantic restaurant for two. Just don’t call the service that these children’s parents hired…
A year or two ago I had some doves take up residence on my back patio. I had a clear view of the nest with their eggs, and was excited to eventually see the little bald babies freshly experiencing life. Watching the parent caring for them was a bit of a thrill while over the weeks they were growing and strengthening. I was hoping I’d be around to see them leave the nest, but it was not to be.
I imagine as they each stepped up to the edge, they donned their crash helmets and knee pads as any sensible little winged monster would when they are about to attempt their first flight. And just in case they can’t summon up the courage to take that initial leap, momma is there ready to give them the boot.
So, please enjoy this momentous occasion in the life of every young winged beastie as portrayed with genuine ink and colored with Photoshop. Should you care to see it slightly larger, just click on the image!
When it comes time for gift giving, why do fathers fall into a stereotype that they are hard to shop for? It is probably why the common Father’s Day gift is a tie because the kids don’t know what else to get the man who seems to not have a single need (not that he needs another tie, either). Plus, if your father is the primary breadwinner, all the money you have to spend is his anyway. When you grow up into adults, you now have your own hard-earned money, but the need to find the perfect gift for Dad is still a challenge.
This year, I and my three adult siblings all faced this common dilemma, but we decided to attack it together. Mom and Dad moved out of our childhood home last July where they had a built-in grill. Now, that sounds more glamorous than it really was. The grill was there when they moved to that house in 1974. Usually you had to clear it of wasps, then you would turn on the gas and light the single burner with a match, put your meat on the one small rack inside hoping this time the rack didn’t fall down onto the lava stones, and it had a wooden shelf off the front that Dad made (and was now weather warped) so you had a spot to rest the plate. Highly unglamorous.
Since that utilitarian grill could not be taken to our parents’ new home, the folks have been grill-less for almost a year now. We banded our forces together for the cause of good to spring for a decent grill. Grills come in many sizes and varieties now, and the new house deserves to have some open flame and smoke out on the deck.
A week ago my sister gave our dad the money so that he can choose a grill he’d like. All is now right and good in the land, so long as a fire extinguisher is close at hand.
To all you fathers out there, Happy Father’s Day. Especially to mine.
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I have a great interest in film music. I grew up in a musical family, but while my siblings were off having lessons and practicing their instruments, I sat at my little drawing board practicing my skills with pencil and brush. I think the first soundtrack I ever bought was John Williams’ Raiders of the Lost Ark on cassette tape when I was in high school. The collection has grown over the years, and is all CDs these days.
Back in 1995 I first became aware of composer, John Debney. He wrote a brilliant score for the less than brilliant movie Cutthroat Island, and it remains one of my favorites of his to this day. First impressions are lasting I guess. I got to meet John years later when I worked on The Emperor’s New Groove at Disney. John is really wonderful with comedy scores, and his work on that film really injected something special into the storytelling.
Well, this past weekend John’s latest work was heard by the many ticket holders who caused Iron Man 2 to bring in almost $134 million in the United States. The score won’t be available for purchase until July 7th from what I hear, and I, for one, can’t wait. So much so, I felt inspired to do a little piece this weekend.
Breaking out the watercolor paint and colored pencils, I present to you this caricature of John Debney as Iron Man (click on the image to enlarge it):
So, if you are the casual film music fan and aren’t aware of some of John’s work, here are a few scores I’d recommend you start with before enjoying the rest of his oeuvre:
To see a larger list of John’s filmography, you can CLICK HERE!
A couple of days ago I shared with you the step-by-steps of a little piece I did of Disney’s Captain Hook with a caricature of yours truly in the place of Hook’s first mate Mr. Smee (CLICK HERE to see that post). When I created that little watercolor sketch this past winter, it was only one of two pieces on that theme. While that was a close-up, perhaps you’d like to see the second piece, this time full-bodied poses.
Since I went into some detail on each step in the last post, I’ll post these three stages with minimal comment and just let you enjoy the visual progression. So, without further ado, Captain Hook and Chad Frye as Mr. Smee! Peter Pan would certainly not be the same movie had it been done this way!
I thought I’d share with you a couple of paintings I did this past winter. I got into a Disney’s Peter Pan mode of thinking and envisioned myself as Captain Hook’s first mate, Smee.
Well, while they are technically paintings, I tend to call these “watercolor sketches”. Each of these took maybe an hour or two to do from start to finish, so they aren’t my typical full-blown watercolor illustrations. This is what I do if I’m making a card for a friend, or doing quickie pieces for fans. There is a certain spontaneity to them that gives them a real energy. Everything is fast and loose and hopefully pure fun.
I’d like to show them to you step-by-step, which is something I haven’t done in awhile. Since there will be a few images for each, I’ll show you one of these today, and I’ll post the second one on Thursday.
So, as with any art I do, it all starts with a rough sketch. I don’t have to please anyone but myself, so it can be as rough as I want it to be. As you can see, the rough sketch for this one started with blue pencil, then I finalized my lines with regular lead. Captain Hook is always fun to draw, and it just seemed with my own body type that I was a shoo-in for Smee.
Next, I took that rough and put it on my light table and created my final line with colored pencil onto a rough textured watercolor paper. I didn’t want to get too tight with the drawing, so you can see even in this phase the line work is sketchy in places, and not all the shapes are closed.
Next will be the tones. I often like putting the tones in purple. It looks nice when working with bright colors, which I will be for this piece. The purple seems too bright and dark right now, but later when the final paint is placed on top of it, the purple will get muted a little, and even somewhat blend in to the wet medium. And so that all my shadows don’t have a hard edge, I was careful to have it fade off in certain places like on Captain Hook’s face, and even his hat.
Then lastly, I painted in the final colors. You can see that some of the purple shadows got absorbed into the final colors, while in other areas it served as an enhancement. Then I ended with flicking some blue specks on with a toothbrush (preferably NOT the one you brush your teeth with).
A few years back I was asked to draw a fake comic book cover to be used on CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. In television, deadlines are tight, so I pretty much turned around that first image in a couple of days which is no small fete considering I wasn’t up on my Manga techniques. They liked it so much they asked for two more. It was a busy few days to be sure.
At any rate, the episode turned out to be memorable for fans of the show. It involved a subplot with Charlie Sheen’s character needing to write a theme song for an animated TV show based on these Oshikuru comic books. I’m including some clips down at the bottom of the Oshikuru moments where you can see my comics in the shots, and a couple of stills.
As you may know if you have read recent blog posts, I have been involved with raising money to Help the Hodges via online eBay auctions. You can read all about the family in need by CLICKING HERE. But I mention it again here because I have donated some really nice large prints of two of my Oshikuru covers that have been autographed by the 2 1/2 men of Two and a Half Men – Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus Jones. These items are on eBay RIGHT NOW, and will end this Sunday, March 21.
So, if you’d like a chance at an unusual item from my flat files, and autographed by a few TV stars, here’s your window of opportunity. I posted links to eBay below each signed print below!
