Step-By-Step: Yogi Bear’s Pic-A-Nic – Step 1

Recently I created a traditional watercolor painting of Yogi Bear, his buddy Boo-Boo, his girl Cindy Bear, and the Ranger for inclusion in a Hanna-Barbera themed art show at Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA. (Photos from the opening night reception are in yesterday’s post.) Van Eaton invited over 100 artists to participate in what is a spectacular display of creative interpretation of the Hanna-Barbera stable of characters. The show will be on display until April 20. (CLICK HERE for details if you would like to go see all the work!)

When I was first approached to contribute, I was slightly hesitant. You see, I grew up watching Looney Tunes cartoons, and even some Disney ones on the side, but the Hanna-Barbera shows rarely saw face time in our family room. So I didn’t have any childhood fondness from which to draw – literally.

I did, however, help my pal Dana Thompson paint a Yogi Bear children’s book back when I was a young illustrator. The book had been penciled by famed Hanna-Barbera designer Iwao Takamoto, and I remember how we enjoyed looking, with great admiration, over Iwao’s very precise and brilliant pencil lines. So, with fondness for that experience, Yogi Bear was destined to be my subject.

 

Yogi Bear book
Penciled by veteran Hanna-Barbera designer Iwao Takamoto about eighteen years ago, Dana Thompson recruited me and fellow illustrator Julie Speer to help him paint this Yogi Bear children’s book on a tight deadline.

 

To make it interesting for me, my mind wandered into the realm of parody. Exactly one hundred fifty years ago in 1863, Èdouard Manet created his massive 105 by 85 inch oil painting titled The Bath which later became known as The Luncheon on the Grass. He had created his piece for a group artist show in Paris, but the jury rejected it. Its subject matter was deemed unfit for the tastes of the day, and they didn’t care much for his technique and seeming ignorace of perspective by having the figure in the background appear far too large to be natural. So, Manet entered it in the Salon des Refusès which was a show of rejected paintings put together to spite the big show. Many pieces from the rejected show went on to define the modern art of their age.

While I don’t anticipate any controversy with The Pic-a-nic on the Grass (my parody title of course), it seemed like a fun way to portray the Yogi Bear cast in that natural setting along with the picnic basket that was always the focus of Yogi’s energies.

So, as with any artistic process, it must begin with a drawing. These days I generally do my preliminary work on a Cintiq tablet (a fancy monitor that allows you to draw right on the screen with an electronic pen). I work in layers in Photoshop so that I can resize and redraw bits and pieces here and there to get my composition just right. In this case, the setting was already figured out for me since I was doing a parody of an existing piece of art. I don’t often do this, but I imported Manet’s painting into Photoshop, and literally traced his environment.

Then I drew, and redrew Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, Yogi’s girl Cindy Bear, and the Ranger along with the picnic blanket containing elements from Yogi’s world and Manet’s painting.

 

Èdouard Manet
You can see that my drawing closely follows the layout of Manet’s painting.

 

The next step was to get that digital drawing onto actual watercolor paper. After figuring out what I wanted the final size to be, I printed out the drawing in two pieces onto Strathmore Layout Bond paper, taped them together, then traced them down onto my watercolor paper using homemade graphite paper (same concept as the old time carbon copies one might have done in the days of typewriters).

 

watercolor paper
On top is graphite paper made by rubbing a soft pencil lead on one side of tracing paper. The graphite side faces down onto the surface of the final watercolor paper, you place a drawing on top, then trace down with a pencil.

 

The watercolor paper I used was Strathmore’s rough textured Watercolor Block paper. The paper comes in a stiff stack that prevents the paper from curling up when you apply wet media to it. I actually prefer Arches brand because I feel I can have more control over the paint on Arches, but I still have some of this Strathmore in the studio and decided to use it for this piece.

Once the drawing is down on the paper, you can erase the graphite and redraw areas if you feel it is necessary. I then taped down the borders of the image area with white Artists’ Tape (low tack so it peels up easily later, but also helps give you a clean edge to your painting if so desired). It is now ready for paint!

Come back tomorrow to see the first steps in the painting process!

Happy Presidents’ Day – 2013

Here in the United States we used to separately celebrate the February birthdays of our two favorite Presidents, George Washington (February 22)  and Abraham Lincoln (February 12). Somewhere along the way somebody got tired of paying people to frolic and play for two days, so they combined the two holidays into one (February 18) and called it the generic “Presidents’ Day” even though many Presidents didn’t earn the right to be celebrated.

Abraham Lincoln is definitely one who deserves celebrating, most notably for ending slavery and trying to mend a fractured nation. He is honored, along with George Washington, by being pictured on both coin and paper money. Towns, schools, cars, even logs are all named after Lincoln. He is a memorable part of Disneyland, and has been the subject of many books, movies, and television shows.

One of the earliest portrayals of Lincoln in film was by Charles Brabin for the short His First Commission in 1911, roughly a mere ten years after motion pictures were invented. Lincoln has been portrayed in films and television over 300 times by actors such as Walter Huston, John Carradine, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Gregory Peck, and more recently by Daniel Day-Lewis.

For all these reasons, and the fact that he has such an intriguing face, I felt compelled to try a more grown-up approach to painting than what I am used to. Using red, white and blue as my palette, this piece came forth last weekend in watercolor with a hint of colored pencil here and there. While employing a more mature technique, I’m still a cartoonist. So this remains a caricatured interpretation of a President I admire greatly.

 

Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln in all of his red, white, and blue.

 

If you are interested in seeing my preliminary drawing for this painting, please come join my Facebook page where it is exclusively on display. You can keep up with my blog posts there, along with seeing extra drawings that get posted ONLY there. CLICK HERE to visit my Facebook page!

A Bird In the Hand…

…is worth a bird in the belly! Of course I’m kidding. I’m sure this bear and bird are the best of pals.

I recently did a little drawing of a bear for a friend, and was pleased with the result. Thought I’d do one for myself this past weekend.

For those of you curious about the method of execution, I used a black brush pen on bumpy watercolor paper with some watercolor paint thrown on for good measure. Keeping it all loose makes it feel a bit energetic and whimsical, don’t you think?

 

Bear & Bird watercolor
It’s as if two buddies are catching up on old times. So long as the bigger of the buddies doesn’t end the conversation by eating his pal.

Parasite Illustration for Answers Magazine ………. (part 3)

So, today is the unveiling of my latest illustration for the article Parasites – Unwelcome Guests featured in the latest issue of Answers Magazine (Vol. 8, No. 1, Jan-Mar 2013). If you have followed the past two posts about the process this week, you are ready to see some final artwork!

After the final drawing (shared here yesterday) is approved, I print it out and then trace it onto my watercolor paper with regular pencil. I use the VERY nice and very expensive Arches watercolor paper onto which I apply my Winsor & Newton paint. The edges of the painting are taped with white artists tape (it usually doesn’t rip up the surface of the paper when you pull it up later) because when I do a full bleed painting, I like nice clean edges.

 

Painting in progress
This is the first I thought to take a photo of the work in progress. Quite a bit is covered at this point. In the unpainted areas, you can see some purple underpainting where shadows will be. Never use black. There are no black shadows in real life – just darker colors.

 

painting in progress
This is just a close-up of the previous image. You can see how the paint job is pretty sloppy. Sometimes in this moment you can lose focus, but you have to keep that final image in your mind so that you can get it where you want it to be.

 

watercolor painting in progress
The painting part of the illustration is almost done here. Once the color is all laid in, I will go in and continue with colored pencil. The paper is textured which gives the paint and pencil a nice look together.

 

So, now for the grand unveiling. Drumroll please…..

 

Parasite Monster Illustration
And here is the final parasitical illustration after the colored pencil was applied. While it was printed at roughly 7.5″x10″, the original painting is 14.5″x18″.

 

Hope you enjoyed the little behind-the-scenes of creating this piece. Painting is a lot of fun. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned artist, grab a brush and paint something on paper! There is nothing like it. At the end of the day you can sit back and hold your creation in your hands – hopefully with some satisfaction. Then go do another one!

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas is upon us once again. Many thoughts and prayers have been with the families of Newtown, Connecticut following their unspeakable sorrow this season. When news of that tragedy crackled over the airwaves, I was putting the finishing touches on the painting for my annual Christmas card – a card with the theme of coming to Christ the Savior with a childlike faith.

 

O Little Town of Bethlehem

 

I pray this Christmas that you will hug your kids a little harder, open a Bible to Luke chapter two, and read to them the reminder of how God the Father sent his only Son as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Whether or not you are religious, let your children hear the reason for why the name of Christ is a part of the name of this holiday we hold dear.

Merry Christmas.

Tweety Bird

Now and then I’ll do a little something for the fun of it for family. My late Uncle Ken was a big fan of Tweety from Looney Tunes. He was so much of a fan, that he even had a Tweety tattooed on his ankle.

I can’t actually remember what the occasion was for creating this pencil and watercolor piece a few years ago, but I know it was something I did for Uncle Ken. You see, he lived in Arizona in the shadow of Superstition Mountain, which explains all the cactus and cowboy gear. Whatever the reason, I thought you might find it interesting as this is the rare Warner Bros. piece you’ll find here on my blog. It may only be the second WB thing I’ve posted here. I grew up loving the Looney Tunes characters, but just don’t often get asked to draw them.

 

“I tawt I taw a sidewinder!”

 

Speaking of Warner Bros., this coming Saturday I’ll once again be at the Warner Ranch studio lot in Burbank drawing for the families who needed the services of the Ronald McDonald House this past year due to an ill young member of their family. Should be fun drawing for folks who probably need a little cheer in their lives about now.

…From the Flat File: 2005 – Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy

Thanksgiving!


Whether you like white meat or dark meat, this turkey will taste like watercolor paint and paper. Bon appètit!

 

I thought I would reach into my archives this week and pull out a Thanksgiving themed illustration I did a few years ago based on a favorite television family of mine – the Barones.

I was a big fan of the Everybody Loves Raymond show on CBS, and often went to the live tapings on the Warner Bros. studio lot here in Burbank, CA. It was always so much fun to see the familial relationships played out amongst the actors who seemed to genuinely get along with each other. If they shot a joke a certain way, they’d do take after take with a different punchline until they got the biggest laugh, and all were funny.

I am also a big fan of Norman Rockwell’s paintings, a sentiment I share with many Americans who are moved by his idyllic depictions of life in this country. I was thrilled to see a traveling exhibit of his original work a few years back first in San Diego, then again in New York City. The exhibit included what have become known as Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” paintings. The Freedom from Want piece in that series always struck a chord with me with its portrayal of a family enjoying each other around the Thanksgiving table.

 

Freedom from Want
Well, it isn’t necessarily from Marie’s Italian cook book, but even the Barone family can enjoy a bit of a traditional turkey dinner. In one episode, they tried a tofurkey to great comical effect.

 

So, when I heard that Everybody Loves Raymond was going to come to an end, immediately Norman Rockwell’s famous painting came to mind. It seemed to be a perfect fit, all the way down to putting Robert in the lower right corner partially cut off as he would expect. Robert always felt he was getting the second fiddle treatment from the family. With a bit of watercolor and colored pencil, this piece was created just for the fun of it.

You know, during the time I was finishing up the painting, I took in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl where I bumped into Doris Roberts. She didn’t know me from Adam, so I probably spooked her a bit when the first words my mind thought to say were, “Oh hi! I was just painting you today!” Smooth, Chad. Smooth.

Pictured with the turkey is Peter Boyle (who passed away a few years ago) and Doris Roberts, then on the left Madylin Sweeten, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, and Sawyer Sweeten. On the right is Monica Horan, Sullivan Sweeten, and of course, Brad Garrett. On the back wall is show creator Phil Rosenthal.

On an interesting side note, last year Brad did the voice of a character I designed for a third Zhu Zhu Pets movie that has yet to be released. It was literally a talking rock. It seems as though Robert Barone STILL can’t get any respect.

 

Enjoy Thanksgiving with your own friends and family this week, and remember not only to be thankful for the blessings in your life, but to whom that thanks should be directed. The holiday is modeled after the Pilgrims who gave thanks to the almighty God for their survival in this untamed land. In many ways it is still untamed, and God is the One who deserves our appreciation.

Psalm 136:1 “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

Frankensketch

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

 

Frankenstein's Monster
This Frankensketch came alive in one of my sketchbooks!

 

 

Well, I managed to squeeze out one more monster drawing here in what I usually dub “Monster Month”, and I leaned on my go-to guy Frankenstein. This one started as just a Prismacolor pencil sketch in my sketchbook, and I liked how he turned out so I added some watercolor right there in the book!

Yes, you purists out there will say that technically he is Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, and not actually Frankenstein. I differ with you on that, thou nay sayers! If one gives birth to a new life, they take your name. Dr. Frankenstein birthed, sort of, this creature, so by all rights he should also bear the name “Frankenstein”!

Regardless, Frankenstein has appeared a few times on the ol’ blog. In case you would like to explore my past with the big green guy, CLICK HERE to see all the Frankie posts.

Hopefully next October I’ll be back with monster art for each weekday. Until then continue to enjoy the various other art that I post here throughout the year!