Today’s Mail Was Pretty Exciting For Me, Because I Finally Scored A Copy Of “FREE SHIT”, Which

Recently, I’ve been enjoying the nostalgia of a Facebook page dedicated to 'The Drawing Board' message board: an original Internet meeting place that is long gone. At the time, it was a great place to post your artwork, learn drawing tips, or just talk shop with like-minded creatives.. The long-running monthly “Drawing Jam” has been recreated on the FB page, though. And this was my most recent effort, working from a photo of actress: Chloe Sevigny.. Tried to work in a kind of Robert McGinnis approach to her legs and feet. Not sure how successful I was.. But it certainly was fun to try drawing it!

"TOILET HUMOUR" In The Literal Sense..

I was cleaning up my studio room, when I unearthed a large manila envelope. It contained folders of some Spümco-related artwork that I'd purchased from an eBay Seller, back in 2005.. One folder contained rough layouts from a comic-book story, featuring: "NUTTY the Friendly Dump" ! This past year, I finally got to see the finished-version of the story, when it was included in IDW Publishing's 'John K. Presents COMIC BOOK' collection..

An 'IRON MAN' illo I did back in 2002.. Based (of course) on the beautiful renderings of this character by genius comic-book artist: Jack Kirby! A man who never said "No!" to foreshortening!!

I had a half-finished pencil test or a HELLBOY rotation that I worked on, in 2000. Last night, I added and inked a few missing drawings, so that I could get it ready to post on HELLBOY Day! Congratulations to Mike Mignola for 25 Years of this iconic character!

I was fortunate this past weekend, to win a couple of nice items at Heritage Auctions.. Here’s one of them: a large mixed media painting, by Daniel Torres - the great Spanish illustrator/comic-book artist! This illustration was published in the December ‘89 issue of PLAYBOY Magazine, to accompany excerpts of “The Killing Man”; Mickey Spillane’s 12th MIKE HAMMER novel!

The other day, I unearthed 3 pages of Storyboard Cleanup, which I had zero memory of. Not only couldn’t I identify the series, but the time period escaped me, as well. After posting it to my Instagram, a few kind souls volunteered that it was actually from: “My Dad The Rockstar”, which aired in 2003..

The only thing I knew for sure, was that I did the Storyboard Cleanup job for my friend: Rob Walton. I’ve only ever done cleanup for him. Usually, at times of extreme deadline crisis.. I thought it’d be fun to lookup the episode online and make a few screengrabs to compare the finished broadcast shots to the initial storyboards..

The episode was entitled: “High Infidelity”, and was the 4th show of the 1st Season. I recall making the storyboard panel grid myself, and the underlying blue rough drawings were mine too, based on pencil roughs Rob provided. Looking at the finished shots, I was a bit surprised to how graphic the interpretations were.. I didn’t have any model sheets to work from. And simply did my best to glean volumes and construction of the characters, from Rob’s roughs..

This was a Nelvana cartoon series, co-produced with Gene Simmons of KISS fame. The Layout Supervisor was my late friend from Sheridan College: Kevin Klis.. I recall that some of the layout work was also farmed-out to George Elliott’s studio. But I don’t know the extent of that arrangement..

A keen eye will spot a few bad Layout tangents that managed to slip thru.. On the 2nd page of screengrabs, the first few shots almost appear to have the kid bully (“Buzz” Sawchuck) reaching into the van. Who’s arm is it?  it’s really supposed to be the arm of the bald tropical shirt dude, leaning on the van window.. On the 3rd screengrab sheet, you can see that there is a bad leveling error of that same bald dude, sandwiching the bulk of his body BEHIND the actual van seat he’s supposed to be sitting in?!.. I think the unfinished rough of the bald dude falling out of the van was simply a gag that Rob suggested, that was not even in the script..

Like I say, I can’t recall. But it was a fun job to work on. Thanks!

Toon Talk Sessions - Rich Dannys

Welcome to the first episode of Toon Talk Sessions, a Toon Talk Weekly interview series!

Listen above of download the MP3 (67.4mb).

For some time now, we’ve wanted to sit down and interview the people that work behind the scenes on bringing our favorite cartoons to life. It’s no secret that animation is no small task and it requires a large team to create these awesome shows.

On this episode of Toon Talk Sessions Jake had the chance to talk with Canadian artist Rich Dannys about his work in cartoons.

Rich Dannys is a freelance illustrator and cartoonist, based in Oshawa, Ontario. He is an experienced Layout/Design artist, that has worked at many of Toronto’s finest animation studios. His style ranges from work featuring: animated cartoon & comic-book sensibilities – to vintage/retro motifs, with occasional ‘classical’ overtones.

Here are some of the topics covered in this episode:

How he got into the cartoon industry

His early work on Beetlejuice and the time he fired himself

Stories and the coolest scene from the Cadillacs and Dinosaurs series

Rich’s education and teaching experience in Canada

The extraordinary pipeline on his latest project, Welcome to the Wayne

His love of comics and where he finds inspiration

His advice for getting into the cartoon industry and improving your art

For more about Rich Dannys and his work you can find him at the following:

Tumblr - richdannys.tumblr.com/ Instagram - www.instagram.com/richdannys/ Portfolio - www.coroflot.com/Attezarf IMDb - www.imdb.com/name/nm2147403/

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Attended TCAF 2013 on Saturday afternoon, and felt fortunate to pick up the last copy of Basil Wolverton's 'SPACEHAWK' book from the Fantagraphics table.. Also very much enjoyed chatting with artist Jim Rugg and purchasing his 'SUPERMAG' book.. Great show!!

Back in 2007, I had the inclination to try drawing a Don Martin -type character.. I was digging thru some old issues of MAD Magazine and found a series of 'SPIDER-MAN' spoofs he'd done. Invented a new pose and (of course) hadda add one of his signature "SHPLORT" sound effects, too!

Digging through some old drawings last night, I found these.. After seeing a few examples of my Fan Art in the pages of AMAZING HEROES, I was approached by publisher Dave Goode to do cover art for his “SQUARED CIRCLE Comix”. I was very flattered, as the interior story was drawn by Bill Ward, a favorite artist of mine!

I was all of 25 years old in August of ‘88 when I drew this, so I can see a lot of things I’d definitely do differently now. I recall that Goode sent me a sampling of Steve Reeves photo reference for “Brad King”, the wrestler featured here.. I’m guessing I used a Marilyn Monroe photo book by Andre De Dienes, for the “Sugar Caine” bikini babe?

I was pretty obsessed (still am!) with Dave Stevens artwork, at this point. And while I like the Poses and Staging, the line weight on the inking is pretty sketchy. Even so, I recall mailing this and a number of other art samples to Dave Stevens. He wrote back a nice letter to me: “As for your drawing ability, you seem to have a good grasp on the Figure. So you shouldn’t have any trouble getting work. Based on the wrestling piece you did, I’d say you’re ready to try your stuff on a story..” 

You could have knocked me over with a feather, after that.