JOE DUDLEY -- Courageous Candy Store Owner!

Just saw that Lauren Bacall passed away at the age of 89.. One of the grand dames of Cinema, and a genuine favorite of mine! Back when I published my sketchbook in 2003, I included an illo featuring Ms. Bacall that was intended as an homage to Milt Caniff's late-great "MISS LACE" comic-strip.. Seeing as Lauren was a legitimate Pin-Up Queen back during WW2, it seemed completely appropriate?..

When I published my sketchbook in 2003, I was invited to table at a few local Toronto comic-book conventions. I had a standing offer that if a customer paid a bit extra, he/she could get a finished drawing from me. Chris C of Hamilton took up the offer and asked for "Hannah Dundee" after I told him that I'd worked on the Nelvana cartoon.. Last night, I fixed a copy of his drawing in Photoshop and added some digital color. The hair is clearly over-done, but overall I still like the drawing!

This is the other Daniel Torres artwork, that I purchased at a recent Heritage Auction.. A large mixed media illustration of “Roy Batty” from one of my favorite films: "BLADE RUNNER”! You can see in the 2 large panels across the top, that Torres illustrated: “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion..” (LEFT) As well as: “..C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate” (RIGHT)  This illustration was published in the November 2019 issue of FOTOGRAMAS Magazine, to accompany an article about Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1982 film!

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!

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!

Dunno how or where I found this image, but I've always loved it!.. Wally Wood was a genuine Master at combining cartoony poses with solid construction.. My best guess would be that this was a back cover to one of his 'WITZEND' fanzine issues?..

A pen-and-ink Pinup of Dixie Evans "The Marilyn Monroe Of Burlesque", that I did back ‘95.. In the early 1990's, I corresponded with her a bit. She was running the "Exotic World" museum in Helendale, California. Sadly, she passed away this month. She was a sweet old lady..

More on Dixie can be found here..

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!!

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!!

'HELLBOY' illo that I did for a charity auction, back in 2004.. Parts of it look wonky to me now. But I liked how the coloring came out. Especially, the swamp scum details..