‘Doctor Strange’ Illo That I Did, Back In 2008.. Colored It Later On, Using Colored Pencils, Felt

Lookee what I got in today's mail.. My copy of 'EC Fan-Addict' #2!! Great articles on the comic art careers of Frazetta and Sid Check.. Plus, an interview with Al Feldstein?! Not available in any stores, folks.. To get your own copy, contact: ecfanaddicts_at_yahoo.com

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!

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?..

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!

I'm not a particularly big Life Drawing fan.. But awhile back, I was fortunate to be gifted with a bunch of at-size color photocopies, done by none other than my fave artist: Frank Frazetta!! He drew this sometime around March of 1957.. Wouldn't it be great to have an entire book of these published someday?

Been a long while, but I’m finally back with an update.. I was digging thru some old work files on my HD, and thought I’d put together a brief post..

Back in 2015, I worked at Nelvana on Nick Jr.’s  “Fresh Beat Band of Spies” cartoon series. A lot of the front-end creative work was directed by ‘6 Point Harness’ in L.A., including some of the Design work; usually establishing the look and style of: characters, props, and locations. Full turnarounds and additional views of those designs though, were done at Nelvana in Toronto.

Early in the production, I spent most of my time creating rotations and additional views of Props. I didn’t have any real experience drawing directly with vector lines. So, I was allowed to draw them in Photoshop on a cintiq, using very clean bitmap lines. I'm guessing another artist may have converted my finished work, later on?..

One of my favorite episodes to work on was: “Band Of Pirates” (ep.14).. There were a lot of very nice design elements in that one. Plus, a fun storyline that featured “Captain Arrrgh” stealing half of a Treasure Map. He does so, using a flying robot and a Steampunk-inspired JetSki. For which, I drew some of the additional views..

The Fresh Beat crew makes a quick pursuit using their elaborate Tour Bus, which could conveniently transform into a kind of hydrofoil speedboat! The Bus was  based loosely on the handful of Art Deco “Futurliner” trucks that GM produced in the 40′s. And I felt like the speedboat itself, also gave off a bit of “Thunderbirds 2″ vibe? Creating the fuller rotation, was something of a drawing challenge, as I had to make hard decisions about the overall dimensionality and how each of the surfaces and corners attached to each other..

About halfway thru the production, I took over the Layout Supervision from my friend: Terry Lenko. This may be the only show that I’ve ever worked on, where my End Credit designation changes across the episodes arc?! Again, I have zero experience (or interest) in vector-based art. So thankfully, all I had to do was “direct” a very talented Layout crew, rather than contribute to the production art directly..

But there were always Layout issues with the storyboard animatics, that would require attention. And Terry taught me the valuable lesson of creating quick Layout thumbnails for each entire episode. Not only did these drawings allow me to identify where the Master and Reuse BGs existed.. But I could also spot and correct all of the continuity, cutting, and staging problems, too!

Enjoy.

My most recent addition to my OA Collection.. A nice finished pen-and-ink drawing of the Irv Novice/Neal Adams -version of The BATMAN, by the uber-talented Kevin Nowlan! 

Tura Satana

Photographed by - Clarence Wyatt

'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..

Last month, we held a “Post-Its Art Show” at work.. All the artists in the studio were invited to participate. The organizer asked me to do a series of promotional ones, to help get things started.. Sharp-eyed comic nerds will recognize my riffs on the art styles of: Dan Clowes, Jack Davis, and Wally Wood?.. These were a lot of fun to do, and the show turned out really great!