I Was Fortunate This Past Weekend, To Win A Couple Of Nice Items At Heritage Auctions.. Here’s One

"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..

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!

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!!

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.

15 years ago, I was commissioned by artist Leigh Young to draw a Pinup featuring one of her ‘LUCHABABES’ characters.. i chose to draw “Ambarina”. Shown here, facing off against “The Blue Demon”. I’d just come off working on "THE RIPPING FRIENDS” cartoon series, which (I think) may have informed the way I handled the overwrought anatomy of the Villain, here..

Christmas card from just last year.. I was up so late at night finishing this, that I mistakenly signed "2013", after my signature. Nobody seemed to notice it, though..

I was up ‘til about 3am coloring an OLD pen-and-ink drawing for the upcoming “Summer Art Show”, held at the studio I work at.. Today, I’m physically wiped, as a result. I tried to use a color palette that conjures up the feeling of an old 50′s-era comic-book cover.. Perhaps a nod to the ‘MARS ATTACKS’ cards, too? It still feels rushed, but I do like the way his leather boots turned out!

Tura Satana

Photographed by - Clarence Wyatt

“Scarilyn” chills on a Neitherworld beach.. A 29 year-old layout from the 12th episode in Season One of “Beetlejuice”, entitled: "Quit While You're a Head".. This was my first real Animation job, back in 1989. 

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.