Just Saw That Lauren Bacall Passed Away At The Age Of 89.. One Of The Grand Dames Of Cinema, And A Genuine

Two years ago today, we lost a local legend.. RIP Darwyn Cooke.

20 years ago, I self-published my sketchbook: “Wang-Dang-Doodle!” This was the drawing I used for the cover art.. Recently, I agreed to sell the drawing to a local Original Art collector/friend.. So, I thought I’d better make some decent scans of it, first. Hard for me to believe how quickly all of that time has passed!

Lookee what I was able to snag at last weekend's 'Toronto Comic Show'.. A copy of "GAMUT #3"!!  This was a fanzine produced by Sheridan College's now-defunct 'Comic and Cartooning Course' in Oakville.. It was designed to showcase talent attending the school..

Apart from the rare (and funny) Berni Wrightson cover art,-- the main reason I bought it was for a comic story inside by: Bob Smith.. A very talented guy I once worked with at Nelvana, on a number of their action-adventure cartoon shows.. Later on, he went on to do storyboards for Bruce Timm on the WB cartoons..

Today’s mail was pretty exciting for me, because I finally scored a copy of “FREE SHIT”, which I was able to purchase via eBay France! I’m a huge Charles Burns fan and have met him a number of times over the years. I’d read that he'd often produce these small 8-page ‘zines called “FREE SHIT” and give them to his fans at signings? Despite this fact, he never seemed to have any copies, whenever I’d ask.. Pretty disappointing.

The book was produced by ‘Le Dernier Cri’ as a limited-edition (1000 copies) in September 2016. So, they’re rather hard to find in North America. And often, very expensive! They’re certainly never Free!! Anyways, this small book collects the first 22 issues of his ‘zine. And is a real insight into Burns’ process and how his creative brain works. Highly recommended!

JOE DUDLEY -- Courageous Candy Store Owner!

Sketchbook study of an old comic-book panel found in a “CRIME DOES NOT PAY” reprint volume.. The original artist was Dan Barry, I believe. I like the idea of doing a small ‘zine with isolated panels like this one. And I’m hoping to use this image in the future, for something along those lines..

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 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!

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!

A 16 year-old pinup drawing that served as my entry into this week’s 'Illustration Friday' contest, themed around the word: “DOG”.. The initial layout sketch was provided by my good friend and fellow Layout buddy: David Pietila. “Soopermutt” was a character featured in issues of the “Animal Adventures” comic-book, published in the 1950′s by ‘Timor Publications’..

A Belated HAPPY HALLOWE’EN !!

They recently staged a "Hallowe'en" -themed Art Show at the studio I work at.. I decided to contribute a couple of old EC Fanzine illustrations that I did many years ago.. Sadly, I no longer own the pen-and-ink originals.. But I'd always wanted to color these; and the Art Show finally gave me the chance to do so!  Both images feature all 3 of EC Comics' famed "GhouLunatics" characters, along with a lot of other creepy and gory stuff!