The Cartoon Cave

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T21:32:00.001-08:00

Well, just another quiet New Years Eve for me again this year. Not much to report, but just in case you're wondering, here's how it played out....

I asked my friend Julia if she'd have dinner with me this evening, but she was too busy making a movie so she took a rain check.

Plan B fell by the wayside too, as J-Lo was still miffed at me over what happened on our last night out together. Ouch!

It looked like a night out on the town with Jenna was a sure thing, only she couldn't find anything to wear. Ah, maybe next year...

So, after licking my wounds, I ended up dancing most of the night away with Beyoncé, who showed me a few new moves.

Luckily for me, just as I was resigned to heading back home in time to watch Anderson and Kathy do the countdown on CNN, I ran into that good sport, Lindsay, who invited me along to celebrate her recent discharge from rehab.

So, I guess it was a pretty decent New Years Eve after all. Um, how was yours?

Drawn Animation Still Matters

2011-12-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

My good friend and colleague, Mark Mayerson, has written his well reasoned theory on why today's audiences may have forsaken traditional, hand-drawn animation in favour of the ever increasing use of CG. I think he's correct, but only up to a point, as he uses the new French film, The Artist, to make an analogy between the decline of silent film after the introduction of sound with the current decline in popularity of drawn animation. I just finished putting my own thoughts into an impassioned (if longwinded) comment in response to his post. Since I'd been wanting to say something regarding drawn animation vs CG here on my own blog, I figured I'd repost my thoughts here in order to get more mileage out of them. For what it's worth, here's what I said on the matter:

I haven't seen The Artist as yet, although it's top of my list to see. (Actually, it's about the ONLY film that I'm planning to see these days, sad to say). I have to quibble with you on one thing, though. There's no question that it is an "affectation", as you describe, but I'd argue that it was never meant to be anything more than that. It is undoubtedly meant as a loving homage to those simpler times of the silent films, but it is a one-shot novelty, not in any way hoping to bring about a return of the silent, black and white film as a form of popular entertainment. I think that's quite obvious from the fact that it's set in the 1920s, not using the format to tell a contemporary story. Back in 1976, Mel Brooks gave us Silent Movie, which was also a love letter to silent films, though one set deliberately in modern day in order to parody it in the Mel Brooks style of absurdity. But that film too was never intended to usher in a new wave of silent pictures.

That's why I think your analogy to handdrawn animated films may ring a bit false here, Mark, with due respect. Whereas nobody would want to bring back the silent film as an ongoing form of popular entertainment, recognizing its inherent limitations that no longer exist since the advent of sound and colour, those of us who champion drawn animation still believe it will always be a valid form of the art. Also, I don't think that opinion is limited to just those of us who work in animation or related fields of visual art. A lot of people, particularly mothers of young kids, do see the difference between traditional drawn animation and CG and have told me that they do indeed miss the former.

Animation may have started out as a novelty on screen, but once Disney and Fleischer popularized the illusion of moving cartoon drawings as a legitimate form of entertainment, it was recognized as a distinct art form in itself, a completely different experience to that of a live-action film. Even the technological advances in features like Pinocchio, Fantasia and especially Bambi, did not so much blur the line between drawing and live-action, but rather, treated the resulting imagery more like moving paintings, still far removed from live-action cinematography in their graphic visual clarity.

This is why I cringe at what is being done today in the name of "animation", utilizing the computer to replicate everything in live-action: light, shadow, texture, and now, with the introduction of mo-cap, slavishly realistic movement, devoid of creativity and caricature. In short, there really is no such thing as animation anymore, as the industry honchos have decided that the inherent charm of a cartoon drawing seemingly springing to life on the screen is passé, and must never be see again. The rules of photography can be the only goal to aspire to if one is to remain working in Hollywood.

What a sad state our industry has fallen into. Even sadder because nobody working in it has the courage of their convictions to fight back against the madness of it all.

There's more I want to say on this topic, but I need to gather my thoughts together first and grab some visuals to illustrate it. In the meantime, please leave your own thoughts in my comments section.

Long Live Dear Leader!

2011-12-20T10:53:00.001-08:00

Good people of North Korea, do not be sad. Your Dear Leader is not really dead at all. No, he is but in the deepest of sleeps awaiting his true love's first kiss.

Though admittedly, given his former social status, that may take quite a while to happen:

Natalie Wood

2011-11-29T00:09:00.000-08:00

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the very tragic death of Natalie Wood on Nov. 29th 1981. Of course, that terrible incident has been back in the news lately, due to the captain of the yacht coming forward with what may be new information that was not disclosed at the time of her drowning all those years ago. I was only 21 at the time, but I remember the sad news with great clarity. Natalie had been starring in Brainstorm, which was still in the middle of production when she died. She hadn't been in many theatrical films for awhile, as it seemed she was doing more in the way of made-for-TV movies in the late 1970s. At the time of her tragic death she was only 43, still a very vibrant and beautiful woman.

There was so much mystery surrounding her death by drowning, that speculation ran rampant about what led to it and what possibly transpired on the yacht that night. I doubt that this current re-investigation will turn up anything more conclusive that would disprove it being an "accident", but it will be interesting to see if any new facts come to light. It was certainly a very suspicious incident, though, and there has to be far more behind it that we'll probably never know the truth about.

Interestingly, as I was looking through her list of theatrical film credits on IMDb, I think I've only seen about a dozen of them that I recall. In fact, she only made about 30 odd films as an adult performer, if you start counting from her appearance in John Wayne's The Searchers, when she was just 15. Of those I have seen, there are several that I've watched a number of times, including her iconic performances as "Maria" in West Side Story, the vaudeville-to-burlesque performer "Gypsy Rose Lee" (aka "Louise") in Gypsy, and as the intrepid feminist reporter, "Maggie Dubois" in The Great Race.

Another film I've seen several times is 1964's Sex and the Single Girl, in which Natalie played real life writer (and later editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine) Helen Gurley Brown, although the movie is a fictitious romp only loosely related to Ms. Brown's book of the same title. It's not a great film, but it is a lot of fun to watch. Natalie's paired up with Tony Curtis, before costarring again together famously in The Great Race the following year, and they've got terrific on-screen chemistry. (Actually, their first onscreen pairing was in Kings Go Forth, in 1958 alongside Frank Sinatra.) Here's a clip from the film where Tony's character is trying to seduce Miss Brown while they're waiting for their clothes to dry off after a scene in which they both ended up toppling over a pier into the water. (Yes, there's a tragic irony in that, isn't there?). Of course, it was from this film that I chose to sketch my caricature of Natalie Wood that appears at the head of this post.

A truly beautiful lady with great warmth and charm. She was one of the true screen goddesses of the 1960s, and I miss her very much.

Character Face Types

2011-11-28T18:35:00.000-08:00

This post is primarily for the benefit of the students currently in my Character Design class in the Sheridan College BAA Animation programme. An ongoing assignment that they've been working on throughout this fall semester involves drawing a number of people from life or from video (but NOT from still photos!), as a way of building up a reference library of "Character Types", that ideally they should then refer back to when trying to create new characters for animation or other assignments. I'm a great believer in creating a character design that communicates something about the character to the viewer through the visual appearance alone, even before they start to move or speak in the animation. Just as the Casting Director in a live-action film tries to cast an actor who looks credible for the role, so too does a Character Designer strive to "cast" the right sort of type for an animated character, giving much consideration to how the physical aspects of the design will suggest a certain personality type that the viewer will recognize.

I've written about this before, and there are more thoughts and visual samples to be found in these previous posts:
Sketching Character Reference
More Character Types
Variety Is The Key!
Working Out The Likeness

Before you even start to sketch a subject, you should be taking some time to properly observe and analyze their head and face type. Ask yourself the following questions when trying to form a strong visual impression of the subject:

1) What is the basic head shape? Is it long or short? Round, blocky, or triangular? Wider at the top, middle or bottom?

2) Is the facial plane straight up and down, convex or concave, or angled forward or back?

3) What is the relative placement of the facial features within that head shape? Are they mostly in the lower area with a high forehead? Are they converging toward the middle or stretched vertically along the facial plane?

4) Where are the features relative to each other? Are the eyes wide apart or close-set? Is the bottom of the nose not far from the eyes or pushed down closer to the mouth?

5) What is the relative size of the features to each other? Large or small eyes? Long or short nose? Wide or narrow mouth?

6) And finally, what are the specific shapes of the features? Are the eyes angled up or down, narrow slits or wide with much white space around the pupil? Is the nose "Pug", "Ski-slope", or "Roman"? Thick or thin lips, etc. etc. etc.....?

Study the Character Type samples I have posted here and try to analyze them using these and other questions to determine what makes the head shape and features distinct and unique!

Floyd Norman!

2011-11-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite regular reads has been the blog of Disney cartoonist and gagman, Floyd Norman, AKA "Mr. Fun". Recently, Floyd had mentioned on his blogsite that he might be retiring from blogging, due to the blog's host site being phased out. That would have been a real shame, as I and many others have come to really enjoy his posts relating his many years working for Disney. Floyd is a genuine link to Disney's illustrious past, as he started working for the Disney Studio back when Sleeping Beauty was still in production. Fortunately, Floyd gave it some more thought and decided to keep on blogging using a new hosting service.

I have a special fondness for Floyd Norman, as he was a story artist on my alltime favourite Disney feature, 1967's The Jungle Book. Many of his posts are warmly nostalgic about that era of animation, and his personal recollections of attending story meetings presided over by Walt Disney himself help to give the reader a good sense of what Walt was really like. I also enjoy his stories of that master animator, Milt Kahl, who had a reputation for being a pretty colourful old curmudgeon.

Anyway, I'm personally overjoyed to see that Floyd Norman will still be regaling us with his tales from the Disney Studio back in its glory years. I've just updated the url to his new site in my list of blog links to the right. I hope you folks enjoy his stories and cartoons as much as I do!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a new caricature of Vincent Price that I drew for this past week's subject on Caricaturama Showdown 3000. I've written about Vincent Price before, as he was one of my favourite actors and I was lucky enough to have met him in person many years ago. As reference for this illustration pictured above, I turned to his role as Mr. Trumbull the undertaker, who's desperate for business in the 1963 dark comedy, The Comedy of Terrors. Here he is offering up some "medicine" to his infirm and nearly deaf father-in-law, played by Boris Karloff.

Incidentally, I'm dedicating this Halloween post to Belle Dee, who is a huge fan of Vincent Price, as well as of all the gothic horror films from AIP and Hammer studios of the 60's and 70's. Belle is also a very talented illustrator/cartoonist who has created a great many illustrations of her favourite horror film stars. Please be sure to check out her stylish art on her Facebook page.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take care of this cop who's trying to arrest me for drinking and jiving at the Arthur Murray Halloween Dance...

A Disney Halloween!

2011-10-30T16:08:00.001-07:00

Since tomorrow is Halloween, I thought I'd post up some of my Disney illustrations that were created to that theme. The two illustrations below featuring the characters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Lion King were both done for a Random House childrens' book entitled Don't Go Bump in the Night!, which was a book full of Halloween safety tips illustrated with scenes from several Disney films and Pixar films too.

These illustrations featuring characters from The Little Mermaid appeared in another book from Random House entitled The Fairest of the Fall. This book was in the Disney Princess line of merchandising, and consisted of two stories with an autumn theme, the first featuring Ariel and the second featuring Princess Aurora (AKA Briar Rose) from Sleeping Beauty.

The story with Ariel is about her discovering a Jack-o-lantern floating in the waves which she then takes to Scuttle the seagull to see if he knows what it is for. He explains the concept of Halloween being celebrated by the villagers onshore, thereby inspiring Ariel and her friends to then stage their own aquatic variation on the festival.

(Sorry I gave away the ending, but please go buy the book anyway, okay?)

More Walt Disney World Art

2011-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

The above image was the very first illustration I did for Walt Disney World Marketing, although it was created about a year before I was actually hired on staff, which would place it as being done around 1989. I was still working for Disney's merchandising division here in Toronto full-time when this project was offered to me as a freelance assignment. I was being considered for a permanent staff position in Florida at the time, so I really poured my heart and soul into this illustration. I wanted the painting to really capture the look of the film, so I treated the background more like watercolour, using dilute glazes of gouache to create that translucent look. The Dwarfs were painted with gouache full strength, to give them more opacity like animation cels.

This is how the project looked in full, as my illustration was just the centerpiece within a graphic design that had been put together by one of the Walt Disney World designers at the excellent WDW Resorts Design division. They produced many holiday posters over several years, which were printed up and given out to guests in the various Disney resort hotels. Once I was working at WDW full-time, I contributed to several more of these, although this one will always remain my sentimental favourite.

Soon after first joining the WDW Marketing Art division I remember getting this fun assignment from their travel agency. Originally, I had done the concept art of Donald Duck with his two amigos from The Three Caballeros, José Carioca the parrot and Panchito the rooster, swooping over The Magic Kingdom on their flying serapé. Unfortunately, the client had never seen the film and wondered who the parrot and rooster were and, despite my trying to educate him on the matter, insisted that I change it to Donald's nephews instead. I still enjoyed doing the illustration but I don't think it makes as much sense as the original concept sketch did. Ah well...

This piece was actually done several years after I'd left WDW in Florida and had returned back home to the Toronto area. I was still doing a lot of regular freelance work for WDW, mostly through the Resorts Design division. I remember really enjoying working on this illustration for a chocolate box which would sell in the WDW gift shops. It wasn't often I got to do the 1930's style of Mickey and the gang, so once again there was the novelty in trying to capture that delicate watercolour look of the background, themed to the 1937 cartoon, Hawaiian Holiday. By this time I'd finally gotten myself a computer and had been dabbling with Photoshop a bit in my art. Quite frankly, to this day I'm still far more comfortable painting with real gouache on illustration board and I can't imagine capturing that same feel digitally, so I still paint backgrounds traditionally and scan then in to the computer afterward. However, I do find Photoshop handy for painting the characters, making them look more like animation cels like in the films. I still ink them traditionally, then scan in the linework and use Photoshop to add the colour. That's how this illustration was accomplished, and I have continued using this hybrid method to illustrate a great many children's books for Disney since.

I'm still sorting through folders of old art and printed samples, so I may start posting up more of my Disney work in the near future.

More Colour Commentary

2011-10-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

My blog post from Sept. 24th entitled Whatever Happened To Colour? was noticed and picked up by the folks over at Boing Boing which led to a lot of comments both for and against my stance on the issue of desaturation run rampant on today's movie screens (not to mention in most TV shows now too.) Well, that Boing Boing post was in turn noticed by the folks at CBC News, and producer Nigel Hunt then contacted me to ask if I'd be interested in being interviewed on the subject.

I agreed to it, so Nigel brought cameraman Doug and on-screen personality, Deana Sumanac to my home to conduct the interview. Though they were here for about an hour, only about 10 seconds' worth of what I said actually made it in to the segment, but I know that's par for the course with TV news and the piece was finally broadcast on tonight's broadcast of CBC News' The National. Anyway, if you're curious enough to take a look, don't blink or you'll miss me!

Thanks again to CBC's Nigel Hunt for putting it together and showing interest in my views on the issue. I'm also very happy to have had the pleasure of meeting lovely Deana Sumanac, shown in the photo above.

Walt Disney World Kids Menus

2011-10-03T17:40:00.001-07:00

Continuing with the theme of Walt Disney World celebrating its 40th Anniversary, here are some more samples of projects I worked on while employed there in the early 1990's. Specifically, these are some of the kids menus I illustrated for the various restaurants in the WDW resort hotels - projects that I particularly enjoyed doing due to their novelty factor.

I always enjoyed illustrating Donald and his nephews, as the ducks are my favourite of the standard Disney characters. This was one of the numerous, more economically produced menus/placemats that were easily printed up on 11 x 17 stock. It was created for Olivia's Café at the Old Key West Resort. The menu items are actually listed on the back of this placemat, in among some illustrated puzzles for the kids to work out while eating. The novelty aspect was the fish that was a separate insert that kids could remove and replace in the net.

In a similar vein, this was another economical novelty menu created for Boatwright's at the Port Orleans Resort (which was originally a separate area known as Dixie Landings Resort). As I mentioned in my previous post, it was always a treat to illustrate the characters from Song of the South, as they were not utilized that often. Again, there is the novelty of the ruler insert with small stencils cut in each end.

As I'm a huge fan of The Jungle Book, it was a particular thrill to get to illustrate this kids menu that was used in one of the restaurants over at The Polynesian Resort. (I can't recall which one, though.) It was about 36" wide, so I decided to illustrate it actual print size just to keep it a manageable size on my drawing table, rather than 25% bigger or so, as I normally chose to work. The only direction I'd gotten from the client was that it had to depict the various characters gathered around a table in the jungle and there had to be room to print the menu items somewhere too. Hmm, that was a tricky problem - how to achieve that directive, yet keep the solution somewhat faithful to the jungle environment itself.

I decided to treat the table as a gigantic stone tablet that might have been part of King Louie's ruined temple. Likewise, the menu items appeared on more tablets suspended by vines overhead. To be sure, the situation with the characters is quite contrived, but I enjoyed coming up with gags that seemed right for each of them, such as Kaa the snake's front end appearing in the first segment while his tail end is shown further along in the scene. The whole scene was painted with gouache on illustration board, and I enjoyed trying to maintain the look of those beautiful backgrounds from the film.

Speaking of Kaa, the reverse side of the menu featured a line drawing of the snake (a segment shown above) for kids to colour in with crayons, then punch out along the perforations to fasten into a loop that could then be placed around the head like he does with Mowgli in the film. Unfortunately, this novelty led to the unintended effect of kids asking for a second intact menu after they ruined the first one by punching out the snake. Ultimately this resulted in the item being discontinued after about a year, as it was costing the restaurant more than their budget had allowed for!

Finally, here is the only item for which I ever got to illustrate the characters from The Rescuers. This menu was created for Port Orleans Resort, if memory serves. The menu items appeared on the reverse side listed on the underside of the gator's belly, as it was the same scene depicted, only as if you were underwater looking up. Very tricky to make it look optically correct, as I recall. Again the novelty involved punching out the gator, then folding down his side panels to end up with a dimensional relief sculpture that the kids could play with while eating. Alas, this one as well often resulted in twice as many menus being requested due to ruining the illustration in the process, thereby being replaced sometime later with a simpler, more economical menu instead.

I look back with a lot of fondness on these kids menus, as they were usually more creative and playful than a lot of the other illustrated assignments I worked on. They were all produced in collaboration with the great design team who worked in the WDW Resort Design Department. To those who are still working there today, I salute you!

Happy 40th Anniversary, Walt Disney World!

2011-10-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

Yes, on October 1st 1971, Walt Disney World in Florida officially opened up to an appreciative public. I'm sure that many other Disney enthusiasts are posting articles today that go into the history of the park, so I'm going to do something a bit different. Instead I want to post up some of the artwork I did while employed at the WDW Marketing Art Dept. back in the period of 1990 to 1994. In 1991, of course, WDW was celebrating its 20th anniversary, so there was some special art that was produced for that year-long celebration:

Some of the 20th Anniversary material featured Roger Rabbit, who had made his screen debut just three years earlier. Unfortunately, at this point poor Roger was in the centre of a rather ugly legal battle between Disney and Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, whom had partnered up with Disney to produce the movie. I strongly recall a memo being circulated around our office at that time, informing us that any projects we had on the go involving Roger could be completed and used, but nothing else could be initiated until further notice. I had this painting in progress, so they told me I could keep going on it. The way it ended up, Disney and Amblin were never able to resolve their differences, and Roger Rabbit ended up in a sort of legal limbo. This illustration was one of the last depictions of Roger for quite some time, although there have been some exceptions I've noticed in recent years, notably some sculpted figurines from the Walt Disney Classics Collection.

This colourful phone directory cover was my favourite illustration project that 20th Anniversary year. There was a festive parade featuring the Disney characters in Mardi Gras style costumes. In fact, they'd coined it the "Party Gras Parade", and it was actually recycled from a Disneyland 35th celebration the year before. You can see a bunch of images from it here on the Jim Hill Media site. I was given the happy assignment of creating the Lake Buena Vista phonebook cover art that year where I got to interpret the parade back into cartoon illustration form of the Disney characters.

Though the Splash Mountain attraction actually opened up the following year in 1992, I thought I'd include this illustration I did for the presskit folder that would have heralded the news to the media. I must admit I've had ambivalent feelings about that attraction, as the WDW Marketing Dept. tried to sell it as thrill-packed log flume ride while radically downplaying the theme of the Br'er Rabbit characters from Song of the South. They didn't show the character theming at all in the TV spots promoting it at the time. As we all know, Disney has kept that lovely film locked tightly in the vault out of fear that its time period of the immediate post-Civil War American South would upset and infuriate ultra-sensitive types. I'm just happy that I was able to illustrate the folder cover in a way that paid tribute to a film that has long been a warm memory from my early moviegoing years.

Finally, here is an example of something else we occasionally got to do in my department. Even though there was a separate WDW Merchandise Art Dept. elsewhere on property, sometimes we would get some of their overflow work. This was one of several illustrations I got to do for them which would appear on candy boxes sold in The Magic Kingdom gift shops. They also were novelty items, in that if you flipped the box over, there would be an illustration of the back view of the situation, in this case revealing a lucky horseshoe from Minnie that Mickey is holding behind his back.

Anyway, I might rummage through more boxes and folders of my old Disney artwork to post a few more samples up here in the next few days.

Whatever Happened To Colour?

2011-09-24T17:03:00.000-07:00

Those who know me well know that I am very much steeped in the popular culture of the 50's and 60's. In fact, most of my favourite movies were made in roughly that twenty year span. That's not to say that I believe movies were better overall from that era in terms of writing and direction, but when it comes to colour and sound then, yes, there's a wealth of pleasure for the senses to be found during that period.

Just the other night I put on my DVD of 4 For Texas, starring Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin alongside those fine Swedish and Swiss imports respectively, Anita Ekberg and Ursula Andress. To be sure, it's a mindless piece of fluff that would never end up on any film critic's list of all-time classics, but it's a bit of fun and most importantly, it looks great! Like most films of that era, it is crisply lit and absolutely awash in lush colour. I know most of you likely value content in a film over style, but not me - I prefer style, critics be damned! (Of course, the goal should be to have both wonderful content and style.)

For me, a movie has to lure me through the senses - it must appeal to the eyes and ears. At one time, Hollywood used to knock itself out trying to do this, with lush Technicolor and memorable music scores. Cinematographers, art directors, costume designers - all were hired for their skill in bringing aesthetic appeal to meet with the director's vision. Scenes were beautifully lit in order to showcase the attractiveness of Hollywood's leading stars of the day, with their warm, tanned flesh tones and well-tailored wardrobes:

But not now...

Hollywood has decided that we can't have beautiful imagery anymore. These days, it seems that the default look for most (if not all) movies is like this - colours drained of all their bright hue and given an overall dull blue tinge:

It's bad enough when horror, sci-fi and fantasy movies seem to slavishly adhere to this unpleasant template, but even mainstream adult dramas like Up In The Air and Fair Game (both of which are films that I would otherwise like) are being drained of all their colour in post-production. This unfortunate trend in dreariness also lessened my enjoyment of last year's Best Picture winner, The King's Speech.

Recently, I did some searching on Google to find out whether others are equally disturbed by this ugly trend in today's films. Sure enough, I turned up this article that helps to explain what is going on. It's interesting to read the numerous comments afterward, as there are many, like me, who abhor this unpleasant trend, while others defend it as being true to the director's "vision". Though they may like to think of themselves as unique visionaries, most directors working today merely conform to one basic template of mediocrity that the Hollywood studios all decree must be followed. Because of this trend toward the drab and ugly, I find myself seeing fewer and fewer films with each passing year. Perhaps Hollywood should realize that many older moviegoers are used to far richer looking movies from the more glorious past - today's films just turn us off. BLECCHH!!

Here's a final parting shot. Compare the dreary, blue-tinged Russell Crowe 2010 Robin Hood to the lush 1938 Technicolor classic starring Errol Flynn:

(And if you want to see the warm, rich colours of gorgeous Ursula Andress, here's the trailer from 4 For Texas!)

Happy 100th, Freddie Moore!

2011-09-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

I've been reading on other blogs that today, Sept. 7 2011, represents the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary Disney animator, Fred Moore. You can read the thoughts of other artists regarding Freddie on the blogs of Jenny Lerew and Andreas Deja. Aside from his iconic and highly influential Disney character designs and animation, Fred was also famous for his drawings of cute, innocently sexy girls. I've written before on this subject here, and I am proud to own a couple of his originals, bought about 20 years ago through the Howard Lowery auction, one of which is pictured at the head of this post.

Recently, former Disney animator and creator of Electric Tiki, Tracy Lee, has created a beautiful figurine based on one of Fred's sketches of a typical "Freddie Girl", pictured in the above photo. The sketch was interpreted into the 3-dimensional figurine by the brilliant Kent Melton, who has been responsible for many extraordinary sculpted animation maquettes over the years, as well as having sculpted figurines for public purchase with the Disney Classics Collection. I had pre-ordered the Freddie Moore Girl sculpture when it first went on sale, and received it a couple months ago, where it now sits alongside other Fred Moore-inspired figurines of the centaurettes from Fantasia that were among the first set of bisques from The Disney Classics Collection. Just adorable!

Pooh Book Illustrations

2011-08-14T13:39:00.000-07:00

Seeing the recent Disney Winnie-The-Pooh feature made me think back on the series of books I'd illustrated for Readers Digest back about 10 years ago. I like the Pooh characters, but I must admit I find them deceptively simple in design, as they're actually quite hard to get just right. (And nobody can draw Tigger absolutely right since Milt Kahl retired from animating - he's really tough to do well!)

This was perhaps my favourite of the handful that I'd illustrated, as I really quite like drawing Rabbit. Perhaps I relate only too well to his curmudgeonly attitude! The fun for me was in keeping Pooh and Rabbit in character as best I could, as well as trying to paint the backgrounds as faithful as possible to the watercolour style in the films. I drew the characters as separate elements, scanning in the pencil art and colouring them in Photoshop, then placing them on top of the hand-painted backgrounds that were done with diluted gouache on illustration board. This process helps to keep the illustrations looking much like cel set-ups, resembling the look of the films as closely as I was able to achieve. Anyway, here are all of the interior pages from Happy New Year, Pooh! - some are single pages, others are double page spreads. The simple text is laid in afterward on top of the illustrations in the wide open areas. These books were available in a book-of-the-month-club format aimed at very young readers.

Caricatures For Ellie!

2011-07-26T05:20:00.000-07:00

The other night I drew caricatures at a bridal shower for one of my former animation students, Ellie Ventura, who is getting married this coming September. I must confess, bridal showers are my favourite type of event to work, as I get to caricature lots of cute girls! Some people believe that it's harder to caricature females, but I think it's still possible to exaggerate and stylize the features while maintaining their attractiveness. Anyway, here is a sampling of the ones I drew that evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sketch Ellie herself, though at least she has the one I did from when she was in my class about 5 or 6 years ago. All the best to Ellie and her beau on their upcoming wedding day!

The End Credits Roll On Elwy Yost

2011-07-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Long before the Turner Classic Movies cable channel came along, lucky movie buffs here in Ontario had Saturday Night at the Movies to look forward to each week. Starting in the mid-1970s, it was on this TVOntario show that many of my age were first introduced to all sorts of film classics from the glorious past. And the man who created the show and hosted it for about 25 years running was Elwy Yost, a round faced, enthusiastic, and very genial film connoisseur. Sadly, I learned yesterday that Elwy Yost has just passed away at the age of 86.

Similar to the appeal of Walt Disney coming into our living rooms every week on The Wonderful World of Disney in the 50s and 60s, a decade later Elwy Yost was also like a favourite uncle arriving every Saturday night to sit down and watch with and discuss some of the best movies that Hollywood's Golden Age had to offer. Every week there would be a couple of films screened on a related topic, or perhaps from the same director or starring the same actor. In between the movies there would be pre-filmed interview portion, sometimes with a well-known star, but more often with a director, screenwriter, cinematographer, makeup artist, or other creative person who had long laboured behind the scenes. Elwy would usually film his interviews with them at their homes and, though the interview might start out a bit stiffly, the subjects would always warm up to Elwy as it progressed, when it became quickly evident that Elwy was really interested in their specific contribution to a film classic. I'm certain that many of the interviewees were delighted to be asked questions about their achievements that nobody had ever been interested enough to ask them before. While Elwy did have a tendency to gush in his "Gee Whiz!" manner, his enthusiasm for the films he covered was quite endearing to his loyal viewers, who probably found him very easy to relate to. Elwy was not a film critic so much, but rather, the ultimate film fan. I suspect Elwy Yost never met a movie he didn't like!

Fortunately, TVOntario has just recently been making a number of Elwy's interviews available to watch on their online TVO Archive. I strongly recommend checking out some of these. Animation buffs will probably enjoy Elwy's interviews with Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. Here is a clip from YouTube that shows Elwy Yost in his hosting duties on Saturday Night at The Movies. Yep, we'll miss you, Elwy...

Liam Neeson

2011-07-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here's my caricature of Liam Neeson, the subject of the week at Caricaturama Showdown. As I've mentioned often on here, I do my caricatures by sketching from video reference rather than from photos, as I find I get a better feel for the design of the face and the personality of the subject. For this caricature, I started by watching Liam in the 1994 film, Nell, which starred Jodie Foster (who was also co-producer) in the title role of a young woman who has been raised in a log cabin in the backwoods of North Carolina, completely isolated from the outside world. Her mother was a stroke victim, paralyzed on one side of her face, so Nell grows up never hearing properly enunciated speech. When the elderly mother dies, Nell is left speaking what appears to be an unknown language when she is discovered by the sheriff and a concerned doctor played by Neeson.

It's a truly beautiful and touching film, even moreso in retrospect, as it was during the filming of Nell that Liam Neeson met and fell in love with his co-star, actress Natasha Richardson, who plays a psychiatrist in the film. They married soon thereafter and had a wonderful, stable, loving marriage until Natasha was tragically killed in a skiing accident in 2009. I acknowledged the tragedy at the time with this tribute, as I believe there were many people who felt so saddened for Liam in his great loss. It's hard to watch the film today and not shed some tears when you can tell how they were falling in love during its production. And in her performance as Nell, Jodie Foster is truly luminous, and shows what a gifted actress she has become in her years before the camera. A lovely and poignant film that I highly recommend if you have not yet seen it.

Happy Birthday, Bill Cosby!

2011-07-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

The subject this week on Caricaturama was Bill Cosby, and the fellow who chose him knew that this challenge would end on Cosby's birthday. I hadn't been participating in this weekly challenge for awhile now, but I felt compelled to draw ol' Bill, as I consider him the gold standard of stand-up comedians. I wanted to portray him back in his prime of the 1970's/early 80's when he appeared regularly on The Tonight Show while Johnny was still at the helm. Those were the days! In fact I drew this from an appearance in 1983 that Cosby made on The Tonight Show that can be found on this new multi-disc DVD set that came out earlier this year.

Here's a terrific Bill Cosby routine I remember fondly, courtesy of YouTube:

PS: Sorry I haven't updated the blog in awhile. I haven't felt very motivated lately, I'm afraid.

Alan Rickman

2011-05-31T08:07:00.000-07:00

Alan Rickman was this week's challenge on Caricaturama Showdown. There were a lot of entries portraying him as Prof. Snape from the Harry Potter films, so I wanted to show a very different side of him for variety. I remembered that he was in the Richard Curtis film, Love Actually, a delightful romantic comedy with a great ensemble cast. So here is my caricature of Alan Rickman from that role as a compassionate office boss who plays cupid for two of his employees, while also trying to avoid falling into the trap of an extramarital affair with his comely young secretary. Check out this great scene from the film where he tries to discreetly purchase a Christmas gift for the girl while his wife is off elsewhere in the department store, and he runs into trouble from an overzealous jewelry counter clerk played to perfection by Rowan Atkinson.

Gary Sinise and Natalie Portman

2011-05-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of recent pieces drawn for Caricaturama Showdown 3000:

Sheridan College Open House 2011 (Part 2)

2011-05-08T05:26:00.000-07:00

Here are more of the caricatures I drew at last week's Open House:

This first one features one of the new grads from Sheridan's Music Theatre program, Brittany Robinson, pictured here with her boyfriend Trevor. Earlier this year, Brittany had landed the plum role of Janet Van de Graaf in The Drowsy Chaperone, which will likely remain my favourite Sheridan production for quite some time. She is a lovely and talented young lady to whom I wish much success in her career!

Here are several of the Sheridan Animation students who drew along with me at this year's event. This is Leisha-Marie Riddel, who graduated from the program last year.

3rd Year student, Hai Wei Hou.

3rd Year student, Omar Noori gives the thumbs up.

Aaron Fryer, one of my talented students from this year's 2nd Year.

Sheridan College Open House 2011 (Part 1)

2011-05-06T14:39:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, April 30 2011 was the annual Open House at Sheridan College. Once again I was asked to draw caricatures alongside several talented students to promote our BAA Animation program. Here is the first of 2 posts to show some samples along with the subjects:

Happy Birthday, James Garner!

2011-04-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

Every year on this date I like to celebrate the birthday of my favourite actor, James Garner. Although I don't have a new caricature in full colour to put up this time, I do have this article I wrote for the "Exagerrated Features" magazine, the quarterly publication for all subscribing members of the ISCA. In it, I describe my own personal working method in creating one of my celebrity caricatures, and I use James Garner as the subject for this tutorial. The series of rough sketches at the top of this post I had done especially for the article, and they demonstrate how I sometimes will help familiarize myself with the subject before developing the final piece of art. I don't always take this step, but I do recommend it as a way of warming up and finding the "design" of the head and face, particularly when you may be struggling to get the likeness. I hope this tutorial will be of benefit to those of you who also enjoy drawing caricatures of celebrities:

Now that you've read all that, you may now relax and enjoy this clip from The Rockford Files to see Jim Garner's expressions for real:

More Caricaturama Pics!

2011-04-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest entries I've done for Caricaturama Showdown 3000. Daniel Day-Lewis is this week's subject, so I decided to draw him in his role as film director, Guido Contini in Nine, one of my favourite films in recent years. I've long been planning to do a group shot featuring the whole cast of Nine, so hopefully this first one will give me the necessary boost I need to start drawing all those gorgeous gals like Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz!

The week before it was Sharon Stone in the spotlight, though to be honest, I felt I missed the mark a bit on her, as her likeness proved to be very elusive for me. I've drawn her of course from her big breakout role as Catherine Tramell, author of murder mysteries and suspected ice-pick killer in Basic Instinct. I hadn't watched the film since first seeing it in the theatre when it debuted, and I must say it's a better film than I gave it credit for. There's a very similar feel to Hitchcock's Vertigo, especially in the cool blonde look of Sharon Stone so reminiscent of Kim Novak, as well as the score that sounds very much like that of Bernard Herrmann. Anyway, it was good to see the film again after all these years.

Jake & The Neverland Pirates

2011-03-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Admittedly, most of what I've had to say lately regarding animation coming out of Disney has been pretty critical. I make no apology for that, as I feel they should not be above criticism when I feel it's warranted. However, a couple days ago I came across something that I suspected I wouldn't care for, yet imagine my surprise when I actually found it to be quite charming!

It's a new TV series called Jake and the Neverland Pirates, which apparently has recently premiered on the Disney Junior block on the Disney Channel in the U.S. Several episodes have been posted on YouTube for viewing, and I must say that from a visual standpoint anyway, the show looks very impressive. I'm actually aghast at how good the animation looks, both appealingly designed and fluidly animated. In short, it looks better than most TV animation and almost approaches (but not quite) feature quality, though that quality is somewhat deceptive in that it is still being done using a type of "symbol" animation (I believe), yet in a far more sophisticated manner that mimics full keyframe animation. According to this site, someone named Clint who would appear to be involved in its production, claims that the animation technique is created through a combination of using ToonBoom Harmony and Maya software. What's incredible to me is how much it resembles traditional handdrawn animation, while apparently not utilizing that process at all! Additionally, the series boasts some intelligent art direction, with pleasing visual design in a colour palette that is rich without being gaudy.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that this series has been produced at Mercury Filmworks, back in my hometown of Ottawa. Although the series is certainly aimed at the pre-school set, there's some fun, cartoony characterization, and, while they've been redesigned in a less threatening, kid-friendly style, I surprisingly don't even have any major objection to the way that Captain Hook and Mr. Smee are portrayed in the show. The voice work is very true to the original characters and, despite their makeover, I think the integrity of their personalities has remained intact. All in all, I think this is a nice little series that I can see young kids quite enjoying. For me, it's a big step up from the CGI look of Mickey and friends in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, a show that I frankly find hard to look at. With Jake, it seems like Disney is trying to be more faithful to its traditional animation roots, even if it's been simulated through the use of new technology.

So, a big congrats to all involved in creating each episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates - it looks great!

By the way, if anybody from Mercury would like to give more background to the production process, please feel free to do so in the comments section. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Jerry Reed!

2011-03-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a guy I've been wanting to blog about for a long time. Jerry Reed was one of my favourite music personalities back in the 1970s through the mid 1980s. I had turned away from the pop music stations at that time, as they were becoming way too rock oriented for my liking. Instead I turned my attention to the world of country music and found all sorts of performers that I enjoyed much better. (That was back when country was still country, before it too succumbed to the pop/rock virus that took over as "New Country". Blecch!)

I liked the rhinestone encrusted leisure suits and big sideburns that all the guys sported during that era, and the big hairdos and sequins on all the gals. My favourite entertainers on the Nashville scene were the crazy rascals like Ray Stevens, Roy Clark, and especially Roger Miller and this good ol' boy from Atlanta, Georgia... Jerry Reed. I think I really took to him in a big way when he co-starred alongside Burt Reynolds in 1977's Smokey and the Bandit, still one of my all-time guilty pleasures. Jerry played Bandit's trucker buddy, Cledus Snow, who went by the CB handle, "Snowman". He wrote and performed a number of songs for the movie's soundtrack, including the infectious, "Eastbound and Down", featuring Jerry's own special brand of manic guitar pickin'. You can see him playing a rousing version of the song in this video clip from the TV special, Nashville Salutes America. In fact, it was from this particular performance that I sketched the caricature pictured above.

I was lucky enough to get to meet him briefly after seeing him in concert back around 1980 or so, and got him to sign a caricature I'd done from watching him in a little known film called W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, his first big screen role, also with Burt Reynolds. Sadly, we lost Jerry Reed a couple of years ago at the age of 71 after he lost his battle with emphysema. It was actually quite a shock when I heard he'd died, as I hadn't seen him in years and didn't realize he was that old. He'd also filled out in his later years, and was no longer the lean and lanky wild man in his 40s that I recall so fondly. Anyway, here's another music clip to enjoy and remember the phenomenal talent that was Jerry Reed. All right, do it boys!!...

Jack Soo

2011-03-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Something a little different on Caricaturama Showdown this week. Instead of a single celebrity as the subject, it was decided to allow the members to draw anybody famous of Japanese heritage as a small tribute to the people of Japan in this time of great catastrophe. I figured there'd be some caricatures drawn of actor Toshiro Mifune and animation director Miyazaki, so I was looking for somebody that I didn't think would be as obvious a choice by other members. I decided to go with the comic actor, Jack Soo, a Japanese American who was most well-known for portraying Detective Nick Yemana on the 1970's cop sitcom, Barney Miller. As fans of that great show will recall, Yemana was renowned for brewing up his awful coffee that nobody else particularly wanted to drink.

Here's a selection of quick scenes from various Barney Miller episodes. I actually remembered that second clip involving the coffee made from rainwater from when it first aired! Yemana and Wojo were my favourite characters on the show, although the entire ensemble cast was quite brilliant.

Bill Murray

2011-03-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

Here's this week's entry in the Caricaturama Showdown 3000: my caricature of comic actor, Bill Murray. As comedians go, I admire Bill Murray for balancing out his slick commercial comedies with some very interesting arthouse films. Unfortunately, the only Bill Murray film I have in my DVD collection is the combination live action/animation feature, Osmosis Jones. While the bulk of the film is brilliantly animated and a clever satire on the way the human body functions (directed by Tom Sito and Piet Kroon), the live action sequences directed by the Farrelly Brothers are pretty godawful, with poor Bill Murray playing the part of a disgusting slob with a lot of gross-out humour. Not one of his better career moves, I'm afraid.

I'm Counting On You, Anne!!

2011-02-27T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well, the Academy Awards telecast is going to be starting in just a little while. Frankly, I'm just watching it as I have the last few years, out of habit more than genuine interest. It wasn't always this way. I used to look forward with excitement to the presentation of the Oscars each year, when I actually used to really love the movies. That's going back to when I started watching the annual telecast back in the 70's and continuing through the 80's. But in the last couple decades my interest has been steadily waning, as with each passing year Hollywood convinces me that they aren't really interested in making the kind of movies that I find genuinely entertaining.

I think the last Academy Awards show that I actually enjoyed was the year that the musical, Chicago swept many of the major awards. I was hoping that last year director Rob Marshall would have a similar success with his film, Nine, as it was my favourite movie by far released in 2009. Alas, neither audiences nor film critics shared my enthusiasm, and Nine was pretty much shut out even at the nomination stage. Instead, last year was a battle between the technological marvel, Avatar, and the gritty war pic, The Hurt Locker, neither of which I much cared for. Actually, I didn't even get around to seeing Avatar until its later reissue, and The Hurt Locker (which won) I'd rented just the day before the awards and really hated it!

Yeah, I know I'm completely out of step with contemporary moviegoing tastes, believe me I'm painfully aware of that. As such, I really haven't had a horse in the race for many years now and I don't even enjoy many of the films getting nominated in the major categories. I've seen several of the Best Picture nominees this year, including True Grit, Toy Story 3, Black Swan, The King's Speech, and (as of yesterday) The Social Network. They're all good films, but quite honestly, none of them can hold a candle to the type of Oscar winning films that came out of Hollywood in its glory years in terms of outright entertainment. Films like My Fair Lady, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Godfather, as diverse as they are, remain for me completely memorable and entertaining in their respective ways. In contrast, none of the films nominated this year I would make a point of watching again. Sadly, it's been like that for me for many years now.

I guess if there's a single reason I'm interested in tonight's Academy Awards, it's because of the choice of Anne Hathaway as one of the two co-hosts. She's not only beautiful but has great charisma to boot. I love watching her on screen and in interviews, as she just sparkles with personality. I thought she was terrific when host Hugh Jackman carried her up on stage from the audience to join him in his song tribute at the beginning of the telecast a couple years back. I'm hoping she'll sing and dance for us tonight too! As for the awards themselves....meh.

Introducing Kyla Musselman!

2011-02-25T21:39:00.000-08:00

Back in 1959 Once Upon A Mattress debuted on the Broadway stage. This musical comedy was a retelling of the fairy tale, The Princess and the Pea, and was the show that launched the career of Carol Burnett who starred in the lead role of Princess Winnifred. Though I'd been aware of the show's history, I had never actually seen it performed until last night when I saw a production of it at Theatre Sheridan.

While the play itself is, admittedly, a fairly lightweight piece of fluff, it does boast some really fun musical numbers. And although I didn't think it was as strong a show choice as Sheridan's offering back in December, The Drowsy Chaperone, it did feature exuberant performances from the entire youthful cast. The Drowsy Chaperone was probably the finest show I've seen performed yet at Sheridan over several years of attending their productions, so it would have been asking too much for lightning to strike twice in a row. Whereas that show seems to lend itself more to an ensemble cast with many plum roles to go around, Once Upon a Mattress strikes me as more of a star vehicle for the leading lady playing Princess Winnifred.

But what a performance we got from the young lady playing Winnifred in this production! Her name is Kyla Musselman, and I predict she'll go on to great things onstage once she graduates at the end of this college year. Kyla is a little ball of fire with an impossibly cute face, a huge smile and sparkling brown eyes. She seems to have boundless energy that she puts into her singing and dancing, while also possessing a flawless sense of comic timing. There's one song number that requires her to dash back and forth across the stage, alternately picking up a barbell then taking great gulps from a chalice of ale, among several other stunts, expertly hitting her marks without fail all while the rest of the cast is singing this fast paced song. There's also a dance number that progressively picks up pace that the whole cast starts out performing, only to drop out one by one until just Princess Winnifred finishes it up to its breakneck finale. This role demands a multi-talented performer and clearly young Kyla is up to the challenge.

Kyla Musselman also had a supporting role in the aforementioned The Drowsy Chaperone as Kitty, the ditzy chorine in love with theatrical producer, Feldzeig. Although in that show everybody got to shine, Kyla was still a standout with great stage presence and magnetism. Sheridan's music theatre program is highly respected here in Canada, having graduated many fine performers including Sarah Cornell, Michael Therriault, and Janna Polzin, all of whom I have written about before. I believe that Kyla Musselman will also be a name to watch for on the marquee, as she truly possesses star quality. I'm happy to see that I'm not the only one who thinks so, as I found this review of Once Upon a Mattress that would seem to agree that Kyla is one to watch for.

Amateur Hour

2011-02-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Cartoon Brew and I still can't get over how generally positive the reviews are from the majority of commenters. Only a handful seem to be able to see that this animated ad for the Disney Cruise Line is pretty mediocre. Goofy is poorly drawn and rather clumsily animated, and it's obviously utilizing some software like Flash for some cheap "cutout" style movement, even though a fair amount has been traditionally animated and imported. It's likely Flash being used, as that would also explain the sterile, "metallic" looking colour, lacking the warmth of real paint (or even better computer programs for that matter). Just look at how badly Goofy is drawn as he's typing his vacation reservations: the oversize muzzle, the suspended ear, the flat shirt sleeves, etc. I suspect this ad may have been farmed out to an outside studio, but regardless, Disney should put the time and money into doing it properly, preferably keeping it in-house. As it is, it's just rank amateurism.

The Divine B.B.

2011-02-19T07:03:00.000-08:00

Here is my new rendition of Brigitte Bardot as my entry for this week's Caricaturama Showdown. I'd caricatured her once before several years ago, but I think I like this new version better than the first one. I sketched this Brigitte while watching her in the 1962 French film, Love on a Pillow.

I like Bardot the film star, but I like her even better as one of the icons of early 1960's French pop music. I've got several of her CD song compilations from that era and there's such a fun, cute sound to her songs. Here's a performance of Invitango from a TV special she did in 1963:

Emily Blunt

2011-02-12T15:23:00.001-08:00

This week's Caricaturama Showdown challenge was provided by last week's winner, Paul Moyse, who selected his fellow Brit, actress Emily Blunt. She's definitely a star on the rise, having played Queen Victoria in The Young Victoria, and costarring in such diverse fare as The Wolfman and Sunshine Cleaners. (I also recall she was singer, Michael Bublé's main squeeze for a while!) Alas, I have only seen her in one film, alongside Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, but it was a standout performance. Here then is my interpretation of her character, appropriately named Emily, the snarkily nasty assistant to Meryl Streep's dictatorial fashion magazine editor, Miranda Priestly.

Addendum: My entry actually won this week's round, so that gives me bragging rights and getting to choose the next subject for the Caricaturama Showdown challenge......Brigitte Bardot!

Tommy Lee Jones

2011-02-03T13:39:00.000-08:00

Yep, ol' Tommy Lee Jones is the subject this week on Caricaturama Showdown 3000. I quite like this guy, despite the fact that he has a reputation for being a miserable bastard who makes life tough for anyone trying to interview him. He's got a face and persona just made for caricature, though. Oddly, both he and the last subject, James Cromwell, I mostly sketched from watching the same film, Space Cowboys. Although I found I needed to see more of him to get the likeness to my satisfaction, so here is the video clip that I found online that seemed to help me out.

RIP John Barry

2011-01-31T19:50:00.000-08:00

My friend Jim emailed me this morning informing me of the sad news that veteran film composer, John Barry had died at age 77. We're at a time now where many of my favourite personalities are leaving us - I was also very sad to hear of the passing of director, Blake Edwards a couple weeks ago. Both John Barry and Blake Edwards were highly representative of my favourite era of movies: the 1960's. Yes, I know many movie buffs won't share my opinion of the films of that era, but I personally love the STYLE of everything from the 60's - in movies, music and television. And both of these talented men helped to shape that style.

In the case of John Barry, he was one of a handful of film composers that I really admired from that era, the others being Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand, Maurice Jarre, and Ennio Morricone. All of these incredible composers wrote memorable and melodic film scores, often with title tunes that went on to become well loved standards. Barry was of course best known for creating the exciting scores from the James Bond films of the 60's through 80's. He won Academy Awards for both the title song and score to Born Free, about the orphaned lion cub, Elsa. I even have the soundtrack record album for Disney's The Black Hole, a somewhat disappointing film somehow made more interesting through John Barry's imposing and exciting score.

Anyway, I figure the best way to celebrate this legendary film composer is to listen to his music. Here then is the maestro himself conducting his score from Goldfinger, followed by another YouTube clip featuring the wonderful Shirley Bassey reprising her rendition of the title song in concert. Enjoy!

James Cromwell

2011-01-29T18:23:00.000-08:00

The subject of this week's challenge at Caricaturama Showdown 3000 is James Cromwell, the veteran character actor. Oddly enough, despite his extremely notable facial features, I had a tough time getting the likeness to my satisfaction. The caricature was primarily sketched while watching him in Space Cowboys, which starred Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and my favourite actor, James Garner. Cromwell plays an officious head at NASA who is none too happy about letting the quartet of past their prime, ex-fighter pilots/astronauts set out on a shuttle mission to fix a Soviet communications satellite, as there has long been bad blood between he and Eastwood's character.

On the subject of caricature, please take note all local caricaturists, that there will be a first time get together of the new Canadian Chapter of the ISCA this coming Wednesday, Feb. 2. It will be held at The Firehall Cool Bar Hot Grill, 2441 Lakeshore Rd. W. Oakville Ontario (near Bronte Rd.). If you're already a member of the ISCA or are interested in perhaps joining this organization, this would be an opportune time to meet fellow caricaturists in the Greater Toronto Area. I'm planning on going, so hopefully we will see you there!

The Look Of Quiet Desperation

2011-01-21T13:27:00.000-08:00

This week's subject on Caricaturama Showdown is comic actor, Steve Carell. He's got such a great face for caricature and, after searching through many video clips on YouTube, I finally decided to draw him in his most familiar role as Michael Scott on The Office. Ironically, even though The Office is about five years into its run and Steve is about to leave the show, I am only just now starting to follow the series. I recently bought Season One to see what all the fuss was about, and I must say I can see why so many people like it. Steve Carell and all of the ensemble are just great.

Caricaturama Showdown 3000

2011-01-14T07:13:00.000-08:00

After many months of looking at all the fun stuff being posted up on Caricaturama Showdown 3000, I finally got around to joining this Facebook group. It's really intriguing to see all the different variations on achieving a likeness of the same subject. In hindsight, I really wish I'd gotten in much earlier, so I could have drawn such subjects as John Cleese, Sophia Loren and Michael Caine.

Anyway, I have now thrown my hat in the ring and here are my first two entries, Amanda Seyfried of Mamma Mia and Chloe fame, and veteran rocker David Bowie:

Remembering My Dad

2011-01-09T11:04:00.001-08:00

Ten years ago today my father, John Emslie, celebrated his final birthday at the age of 78. Two months later he died, after a couple years of health problems and having undergone recent surgery. It's hard to believe it's been ten years since he passed away, and I've been thinking about him a lot lately. The above image was from the card I did for Christmas of that year, 2001, in memory of my dear Dad.

While we certainly had the same father/son tensions and arguments that most guys have, all in all we were pretty close. My Dad was always there for me, supporting my desire to follow a career path in the arts, and always ready and willing to lend a hand with house repair work and such. He put up some insulation and wood paneling in my first townhouse, and I think that was something he liked doing a lot, as our family homes through the years always ended up with many rooms getting wood paneling!

One thing I'll be eternally grateful to my Dad for was his influence on my taste in music. When I was just a young kid, we had this wonderful old hi-fi - pretty much just a wooden box on four legs, containing a radio and felt covered turntable. Dad loved to play music around the house, and mostly he played jazz records. While he never tried to force his music tastes on me or my sister, I was just naturally drawn to such artists as Louis Armstrong and New Orleans clarinetist, Pete Fountain. Also, my Dad was a huge fan of Bing Crosby, so every Christmas, Bing's holiday album containing his classic "White Christmas" got plenty of airplay. To this day, I can't listen to Bing Crosby without thinking about my Dad. Funnily enough, I don't recall Dad ever playing any Frank Sinatra, but I know my interest in Frank was a direct result of all the great music I grew up listening to at home back in the 60s and 70s.

So, as this holiday season winds down, I just wanted to celebrate my Dad's birthday with this posting of that Christmas card illustration I did way back in 2001, as I fondly remember the good times we had and the influence that he had on my life.
Happy Birthday, Dad!

"Happy New Year, Pilgrim."

2010-12-31T12:11:00.000-08:00

I did this caricature of John Wayne just recently so that I could give a print of it as a Christmas gift to my stepfather, as he's a huge fan of The Duke. Originally I was going to do it in my usual approach: inked line art, then coloured up in Photoshop. However, I was rather pleased with the way it looked in the pencil sketch (which I also rendered a bit more than usual), so I thought I'd treat the finished art as more painterly, still colouring it in Photoshop, yet with a looser treatment overall. Anyway, it was certainly a fun piece to work on. The film I viewed as reference to sketch from was Rio Bravo, in which John Wayne stars alongside Dean Martin and Angie Dickinson.

So, that's it for my posts of 2010 - See you all in the New Year!

But Is It Art?

2010-12-26T15:05:00.000-08:00

The above painting was just named 1st place winner in an art contest by The Toronto Star newspaper. When the image of this winning entry was published a couple days ago, the usual fawning accolades from the the ultraliberal* artsy fartsy community followed in the comments section. But then somebody rained on their parade by pointing out that this prize winner was clearly derived from a photo of Toronto streetcars in a winter storm that comes up near the top of a Google image search when you enter "Toronto-streetcar-snow".
Oops!

(*For the record, I consider myself a liberal, but not an ultraliberal, which I think is just as wrongheaded as being an ultraconservative.)

And here is that very photo, taken by photographer Brian Labelle, which he'd had up on his Flickr site for some time. Yet, according to a follow-up article in The Star, the artiste will only admit to having been "inspired" by that photo, and only as one of dozens of others she was supposedly referencing in order to create her award winning painting.

Well, I'm just not buying her disclaimer. The "painting" is clearly a direct rip-off of Brian's photo and, in my opinion, hardly even qualifies as a painting either. For you see, I am able to get pretty much the same result by simply running Brian's photo through a Photoshop filter or two, which gives me the following image:

It seems to me that the artiste's painting is little more than a paint by numbers from a projected image (with a similar Photoshop filter) of the photo, with little square strokes of acrylic paint used in place of the pixillated squares. Voila - instant painting!

What personally irks me so much over this controversy is the fact that, not only is the artiste unwilling to admit to outright plagiarism, but the number of ultraliberal artsy fartsy types who have rushed to her defense, insisting that it's only "Similar, but not the same", and could have just been painted from the same location, that's all. Furthermore, they seem quite comfortable to accept it as original art, still worthy of winning the prize money of $2500.00.

As an instructor in a college animation program, one of my duties is to keep a wary eye out precisely for this sort of "inspiration". Unfortunately, there is a very fine line between a student being influenced by another character design that exists, and being guilty of outright plagiarism. I really hate having to make that kind of judgment call, but it's part of my job that I take very seriously. My advice to all students is to err on the side of caution. While it is considered okay to copy the art of others as part of the learning process, NEVER keep anything you like, nor any sketches you have directly copied from anything you like, within view when you are working on an actual Character Design assignment. Believe me, I have uncovered about a dozen or more situations over the last few years where I've had to have a tough talk with the students who, in my estimation, crossed the line. In many of those cases I have had to give a grade of zero for that particular assignment, especially when the same student has a reputation for being a repeat offender. Trust me, a grade of zero can seriously impede the chances of passing the class, when additional assignment grades may not be very high either.

Anyway, this situation with the streetcar painting has provided me with the ideal opportunity to address this sticky subject, as it also applies to the animation course at Sheridan. Frankly, I can't imagine how anybody who considers themselves an artist could be so blatantly derivative of work not their own, and not suffer from a guilty conscience. As far as I'm concerned, it shows a distinct lack of pride in one's own abilities.

Addendum: Here is a slideshow of the other winning entries. Personally, I think any one of entries #2, #3, or #4 would have been a more worthy 1st prize winner. I favour the cartoon depiction of Toronto's Distillery District, modeled in plasticene, but then again, artsy fartsy judges don't like cartoons.

Christmas Doodles

2010-12-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

Looks like this blog is once again long overdue for an update. Unfortunately, what with grading student assignments as the fall semester ends, as well as getting stuff done for Christmas, I just haven't had much time to do much new art to post. I'm afraid that these latest doodles are the best I can offer at this time, sketched yesterday while having lunch out and reading my newspaper. Hopefully I can do some more finished art in the couple weeks I have off before school starts up again.

In the meantime, I'm going to just relax now on this Christmas Eve by sitting back and watching Bell, Book and Candle, which, while technically is not a Christmas movie per se, does take place over the Christmas season nevertheless. It stars Jimmy Stewart and the yummy Kim Novak, who plays a sexy witch as I've caricatured her below.

Merry Christmas, folks!

Christmas Party Caricatures

2010-11-28T19:12:00.001-08:00

Here is another selection of my live event work featuring caricatures of the staff of Tetra Pak Canada, who held their Christmas party last evening up in Kleinburg. It was a fun event and I believe I sketched just over fifty caricatures over the space of about six hours or so. Many thanks to Catherine Klasios for hiring me for the evening!

Fundraiser For Dexter

2010-11-14T10:23:00.000-08:00

Last night there was a fundraiser held for Dexter, a sweet little tyke who has been battling cancer and other major health problems. No little two year old should have to go through what he has, yet through it all he is a happy baby who is adored by family and all who meet him. Dexter is the nephew of Derek Spencer, one of my former students, now in his graduating year at Sheridan College Animation. Derek should be commended for putting together this fundraiser for Dexter, and he's lucky to have such a lot of wonderful friends among his fellow students who were all there to lend a hand and support the cause through donations and volunteering. It was very touching for me to see just how much they all did to help out Derek's sister Lisa and her husband Dan, who have been facing mounting medical bills through this crisis.

Derek had asked if I'd be able to help out by doing some caricatures to help raise donations. I was honoured and happy to take part in the event, and here are the caricatures I drew during the evening:

Happy Hallowe'en!!

2010-10-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Now, please go away while I'm having dinner...

James MacArthur

2010-10-29T12:06:00.000-07:00

I was very sad to hear yesterday of the death of James MacArthur. He had appeared in Disney's Swiss Family Robinson, one of the loveliest of that studio's live-action films, but of course he will be best remembered as Detective Danny Williams on TV's long-running Hawaii Five-0. Coincidentally, I have been avidly watching the DVD boxed sets of that great series just recently over the last few months, and I truly believe it is one of the best of the crime dramas from that terrific era of television. The character of Danny Williams was always such a sturdy and reliable second-in-command to Detective Steve McGarrett, and James MacArthur played the role with such a quiet dignity that he imbued the character with real integrity.

It's hard for me to watch so many actors, singers, and various performers from my cherished entertainment of the past being lost each year. The 1960's and 1970's were a special time for me, and so many of my favourite performers were at the peak of their popularity in that era. In my opinion, television was at its absolute best back then - nothing today appeals to me, I'm afraid. Out of pure curiosity, I watched most of the pilot episode of that new updated Hawaii Five-0 series that just debuted a few weeks ago, and I thought it was typical contemporary crap. Yes, I know it's meant to appeal to the MTV generation as evidenced by its youthful cast with their casual attire and unshaven mugs, but it is hardly a worthy successor to the original series. I'm just starting into watching season two of the original Hawaii Five-0 and I long for when TV featured lavish colour, jazzy music scores, and admirable and appealing actors like Jack Lord and James MacArthur. We'll miss you, Danno...

Municipal Elections

2010-10-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Well, the various municipal elections took place here in Ontario yesterday. Mississauga re-elected Hazel McCallion once again by a landslide, making her one of the longest serving mayors (32 years!) in Canada now at age 89. I like and admire "Hurricane Hazel" very much, but I must confess that I voted for another candidate, Peter Orphanos, as I feel that Hazel has had a great run but should let somebody else take the reins. Still, Hazel won again with 76% of the vote, so Mississaugans obviously love her. The illustration pictured above shows a caricature of "Hurricane Hazel" alongside the mayors of Waterloo and London, Ontario, that I did for a magazine cover a couple years ago.

Things are somewhat less rosy in Toronto today (in my opinion) after voters elected Rob Ford as their new mayor. Having observed this guy in news reports during the campaign, I must admit that I think he's going to be trouble for the city. Rob's style is confrontational and very much "in-your-face", as is evidenced in the following two clips showing him in his former role as Toronto Councillor. Still, he'll be a political cartoonist's dream, so it isn't all bad!

More Character Types

2010-10-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

Here are a bunch more sketches drawn from video, like the ones I showcased on my Oct. 4th entry. The ones pictured above are all of guests who have appeared on the Charlie Rose interview show seen on PBS. The show's website features numerous archived clips that are just great to sketch from, since the interviews allow you to study the subject in medium close-up, moving just enough that you can get a good feel for the design of the face and body, as well as their personality. I deliberately have drawn guests who I am not familiar with, as the point of the exercise is to take an honest approach to seeing the "design" of a face, in the size, shape and relative placement of the facial features on various head shapes, without getting hung up on whether or not a good likeness has been achieved. These sketches can then later be used as a starting point in developing "Character Types" for your cartoons and animation designs.

Here are direct links to all of the clips I used, so you can see how I interpreted the video reference:
Alison Gopnik
Klaus Schwab
Yang Lan
Jack Ma
Annie Cohen-Solal
Tung Chee-Hwa

The montage above is just of various people I have sketched recently from TV, so unfortunately I can't link to any clips for you. But I post them in the hope that it will encourage some of my readers to try this method of sketching people from video reference while taking a more caricatured approach. Specifically, I offer these up as examples to my Sheridan students as being representative of what I will be looking for in your ongoing assignment that I'll be assessing at the end of the fall semester.

Happy Birthday, Dave Smith!

2010-10-13T00:07:00.000-07:00

I just found out yesterday that today is the birthday of Dave Smith, the originator and longtime curator of the Disney Archives, who recently retired from that post after having been with Disney for 40 years. Before Dave came along, Disney did not have an archives to protect and record their studio history. But Dave, who had originally approached the company to compile a bibliography on Walt Disney, was pretty much able to write his own job ticket and proceeded to create The Disney Archives from the ground up, building it over the years into an integral part of The Disney Company.

I was lucky enough to meet Dave back in 1980, several years before I started my own Disney career in Disney's Canadian merchandising division. My friend, Russell Schroeder, whom I'd known for a number of years from when he worked as a character artist at Walt Disney World, had put me in touch with Dave when I had planned my first trip to L.A. so I could see the Disney studio. Dave was a gracious host, showing me and my buddy, Chris, around not only the Archives, but taking us on a tour of the studio backlot and the Animation Building, which was then still the REAL Animation Building before it got booted off the main lot. It was also on this first visit that I presented as a thank you gift to Dave, the painted caricature that you see at the top of this post. From what I gather, Dave has had it up on his office wall ever since then, so I am very honoured by that. I was also rather flattered that the image of just Dave with the Donald Duck doll was used to accompany a regular column called Ask Dave in the long-running Disney Magazine.

I'd visited a number of times with Dave over the years, but my favourite memory was when I went out to see him on a subsequent trip and he told me he'd phoned Ollie Johnston, whom I'd first met on my initial visit to the studio and had corresponded with since, to let him know I was in town. Well, Ollie said he'd be happy to drop by to see me, so I got a wonderful surprise when Ollie showed up and Dave was gracious enough to let us have his office for awhile so we could visit and chat for about a half hour or so. I always thought that was so kind of Dave to do that, and that visit remains my most cherished Disney memory.

Once I started working at Walt Disney World's Marketing Art department in 1990, I got to see Dave several more times in his visits out to Florida and my visits to L.A. Unfortunately, I haven't been out there in the 16 years that have passed since I left Disney, but I sure would enjoy seeing ol' Dave again. So, Happy Birthday, Dave - and I hope you're enjoying your well deserved retirement after serving Disney, its fans, and all who utilized the Disney Archives over those many years since you first established it!

Here's a great interview where Dave explains how the Archives first came about:

Krystal and Belle

2010-10-10T12:43:00.000-07:00

Here's some caricatures I drew of a couple of nice girls, sisters Krystal and Belle, who were attending Visual Arts Brampton last week. Every Tuesday evening from 7:00 to 9:30 we have an open Life Drawing session. No requirement to sign up for anything, just pay as you go, any week you want to join us. For those in the Brampton area, just click on the above link to see more info. I hope to see you there!

Toronto Votes!

2010-10-08T11:06:00.000-07:00

All right, Toronto, municipal election day is coming up in just a couple more weeks on Monday, October 25th, so it's time to make that big decision. Will you choose Captain Smitherman to chart your course into Toronto's future, or are you content to let "Hoss" Ford herd you all back to the wild 'n' wooly past? Not that I'm trying to influence your decision, of course... :)

Sketching Character Reference

2010-10-04T19:05:00.000-07:00

I put this post together to tie in with what I'll be starting to cover in my Character Design classes at Sheridan College this week. The topic is "Character Types", and these are a few samples I just sketched yesterday to illustrate what I'll be stressing in this subject. I'm a firm believer that an animated or illustrated character should aspire to be distinct as an individual - the visual design suggesting a certain personality through the physical face and body type. The character designer on an animated film should serve the same role as a casting director on a live-action production. Just as a casting director tries to cast an actor or actress who has a believable "look" for a particular role, so should the character designer be trying to create a character that visually suggests the personality to be portrayed in the film.

There is a tendency for the novice to simply design a character off the top of his head, without considering what physical aspects and personality traits seem to work well in combination together to communicate a clear visual statement to the audience. My view is that, before an artist can have any knowledgeable output, one must first have some informed input. Therefore, I strongly recommend sketching people in the world around you, either from life or, as is my preference, from studying various character types on video in order to build up a library from which to draw upon when designing a specific character. I prefer the latter way of working, as video provides a way of studying the subject in a completely controlled manner, allowing one to study the subject at one's leisure. It helps to see the subject in motion, which makes it easier to see the physical "design" of the face and body type in order to then exaggerate and abstract it. Additionally, seeing the subject in motion and displaying physical nuances through body language, expressions, vocal mannerisms, etc. makes the resulting sketches far more successful in capturing personality and inner life than one would likely achieve by working from a still photo image.

Anyway, here are some samples sketched from YouTube that hopefully will illustrate what I'm saying more clearly. It should be noted, however, that the goal of the sketches is not to come up with a perfect likeness of the subject, but rather to make an honest attempt at seeing a unique design in the face and body type and using that as a springboard for abstraction and caricature:

Here are the links to the YouTube videos I sketched these from:
Character #1 Character #2
Character #3 Character #4

Here are the links to these videos:
Character #1 Character #2
Character #3 Character #4

Ironically, the "tough guy" character I've sketched from the YouTube clip is an imagined personality suggested by the physical type, as the fellow in the video really comes across as a very friendly and gentle sort. But in animation and cartooning, perception can carry more weight than being literal to the subject. Remember, you're trying to put forward a visual impression that your audience will understand at a quick glance. When required, more subtlety can be developed though story and animated characterization as your film progresses.

Blecchh! - The Sequel

2010-09-27T06:15:00.001-07:00

So, do you think I'll get in trouble again with the animation community if I say that this poster image looks like a man vomiting up a bird? :)

Fan Expo 2010 (pt.2)

2010-09-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

Even more than the exhibits and stuff for sale, I think the real fun of Fan Expo is seeing all of the fans who turn up in costume. Here's a sampling of what we saw at this year's event:

Here's Sheridan instructor Apollo Okamura with students, Vanessa Stefaniuk and Nicole Gagnon, as well as Vanessa's brother Robert.

Vanessa strikes an action pose.

Iain Lew Kee as She-Ra poses with He-Man.

Just what the HECK is this thing?!!

Some Star Wars characters.

HOLY HOOD ORNAMENT, BATMAN!!!

Hey, that's no Boy Wonder!

Baskin' Robin, perhaps?

Arrrrh, girls, let me have a Pikachu!

It's those wacky anime kids!

Whatever it is you're delivering, I'll be more than happy to sign for it!

Yes, there are lots of cute girls at Fan Expo, all happy to pose for photos!

I hope this girl heals up okay. Maybe I'll hang around while they remove her bandages, just to make sure she's all right.

This girl had everyone's head turning. I found out later that she's Kat Curtis, "The Naked Nerd" from The Naked News show. I'll have to tune in sometime to see what she uncovers.

This poor alien creature is obviously pooped out from breathing in the earth's atmosphere all day. It must be time to gather up the swag and head back to the home planet.

"Sayonara, people of planet earth!"

Fan Expo 2010 (pt. 1)

2010-09-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, August 28th I went to Toronto's Fan Expo at the Toronto Convention Centre down on Front St. Here's the first selection of pics I took that day at the event. I'll post up all of the costumed fans in a second installment.

"Welcome to Fan Expo 2010, foolish mortals".

Some neat Batman sculpts.

More DC Comics figurines.

Holy Dynamic Duo! It's Adam West and Burt Ward from TV's Batman!

Here's the (now autographed) caricature I drew of Julie Newmar, who played Catwoman on Batman and "Stupefyin' Jones" from the movie version of Li'l Abner, among other roles.

Here I am with the still stupefyin' Julie Newmar herself!

Here's legendary actor, Ernest Borgnine, who was the main reason for me wanting to attend Fan Expo this year. Ernie was just wonderful, greeting all of his fans with a big friendly handshake and happy to chat with them.

Ernie was thrilled with the caricature I gave him, and autographed the second copy for me. Though a lot of years have passed since he starred in McHale's Navy, he still has that great big gap-toothed smile and a real twinkle in his eyes. Just a really sweet guy!

This is my pal, Ken Steacy, comic artist extraordinaire.

Here's the always fun Lar DeSouza, a great cartoonist and a fellow member of the International Society of Caricature Artists (ISCA).

Coincidentally, only a week before Fan Expo I had stumbled upon the website of Jason Edmiston. This guy is just a brilliant talent, shown here with one of his original acrylic paintings.

Here are Bobby Chiu and Kei Acedera, Sheridan grads and founders of the very successful Schoolism online art courses. They also were responsible for many of the character design concepts for Tim Burton's recent Alice in Wonderland.
.
Sheridan grads, Jen Tisdale and Braden Poirier sell their wares.

Sheridan grads, Damian Czerniakiewicz and Christina Deljanov, with some of Chris's great art prints on display.

Sheridan grad, Perry Osuna. He was in the year before I started teaching, so I didn't have the pleasure of having him in my class. Very talented cartoonist!

Sheridan grads, Ogi Grujic and Brian Paquette ham it up for the camera.

Recent grads, Ben Thomas and Wayne-Michael Lee ponder what life will now be like after Sheridan College. If animation doesn't work out, they could always become masked crime fighters like Batman.

I'll continue in the next post with all of the fun costumed fans!....

Fun With Photoshop

2010-08-21T07:15:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how much teenybopper sensation Justin Bieber looks like that poster child of the checkout aisle tabloids, Bat Boy? This interesting revelation hit me recently when I saw this caricature by John Kricfalusi of the mop-topped little knucklehead. It immediately put me in mind of Bat Boy, who I believe is currently still on his mission of helping the U.S. military hunt down Osama Bin Laden in the caves of Afghanistan. Some quick Google searches turned up photos of both parties that I have combined here to prove my theory:

I swear, they're practically twins, save for the mop-top hairdo. Of course, even that small discrepancy can be easily remedied with the help of Photoshop. So here now is my Frankensteined cobbling together of the two images, resulting in "Bat Beeb":

Pretty cute, huh? Bat Beeb is sure to have all those pre-teen girls swoonin' over him, wishing they could give his big pointy ears a loving tweak. By the way, speaking of the Bieber kid, the overrated little twerp is playing tonight at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. My readers from around here may want to avoid that area of downtown until tomorrow. You have been warned.

MAD... And Just Plain SAD

2010-08-19T15:58:00.000-07:00

I grew up with MAD Magazine during its glory days of the 1970's, so it remains very much a part of what influenced me early on in my artistic yearnings. In fact, I credit MAD Magazine specifically as being the determining factor in my choosing to pursue a career as a print cartoonist over that of an animator after I finished school and had to make a decision on my career path. I still have every issue from about 1971 on up until sometime in the late 80's when I felt it was starting to decline a bit. I would occasionally pick it up in the years since (though not now), as many of my favourite cartoonists were still contributing their talent to it, including the following "Usual Gang of Idiots":

Here's a cover by Mort Drucker. It wasn't too often that Mort illustrated the covers, so it was a real treat whenever he did one, adding some watercolour to his distinctive pen and ink linework. Mostly, Mort drew in the interior pages illustrating the MAD movie satire, presenting a caricatured comic book version of a new movie release. Mort has a huge following even today, and I'm glad to see the very talented Tom Richmond carrying on the movie satires tradition since Mort has gone into semi-retirement.

This is a page from Jack Davis, my personal favourite of all the MAD cartoonists. Back in the 70's Jack Davis's art was everywhere: MAD, Time and TV Guide covers, magazine ads for various companies, even record album jackets. The guy was incredibly prolific and his art just sparkled with fun, personality, and great humour.

Paul Coker, Jr. had a delightful style, and I used to borrow all sorts of tricks from his great pen and ink textures and use them in my own work back then. In addition to MAD, Paul was a popular cartoonist in the greeting cards market, as well as being the main designer that Rankin-Bass employed to create the art stylings of their stop-motion animated puppet holiday TV specials. (And also the hand-drawn Frosty The Snowman!)

All my friends were really into the wacky cartoons of Don Martin back in those days. A pure cartoonist with a distinctive style, Don Martin also had a flair for creating descriptive words that expressed the appropriate sound effect for everything that happened in his strips. Tragically, we lost Don a few years ago.

Antonio Prohias was a Cuban who somehow got out and made his way to America, where he rose to fame creating Spy vs. Spy, a satirical commentary on the absurdity of the longtime Cold War still going on at that time. To be honest, I often found his artwork to be a bit visually busy, and usually it took me more than one read to follow what was going on. (This is one of his clearer examples, which is why I scanned it in to show here.) However, I loved his great thick and thin ink line and bold graphic approach.

Which now brings me to my main reason for posting this stuff today. I just recently saw this promo clip posted on Cartoon Brew, which shows various animated snippets from a new MAD cartoon series coming up on The Cartoon Network:

To be blunt, I am very disheartened by what I see here. While I understand the sad reality of less and less money being put into creating anything for TV these days, especially animated, I don't think everything can be blamed solely on those diminished show budgets. Yes, it's typical of the "symbol" based animation that's employed on pretty much every show these days, with Flash, ToonBoom or similar software. And, yes, I'll admit that I am biased against this highly limited, "cutout" style and make no apologies for that. Yet, I have seen a number of shows that use these programs but still have a very professional graphic design style despite the symbol limitations.

Unfortunately, I can't be that generous in my assessment of what I see in these clips that I have to assume are quite representative of the look of the series itself. Animation aside, everything I see here is just poorly drawn. The characters look like they're drawn at the high school level, with awkward form and hastily traced outline; the layouts show poor composition and naive perspective (as opposed to deliberately skewed perspective like what Maurice Noble used to skillfully do.) It's rank amateurism that cannot be blamed completely on the lack of production dollars. And before I get bombarded with howls of protest from those who animated on the show under tight deadlines, may I point out that the newspaper doodle of imaginary critters in my last post was sketched in no more than 15 to 20 minutes tops over lunch. Yes, if kept simple, decent cartoons can be drawn in a short amount of time. Considering the repeated use of "symbol" animated pieces, there's really no excuse for not taking a bit of time to draw relatively simple cartoons like Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin and get them right from the get go.

In contrast, just take a look at this Spy vs. Spy segment that was animated for the MAD TV series that started in the mid 90's:

Frankly, I'm highly impressed with that series of short animated bits, as they were pretty full animation considering it was for TV. They're expertly drawn with a strong graphic look, retaining the comic's distinctive thick to thin linework. The background layouts are simple but dynamically staged, and the entire production reads clearly with visual appeal. In short, it looks like the work of skilled cartoonists, who, back then were still allowed to actually draw! How much we've lost even since then, going cheaper and cheaper, and having become way too dependent on the computer to do so much of what was done far better by the hand of an artist.

Oodles More Doodles

2010-08-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been updating more regularly. You folks must be really sick of looking at those two kids in the hair nest by now, so here's something else to peruse. The top doodle is the result of me just trying out a new flexible brush marker I picked up today. One face just led to another until the paper was well covered. I love the thick and thin variation that you can get with those things!

Just some more random head doodles. I really enjoy playing with the underlying design of a face, varying the shape, size, and relative placement of the features, creating contrasting character types.

This one is actually a bunch of heads I sketched from real people while having breakfast at Denny's. This is something I strongly recommend in order to build up a variety of facial types in your sketchbook. I also strongly recommend breakfast at Denny's, but not so often that you clog up your arteries with that country gravy!

Just stream of consciousness at work, letting my pen do whatever the ad seems to inspire it to do.

Watch out, Miss Muffet! Just tuffet out, kiddo!

Here's something I rarely ever do - draw imaginary beasties off the cuff like this. I reckon I've always gravitated to cartooning and caricaturing that which really exists, maybe because I like the discipline of using reality as a springboard, rather than just creating life from scratch. Anyway, this is a rare unguarded moment of pure, polyunsaturated whimsy, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Mangled

2010-08-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

I came across this poster image earlier today for the upcoming Disney release, Tangled. Now, having seen both this and the recent theatrical trailer for the film, I have to say that I am not too impressed with what it's shaping up to be. As most of you know, Tangled is the new title for the film formerly known as Rapunzel. Why the silly title change? Well, it seems that the Disney brass are nervous about putting out another animated film with a girl's name as the title out of fear that it will turn off the boys in their targeted demographic. Personally, I think their decision is ill-advised.

When the trailer came out about a month or so ago, I was not very happy with what I saw (and heard). Overall, there seems to be a jokiness to the film - particularly a "cool and hip" sarcastic quality to the dialogue and expressions of the hero, Flynn Rider. Also, the trailer includes an inane pop/rock song playing over the action, which really has me worried about the mindset of this film. Interestingly, in the comments I've read on sites like Cartoon Brew and The Animation Guild blog, several commenters who claim to have worked on the film are doing their utmost to assure us all that the pop/rock song is not in the soundtrack, and that all of the music score is provided by Disney stalwart, Alan Menken. They also claim that the scene where Rapunzel traps Flynn limb by limb in her long golden locks is not actually in the film either, just animated for this "teaser" trailer. Fair enough, I suppose, although I wonder why they would spend all that time and effort to animate something exclusively for the trailer when I'm sure all of the artists are working long hours just to get the film completed on schedule. Doesn't make much sense to me, I'm afraid.

They go on to say that Tangled will be sincere in its storytelling, just as previous Disney fairy tales have been. If what these commenters say is true, then why is Disney's Marketing department so hell-bent on promoting this film as what it is not, instead of what it is? Because judging from both the trailer and this poster, the film seems more cynical than sincere, with all of the hip attitude that many of us have come to loathe in today's "entertainment". I'd like to believe that the film will be more in keeping with its classic hand-drawn predecessors in tone rather than emulating the schlocky Shrek saga. But frankly, I'm not convinced, and I suspect many others aren't either. And that's a real problem that the Studio is going to have to address head on.

I make no claim to know anything about the pecking order at Disney, but I'd assumed that, as head of Disney Animation, John Lasseter was the man in charge, answering only to Disney CEO, Bob Iger. If this is so, then John needs to get tough with Disney's merry Marketeers because, due to their misguided marketing they are undermining the integrity of this film and putting at risk all of the hard work of the animation staff in trying to create something of worth. John should be fighting them tooth and nail, using whatever professional clout he has (and I have to believe that's a formidable amount). And Bob Iger needs to support him on that, and not just go along with Marketing's efforts to promote this like a stupid teen comedy. Honestly, I really wonder about Disney these days.

"They just can't get my 'tude right!"

The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes

2010-07-28T15:32:00.000-07:00

The other day I received a copy of Jerry Beck's new book, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons and was asked by the publisher if I might offer up a review. The book presents a sampling of 100 cartoons that Jerry believes are among the studio's best work, although he himself admits there are so many more that are equally as worthy in various ways. All 100 cartoons are pictured and titled alphabetically in little frame grabs at the beginning of the book for easy reference when searching. As I scanned these 100 titles, I estimated that I'm quite familiar with about 50% of the cartoons, and have seen about another 25% at least once, though am less acquainted with them. But there's certainly a number of cartoons that I don't believe I've ever seen at all. I mention this because I make no claim to know the Looney Tunes library anywhere near as well as Jerry Beck does, therefore I will not attempt to compete with his more informed opinion on the films themselves.

The book is interesting both for what it is and what it is not. Let me address the latter part of that statement first. The book is not an authoritative, in-depth analysis of the cartoons, and those expecting as much may be disappointed. If that is what you seek, then you'd be far better off reading Leonard Maltin's Of Mice and Magic or Mike Barrier's Hollywood Cartoons, both of which go into great detail on select notable cartoons from all of the studios of that Golden Era, Warners included. If you want to limit your reading to just the Looney Tunes cartoons, I'd also recommend Steve Schneider's That's All Folks! and Joe Adamson's Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare (Bugs' films only). But this new book by Jerry Beck is really not attempting to be such an authoritative tome as any of those titles.

This book is more like a book version of a sampler record album. I used to buy a number of such records (and later, CDs) back when I was trying to gain more knowledge of both the jazz and classical music worlds. These albums offered up a sampling of various jazz musicians or classical composers' works that served as a good primer for the newbie listener. Once introduced to various artists through the popular selections of their work, you could then go forth and explore in greater depth that which appealed to you by purchasing complete albums of their music. For a novice cartoon buff, I believe that this book of Jerry's would serve a similar role as a simple and colourful introduction to these brilliant cartoons.

But that's not to say that its appeal should be limited to the novice, by any means. I believe the ideal use for this book is as a companion guide in conjunction with the six volumes of Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD boxed sets that are currently available to the cartoon buff (which of course, Jerry Beck was also instrumental in bringing to us). As one who has all six sets but admittedly has only watched a few discs and individual titles scattered throughout the whole series, this book makes me want to search out some of these cartoons I've never seen before, most of which are included among the six volumes. Each entry in Jerry's book contains a few stills from the particular cartoon, which is enough to whet one's appetite to seek out individual titles to watch.

As I said, the book is not meant to be an in-depth look at the 100 Looney Tunes cartoons that it profiles. Each title receives just a double page spread consisting of a few stills, a short synopsis, and a brief commentary provided by Jerry or one of his 30 associates within the animation community, including Mike Barrier, Eric Goldberg, John Canemaker, to mention a few. (Even my friend and Sheridan colleague, Mark Mayerson is featured). If I have one criticism, I'd have suggested dispensing with the synopsis, as much of the cartoon plot is repeated in the commentary. It would have been better to have allowed a bit more room for personal thoughts on each title instead.

As I perused all of the titles that Jerry has judged to be among the top 100, I must admit that all of my favourites were included, such as The Rabbit of Seville, One Froggy Evening, High Diving Hare and the rest of the usual suspects. I was also glad to see the inclusion of such unique cartoons as The Three Little Bops and the giddily disturbing Chow Hound. I might question the inclusion of Page Miss Glory, which, aside from the interesting art deco approach, is a cartoon that I suspect is an acquired taste for most viewers. Likewise, I would definitely not consider Hollywood Steps Out to be even a good cartoon, let alone a great one, as all it has going for it is the caricatured movie stars of the time, many of whom would not be recognized today. That novelty aside, the cartoon is poorly scripted and largely unfunny. While the Roadrunner cartoons only rate a couple of entries, and rightfully so, I am perplexed as to why there are no titles featuring Pépe Le Pew and just one with Foghorn Leghorn, as several of the Foghorns in particular are brilliant.

Still, taken as a whole, I'd have to say that Jerry Beck has done an admirable job of distilling the entire library of Warners' shorts into this collection of just 100 titles. The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons is available for just $24.95 U.S. and, while a bit more than the four bits to see Fearless Freep, is certainly a bargain at that price. A fun and nostalgic read, if not an overly informative one.

Ricci Martin

2010-07-17T15:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I put up a few pics taken on my vacation in Las Vegas with my Mom. We saw three shows while we were there, but only one of them I quite liked, the other two I found a bit disappointing. These were smaller shows, not featuring the big name headliners. Although in my opinion, Vegas headliners sure aren't what they used to be, as I really had no great inclination to see any of the name performers who are currently playing there. I sure do wish I'd seen Vegas back in the day when Frank, Dean, Sammy and all of their contemporaries held court. I reckon I was born too late.

Ironically, though, just several days after returning home from vacation, Mom and I went to see an entertainer at Mississauga's Stage West dinner theatre that would be a terrific choice to see headlining a show in Vegas. Ricci Martin is the son of Dean Martin, and for a few years now he has been doing a really lovely tribute to his famous Dad on stage, singing many of Dean's big hits accompanied by a small band. Don't misunderstand, though, as he's not attempting to impersonate his Dad in any way, like you see in those Rat Pack tribute shows. Ricci is blessed with a fine singing voice that is uniquely his own, and so his interpretations of Dean's songs are not trying to compete with his memory.

This was the third time that Ricci had performed here, and so I've also gotten to know Tony Busseri of ARB Productions who is the fellow who has brought in not only Ricci Martin, but other terrific performers I've gotten to see like Bobby Rydell and the legendary Al Martino. Thanks to the generosity of Tony and his business partner Stan, I was able to go backstage after the show to present Ricci with the caricature I did last year of his Dad. I know Ricci was quite thrilled with the gift and was kind enough to pose with me for a photo. We were able to chat for awhile about Dean, Frank and that Golden Age of entertainment that I love so well. I really hope Ricci will come back to perform for us again here in Mississauga, and I heartily recommend his show if he plays in your area too!

Happy Birthday, Genevieve Bujold!

2010-07-01T00:07:00.000-07:00

Today is the birthday of Genevieve Bujold, one of Canada's most celebrated actresses from Montreal, Quebec. Genevieve first gained great acclaim portraying Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film, Anne of the Thousand Days, opposite Richard Burton as King Henry VIII. I drew this caricature for the ISCA forum where members draw the celebrity of the day as determined by their birthday. As it happens, July 1st is also Canada Day (AKA Victoria Day), so it seemed rather appropriate to acknowledge our national holiday with this pic of lovely, dark eyed Genevieve.

Happy Canada Day!

Viva Las Vegas!

2010-06-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

Back in early June, my Mom and I went out to Las Vegas for a week's vacation. Mom's a veteran of Vegas, having been out there nearly a dozen times over the last 20 years. This was my first visit there, however, and I had a heck of a good time! Here's just a few of the more than 400 photos I took. (No, I won't bore you with them all.)

We explored all of the big hotels. Many of them are themed both in exteriors and interiors, in a style reminiscent of Disney's theme parks. I particularly liked The Paris Hotel, as well as Caesars Palace:

We stayed at The Flamingo Hotel, where I made lots of new friends!:

We took a side trip out to Arizona one day to see a great big hole in the ground:

Of course, we had to stop in at Madame Tussaud's to visit with some old friends too. Here I am swingin' with my pallies, Frank, Dean and Sammy:

I hung out with Shirley Maclaine for a bit:

It was great to see one of my favourite gals. Marilyn was of course looking spectacular!:

I swapped card tricks with a magician, providing my own souvenir deck that was kindly presented to me by the friendly folks who line Las Vegas Blvd:

In fact, I used my collector cards to help Hef choose some new girlfriends:

I was even able to spare a few of them for Elvis, who gratefully responded, "Thank yuh, thank yuh veruh much!"

I ran into a few contemporary stars too. Here I am chatting up Angelina, trying to convince her to ditch whatsisname so we can duck out for a night on the town:

Since that didn't end well, I decided instead to give Buffy a hickey:

Finally, Mom and I did our best to help out President Obama with his busy schedule.
"Hello, what's that again? You say you're the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Hooper? I'm sorry, but President Obama isn't in right now..."

Happy Birthday, Al Hirschfeld!

2010-06-21T00:31:00.000-07:00

If Al Hirschfeld, the celebrated caricaturist were still around today, he would have been hitting his 107th birthday. As it is, however, the old boy passed away back in January 2003, just a few months shy of turning 100! Still, he had an amazing career drawing for many venues over his many decades, and was primarily associated with creating linear depictions of the Broadway shows for his regular stint with The New York Times.

Oddly, though, my first introduction to Hirschfeld's art was through one of the full colour covers he'd illustrated for TV Guide, which depicted the popular variety series, The Sonny and Cher Show, of which I was a big fan in my early teen years. I was entranced with the illustration, as it showed me a very different approach to caricature than what I had been then enjoying in MAD Magazine by the likes of Mort Drucker and Jack Davis. Whereas the two MAD artists drew more of what I call "distorted portrait" caricatures, exaggerating the features, yet still maintaining a sense of anatomical structure ( albeit Davis doing it looser and more cartoony than Drucker), Al Hirschfeld had a more stylistic and playful approach, abstracting the form into simple shapes and flowing lines. I cut out and saved that TV Guide cover and still have it today, as shown here.

I was a pretty bold little guy back then, and I was determined to get a fan letter to Al Hirschfeld, so I wrote to him care of TV Guide, being oblivious at the time to his more famous career illustrating for the Arts section of The New York Times. Well, the good folks at TV Guide actually forwarded my letter to Al, and it wasn't too long before I received a very nice response back from him. I ended up corresponding with him several more times over the next few years and I'll post several of these letters here for all to enjoy:

Some years later I ended up going to New York to freelance for Disney's Character Merchandise art department, the tale of which I'll save for another post. Prior to going there, I was determined to look up Al Hirschfeld when I was in town, and I took down one of my books of his art in the hopes of getting it autographed. After working in the Disney office the first week, I decided to try getting in touch with Al early on the weekend. Sure enough, he was listed in the NYC phone directory, so I gave him a call. Much to my excitement, he answered the phone and, when I explained that I used to correspond with him a few years earlier, he remembered me and told me I should come down to visit him that afternoon in his home studio!

I can still recall my excitement and nervous apprehension as I boarded the transit bus that would let me off within an easy walk of the old brownstone that he lived in. Once there, I rang the bell and was met at the door by Al's sweet wife, Dolly. She said Al was expecting me and that I could just make my way up the two flights of stairs to where he was working in his studio on his latest piece for The NY Times. One thing I recall was all of the framed originals that lined the stairway, including that painted cover featuring Sonny and Cher. So, as excited as I was to get upstairs to meet Al, I was also trying to take in all of the glorious original art I was passing on the way up!

When I got to the top of the stairs, I remember they ended facing into his studio, and there silhouetted by the light of a picture window, sitting in his antique barber's chair at his antique drafting table, was the great man himself, Al Hirschfeld! Though Al tended to have a somewhat stern, no nonsense appearance, he was actually a very warm and generous man, and I think he took a certain delight in showing off a lot of his original art to this young fan. I remember him showing me the piece he was currently working on (a Broadway show featuring Ellen Burstyn, as I recall) and I was struck by the size that he worked at. It seems to me that the illustration board was about 24 x 36, and Al showed me how he built up the thick and thin lines through multiple strokes of the tiny Gillott Crow Quill pen nibs he favoured. He said that the nibs were relatively fragile, and that he might go though nearly a dozen on such a large illustration. Of course, he always finished up a drawing by hiding a few NINA's throughout, as that was the name of his only daughter whose birth he'd celebrated with that novelty, and had continued it on ever since.

He then took a break from what he was working on and proceeded to pull out a bunch of his recent originals from a big steel flat file cabinet. One thing I remember well was when he showed me his annual piece for The NY Times where he would depict notable personalities from different fields, such as movies, literature, science, dance, etc. in a beautifully composed montage of figures. I had a chuckle when he started pointing to the actors depicted, saying "That's whatsisname from that movie, whatchamacallit...", as I suspect that his inability to recall their names was mostly due to his not being particularly impressed with that generation of film stars. After all, I had remembered him stating in one of his books that he always favoured movie stars that were larger than life personalities like W.C Fields and Zero Mostel, and that he found contemporary actors too ordinary and mundane with their more realistic acting styles.

After a while, Dolly called up to Al to let him know it was tea time, a ritual she had retained from her native Germany and that Al was happy to share with her. They insisted I join them for tea and cake and I remember just thinking what a lovely couple they were and how gracious they were to me. Unfortunately, the visit had to end soon after, as Al had to get back to finishing his drawing before sunset, as he always preferred to work by natural daylight rather than incandescent bulbs. Al happily signed my book and he and Dolly bid me adieu.

That afternoon spent with Al and Dolly Hirschfeld will always remain one of the happiest memories of my artistic career. Obviously, Al Hirschfeld's own stylistic approach has heavily influenced my own - I don't deny it. Still, I've tried to learn what I could through studying and analyzing his work, yet applying the approach of forming a "visual impression" of the subject, then abstracting the physical design and inner personality in my own way as much as I can. But he will always be my artistic mentor, his spirit and playfulness of line always helping to guide me in my own work. The caricature that heads up this post was one I drew of him sometime after having visited him. I sent him the original as a thank you gift, and asked if he could send me back the copy with his autograph. As you can see, he also added a NINA in the hair!

Please check out more of Hirschfeld's great caricatures at the website of his official representative, The Margo Feiden Galleries.

Finally, Something I Like!

2010-06-20T08:38:00.000-07:00

I saw this over on Cartoon Brew yesterday and was so impressed with it that I felt compelled to comment on it here. It's just a short promo for the Palm Springs International Short Fest, yet somehow it has excited me more than any animated feature has in recent years. It was created by a studio called MAKE in Minneapolis, and the director/lead animator was Andrew Chesworth. Interestingly, all of the comments over at Cartoon Brew have been enthusiastically positive in their praise of the film - which is an unusual situation at The Brew, where there is generally mixed feelings on most animated clips posted. Anyway, watch it first, then I'll discuss it:

Here's why I like it so much. First of all, it's a spoof of that oh so familiar scene in 40's film noir where the damsel in distress shows up at the office of the hardboiled private detective begging him to take the case. Strangely, film noir has never been done in a full animated feature, the closest thing being the animation/live action hybrid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, so I think it's a genre that would be ripe for an animated feature. And like this short, I'd want to see that feature animated in glorious, traditional, hand-drawn animation, not CG! Take a look at the overall style of this short - it's so unabashedly a cartoon. The characters are all highly caricatured and stylized: the hero in bold angular outlines and blocky shapes, the femme fatale all in sexy curves. The animated movement is equally cartoony in it's timing. Also, look at how distinct all of the character designs are and how they communicate immediately to the viewer what those characters are all about. The hero is reminiscent of tough guy actors with chiseled features like George C. Scott or Richard Conte. He's not one of those pretty boy metrosexuals that have been dominating animated features for the last 20 years. Neither is the girl generic in any way. Her features are exaggerated to show her sexiness and her deceptive personality - look at that imposing jawline that shows her to be a tough cookie. I also love the highly designed curly hair, as it shows what drawn animation can do so much better than CG, which is a slave to literal form. I hope that my Sheridan students are taking note, as this short film is a great example of what I'm always stressing to see in your Character Design assignments.

As far as I'm concerned, this short is a breath of fresh air, so different from the stagnation of semi-realistic character design that we've been seeing in so many hand-drawn features of the last 15 to 20 years. Interestingly, John Kricfalusi has been taking a stab at the generic male leads that are all looking too similar, culminating in the latest attempt in the upcoming Tangled, with the hero, Flynn Rider. I happen to agree with much of what John says in this regard, as I'm getting damn tired of what I've come to call the "Rock Star" look of all male leads in the latter-day films of Disney, Dreamworks, and a few other studios. Disney artists should check out some classic Hollywood films of the past and start studying real men like Gregory Peck, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Gene Kelly, etc. etc, so as to get away from this current trend of designing longhaired metrosexuals. This short film with the film noir detective hopefully will inspire some more satisfying heroes in future animated features. My sincere congratulations to Andrew Chesworth and his talented crew for creating a small gem of animated brilliance!

Happy Birthday, Nancy Sinatra!

2010-06-08T00:09:00.000-07:00

Today the gal with the boots celebrates her birthday. Nancy Sinatra was the first born of Frank's three kids and was very much Daddy's little girl. Though she may not have had the vocal range of her Dad, nor his singing career longevity, Nancy Sinatra was a hugely popular and iconic singer of the swingin' 60's. Interestingly, though she was ostensibly of the rock 'n' roll generation of that era, her singing style still owed a lot to the more traditional crooning style of her father and his contemporaries. She had a string of hits as both a solo artist as well as a number of great duets alongside Lee Hazlewood, the singer/record producer who also wrote most of her songs, including her famous, These Boots Are Made For Walkin'.

I really like Nancy Sinatra's singing style. Although her vocal range was somewhat limited, there was always a warmth and sincerity in her delivery. Nancy had a bit of a revival a few years ago when her rendition of Bang Bang (previously a hit for Cher) was picked up to be used in the opening titles of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume One, setting the melancholy tone for the bride left for dead played by Uma Thurman. Here is Nancy singing Bang Bang when she guested on her Dad's 1966 TV special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music - Part II. I watched this appearance to draw the crazy frilled dress, though my sketch of her face was done from her own 1967 TV special, Movin' With Nancy, which is also available on DVD. The second YouTube clip is a segment from that special, featuring Nancy and Lee Hazlewood singing Jackson, a song made popular by Johnny Cash and June Carter.

It's Quiz Time!!

2010-06-02T19:10:00.000-07:00

I've been a member of the International Society of Caricature Artists (ISCA, formerly NCN) for a couple years now. One of my favourite of their online forums is the "Let's Draw" section, where we're now into a second year of celebrating famous birthdays by inviting ISCA members to post their caricature sketches of the chosen notable personality of the day. Some of the ones I've drawn have also been posted here on my blog on their actual birthday, but some others have slipped through the cracks since I had drawn them sometime after the fact. Rather than let these particular samples go unseen, I've decided to post a bunch of them here as a fun little quiz for you. They are indeed a motley crew that comprises personalities of both the present and past, some from the entertainment industry, others not - some maybe a bit obscure! So let's see how many of them you folks can recognize. No, there's no prize, but the first one to correctly identify all eight in the comments section gets bragging rights. (ISCA members are not eligible, so sit on your hands and let the others play!) Ready, set, go...

Here's To Jessica Borutski!

2010-05-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

This is my caricature of Jessica Borutski, a supremely talented young cartoonist whose work I have admired for several years now. Coincidentally, Jessica resides in Ottawa, Ontario, which also happens to be my old hometown. I first discovered Jessica's work on a cute animated film she created called I Like Pandas. In fact, I have shown samples of Jessica's art in my class on Character Design as examples of great visual appeal, like this one:

Recently however, poor Jessica has found herself caught in the crossfire amid the latest controversy over at Cartoon Brew, this time regarding this image from a new incarnation of the Looney Tunes characters set to debut on TV. Predictably, there were numerous claims that it was "bad design" or "terrible drawing", etc. by all of the usual suspects. Animation fans are a cranky and critical lot to be sure, and I include myself in that description by the way, yet in this case I believe a distinction has to be made. So I'm going to offer up some thoughts from my perspective on the situation.

First of all, even before it came out in the comments, I was pretty certain that I recognized these new designs of Bugs and Daffy as being by Jessica, as the image of Bugs put me in mind of her own cartoons of rabbits and other toothy creatures. Sure enough, it turns out that Jessica was the freelance designer selected by the powers-that-be at Cartoon Network to redesign the classic Looney Tunes characters to meet more contemporary sensibilities. Thus, she has given them a more angular design over all, obviously dictated by her client to be more in keeping with that less rounded, more graphic style that is so prevalent in today's TV cartoons. This approach is also due to the practicality of how these characters are now animated with computer software such as Flash or, in this case I believe, ToonBoom. Instead of full hand drawn animation like that in the classic cartoons, shortcuts are now employed today with characters being created as essentially "cutouts" with replaceable parts to create the animated movement. As I've stated before, I'm personally not an admirer of this approach, yet I'll admit that I have seen some better work created lately through ToonBoom which seems to be a hybrid of both "cutout" (or "symbol") style combined with more traditional inbetweening as is desirable for a somewhat more fluid end result. I'm assuming that this is the approach that is being taken on these new TV cartoons.

Regarding these new designs by Jessica, I'm admittedly of two minds about them. If these designs were of brand new characters with no previous history in cartoons, I believe that these images would be embraced by the majority of animation fans and recognized for how appealing they are in terms of graphic design and feeling of inner life and personality. The problem of course is that these are the Looney Tunes characters, with a long illustrious past in fully animated theatrical shorts that are beloved by all of us who have grown up with them through the many decades since their creation. Most of us would rather that they not be messed with, even though it has to be acknowledged that these characters have all evolved through various permutations before achieving that look from the 1950's that many recognize as the "official" versions. As for this latest artistic makeover to their design, it wouldn't matter who was responsible for it, nor how talented they may be, as longtime Looney Tunes fans are dead set against any changes. And yes, I must include myself in that camp too. Here is a news item that appeared on CBC today that sums up the situation quite well. (Click on the link on the right side of the page to watch the video). Of course, it doesn't help that the reporter starts out by describing the original cartoons as "so 1950's".

So Jessica Borutski just happened to get caught in the critical crossfire, being the one who was commissioned to involve herself and her formidable talent in this no-win situation. Personally, my feeling is this: If it was inevitable that these characters were to be revised to some extent for this new TV show, then I would rather that a terrific cartoonist like Jessica be the one to do it, as the results could have been disastrous in less capable hands, as the ill-fated Loonatics cartoon from several years ago proved. As it is, the new designs are appealing enough on their own merit, and may even succeed in acting as a stepping stone to introduce a new generation of kids to the classic theatrical shorts, many of which are available today on DVD in those great boxed sets that many of us have added to our home video library.

One last point I'd like to make. I wish that the same people who selected Jessica Borutski to redesign Bugs and Friends would now hire her to create original new properties wholly of her own design. For example, here is a very charming series concept that was created and pitched by Jessica and her colleague Chris Dainty called The Constellations. I continue to be amazed by the huge visual appeal of Jessica's work, yet I am frustrated by the entertainment industry's aversion to take a chance on anything new. As an instructor in the Sheridan Animation program, I see so much great talent pass through our doors that will likely never be given the opportunity to reach its full potential. Young, enthusiastic talents like Jessica should be encouraged to create work like this. Enjoy!

Life Drawing: Charlotte

2010-05-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

It's always interesting to draw contrasting body types, and Charlotte is very different from Heather, whom I profiled in my last post. Charlotte has a very sleek, angular body and her poses tend to be equally dynamic and angular, as opposed to the more rhythmic curves in Heather's poses. She must be double jointed as well, as her elbows can bend slightly backwards when her arms are tensed!

Charlotte's also a bit of the goth girl, with several tattoos and a lip piercing. This tends to influence me a lot when I take my more caricatured approach to the longer poses, as I really like to play up her large eyes, high cheekbones and almost "haunted" expression. She's actually a very shy, sweet natured girl, but I like to imagine her as some gothic heroine who would fit right in to a Tim Burton film!

Life Drawing: Heather

2010-05-17T15:08:00.001-07:00

This is Heather, one of the life models we've drawn from often over the last few years at Visual Arts Brampton. I've posted a number of my sketches of her previously on this blog. Heather is a trained dancer who brings a lot of that dancing sensibility to her poses, particularly in the quick gestures. Her body type is soft and curvy, lending a rhythmic flow to her gestures, and always with a strong line of action.

I've never been that proficient with longer studies, I'm afraid. Part of this I attribute to not feeling completely in control when using a stick of conté. I often marvel at the sketches pinned up in the display cases at Sheridan, as the Animation students are far better versed on showing solid form through use of conté than I am. Anyway, here are some studies that I am reasonably happy with:

As a lifelong cartoonist, I'm far more comfortable with a pencil in hand, depicting form through outline, varying the line weight with pressure and angle. I also find that I'm happier when I give in to my cartoon sensibilities and caricature the model, as I can capture more inner life and personality that way. Here are some examples of the way I prefer to depict Heather:

Just a reminder to all of my readers who live in the vicinity of Brampton, Ontario, that the open life drawing sessions at Visual Arts Brampton are held every Tuesday evening from 7pm to 9:30pm. Please click on the link listed in the sidebar for more information.

Happy Birthday, Trini Lopez!

2010-05-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

As should be quite apparent here by now, The Cartoon Cave is mostly about nostalgia: my personal recollections of a better era of entertainment. Back in the 1960s, Trini Lopez was one of the entertainers that helped define that era for me. Although my Dad was the one who usually had the records spinning on the family hi-fi, once in awhile my Mom would take control of it and play some of her favourites. I guess she may have liked the latin sound, as she liked to play Trini Lopez and also Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Anyway, I grew up enjoying that sound too, and I've since acquired those old LPs that I wouldn't let her toss out a few years ago. Mom's happy with CDs and doesn't share my sentimental value of dusty old records!

Trini Lopez had a fun, joyous sound to his music. Sometimes it was uptempo like his rendition of "If I Had a Hammer" or "Lemon Tree". But he could also sing slower tender ballads as well. He recorded on the Reprise Records label created by Frank Sinatra in the 60s. In addition to his singing career, Trini did a bit of acting here and there, including an appearance as himself performing onstage at a nightclub in the Sinatra film, Marriage on the Rocks.

Anyway, over on the ISCA (International Society of Caricature Artists), they're continuing with a forum celebrating a different notable personality's birthday each day. I wish I could keep up with it more regularly than I do, but I decided to do one of Trini, since the mention of his name conjured up such warm feelings of nostalgia of my childhood years. I sketched his face from an old episode of the cop show, Adam-12, in which he had guest-starred. Then I looked at a video posted on YouTube to see him in concert mode to draw his shirt and jacket.

While perusing YouTube, I also came across this neat clip where Trini Lopez appears in a duet with one of my favourite girl singers, warm and lovely Vikki Carr (who I am determined to draw some time for my blog!) I hope this brings back some happy memories for you readers out there of my generation!

Sheridan College Open House 2010 (Part 3)

2010-05-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Here is the third and final batch of caricatures I drew during Sheridan's Open House a couple weeks ago. These first two ladies pictured are Sheridan office staff, Susan Anderson-Wilcox and Paulette Geffros:

These last three are Sheridan students, Leisha-Marie Riddel, Omar Noori, and Hai Wei Hou:

Sheridan College Open House 2010 (Part 2)

2010-05-12T10:29:00.001-07:00

Here are another bunch of caricatures from the Sheridan Open House held a couple weeks ago. Mostly young kids in this batch, including these first two little cuties who are the daughters of one of the Sheridan staff. I've still got more to post but I'll do them later.

Gordon Brown For PM!!

2010-05-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know that the Brits have already been to the polls to vote, but it turns out there's still no clear winner. Conservative David Cameron may have had the most votes, but not enough to make a clean sweep of it, so sitting PM Gordon Brown still has a chance at keeping his job. Well I say good on Gordo! If it was up to me, I think the Brits should keep him in power. Despite this dour Scot looking like the human equivalent of Eeyore the donkey, I think Gordon Brown is an intelligent and articulate guy who has well proven himself. But more importantly, Gordon Brown has a face that is a gift to all caricaturists!!

I mean, just look at this line-up of the three candidates. David Cameron and his Liberal Democrat opponent, Nick Clegg, are both a couple of blandly handsome young fellows who are virtually indistinguishable from each other! What self-respecting cartoonist would want to draw either one of their generic mugs?

Gordon Brown stands out like a sore thumb next to these two "Ken dolls". And a sore thumb of a face is far more interesting, in my opinion. Look - the bags under his eyes even have bags of their own! (Damn, how'd I miss that in my caricature?)

I mean, really?! Cameron, Clegg? Clegg, Cameron? Your guess is as good as mine!!

Happy Birthday, Audrey Hepburn!

2010-05-04T00:07:00.000-07:00

I believe that Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe may be the two most iconic figures who have represented female beauty in the movies. But, while Marilyn was blonde, voluptuous and an image of pure sexuality, Audrey was the more fragile, doe-eyed waif who really captured our hearts. Certainly Audrey Hepburn has always been my favourite actress, and much of her appeal is in that pixieish figure with the big dark eyes. Tragically, Audrey left us in 1993 at the relatively early age of 64, after being diagnosed with stomach cancer. She'd largely retired from films after Robin and Marian in 1976, devoting her last few years to helping the children of the world through her association with UNICEF. Audrey was truly a beautiful woman, through and through - a genuine class act.

Interestingly, Audrey only made about 30 films, and probably not more than 20 of those would be well known to her fans, starting with her Oscar winning role in Roman Holiday in 1953. I've seen all of her major films but two: War and Peace and The Unforgiven, although I do own them on DVD just waiting to be watched. I'd be hard pressed to name my absolute favourite, but My Fair Lady, Funny Face and Charade would be right up there. But then there's so many others that I love too!

One of my earliest movie memories is of seeing My Fair Lady at the drive-in with my parents, though I'm guessing it may have been in a reissue several years after it first debuted in 1964. I've seen it dozens of times since, as I consider it the perfect musical film, despite the fact that poor Audrey didn't get to do her own singing as the cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle. She was able to show off all of her talents in Funny Face a few years earlier, though, singing and dancing alongside Fred Astaire. The sequence in the Parisian café, where Audrey, in a black leotard and hair up in a ponytail, does a modern jazz number is just a stunner. She'd had training as a ballerina in her youth and it's really a shame that she wasn't given more opportunities on film to display her incredible dancing ability. As for her singing, though not as notable as her dancing, I still find her voice to be warm and lovely when she sings the wistful and poignant "Moon River" in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Composer Henry Mancini figured out what a comfortable vocal range was for Audrey, and wrote "Moon River" tailored specifically to her admittedly limited range. Frankly, I find it hard not to get misty-eyed when I hear her singing it as she strums her guitar in her Manhattan apartment window. It's a very beautiful sequence.

For my caricature of Audrey Hepburn, I had first started doing some sketches of her (including the one above) from Paris When It Sizzles, in which she costars with William Holden. Though I love her 1960's stylish looks in that film, I must admit that I find the film itself to be one of her weakest. Therefore, I decided to switch my attention to her role in Charade, where she costarred for the only time with the wonderful Cary Grant. This was a team-up on screen that was just meant to be, with the two stars obviously enjoying working with each other immensely. For me, that was Hollywood royalty at its best, and the film itself just sparkles with wit and sophistication.

Interestingly, just recently I heard a couple of my Sheridan animation students discussing Charade before class started, as it turns out they're both big Audrey Hepburn fans themselves. And so I would like to dedicate this post to students, Justin Hartley (a fellow classic film buff, pictured in my recent Sheridan caricatures post) and Nicole Kozak, who coincidentally resembles Audrey Hepburn with her big dark eyes, as you can see in this caricature of her at right!

So, now let's end off this tribute to lovely Audrey with the aforementioned scene of her singing "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's. Enjoy!

Sheridan College Open House 2010 (Part 1)

2010-05-03T23:03:00.000-07:00

A week after classes have officially ended, there's still two events that wrap up the school year at Sheridan College. There is the annual Industry Day, where representatives from various animation studios, both local and from the U.S. come to view the films created by the graduating 4th Year students. I'll defer to my colleague, Mark Mayerson to describe that event in greater detail on his blog.

The other event is the Open House, where the general public is invited to visit Sheridan College and see what students in all of the artistic venues are capable of producing. Once again I agreed to participate alongside several of our very talented animation students in sketching caricatures of the visitors to the college, and here are a bunch of samples of those folks that I drew. I'll post the rest of the photos in a second part in a couple days, as there's too many to upload in one shot:

Sheridan Animation Year End

2010-04-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Yes, as April draws to a close, so too does this year of the Sheridan College Animation program. The last few weeks are always pretty crazy, with students trying to stay on top of last assignment deadlines and we in the faculty going bug-eyed from all of the final grading! But now it's done and everybody can breathe a collective sigh of relief and start enjoying the spring and summer weather to come.

Here are a few photos I took this week and some caricatures of my 2nd Year students:

The selection process behind which student caricatures made it into this particular montage was determined by the following group shot photo at Monaghan's Pub across the street from Sheridan, taken after my classes wrapped up on Thursday April 22. The students in the caricature are Laurel Dalgleish, Evee Fex-Chriszt, Drew Petursson, Justin Hartley, Keely Turple and Caroline Hung. Hopefully you can match them all up with their real faces pictured below. The wise old sage in the photo is none other than my friend and Sheridan Animation colleague, Mark Mayerson, whose terrific blog is probably well known to many of my readers.

This pretty young lady is Lisa Kathofer, another one of my 2nd Year Character Design students who finally had her caricature drawn on the last day. Watch those deadlines, Lisa!

The fellow pictured above is Josh Heisie, a student in the Film and Television program at Sheridan, who is a friend of my former student, Amir Avni.

For the entire series of Sheridan 2009/2010 2nd Year mugshots, you can find them all posted here on my Facebook page.

Incidentally, for those in the vicinity, I'll be drawing caricatures along with several animation students for visitors to Sheridan's Open House, coming up this Saturday, May 1st. Here are some pics from last year's event. I hope some of you can stop by to say hello!

Some Cute (And Not So Cute) Doodles!

2010-04-13T08:55:00.000-07:00

I make no bones about the fact that I love to draw cute characters. Cartoons that are cute and appealing are what I grew up with, and I still far prefer that over the ugly schlock of today, therefore that is what I gravitate towards in my own cartooning. Here are some more examples of recent doodles that explore that theme.

In the one above, I decided to scribble out several animated poses of the same little guy bouncing his basketball. Though I have never animated per se, I have always enjoyed bringing a character to life through continuity poses and expressions. Of course, this is the essence of what I have done for many years in illustrating children's books for Disney. Ideally I would love to start illustrating books with my own characters, but I'm not sure that children's book publishers even like cartoons anymore. Regrettably, they seem to have forgotten that the most famous kids' illustrator of all time, Dr. Seuss, was in fact a cartoonist.

These were a couple of quick impressions I scribbled of other diners at the restaurant I was at several weeks ago. The old guy reminded me a bit of Ed McMahon and the young girl had similar features to Drew Barrymore. The cat was not actually in the restaurant, but snuck into my doodling just the same.

Okay, I guess these ugly rascals can't be called "cute", but they were fun to draw. After finishing up a Suduko, I started aimlessly doodling a couple of ugly mugs, which then led to a whole series of unsavory mobster types appearing around the edge of the puzzle. I particularly like the psychotic looking fellow in the lower right corner and the wall-eyed rascal in the top middle. The whole exercise was really meant to explore facial features of varying shape, size and relative placement on various head shapes, which is something I stress constantly in my Sheridan College Character Design class.

Happy Birthday, James Garner!

2010-04-07T00:03:00.000-07:00

Yes, I've celebrated his birthday for the last couple of years on this blog and I aim to keep on doing it. Jim Garner remains my all-time favourite actor and I never get tired of watching his many great film roles and sketching my impressions of him. For this year's caricature, I watched The Great Escape, the classic WWII film from 1963, which was based on the true story of a POW prison breakout. Jim Garner plays Lt. Hendley, also known as "The Scrounger", for his ability to scrounge all manner of raw materials from within the camp that can then be jerry-rigged into usable tools to be utilized in the digging of not one, but three tunnels to the woods outside the fence!

The Great Escape is a hugely thrilling epic that I've watched a number of times over the years, though I try to limit my viewings so that it still feels fresh every time I watch it. There's a lot of humanity in the film, most notably in the friendship that develops between Garner's Lt. Hendley and Blythe, "The Forger" played by British character actor, Donald Pleasence. Just prior to the planned breakout, it's decided that poor Blythe is to be left behind in the camp due to the risk he presents to the mission, having suffered a deterioration of his eyesight to the point of near blindness. Hendley insists that Blythe still be included, offering to take full responsibility for getting him out and away under his protection. That act of kindness and human decency is a trait I like to attribute to Jim Garner in real life, too. Jim has always been outspoken on various issues on which he takes a principled stand, often being honest to the point of bluntness in his opinions. Many of his film roles have portrayed him as, if not the typical "hero", then certainly the "reluctant hero" who may wish to avoid trouble if he can, but will rise to the occasion when necessary.

As I've mentioned in a past entry, I got to meet Jim Garner back in 1982 when he was starring in NBC's Bret Maverick, a sequel series to his classic original Maverick from about 20 years before. Here is a photo that was taken on that occasion showing me and my friend Bryan Stoller with Jim, actress Darleen Carr and singer/actor Ed Bruce on the set at Warner Brothers. I wish that I'd had a better camera - where was digital when I needed it? Also, I'm kicking myself for having blinked when the pic was taken! Still, I'm happy to report that Jim Garner was as charismatic and nice in person as he often appears in his film and TV roles, and it was such a thrill to meet him. Happy Birthday, Jim!