Happy Birthday James Garner!

Here's a guy I never get tired of sketching, and I've done quite a few of him over the years. As I've mentioned before, James Garner is my all-time favourite actor. Last year on his 80th birthday I wrote a more detailed tribute to the man, which can be found here. When I'm looking to just relax in front of the TV and put on an old series from my youth, nothing beats watching an episode of "The Rockford Files". Garner was just so great as Jim Rockford, the LA private detective who lived in a beat up mobile home permanently parked on the beach, never quite sure whether he'd get enough work to cover that month's expenses.

I did this sketch a couple days ago while watching a "Rockford Files" episode, though I had hoped to ink it and colour it up like what I'd done last year. Instead, I opted to leave it as a pencil sketch and just fool around with some Photoshop textures and brushes to approximate the look of a pastel drawing. It's not entirely successful, but I need to practice with those tools some more before I know what I'm doing!

I remember hearing sometime last year that Jim Garner had suffered a stroke that required some surgery to correct, but that he seemed to be recovering. I sure hope he's doing better now and I would love to see him back on screen again someday soon. By the way, in honour of his birthday, Turner Classic Movies is running a bunch of his films today including "The Americanization of Emily", Jim's personal favourite of his films. Though generally light in tone, it has a very serious underlying message about the insanity of war - a sentiment that the liberal-minded Jim Garner shares. I've already got that film in my DVD library, but I'll be setting my recorder for "36 Hours", which I have never seen before.

So, Happy Birthday Jim! I hope you're doing well!

Here's a speech from "The Americanization of Emily" that's very dear to Jim Garner's heart. Please celebrate the man by watching it:

Party Caricatures!

Since last summer, I've been getting more and more into doing "Party Caricatures" again. I used to do these types of events regularly years ago, prior to when I moved down to work for Disney in Florida. I'm real happy to be doing them again, as I enjoy the spontaneity of working from life, as well as being essentially a "performer" with paper and marker. Some caricaturists start out right away with the marker, but I must admit that I need to lightly rough it out with pencil first before finalizing the sketch in a black, flexible tip Markette. That's the only way I feel I can maintain control over the likeness.

Since last summer I've been working through a very good agency called CaricatureCan, based in Ottawa and created and managed by a great guy by the name of Pablo, who's a very talented caricaturist himself. The subjects with their caricatures pictured here are all from an event I did this past Wednesday at a private party in downtown Toronto put on by the TD Bank. There were actually four of us working the event and we had a terrific time with it.

For the record, I am available to work at corporate events, trade shows, weddings, bar mitzvahs, etc. in the greater Toronto area, including points west like Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville and Burlington. If interested in booking me, please get in touch with Pablo at CaricatureCan to inquire about availability and rates.

One Of My Reeses Pieces

Well, actually, my ONLY Reese piece, at least in finished form anyway, although I went through several rough attempts before I thought I was getting closer. Reese Witherspoon was the NCN birthday subject about a week ago, but I didn't get my picture done on time to post it on that day. I watched my DVD of "Legally Blonde" in order to do the sketch, although it went through several revisions at the pencil stage before I committed it to the ink and colour version you see here. She was actually much harder to draw than I thought she'd be, and I'm still not sure it's as good as I'd like but I'm posting it here anyway.

Natasha Richardson

Such sad news with the tragic death at 45 of Natasha Richardson yesterday. A lovely, elegant woman with a rich lineage of movie/stage royalty. She hadn't made a lot of films, but I made a point of watching my favourite tonight in order to do this sketch in tribute to her. This drawing depicts Natasha as she appeared in 1994's "Widows' Peak", a sly little tale set in Ireland, in which she costarred alongside Mia Farrow and Joan Plowright.

Goodnight, sweet Natasha. You'll be fondly remembered....

Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!

Just a quick post today, as I'm too busy to write much. Anyway, once again I did a caricature for the NCN forum which acknowledges the birthdays of notable people. Today, March 14 happens to be the birthday of Albert Einstein. I haven't read much about him but I gather he was pretty smart. :)

Trivia: Did you know that comedian Albert Brooks is the brother of comedian Bob ("Super Dave") Einstein, and that the family name is actually Einstein? Yep, Albert Brooks' real name was originally Albert Einstein! No foolin'!

Happy Birthday Al Jaffee!

Over at the National Caricaturists Network, Jan Op De Beeck's birthday pick for today is Al Jaffee, the veteran MAD Magazine cartoonist. Al is celebrating his 88th birthday today, and I'm happy to see that he's still one of "The Usual Gang of Idiots" contributing to MAD on a regular basis. There aren't too many still there of the artists who were big in the 1970s, when I was a regular reader. Aside from Al, there's still Mort Drucker and Sergio Aragones, maybe a few others, but mostly there's been a newer crew illustrating in this millennium, including the wonderful Tom Richmond. My favourite was Jack Davis, but I don't believe he's been active at MAD for awhile now.

Even after all these decades since starting as an artist with the magazine in 1964, Al Jaffee is still coming up with his famous "MAD Fold-In" for the back inside cover every month. Frankly, I don't know how he creates those things - they're brilliant visual puzzles! Incidentally, he was also recently named "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" at the 2008 Reuben Awards, presented by The National Cartoonist Society.

In order to draw this caricature of Al, I checked out what was available on YouTube, so here are a couple of neat interviews with him that I found. Happy Birthday Al!

"Arr, Step Lively There, Jim Lad!"

Today is the birthday of Bobby Driscoll, who had a memorable career as an impish child actor, but whose life ended all too soon and tragically in 1968 at the young age of 31. After some years of drug and alcohol abuse as a young adult, Bobby was finally able to clean himself up, yet found himself shunned by the entertainment industry and unable to get work. How different it is nowadays, when even repeat offenders like Robert Downey Jr. seem to get welcomed back into Hollywood's arms for an infinite number of second chances. Bobby Driscoll was never given a second chance though, and he died impoverished after having shown such promise so early on in his young life.

Bobby will always be closely associated with Disney for such films as "Song of the South", "So Dear to My Heart" and "Treasure Island". But I like to believe that he has also achieved a cinematic immortality as the voice and live film reference model for Disney's animated classic, "Peter Pan". As you can see in this still from the film, Pan was essentially a caricature of the then teenaged Bobby Driscoll, with his pixieish face and smile.
I watched "Treasure Island" again a few nights ago in order to draw Bobby Driscoll, and he really was something as the brave Jim Hawkins, who wouldn't go back on his word, even if it meant acting in good faith with the wily but charismatic pirate, Long John Silver. Long John was played by British actor, Robert Newton, who coincidentally also had a problem with alcohol abuse and died at the relatively early age of 50. Newton is a joy to watch in his role as Silver though, with his bright eyes glinting in both menace and mischief, and speaking in a Cornish accent that became the stereotypical pirate "voice", still imitated to this very day. His final role was playing Mr. Fix, the inspector who doggedly pursues Phileas Fogg in "Around the World in 80 Days".

So let's celebrate both Bobby Driscoll and Robert Newton on this day - two actors who left us far too early before realizing their full potential.

Happy Birthdays, Ted and Joe!

I don't normally do many caricatures of political figures, as my preference is for showbiz entertainers. However, over on the National Caricaturists Network (NCN), our esteemed senior member, Jan Op De Beeck, has come up with a daily challenge for us to draw a celebrity he has chosen who is celebrating his or her birthday that day. That's what led to my recent caricatures of Lee Marvin and Ellen Page, by the way. This past Sunday was Senator Ted Kennedy's birthday and, since he's a politician I quite admire and respect, I thought I should do a caricature tribute to him. (Don't forget - we have him to thank for being one of the major players to endorse Barack Obama in the presidential race!)

Admittedly, I have somewhat mixed feelings about Senator Joe Lieberman, who celebrates his birthday on Tuesday. Though a Democrat, Joe also seems to have one foot firmly planted in the Republican camp, being somewhat hawkish in matters of defense and foreign policy. Still, I do respect him for speaking his mind and voting accordingly, as I don't believe anybody should slavishly adhere to the party line on every issue.

Incidentally, I have to share this funny YouTube clip I came across, as it turns out that somebody else agrees with me in noticing the similarities between Joe and the "son" of Stimpy in an episode of John Kricfalusi's "Ren and Stimpy":

Well, What Ju'no - It's Ellen Page!

In just a short time from now the Academy Awards is about to begin. I'll be tuning in as is my annual ritual, of course! Though I'm afraid I have no caricatures of any of this year's nominees to post, I will instead offer up this one I did of last year's nominee for Best Actress, Ellen Page as "Juno". This was drawn just a couple days ago in honour of Miss Page's birthday which was yesterday. Such a cute kid!

Anyway, I have to go now and get ready for the Oscars. Here's the trailer for "Juno":

49 and Holding...

Yep, today I hit 49, and so now the countdown is on to the big five-0 next year. I must admit that's a scary thought indeed. On the brighter side, however, Barack Obama has made the journey up here to Canada today to help me celebrate my birthday. In fact, here's a photo of me and Barack just taken this morning before he headed off to Ottawa for a dull discussion with our Prime Minister Harper. Oh, the other fellow in the photo is John McCain, whom you may recall lost out to Barack in the recent U.S. election. John's been kind of down in the dumps since then, so Barack graciously invited him along to join in my birthday celebration. Sorry for the photo being so small, but it was taken on John's Polaroid One Step.

By the way, I should acknowledge some other people who are celebrating their birthday today. Prince Andrew for one, who coincidentally was born on the exact same day as me in 1960. Personally I've always suspected that the cradles were switched at birth and that I should currently be enjoying a life of luxury in the British Monarchy. Ah well...

And it also happens to be the birthday of actor, Lee Marvin, who would have celebrated turning 85 this year if it weren't for the sad fact he left us a few years ago due to his celebrating maybe a little too hard all his life! But in honour of this crazy rascal, here is my caricature of Lee Marvin in his Oscar winning role as the drunken, washed up gunfighter, "Kid Shelleen", from the 1965 film, "Cat Ballou". Actually, I just watched "Cat Ballou" again a couple of nights ago so I could draw this, and it really is a fun film. Jane Fonda is just so young and pretty as the title character, and it also features a rare bigscreen appearance by one of my favourite singers, Nat King Cole, playing one of two wandering minstrels (along with Stubby Kaye) who narrate parts of the story in song.

Here is a montage of scenes that somebody had cobbled together on YouTube that pay tribute to Lee Marvin as Kid Shelleen. The shot of the drunken Shelleen leaning up against the wall astride his equally drunken horse is priceless!