Dec 04 2007
A while back, I got really into doing these “grid” things in my sketchbook where I’d start with a small image of something and then fill the page with progressive iterations of the image, each new one being drawn based on the one that directly preceded it. I was looking through an old sketchbook last night for some images to scan for an article and came across this one:
Dec 04 2007
If, like me, you’re interested in things cartooning-related, then chances are you’re either reading, done reading, or plan on reading Schulz and Peanuts, the new bio of Peanuts artist Charles Schulz. In the book it mentions that Schulz’s first published work was a one-off “guest strip” in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not comics page feature. The image is described as a picture of Schulz’s dog, Spike, (the inspiration for the character Snoopy) who was known for eating, “pins, tacks, screws and razor blades.”
I did a cursory Googling, trying to track down this image, but didn’t turn anything up. coincidentally, though, the most recent Bark magazine contained a feature about Ripley and his known love of dogs. Along with the text for the feature were reprints of various dog-related entries from the strip, including the Schulz one. So, here it is:
Dec 03 2007
In addition to the usual holiday treats like seeing friends and family, good food and general good cheer, folks in Winston-Salem have another thing we look forward to each holiday season: the Tanoshii Chinese restaurant’s annual calendar.
This year’s theme is the Beijing Olympics and you can see that each animal not only corresponds to a Chinese “Year of the…” animal, but also is participating in some Olympic event. I really wish the official Olympic committee would capitalize on this “cute animal” theme. Maybe something like, “The Beijing Olympics: Gotta Catch ’em All!”
Anyway, please enjoy, as the calendar says: “U.S. IMPORTANT HOLIDAY ‘ FOR 2008.'”
Dec 03 2007
“Miracle” is probably too strong a word, and of course it’s more of a catastrophe as far as our finances are concerned, but the exterior of “The Crackhouse” has finally been repainted. The top image of its original state doesn’t really do justice to how dilapidated the paint was. Our next-door neighbor told us that the yellow paint was in-place when she moved to the neighborhood… in 1976.
The Crackhouse is actually in such nice shape these days (only some minor work upstairs, and a major kitchen overhaul remain) that it may be time to retire the Crackouse label.
Dec 03 2007
Here’s what I posted as my contribution to week 90 of the Newsarama art group:
Better late than never, I suppose…
Here’s my contribution for this week’s “Punisher” theme. It’s not one of my better pieces, but it was fun to experiment with two techniques I almost never mess with: crosshatching, and the dodge and burn tools in Photoshop. (I almost always ink with a brush and use flat colors.)
One of the things I really enjoy about riffing on existing covers and panels, as I often do in my occasional posts to the Art Group thread, is that I always learn something in the process. In this case, the thing I learned is: if you run into anatomy-related problems with drawing a character’s legs, put a big trash can in the way. My version is holiday-themed, so instead I put a big Christmas tree in the way:
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