Inspirational Illustrations: Dud Dates

I began these themed posts by showcasing "Cute Couples", so lets close out the year by looking at the opposite end of the bell curve!

Special Thanks to my former teacher Brian Kane for providing many of the "American Weekly" Covers.

American Weekly February 1, 1953

Art by Arthur Sarnoff

This sweet comedic moment is slightly upset by the type on the bottom left telling us about an interior story called "I was a Delinquent Girl". Seeing that, I can't help but think this fatal figure skater is luring her victim out onto the thin ice were he'll break through and drown. Then the she-beast can use his corpse as substance for remainder of the winter months.

For those of you who don't share my warped sense of humor, enjoy this unmarked version of the illustration.

Sure he may be a lousy skater, but I suspect she doesn't mind taking the extra time to teach him a few tricks.

-----

American Weekly June 7, 1953

Art by Charlie Hawes

I suspect this guy is the kid from Norman Rockwell's "A Day in the Life of A Boy" now that he's grown up and is dealing with raging hormones. Maybe its just as well he doesn't get the chance to serenade the lady with his ukulele, the only tune he knows is the theme from "Arrested Development".

The love the way time and place are present in this cover. Events like setting up the date, and getting properly groomed just go by quickly without much pause. With so much white space involved our eye doesn't spend much time on them. I'm not sure what he's doing in the fifth panel though. Its looks like he's trying to hide the instrument, but then changes his mind when its time to ring the doorbell. 

His disappointment can felt in this long panel at the bottom. Our eye travels the long distance of the frame to the get to the attractive bright light of moon on the far right and after several panels of light spontaneity, this final panel really hits home how long this date drags.

I'm trying to figure out were he went wrong. It can't be the awesome sweater he borrowed from Bill Cosby, and it can't be the bow tie because Bow Ties are cool. Maybe she just likes "reeling them in" and is playing hard to get.

-----

American Weekly June 26, 1953

Art by Bill Randall

Again, another example of interior story titles that don't match the cover. Clearly, this woman is out for number one and doesn't much care for helping anyone get ahead.

Perhaps Bill Randall has an affinity for bad dates, seeing as how he contributed to a book on the subject:

-----

American Weekly August 1956

Art by Charlie Dye

Remember guys, use condiments during your lunch date or else your wiener will end up black and crispy!

-----

American Weekly August 8, 1954

Art by Arthur Sarnoff

I'm less concerned about the impact of the ball on his head than on what might have been in his line of sight in order to produce that look of complete horror. I suspect he just had a "Crying Game" realization.

-----

American Weekly September 13, 1953

Art by ?

Hey wait! This is supposed to be about dud dates! They'll be none of that here! Oh Gross!  Well at least her tongue is the better than the 3-D in the movie. Ewww.... Thats it! I'm out of here!

Inspirational Illustrations: Monster Movies

 Nobody did exploitation or sensationalism quite like horror movie posters in the mid twentieth century. Even though most of these movies are bad, these posters are absolutely delightful.

New Year, New Look

Well, its been close to two years since I first put my site and this blog on the internet. Back then, I was trying to figure out my "artistic identity" and came up with this:

I was looking to follow a very Bahaus design to go for a clean, modern look that would could be seen as "professional". I wanted it to come across as simple and legible in contrast to my often eidetic art work.

Well know that I've had at least two years of "real world" experience, I think I have a slightly better idea of my artistic identity than I did while I was in school.

Looking back this logo has a lot of things that don't work. The whole "Erik with a K" bit. Sure its funny, and memorable and a real pet peeve of mine when even my close friends can't spell it right, but if a client  doesn't notice just one letter in my name, than we probably aren't meant for each other, especially given the amount of small details in my illustrations. Much think the "I'm from Michigan *points to hand*" bit, it works better when spoken rather than written. Making the K red and than adding "with a K" under it is just redundant.

Confining my first name to a box was another bad move, as it divides my name and disrupts legibility. Not that all capital letters really helps with clarity either. The small addition of "illustrator" feels very much like an afterthought.

So I've been tinkering with a few ideas and came up with this:

Upon a review of my portfolio I realized just how much humor is a part of my work and wanted to reflect that in my new logo. The font for my name is called "Thingamajig", which is probably best known as the font for the Fantastic Four logo, reflecting my comic book roots. Its a very bouncy font, which ties into my "obtuse" sense of humor and has a very "hand drawn" look to it, not unlike the bold brush strokes of my illustrations.

Beneath that is "Illustrator" is Futura, which is a modern, more professional, slightly retro font, representing the foundation in traditional artistry that supports my often goofy exterior.

I'd be very interesting it reading what you think of this change. Please let me know.

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 4: Skinny Santa

The epic conclusion! Thanks to Santa's CPAP machine, not only does he get plenty of rest, but he also manages to lose a lot of weight, and is more active and awake during his late night job. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night's sleep!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 3: Santa CPAP

Santa Claus receives the gift of a CPAP Machine to help his night time breathing and make sure he and the Mrs sleep soundly.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 2: Santa Snooze

Uh-Oh! It seems Santa's sleep problems have become a disruption on day-to-day operations at the North Pole.

Seeing Santa sleeping on the job is no stranger to illustration.

Heres a famous example by Norman Rockwell:

And here's a less famous depiction from James Williamson (image courtesy of Today's Inspiration)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 1: Santa Snores

Sleep Care provided me with an interesting challenge to cap off the end of 2011. My editor suggested a series of illustrations that would run weekly through the month of December chronicling Santa Claus overcoming his sleep disorders such as snoring and narcolepsy. I was fed this idea just before Thanksgiving, which also had a tie in illustration that would need to be done in record time. Then I was told these Christmas illustrations would be in full color.

Anyway, it was a close call, but I managed to finish them. I just wish that SleepCare had taken the same approach as the Salvation Army with their Christmas illustrations and asked me draw Christmas over the summer so I would have had more time, but what can you do? Heres hoping for an extra little stocking stuffer along with my next paycheck.

Anyway, here's part one:

I knew that somewhere along the line I'd have to do an illustration of distruptive snoring, so I had a file of reference photos ready. Problem was I didn't expect the party in question to be such a large iconic figure, so it took some tinkering with the composition to make sure Santa was identifiable. 

It appears Santa's holly jolly snoring has caused Mrs. Claus to break out the tarmac earmuffs.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4