Erik Johnson Illustrator

Super Bowl Sketches

2012-02-05T20:33:00.000-08:00

I thought "The Big Game" was an event, but then I got invited back for the much bigger Super Bowl Party, or rather my homemade cookies were invited back and I just got to tag along. Good Company and plenty of fresh faces, just what I like to see. Now if only they could sit still for longer.

On left; Becky, on the upper right; Jesse.

On the bottom; Ben's Beard.

Halftime turned up the heat on these studies.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Ben smile. I knew it was a moment that needed to be captured immediately, hence why the glasses and ears are incomplete. I imagined he was saying to himself, "I just want to keep smiling forever!" I just wish I could remember what commercial it was that caused him to break out in a case of The Grins.

A couple of more Mercedes.

Once Olivia stopped checking her phone every five seconds, she stayed remarkably still.

Last one of Becky

I know they didn't play this year, but I couldn't resist sticking in this nerdy clip about the Super Bowl:

Best Face Forward

2012-01-25T14:51:00.000-08:00

After designing a new logo for my new business cards I decided to make a new self portrait so that I could have some original art for the cards as well as I felt the previous portrait's full front angle wasn't working out.

So looking for new ideas but drawing myself in front of a mirror. I almost had forgotten how challenging and how rewarding it is to draw something directly from life rather than conform to the structure of a model in a photo.

Its also amusing to see how even drawing the same head, how it can look radically different from one to the next. Its funny how my first impression of my own face was very tall, chiseled and serious. With the hair part and face fuzz, I kinda look like Flynn Rider from Disney's "Tangled".

Later versions showed more squat cheeks as I tried to squeeze out a subtle smile.

Eventually I got this:

The Big Game

2012-01-03T18:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was invited by my neighbors to watch "The Big Game" (The Oakland Bowl to be exact) I don't know or care about football in the slightest but though it would be a good break from my routine for the start of the new year as well as an opportunity to skim free food and draw some people just sitting around. The crowd was antsy at first but when the game went into triple overtime, the physical enthusiasm started to wane.

Portraits. So many unique noses.

Betty Transfixed

Paul Relaxing, Dan Chanting

Katie Noir

Inspirational Illustrations: Dud Dates

2011-12-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-09T17:00:00.000-08:00

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!

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 3: Santa CPAP

2011-12-09T16:56:00.000-08:00

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

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 2: Santa Snooze

2011-12-09T16:53:00.000-08:00

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)

SleepCare Seasonal Serial Part 1: Santa Snores

2011-12-09T16:44:00.000-08:00

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.

Comic Cover Comparison: Four Plus Namor Equals Three!

2011-11-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

Today's covers and credits provided by Bully Says Comics Should Be Fun

Alright boys and girls! Today we've got a Thanksgiving Weekend Triple Feature for you that'll bigger than the Macy's Parade!

Fantastic Four Annual #1 (1963), art by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers

Fantastic Four King-Size Special #8 (December 1970), art by John Romita and John Verpoorten

Fantastic Four Special Edition #1 (May 1984), art by John Byrne

Annual #1 :

This cover is alright. The eye moves from the text box to Namor's silly-looking crown helmet, which guides us to the FF trapped in a hamster ball. All the elements are established clean and simple. Its a good composition, but it feels rather inert in the end.

King Size Special #8:

"King" is an appropriately titled step up. Space is used to a greater advantage to show the scale of Namor's conquest. This adds a new level of risk to the situation since its not just the FF in danger anymore. The text, while bigger is fewer and gets straight to the point. Namor is victorious, his armies marching through the city and humiliating our heroes by parading them around in these sci-fi shackles.

The problem I have with this cover is the prison they're in. Its shown at an odd angle and kinda looks like a mayonnaise jar rather than a restraining cell. Also, the FF's heads hide Namor's feet, making me think the artist is lazy and didn't want to draw them. Third, the text box; "The Longest Sub Mariner FF Super Epic Ever Published". While thats exciting, just seems a bit indulgent especially since that line blocks the establishing shot of the invading army!!!

Special Edition #1:

Of all the covers here, this is the most unique. The first two deal with a defeated FF. The action has already happened, and there's a desire to know how it happened. How are they going to escape captivity and save the city? Here Namor's forces are attacking NOW and the odds are overwhelming. Theres anticipation and the promise of action, especially with everyone striking a power pose. Expect for Sue, who merely gasps at the sight of the invasion, knowing that her boobies make her incapable of being useful in a fight. After all its not as if she could use one of her invisible forcefields to the slow down the invasion, or at the very least bring down those cruise missiles! The whole "What Can a Woman Do?" attitude of Sue Storm on this cover really loses points for me.

And the Winner is...

Despite my mad love of Kirby and Byrne, King Sized Special, is my pick for best of the bunch. It shows us the scale and scope of the story and well as suspense. It wets our appetites and builds anticipation to know what has happened in the story leading up to the cover, and what will happen after.

Tryptophan Thanksgiving

2011-11-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

SleepCare gave me quite the challenge with a series of holiday related illustrations just shy of two weeks before Thanksgiving. I cranked this one out quickly so that it could be on the site and have a least a weeks worth of relevance, and hopefully buy me some time to work on the Christmas illustrations.

I don't know why this woman is so thankful for Tryptophan. It this means is that she'll be the one doing all the dishes while everyone else is snoozing. I've been told that the man in the foreground bears a slight resemblance to myself. There might not have been so much similarity if not for the glasses, which I only added because of a Robert McGinnis painting that stuck in my mind while I was searching through my inspirational swipe files for people asleep in chairs.

Have a great Thanksgiving and if you can, use the time off to catch up on some sleep.

Comic Cover Comparison: This dime store spinner rack ain't big enough for the two of us!

2011-11-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Today's Covers are politely provided by "Bully Says: Comics Should Be Fun!"

Rawhide Kid #52 (January 1982) art by Larry Lieber

vs.

Mighty Marvel Western #8 (May 1970) art by Herb Trimpe

Last Week I talked about how crowded the "Uncanny" cover was because of the banner ad. Here both of these issues suffer from the same sin of overuse of crowding text boxes to generate exposition and excitement.

Its pretty evident the Larry Lieber knew he had to make room for the logo and such for Rawhide, but the text on the cover for Mighty Marvel really hampers the threat. The box on the right hand side in particular obscuring the fact that kid is on the edge of a cliff, something I didn't notice until a second glance. Though, that may have been because the supposedly distant ground looks like its on a hinged wall moving towards the viewer like that that city in "Inception".

Lets look at the actual fights in both covers. Rawhide has a fairly standard brawl with some anonymous goons. Kid's pose is pretty stiff and his face hardly registers an emotion. The mood of the fight seems rather care free. He may be restraint but he doesn't appear to be at risk, easily knocking out an opponent in one punch. The whole fight is seen from a distance. I feel like this is inspired by a fight you might see on a TV Western in the day, were you see all the action and the square jaw clean shaven hero is never in any real danger.

Plus there's that guy off to the side holding onto his hat. What with the way he's cowering away with his hands on his head and can't help but think hes an ancestor of that guy who runs away from the car that Superman crashes on the cover of Action Comics #1. The fact that you can't see his face certainly aids my imagination in this regard.

A Legacy of Cowardice!

The room shows evidence of a struggle even if the characters themselves don't seem much worse for ware. This leads me to wonder what had happened to start this brawl and how long it had been going on. Plus the first thing the eye goes to on this cover is the highest thing on the left hand side, which is that girl with the rifle. Who is she, and just how much ass is she about to kick? Those questions that are churning in my head that would get me to pick up this book. Plus she's wearing a really tight shirt. Call me shallow, but some days thats all it takes.

The showdown on Mighty Marvel has a potential fall, the angle is from overhead emphasizing hopelessness with a crowd of gunslingers from all sides. Dangerous types like Patch Goatee and Mustache McCormick. All evil people have facial hair, its a well known fact.

Its a tense set up with Kid almost out of ammo. His pose here is much better, turning around lightning fast with gritted teeth to attack his enemies and losing his hat in the process. The "Murderous Rustlers" also display some dynamic dodging. Unfortunately, both parties appear to have been taught how to aim at the Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy because neither of them can hit the broad side of a barn, so the fight doesn't come off as exciting as it probably should be.

So yeah, both coves have strengths and weakness, but which one is the best? While Mighty Marvel arguably has more at risk because its a gunfight in close quarters, the risk is defused when you see bullets firing, but no one getting hit. For my money, I'd go with Rawhide. This fight shows enemies being hit, Kid being attacked from three different sides and his opponents continue coming no matter how many knockouts he may delivers. Bonus points for mystery girl with the gun. Bottom line, Rawhide just feels more exciting and has more going on.

Winner: Rawhide Kid #52!

Comic Cover Comparison: A Cover that tells a story

2011-11-13T18:00:00.000-08:00

Today's Covers are cordially contributed by "Bully Says: Comics Should Be Fun!"

Uncanny X-Men #153 (January 1982)

art by Dave Cockrum and Joe Rubenstein

vs.

Classic X-Men #57 (March 1991)
art by Mike Mignola and P. Craig Russell

First, a little background history as the story featured in these two comics is something of a popular story, in which Kitty tells young Illyana a bedtime story using characters and events from the X-Verse to inspire her own fantasy fan fiction. The story was loosely adapted to the X-Men Animated Series Episode "Jubilee's Fairy Tale Theater" and the notion of regular characters being cast into storybook kingdom type characters is so prevalent that it earned has its own TV Tropes entry. The story itself doesn't take it self very serious and functions as a break from the more serious status quo of the series.

While I think the Uncanny cover looks goofy, there is no mistaking its content. Kitty has popcorn and cola raised, comfortably leaning up against a wall with presents a poster showcasing us some swinging swashbuckling action with a big strapping hero and his lovely action girl sidekick. Villainous villainess heads float forebodingly above our heroes and the city, which presumably represents all civilization as we know it. Off to the side we have cartoonish comic relief versions of our otherwise darker and more hideous characters like Wolverine and Nightcrawler. Kitty's comment that this will be completely different is wholly accurate.

It reminds me a lot of Drew Struzan's comedy posters for something like Adventures in Babysitting were you have action in the foreground and funny background characters and events to lighten the mood.

This is a fairly good cover but its hampered by the big "Win a Ten Speed" ad that squashes the book's logo into the rest of the cover, contributing a claustrophobic constraint to an already crowded composition.

By contrast we have the Classic cover, which has plenty of room to work, and doesn't do much with it. This reminds me more of a lobby sheet I'd see at the movie theaters today with a bunch of disconnected levitating torsos.

Storm (or is it Jean?) appears to be squinting into the horizon and looks disinterested. The screaming skull looks off the side and is apparently watching something far more interesting. Story-Kitty is seen in a distinctly non-action pose, with long curly draping a bare shoulder while she looks down with closed "sad eyes" like some sort of stupid romance novel cover. Wolverine looks angry as per his element, but personally I think hes just ticked because his legs are invisible. There is nothing of substance, the characters are just abstract ideas against a blank background, with out any indication of story or context.

The Kitty in front of this poster is even worse. While I have no idea where Kitty in Uncanny is supposed to be in terms of setting, her pose and face at least tell me that this will be a "fun" story. Classic Kitty is posed like some sort of magazine model and is facing away from the elements of the story that she will be telling in this issue! Between Kitty, Storm and Skull it feels like even the character in this comic don't want to look at this cover because they are all looking away, drawing your attention to the far left rather than guide the reader to the right. The blacks in Kitty's hair and uniform run together in a sudden and inexplicable use of graphic design. Her bright eyes are now tiny dots and her mouth is an expression that I don't think even has a name. Honestly it looks the kind of face I would make on school picture day during that "I hate the world" phase of my teen years.

Ugh. I may love Mignola and Russell, but I despise this cover.

WINNER: Uncanny X-Men !

Sunday Sketches

2011-11-13T13:18:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I started work on a new illustration for SleepCare involving people sitting at a dinner table and I spent most of the weekend sketching how make a sitting scene look dynamic, or at the very least... interesting.

So when I was asked by some friends if I wanted to have lunch with them at the mall food court this afternoon, I just couldn't help but observe how people sat casually in chairs and just how different it was from the reference photos I was looking at over the weekend were people were posed in chairs.

Gesture drawings are something I've kind of slumped on the past year now that I'm out of school so spontaneous sketches like these taken from outside the home, especially fast and with a pen felt like a breath of fresh air and quite a rewarding experience. I wondered why I didn't do this more often, and then I had to get gas for my car and one glimpse of those prices reminded me why I don't get out much.

Self Portrait

2011-11-13T12:57:00.000-08:00

I drew a new self portrait to replace the old photo I used to use which didn't feature my face fuzz. Also, I've been making a lot of changes to my web site recently and wanted to have my picture be on the first page. Lacking any quality photos, I drew myself at my best. I don't smile that often, so I had my webcam take pictures of me while I was watching cartoons on YouTube. Even when cracking up, my mouth really doesn't open that wide, and my teeth seem to serve as sentry, guarding my tongue and tonsils from any outside influence.

Comic Cover Comparison: Two-In-One Thing (Twice!)

2011-11-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today's Covers (provided by http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/ )

Marvel Two-in-One #50 (April 1979), art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott

Adventures of the Thing #1 (April 1992), art by Sam Kieth

Two-in-One Thing (Ugh *shudder* That sounds so dirty. Its right up there with "Giant Size Man-Thing") Anyway, Two in One is my personal fav here. The object that Thing #1 is carrying in this cover draws your eye straight from the logo and directly into the action. We get a sense that what he is carrying has shape and weight and could hurt if he hurled at his opponent, which is himself! DUN-DUN-DUH! Both their poses are dynamic, with the arms stretched out in front of them and, giving us depth and energy for what could very well be The Sparring Match of the Century.

Adventure Thing just looks like he's ticked that someone's watching him while he's trying to take a dump.

Though I do admit I like the pun tagline of Adventure Thing with "If its not one thing... Its another!", and suggests a more comedic tone than the story itself actually delivers.

Comic Cover Comparison: The Lad Who Wrecked the Legion!

2011-10-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to a new segment I call "Comic Cover Comparison". I call it that because I'm all about added alliterative appeal, but thought that calling it "Comic Book Cover Covers" (as in music covers) might have been too confusing.

Comic book covers are primarily used to pull the potential reader into the book, often using shock, surprise, suspense, surrealism, or often blatant lies. Many classic covers have emerged over the years, as have many classic stories that can be told and retold to new generations. But can lightning strike twice? With these posts, I'll be looking at comic book covers that re-tell a story from a previous issue, analyze both and determine which does the best job of telling its story and grabbing the reader.

Covers and credits are graciously provided by http://bullyscomics.blogspot.com/

Today's Covers:

Adventure Comics #328 (January 1965), art by Curt Swan and George Klein

Legion of Super-Heroes #1 (February 1973), art by Nick Cardy

In the Adventure cover my eye goes directly for Superboy, who stands in an alright pose, but the cover for Legion is awesome! The composition is from a dynamic angle, Mon-El's hurtled body catapults the eye to his speech balloon that narrows down the story to its simplest. Superboy's gone Mad! That gets us excited. There's greater damage to the structure and we see other Legionaires flee in terror. I would definitely read "Legion" if I saw it over "Adventure".

My only problem with both is Ultra Boy's legs sticking out of a hole there. It looks like he just got drunk and fell into a crater. At least show us something to suggest he fell over heroicly, you can't really do that with just legs.

Who's on your bookshelf?

2011-10-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

I remember during my freshmen year of college I always got asked that irritating question thats become so ingrained with hipster culture: Who is on your iPod/ mp3 player/ CD Player?

Its a question that never made much sense to me being at art school, were you'd think people would be more inclined to ask what kind of visual artists influence you, or at the very least ask you what your major is or what you like to draw and with what tools. But, no.

Another college memory was of my friend Chema, who frequently spoke about wanting to have a library of her own, to just sit in a room surrounded by books. I don't know about you, but that just sounds awesome!

After bringing home some treasures from yesterday's Library Book Sale, I thought I would show off what I've got and maybe give you just a little bit of a hint of what I like and what inspires me.

Here's a shot of my main bookshelf. Its about six feet tall. I have plenty of other books that I keep on a smaller shelves closer to my bed and my chair, but these are the heavy hitters that I use the most frequently in my art.

Starting from the top left: The first four volumes of Bone, a collection of Mutts comics and the Complete Calvin and Hobbes collection. All paperback collections of the strip plus the Lazy Sunday Book, Tenth Anniversary Book and the Sunday Page exhibit book with the original pencil sketches, that one was quite the find!

Watchmen and Norman Rockwell's autobiography are a bit out of place on this particular shelf, but because I have so many books I have them organized by height and weight. More comics with five volumes of Zits plus the old Superman newspaper comic strips.

Mixed bag at the end with some books about the behind the scenes aspects of art and illustration and a handful of children's books that have beautiful illustrations.

Mythological Creatures. Every bookshelf needs at least one field guide.

On the far left you'll see my copy of the MST3K Colossal Episode Guide in order to help keep my snarky comebacks fresh.

Then theres my collection of comics trade paperbacks. Its a mix of material I've bought online and stuff I've dug up at used bookstores. All good finds as far as I'm concerned.

At the end: James Gurney's Dinotopia series. I actually met him at a museum tour back in high school were I told him I was interested in becoming an artist. He signed the inside cover with a note "To Erik, Fellow Artist" and then drew a little Stegosaurus (my favorite dinosaur!) He came to my college as part of another tour four years later were I was able to show him the autographed book and thank him for his encouragement.

A couple of more illustrated children's books, Ian Thorne's Crestwood House Monster Series. I kid you not, I found these books at Library Book Sale just a day after James Rolfe posted his retrospective on the series. Talk about timing. Also, the Pultizer winning Maus graphic novel.

A couple of other odds and ends. The Making of a Charlie Brown Christmas, a number of other illustrated books, including Howard Pyle's King Arthur and a collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories illustrated by Harry Clarke. Looking back I can't help but wonder if my interest in horror and detective stories as well as my preference for lots of heavy black lines in my art might have been due to subconscious influence that both Poe and I share the name "E. Allan". Hm...

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Little Whistle as it was a gift from the artist himself, Tim Bowers. Its the timeless tale of a guinea pig wearing a peacoat in a toy store.

Here we have several books on figure drawing...

Gradually shifting into books on drawing comics.

And this section is the "Art of" books. Illustrators on display include such giants as Alex Ross, Jeffery Jones, Everett Kinstler, Frank Frazetta, Franklin Booth, Drew Struzan, Edgar Degas, Norman Rockwell and an considerable wealth of vintage children's book illustrators.

My Will Eisner Shrine

My collection of Marvel Essentials. These were how I first got into comics, and I would highly recommend them to any interested in getting into comics now, especially to young readers. Each volume reprints about twenty issues of its series in chronological order, so you get the see how these classic characters got their starts and how they developed over time. While I bought these books secondhand, they were in decent shape to begin with but reading and re-reading the Fantastic Four books contributed to their worn appearance, and regardless I still get them out every once and a while because a lot of the stories still hold up.

What I don't get though, is why the X-Men volume's spine is printed the opposite way of the other books. The only way to read the title is if I store the book upside down. Weird.

My collection of Communication Arts Illustration Annuals. Generously given to me by Dan of Clear River Communications.

Couple other odds and ends. Burne Hogarth's Dynamic Anatomy, Dennis the Menace: Hank Ketcham's First Forty Years, Star Trek Sketchbook: The Art of the Original Series, now that was quite a find.

Animation Art, which was used as a text in my comics and cartoons history class in college. Then more comics: The Far Side and Foxtrot.

Various Volumes

A couple oversized hardcover "How To" drawing books, Fairburn System's Visual Reference Books, my oversized Comics History textbook and three volumes from the Directory of Illustration.

Can't Sleep

2011-10-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

Not much to this one. The guy drinks too many energy drinks, gets the shakes and can't sleep. He can't figure out why, while his wife wonders just how big of an idiot he is.

Angel Tree Online

2011-10-10T14:12:00.000-07:00

Well, talk about timing. No sooner to I mention the Angel Tree Illustrations, but I get a message letting me know they are now online.

Check it out! Click the screenshot for the link and navigate to "Host an Angel Tree".

Hover the mouse over each step to see the awesome addition of color. Its especially impressive for me since that one splash of color on a pen and ink drawing is exactly how the vintage magazine artists I look up to were originally published.

At the risk of sounding cliche, its almost as if Christmas has come early.

http://www.woodtv.com/subindex/community/angel_tree

Amy

2011-10-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

In my last entry I said I was thankful to finally have back to back projects. Well, the projects just keep coming so I don't have much time in between to post so I thought I'd show you a preview of one of my more recent projects.

This is part of a series of portraits I'm doing for the Salvation Army, sort of a follow up to my Angel Tree Illustrations. Hopefully I'll be uploading so more sometime soon.

Well, I'd better get back to work.

Music to Draw By!

Egyptian Exhibit

2011-10-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

During the doldrums of the "waiting for phone or e-mail reply" stage of freelance illustration, I drove down the local museum's new exhibit on Egyptian artifacts, or rather replica's of Egyptian artifacts from King Tut's tomb.

Operating Room

2011-09-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

First the Straw Farmer, now this? It was surprising for me since I rarely get two different projects finished in under a week, though thats because I rarely have more than one project to work on at a time, but lately I've had a bunch of work heading my way. Thank God, its about time!

Anyway, I'm back to drawing illustrations for SleepCare. After the Sleepwalking Zombie and Dr Jekyll and Mr High, I decided I wanted to back off from the horror themed, because I felt the concept were starting to conceal what they were trying to convey, both were very crowded compositions, and I could tell that my editor was hesitant with such ideas. While I understand his reluctance to go fourth with my parody of "Alien" idea ("Apnea", starring Sigourney Weezer) , I still protest that my idea of a vampire in his coffin scurrying away from shafts of light coming through a broken window would have been an absolutely perfect accompaniment to an article about the dangers of light in the bedroom when you're trying to sleep. Ah well.

So this is my attempt at getting back to basics, well as basic as I can get, since I seem to have once again gone overboard on excess details. Originally there was going to be an X-Ray machine in the on the left hand side, but I thought made the room look too cluttered and distracted from the snoozing surgeon and the perplexed patient.

The idea isn't too complex. Sleep Care says twelve hours hospital shifts are a bad idea, and the caption sums it up easily. Not much of punchline, but then again my editors typically long for something short and sweet, so there you have it.

Straw Farmer

2011-09-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

My latest entry for Dow Goarden's card contest (much like last year's Waterfall and Piggy)

This card depicts a sculpture made of straw of a farmer raking straw.

Sneak Peek

2011-08-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Return of Crown Jewel: The Empress of Awesome!

I've made quite a few changes to the appearance of her costume, and its colors since the last time I posted her here.

I think I've finally come up with a design were I find myself satisfied. Its definitely a more "balanced" composition than last time. Keep watch for some dynamic action poses to come!

Mural Ready for Monday

2011-08-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Well in addition to making touch ups on the spot illustrations for the Salvation Army project, I also went into school for one last round of touch ups on the mural before classes start up on Monday. Its taken about three weeks and approximately fifty hours worth of work. Most of that work was in layering. It took at least three or four coats of paint before it finally started to cover the foam background.

Here are some shots to give you an idea of the progress.

And here, at long last, is the final project installed in the classroom corner reading area.

And heres some pictures of me standing next to it for scale.

All and all, I'm satisfied with the results.

Heres a look back at how the whole thing started.

Angel Tree

2011-08-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Christmas came early for me when I was asked to provide spot illustrations for the Salvation Army's new Angel Tree Project website. The images will coincide with instructional text telling people what to do to get involved with the program. I'll be sure and add the link when the site does go live.

It was a bit of a challenge for me, working into something that was already some and was then going to be reduced in size. So for inspiration I ended up looking at artists known for their line economy such as Hank Ketchum, Al Hirschfield and Earl Oliver Hurst.

Admirable Artists: Lawrence Alma-Tadema

2011-08-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

My sincerest apologies for the lack of posting last week. Between mural painting, preparations for teaching my new class, keeping my figure drawing and my actual figure in shape in addition to trying to find a steady, regularly paying job, I've been a bit busy and haven't had as much time to devote to these posts as I'd like.

So sadly, I don't have any background info or color commentary prepared, but thought I'd post something to tide you all over until I can be a bit more committed to the cause.

Enjoy!

Mural Progress

2011-08-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

After catching up on the sleep I lost finishing Kayla's dance card, I was able to commit most of my Saturday to painting the American History Mural that I mentioned previously.

My dad was also around to take some pictures of my progress and give a sense of scale to this project.

Dance Card

2011-08-03T13:39:00.000-07:00

This is a card I drew for my friend Kayla, for her going away party. She is leaving Michigan to attend college in Washington, quite a distance. Kayla is a graceful and highly coordinated dancer, so playing on the idea of Dance seemed like a good direction to pursue.

I had heard mention the day prior to the party that someone was going to go out and buy a card, so I opened my big mouth and said I could draw one. So, much like my Father's Day card, I had to work feverishly to get it completed in a matter of hours to at least be presentable.

Also like my Father's Day card, I haven't gotten over this streaming stars pattern. Maybe its a sign I have a potential career working with Paramount Pictures.

Given how I frequently post illustrations related to a weekly theme, I thought I'd take some time, to share some of the images that helped inspire this particular illustration of my own.

Edwin Blashfield

Franklin Booth

Cesar Phillip Allegoria

Frank Frazetta

Alphonse Mucha

I'll have a colored version up sometime when I haven't been up all night.

Cutting Room Comic

2011-07-31T12:05:00.000-07:00

I LOVE comics like no other art form, so I was pleased as punch when I was offered the opportunity to do a guest strip for the web comic "The Cutting Room". This could be a step in the right direction to starting my own web comic material, we'll just have to wait and see.

Also, special thanks to Alejandro Acevedo for these colors, which actually make my work look halfway decent. hahaha.

Enjoy these jokes about netspeak.

Inspirational Illustrations: Under the Umbrella

2011-07-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Lately we've had our share of on and off showers. Its the resulting humidity thats been unbearable.

Coles Phillips

Ren Wicks

Okay, she's not under an umbrella, but she in underwear and theres an umbrella, so yeah...

Bartlett Kobe

Gil Evlgren

Charles Twelevetrees

Incidentally, how is it that someone with such a memorable name has been off my radar until now?

George Petty

It just amuses me the way Petty painstakingly paints these gorgeous figures, and yet he will leave accessory items, such as her boots as mere outlines. Something about the unfinished nature of the piece strikes me as funny.

Gil Elvgren

The transparent raincoat is one thing, but were does someone get transparent high heeled boots?

1956 Morton Salt Logo

Coby Whitmore

Morgan Kane

Yet another poster for "Splash" for this blog.

Coby Whitmore

Robert McGinnis

More of a parasol than a umbrella, but whatcha gonna do?

Jack Klay

Tim Sale

JC Leyendecker

Xavier Ramonède

Tim Sale

Next Week: Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Manifest Destiny

2011-07-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

Heres a glimpse at my latest project, which could take a substantial amount of time. Midland Christian School was pleased with the painting I did for their Santa Parade Float that I was asked to paint a mural for their sixth grade classroom depicting great moments in American history.

Depicting so many famous moments, people and conflicts proved to be incredibly complicated and would be just shy of impossible to finish by the time school was ready to start in the fall, so I simplified the idea, focusing on transportation and expansion. Starting with the arrival of settlers, traveling westward by wagon, blasting through mountain to forge the railroads, before we slip into the twentieth century with the building of skyscrapers and a copper Lady Liberty waits to welcome a new generation of settlers while we find new means of expansion in the automobile, airplane and finally the space shuttle.

The plan is for the mural to go in a corner, hence the dividing line between mountains and city, with the stars and stripes of the American flag connecting the two halves.

The final project will be an estimated 8 x 16 feet in size.

Be sure and check out my previous murals here.

Inspirational Illustrations: Witchy Woman

2011-07-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

He married a witch and she married Mr. Hyde. Sounds like a decent match to me.

Yoshitaka Amano

Luis Richardo Falero

Dave Stevens

George Petty

Penot Sabbat

Dave Dunstan

Adam Hughes

Albert Dorne

Thats a witch by the juke box, it counts!

Alex Ross

Charles Addams

Luis Richardo Falero

Dorothy Lathrop

Gil Elvgren

Francis Xaiver Leyendecker

Frank Frazetta

H.J. Ford

Ida Ouhtwaite

Ida Outhwaite

Joe Grant

Kunz Meyer

Lawrence Stevens

Luis Richardo Falero

O' Malley

Ren Wicks

Robert Robinson

Chris Sanders

Witch Broompools are the worst!

W.E. Hill

Will Pogany

Frank Frazetta

Lynne Naylor

Joseph Christian Leyendecker

William Stout

Bernie Wrightson

Next Week: Under the Umbrella

The Caffeinated Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. High

2011-07-19T07:16:00.000-07:00

My latest project for sleepcare.com. This comic depicts a man drinking a caffeinated nightcap and unable to sleep (my editor wanted me to be sure I depicted the sleeper suffering severely) But while he is tossing and turning, he gradually transforms into the beastly "Mr. High", only to wake up groggy and disheveled, wondering if it was all just a dream.

Inspirational Illustrations: Secret Skulls

2011-07-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Skull? SKULL? You mean like... that thing in my head? Skull... Skull... SKULL! No! This can't be a secret any longer! The people must know! Skull! Skull! Skull! SKULLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom Whalen's Poster for "The Shining"

Salvador Dali

Salvador Dali's "Skull" famously homaged in the poster for "The Descent"

and also used in the poster for "Silence of the Lambs"

Owen Smith

Salvador Dali, again

Ivan Orosz

Another Skull by Dali

Tom French

Octivo Ocampo

George Rozen

John Everett Millais' "Ophelia"

A hidden skull certainly wouldn't be out of place for a painting of Hamlet's suicidal sweetie.

Many have claimed to see one on the far right of the horizon line. Heres a detailed close up:

Walter Baumhofer

John Drew

Next week continues our theme of macabre illustrations with "Witchy Woman".

Inspirational Illustrations: Frankenstein's Monster

2011-07-09T06:23:00.000-07:00

IT'S ALIVE!!!

Adam Rex

James Bama

Frank Cho

Gerald Brom

Clint Langley

Drew Struzan

Andy Kuhn

Frank Frazetta

Looking at a close up, Frazetta's Frankenstein monster looks more like the creature from

"The Creature Walks Among Us".

Bernie Wrightson

Bryan Baugh

Pete Hawley

Jeffery Catherine Jones

John Lucas

Jack Davis

Matthew Armstrong

Mike Mignola

Kevin Nowlan

Al Parker

Well at least this girl has better taste in monster men

than some other people I could mention

Rowland Wilson

Stephen Bissette

Bruce Timm

Tony Masero

Bernie Wrightson

Next Week: Secret Skulls

Sorry that we'll be having two rather Gothic themes in a week, I'm still working on building up some more diverse illustration collections. If anyone has anything they'd like to share, feel free to post a link.

Also, I can't be sure, but this may be the first post I've done without any JC Leyendecker Paintings. Wow.

Patriotic Painter: J.C. Leyendecker

2011-07-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans!

J.C. Leyendecker's work for advertising and magazines was produced smack in the middle of both world wars, which is why I think we can see a spike in patriotism in his work and many others of the period.

God Bless America.

Next Week:

Inspirational Illustrations: Frankenstein's Monster

Inspirational Illustrations: Beach Bums and Bathing Beauties

2011-06-24T21:05:00.000-07:00

Out of the Egyptian desert and onto the sandy shores! Heres to having some fun in the sun!

Arthur Sarnoff

Ben Stahl

Joe Bowler

Chiroy

Peter DeSeve

Kurt Ard

Edwin Georgi

Howard Chandler Christy

Haddon Sundblom

Henry Borgman

Jaques Demachy

Joe DeMers

Joe Bowler

J.C. Leyendecker

Lynn Buckham

Mal Murley

Joe Bowler

Pete Hawley

A Little Something for the Ladies...

Arthur Sarnoff

Duane Bryers

J.C. Leyendecker

Tom Lovell

Jim Schaeffing

Massimo Carnevale

Howard Chandler Christy

Marc Brunet

Gregory Manchess

Chris Sanders

Next Saturday:

Patriotic Painter: J.C. Leyendecker's America

Admirable Artists: Dean Cornwell

2011-06-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

D.R. Hovey was kind enough to point out that I neglected to include any Dean Cornwell's artwork in my "Pesky Pirates" post. Such an abscene was simply inexcusable on my part, so I'm going to attempt to rectify that with this post.

The Red Shawl

Limb Envy

Marco...

It is my regret that do to my pressed schedule and the quality I want to go into these posts and the time that such a goal requires that I will no longer be posting my "Admirable Artist" features on Wednesdays for the foreseeable future. I will continue to post on Saturdays and will mix in artist tribute entries in with my "Inspirational Illustrations" features when I can.

Thank you for your understanding and support and I hope that you will all return again on Saturday were our theme will be:

Beach Bums and Bathing Beauties

Father's Day

2011-06-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

A bit of a belated posted but this was kind of a rushed job. In the past I've drawn homemade cards for birthdays and other such occasions that I've posted previously. The tricky part is the amount of care and detail that I want to put into these as far as being personalized for the receiver as well as needing to be done on time. Case in point, this is an idea that popped into my head late Thursday night, and with Father's Day on Sunday, I did pretty much nothing else but work on this card so that it would be ready.

So here is a scene from my childhood with my Dad reading a bedtime story to me and my brother and his words cause the moon and star pattern on the bedsheets to rise up and morph into a knight charging at a dragon.

If I had more time I would have liked to have shown the gradual transformation from moon to dragon and star to knight, but what can you do?

My Dad liked the card but remarked that he had hair at this time, which I certainly don't remember. hahah.

Inspirational Illustrations: Queen of the Nile

2011-06-17T19:28:00.000-07:00

This image of J.C. Leyendecker's "Anthony and Cleopatra" has been one the most popular on my tumblr account, having been reblogged well over one hundred times since posting, so heres to giving the people more of what they want, or at least one half of the couple they liked.

Lawrence Alma Tadema

Hans Makart

Benczur Gyula

Alexandre Cabanel

Jean Leon Gerome

Diane Coomans

J.C. Leyendecker

Boris Vallejo

Enoch Bolles

Adam Hughes

Lawrence Alma Tadema

Francis Dicksee

Frank Frazetta

Frederick Arthur Bridgman

John Colier

John Singer Sargent

John William Waterhouse

Ove Carl Vilhem Svenson

Rolf Armstrong

Reginald Arthur

Enoch Bolles

Harrison Fisher

Adam Hughes

Sanjulian

1925 Palmolive Soap Ad,

Artist Unknown

Steve Rude

Phil Noto

Tom Lovell

Howard David Johnson

Baumgartner

Next Week:

Wednesday: Dean Cornwell

Saturday: Beach Bums and Bathing Beauties

Admirable Artists: Stevan Dohanos

2011-06-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

I came across Mr. Dohanos' work while looking for Norman Rockwell Saturday Evening Post covers. The Post has had many amazing covers over the years but few are as well known as Rockwell's so I thought I'd share some select pieces of this artist who deserves to be better recognized.

I wonder if this guy is a friend of Hilda

Hm. I wonder if Mr. Dehanos ever lived in Michigan...

Am I the only one disturbed by the position of the man in the billboard?

No honey I can't do these dishes, I'm... I'm going to use them in my latest painting, Yeah, that's right.

Dishes Again?

Midnight Snack

Next Week:

Saturday: Queen of the Nile

Wednesday: Dean Cornwell

Crown Jewel: Empress of Awesome!

2011-06-11T13:52:00.000-07:00

Wanted a chance to pipe up in between my posts celebrating professional and historical illustrations, to talk briefly about a project of my own I've been scratching across three sketchbooks over the past two and a half months. You see I love comics in all forms and ever since graduation over a year ago I have been trying to come up with my own ideas and characters in hopes of creating sample pages to showcase at conventions and wherever else I can.

I'm not well known for my confidence in my own work, so I thought I'd implusively spring for talking about some of my ideas on perhaps my readers (now in the double digits!) would be kind enough to share their thoughts.

This is my first drawing of "Crown Jewel", a comic book superheroine I've been developing since around April. This is a rather simple design conveying her royal and bejeweled theme with a simple tiara, crown shaped breastplate and belt buckle along with a diamond shaped skirt with large studded gems which could open to reveal weapons or tools like her Scepter Deflector.

But alas, I could never stay satisfied with something so simple, wanting to give her a more distinct look.

This version replaced the breastplate with a large glowing jewel over her heart and several smaller gems leading down to her belt which formed a "CJ" kind of shape.

Her breastplate and boots became more ornate and complex.

Most pages were cluttered like this, I've just been giving you the highlights thus far.

This is were my peristance pays off, as the upper right corner reveals, I developed a shape that looked like a series of three pointed crowns interlocking around the letters "C" and "J" with an octagonal gem in the center. This would be a permanent fixture in every design afterward.

I also experimented with giving her a mask to break the silhouette as well as make her a bit unique as very few heroines wear masks. Least their faces no longer be pretty or something like that.

I thought I had all the pieces together when I did this page, only to step back and saw an odd juxapostion of a doe eyed face with the broad body of a female wrestler, to say nothing a very complicated set of boot buckles. I decided some action poses would help loosen thing up and give Jewel some more life.

I continued to experiment with torso designs before moving on to her eponymous crown.

Here I hit about the idea of abandoning the skirt for two colored bars on either side of her hips with a elongated chestpiece and loincloth, so as to form a crown shape across her body and to allow for negative space through darker colors.

I also briefly replaced her hair with crackling energy.

I refined the design, adding golden shoulder pads to make her look stronger and more balanced. This design helped to guide the eye down, but had the unfortunate side effect of splitting textures on her breasts, which made her torso look angry.

Further refinement with a new breastplate

New breastplate fits firmly, with jewels on over her heart and both shoulders. Darker areas crackle with shimmering sparks of energy just beneath her skin like a living engine. Her crown and face are now one in the same.

Finally, Color! Lots of gold, particularly around the torso, she turned out to be brighter than I imagined, and combined with the flaming red hair I think she resembles Frankie Raye from the Fantastic Four a bit too much I think and fully golden breastplate reduces the amount of purple lines to guide the eye down to the rest of the figure, so there may still be some more tweaking to do yet.

Distant Friends

2011-06-11T11:00:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I thought of composing a series of illustrations based on the humorous ancedotes from my college years and the people I knew there. Wanting to keep the memories of such unique people still fresh in my head, even a year after I had last seen any of them, I used photos taken my myself and ones exchanged on Facebook to recall the look of the shapes, walks and smiles of those I was privileged to know and call my friends. The project itself was rather nebulous and grew rather taxing, so I let it lie.

I drew many pages, but these are the few which I considered most sparing of any embarrassment.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2011-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

This was a project I started back around March when I read that director Tim Burton had signed on for a remake of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" with Josh Brolin. I remember shaking my head at this notion, having been enamored with Burton's film during my adolescent years, but ever since the New Mileniumm (with the exception of "Big Fish") feeling he had become something of a "cover artist", only working in remakes or projects had been tread upon many times over by previous artists, and the style he lent to these project had begun to feel familiar and homogenous.

I'm not going to say that I think he has sold out or is past his prime, because while reflecting on his work I devised these sketches and ideas, and any artist who can continue to inspire is still a good artist in my work.

Given Burton's favor towards adapting literature in the past decade as well as his love for outsider protaganists I wondered why he hadn't set to directing a new version of "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".

Here Dr. Jekyll is broad, boorish, bloated, and balding. Self obsessed with tiny squinted eyes and displaying his high status and wealth through tailored clothes and a very tall hat. Caring little for his suffering patients, spending more time developing his splitting formula that he will be beyond the limitations and morals of mere men. Unexpectedly, the formula removes Jekyll's oafish exterior leaving him a thin skeletal whisk of a man with a long face, a sharp pointed nose and flowing black hair. This new man, Hyde is nothing of the sort his name suggests. He is liberated and spry, often prone to bird like energy and Gene Kelly style acrobatics and spontaneous dance but most importantly he nows possesses love and compassion for his fellow man, bounding from Jekyll's claustrophobic study into the wider world, bringing life and hope to the drunkards, urchins and lowlifes he finds, even discovering romance with a soot coated street girl. But Hyde's stirring up the riffraff causes trouble and a simple accidental he unintentionally causes leads to his pursuit by the police plus the publications and propaganda printed by his rich and influential alter ego (the story we have today) brands Hyde as a monster for the slaughter. Hyde runs until he can run no more. His final words being "Goodbye... Good", before being condemned to life as Jekyll forever. Or is it?

Inspirational Illustrations: Artist at the Canvas

2011-06-11T06:48:00.000-07:00

Theres an old saying, "Write what you know." It applies to a lot of creative fields as well. Its not at all uncommon to read a book about an author struggling with ideas or a movie about director or actor struggling through the Hollywood system. Artists of all types reflect on their own process and action taken to produce their medium, and illustration is no exception.

Duane Bryers

Harry Anderson

Albert Dorne

Ernest Chiriaka

Dean Cornwell

J.C. Leyendecker

(and just as a brief aside, what cruel parent gives their child the name "Eugene Manlove"?)

Edouard Dantan

Gil Evlgren

Jack Cole

John Singer Sargent

Dick Seigel

Lynn Buckham

Frank Cho

Coles Phillips

Renato Fratini

Norman Rockwell

J. Frederick Smith

Tom Lovell

William James Aylward

Al Buell

Next Week:

Wednesday: Stevan Dehanos

Saturday: The Queen of the Nile

Admirable Artists: Frank Frazetta

2011-06-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Growing up in a small town, the library was practically my second home to me and that didn't change in the slightest when I moved to Ohio and discovered the prestigious Columbus Metropolitan Library, were I moved into a small apartment less than a block away from the main branch building so that I go over there at the drop of a hat and indulge in its vast collection of books on art, entertainment and the humanities. Every week for the next four years I was able to discover something new and exciting, which sadly was not the case in my hometown were all the books related to the arts stayed tightly packed in a dark corner of which I was their only regular visitor. So a lot of the time I would often check out the same book multiple times, often returning it for the sake of getting the thrill of placing its pages within my fingertips once again. One such book was Infinite Worlds, a predecessor of the "Spectrum" books collecting of science fiction and fantasy artwork and artist biographies.

The point of that exceptionally long introductory story was to get around to how I first discovered Frank Frazetta's artwork reprinted in that book. This was the first painting his that I saw. Titled "The Moon Maid", it was printed on the preface page. I'm going to show uncharacteristic word economy and leave it up to your imagination as to what an adolescent boy living in a town were the sun doesn't break through the gray clouds until June could possibly see in this illustration.

"Fly me to the moon."

Okay, I'm kidding, though the attraction did relate to Frazetta's figure's being scanty or having a complete lack of clothing. I used to put tracing paper up over his paintings in an attempt to better understand anatomy. It would be years before I realized just how many liberties he took when it came to rendering the human form, but it was a step in the right direction towards formal art training.

This one is actually something of a personal favorite. The stark contrast and unique positive / negative space of the black and white medium combined with the claustrophobic feel created by the hanging tree branches and the looming shadowy figure of the lioness curved along the craggy cliff challenging anyone caught within her gaze, in this case the lone cabin in the complete barren clearing without aid or support from any outside force. This last outpost of humanity amidst nothingness is the single target of a primal, unstoppable force of nature. Absolutely terrifying.

Here are a few other pieces with a similar set up:

He was a master at depicting action in motion. Upset cloth, hair strewn like it was caught in a cyclone and blood splatter suspended in midair. Take notes Zack Synder, this is how its done

He also rendered ferocious animals in astonishing detail. Which is quite remarkable when you consider that he claimed to not use reference material.

Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, WALL-E) is currently at work on directing a live action film adaptation of the "John Carter of Mars" due for Spring 2012. I'm sure its just a conicidence that this expensive property is being picked up after James Cameron cited "John Carter" as the inspiration for his widely lucrative film "Avatar". While I think its more than likely that this adaptation by Disney is in an attempt to create a cash cow franchise with a diverse demographic wave modeled after the successful swashbuckling stylings of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, if the previews show any hint of visuals inspired by Frazetta's lavish cover illustrations, it'll be completely worth the twelve dollar 3-D ticket price. If not, than we may be the same boat as when the "Flash Gordon" movie was made after the success of "Star Wars", God help us all.

Speaking of books Frazetta has illustrated being turned into movies, here's a look at his depictions from "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit". I remember having a brief conversation last summer with Bernadette Carstensen when she asked "Why did he give Erowyn such a big naked butt?" I simply replied "Why Not?"

Frazetta actually said "If it were up to me I'd draw nothing but fannies all day. Just two round shapes, very simple, but so complex." That certainly goes a long way to explaining this painting, titled "The Muse".

Caption with popular Sir Mix-A-Lot song title

What I love about this paining is just the sheer irony.

This illustration was made for the cover of "Battlefield Earth".

Yes, that Battlefield Earth

This is what sea monkeys would look like it you hit them with Gamma Rays.

Hey, this looks familiar. Hmm...

Alas, in May of 2010 Frank Frazetta tired of living and ascended to a higher plane of existence.

He is greatly missed but his influence and legacy will not be forgotten.

Next Week:

Admirable Artists: Stevan Dehanos

Inspiration Illustrations: Artist at the Canvas