In honor of Jack Kirby–Beware CHILI! The Mad Bean Walks the Earth!

If you’re a comic book fan, you may know that the 90th anniversary of Jack Kirby’s birth was August 28. I thought I’d try to do a Kirby-type monster.

This is what I came up with.

My youngest son thought it looked like a walking bean. One of my other boys thought it looked like something from a Looney Toons flick.

I thought it was kind of cute.

Inked with a Windsor-Newton Series 7 #2 brush, and colored in Photoshop.

Happy Birthday Jack!

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/28/07–More Hayworth

Rita Hayworth, in “Lady From Shanghai” (1948). All pencil here.

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/27/07–Superman!

Just some foolin’ around with pencil and the Pocket Brush Pen.

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/23/07–More Noir

I’ve been looking through “The Noir Style” by Alain Silver and James Ursini (ISBN #1-58567-485-0). There are many fine pictures from the noir era of Hollywood.

Here’s an adapted look of one of those photos–Glenn Ford from “In The Money Trap”. I drew the outlines of the main figure first with a Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen (superfine) and also used that pen for some of the finer rain effects. The rest is done with the Pocket Brush Pen.

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/19/07–Rita Hayworth

Here’s Rita Hayworth from the movie “Gilda” (1946).

Some of the details are drawn with a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen, and the rest with the fabulous Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

Have a great Sunday.

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/17/07

Orson Welles, “Touch of Evil” (1958).

-P.

More on Mike Wieringo, and in general, about the comic book industry….

I’ve been reading many of the tributes to Mike Wieringo, and one of the best is from Jeff Parker (http://www.parkerspace.com/2007/08/13/remembering-mike/#comments). Jeff talks about the crazy younger days, and the later drift towards isolation by Mike that can be so easy for those of us who freelance from home.

But the saddest thing for me (other than his passing) is the feeling Mike had that his work was being marginalized, and his career wasn’t progressing the way he wanted. I believe that insecurity is very prevalent among comic book professionals.

If you are fortunate enough to work steadily for Marvel or DC, you are making a living wage–but you are not getting rich. There are the exceptions, but the typical artist/writer is grinding away on a heavy monthly schedule to pay the bills. Then a time comes, perhaps in the middle-age years, where phone calls to editors aren’t returned, and spaces between assignments become longer. Maybe far too long to cover the costs of living.

For those of you pursuing the dream, I do encourage you. But keep your backside covered. Accept advertising work, keep your computer skills up, or continue to work on that independent project of yours. The great comic artist Russ Heath said he always tried to work for at least a couple of clients, and the companies that hired him knew that. There’s less of a chance someone takes advantage, when you can always walk away.

-P.

Noir woman–Sketch of the Day 8/16

Fun to look through old film stills and photos for inspiration. I think I’ll be doing more of these over the next few days.

-P.

Sketch of the Day 8/15/07

Robert Fawcett, illustrator

If you are a fan of illustration, you probably know of Robert Fawcett. For my money, he was the best during the classic era of illustration–when popular magazines such as Look and Colliers featured illustration on their covers and throughout.

His work was spot on, yet never stiff or overly formal. Looking closely at his drawings, the brushstrokes take on a wonderful abstract quality.

I’ve quickly sketched a couple of figures from one of Fawcett’s drawings. I believe you can learn much from doing copies from such wonderful work.

-P.