To be traced onto better paper with the light box.
Category: Cartooning
Leaded Fuel
It’s confounding that the frustration I feel when getting warmed up for drawing now, is exactly the same as I remember having as far back as age 4, and definitely at age 8. Once I’m going, picking up a pencil and just doodling around, it takes just a minute to whip up a sketch like this one.
But from there, revving up the engine in my brain enough to work up a composition, and getting the gears connected to the ol’ drawing arm (the left one) to render it reasonably cleanly, requires some effort. Then some help from my trusty light box.
I’m contemplating the purchase of a Wacom Intuos Pro Paper Edition. My son no longer has use for a Dell all-in-one I gave him a few years ago. I originally purchased it for my father in Arizona, in an attempt to see if he could manage the touch screen after his stroke. That didn’t work out, so I had it shipped home. The factory-calibrated 24″ FHD screen on this thing is outstanding, and it would be ideal for digital drawing. Once I have the system set up on the drawing table, no longer tilted, I’ll decide on getting a tablet… or not.
Follow-up: Leaning towards the Wacom Intuos Medium. It’s half the price of the Pro — $200 vs. $400 — and it comes with a 2-year license for software that’s useful for cartooning.
More For MIH
Heritage Auctions has been a key driver of original art prices, but ya gotta love their high-resolution scans. So click to enlarge!
Compare the page above, inked by Vince Colletta, with the page below, inked by my pal Joe Sinnott. The only thing they had in common was that neither one of them ever missed a deadline.
Left vs. Right Coast Cartoons
For most of the 1930’s, the contrast couldn’t have been greater between the cartoons of the Disney brothers in California, and the Fleischer brothers in New York. While Disney pursued realism, the Fleischer cartoons were unreal.
Something that persisted at both studios was the depiction of cultural and racial stereotypes. To the credit of the Fleischers, they would feature black performers, including Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, and the Mills Brothers.
The Fleischer studio wasn’t the same after Max moved the operation to Florida. That was his first big mistake. His second big mistake was deciding to compete head-on with Disney by producing feature-length cartoons, leading Paramount to call in its loans and take over the business.
Tax ‘n’ Vax Day
I have been informed that my 2020 taxes are done. Having prepared my own returns since I was 16, I am for the first time ever using an accounting firm for my personal taxes.
The time seemed right to let someone else prepare my returns, after a good experience with a CPA in Arizona, who handled the Trust taxes after my father died. Combined with some bad experiences with Intuit, the parent of TurboTax.
Today I will be getting a shot in the arm, by invitation of Massachusetts General Hospital. AFAIK it will be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Sketchy Personality
Another collection of doodles that were used for the blog’s logo images.
