'70s...

I knew a few rebels and revolutionary's who burned their draft cards in an effort to protest the war.

They were the same jerks that would go around asking to borrow other guys' cards to use as I.D. to buy a can of beer or go to a bar or a club.

I never lent mine out, I didn't think they were a good risk.

digital drivel...

Can you think of a caption for this? I couldn't.

Will Elder (1921-2008)

Will Elder, collaborator with Harvey Kurtzman on MAD, Trump, Humbug, Goodman Beaver (panel above) & Little Annie Fanny passed away. He was, in my opinion, one of the greatest illustrators that ever worked in the comic strip form.

Here are a few more examples
of Mr. Elder's work
from Trump and Humbug:

How cool is this?---

If eveything goes according to plan, I'll be playing with the original trio of musicians I started out with in 1964, next Monday, in Long Island, New York. How cool is that?

So nice to have life-long friends!

I'll download our session, if I can.

That's me at the top,in 1976 in the Prince Valiant harcut, (yes I was really super hot!), and that's my guitarist, and songwriting partner, Lou Maresca in the next pic below. You should really try get to know him ladies, he's one potent dude. I'll include pix of our original guitarist George as soon as I can get them.

This last shot is from our 1975 show in Carroll Park, we used to play there every summer. Some long time residents still talk to me about those shows when I visit the old neighborhood.

*********************

Update, May 21: We kicked ass! Had a marathon jam of nearly eight hours, and didn't step on each other much. I still can't get over how well it went. If I lived in NYC I'd be able to do this all of the time and play gigs to boot. The only things missing would be my job at Disney and all of the wonderful friends I've made in L.A. But it still gets you thinking.

This post is dedicated to the memory of
our dear friend Anthony Raimondi

another '70s-style sketch--

The '70s sucked. It was the worst of times, it was the WORST of times. Get the idea? In those days I didn't have two nickels to rub together. I'd get jobs that other guys would have killed for; Post Office, etc... and I'd put in enough hours to purchase a new set of Ludwig drums, that I still have. But I wanted to be a musician. Or an artist. One thing I definitely didn't want to be was drafted and sent to Viet Nam. I didn't even know why we were there. Not that it was all rosey on the homefront. It wasn't. But at least I didn't have some sniper trying to blow my effing head off.
Nowadays people look back with nostalgia at that dread decade, but the early part of it was no picnic for me and my generation. The best part of it was seeing that disgraced bastard Nixon run out of office. That was fun. But, for my money you can take the '70s and shove 'em!
This new sketch, like the other one a few posts below is dedicated to Ralph Bakshi, one of the few guiding lights in the old days. Go out and buy "Ralph Bakshi: Unfiltered". You'll get something out of it, I guarantee it.

more comic book covers--

Some ol' stuff--

I thought I'd wrap up the month with two of April's biggest fools; Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton. The Phantom and Lou Albano issues were big leaps away from what my idea of Honeymooners stories should have been, but when you've got partners that are footing the bill you have to make them happy too. The Phantom issue was a complete "sell out" cashing in on the then wildly popular play. But the Lou Albano one was done for a good cause- each copy came with an envelope that you could use to mail a donation to The National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Lou was a Fundraising Chairman.

The Lou Albano cover was laid out by the legendary DC comics cover artist
Win Mortimer. In the late '40s Win illustrated almost every cover of Detective Comics.









The flying '55 Chevy Christmas cover was one of the most fun pieces for me because I finally got the chance to do a panoramic shot of Brooklyn. My friend Ted Camut helped me with the car rendering and the airbrush effects. This was my attempt at a DELL comics style cover.

lazy sunday '70s-style stoner sketch...

I used to fill sketchbooks with this kind of stuff in the early '70s. I was inspired by Robert Crumb and Ralph Bakshi in those days. Lately I've been devouring the new book on Bakshi "Unfiltered", so I guess the bug has bitten me again.

naso rosso--

I've added the larger images again.
I guess people like big noses.

Who knew?

la luna

sketchbook

Quick sketches
done during the 3 o'clock coffee break
with the gang at DCP...

fool...

Admittedly.... a very weak post, but I had to do something for April Fool's Day. This is a piece from last years' April ISM show. It's part of a rushed tryptic I tried to pull together in a week or two. I might have posted it before, but hey-- whatta'ya want for nothing?

I didn't attend this show and looking back I wish I had.

Here's a digital remix, one year later--

sunday school toons...

Back in '91 I was asked by a friend to contribute story art for a christian children's lesson program that he had a contact with. Simple parables told in cartoon form featuring human and/or funny animal characters. I worked from a script that was provided, and have long since forgotten the plot, so I can't tell you anything about it storywise.





This art strikes me as bizarre 17 years later. Very specific, "odd" choices made here, and they don't look like anything I would have done on my own. One scene even has a character bound and "nailed" to a wooden harness. The twin "Groucho" henchmen look like something I might have come up with, but I don't think I did.



I've been trying to find a few things in the garage lately and these turned up, so I thought I'd share them. The art was published on letter size acetate sheets and shown on a projector, while an instructor would narrate the story.

Freelance assignments can take you down some very strange paths.

singin'

rough stuff

a down and dirty digital comp.

digital watercolor...

Just a simple color study over an old rough pencil sketch.

Willy Loman

Arthur Miller's play 'Death of a Salesman" has long been a favorite of mine. Watching Willy Loman stumble through his last days overwhelmed by hallucinations, regrets, embarassment, desperation and confusion breaks my heart every time. It's an amazingly touching story of a man in freefall.
Will Eisner's graphic novels share a similar approach, as they too trace the existence of everyday people in challenging circumstances.

some dcp people--

first love...

?!

What the--?

new sketch/old scribble...

Two sketches; one in pencil from this afternoon,
and one in ballpoint from last summer.