Storyboard frames...

I found these storyboard frames from a late '80s Chrysler pitch while cleaning out my files today. The only reason they remain in good condition is because I used them as portfolio pieces. I was responsible for the layout, pencils and inks. And my then GEM Studio co-worker, Tom Fluharty handled the color rendering. I'm glad these images survived, I always felt proud of this project, and I was very happy with the outcome of this collaboration.
Update: After looking at these frames for a while I've come to the conclusion that these are not the original boards that Tom and I produced together. They're sample frames that I made for my portfolio based on the originals. We never had artwork returned to us from Ad Agencies, unless it was for revisions.

Joe Blangiardo 1942-2009

Received some sad news this morning from Ken Bald- Gem Studio founder and CEO Joe Blangiardo passed away yesterday at the very young age of 66.

If you were a storyboard artist in NYC from the late '70s through the late '90s Gem Studio was where you wanted to be. Especially if you were just starting out in the field, as I was in '78. Joe and his partner Mel Schlossberg treated everyone like family, with all of the emotional ups and downs that came along with that type of setting. Some of us hung in for a long haul, while others drifted in and out within a few months.
Gem Studio wasn't an easy place to work at, Joe and Mel could be very demanding, Joe especially. But if they liked you and your work they treated you very well. I became an illustrator at Gem after doing production work for a year or so. It was a wonderful opportunity for a young professional to work alongside seasoned sketch men like Ken Bald, John Moody and Bob Tremaine. My good friend Vic Spadoni was also promoted from production to illustrator and I remember us being thrilled at having the opportunity to finally get the chance to create storyboards and comp art. If Joe and Mel believed in you they would also foot the bill for classes at The Art Student's League, as they did for me.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all peaches and cream, but if you were willing to work long and hard you could make a helluva living. Due to the tight deadlines of the ad agencies we worked for overtime was necessary a few nights a week, and we'd be asked to work weekends once in a while. But the overtime pay and weekend bonuses were very much appreciated.

Some of my fondest memories of Joe are with a few of us sitting in his beautiful wood-paneled office in the glow of his huge, immaculate aquarium, shooting the breeze with Sinatra playing in the background. I haven't seen Joe in fifteen years, but I did get to speak with him about a year ago, and now I'm glad I made the call.

A gallery of Illustration from

Ken Bald and GEM Studio

Up until 1983 the closest I came to a comic strip was reading one.

That all changed when Ken Bald asked me to color a few Dr. Kildare sunday strips. I was a storyboard artist in advertising at the time, and aside from some package design and a few magazine & newspaper spot illustrations, I didn't have much in print. So this was a big deal to me. I remember being pretty cautious, but the thought of seeing it published in a week or two got me jazzed.
But enough about me, I'd rather tell you about Ken.

Ken Bald has been an illustrator since the early '40s. While studying at Pratt Institute he became art director & lead figure artist at the Binder studio, producing comic book art for Fawcett Publications, the Captain Marvel publishers. Then the war broke out and Ken signed up.

After serving honorably in World War II, Ken resumed his carreer as an illustrator, creating comic books, comic strips, movie posters and ad illustrations, before becoming one of the most in-demand storyboard artists in the advertising industry.

Ken joined Gem Studio as Creative Director in the early '80s, and they created a cottage industry of storyboard & animatic art that would last for two and a half decades. From an original crew of three illustrators and various freelancers, Gem went on to grow in staff and dominate the advertising art market.

Much of this was due to Ken's creative direction and generous instruction to our group of illustrators.
No matter how busy he was, Ken would always take time out to help us with a tough pose or show us how to draw a closer likeness. No one draws film, sports and tv stars like Ken Bald. Nobody.

Here's an example...I'll keep adding Ken Bald illustrations for the next couple of days.
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12/2/07 update...

This storyboard frame is one of the first pieces Ken made at Gem. It was used in a promotional booklet.

Here's an example of Ken's loose inking style, before the marker rendering.

Billy, Rodney & George.

Ink illustration for another promo piece.
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12/3/07 update...

Both of these pieces below were created for GEM's "Black Book" ads. Does anyone remember that directory? Back then, if you weren't in the Black Book you were small time. All of the illustrators had to concept and produce their own illustrations for these promotional ads, and if we didn't get it right by the first or second submission it would become a commitee project. Needless to say, we all tried to get it approved on the first try.




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12/4/07 update...

This Bahamas art was another promotional piece Ken created for our promo brochure, perfect subject matter for his style. The Early Times Bourbon ad in the center is by John Moodie, another master sketch artist and close friend of Mr. Bald. John liked the look of Magic Markers, and used them exclusively. His visuals were always crisp and looked like watercolors. His linework was always done with color Pentel pens.
The Proctor Silex toaster below is by Mr. Check Hom, who also worked closely with John creating product art for his storyboards and print ad comps. Every senior illustrator had their own product guys. Check worked with John and I worked with Ken. In addition to our product work we were also responsible for our own workload of storyboards and print ad comps.

Princess comics-- behind the scenes...

The Princess program was based on '50's romance comic strips like "The Heart of Juliet Jones", "Mary Perkins" and the graphic beauty of Ken Bald's "Dr. Kildare".

I've known Ken since 1980, when he came aboard as Creative Director of Illustration at Gem Studios in NYC. In fact I helped him move in. In those pre-Google days Illustrators would file away reference in file cabinets referred to as "morgues", and their contents were called "scrap". Ken's reference filled eight file cabinets, and he knew the exact location of every bit of information.

In addition to my own assignments I'd assist Ken in small ways, like rendering product in storyboard panels. But mostly I'd observe and ask questions on the how's and whys of illustration every chance I got. Ken was very patient and generous with all of us younger guys and as a result we would learn more from him in a workweek than we'd ever learned in a semester at art school.

Mr. Bald worked at Gem until retiring a few years ago, and still accepts the occassional assignment. But mainly he's been painting and enjoying himself and the company of his wonderful wife Kaye.

When I got the go-ahead from my then VP, Janet Parks to produce the Comic Strip program my first and only choice for the illustration assignment was Ken Bald. Working from my concepts Ken produced pencil art for all of them and one final inking for the Cinderella piece. The original intention was to create the art in a more photo-realistic style, without the Disney stylizations. But we decided to stay true to the film designs- with me producing the finals and working with a "Princess Artist" and an outside production freelancer.

The best part of it all was the fact that I was able to work with my dear friend and mentor at Disney. I thought that this was the first time that Ken would be working with Disney, but I was wrong- Ken created art for the theatrical poster campaign for "Old Yeller" in its original release.

In addition to Ken's Snow White pencil art I've included a few sundays from his syndicated "Dark Shadows" comic strip. The strip was collected in paperback a few years ago, and may still be available from the publisher or Amazon.com. Here's the contact info for the publisher: Pomegranate Press, Ltd. - P.O. Box 17217 - Beverly Hills, Ca. 90209-3217. They may even have a website, so do a little searching. And while you're searching, Google Ken Bald and check out his body of work. You'll be glad you did!