Cartoon Cocktail Napkins...

From 2004, a fun assignment from 30 Sixty Design
for "Lou & Mickey's" restaurant in San Diego.
I was responsible for pencils and inks,
as well as a bit of copy edits.








Thanks to my buddy, creative director Dave Fuscellaro.

I've started another blog--

--dedicated to story books.

Here are a few cover previews.
Just click on the link "Vintage Story Books"
to go there.

Potter's three-headed pooch--

This is the only Harry Potter piece I created while at WBSS.

thanks to "feets" for the iphone shot.

Best 'SPIRIT' image in a while --

by Paul Rivoche

a nice late afternoon...

Sometimes I like to crack open a book and copy some of the art contained therein. Just a quick remix or two of artwork by artists I admire.
In this case the book is 'Masters of American Comics'.
I can't say I'm crazy about this whole collection but there are some nice images in it.
I spent some time in the yard sketching from it late this afternoon and I had some fun.

the day...



the book...



the sketches...







Do you ever do this type of thing?

"Think of the nose as a rudder."

Sketches from Bob Kato's
'Drawing the Human Head' workshop...

foggy and windy...

Just a silly sketch made on the Cintiq at work, during a very quiet day.

Happy New Year!!!

Image TM & © Curtis Publishing

Love to all of you who have left comments in this past year!

Go to curtispublishing.com to order J.C. Leyndecker prints.

A little Christmas "SPIRIT"!

I unintentionally lied in the last post.
I said that the first fan letter I'd written was to Dave Stevens. It wasn't. The first one was to Will Eisner, during the Kitchen Sink Spirit magazine days. In fact that's where my first fan art was published. A short time later I had the chance to meet Mr. Eisner at a book signing at Forbidden Planet in NYC. I showed him my published sketch of Popeye coming to the aid of a dazed Spirit and Will graciously signed it for me, along with a few other items I'd purchased.

A few years later I was publishing the Honeymooners comic book and since one of the issues featured Ralph and Ed coming up against gangsters my partner Norm Abramoff suggested we interview Will Eisner. Our books always featured an interview with either a cast member from the TV show or a personality that would suit the theme. After talking with Will and getting clearances to use art from his latest graphic novel "The Dreamer" and permission to use his distinctive signature logo on the cover art we began a correspondence that lasted for many years.

In the early '90s I began sculpting figurines of obscure vintage characters from animation and comic strips, as well as maquettes of original characters. I sent one of the sculpts I made to Will, based on his character "Kilroy", shown in strip detail below. Will was kind enough to send this greeting card.


Kilroy is the little guy with the peppermint stick in his mouth.
And yes, he's throwing a snowball at Santa!

Here's a quote from Will Eisner that I find inspiring, especially when you consider the year he said it...


Happy Holidays!

Dave Stevens, an appreciation...

If anyone inspired me--
--it was this man.

Did he inspire you?

In the early '80s I bought an issue of Pacific Comics' Starslayer by Mike Grell. The back-up feature was the first chapter of The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens. I couldn't believe how beautifully rendered it was. I'd grown up on a steady diet of MAD, Warren, Marvel and DC comics, as well as strip artists like Al Capp, Milton Cannif and Will Eisner. I'd also read plenty of reprints featuring golden age stories by Simon & Kirby, Jerry Robinson, Frank Frazetta, Alex Toth and Lou Fine. But this Stevens guy was different. His art seemed to capture the flavor of all of my favorite comics artists, but in many ways it was much better. More appealing. You could tell he'd put a lot of love into it.

I wrote Dave a letter, the first fan letter I'd ever written, after reading his story and I received a postcard from him within a few weeks. After that I started writing letters and submitting illustrations to comics publications like Comics Journal and Amazing Heroes. It was fun being published and the bug bit me. Within a few years I'd left Advertising to create some comic books and later worked at Warner Brothers, creating art and product for their studio stores. But the one thing that inspired me to follow my heart was a simple postcard from a very generous and caring individual.




If you are a fan of Dave's, or just want to learn more about him buy this new book... "Brush With Passion: The Art & Life of Dave Stevens". It's an amazing display of his artistry and it's chock full of personal information about one of the best illustrator/storytellers of our time.


I chose this image so it wouldn't give anything away. This is a visual of Dave's inks and colors over Jack Kirby, and they are beautiful. But they're nothing like the beauty of Dave's own work. Buy the book, you won't be sorry.

Here are a few more of Dave's beautiful illustrations, taken from the internet...







Sadly, we lost Dave earlier this year, but he will live on in the fields of illustration and comic book art forever.

DAVE STEVENS
(July 29, 1955 - March 11, 2008)

Thanks--

Roz and I would like to thank everyone who attended the DCP Character Artist Holiday Party at our home last night. We hope you all had a good time.

We created a simple "jam" comic strip during the party. Here it is...

There are places I'll remember--

Here are some sketches I made of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn during my Thanksgiving holiday visit...






Please excuse the wonky perspective in the monument sketch directly above, it was getting cold in Brooklyn after a few hours and my hands were freezing.
This World War I monument was dedicated to locals who served. Among them was a soldier named John Lennon.

This post is dedicated to
musician John Lennon, October 9, 1940 - Decenber 8, 1980,
who loved my neighborhood, he said it reminded him of Liverpool. Mr. Lennon visited the home of my friend Jimmy Iovine, recording engineer/producer a few times in the mid-'70s. I've been told that George Harrison also spent a week in the late '60s at the Cobble Hill quarters of the Hari Krishna's, on the corner of Kane and Henry streets, directly across the street from where Winston Churchill's mother once lived.