Showing Some Interest In Pinterest

by

Pinterest logo

I decided to join the cool kids and give this Pinterest thing a try. I must say its a lot more fun than I expected. I don’t know if I’ll stay with it long-term but for now I’m having a blast scouring the web for artistic goodies to pin to my boards. Although it’s a bit of a time suck it’s really put some fresh wind in my creative sails. Hard to put a value on that.

Heck, I might even start making a habit of scouring Pinterest for a few minutes each morning to help get the gears turning before I start my daily warm-up sketches.

So far I’ve collected artwork from some insanely talented artists into categories such as “Character Design Inspiration”, “Toy Design Inspiration”, and “Illustration Inspiration”. Whenever possible I’m grabbing the images from the original source so as not to trample on anyone’s copyrights. I’ve also started a portfolio board of my own work, and I have a board collecting trailers from some of my favorite movies.

Check it out on my Pinterest page.

(EDIT: Sadly I’ve had to delete my Inspiration boards on Pinterest. More info here.)

This and That 4/10/12

by

Some misc. tidbits from around the web…

• Former Disney animator Tom Bancroft is following up his terrific how-to book on character design, “Creating Characters with Personality”, with a new book, “Character Mentor”, and it’s coming out very soon. You can pre-order from Amazon. Full disclosure: if you click the links and then buy, Amazon will drop a few coins into my piggy bank – no extra cost to you.

• After hearing other artists rave about them for years I finally broke down and ordered some Blackwing Sketching pencils. Big thumbs up. These little magic sticks make for some silky-smooth drawing.

• If I’m understanding Mark Waid correctly, the comic book industry is in even worse shape than I thought. Sounds like the traditional printed comic book has one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

• I’m still undecided about Pinterest. On the one hand the last thing I need is another social network to keep up with. On the other hand, it’s shaping up to be an amazing place to browse for artistic inspiration. Take this character design gallery, for example.

• Apparently converting movies with IMAX aspect ratios (like “Ghost Protocol”) onto DVD and Blu-Ray is not as simple as you would think.

• Finally, one of my past clients is Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales. (I’ve had the honor of doing some work for him on a DVD series he’s producing called “What’s In The Bible?”). Recently he posted a teaser his latest project on YouTube. Gonna be keeping my eye on this one:

[youtube_sc url=ObUcwdctVIo width=430]

 

Good Friday Cartoon

by

Are You A Good Person? Cartoon

Time for my annual Good Friday post:

Today is Good Friday, the day Christians celebrate the torture, crucifixion, and death of Jesus Christ. So why is it called “good?”

Because it was a good day for you and me.

Earlier in my career I illustrated this 8-page cartoon Gospel tract. I hope it will help explain.

If you like the tract, you can download it for free in multiple languages at www.FreeCartoonTract.com, or you can purchase printed copies from the ministry of Living Waters. There’s also an animated version I produced that you can watch on YouTube:

[youtube_sc url=TCSUKIhjevo width=430]

Happy Easter!

New Original Comic Strip Art For My Studio

by

The Brillian Mind of Edison LeeFor several years I’ve enjoyed being a member of the National Cartoonists Society. Two or three times a year I travel across the Midwest to spend a couple of days hanging out with other members of my chapter. You can take this to the bank: Getting a few cartoonists together over drinks is never dull.

One of our members is John Hambrock. His strip, “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee”, is relatively new (it debuted in 2006) and is syndicated by King Features. In 2009 the strip was nominated by the National Cartoonists Society for Best Comic Strip. John’s a terrific guy and I’ve enjoyed getting to know him.

Recently we swapped some cartoon-related items. For his part John sent me an original “Edison Lee” strip, and I definitely got the better part of the bargain. I’ve just framed it and very soon it will be hanging proudly in my studio. I couldn’t locate the final published strip online but if you click the photo you should be able to read the enlarged version. Hope it gives you a good chuckle.

If you still read a daily newspaper and if “The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee” doesn’t appear in yours, contact your local editor to request it. If you’d rather read your comics online you can follow “Edison Lee” by subscribing to King Features’ Daily Ink service. Or, you can read a collection of strips in book form by ordering “The Edison Files: Notes From The Lab”.

Funny Christmas Shopping Prank

by

My last post was a little heavy-handed, so I thought I’d lighten things up a bit. Enjoy a good laugh, and have a very Merry Christmas!

[youtube_sc url=CYbVpAwGGGs width=450]

Upcoming Events for Twin Cities Cartoonists

by

This weekend there will be a lot of neat goings-on for Minnesota comic book and cartoon fans.

 

 

For starters, the North Central Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society will be holding it’s annual get-together here in Minneapolis. As part of the event, NCS president and local illustrator Tom Richmond has put together a special event for the public on Friday, October 14. Things kick off at 6:30pm when cartoonist Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine) will give a public lecture about his work. Then at 7:30pm there will be a panel discussion with Q&A featuring several professional cartoonists from around the Midwest. Both events will take place at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Auditorium 150.

 

 

 

Then on Saturday October 15, comic book creators and fans from all over the Midwest and beyond will be gathering at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds for FallCon, Minnesota’s annual fall comic book convention. As usual I’ll have a table so stop by and say hi. The National Cartoonists Society will also have a table so you’ll have a rare opportunity to meet several professional cartoonists from around the region.

 

[youtube_sc url=QRfNBI4PVa4 width=450]

 

Finally, while you’re at FallCon MAD Magazine’s Tom Richmond will be selling copies of his brand new book The MAD Art of Caricature, hot off the presses. My copy hasn’t arrived in the mail yet but from everything I’ve seen it looks like it will be one very thorough, very helpful book. Tom’s been leaking snippets here and there on his blog, and you can tell from the above video that it’s no lightweight volume. There’s a zillion “how to draw” books out there, thankfully it looks like this one will rise well above the norm. Tom has a reputation for not cutting corners and this looks like a top-notch effort. If you can’t make it to FallCon you can order copies of the book here.