Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Sincere Comics

Way back in the early 80's, I used to buy comics alot. Somehow the owner of this establishment, Dave Sincere, found out I was an artist (I probably told him) and asked me to do a flyer for him. I did and here it is presented in glorious black and white. I later did some other stuff for him...a business card and I can't remember what else. He was a nice guy. Everytime I went to the store he would tell me I was wasting my life...that I should be a comic book artist instead of going to college. Heck, maybe he was right...I don't know.
I remember going into his shop one day and he introduced me to this strange fellow who had a comic idea and wanted to find an illustrator. I talked to him and found him to be from the planet Huge Geek. I still remember his idea too. It was something like "Mr. Sound Effects and the Unknown Mind." I think it was a telepath and a guy who could make sound effects. Wow! What a super power.
I also remember meeting Dave Dorman at the shop one day. He's a famous artist especially well-known for his Star Wars renderings. Look him up.
Anyway, I eventually moved away and stopped collecting comics. I don't know if Sincere Comics still exists in Pensacola or not but I hope it does. If so, thanks Dave, for giving me a little bit of work.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Popeye's Anaktomy

I did this drawing in college. The assignment was to design a skeletal system for a cartoon character. I got so excited about the assignment, I did two. (I'll try to post the other one another time)
I'm quite proud of this drawing. It still looks pretty good to me. I think if I were to do the same assignment today, I would tackle it with some other medium besides pastel. But the pastel gave a softer look to the cartoon figure of Popeye and helped the illusion of depth. I tried to shade the figure so that he would seem 3D. I'm not sure I'd make the wall behind the blackboard brick but, at the time, it seemed the most strikingly visual thing to do.
Forgive the reflection of the photographer. This drawing has been encased behind plastic since the early 80's and I'm not about to take it out. That's why it's lasted this long without damage.