Sunday Comics on Monday

I thought I'd open this entry with an illustration that, ahem, illustrates how some things just don't change. It was drawn by Rube Goldberg about 80 years ago. I scanned it from "the first nemo annual; Screwball Comics". I picked it up on Ebay and highly recommend it.



One of the new pleasures in my life that Los Angeles has brought to me is owning a car. And with that comes sitting in traffic, buying gas, paying mechanics, and collecting parking tickets. The latter of which I have found to be very good at.

I miss the 6 train. A lot.

...

So, I haven't posted in a while. And believe you me, the complaints have been pouring in; emails, phone calls, blog comments, other peoples blog entries, and a few weeks ago a number of young fans of my blog organized and arrived at my home, costumed (to protect their true identities I'd imagine), asking for candy in an obvious attempt to get me to post more.

I'm on hiatus from Cartoon Network right now (oh yeah.. I totally backed my car into a pole in the CN parking lot. How? I wasn't in my normal spot and I was well too aware of a very attractive woman at her car, and not nearly aware of the pole. Oh well... At least I feel it's a decent excuse.... as I can hear my dad groaning while reading this). Yeah, hiatus; which is a mixed blessing. I'm going to really enjoy having some time for myself, as I was lucky enough to have a full-time job since the day I moved here 4 months ago. I really want to explore some things in my art, most notably being an artist.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about who I am as an artist and who I want to be. I love being a character designer, because I love the challenge of having to wear lots of different stylistic hats. It's this learning process that really fuels my day. But the idea of 'style' particularly 'my style' terrifies me. I don't really think I have a specific look to all of my personal work, and I don't think I want one... yet. Over-thinking about my work, and not actually working on my own stuff has put me into a slump. My drawings have been pretty awful lately, lots of crumpled paper and emptying my digital trash.

I feel like I'm blabbing a little now. (Sorry Al) What I wanted to get to is that I love knowing that I will forever be a student. I had an idea a while ago (that until now have I followed through on) about posting Sunday Comics. Posting stuff that really inspires me. So here's a decent sized batch. And they are specifically some of my favorites to go to when I'm in an artistic slump. So here they are, and thanks for reading or sorry for making you scroll.




First is one of my favorite cartoonists, Carlos Nine. His work blows me away. He's an artist first, and it just so happens that his medium is cartooning. Better than peanut butter in my opinion.



Next is a cover and ad in an issue of Patoruzu. I stumbled across this comic while do research for a show idea I have. I now have a serious addiction to tracking these down and even have a growing collection of originals. The cover is by Eduardo Ferro. The advertisement is by Guillermo Divito. Both artists are regular contributors (at least through 1955) to Patoruzu. The amount of great cartooning in this comic is just stunning, and you'll definitely see more on the Sundays to come.



Chad's work I really enjoy. His drawing's, particularly his covers, are incredibly solid and full of life.



Last is David Mazzuchelli. There are three issues of "Rubber Blanket" and each one is phenomenal. This two-page spread is from a story called "Discovering America". It's probably my current favorite Mazzuchelli story. His color separations are amazing, his story telling is fresh and inspired, and he's one of the best draftsmen in comics, hands down.

-up

mood: sleepy
listening too: the calming mix of hard-drive and ceiling fan