Cartoon SNAP

Jeep & Peep – Dynamic Golden Age Comics Penwork by Charles Voight

2013-05-15T10:42:00.000-07:00

I just discovered this great artist in the pages of “Jeep Comics.” Check out the amazingly fluid and dynamic artwork by Charles Voight!

It’s not just the dynamic angles and composition, but the linework itself is so spontaneous and zippy.

Love that freaky tree creature!

Charles Voight's penwork reminds me of a cross between Everett Raymond Kinstler and Willard Mullin. Those faces below are great. Check out the depth in the composition…

Enough of the preview; Check out the whole story below, from Jeep Comics #1

Click on any page to see the BIG comic scan…

Another blisteringly wild Charles Voight comic book tale here: http://www.againwiththecomics.com/2009/02/hugh-mann-impossible-man.html

And still more terrific comic book scans featuring the art of Charles Voight are here:
http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2010/10/impossible-man-charles-voight-1946.html

Thanks to Chris Duffy for the info :)

2-Faced Cigar Guy and Friends: A Doodle Extravaganza

2013-04-23T13:26:00.000-07:00

Bloopy Doodle gets the full Digital Painting Treatment with ArtRage

2013-04-09T11:19:00.000-07:00

What happens when you take a nonsensical doodle and dcide to make a painting out of it?
Apparently, "this" happens: I call it, "Red Bloop"
Line art from a sketch in SketchbookPro - Painted with ArtRage 2.6

Here's a look at the work-in-progress:

Try ArtRage...it's fun, amazing and super-affordable!
....
P.S.: More of my ArtRage paintings here:
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/search/label/ArtRage

More Abstract Springtime Doodle-Fun!

2013-04-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

This is what comes out of my brain when I'm not drawing somebody else's cartoon creations. The mind rebels in weird ways...

Post-It notes, index cards and scrap copy paper. That's my canvas.

Wanna see more? Just let me know in the comments below!

--Sherm

Doodle Fun for Springtime!

2013-03-22T17:39:00.001-07:00

Post-It notes, index cards and random storyboard paper. Doodle time can occur anywhere and anytime.

Brush-Pen Doodle on Index Card (and my meet my favorite brush-pen)

2013-03-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Little doodle drawn with brush pen* on an index card.

...and (in case you were wondering...)

here's my favorite brush-pen:

http://www.jetpens.com/Zebra-Disposable-Brush-Pen-Super-Fine/pd/2309

Have fun doodling!

--Sherm

How to Draw Cartoons

2013-03-09T18:57:00.003-08:00

Come on over and check out my new page called "How to Draw Cartoons." It's the place to find the best in classic cartooning tutorials.

Click on http://facebook.com/CartoonTips and I'll see you there :)

Karrots - Freaky-Looking Funny Animal Comics

2013-03-06T10:28:00.000-08:00

Man, I really LOVE that splash page – the art in this story (by Cy King) is super-quirky! And the story is just dumb-as-rocks

This is one of those stories that just sort of "stops" instead of ending.
..and that was “Karrots” by Cy King - From Nutty Life #2 Summer 1946

Crazy cover, huh? Oh, Pearl!

Kids Run Faster in KEDS! Vintage Comic Book Ads

2013-02-19T10:47:00.000-08:00

A couple of wonderfully-drawn cartoon illustrations in these ads for Keds sneakers!

from Real Fact Comics, 1948

‎"In KEDS it's a Breeze!"

The Great Willard Mullin -- Baseball Illustration from The Sporting News

2013-02-06T07:22:00.000-08:00

An amazing piece of original art spotted on eBay. Original art by Willard Mullin -- the greatest sports cartooonist in the history of journalism. This piece appeared in The Sporting News and was originally titled "Happy Hangover."

Starting off with a detail shot to appreciate the scope...Willard Mullin beautifully creates a Lilliputean scene of big-time baseball owners brushing a bunch of players off their coats like so many annoying fleas.

Here's the "big picture" in all its glory...a breathtaking symphony of gestural cartoon art.

More mind-blowing detail shots below...

...and there's a lot more Willard Mullin artwork to enjoy, both here at CartoonSnap, as well as other great blogs. Check 'em out!

Willard Mullin Link-Fest:

"Gangsters, Gunsels, Crooks, Cops and Hitler"

Willard Mullin on Boxing

Willard Mullin on Football & Baseball
Boxing Cartoons by Willard Mullin

Willard Mullin Biography

Willard Mullin on How to Draw Animals

A Tribute to Willard Mullin

-----------------------

Thanks to Leif Peng's Today's Inspiration blog for:

Advertising Art by Willard Mullin

Willard Mullin's Editorial Art

"Willard Mullin Draws the Brooklyn Bum"

Willard Mullin is Tops in Sport Cartooning

--------------------

...and check out these terrific posts on Will Finn's blog featuring
scans from the book, "Clowning Through Baseball":

"Clowning Through Baseball" book illustrations by Willard Mullin

More Mullin illustrations from "Clowning through Baseball"

Even MORE great lively poses from the baseball book

The last batch of classic baseball drawings by Willard Mullin

"How Television Will CHANGE Your Future!" Vintage "Real Fact" Comic Book from 1948 - They Nailed It!

2013-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

"How Television Will CHANGE Your Future!"

Vintage "Real Fact" Comic Book 1948

These comic book writers and artists really nailed it in terms of predicting online schools, pervasive video cameras capturing everything, and and especially the proliferation of live satellite and wireless feeds that overwhelm us with global "news."

‎"How to Deal With Women" -- Vintage Comic Book Ad

2013-01-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

‎"How to Get Along With Girls" Comic book advertisement from "Blackstone the Magician" 1948

"No more clumsy mistakes for you -- get the real McCoy on how to deal with women in this amazing handbook."

From "Blackstone the Magician" 1948

SpongeBob Comics: “Hiccup and Away”

2012-12-18T12:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a SpongeBob comic book story which I wrote and drew for Nickelodeon Magazine in 2002 -- during the break between the series' 3rd Season and the Movie: "Hiccup and Away!"

Click on any image to read the full-size comic page

Felix the Cat Hates His Job! Classic Comics by Otto Messmer

2012-12-11T07:48:00.000-08:00

Felix hates his crummy job!
Some wonderfully cartoony Felix comics by Otto Messmer, 1953

Click any page to see the high-resolution, easy-to-read version!

There's a LOT more funny Felix comics by Otto Messmer here on the CartoonSnap blog!

Check out these previous posts for high-quality classic Felix the Cat comics scans :

Felix on the Unemployment Line
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/08/felix-on-unemployment-line-vintage_24.html

Felix the Cat Goes Cockfighting
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/03/picaresque-tales-of-felix-cat-by-otto.html

Felix Pulls Through (a GREAT Magic-Carpet ride!) http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/09/felix-friday-fiesta-fantastic-fun.html

Felix the Cat and the Haunted Tower
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2010/01/felix-cat-and-haunted-tower-by-otto.html

Book Review: “I Say, I Say…Son” Visual biography of the McKimson Brothers

2012-11-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

One of the nicest things about the long Thanksgiving weekend was having the time to catch up on my reading. I had the pleasure of reading the new book about cartoonists Bob McKimson, Tom McKimson and Chuck McKimson. The book is called, "I Say, I Say . . . Son!" after the familiar favorite phrase of Looney Tunes star Foghorn Leghorn. The subtitle reads: "A Tribute to Legendary Animators Bob, Chuck, and Tom McKimson."

I didn't know very much at all about the McKimsons before reading this "art-o-biography." Looney Tunes directors Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones have been profiled in depth many times, but I confess to being pretty clueless about McKimson's contributions...until now.

According to this book (which focuses primarily on Bob McKimson's work, less so on brothers Tom and Chuck), Bob McKimson was something of a solid guiding rock among the Looney Tunes crew. John K wrote the introduction, and he sums up Bob McKimson's contributions by stating,

"He was the strongest draftsman at Warner Bros. (and maybe even in the whole industry), played the part of teacher in the studio, and was the anchor of the animation department."

There are a lot of memorable stories and anecdotes that really shed light on the behind-the-scenes world of WB animation -- I especially enjoyed reading about the early days of the animation business when the brothers (like many animators) played musical chairs with the different studios -- from Walt Disney Studio in 1929 to the mysterious Romer Gray Pictures, to Harman-Ising and then to Leon Schlesinger's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Brothers. In later years the brothers went on to work for Western Publishing's Dell comics (and Gold Key and Whitman) and Golden books, too!

The stories include the lifetime consequences and wild effects of Bob McKimson's car crash in 1932, and the story of how a plumber in Pasadena unearthed some long-forgotten historical animation treasures.

Like many of the colorful Looney Tunes art books like "That's All Folks,", "I Say, I Say . . . Son!" is profusely illustrated with rare sketches, photographs and production art. Although most of the images are shot or scanned from vintage production artwork, there are also many modern "gallery-style" reproductions (the kind of fake animation cels they used to sell at the WB Store) mixed in. There are also a few low-resolution images included (with jaggy edges and JPEG-artifacts), but the author must have found them important enough to include them anyway. The great majority of the illustrations are excellent quality.

The main thing I enjoyed about the book was the opportunity to follow the cartooning careers of three Golden Age animation professionals from the art form’s infancy in the 1920’s to its demise in the late 1950’s to the TV-afterlife of the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Their life stories are about so much more than the glory years of animation...we get to see the excitement of the “anything goes” early years of the business, and also follow their lives after the movie biz turned its back on them -- to see how talented cartoonists continue to make a life after their livelihood has disappeared. For devoted fans of animation history, this book is a winner.

Link: "I Say, I Say . . . Son!" at Amazon.com

George Herriman’s Stumble Inn Dec 23 1922

2012-10-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Although he’s most famous for his animal characters (Krazy Kat, Ignatz Mouse and Offisa Pupp), George Herriman’s cartooning magic worked just as well when he’s working with a “hoomin” cast of Characters. Here’s a giant daily strip from his series “Stumble Inn.”

…and here’s the whole strip in mega-resolution below…

To find out more about “Stumble Inn,” check out this post:
http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2011/10/stumble-inn-by-george-herriman.html

The REAL Story Behind the SpongeBob Phenomenon

2012-10-04T10:14:00.000-07:00

Cartoon historian Tom Heintjes is sharing the results of his wonderful new project; a comprehensive oral history of the SpongeBob SquarePants show. Tom interviewed many many key players who were with the show from the very beginning. The best part of this HUGE article is that the discussions dig down into the nitty gritty of the way the show was put together.

Interviewees include Tom Kenny (voice of SpongeBob), Creative Director Derek Drymon, Supervising Director Alan Smart, Storyboard Artist/Writers Paul Tibbitt, Erik Wiese, Jay Lender, Mark O'Hare, Kent Osbourne, Sam Henderson, Kaz, myself, background designer Kenny Pittinger, and many other talented people where were part of the creative process that turned a silly little sponge into a timeless cartoon series and unexpected pop-culture phenomenon.

There are a bunch of rare visuals scattered throughout, including rare pre-production sketches and pics of in-the-trenches day-to-day life on the SpongeBob crew. Check it all out at:

http://cartoonician.com/2012/09/the-oral-history-of-spongebob-squarepants/

The Year of Bill Plympton

2012-09-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

The things I like most about Bill Plympton are his DIY work ethos and the very personal nature of his animation. I mean, his cartoons look like real drawings (because every frame of his films is made of his own real hand-drawn drawings) instead of a slick image that's been homogenized as it passed through dozens of hands.

It's been a huge year for Bill Plympton fans, with the release of two beautiful new books and brand new bio-pic documentary movie, "Adventures in Plymptoons."

The movie is mostly a collection of on-camera interviews with Plympton's colleagues and friends; Many of the interviews are "jokey" rather than informative (for example, we get to watch David Silverman playing a tuba, adult-film-star Ron Jeremy engaging in his favorite pastime, and Ed Begley Jr. feebly pretending be suffering from a case of mistaken identity.)
Unfortunately there's very little time devoted to watching Bill Plympton actually drawing or animating, so if you're interested in getting some new insight into Bill Plympton's working methods, you won't find it here. Short clips from his animated films are sprinkled throughout, giving the viewer a nice small taste of the Plympton filmography.

A much better find is his huge art-o-biography, "Independently Animated: Bill Plympton: The Life and Art of the King of Indie Animation," wherein Bill tells the story of his life and work among tons of beautiful images from his long career.

The stories he tells are extremely entertaining -- usually the text is the least compelling feature in a big art book like this, but Bill proves to be a natural storyteller in words as well as pictures. The selection od drawings, paintings, cartoons and illustrations in this book really presents a grand epic story of an unstaoppable talent!

Bill Plympton's newest book is a much more detailed look at the details surrounding the actual production and distribution of his independent animated films. In "Make Toons That Sell Without Selling Out," Bill Plympton gives away his secrets of animation creation and the less glamorous, but even more demanding work of publicity and distribution.

It's not a pretty process, but it sure is eye-opening…and most of all, it's very inspiring for anyone that wants to make a living through their own artistic creations.

Color Doodle: Psychedelic Faces Fiesta

2012-09-21T13:28:00.001-07:00

Drawn with black marker on an index card. I took it into Photoshop, created a gradient background and turned the black layer into "Overlay" mode. Just to snazz it up :P

Another Meeting Doodle: "W."

2012-08-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

BTW: the "W" stands for Wednesday.

Frazetta Funny Animal Comics - Bruno the Bear 1949

2012-08-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

Frank Frazetta Funny Animal Comics - Bruno the Bear -- from Happy Comics #32 1949

Joe Kubert’s Hollywood Confessions

2012-07-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here’s an amazing golden-age comic story from 1949: “Love Came Second” by Joe Kubert. The full pages are posted down below, but before we get there, take a look at some of these terrific panels!

Kubert was having a lot of fun with the page layouts here – delighting in page-high panels like those above, and full-width panels like the ones below…

I love these expressionistic background montages!

Pretty wild stuff! Here’s the whole story below.

Click on the pages for a HIGH-resolution scan.

Scans courtesy of the Jim Vadeboncouer collection at http://comicbookplus.com/

How to Make Funny Gags -- Vintage Comic Book Advertisement

2012-07-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

"Be popular in any company, anywhere! Laughter for the Millions will make you the life of the party. It's chockful of the funniest, gayest, zippiest jokes and cartoons you can imagine."

"144 hilarious stemwinder cartoons that make you forget you ever had any troubles."

"Don't confuse 'Laughter for the Millions' with a mere 'joke book.' It's the whole topsy-turvy funny world of laughs and comedy crammed between two covers."

"Thousands upon thousands of rib-ticklers, jokes, jive, and zippy gags that will make you and your friends shout with laughter."

"All are daring and witty...yet proper enough for any crowd."

"Now, for the first time, all the guess is taken out of creating gags and jokes. HOW TO MAKE FUNNY GAGS shows you how to spot a funny situation and how to make your own gags and jokes."

1954 Cartoon Ad for REO Trucks

2012-07-10T17:03:00.000-07:00

Ad from Popular Mechanics January 1954

Funny Fun with Milt Stein's Supermouse and Coo Coo Comics

2012-06-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

Fun Comics!
The joyfully exhuberant
cartoony wonderments of Milt Stein

So much fun...so much LIFE! You can see two full stories in all their MiltSteinian glory at:

http://www.bigblogcomics.com/2012/01/two-stories-by-milt-stein.html

A great way to start of the new year with a smile :)