Old Glamor Job

About 17 years ago I got a call to do a cover for one of a series of Honeymooners VHS tapes. What made the job particlarly cool was that it was art directed by Lou Dorfsman (a legend in the field), the other illustrators doing covers were some of my heroes (Hirschfeld, Brodner, Burke...), the money was swell (they bought the originals) and coolest of all there was no deadline (within reason).

So they sent me the tape I was to illustrate, something about Ed Norton sleepwalking and dreaming about his dog. Unfortunately the tape was the wrong one, and I'd never watched much Honeymooners (though I'd seen the cartoons with the Honeymooner mice several times). But I found enough photos that I could fake up a scene okay; Norton sleepwalking, dreamed-of dog, and annoyed Kramden. Here's the first skech I did, just a quick one of Kramden & Norton. I like the Norton, though from the little pen mark over Kramden's head you can see that Lou Dorfsman chose the Kramden. This was back when roughs were exchanged leisurely with a client via FedEx, or carrier pigeon, or footmen with velvet cushions. However we did it, I eventually came up with a usable sketch.



Here's the final, and the first thing you'll notice is that I slightly mismeasured the height, leaving some dead space between the focus of the illustration and the main type, but nobody minded. I did it in alkyd paint, which is somewhat like oil but it dries faster and it's a little more tar-like in consistency, and it's a little less aesthetically pleasing, if you're into that. Despite there being no firm deadline and despite the fast-drying quality of the paint, two hours before FedEx closed on the day before it was due I was down on the floor spraying the finished illustration with half-a-can of Krylon in hopes of forcing the paint to dry. I understand Norman Rockwell worked the same way.



The last cool things about the job were that the original went into a museum in New York City, I forget what it's called but it's full of TV stuff, and when the complete series of VHS tapes was released Leonard Maltin showed several of the covers on Entertainment Tonight, and not only showed mine but said my name out loud on TV (along with Hirschfeld, Brodner, etc). That was when my career peaked. The most I could hope for now is a mention by Pat O'Brian on Access Hollywood, and who wants that?

Faces

Often when I'm drawing faces I find myself mimicking the expression that I'm trying to convey. Like today I did a string of roughs with Mrs. Otterloop going from nonplussed to dawning comprehension to full awareness, and my face kept going from slack to alert in sympathetic response. Nothing too hammy, just enough that I could feel it while I drew it. Animators do it purposefully, and even keep a mirror handy so they can model for their drawings. I once read a hilarious account of Goofy's animator jumping out of his chair and lurching around the studio with that slap-footed Goofy walk, working his adam's apple and everything, then throwing himself back in the chair and drawing what he'd just done. It's the same process that kids use when they make kkkkapppcccccccchhhh noises when drawing battleground explosions. And I'm sure fine artists do it in the privacy of their studio. I'll bet Picasso yanked his face around to the point of malocclusion when he was in his cubist period. His girlfriend of the moment probably told him to quit it before his face stuck like that, too.

Saturday's Almanack

This was the Almanack for last weekend. I'm not sure if it makes sense. I was going to do a map of the National Book Festival, but I got bored with the sketch I had for it and started this about five hours before deadline. Which should be plenty of time, but I didn't realize what I was doing until I lettered the last line. I think the idea was to compare Astronomy, Astrology and Economics just to see which had the most sway over events. I think Astrology won.

Exciting Book Signing Event Thing

I'll be sigining copies of Cul de Sac at the Politics & Prose booth at the Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair this Sunday at 1 pm. The fair is at the Marie Reed Learning Center in at 18th St. and Wyoming Ave., NW, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in DC. Those are the two most information-stuffed sentences I've ever typed, but if you need more, go here.

Update: Hello and thanks to those who came by, chatted, bought a book, or all three. It was a hoot, and thanks to my hosts Mike, András and Chad & family.

First Anniversary Special Offer

Today is this blog's first anniversary, having opened with the memorable, oft-quoted post Okay, Now What? on September 24th back in 2007. In recognition of this important milestone I'm announcing this unique, one-time offer, which I'll be repeating as often as I deem necessary.

Now that the Cul de Sac book seems to be generally available, the thousands/many/several/both of you who've ordered it may want to have it defaced in some way. And I'd like to help you out! If you'd like me to sign my name on your book, please email me through the "My Complete Profile" link to your right ->, I'll provide my address, you send me your book (with a sase), I'll sign it, I'll send it back to you, you'll open it up and say "jeez, that took forever". What could be easier than that?

But wait! It gets more complicated! To make your book's inscription even more personalized, I'm offering this selection of autographs for you to choose from, each one a work of art in itself! Just look-


1. Otterloop Bold Distended 2. Otterloop Grotesque 3. Palmer Method 4. Otterloop Hasty 5, Otterloop Serif Formal 6. Otterloop Extra-Hasty Verging on Sloppy 7. Otterloop Slapdash Bold 8. Otterloop Fancypants 9. Otterloop Wrong-End-of-the-Pen 10. Otterloop Corroding (genuine iron gall ink) 11. Otterloop Erratum (discontinued).

FOLIAGE!

Here, you may need this. For those of you outside the DC-MD-VA area, I'm sorry, you're on your own.

FALL!

Yesterday was the first day of Fall and I didn't even notice, mostly because I didn't even step outside. It's perpetually summer in my studio, of course.

I see Mother Nature as Hermione Gingold in the Music Man, particularly where she's immitating a Grecian urn.

Toddler's Roundtable

This is another of the proto-Cul de Sacs from 8 or 9 years ago, back when I could still use a cartoon to make a coherent point. That skill didn't last long, but fortunately comic strips don't need a point. A couple of balloons, maybe an onomatopoeia, a laff, then off you go.

Watch me recycle that lycanthropy joke when I think nobody's looking.

Fontanelle, the Imperiled Infant

This was Oswaldo Twee's first appearance, a year or so before he reappeared to read at the library, much to Alice's dismay. From his reactions here, I don't believe Twee has had much contact with actual children which, from the others I've met, isn't the norm among children's book authors.

Both my daughters read a lot, sometimes too much, like to the point of trying to multitask while reading and subsequently falling down the stairs. This only happened once, but it was memorable, and no harm was done so it was also funny.

(Formerly) Happy Amazon Robot

The Cul de Sac book is now officially listed as "in stock" at Amazon. My thanks to Mark Tatulli for pointing this out to me, as I hadn't checked the Amazon site in almost 15 minutes.

UPDATE: It's now reverted to "ships in 3 to 5 weeks". Next time I see JeFf Bezos I'm going to give him a stern lecture on Not Yanking People Around.

Let's Make Fun of TV Shows!

Since there's nothing easier than making fun of TV shows, I did these. "Flapjack" is the only thing I've ever written that always makes me laugh, but then, nothing's funnier than pancakes. Pancakes are comic gold. And laughing at your own jokes is the lowest form of comedy.

More Dirt

The above is another page taken from the mysterious disappearing Cul de Sac book (which I saw on an actual shelf at a Barnes & Nobles, who seem to've cornered the market on them). And it deals with dirt, which somewhat continues the conversation from the post below.

Back almost 30 years ago I read a short story by the tall-tale sci-fi fabulist R.A. Lafferty called "You Can't Go Back". Like all of Lafferty's work it's hard to describe, but briefly it's about this little rogue moon called the White Cow Moon that will come bobbing over the horizon and float over your head when you blow the White Cow whistle, and how some now-adults who played on it as children visit it for the first time in years. I'm sure I'm misremembering details, but the White Cow Moon disappoints them; the troll who lives in the moon's core looks moth-eaten, the little village is ramshackle, the whole place looks fake, like a beat-up amusement park (like I said it's hard to describe). And I always wanted to steal that idea, of a little untethered moon that shows up sometimes then wanders away. This cartoon is as close as I've gotten, and I even worked cows into it. Alice's final line is thanks to my old editor at the Post, Tom Shroder, who taught me that ending a comic strip with an unexpected tangent is always the most fun.

What Lies Beneath

Yesterday's Cul de Sac had some synchronicity with yesterday's Almanac cartoon, like they were almost the same joke. I didn't plan it that way, unless it was subconsciously, and when I realized they'd meshed I was a little tickled. Embarrassed too, because now it's obvious I've got only a few ideas in rotation and here they've collided.



The Almanac (above) was a retooling of one from 8 or 9 years ago (below). I didn't find the older one till a day after I turned in the newer version, though you can tell I remembered it pretty vividly. I might try doing newruns of old stuff and hope nobobdy recalls them distinctly enough to complain; I'll just white-out dated references and such to make it more germane.

SPX?

So, who all is going to the Small Press Expo in Bethesda (south Rockville) next month (October)? I am, I am! And at some point I'll be signing books (mine).

Un Lavoro Bello II

And now for something completely different- Drawing a Funny Cartoon in 20 Steps, in Italian. My awe-filled thanks for this to Diego Ceresa, the indefatigable genius translator for several comic strips (including Cul de Sac) at Linus Magazine.

Somebody's Very Special Day

Today is the first anniversary of the launch of Cul de Sac as a daily strip, courtesy of the fine folks at Universal Press.

Adrift on the Amazon

The page for the CdS book at Amazon now says "temporarily out of stock", and it lists one used copy for sale on Amazon Marketplace by Snappyshoppe. And it's only $8.29! So I guess it's been shipped to used bookstores. I'll check again later (not that I'm obsessing), but if I were you I'd jump on that.

Oswaldo Twee

I was going to write something lengthy about children's literature but I don't have a whole lot to say. My house is stuffed with children's books, and some of them predate my daughters. I've read a good bit of them, often aloud to an appreciative audience. Oswaldo Twee, the children's author I invented for the strip who produces an endless series of books about Fontanelle the Imperiled Infant, is pretty clearly based on Lemony Snicket, whose works I find alternately entertaining and annoying. I never made it all the way through one of the Unfortunate Events books, though I heard a few on cd and mostly enjoyed the movie version. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the same way about Oswaldo Twee's work, and Alice is even less forgiving.

In the last strip in this series I tried to show how kids will talk in, you know, questions? Like they want to make sure you're listening? So each sentence? Demands a response? Adults sometimes do this too. Or at least, I do. You know?





These are all in that book I mentioned below, too.

Scathing Political Satire

Or as close to scathing political satire as a strip with yacky kids and talking guinea pigs gets. Another free excerpt from the Mystery Date Forthcoming Cul de Sac Book.

Forms of Speech

While we wait to find out the availablility of the Cul de Sac book, here's something from the Richard's Poor Almanac book (which is, of course, easily available, the publisher's demise notwithstanding). This presents vital and timely information, as I'm sure you'll all agreee.