Was Surprised To See This Animated Gif From The “Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.S” Cartoon Series.. This Was

Anime Mermaid from 2004, that I digitally colored for "MerMay 2108"..

A page I bought directly from Mignola, at the 2001 SDCC.. I had a few others, but hadda sell 'em on eBay a few years back. This one though, I couldn't part with.. It's going to the grave with me!

I'm not a particularly big Life Drawing fan.. But awhile back, I was fortunate to be gifted with a bunch of at-size color photocopies, done by none other than my fave artist: Frank Frazetta!! He drew this sometime around March of 1957.. Wouldn't it be great to have an entire book of these published someday?

A much more recent Sketchbook page.. These were Frazetta studies (from his 'JOHNNY COMET' strip), analyzing how he handled seated women. But about halfway thru, I decided I wanted to convert them into poses for a snake charmer.. A fun exercise, indeed!   

Took almost a year, but I'm finally back with an update..Thanks to all, for your kind patience!

Since February 2016, I’d been working Layout on Nickelodeon’s upcoming “Welcome To The Wayne” cartoon series. But now, I’ve chosen to take some well-deserved time off. I was feeling pretty burnt out, and wanted to take my body/mind off of any kind of clock or schedule, to try and recharge my creative batteries.. Been spending a lot of time thinking about things I’ve already done in my career, and what I still hope to get done? During one of these moments of reflection, I was surfing YouTube and stumbled across something I’d once worked on here..

In 2000, I did Layout and Design work on a rather dodgy Christmas Special entitled: “Timothy Tweedle: The First Christmas Elf”.. It was done thru a small Toronto boutique studio called: 'Animation House'. But I think at that time, they'd just been bought up by ‘Evening Sky Productions’..

That was 17 years ago, and a lot has changed.. Chris Hayes, was a friend I worked Layout with. He passed away suddenly, this past January. Fred Wilmot was the principal animator on the sequence I worked on, and he passed away in November 2013. Our Production Manager was a young Morghan Fortier, who now co-owns her own Toronto studio!

Much of the production work was farmed out to Ottawa’s ‘Dynomight Cartoons’. It was my job to check their Layout work. And to complete Layouts (with Chris) for a big song sequence (featuring “Fabulous Flo”) which would be animated by Fred Wilmot, in-house..

Overall, it was a fun experience. But as is often the case, the project was a low-budget affair with short deadlines. Designs too, were largely non-existent,-- and I had to invent most of that stuff myself, as I was laying out the scenes. I’m relatively happy with the end results, but was frustrated that many of the Staging details we included in the layouts were either ignored, or used sparingly. I think the final animation comes off as pretty rushed, too. Fred probably realized it was not his strongest work, as I noticed he chose to use the name:“Marcello Wilmot” in the end credits!! haha  

I’ve been busy creating new artwork for “JackTober 2022″, lately.. The Day 22 prompt, was: (you guessed it) “The HULK”!!! Added a bit of digital color to it, using Photoshop.. It’s based on one of Jack Kirby’s classic poses. But I played around with some of the character proportions and other details..

JOE DUDLEY -- Courageous Candy Store Owner!

Sketchbook study of an old comic-book panel found in a “CRIME DOES NOT PAY” reprint volume.. The original artist was Dan Barry, I believe. I like the idea of doing a small ‘zine with isolated panels like this one. And I’m hoping to use this image in the future, for something along those lines..

A Belated HAPPY HALLOWE’EN !!

They recently staged a "Hallowe'en" -themed Art Show at the studio I work at.. I decided to contribute a couple of old EC Fanzine illustrations that I did many years ago.. Sadly, I no longer own the pen-and-ink originals.. But I'd always wanted to color these; and the Art Show finally gave me the chance to do so!  Both images feature all 3 of EC Comics' famed "GhouLunatics" characters, along with a lot of other creepy and gory stuff!

Back in 2007, I had the inclination to try drawing a Don Martin -type character.. I was digging thru some old issues of MAD Magazine and found a series of 'SPIDER-MAN' spoofs he'd done. Invented a new pose and (of course) hadda add one of his signature "SHPLORT" sound effects, too!

Recently, I’ve been enjoying the nostalgia of a Facebook page dedicated to 'The Drawing Board' message board: an original Internet meeting place that is long gone. At the time, it was a great place to post your artwork, learn drawing tips, or just talk shop with like-minded creatives.. The long-running monthly “Drawing Jam” has been recreated on the FB page, though. And this was my most recent effort, working from a photo of actress: Chloe Sevigny.. Tried to work in a kind of Robert McGinnis approach to her legs and feet. Not sure how successful I was.. But it certainly was fun to try drawing it!