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Craig Yoe’s latest book is a beautiful love letter to the comic book legacy of Otto Messmer/Joe Oriolo’s Felix The Cat. As usual, Yoe has produced an art book that is unto itself a thing of art, a 226 page celebration of Felix’s four-color career. Previously John Canemaker covered the animated films and David Gerstein collected selected Sunday newspaper strips. Here, Yoe focuses on the Dell/Toby/Harvey periodicals created by animators Messmer, Oriolo and Jim Tyer. The book itself is lavishly produced (which is standard for Yoe’s publications) starting with the classy black and white cover – a clever contrast to rainbow-hued Messmer end papers and content to come. It begins with a 35-page introductory text, liberally illustrated with original Messmer/Oriolo art, rare photographs and odd-ball historical material (my favorite is a 1925 Photoplay magazine spread featuring a Ziegfeld Girl teaching Felix the latest dance craze, The Black Bottom). And then the real fun begins: twelve choice Felix stories, originally created between 1946 and 1954.
The Felix comic stories were always quite “trippy” (to use the 60s expression), usually starting off normally then drifting into worlds of giants, oversized talking vegetables, robots, magic carpets and trips into space. The artwork is always imaginative and very cartoony. This is a wonderful tribute to a cartoon super-star’s most neglected – but still significant – work. As far as I’m concerned, Yoe’s Felix The Cat: The Great Comic Book Tails is another must-have.
This summer I have been the busiest I have ever been which is why my sketchbook is fairly empty these days. Sure, there are sketches and thumbnails but 90% of them are work related so I can not post them here (plus they are rough, incoherent, and boring). I rarely find time to sit and sketch leisurely these days but I have had a few chances this summer...
The first three here are from Philadelphia's Penn's Landing on the eve of Independence Day, during the fireworks.
Below are sketches from Delaware while on vacation with Virginia, Daisy, and her family.
For those of you who are not aware, a sunfish is a small sail boat.
These are amazing, Chuck! Man, I must live in normalsville...I'm jealous that I don't get to see these folks around my neighborhood...wel, maybe at the local Wal-Mart...
This image popped into my mind this weekend at church. I was very down and tired and just emotionally drained. As I was praying that God would give me the strength to get through the day, this image came to me.
I sketched it in ArtRage with the pencil tool in about an hour and a half. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to just leave it as is, or to add color. I really liked how the sketch turned out, but I decided to go ahead and color it.
The sketch was done on a top layer, so I just started to lay the oils down underneath it to add the background. I used the big roller brush to lay down a lot of color, and then smoothed out the rough parts using the palette knife. Then I used the square oil brush. Since I liked the sketch so much, I decided just to leave it visible as the top layer.
Here is the finished colored version. I still can’t decide which one I like the best.
The PICTURE BOOKIES members welcome, KOREY SCOTT to the GROUP.
Korey Scott is an illustrator who specializes in children's books, educational material, and funny characters.
His illustration style is perfect for capturing the attention of children and adults. Korey is proud to say that his illustrations and children's books not only are fun to look at, but they provide a beneficial resource to a child's education. Children love the playful details and silly characters while adults enjoy how the illustrations encourage children to read, learn, and have fun. His illustrations can help your company by teaching children how to improve reading skills, pronunciation, and even learn English, Spanish, and other languages.
His work has won awards such as "Best Children's Book" at the 2007 North Texas Book Festival and the Golden Spur Honor Award from the Texas State Reading Association (TSRA) 2005. Teachers also enjoy using his material for class projects.
3 Comments on Please Welcome Korey Scott to the Picture Bookies, last added: 8/18/2010
Hi Picture Bookies! I look forward to sharing more of my work with everyone here. It is nice to see a lot of friends on here already. I am an illustrator in the educational, children's book market.
Right now, I am working on a couple children's books for self publishing clients as well as finishing up Kit 4 of the Literacy Speaks program by Northern Speech Services. Also, I am working with an organics company designing characters for plush animals, picture books, and all kinds of merchandise.
3 Comments on Hello Picture Bookies!, last added: 8/18/2010
Welcome, Korey, It is great to have you as a part of the team. Your artwork is fresh, inviting and full of fun. Looking forward to "Yakking" with you too *:)
Hi dears! I’m so glad to be adding a couple of new things to the Etsy store. Some pretty stationery things for you: a Thank You card set plus Print Your Own stationery (you’ve gotten a sneak peek of both items on ye olde blog).
The drawings are inspired by late summer: lazy afternoons, golden sunlight and pretty wildflowers. And as you can see I’ve used some of my favorite colors too (coral-y pink, golden yellow and teal blue!).
As of this posting, the above stationery items are on Etsy but I’ll also be adding them to le shop as well. But first my husband is taking me on a museum date!
Happy Tuesday.
0 Comments on Shop Update: Late Summer Flowers (Stationery Sets) as of 1/1/1900
Isn’t it great when you come across art that speaks to you as soon as you see it? You come across an artist’s website and with every click through his or her portfolio you find something truly amazing. Well, that’s certainly the case with the work of San Francisco illustrator Nidhi Chanani. Every click through Nidhi’s portfolio of illustrations will fill you with warmth and joy.
Nidhi’s thoughtful compositions are a big part of what makes her work so interesting. Other elements such as her brilliant use of lighting and deliberate use of intricate patterns combined with wonderful textures and colors result in stylized illustrations that tell stories you wish you were a part of.
The theme this week for Illustration Friday was “Star Gazing.” Starry skies are high on my list of things I love to draw, so how could I resist doing this one? So I painted Norton, and a friend out at night looking up at the sky. Maybe they are wondering if the rumors about the moon being made of cheese is real. In my mind the second mouse is Molly, but she doesn’t look very white is this picture. Maybe she got a little dirty on her climb up the hill.
Watercolors, with details finished in acrylics and color pencil. 5×7 on watercolor paper, close to 2 hours.
Here’s a scene that I really wanted to paint in Bantry, Ireland last week. The green and red building stands at the juncture of two sloping roads in town.
But it was impossible to paint the scene on location for a simple reason: The only place to set my stool was a busy sidewalk that was only two feet wide.
Because the road was so narrow, and because it was the main thoroughfare for the coastal route out of Bantry, huge trucks were forced ride up onto the sidewalks to allow other vehicles to pass.
There was a real risk of being clipped by a rear-view mirror, and I didn’t want to force pedestrians to step into the street. So I had to give it up and look for another motif.
I call such an impediment a “gamestopper.” It’s something that shuts down a plein-air effort, and it has nothing to do with issues of technique or composition.
I’ll list some other examples, and I’m sure you’ll have more in the comments. Every one of these has happened to me:
1. Menaced by bull in the middle of a field. 2. Heavy downpour starts (fatal to watercolor) and wind blows rain under umbrella (eventually shuts down oil painting). 3. Forgot the chair, and no place to sit down. 4. High wind makes easel impossible to set up. 5. Subject (person, vehicle, animal) departs. 6. Drunk guy in bar keeps bumping hard into sketching arm. 7. Tide comes in, eliminating setup area. 8. Donkey puts head in lap. 9. Sketching from drawbridge; drawbridge lifts. 10. Goats keeps nibbling sketchbook. 11. Kicked out by guard/ harbormaster/ cop/ farmer/ railyard bull—and once ejected by a nun! 12. Easel blown over washed down waterfall. 13. Scheduled steam train (my ride home) must depart. 14. Folding chair collapses in museum. 15. Biting insects become too unbearable. 16. Unseen people on overlook above keep spitting on me. 17. Forgot key supplies (brushes, solvent, paints, or panel). 18. Fog comes in and covers view. 19. Shop opens or doorway becomes active. 20. Sub-freezing temperatures freeze watercolor. 21. Automatic sprinklers turned on in garden. 22. Car or truck parks in front, obstructing view. 23. Lights turned on, killing mood; or turned off, obscuring sketchbook. 24. Tour bus unloads gaggle of annoying tourists who hover around snapping pictures and asking inane questions. 25. Portrait subject approached, waving a finger, superstitious about being drawn.
39 Comments on Gamestoppers, last added: 8/19/2010
I once was sketching a bowling green in Bakewell when a woman approached me and snatched the sketchbook out of my hand, "to have a proper look". I was a bit miffed with that and rather lost the urge to carry on drawing.
I did not realize my hobby is so dangerous and unpredictable... :-)) And even people attacking (The fearless threader example :-)) Smog in the city wiped away my dreams to sketch today.
What a wonderful post!! I thought this kind of thing only happened to me, especially the truck parking in front of the subject, LOL!
The sprinkler one happen to me too, and it scared me so bad I just about did a flip out of my seat. Then, of course, I calmly looked around to see if anyone was watching.
I can't believe people were actually spitting on you, now that's pretty rude.
And your chair collapsed in the museum?! Ouch!
Well, here's to better painting in the future... and the exciting adventure plein air can be. :)
Love these! Experienced many of them... would have to add: Little kids keep putting fingers into paint. My favorite is the donkey - aren't they something? It takes a pretty hard-hearted painter to shoo away a tenderly affectionate donkey.
I should have explained that the spitting was unintentional. The tourists in Death Valley didn't know Jeanette and I were sitting in the only patch of shade down below the overlook. When we looked up, they said, "Goldarn, there's a couple artists down there."
The one I hate the most are the tourists. If I get asked one more time if I am a painter I will flip. No. I am an MI5 agent disguised as a painter! Its called surveillance people!
I can't explain it buy my biggest gamestopper is the age-old question, "Ooh, what's that a drawing of?" after a stranger looks at your sketchbook. I know it's meant as a polite conversation starter but it just takes the wind out of my sails. Especially if you happen to be sitting under a gigantic bridge, drawing the gigantic bridge and somebody asks, "What is that?"
Usually I smile politely and say, "Ducks" or "The sunset" or some other imagery that is not at all what I'm drawing.
I have to add, my showstopper is typically when someone walks up and asks with all sincerity, "Are you drawing that?" It's hard to grasp the unknown, but this is the one situation that makes me question the meaning of it all...
Tom, no, I would lose interest in the subject if I had to work from the photo. To tell you the truth, I kind of enjoy the low-level chaos that I face outdoors or in a busy pub, as long as it doesn't ratchet up to Gamestopper level.
I haven't really been field painting (hoping to try this weekend) but I sketch on the DC Metro on my commute to and from work just about everyday.
The most "gamestoppers" I get is if I have to hang on to the rail. (unless i learn to draw and hold my sketchbook with one hand :op) or if the sketch subject doesn't like being sketched and gives me dirty DC looks I usually oblige and choose a different subject. Most of the time people are sleeping though and make for some good subjects for sketching.
Even though there is not a lot variety in the poses there're are so many different kind people to choose from its awesome.
I guess the worst thing happening to me had to do with going to Italy as part of a school group. They'd take us to the most stupendous places, then shuffle us back up the road or in the bus, just a couple minutes into my sketching, and I didn't have a camera back then. The worst was going to Assisi, the church is up on a cliff, and a restaurant nearby sits right on the cliff itself. The view was incredible, all of Italy, with an incredible sun and rays of light filtering down. And the Prof didn't want to eat there because it was too expensive (as in a euro or two more per plate than the other place). She refused my offer to pay for everyone, and wouldn't let me go on my own... She said I could come back some other day (you'd think an art history prof would understand the difficulty in getting the same weather/light). I've never been back. Maybe in another ten years..... The lesson I learned is, when traveling/painting through Europe, do it alone.
My personal favorite game stoppers are: falling a sleep in the sun and losing my great light, having a horse decide my hair hair is straw and trying to eat it, having the boulder that I was sitting on suddenly decide to slide downhill (nothing was damaged but my pride), dropping my portable watercolor box overboard and watching it sink and last, but not least, remembering everything for a nice day of painting outside BUT forgetting the paper.
I was about to do a workshop demo of a quaint little Victorian house when a septic pumper truck pulled up and parked directly in front of my subject. I continued...and so did the pumper. No sooner than I finished my demo, than the pumper truck finished its work, too. Gamestopper? Nah.
Got knocked to the wet ground hard by an electric fence. It was cranked up due to a couple of large bulls in the field. I looked at the tree in the corner and saw the barbed wire nailed to the trunk, so I thought there was no electric fence. Straddling the lower strand, holding the upper strand above my head and back, I reached and pushed down on the lower which was hot.
I got up, muddy, and painted a small one that now hangs in the US Embassy in Portugal.
A pickup truck drove up and parked in front of the tree I was painting. A guy got out of the truck, pulled a chain saw out of the back of it and proceeded to cut down the tree. I couldn't believe it was really happening- did someone pay him to do that? ... I couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard.
Once in Boston, I was interrupted at night by a large, mentally-handicapped man, who kept shaking my hand, and then started asking if I was his friend. I said, yeah, and next thing I know, he's asking, "Are you my girlfriend? Are you my girlfriend?" So I got the hell out.
One night I decided to draw a landscape for a girl I liked, and didn't stop even though I was eaten alive by mosquitos. Only my hands were exposed (planning) but by the end I counted over 40 bites on each hand. In the end... the girl lost it, and then started dating some bass guitarist...
My girlfriend, her best friend and I made a brief visit to Japan last year and, all being creatives, managed a few plein air sessions.
One such location was Miyajima where there is a famous shrine gate whose foundations are underwater at high tide. We were there approaching sunset, with high tide reflecting the colours of the darkening sky and the brightly artificially illuminated Torii. Perfect. The sightseers out snapping pics of the iconic landmark started taking just as many photos of us, until another local attraction started to interfere.
Tame deer came up and one took a specific liking to my girlfriends moleskine sketchbook, trying to eat it right out from under her brush. She got decidedly irate when she could not startle the tame animal, though the tourists around us were more easily disturbed. Together we managed to herd the beast away, though the light was failing fast and the moment had passed.
In my opinion the memory is better with the deers hijinks, but my girlfriend surely feels differently.
Hilarious post and I find the donkey incident charming too. I was once attacked by geese. And once my subject thought drawing him was my way of trying to ask him out. I just thought he had an interestingly shaped head but how do you tell him that? I certainly prefer sketching unaware people.
Got knocked to the wet ground by a juiced up electric fence. Big bulls in the lot so it was cranked.
Looked at the tree in the corner of the field and saw the top strand of barbed wire nailed in, so I thought it was safe. Little did I know the middle strand was hot. As I lifted the top strand and was ducking under, I pressed down on the middle strand with my left hand. POW! Ended up in the mud. Luckily not laying on the fence.
Early one morning, I set up my Open Box M and unrolled my brush holder on a nearby log, anticipating the golden light that would give form to the wooded path that stretched out in front of me.
With the sun's light came its heat and what I assumed to be biting flies. I absentmindedly swatted them, all attention on my painting. Then WHAM! One bit me on my back! Through my shirt! It really hurt!
I glanced over my shoulder, toward the log and GHEEAHGGGGG!! -- a swarm of yellow jackets (who were none too happy about having my brush holder spread out over their nest)! In one panicked movement, I grabbed my painting rig in one hand and made a grab for my brush holder as I bolted away.
If you've ever seen somebody pull the table cloth cleanly out from under a fully set table -- leaving the dishes, silverware and glasses in place, then you can picture what happened to my brushes -- most of them stayed perfectly in place in the middle of the log as I tugged away the brush holder. Looking back over my shoulder as I sprinted down the path, I could see the brushes' ferrules, sparkling in the sun as angry yellow jackets swirled around them.
I as well love the donkey comment. - in fact the whole list was amusing to read
People asking inane questions is a big one for me. especially the dual comment 'are you an artist? I can't even draw a stick figure'. I know they mean well...
Perfect time to tell my story. I was sketching some hyenas at a zoo and the border was pretty small. I sketched them for a long while and thought it would be cool, (warning this is stupid) to reach in and have the hyena leave its mark on my sketchbook... Kinda like when Fred Flintstone clocks in at his work. Well it didnt go that nice....bye bye sketchbook. I think I had too much sun that day.....
Thanks for the post and list Jim!! Hope your trip was fun.
I hiked about 3 miles into a national park, got all set up, placed the panel on the easel, set up the stool, opened the paintbox and realized I didn't have Titanium White or any other white for that matter!! I still ended up completing the oil painting. Not having white made me think about how much I always used it. This forced me to rethink how I painted. The painting is actually one of my favorite ones that I've done.
She was nothing like the other Cinders that had come before her. This girl had a passion for fashion! She had magnificent and magical skills as a seamstress. She was sewing and whipping up fantastic clothing for the likes of Snow White, Fairy Godmother, The Three Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. Her list of clients went on and on and on. Honestly, the girl was just to busy for any stupid ball. This Cinderella was all about the money. he he he he!!! Have a good one!
12 Comments on A Different Cinderella, last added: 8/20/2010
Waw, it really sparks!! :D This is wonderful and very original work!! I just knew that all of these fairytale characters where seeing the same tailor!! Your a genius!!
An original turtle watercolor of mine is now available on the Ripple sketch blog for a small donation! Be the first to contribute to one of the worthy charities helping the gulf oil spill (per her instructions on the blog), and I’ll be mailing you the 4″x5″ sketch-card – for keeps.
It’s just $10, and you should be donating anyway. I mean, come on, that’s like the cost of a sandwich. Now go buy some art and save the sea turtles!!
It's been a busy week for me (my husband had a week and a half off in between starting a new job) so I've basically been on vacation as well. I've neglected my blog but I decided to jump on to post a brief installment about another of my favorite books.
Today's feature is Old Coyote illustrated by Max Grafe. This is a perfect example of one of my favorite types of picturebooks---elegant, sophisticated, and emotionally compelling.
Max Grafe's work is often printmaking related, an influence that comes through in his mixed media illustrations that recall the unexpected textures inherent in mono prints. The subdued color palette and simple compositions add a sensitivity to what is ultimately a story about the harmonic cycle of life and death. It's a heavy theme here given delicate lightness and grace. The writing is poetic and dignified and the whole book experience is perfectly paced, quietly moving from begining to end. But beware...it may leave you a bit bleary eyed...in a good way.
3 Comments on I Love Kidlit: Old Coyote, last added: 8/20/2010
I sort of intentionally shied away from saying much about the "plot"---because it doesn't exactly have one in the traditional sense. There's no real conflict or anything. It's just a narrative of an old animal journeying to his death while reflecting on the simple life he had...
It's been a busy week for me (my husband had a week and a half off in between starting a new job) so I've basically been on vacation as well. I've neglected my blog but I decided to jump on to post a brief installment about another of my favorite books.
Today's feature is Old Coyote illustrated by Max Grafe. This is a perfect example of one of my favorite types of picturebooks---elegant, sophisticated, and emotionally compelling.
Max Grafe's work is often printmaking related, an influence that comes through in his mixed media illustrations that recall the unexpected textures inherent in mono prints. The subdued color palette and simple compositions add a sensitivity to what is ultimately a story about the harmonic cycle of life and death. It's a heavy theme here given delicate lightness and grace. The writing is poetic and dignified and the whole book experience is perfectly paced, quietly moving from begining to end. But beware...it may leave you a bit bleary eyed...in a good way.
0 Comments on I Love Kidlit: Old Coyote as of 1/1/1900
Christopher David Ryan describes himself as a “a graphic artist, illustrator, daydreamer, pseudo-scientist, wanna-be astronaut and untrained intellectual.” Recently, he published the third installment to his As Overheard in the Back of My Mind series of books, which features a collection of thoughts and images from the depths of his psyche. Chock full of peppy people and inspirational adages, this book is a great addition to your bookshelf.
To purchase a copy of As Overheard in the Back of my Mind: Vol. 3, visit CD Ryan’s shop. To see more of his work, visit his website.
Connie Tyrrell Burns, of Mahoney Middle School in South Portland, Maine write a fabulous starred review of The Search for WondLa in the current issue of School Library Journal. Here is my fav part:
…The abundant illustrations, drawn in a flat, two-tone style, are lush and enhance readers’ understanding of this unique universe. In addition, augmented reality is used in three places. By holding up the page from the book to a webcam, an interactive map appears on the screen. Readers can watch as the landscape where Eva Nine is traveling unfolds. DiTerlizzi is pushing the envelope in his latest work, nearly creating a new format that combines a traditional novel with a graphic novel and with the interactivity of the computer. Yet, beneath this impressive package lies a theme readers will easily relate to: the need to belong, to connect, to figure out one’s place in the world. The novel’s ending is a stunning shocker that will leave kids frantically awaiting the next installment.
She got it! She really got it. Yeeessss!
If that was not enough, Debra Lau Whelan did a lengthy interview with yours truly discussing the origin of WondLa, the sequel books, and the developing movie at Paramount Pictures. Please to enjoy!
1 Comments on School Library Journal: WONDLAFUL!, last added: 8/18/2010
Hyperventilation and The Search for WondLa | Chaos said, on 8/18/2010 10:23:00 AM
[...] If I understood correctly, it’s already being made. So exciting! Here’s a link to the post he did which led to a interview type thing, which is where I found out about the movie. :} IT HAS [...]
Ahh i love this Alicia, star gazing, we've done a bit of that this holiday and were lucky enough to see the some of the meteor shower and this holiday we've been doing the Space Hop reading challenge at the library so double whammy :)
Hey Alicia! This is so cute, adorable and beautiful! I just love little Phillipe and his awestruck expression. Fantastic colors and shadows. one word..... SWEEEEEET!
Hi, hope it's OK to contact you here. We would love to include your blog on our giveaway search engine: Giveaway Scout (http://www.giveawayscout.com). Have a look and if interested, use our online form to add your blog (http://www.giveawayscout.com/addblog/ ). thanks, Josh
I was lead to your blog by Laura Jacobsen's blog. I'm glad I came! Your sketches, especially architectural ones, are beautiful. I really enjoyed seeing your work. I'll be back to see more. Thanks for sharing. Tina
That's awesome...I love walking around and seeing objects and wanting to 'add to them' to create characters or monsters...unfortunately society frowns on such actions when you don't own the location where said objects are...
Craig Yoe’s latest book is a beautiful love letter to the comic book legacy of Otto Messmer/Joe Oriolo’s Felix The Cat. As usual, Yoe has produced an art book that is unto itself a thing of art, a 226 page celebration of Felix’s four-color career. Previously John Canemaker covered the animated films and David Gerstein collected selected Sunday newspaper strips. Here, Yoe focuses on the Dell/Toby/Harvey periodicals created by animators Messmer, Oriolo and Jim Tyer. The book itself is lavishly produced (which is standard for Yoe’s publications) starting with the classy black and white cover – a clever contrast to rainbow-hued Messmer end papers and content to come. It begins with a 35-page introductory text, liberally illustrated with original Messmer/Oriolo art, rare photographs and odd-ball historical material (my favorite is a 1925 Photoplay magazine spread featuring a Ziegfeld Girl teaching Felix the latest dance craze, The Black Bottom). And then the real fun begins: twelve choice Felix stories, originally created between 1946 and 1954. .jpeg?picon=2593)
3 Comments on Summer sketchbookings., last added: 8/18/2010
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Ha ha, Chuck! Love em all! The commentary is hilarious. I think I'll try my hand at that. Thanks for posting what you have!
These are amazing, Chuck! Man, I must live in normalsville...I'm jealous that I don't get to see these folks around my neighborhood...wel, maybe at the local Wal-Mart...
Thanks Paula and Phyllis! Philadelphia is a pretty wacky city but sometimes you just have to look for it.