Blue Moon Blog

An old scan of a couple old drawings.

With additional work coming in this week I’m topsy-turvy, in over my head, wiped out! Completion and posting of my Genius, Isolated review will have to wait til next week, if then. I’m not exactly sure what awaits me the next seven days, so…

This Toth panel is from Surfside Saga, one of the earlier stories in the One For the Road collection, reprinting all the stories the artist wrote and drew for Peter Millar’s Hot Rod magazines in the mid-’60s. The stories show a cartoonier, MADder side of Toth.

For today’s Google+ Artist Sketch Challenge: Ways Penguins Fly.

Where the Rainbow Ends creator Carsten Bradley kicked off this daily Artist Sketch Challenge on Google+ this week, tossing out one-of-a-kind weird and wacky themes for artists to go crazy with. I was so busy with work and family I didn’t get to my two entries til Friday/Saturday, but gosh, they were fun to do!

From Cartoon Characters as Sea Creatures.

From Unsuccessful Monster Cereals.

I’m stumbling my way through learning  demo versions of Manga Studio and Sketchbook Pro the last ten days, still getting my bearings. I drew both of these in Manga Studio, but colored them in Photoshop, where I’m yet more comfy and familiar.

I’ll be joining in the daily challenge as time allows and inspiration dictates. Carsten has a doozy of an idea for Monday he announced Saturday morning, so there should be plenty of offerings awaiting us all Monday morn. My take on it came to me in minutes.

Check in to view the funny and clever drawings, or if you’re so inclined jump in and do some yourself! It’s easy – just Circle Carsten, post your drawing on your G+ page/album, adding +Carsten Bradley to your text and he’ll add your entry to the blog. C’mon – the more the merrier!

This character is sticking to my brain, flowing from the pen…

I’m settling in on the Adorable Snowboy name…for now.

My Facebook pal, David Reddick posted today his version of that old cartoon and cereal favorite – Quisp!

So I opened up Sketchbook Pro and took my stab at the looney little spaceman:

I still have plenty to learn with that program, but this tutorial by Where the Rainbow Ends author, Carsten Bradley has helped me get a bit more on the right track.

I’m up to my neck, under the gun, behind the eight ball, in a tight spot – way too much work to complete and post my review of Genius, Isolated. Probably next week.

This one one sweet Toth panel from his Zorro run: Sergeant Garcia is caught unawares.

Most of Garcia’s head and figure are in shadow, as is the gun and finger on the trigger.  This creates the highest contrast  with the gun, so the center of interest, also focusing attention on Garcia’s reaction/expression. The gun is cropped, Garcia’s head tight to the right side of the frame. So, the point at which the tip of the gun meets Garcia’s neck is at lower-center panel, though in shadow, obscured.

All lines and curves of this composition leads one’s eye to that center point (as shown below).

Another Zorro page is analyzed here and Zorro sketches here.

Maybe you’ve seen the new 3DTV Best Buy commercial?

Here are a couple storyboard concept drawings I did for it:

I was provided reference for the actor playing the blueshirt. He’s all over the Best Buy site, too, in vids for laptop test drives, etc.

The character types, staging & blocking and more change as it gets closer to actually shooting the commercial. Sometimes the concept drawings I do look exactly like the final commercial, other times they bear only a passing resemblance.

These frames were done digitally, completely in Photoshop.

Some Sunday morning Manga Studio sketching…

Or should I call him the Adorable Snowboy? Something else…?

Watching the news the last couple weeks, I was struck how dour and sour were the two main spokesmen for Standard & Poor’s during interviews. If ever there two guys’ mugs perfectly cast to deliver the discouraging news of a downgrade, it’s these chipper-monkeys…

Given that this is the very same agency that gave mortgage-backed securities a clean bill of health before the economic collapse in ’08, should we really take their word for it now? Maybe that’s why the DOJ is investigating them for that very thing – or is that a political move? Ah, two fine organizations to be highly trusted! GAH!

Thanks a lot, S&P: Sour Puss.

BTW  – I drew these with the Pen Tool in Manga Studio.