Two Faced Guy on Storyboard Paper

Painting fun in ArtRage (and a little in Sketchbook Pro). I took a doodle I had made on storyboard paper, scanned it, made the white paper background disappear in Photoshop. Then imported to ArtRage for all the painting. Then colored the lines in Sketchbook Pro.

I was trying out all the tools and settings to get that scrumbly Golden Books kind of texture to my paint. Fun!

After so many years of being hung up on making things look "just right," I'm not at ALL concerned about "painting inside the lines." It feels quite liberating !

Thanksgiving Thoughts from Ralph Bakshi

Last year I read this interview with animation legend Ralph Bakshi (Wizards, Heavy Traffic, Mighty Mouse). I love the last paragraph the most –- a wonderful look at being thankful for the the life of a cartoonist -- so I’ll share it here:

How would you like to be remembered as an artist?

Ralph Bakshi: You do something because you love it, and you do it with everything you’ve got. And then you die. What you leave behind doesn’t matter. How much money you make doesn’t matter. What people think of you doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how you spend every fucking day of your life, how you feel about yourself—and not in the narcissistic, egotistical way. It doesn’t matter how I’m remembered, because I’ll remember everything myself. I’ve drawn every day of my life since high school and that’s a pure victory. I’m able to eat. I have hot dogs and I’m not starving. I live in a decent home on top of a mountain. I give my thanks, and I’m not angry anymore. The only person I’m angry with is Robert Crumb. He’s been on my back for too long. Tell him to get off it.

You can read the whole interview at: http://bit.ly/1o2A5W

Bakshi's Book:

And more wisdom from Ralph Bakshi:

My Last Cover for the Last Issue of Nickelodeon Magazine :(

The last cover for the last issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. Very very sad to see the magazine close its doors, but I'm happy that I got the chance to work with so many great people at Nick Mag for the last 13 years. Proper eulogy will follow when I can properly gather the right words. I am very honored to have the opportunity to paint this final cover, capping a thirteen-year relationship with the coolest magazine on the planet.

Here’s the version of the painting that I sent in to the magazine, before all the text overlays and color adjustments.

I tried something new on this one...I used Photoshop to put a knit-sweater texture on all the sweaters. I never knew how to do it before, but all I had to do was import a texture that I found online, then cut it to shape, adjust the angle and make the layer mode into Overlay. It worked!

Original drawing in marker on printer paper. Inked in Illustrator CS3. Painted in ArtRage 2.5 "Knit sweater" Texture applied in Photoshop CS3.

I’ll run a “making of” process feature as soon as I have time to put it together. In the meantime, head to your newsstand to pick up this historic final issue.