PB Pooches

Arrow indicates where nose should be.

Now here's my personal take on this dog:

Remember my whingeing about linework the other day? Boy, did I ever get bold fast. Literally.

What I Was Whining About

Yeeeaaahhh, sometimes I draw like.......this. Okay, so it's not THAAAT terrible. The feet are floating, the pencil really ought to be sharper, god I hate stopping to do that but so does everyone, yablayablaya.....Actually, the composition, lines of action and basic forms are all only slightly off. But to a truly serious cartoonist -which I obviously aspire to be- that's like saying, "Hell, my weakly stabilized basement apartment with crumbling drywall that's filled with Nitroglycerine bombs and priceless Chinese vases from the Ming Dyasty is really just slightly overlapping a massive fault line! I'll be fine, you'll see!"

Yes, it's one hell of an unforgiving craft, and that's probably the way it ought to be - most of the time, anyway.

Is This The Best Cartooning Study I've Ever Done?

If not, it's damn close. One thing that's definitely different about it is that this time I successfully punched it up with voluminous thick-and-thin lines, following the original ones as closely as I could. Usually I'm too nervous to do that - one slip and it ruins the whole drawing. Which brings me to my single most irritating shortcoming as an artist - I'm prone to slipping. And digging, and fudging, and fidgeting....you name it. Fact is, I still have terrible motor control. I can't even snap my fingers. And being left-handed isn't a big deal in general, but sometimes it sure doesn't help.

Fortunately, though, I think my passion for the craft is already starting to fix those issues. Practice and personality are on my side. I work hard at it whenever I can, and everyone I know tells me I draw "funny" - in a good way. The great John Kricfalusi says that that's the one part of cartooning you're either born with or you aren't. I'm all too happy to take his word for it.

PB Puppies

PB Hands

Late-Forties McKimson Unit Bugs Pose Sheet

It just struck me - the part of Bugs' construction that makes it so hard to get a study of him right on the nose is the same part....that the, uh, NOSE....is....right.......on. Heh. Hemm..........WELL, I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY, SO - - - THERE!!!

WHAT is it....

....about the style of whichever animator laid out Daffy's dance in Duck Soup to Nuts that makes it so easy to turn him into an 80's Nelvana duck and not catch yourself doing it until it's too late?

AARGH!!!!

Tom McKimson Tweety Sheet

Here comes the naked genius now....

"Travis Pickle" Doodle

He means business....whatever that means......

Sorry this and other reproductions below look so hideous, I really gotta get that scanner hooked up.

Evil Babies & Anal Bellhops

*Yeah, I know he's not carrying any luggage and he's probably wearing the wrong hat. I decided what he was moments before posting this. Sue me, moosie.