Man vs. Art – Listen to Me and Raul Yakkin’ about Storyboarding Cartoons and Comics

My second* podcast interview is for the wonderfully brooding and always entertaining Raul Aguirre Jr.’s Man Vs. Art.

Raul Aguirre Jr. has been in the animation biz since 1994, when he was hired as an animator on Disney’s Lion King feature. Since then he has animated on many other Disney features, and has worked on many TV series as storyboard artist and director.
We had a great talk about storyboarding – and I had a chance to spout off on all my favorite artists who have influenced my work!
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Raul created a great page of show notes at:
http://manvsart.com/man-vs-art-episode-20-sherm-cohen-from-cartoonsnap-com-talks-about-the-essentials-storyboards-comics-and-cartoons/
…where you can also listen to or download the podcast. Let me know whatcha think!
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*PS: for info on my first podcast interview, see:
http://paperengine.blogspot.com/2010/04/idiot-engine-episode-27-how-do-you.html

SpongeBob Hangover

A few fun storyboard panels from
“The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie.”

I usually just made black and white xeroxes of my boards,
but I liked the way the colors looked on these, so I scanned 'em in color.

In case you haven’t seen the movie, SpongeBob goes on an ice cream bender after getting passed over for a promotion at the Krusty Krab. When he wakes up the next morning, he’s pretty ornery!

Aaron Springer did the original rough sketches for this scene, so I had some great art to start with!

Animation JOBS: Character Designers, BG Painters wanted on Tinkerbell

Once again, there is a new job announcement for cartoonists and animation-types. The following announcement is copy-and-pasted from the TAG Job line announcement

DisneyToon Studios is looking for Character Designers and BG Painters for the TinkerBell franchise.

To apply: go to www.disneyanimation.com and upload portfolio there- once you have created a profile and uploaded your work email Alison Mann at:

alison (dot) mann (at) disney.com

...so she can review their work. Links to websites are preferable.

The Unhappy Castle by Ken Hultgren

The Unhappy Castle from Ha Ha Comics #56

by Ken Hultgren, an animator who worked on Disney classics 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and 'Bambi.'

Ken Hultgren went on to draw comics throughout the 40s 50s and 60s…from the ACG funny animal titles to the Mickey Mouse comic strip, and even Flintstones and Archie Comics.

Ken Hultgren remained an animator all during this time, and continued until his death in 1968.

 

Click on any image for a BIG comic book scan!

His work lives on in the classic drawing book, “The Art of Animal Drawing,” which has been in print since 1951. Great book, by the way.

More Ken Hultgren goodies HERE:

The Know-How of Cartooning was Hultgren’s first book, and you can find many beautiful scans from this book at:
http://arglebarglin.blogspot.com/2006/06/ken-hultgren-on-cartooning.html

How to Breathe Life into Your Artwork

Recently, I've had the pleasure of being a guest on a couple really cool podcasts. The first one is called The Idiot Engine, a very in-depth examination of creating comics, the philosophy of art, and self-publishing. My old pal Ted Seko has been hosting this show for quite a while, and it always makes for great listening.

The topic of this show is, "how to breathe life into your artwork."

http://paperengine.blogspot.com/2010/04/idiot-engine-episode-27-how-do-you.html

Ted and I talk about all the things that have worked for us during the course of our cartooning careers.

I guess this is pretty normal for podcasts, but the conversation steers off-topic a number of times for some interesting rabbit trails into the minds of the couple of guys that draw to live and live to draw.

Some of my SpongeBob Comics – Super Suspicion

Here’s a SpongeBob comic book story I did for Nickelodeon Magazine back in ought-two. This was done during the break between the end of SpongeBob’s 3rd season and before production started on the Movie.

It was fun ‘cause I finally had a chance to get back to my comic book roots, and reach a huge audience, too.

Story, pencils and lettering by me,
inked by Vince Deporter, coloring by Digital Chameleon.

Anyway, just click on any image to open up a HUGE high-resolution comic page.

I’m not sure why, but I’ve never posted any of my Nick Mag comics before. Oh, wait…I remember why. I was still freelancing for Nickelodeon Magazine and I didn’t wanna make  them mad. But last December the magazine shut its doors, so here they are.

^ That was a fun panel to draw!

I’m always fond of bookending the opening and closing panels
(or scenes in a cartoon)

A lot of these comics were collected
into book form: Comic Crazy!

Click HERE to see more on the book
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Wanna see more of these SpongeBob comics stories? I’ll post some more if you let me know in the comments. Talk to you soon! --Sherm

Finale: Felix Finds His Way Home

Otto Messmer finally wraps up this 1930 Felix the Cat adventure by helping Felix return home from Mexico. He was clearly making this up as he was going along, but it’s still loads of fun!
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Links to earlier Felix episodes:
Part ONE || Part TWO
Part THREE || Part FOUR

The END
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Missed the earlier chapters?  Here they are:
Part ONE || Part TWO
Part THREE || Part FOUR

Basil Wolverton’s Hotel Trilogy

I’ve got my new Basil Wolverton Culture Corner book on order, so in anticipation of its arrival, I’d like to celebrate by pointing you toward a set of amazing scans of rarely-seen Wolverton comics!

Click to see Culture Corner on Amazon.com ---------------------

Courtesy of the Golden Age Comic Book Stories blog, comes this mother-lode of Wolverton wonderfulness: Thirty-something pages of golden-age comical weirdness, featuring three different stories about a hotel clerk named Berserk McJerk/Berk!

All the goodies are HERE:
http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/2010/02/basil-wolverton-hotel-clerk-trilogy-and.html

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More on Basil Wolverton and Culture Corner:

Dozens of scanned Culture Corner comic strips at: http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/archives/682

Felix the Cat is LOST in Mexico – more 1930 Classics by Otto Messmer

  Felix the Cat’s Adventures in Mexico take a weird turn. Our hero seems to forget all about Cocky Rooster, and now all he can think about is scamming a free meal! 1930 strips by Otto Messmer as reprinted in Dell Four Color #77
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Links to earlier Felix episodes:
Part ONE || Part TWO
Part THREE

…and have you seen this wonderful tribute to Otto Messmer? John K says it all HERE:
”Otto Messmer is probably the biggest influence on American animation there ever was.”
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2010/04/messmers-pure-cartoony-style.html