If you’re wondering why things have been quiet around here it’s partly because Jay, Patricia, and I just spent the last 4 days in Scottsdale, Arizona for the 2004 Reuben Awards which were given out by the National Cartoonists Society on Saturday night.
This year’s recipient of the Reuben Award for 2004 Cartoonist of the Year was Pat Brady, the creator of Rose is Rose, pictured here. The legendary Gahan Wilson took home the Milton Caniff Award for lifetime achievement.
The division award winners were as follows:
- Newspaper Comic Strips: Glenn McCoy (“The Duplex”)
- Editorial Cartoons: Jeff Parker (Florida Today)
- Newspaper Panels: Marcus Hamilton (“Dennis The Menace”)
- Greeting Cards: Glenn McCoy
- Newspaper Illustration: Michael McParlane
- Magazine Feature/Magazine Illustration: Jack Pittman
- Book Illustration: Geefwee Boedoe
- Advertising Illustration: Mike Lester
- Comic Books: Darwin Cooke (“DC: The New Frontier”)
- Gag Cartoons: Robert Weber
- TV Animation: Craig McCracken (“Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”)
- Feature Animation: Brad Bird (Director, “The Incredibles”)
A full press release for the awards is available at the site. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! Now, after a day of connecting flights and shuttle buses, I’m exhausted and am going to take a nice… long… nap.
A few years ago, California State Polytechnic University Pomona held an interview with Disney character design supervisor, Chen Yi Chang. The interview, which can be streamed over the net here, covers a number of different topics from Chang’s background, a rough breakdown of the production pipeline of a feature film, as well as character design and technique. Clocking in at over two hours long, this is a nice little jewel of a find. (Thanks Elisa!)
**Update**
I’ve just finished listening to the first half of the interview and it seems to be more geared (so far anyways) towards beginners rather than those with more experience. So if you know the basics and don’t feel like getting a refresher course, you may want to skip ahead.
How much do I love Gris Grimly? Very much! I’ve always been drawn to his macabre yet whimsical style of illustration. Grimly names a number of artists as his influences, among them Charles Addams, Edward Gorey, Jim Henson, Marice Sendak, and Tim Burton. “Tim Burton,†he says, “made a huge influence on the world. He put humor and gothic horror in the blender and hit puree.†I think that description works well for Grimly too.
In honour of this year’s Reuben Awards, which are handed out this weekend by the National Cartoonists Society, I think we need a few links to the man who was not only the namesake of the prize, but the designer of the statue itself. I’m of course speaking about Rube Goldberg, most famous for his wacky inventions that were nothing but a celebration of the impractical. A brief bio is available via Wikipedia, or you can read about the man in his own words. Finally, the full text of a story written by Rube that was printed in the now out-of-print issue #2 of Hogan’s Alley, is available on the magazine’s website.
Susie Ghahremani has a simple, delicate, and friendly website that perfectly matches her illustrations (and that thankfully has a URL easier to remember than the spelling of her last name). She also performs music under the delightful pseudonyms “Snoozer” and “Snuggletooth”.
If there’s one thing the Internet is good at, it’s providing us with great collections of bizarre golden age comic book covers — like this one, that really speaks for itself. Ben Samuels’s gallery has plenty of superhero, war, romance, and crime comic book covers from his personal collection. Fun stuff.
Jeremy sends in this link to Ryan Greis’s website featuring Pooptooth: Ryan’s study of hillbillies. As Jeremy puts it, the series “draws upon experiences gathered growing up in the backwoods of Kentucky, combining equal parts stereotype, rural mythology and real-life ugly into brilliantly exaggerated portraits and paintings. Utilizing a multi-layered approach combining watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil and oils he is able to bring these characters to shockingly vivid life.”
Connoisseurs of the great Harvey Kurtzman have posted some of his journal comics over at The Comics Journal board, including one where Kurtzman is sent to Ireland to follow James Cagney as he prepares for a role in his next big film.
Interesting to see Kurtzman depict himself in such a deprecating manner. Journal comics never change. Inspiring stuff.
[Link]
Wear It With Pride has an interview with Australia’s very own Nathan J up on their site. If you are unfamiliar with Nathan, he’s a top notch illustrator and the brains behind Scary Girl… who is quickly taking over the world.
Montreal illustrator Isabelle Arsenault studied graphic design before plunging herself into the world of illustration, and it definitely shows in her composition and ideas. I especially like her recurring palette of muted blues and reds. The link to her childrens’ illustration makes me pine for a whole collection of kids books illustrated by her.
