This Weekend: The Center for Cartoon Studies Portfolio Review Day

It's this weekend, at their White River Junction, VT location.

Here's the press release:

PORTFOLIO DAY
AT CCS

AN EVENT FOR PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009
10am-1pm

• Bring your sketchbook!
• Show your portfolio for an admissions review
• Learn more about the program and courses
• Meet faculty and students
• Tour the campus
• R.S.V.P. Space is limited!

Who Should Attend?
Prospective students, applicants, college students, high school seniors and graduates, family and friends welcome!

Location
The Center for Cartoon Studies
94 South Main Street
White River Junction, Vermont
Driving directions, transportation options, and local accommodations at cartoonstudies.org

Questions?
admissions@cartoonstudies.org
(802) 295-3319

Father Guido Sarducci on Art School

A real Clio-award winning commercial from 1982.

Big hat tip to Nobody's Sweetheart I Let My Fists Do the Talkin' blog!

2009 Toon Award & Exhibition

The first Toon Award & Exhibition will begin later this month in Okoboji, Iowa. Students 18 years of age or older may submit their work for exhibition and award consideration. The deadline is next Wednesay, April 15, 2009. There will be a series of awards in these distinct cartooning disciplies:

• Magazine Cartoons
• Greeting Cards
• Comic Books
• Political Cartoons
• Illustrations
• Manga & Anime
• Comic Strips
• Animation

From April 24, 2009 until June 27, 2009, there will be a display of amateur and professional cartoon work at the Pearson Lakes Art Center.

There will be a 2 day conference, April 24 - 25th, 2009, beginning with a reception on Friday evening. Scheuled for Saturday: cartooning workshops and a cartoon raffle. Saturday night isthe awards ceremony.

My thanks to Ken Alvine, the man who is organizing all this, for keeping me informed. Thanks, Ken!

"How to Cartoon" Books Advice

Here are some random thoughts about how to cartoon from a series of "How to Cartoon" books that I randomly pulled off the shelf. The books range from 1967 to 2007.

"It is likely the height of arrogance, not to mention utter foolishness, for me to attempt to writing a book such as this.Considering that all of human effort could perhaps be Ozymandian folly,the search for meaning, catharsis and dignity in the humble act of cartooning may seem an especially delusional quest. Perhaps this will end up as simply another 'blip' in a long line of misguided, ineffectual primers written by mediocre cartoonists -- a limp, halted spike in an already insipid graph of unworthiness.who, after all, wants to take lessons from losers?"

from CARTOONING PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICE by Ivan Brunetti, Buenaventura Press, Oakland, CA, © 2007 by Ivan Brunetti

"With the potential to utilize panels, characters, word balloons, captions and an unlimited special effects budget, the comic feature is a unique vehicle for humor and self-expression."

from YOUR CAREER IN THE COMICS by Lee Nordling, Andrews McMeel, © 1995 by Lee Nordling

"The cartoon made something of a comeback in the 1970s after a decade or two of atrophy. Editorial cartoonists get more vigorous in their attacks on public officials, one of the good things to come out of Watergate; gag cartoonists tackled subjects that, a few years earlier, editors would not have touched with a ten foot pencil; comic strips became funny again; and advertising and public relations types seemed more willing to poke a little fun at their products or clients."

from CARTOONING by Roy Paul Nelson, Henry Regenry Company, Chicago, © 1975 by Roy Paul Nelson

"Imagine an unlikely situation. You're sitting in a doctor's outer office, waiting for your appointment. The man or woman across the room -- a total stranger -- looks at you and says, 'Make me laugh. I'll give you seven seconds.'"

from THE CARTOONIST'S MUSE A GUIDE TO GENERATING AND DEVELOPING CREATIVE IDEAS by Mischa Richter and Harald Bakken, Contemporary Books, Chicago, © 1992 by Mischa Richter and Harald Bakken

"Among the attractions of cartooning as a profession are low overhead and the absence of technology. The cartoonist needs no complicated tools nor engineering degrees. Some paper, pens, a brush and ink will do it. You can be outfitted for your career in an hour, for forty dollars."

from CARTOONING THE ART AND THE BUSINESS by Mort Gerberg, William Morrow, New York, NY, © 1989 by Mort Gerberg

"Each experienced writer and cartoonist has his individual way of producing visual humor. One will do extensive reading, culling germs of gags, usually of the cliche variety, from novels and mystery stories. Another will walk the streets hoping to get ideas out of the thin air. Some read the daily papers regularly and conceive ideas from current happenings. Still others attend gatherings with their ears cocked, hoping to get that funny line. There is the seeker of satire who locks himself in a sound-proof room and stares at a blank wall, while another will throw himself on a couch and project himself into a gag trance."

from CARTOONIST'S AND GAG WRITER'S HANDBOOK by Jack Markow, Writer's Digest, Cincinnati, OH, © 1967 by Writer's Digest

"The basic element behind good style in cartooning is proper training. Another prerequisite is complete dedication to the art form, In the pages that follow you will be exhorted to be constantly drawing -- drawing from the model, sketching and copying the masters, and doodling, a form of subconscious art that helps tap the imagination. These activities will help you achieve your desired goal: mastery of sound cartooning fundamentals."

from CARTOONING FUNDAMENTALS by Al Ross, Stravon Educational Press, New York, NY, © 1977 by Al Ross



from ED EMBERLEY'S DRAWING BOOK OF FACES by Ed Emberley, Little, Brown and Company, Boston & Toronto, © 1975 by Ed Emberley

Joe Wos & the Toonseum

Above: From the May 17, 2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Wonder Woman, Joe Wos, Betty Boop. A big tip o' the hat to Dr. Lynch for cutting this out of the PG and sending it along.

Last month, I had the chance to visit Joe Wos at the Toonseum, which is part of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. Joe was kind enough to show my wife and I around, and we all went to Joe's office to peek at some treasures. So, here are a few behind the scenes photos.


Joe took us up to his office. On a table were a couple of boxes and plastic bags full of HALF HITCH originals by Hank Ketcham (with an able uncredited assist by Dick Hodgins, Jr.). These are all awaiting cataloging.


These are gorgeous strips, and deserve to be seen. Above is one wonderfully illustrated panel. Ketcham had donated these originals to an armed forces facility. The personnel discovered that they could not file the strips away in traditional filing cabinets -- so they cut each original down so it would fit. Arrgh! So, not only do the strips need to be cataloged, first they have to be matched up and affixed together.


Joe has an amazing story about this lightboard that I am totally forgetting. I'm sorry Joe! I know it's an animation lightboard from the 1930s and some seminal animation was done on it. Arrgh! again.


Above: Joe Wos, Mike Lynch (Photo by Stacy!)

He's collecting cartoonists' drawings. One day this board will be full of original doodles!


Above: a closer angle. You can see Dan Piraro, Morrie Turner, Robb Arnstrong, Mike Lynch ....


Above: just a portion of Joe's bulletin board with all sorts of fun stuff; originals by Dan Crum. Tom Yeates, a lovely photo of Mssrs. Wos & Guisewite. Click to super-size.

My thanks to Joe for the time he took out of his schedule to show us around. There is a new exhibit of titled Just Kidding Around!: Children in Cartoons and Comics opening June 7th, featuring original art and rare items related from newspaper strips and kids TV. The exhibit runs through August 3rd.

1 Day Until Deadline

The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship

Do You Cartoon?

It's 2 weeks and 2 days until the deadline for the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship.

The Professional School of Cartooning 1947 UPDATED

From the pages of the Eli Stein Cartoons blog, comes scans of gag cartoonists and their cartoons. It's all from a brochure for The Professional School of Cartooning circa 1947, run by cartoonist/editor Lawrence Lariar.

"LARIAR SOLD THIS COMIC TO SATEVEPOST

"Lariar's smart, stylized cartoons are a model for many beginners, and his drawings of cute girls are familiar to all. He will criticize your drawings personally!"

Part of the fun is attaching faces to names like Henry Boltinoff, Ed Nofziger, George Wolfe, and Adolph Schus. (No good link found for Mr. Schus, unfortunately.)

Eli, thanks so much for bowing to pressure to scan more of this great old ephemera!

To the right, an ad (Is that a Lariar-drawn cute girl?) from an advertisement in Popular Mechanics Magazine (September 1948) from this page at the Modern Mechanix site.

Related: Eli Stein on the four cartoonist Roth brothers.

UPDATE: The one and only Orlando Busino passed along the below email with additional information on Adolph Schus. Thank you very much, Mr. Busino! Here's Orlando:

Here's a bio. from Lariar's book, BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1943 :

ADOLPH SCHUS

Born on New York's upper east side. . . lived in Wembly, a suburb of London, where he spent a good deal of his childhood. The zeppelin raids on London during the first world war, sent the family back to America. Except for a year on the continent, during which time he art-edited a publication published in Paris for Americans abroad. He has

been residing in New York. Married a Rochestarian in 1938 and their son was born in 1943. Just before the blessed event they bought a home in Harmon-on-the-Hudson, where Schus will continue to do cartoons for the country's leading magazines.

Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship

King Features Syndicate has committed $100,000 to establish an endowed scholarship fund in honor of Jay Kennedy, who served as King Features Syndicate Editor in Chief from 1997 until his untimely death earlier this year.

The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Fund, which will be administered by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF), will enhance two of the nonprofit organization’s major goals – to advance the ideals and standards of professional cartooning in its many forms and to stimulate and encourage interest in and acceptance of the art of cartooning by aspiring cartoonists, students and the general public.

Applicants must be college students in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or Senior year of college during the 2008-2009 academic year.

Applicants DO NOT have to be art majors to be eligible for this scholarship.

For more information, go to this link: National Cartoonists Society / The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship.

Manga to Help Find Real-Life Killer

Above: Kyoto Seika University manga students in a photo from the KSU Web site.

Kyoto Seika University has a Manga Department, where students learn how to create manga.

KSU had a tragedy in January: one of its students, Daisaku Chiba, was knifed. The Tokyo police have not caught the suspect.

The faculty and students have gotten together and created a 20 page manga book about the boy, his life, and what happened on January 15, 2007, in the hopes of finding the person or persons who stabbed Daisaku Chiba ten times.

Above: the 20 page pamphlet. A thousand copies will be distributed around railway stations in Kyoto and other places.

Some interior detail.

“Chiba-kun met us through manga. Wouldn’t it give us some comfort if we could help arrest the killer with the power of manga?”

Anime News Network has the story.

A big hat tip to Dirk Deppey at Journalista! for the heads up on this.

Joe Kubert & Sons Exhibition

Above: DC Special #5, December 1969. 68 pages for 25 cents! Image from the Grand Comics Database.

Lots of Joe Kubert in the news! And why not? He is part of a museum show:

Michael Uslan is interviewed about the museum show "Reflecting Culture: The Evolution of American Comic Book Superheroes" at the Montclair Art Museum. Joe Kubert, and his sons, will have an exhibition of their comic book work. Bill Ervolino wrote the story for the North Jersey Media Group.

Comics Are a Kubert Family Legacy by Asbury Park Press writer Mark Voger.

Joe Kubert on the profession:

“Anyone who wants to do this,” he says, “has to be sitting at that drawing table anywhere from eight to 10 hours a day, six to seven days a week in order to achieve the kind of quality necessary to be deemed a professional."

-- from Drawing a Strong Living From Superheroes, a great profile of Joe Kubert and his school, which is, unfortunately, locked behind a subscription-only wall.

What exactly do you do with a $30,000 diploma from cartoon college?

The Christian Science Monitor's Teresa Méndez writes about the first graduating class from the Center for Cartoon Studies.

Image from the CCS home page.

Hat tip to the Comics Reporter and my Dad.