Video: Ben Katchor: American Cartoonist | CUNY Laureates

Via CUNY TV:

Graham Nolans' WORDS OF IRON: "Don't be afraid to do samples"

Here's famous Batman artist, and the man behind his own line of comic books, Compass Comics, Graham Nolan talking about what you do when an editor asks for some free samples. 

Roy Crane Scrapbook: Drawing Women

 

Here's the "Roy Crane Scrapbook," a feature from the Cartoonist PROfiles magazine No. 38, June 1978. Click to super-size, of course. I do not recall if this was a continuing feature in Jud Hurd's great magazine, but to find this by accident the other day was very exciting. [EDIT: It was an occasional feature in the early days of the magazine.]

Here's Mr. Crane:

"Almost all of the pictures on the preceding pages have these things in common which might be called 'Our Goal.'

"A pretty face ... drawn simply and with care.

"Graceful curves even to the finger tips

"Nice hair

"Interesting action to command attention

"Small waists, feet, ankles

"Simplicity

"And never mind what a girl really looks like."

This all looks like Mr. Crane himself pasted these up for the magazine.

"Pretty girl TYPES. Search for character.

"What a variety of eyes and lips! No two alike. Search for character in the eyes and lips."

"And how to make them DISTINCTIVE

"First, as with men, learn her dominant character trait.

"Is she to be bad, glad, or sad? Innocent, sophisticated, or aloof? Lively or demure? A schemer or a dreamer? Etc.

"What is to be her intended impact on the reader? Her general attitude?

"Only when you know the answer to these questions can you be expected to work out a satisfactory character."

"TYPES. As in the case with men, it's a job of fitting together a JIGSAW PUZZLE

"BEST BETS FOR GETTING INDIVIDUALITY:
"1. THE HAIR
"2. THE EYES There are innumerable shapes.
"3. THE LIPS These are but a few. Stuudy [sic] other pictures on these pages.
"4. THEIR RELATIONSHIP, ONE WITH ANOTHER For example: Is the upper lip long or short? Is the chin short, weak, rounded, pointed, cleft, etc? How long is the nose? Is the face broad, or long, and how shaped? How do they fit together?"

-- The following has been a rerun from the ol' blog dated March 20, 2009.

Listening to the Quiet with Harrison Ford

Via the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation:

You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown Read Along Cassette and Book

 

 In October 1975, CBS aired its 14th Peanuts animated Special, "You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown." Soon after, you could buy this Read Along Book and Tape. Here's the experience of those tapes and the book via YouTube. Enjoy this pre-VHS, pre-DVD, pre-streaming way of home media from fifty years ago.

 

 

This was the last special to air during Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi's life.

Via Wikipedia:

"Music score

"You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was the last Peanuts television special to air during Vince Guaraldi's lifetime. Guaraldi died of a sudden heart attack on February 6, 1976, several hours after he had finished recording music cues for the television special It's Arbor Day, Charlie Brown. That special aired posthumously on March 16, 1976. You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was also the last Peanuts special conducted and arranged by John Scott Trotter, who died on October 29, 1975 — one day after the special was broadcast.^[3] Trotter had worked in conjunction with Guaraldi on every Peanuts television special starting with It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).^[4]

"The music score for You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown was something of a departure from Guaraldi's other scores as the music fused his jazz style with the funk, disco and pop music of the 1970s that was popular at the time coupled with the use of the Minimoog and ARP String Ensemble synthesizers.^[3]

"All music cues were composed by Guaraldi^[5] and recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio on September 12 and 24, 1975, at Wally Heider Studios, featuring Seward McCain (electric bass) and Mark Rosengarden (drums).^[6]

"The program's theme song, "Motocross" is performed in eight different variations.^[5] As the variations are difficult to distinguish, scene descriptions in which they appear are added to help differentiate.^[3][5]"

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Peter Arno

 It would be his 121st birthday today.

Michael Maslin, who wrote the great bio of Arno (Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist), weighs in and quotes many New Yorker cartoonists on the man.

Here's one of my favorite stories about Peter Arno (1904 - 1968):


Some cartoonists like the beginning bit (the coming up with the idea, honing the gag bit I mean) and some like the process (the sketching and layout) and others prefer the end (the sale). My favorite part is coming up with the gag and drawing the doodle in my sketchbook. Not so with Mr. Peter Arno.

Arno would draw and redraw his cartoons sometimes dozens of times. There is a true story that cartoonist Mel Casson would tell, about visiting Mr. Arno in his penthouse apartment. I'll do my best to relate it here, from memory of him telling it some 20 years ago as part of a National Cartoonists Society Connecticut Chapter speech he gave.

So, a few decades back, Mel Casson and a friend went to visit the one and only famous New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. He had invited them to his apartment. And it really was a penthouse apartment. The lobby elevator went up, and the doors opened onto the interior Arno landing, from which one could see the Arno living room and -- there he was -- Peter Arno himself, mixing drinks.

It was a pleasant visit and Arno was a wonderful host. After sitting down, having a drink and talking shop, Arno asked the younger cartoonists, "Do you want to see my studio?"

Well, of course! Who wouldn't want to see Arno's studio?!

So, Arno walked over to a door, and opened it. They walked in. Arno switched on a light. The room had curtains all around, from floor to ceiling, covering the wall, the windows. "I can't have any distractions," explained Arno. The only furniture: a large drawing board, lamp and chair. And on the drawing board, laid out in two rows, were twenty original drawings.

These were 20 originals of the same cartoon, drawn over and over. But, coming closer, the cartoons were not exactly the same. Each one was had a slight difference: an arm bent a different way, a head turned, one character was upstage of the other, to the right in another, etc. Each one was a fully inked Arno piece of original comic art, ready for publication.

I remember Casson telling Arno how surprised he was that he (Arno) did all of this work, painstakingly laboring over the cartoon, drawing and redrawing it in so many different, subtle ways -- all in finished ink and wash. Casson suggested drawing a series of thumbnails or pencil sketches instead of going to all this time and effort to create twenty finishes.

Arno explained that this was always the way he worked: drawing many different variations of the cartoon until he was satisfied. Casson repeated that it was so much work, drawing a large size finished piece over and over and over again.

"But you don't understand," explained Arno, motioning to the 20 cartoons, "This is my favorite part."



Related:

Harry Lee Green brings a lovely sampler of Peter Arno's amazing layout and masterful wash style from the collections SIZZLING PLATTER and HELL OF A WAY TO RUN A RAILROAD.

Video: Peter Kuper on The Dummy Show - 01-03-2025

Peter Kuper chats with John Kelly about his early years drawing self-published comics while growing up in Cleveland, his encounters with Crumb and Pekar, and the life of a teen cartoonist. This is a terrific journey with Peter about his passion for comics and his subsequent career.