Mike's eBay Sale

  My eBay sale continues. Here are a few items. I combine shipping. Go look!!!

 

 

Watterson Original For Sale

 

Six months into Bill Watterson's comic strip launch, I wrote him a letter. I asked probably what many people were asking: How do I do what you do? What's the path? And then I suggested we meet. (I had learned he lived nearby. How I got THAT information I don't know.) Anyway, it was 1986 and I was a kid and Calvin and Hobbes was the best new strip out there. I had no idea if he would write back, but in June 1986, he did. Declining my lunch offer, he then went into what he felt the key was in developing a good comic strip: character development. "Just practice, and have a lot of patience, " he wrote. 

I am very fortunate to have become a professional cartoonist. By the next decade, I had sold cartoons, including a magazine cover and a book. By the 2000s, I was off and running, with lots of clients and I was on the board of the National Cartoonists Society, as well as teaching and lecturing about cartooning. A big change. Mr. Watterson was right. Patience and persistence were key. 

I am selling this with an asking price of $3,000.00. If interested, you can contact me either here on the blog (that might take a while since I don't look at comments every day) or directly. 

 

Vintage Drawing Tools

I started this here blog back in the time when people were saying that paper and all print matter would be dead and gone within a decade. They said it back on their AOL Forums and Listervs. Some of them said it gleefully, like they had always wanted for this nasty, annoying world of paper to go extinct.

Even though a lot of cartoonists are digital, most everyone I know is hybrid: drawing on paper as well as digitally. Most everyone carries a paper sketchbook with them that they can drop into a pocket or purse or backpack. Very convenient and cheap and easy. 

Here are some old school drawing tool photos that I pulled from all over the place. They are beautiful to look at, aren't they? I have a few things like this; inky old pen nibs and pen holders, a sweet old wooden T-square, etc. I don't want any of this to ever be dead.

 

CIRCLES, TRIANGLES AND SQUARES Photographs by Tana Hoban

Although this blog has been around for over eighteen years, talking for the most part about cartoons -- here's a first: photographs. 

Here are a few of the photographs taken by the wonderful Tana Hoban for her children's book CIRCLES, TRIANGLES AND SQUARES, which is copyright 1974 by Ms. Hoban. The book was published by Macmillan.

There are no words in the hardcover book, except for the title and copyright information. The rest of the book is what the title says. Maybe an adult might need some help, but any kid can sort out the purpose of these photos.

“I try in my books to catch a fleeting moment and an emotion in a way that touches children and makes them want to respond… I try to say, ‘Look!’ There are shapes here and everywhere, things to count, colors to see and always, surprises.”

Born in Philadelphia, Tana Hoban (1917-2006) was originally determined to become an illustrator. When she enrolled in the School of Design for Women (now called the Moore College of Art and Design), she became enamored with photography.

From her bio:

After graduating, she worked as a freelance graphic artist and illustrator. Her pictures appeared in Life, Look, McCall's and other magazines in the 1940s. Hoban did not publish her first children’s book until 1970, with SHAPES AND THINGS. Since then, Hoban published more than 50 books. More than 2 million copies of her books have been sold worldwide!

Here are a few of her photos from CIRCLES, TRIANGLES AND SQUARES. They are lovely and reminded me that the thrill in learning is discovering. Ms. Hoban believes in the power of the image. The book is long out of print and deserves to be reprinted.

-- This was an edited version of a blog entry from July 27, 2016.

Illustrations from "How To Serve Bananas In the Service"

 

"How To Serve Bananas In the Service" is an undated booklet that's credited to the Home Economics Department of the Fruit Dispatch Company, "Distributors of United Fruit Company Bananas," which was located at Pier 3, North River, New York, NY. The 64 page guide is just the thing if you're a cook for a company of soldiers, sailors and the like. No date on this but I suspect it's from the 1950s just by the look of it. There is no artist named. The anthropomorphic bananas are fun to see and I have a combo here of full page scans and then some highlighted drawings. It's too bad this unsung illustrator is unknown. Oh, and let me know if you try any of these recipes! 

More anthropomorphic food:

Mid Century Cartoon Art from the Metropolitan Cook Book (1964)