A very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday to all!
Ho! Ho! Ho!
December 20th, 2012Sketch to Final
October 11th, 2012Here’s a rough for a book illustration and the final art. This is a spot illustration for “Max Gravity Goes to the Moon . . . and brings his little sister.” The rough is in pencil with a quick overlay of some color. The final is a mix of pencil and Dr. Martin’s watercolor dyes.
Pencil rough
Finished illustration. Click for a larger view.
Funny Business
June 15th, 2012FUNNY BUSINESS: An Inside Look at the Art of Cartooning
Lyda Ely’s tribute to her mom, longtime Berndt Toast Gang member Susan Ely, will be re-broadcast on WNET – Channel 13 (PBS in NYC) this Saturday, June 16th at 2pm. The film covers Susan’s quest to become a New Yorker cartoonist and reveals what it takes by speaking with many of the magazine’s famous contributors (including a few BTGers!)
Team Cul de Sac auction results
June 15th, 2012The Team Cul de Sac auction of original art has raised $47,000 for Parkinson’s research. The first publicly seen art from Calvin and Hobbes creator, Bill Watterson, fetched over $13,000! Below are the top ten selling pieces:
1. Bill Watterson Petey Otterloop Painting $13,145.00
2. Stephan Pastis Alice Traps the Family Circus Kids Comic Strip $2,868.00
3. Richard Thompson Team Cul de Sac Cover Illustration $2,031.50
4. Patrick McDonnell Hand Colored Illustration $1,912.00
5. Patrick McDonnell Little Neuro’s Bed Illustration $1,792.50
6. R. Sikoryak Gouache Blue Period Illustration $1,314.50
7. Sergio Aragones Groo the Wanderer and Alice Illustration $836.50
8. Lincoln Pierce Otterloopy Comic Strip $776.75
9. Jim Davis Studios/Eric Reaves Petey and Alice Meet Charlie Brown Hand Colored Comic Strip $776.75
10. Mason Mastroianni Alice in Stone Illustration $507.88
Team Cul de Sac book signing tonight!
June 10th, 2012If you are near Arlington, VA tonight, Richard Thompson, Chris Sparks and a host of cartoonists will be signing the Team Cul de Sac book at:
One More Page Books
2200 N. Westmoreland Street #101
Arlington, VA 22213
703-300-9746
www.onemorepagebooks.com
Tell them I sent you!
Team Cul de Sac Book and auction
June 10th, 2012The Team Cul de Sac book is now available! The book is a collaboration among many cartoonists to raise money for Parkinson’s disease. Richard Thompson, last year’s Reuben Award winner and creator of the wonderful comic strip “Cul de Sac,” was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. His friend and webmaster, Chris Sparks, set up Team Cul de Sac as part of the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s team efforts to raise money to fight this progressive and debilitating disease. It’s all here in the Washington Post.
You can buy the book here and on Amazon. If you buy it from Chris’ website you will get free shipping and $5 gets donated to the fund.
And the auction:
You can also buy the original art from the book here. There is work from Sergio Aragones, Mort Walker, Bill Watterson, Lynn Johnston, Cathy Guisewite and many others. This Heritage auction has only 9 hours to go so don’t wait. Make sure you look for my piece . . . hint, hint.
Please don’t park on the grass!
February 13th, 2012
Creig Flessel's last drawing. Here he is with his great-grandson.
The Creig Flessel 100th Birthday Celebration was an overwhelming success! With the help of the Art League of Long Island, we had more than 200 people at the reception. Anyone arriving late found themselves parking on the grass. Thank you to all the members of the Berndt Toast Gang that loaned original art from Creig, brought down some of their own work and a sketch of Creig. Don Orehek sent one in all the way from Washington State! A special thank you to Sandy Kossin, Tony D’Adamo, Stan Goldberg for supporting the event. A very special thank you to Jeff Fisher, Joe Leonard, Janine Manheim, Helen Murdock-Prep, and Joe Vissichelli for demonstrating their own talents to the crowd. A a very, very special “Thank you” to Suzan Haeni for helping make it all possible and bringing along a birthday cake!
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- Creig Flessel’s last drawing with his great-grandson.
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- Mell, Mary and Gwen. All three longtime friends of Creig loaned pieces for the show.
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- Gwen, Bunny Hoest and Mary reminisce.
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- Stan Goldberg and a fan.
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- Creig at the then “Huntington Art League” in the late 1980′s.
Creig Flessel
January 12th, 2012I’ve been lucky enough to have called Creig Flessel, a cartoonist whose work dates back to comics “Golden Age,” a good friend. Creig was the first person I met when I joined the Berndt Toast Gang. His talent was truly incredible and he was a kind and wonderful friend. The members of the group adored him so much to have deemed him the “Infallible Creig Flessel.” His professional work spanned over 70 years. From “The Sandman” in Adventure Comics, to the David Crane comic strip, and even Baron von Furstinbed for Playboy. Creig passed away at 96 in 2008.
In honor of what would have been his 100th birthday on February 2nd, the Berndt Toast Gang is sponsoring a display of his work at the Art league of Long Island now through January 30th. Some pieces have never been publicly displayed before.
On January 27th, the Gang will be at the Art league for a closing reception displaying our work and drawings of Creig and his characters.
Hope to see you there!
Christmas 2011
December 30th, 2011And here is my annual Christmas card. I’m glad there are twelve days to Christmas because it means I’m still on time . . . Click the image for a larger version.
Tied
December 30th, 2011Every Christmas I paint a tie to wear at the various cartoon related holiday parties I attend. It’s always a mad rush and I’m usually hoping it’s dry as I tie it. This time around, I practically had to hang it out the car window on the way to the Society of Illustrators party in Manhattan.
Is anyone's job safe from cutbacks?