Tuesday, March 19, 2013

RALPH BAKSHI SKETCHES

At the risk of stating the obvious, Ralph is one heck of a cartoonist! What do you think of the sketch above, particularly of the guy at the bottom? The beautiful lines, the humor, the philosophy and street experience embedded in the drawing...could Hockney or Warhol have done better?


I'm amazed that Ralph (above) was never offered a regular comic strip in the papers. Maybe he was and I just never heard about it.


If I'd been a newspaper editor I'd have offered Ralph a regular space of his own to do whatever he wanted to do. Ralph would have been great with continuing characters, but I'd have been equally happy if he'd decided to simply be a cartoonist observing the world around him the way Herriman (above) used to in the early 1900s. 


What were Ralph's formative influences? I wish I knew. I know he likes the old Percy Crosby strip "Skippy" (above). Skippy wore loose, oversize clothing and a funky hat, just like the characters in Ralph's doodles.


Crosby was incredibly creative with Skippy's jacket (above), the way it wrinkled and wrapped. Artists get off on things like that.



My guess is that George Lichty (above) was an influence...



...as was Billy De Beck's "Barney Google."

Ash Can artist Reginald Marsh (above) might have been an influence.


Ralph colors his sketches a little bit like Marsh colored his (above).


Crumb must have influenced Ralph. Crumb used Herriman style line technique from the early days of comics to depict what he was seeing on the street in the 60s. I'm guessing that the idea that you could use the old to depict the new was a real revelation to Ralph, who was himself a fan of early cartooning.

Do all these possible influences add up to Ralph? Nope, he's one of a kind. There's no mistaking a Ralph drawing for anyone else's.


************************

BTW: Thanks to Steve Worth for permission to photograph the "Coonskin" drawing at the top.

14 comments:

Brubaker said...

One of my great finds is a 16mm Technicolor print of Bakshi's 1967 cartoon, "Marvin Digs". Love it!

I think you should add Don Martin to the list. It's especially prominent in Ralph's Terrytoons work.

Joshua Marchant (Scrawnycartoons) said...

His doodles are in a class of their own, loose line-style but strong drawing principles underneath. I notice one of his favorite subjects seems to be Hobo clowns.

Unknown said...

Absolutely beautiful stuff! Ralph Bakshi is a one of a kind cartoonist and I wish more current animators were more influenced by his work and amazing drawing skills. Loose, cartoony, but solid!

Anonymous said...

Great post. I'd love to ask about Bakshi's idosyncratic line in comparison to someone like John K. or yourself (I always wish we could see more of your drawings!). There is a real rush of life to John K's phone doodles and the (all too rare!) drawings you've posted. As an (very) amature cartoonist, I am still mystified when I see this effect. Are you guys drawing quickly or is it the illusion of life achieved through construction and creativity--maybe a combination of both? There exists a few John K. YouTube drawing videos, and he is copying an image of Bugs, which is a different process--he's talked in his blog about first carefully drawing the character, learning its construction, taking your time. But I always wonder if certain lines need to be drawn with speed to achieve this effect. I notice good results when I attempt this but I don't have the skill yet to reign it in.I've read about artists complaining that the Disney approach to clean-up destroys the life in drawings. Is this because it is done so meticulously, slowly...and with a mechanical pencil? When I see a Bakshi drawing, it is alive and beautiful...but very different than what I'm trying to describe. It's almost a Modernist approach to cartooning.
Anyway, I appreciate anyone who can weigh in on this. Loved your detective work on trying to pinpoint Bakshi's influences. Learned a lot!

-Justin

Anonymous said...

To add briefly to what I wrote before: Is that style I'm trying to describe a result of being an animator and drawing so much, all the time, and working tight deadlines that demand fast and professional drawings? Thanks! -justin

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Justin: You're bringing up important points. I only have a small space to reply so I'll pick just one point and comment on that.

If you have it in you to have a strong and appealing personal style the point will eventually come when drawing any other way makes you mad.

It's very scary because what makes you employable is your ability to draw in the pre-existing style of the show you've been hired to work on.
Insisting on your own style can put you in the unemployment line.

It seems to me that a talented maverick in animation has no choice but to learn two skills simultaneoulsly. You learn the things that'll keep you employed, and you learn the things that'll bring your own unique skills into focus. That means you've gotta have a killer work ethic.

Of course, it helps if you work in categories that are more tolerant of stylistic deviation like animation or character design. Maybe storyboard too if you work in a place that permits boards that are creative and cartoony.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Brubaker: "Marvin Diggs?" I don't know if I ever saw that. I'll look for it on YouTube.

Joshua, Roberto: True enough!!!

Unknown said...

Cartoon Brew posted "Marvin Digs" a couple of years ago back in 2007. I like how composer Winston Sharples was able to adapt and try something new with the musical scores after years of doing pretty good, but repetitive soundtracks at Famous Studios/Paramount and the drawings themselves are pretty simple, but fun to look at. Overall, it's a great satire of what was going on at the time culturally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paA3d6pIwAk

There are also a bunch of episodes of The Mighty Heroes posted.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+mighty+heroes&oq=the+mighty+heroes&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3..0l4.20535.22263.0.22349.17.9.0.7.7.0.79.443.9.9.0...0.0...1ac.1.DdwzS_bv15M

Hope this helps!

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Justin: I just reread your comments and my reply and I realized that what I talked about had nothing to do with what you wrote. Sorry about that!

Anonymous said...

Eddie: I wouldn't say it had nothing to do with my post--your comments were fascinating. There seems to be a lot of similarities between animators and professional musicians (guys who would rather stretch out playing jazz, but play broadway and city orchestras to pay the bills). -JUSTIN

talkingtj said...

hey eddie, how does one get in touch with ralph bakshi? or submit examples of ones work to him? i would much like the opportunity to with/for him but how doi go about it?

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Talking: Just google Ralph's blog. send a link to your work either in the form of a comment or as an email to his contact info address.

Torgo25 said...

Great post! I know a lot of people who put down Bakshi as a no-talent whose style is defined mostly by rotoscoping and naked cartoon characters, but the man has excellent drawing skills. I'm especially fond of the character designs in Heavy Traffic and Coonskin.

Eddie Fitzgerald said...

Torgo: Ralph is one of the best animators around, and has a unique vision. His problem is that he always has to struggle to get things done on small budgets.