PEOPLE I'D LIKE TO DRAW

People I'd like to draw in a sketch class, that is. Cartoonist require different types of models than easel painters. I'll try to touch on a couple of types here.

I'll start with the obvious: the all-time best male model for a cartoonists model drawing session would have been Don Knotts (above).

In his prime the man was incapable of taking a bad pose. He would have made a great John Q. Public.

Some sessions with an Arnold-type body builder would be fun.

Lately I've become interested in off-balance poses. I don't think it would hurt cartoonists to become aware of some of them.

Here's (above) a wonderful standing pose. The model's leaning against something but I prefer to think that it's her natural stand-up-straight pose, sans props.  That slight off-balance look...that's the way cartoony people should look even when they're not leaning.

Well, some cartoony people.

It works on guys (above), too. Lots of people look better with a slight list.

Fortunately the world abounds with good face models. Here's (above) a young Hitler lookalike, only it looks better on this guy than it did on Hitler. Geez, it's weird! I wonder what girls think of it?

Boy, take a look at that right leg! A smooth, curved line from the neck down to the tip of the shoe. I think cartoonists need to know about that, don't you?

Holy Mackerel!!!!!! Some women have nice legs! Um...somebody put this girl on the model list.

I got an idea while looking at this...that business offices should have some rooms higher than others and have glass sections to show off pretty legs to greatest advantage. Nothing too revealing, nothing that would make women feel uncomfortable...just something...funny and nice.

An added advantage of that setup would be the glimpse we'd get into the offices (above) slightly below. What we'd see would be bunch of disembodied heads scapering around the floor.

But I digress. We're talking about people we'd like to draw.

This (above) would be a terrific model for cartoonists. The planes and shapes and volumes are all so funny and interesting. For a model like this, most of the session should be draped.

 Of course cartoonists also need to draw undraped models like this one (above), who have clean, clear curves. Sorry for the airbrushing.

Such a model no doubt posed for this Barks drawing. Nice, huh?

FORREST GRIFFIN VS STEPHEN BONNAR

Okay. here's the greatest UFC fight I've ever seen...and I mean ever. If you haven't seen it then I envy you, because you have 20 minutes of pure bliss ahead. Expand the picture to full screen, get some popcorn, gather your friends around and experience one of the most memorable fights of the TV era.

These guys fought again, and that fight is also on YouTube. If you've seen it, don't tell me anything about it. I don't want to know. I can't bear the thought that another fight might erase my memory of this one. Yes, it's that good.

Enjoy.

BTW: I recommend seeing the entire video, including the biographical material at the start and the extended aftermath. The whole 37:17 is worth seeing.

COOL DANCES / WALKS

Oh, Boy! Let's watch some funny dance videos! Mike Fontanelli turned me on to this dance (above) from Eddie Cantor"s "Ali Baba Goes to Town."



Max Wall was one of the kings of the funny walk. This sample (above) starts slow, so I'd advise starting at the 1:30 mark.



I posted this walk video (above) about three years ago and I expected it to change the animation industry. Sigh! It didn't, but it should have.



Imagine what Vaudeville must have been like! You could see a whole live matinee like this (above) for just a quarter.



Don sent this link (above) in a comment. See what you think.

ANALYSING REN AND STIMPY

I thought I'd put up more rough sketches by John K for his Adult Party Cartoon, "Firedogs II." John usually gives his storyboard artists the first crack at a scene, then comes in with his own sketches if he's not getting what he needs. That's probably how these came about.

It looks like there's some drawings missing here, so I'll fill in the story. The Fire Chief needs to get his pants off fast, but the zipper's stuck, and the new rookies try to help. Stimpy gives it a timid tug then a disgusted Ren pushes him aside and tells him to let a "pro" take over.

For the push John experiments with a new way of drawing Stimpy.

Haw! John loves to draw inbetween poses (above) that the viewer actually gets to see.

The zipper beckons. Well, these are adult cartoons, after all.

Ren reaches behind his back and pulls out a pair of pliers. Boy, John really puts the focus on the pliers.

Here's (above) a new shot from the side. Some animation storyboarders are timid about doing cuts between similar scenes, but live action does it all the time, and it works just fine.  This new scene has the chief's stomach hugging the side of the screen and we're all set up for the cool profile poses. 

Ren antics back with the pliers. I love the way Ren's left arm comes out of his back and crooks around at the elbow. It's the kind of move you never see in Maya-type figures, which is one reason why I continue to think of 3D animation as inferior.  

Here's (above) something else that 3D can't do. In mid-scene, John unexpectedly switches to gorgeous, delicate lines and clear shapes. This is masterful drawing, but it's hard to get that kind of subtlety into the final clean-ups.  

The public needs to see more of John's roughs. If you've only seen what's on the screen then you'll have a hard time understanding why artists who've worked for him always regard it as a life-changing experience. 

Ouch! Ren makes a grab (above) and ends up pinching the...er, wrong part of the Chief.

The Fire Chief screams with pain...but hold on, something really unusual is about to happen.

Nine out of ten storyboarders would cut to the Chief for his reaction, but John correctly stays on Ren and Stimpy.  Do you see why? Cutting to the chief would contain no surprise. Seeing him shout would just be confirming what we already know. It's infinitely more interesting to stay on the main characters and get their reaction to it!

Well, that's all I have to say about that scene. I just checked John's Kickstarter site and he's at the $90,000 mark with a week to go. That means he has to rustle up $20,000 more bucks in a short time. Oh, man! The suspense is killing me! Is he going to make it?

I can't emphasize enough the importance of having original John artwork. If he's foolishly willing to part with it as a gift on Kickstarter, then...well, a word to the wise is sufficient.

The site:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056985656/john-ks-cans-without-labels

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Yikes! It's late afternoon on Friday, and John HAS met his quota!!!!!! Many, many thanks to all the fans who made this possible! Your kindness and good taste makes me proud to be a part of this industry!

HOW WOMEN STAND / WOMEN STANDING

If you remember, a few months ago Theory Corner devoted a post to the fact that a lot of women lean forward without realizing it. Well, months have passed and I'm here to report that this is what I'm still seeing on the streets. I see it everywhere.

They stand askew a lot too, at least in photos. We're so used to it that we don't notice it,  If I hadn't called your attention to it, you probably wouldn't have noticed that the woman above is listing like The Leaning Tower of Pizza...er, did I spell that right? One more inch to the side and she'll fall over.

I'm not talking about bad posture (above). I'm talking about women who are not generally regarded as having posture problems.

This woman (above) was probably asked to stand up straight, and she probably believed she was...but she wasn't. She's leaning forward.

Maybe you thought high heels were what thrust women forward, or maybe a big chest. Nope, none of the above. Look at this woman (above). She's small chested, is wearing flat shoes, and is still leaning. I guess women were just born that way.

Maybe that's why they're always leaning on things.

I always assume that magazines are run by people who know more than I do. They say that flirty women always lean against walls, and who am I to disagree?

 I'll try to remember that when I draw cartoon women.

Rich women (above) sometimes prefer pottery or trees to walls.

Well, if it makes them happy.....

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BTW: Congrats to NASA for landing the Curiosity rover safely on Mars. I'm all for Mars exploration, but I haven't supported previous rover missions because they didn't seem likely to collect enough information to justify the cost. 

Maybe this falls into that category too, but I couldn't help but be impressed by the precision of the landing, and the hardware on this vehicle. It's got a laser that can read stratas on exposed cliff sides in high-def, and the cliffs probably probably date back billions of years.  

We learned a lot about the origin of the Earth from the manned missions to the Moon. Maybe we'll learn as much from this mission.    

UNKNOWN WOLVERTON

Well, maybe "unknown" is the wrong word, but these pictures are certainly little known. It's a tribute to Basil that sketches this funny seem second rate when compared to his other work. See what you think.

Is this (above) by Basil or his son Monty?

This one's (above) definitely by Basil. I like how the eyes are on top of the head.

The black and white version of this sketch (above) is fairly well known, but not this colored version. The color helps it, I think.

Mike Fontanelli sent me this caricature (above) of Basil Wolverton, drawn by Drew Friedman. It's certainly well done, but it's not the way I like to picture Basil. I see him as a sort of mischievous joke teller like Rodney Dangerfield.

Here's another Friedman caricature, this time of Mad artist Will Elder. Don't ask me why, but I buy into this 100%. Probably Friedman knew Elder.

Here's the link to Drew's site:

http://drewfriedman.blogspot.com/2012/07/legends-of-comics-portraits.html

JOAN CRAWFORD'S ACTING STYLE

Haw! I can't wait to see if the blog can handle a picture this big! I pity the people who are looking at this on a mobile phone. 

Anyway. that's Joan Crawford in a close-up from "Humoresque." Tonight I watched a TCM documentary on Crawford at John's place, and I saw a lot of pictures I'd never seen before. Seeing them provoked what I thought was a deeper understanding of Crawford's  acting style. I'll tell you what that understanding consists of, but first take a look at the pictures (below) that provoked it.  

Crawford (or her photographer) tried out a number of personas in her portraits. Any one of them represents a possible career path she might have taken. Here (above) she tries out  an innocent girl-next-door look, layered over with ambition, neurosis and intelligence.

Here (above) she's purely innocent and idealistic. I don't doubt that she could have pulled it off on screen, but I'm glad she didn't go this route. Innocent is a great look for young actors, but she wouldn't have have been able to sustain it as she got older.

Ditto the weird, hard-core sci-fi look. She's great at it, but you can only play that for so long.

She experimented with weirdness a lot. 

I think she wanted to convince the studio to make the kind of stories that favored her kind of nuanced weirdness.  Maybe she was inspired by Garbo.

All those experiments with innocence and weirdness weren't wasted, though. As her later persona evolved, she just folded these qualities into it. As time went by she developed an immensely layered screen personality. 

How would you describe this close-up expression (above) from "Humoresque?" She looks weird, innocent, mature, young, dignified, idealistic, hurt, worldly, shocked, vulnerable, steely, philosophical, kind, and potentially cruel...all at the same time! Sheeesh!

For me Crawford's best period was middle age. She'd had a lot of random nuances before that, but that's when she finally figured out how to focus them. During that period she discovered dignity. She kept the fascinating youthful nuances and allowed them to co-exist with a caricature of the kind of dignity the best people seem to acquire in mid-life. Not only that, but she bundled these qualities together in a stylized, over-the-top theatrical style. 

So that's it. That, I humbly submit, is part of the secret of Joan's midperiod acting style.