R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen: RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!

Today at Drawbridge we honor recently departed stop-motion guru Ray Harryhausen, the special effects whiz behind such classic movies as Jason & The Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and Clash of the Titans (I'm talking about the 1981 original-- the recent remake was an execrable pile of something unspeakable).

Release the, uh, me!

Ah, Clash of the Titans, you're not that bad a film.  I enjoyed you as a child, even though I was driven nuts by the scads of mythological inconsistencies.

The top thing that drove me nuts was the Kraken. The Kraken is not Greek!! It's a Norwegian monster, from, like, two millennia later. In the original Greek Myth, the sea monster that jeopardizes Andromeda is Cetus, a giant whale monster. As an adult, I now know that the reason for the substitution was that  Harryhausen thought that a giant squid monster like the Kraken  would be more fun to animate than a giant whale.

In recent years the catchphrase of "Release the Kraken" has become something of a meme. And it is fun to yell-- I especially recommend shouting it while in the stall of a crowded public bathroom. I decided today to draw Harryhausen's Kraken to honor the man and his work, even if it wasn't Greek ;)

POSEIDON Earth Shaker!

George O'Connor's new graphic novel "POSEIDON Earth Shaker" is out this week so we're
doing some Poseidon illustrations...

Poseidon - God of wetness

George O'Connor has a new book out in his ongoing series of books profiling the Greek Gods 'The Olympians'. This one is about Poseidon, 'The Earth Shaker' http://www.amazon.com/Poseidon-Shaker-Olympians-George-OConnor/dp/1596437383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363706054&sr=8-1&keywords=Poseidon+George+O%27Connor

Edward Gorey's Birthday

Edward Gorey had an effect on my younger self.
Miss you always,
Tim

Captain America illustration by George O'Connor and Simon Fraser.

Here is another collaboration with artists George O’Connor and Simon Fraser. George penciled the Captain and Simon finished it off in ink.

EDIT: Here's the pencil so you can see how much I screwed around with George's drawing. I am a bad person.

Judge Dredd by Fraser & O'Connor

Ok this is a pencil of Judge Dredd by Simon Fraser and then inked by Mr. George O'Connor. I like it!

Khill Kitty by Tim Hamilton and George O'Connor

Messing around the studio:
Tim Hamilton pencils and George O’Connor inks Tim’s character Khill Kitty. As you can see here Tim is trying his hand at children’s books.

Team up sketches

Friday, at the studio, after I did real work, George O'Connor was drawing stuff for fun like the Thor in the previous post. So I drew a Thor for him to ink and he drew a Yellow Jacket for ME to ink.
Results below!

It's Thorsday!

Man, that title would've been funnier if I posted it on an actual Thursday. Well, thank gods it's Friday! how's that?

First post in an age and a half I know. I've gotten away from drawing for actual fun for, like, months now, so today I came in the studio and was like "I'ma gonn draw somethin' fun! And differen'! Like a Superhero!!!" So I drew Thor, whose also a god. And consequently, not all that different than what i normally draw. Baby steps, baby steps.

John Carter, of Mars

I originally drew this for something else that is no longer occurring so, since it ain't, I figured I'd share it here. John carter getting all jack-rabbity on a Thark.

Disney Villain You Never Heard of: Rickey Ratzi

Rickey Ratzi, Mickey's German-sympathizing cousin appeared only once, in 1928's Nuttiness in Nazichusetts.

Steve Jobs

I was unexpectedly touched by the passing of Apple guru Steve Jobs, and not just because I'm typing this out on my Macbook Air right now. Like all people, I'm sure Jobs had feet of clay, but he sure managed to live life to the fullest. That's something we can all certainly admire.

In addition to all his work shaping technology as we know it, Jobs founded Pixar, who, for my money, has been the most consistently excellent movie studio since the early days of Disney animation. I always particularly associated Jobs with the masterpiece Wall-E, and its far-off future of highly evolved Apple-derived robots. I drew the titular character himself, whom I have no doubt has, somewhere in his collection of 21st century memorabilia, a black mock turtleneck sweater.

RIP, Steve Jobs.

Birdie the Cat

Been awhile since I've posted here! Not to say there hasn't been some great topics, and I've even drawn a private picture or two for a few of them, that I never got around to posting. I've just been super busy, and have lapsed into some bad habits, sketch-sharing-wise.

In a blatant and shameless bit of topic baiting, Tim Hamilton sent the word around this morning that today's topic was "Birdie the Cat". Blatant and shameless because Birdie is my cat.

My girlfriend and I adopted "Stray # 3" from the Seventh Ave Cat Clinic about two and a half years ago. We named her Birdie because of the trilling noises she makes, and because we thought it might be funny to name her after something she might like to eat. Like "Carrots" the rabbit, or "Birdseed" the parakeet, or "Steaming Load of its Own Feces" the dog. Birdie the Cat.

She's a funny little tabby, this Birdie, and I captured a few little doodles of her this morning as she stared out the window, wondering after her namesake, no doubt.

I wonder if she'd be flattered by all this attention. As a rule, the Bird doesn't seem to like anyone but my girlfriend and me, but I think she's been nice to Tim Hamilton on occasion when he's looked in on her when we're both out of town. Enough to make an impression, at least.

Bacchanalia

George O’ Connor’s new Graphic novel, HERA: THE GODDESS AND HER GLORY is being released this week!

To celebrate, everyone is going to the wonderful Bergen Street Comics this Saturday, July 23rd for the Official Book Release Party.

There will be a workshop for kids where they’ll be making their own Olympians from 4 to 6, and then a wild Bacchanalia for the grown-ups from 8 to 11. Nectar and Ambrosia will be served.

Click HERE for more info on the event. I hope you all can make it!

Also, myself and most of Drawbridge Studios and many more will be signing
Savage Dragon funnies tonight at Hanley's in Manhattan from 6 to 8!

And in honor of these events, we at Drawbridge are drawing “Bacchanalia” sketches!

Happy Berfday Chris Sinderson!

Today is Chris Sinderson's birthday! As fine a chap as ever was to join our studios (I'm only sorry that Deep 6 Drawbridge The Tool Shed got him first), he's the artistic virtuoso behind the very wonderful Haberdash series, and above all, a very tall man at a very small desk. We love you Chris!

Happy Berfday Becky! Blah! Blah!

Dracula, Dracula!

Happy Birthday to Becky Cloonan, drawer of pretty men, beautiful women, and scary-ass monsters, and fellow Hypothetical Islander and Drawbridger, who turns, like, 43 today. She knows why I drew Dracula for her, and so might you, depending on your google skills. As an added bonus, I get to complete my holy trinity of monsters I've been drawing the past few days. Bonus!

Woofman

Had so much fun drawing Frankenstein's Monster yesterday that I requested we draw a wolfman (pronounced woofman. Always pronounced woofman) today. It's also fun.

Frankenstein's Monster, or the Modern Prometheus

Drew this on the train over to the studio today, but didn't have a chance to post it until just now. This was fun-- we need more topics like this.

Happy Berfday Robin, the Girl Wonder

Still on the road, so sorry for the rudimentary quality of my drawing, but Happy Birthday Robin! Sorry for missing your bday! You bring an immeasurable amount of class to Drawbridge Studios, I'm only sorry we couldn't make you a full-time Hypothetical Islander.

Satan Vs Jesus over one man's soul...

On the road, but I still got my post in...