Number 8

This is a drawing that I did last night on my Intuous 4 Wacom tablet. It is from a photo of my son, Derek. He was on the JV football team this season and was presented two awards at the banquet yesterday. Ironman ( never missed a weightroom conditioning practice, field practice, or game) and the KLAA scholar athlete award ( have at least a 3.3 GPA) Mom and Dad are awful proud of our Number 8.

Bird Hunter

I'm starting to get the drawing bug again. This drawing is of a bird hunter from the 1930's in Idaho. It was inspired by an old photograph. Done on drawing paper with a no.2 lead pencil, the same kind that school kids use. I was initially going to do a pen and ink rendering, but liked the way it was coming along in pencil that I decided to stick with that.

Stuka in color

I just got a WACOM Intuos 4 medium drawing tablet and I am learning how to use it. The one thing that I really like about it is that I can colorize black and white drawings with it like this one.

Black and white now becomes color!

Instinct

This is a drawing that I did today based on a doodle from a few days ago. Illustration Friday has the topic of the day of "Instinct". Certainly instinct plays a critical role in skiing along with refelexes, coordination, judgement (or lack thereof for barrelling down a mountain on skis at bone breaking speeds at my age) and a Jedi like ability to control your fear. This self portrait was done in my usual style with Higgins India ink and a #1 American Painter brush.

Update: Watercolor coloring applied to reprint of original drawing.

the AMERICAN COMIC BOOK a Detroit Perspective...

Yesterday my son Derek and I went to an art gallery in Pontiac to view some local Detroit area "Comic Book" artists. I kind of had false impression that this show may have showcased some of the greats in the comics industry that hailed from Detroit and then went on to move to New York and find work for Marvel and DC. I knew several of these people when they were in their heyday between 1974-1980. Those would include my good friend Mike Nasser (now Netzer), Arvell Jones and his brother Desmond, Kieth Pollard (who did have a page from Iron Man on display, but I do not think that he was actually involved in the show, I believe that Marty Hirchak owned the artwork), Rich Buckler (who was truly a great artist on Fantastic Four, Thor, Deathlok, and many other titles) and to a lesser extent, Greg Theakston and Carl Lundgren (who is mentioned in the advertisement, but I did not see any of his work on display).

Although this was not the case, I enjoyed the show and recommend it to anyone who likes comics and want to see some good artwork.

Although many artists had their work on display I have to admit that some of the work was very amateur in character. About half of the featured artists were of professional quality.

The spotlight was fortunately on local artist Marty Hirchak, who draws an underground comic called Pop Art Funnies. Not only were his original pages for PAF very good, but he did some excellent paintings that were tributes to Spiderman creator Steve Ditko, one of the all time greats of the comics. These pieces were what really shined! One thing that I am a real purist about is staying faithful to the old fashioned way: drawn freehand with a pencil and inking the sketch with india ink and a number 2 brush (no Adobe Photoshop allowed!) and this is one area where Hirchak does not disapoint! His inks are excellent and his color paintings (done on laminated smooth wood) have the feel of the Golden Age era.

PUDGE!

With the great performance of the Detroit Tigers over the NY Yankees, I would like to take this opportunity to personally Thank Pudge Rodriguez and all of the Tigers for a job well done! GO GET EM' TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thor

Here is a quick rendering of the mighty Thor, the thunder god of Norse mythology and also of Marvel Comics. I have always loved stories of the ancient gods and could not get enough of the great Marvel stories featuring the art of Jack Kirby with inks by Vinnie Colleta. I kind of like what the Ultimates comic has done with him by making him a anti-corporate guerilla environmentalist.

Sorry to have slacked off posting, but work is really picking up and I have been hard at it and probably will be for awhile. I'll try to bring the pencil and paper with me and do more drawings. This will probably be the last superhero for a while as I am burning out on them. I'm actually thinking of doing a "music video comic (?) of an old Marty Robbins song called "My masters call" it is from an album called "Gunfighter ballads and trail songs". I remember it from childhood and is a great story, as are most of the other songs on the record. We are going way back, but I can remember all the words like it was yesterday.

SPIDEY REWORK

My old friend, pro comics artist Michael Netzer has reworked my spidey drawing and I thought I'd give you all a look. Mike is living in Jerusalem now, but when we were very young we were friends and fellow comic book fans in Detroit, where he was born. Mike is a very interesting fellow. He is Lebanese and lived in Lebanon as a child and young man, escaping to Israel during the Lebanon civil war. He has drawn Batman for DC comics, and also worked for Marvel. He's got some radical ideas on a lot of things, but is so talented and creative that he just doesn't think the same as the average guy. It's people like him that push the envelope and push society forward. Anyway, thanks for the tips Mike, and keep them coming.

Sticky!

This was the topic for this week's Illustration Friday . Since Superman is so popular, I thought Spidey may feel left out of the fun. This one's for you Joe, I hope you like it.

Superman Returns!

I did this doodle to try out a new ink brush that I just bought and in honor of the new Superman film that is premiering today. Just a quick 20 minute drawing to relax a little before grinding out some paperwork for the day job.

As I did the drawing, I started to think about what meaning Superman has in my life. Why is he relevant to me.

Superman is just so powerful of an icon that his importance to western culture cannot be understated. First and foremost, he was the first superhero. The one that all others are but an imitation. Certainly he is first among his fellow supermen. He is the fastest, strongest, and greatest of them all.

Not only that, but all other superheroes "become" their alter ego. Superman "becomes" Clark Kent. Clark is the fiction, Superman is the fact. Very cool indeed.

There are also the parallels with Jesus Christ.
Jor-el, realizing that his world is ending in every sense of the word, sends his only begotten son to the planet Earth, where he will have Godlike powers compared to the humans. He will be the salvation of Earth.

He will use his power to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American way...

In this post 9/11 reality that we live in, who among us would not marvel in awe! Who among us would not shout "Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's SUPERMAN!

If only, on that day, he would have been there to stop those planes... I can see him now, at the last moment lifting those planes, one by one, away from the towers, tearing off the aluminum skin of the cockpit and bending it around the hi-jackers after setting the planes down safely in front of the nearest police station... Later, Mayor Giulliani on behalf of a greatful city presents the Man of Steel with the key to the city.

Superman Returns...

Welcome back Superman. We need you now more than ever.

Dance

I found this drawing, from about 1977 (I think), in my garage. It is too large to submit the whole thing. I am too busy for a new drawing so I submit this as my Illustration Friday drawing of the week.

PORTRAIT

It's been a little while since the last post. I've been on the road again and things have settled down a little. This entry in Illusration Friday is a portrait of Ira Hayes.


Ira Hayes met a very unfortunate end at the age of 32. He died after a night of drinking and gambling on the Indian reservation. It seems that he accumulated over fifty arrests for public drunkeness. One may wonder why such a person could be of interest to you and I.
Well, it might be the fact that before this sad turn of events, Ira had become a national icon of all that is heroic and good about America, our military, and the Marine Corps. It is also an indictment of how our government failed to take care of a national treasure.
I could try to tell this story in my own words, but I think Johnny Cash did a much better job than I ever could.

"Ira Hayes, Ira Hayes
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war.
Gather round me people there's a story I would tell. About a brave young Indian you should remember well.From the land of the Pima Indian A proud and noble band. Who farmed the Phoenix valley in Arizona land.
Down the ditches for a thousand years The water grew Ira's peoples' crops'. Till the white man stole the water rights And the sparklin' water stopped.
Now Ira's folks were hungry And their land grew crops of weeds. When war came, Ira volunteered And forgot the white man's greed .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
There they battled up Iwo Jima's hill, Two hundred and fifty men. But only twenty-seven lived to walk back down again .
And when the fight was over And when Old Glory raised. Among the men who held it high Was the Indian, Ira Hayes!

( Ira Hayes is the man on the far left side of this photo)

[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymoreNot the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
Ira returned a hero. Celebrated through the land. He was wined and speeched and honored; Everybody shook his hand .
But he was just a Pima Indian, No water, no crops, no chance. At home nobody cared what Ira'd done And when did the Indians dance .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira Hayes. He won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war
Then Ira started drinkin' hard; Jail was often his home. They'd let him raise the flag and lower itl ike you'd throw a dog a bone!
He died drunk one mornin' Alone in the land he fought to save. Two inches of water in a lonely ditch Was a grave for Ira Hayes .
[CHORUS:]Call him drunken Ira HayesHe won't answer anymore. Not the whiskey drinkin' Indian Nor the Marine that went to war .
Yeah, call him drunken Ira Hayes But his land is just as dry. And his ghost is lyin' thirsty In the ditch where Ira died ".

GALLERY

Cap STUKA Pilot



















Bettie Page "Jungle Bettie"




Speed
US Coast Guard cutter Mackinaw (WAGB-83)

Rick Jason, Lt. Gill Hanley "COMBAT!"

Lloyd bridges from SEA HUNT

























Athena
Greek Boxer
Poseidon
Chuck Connors "The Rifleman"

Under the sea

My drawing for Illustration Friday is another childhood memory that sparked my interest in the water and my joining of the Coast Guard. Sea Hunt was a TV show that, along with COMBAT! was standard fare at my house after school.
Retired Navy (although they showed him wearing a Coast Guard officer's uniform at least once that I remember) Diver Mike Nelson, now an undersea private investigator, patrolled the seas aboard his specially equipped vessel, the Argonaut in search of sunken treasure and other stuff that a young boy thought was way cool. Underwater fights between Mike and the bad guys abounded, usually resulting in somebody getting their airhose cut (I could never understand why they just didn't stab each other, must have been worried about sharks I guess) , or many stories revolved around being trapped underwater with his limited air supply running out. Although fans were treated to a host of Mike's undersea dangers, no body ever died. At the end of each show, Lloyd Bridges would do a voiceover plea for mankind to save the Oceans as the Argonaut sailed into the sunset.
Lloyd Bridges was a great leading man, and character actor whose career was sidetracked in the 50's because he was blacklisted by the House on Un-American activities because as a very young man he had briefly been a member of the Communist party. He really was more interested in films than doing a TV show at the time, but with a wife and two boys (Beau and Jeff), he had to put food on the table so he took the job. I for one am glad he did. He went on to do some great comedies in the 80's and 90's ala Leslie Nielsen.

Not only this show, but The undersea world of Jacque Cousteau stoked my interest in the water. If there is such a thing as re-incarnation, I wonder if Lloyd is now a dolphin swimming the seven seas. I know that's what I want to be when I come back. Getting back to using only the #4 brush when applying ink. It's harder to do and much more technical than using a uniball pen (like I did on Bettie), but I think it gives each piece an "old school" comics look.

Farewell, old girl

It was with great sadness that I went down to Hart Plaza on the banks of the Detroit River to say goodbye to an old friend, the US Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw (WAGB 83).
I served aboard this fine lady in 1981, and consider it to be the happiest time that I spent in the service. She was already 38 years old when I reported to her for duty.

She is heading back up to Cheboygan, Michigan, where she is to be decommisioned in June after over 61 years of service.

She is now painted red, but this drawing reflects how she looked when I served on board.

What a great ship she was. She could break through ice up to 20 feet thick.

Some vitals:

Builder:American Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Toledo, Ohio.

Displacement:5,252 tons
Length:290 feet
Beam:74.3 feet
Draft:19.5 feet
Speed:15 knots
Propulsion:6 Fairbanks-Morse 10cyl. Diesels 10,000 shaft horsepower
Anchors:2-6,000 pound Bower stockless with 2 inch diameter links
Crew:8 Officers, 67 enlisted
Fuel capacity:276,000 gallons

I understand she is to be turned into a museum. Rest well, old girl. You have earned it !

SPOTTED

This is this week's entry for Illustration Friday . The topic "spotted" made me think of Jungle Bettie, an incarnation of The "Notorious" Bettie Page. In case you have never heard of her, she was a pin-up girl from 1949-1957.

Although she is famous for her Bondage photos, my favorite photo shoot was the Jungle session that was photographed by the famous Playboy Playmate photographer, Bunny (coinsidence?) Yeager.

I am really looking forward to seeing the new film starring Gretchen Mol.

I have been a huge Bettie Page fan since I was about 8 years old and found my Dad's porn stash (which was very tame by today's standards.)

How many other Bettie fans read this blog? Leave a comment in support of the sexiest woman there ever was!

Speed

This is a drawing I did for Illustration Friday, a site designed to inspire artist creativity. Last Friday, the topic announcement was "SPEED". So here is my drawing. Done with Pen, Brush, and ink. What influenced the topic was an art exhibit in Pontiac that was all about Biker Art.
I was most inspired by the Artwork of Spain Rodriguez, an underground comics artist. I also remember from my Coast Guard days the art of Dave Mann . The guys in the Engine Room were mostly bikers. Click on the drawing for enlarged view.

Vincent Wai's military art.

Hans-Ulrich Rudel's Ju87 G tank buster .

I don't know positively if I was the sole inspiration for this painting, but I know that I suggested the subject a few weeks ago at Vincent Wai's Military Art Blog . Vincent, as usual, you have mastered the subject matter with unequaled precision and flair. I'd like to place an order if it's a limited edition print!
For a refresher on Hans-Ulrich Rudel, look at this previous post .

STUKA PILOT

Hans Ulrich Rudel’s book, “Stuka Pilot” is probably my all time favorite book about WWII. If half of what he writes is true, he was the most exceptional soldier of the war. Although he fought for the Third Reich, he was not a member of the Nazi party, and has never been accused of war crimes. That being said, let’s do a brief overview of his military career:
Flew 2530 combat missions (more than any airman in any air force ever).
Destroyed 518 Russian Tanks, 700 trucks, over 150 flak and artillery guns, 9 enemy aircraft, countless bridges, rail lines, and bunkers, and most impressive of all, the battleship October Revolution, and the cruiser Marat, in addition to scores of other smaller naval vessels.

Rudel did not emerge unscathed from these engagements. He was shot down 32 times (one of which, he had to swim a river in freezing temperatures and then sneak through occupied territory for several miles, getting winged in the shoulder outrunning some Russian soldiers), and lost part of his right leg, but still flew until the end of the war.

Rudel was also the most decorated German soldier, being awarded the Knight’s Cross with Golden Oakleaves, Swords and Diamonds (an award created especially for him, as he had won every other decoration available). The funniest thing is that he nearly washed out of flight school because he was taking too long to master the aircraft.

Postwar, Rudel carved out a new life in Argentina working for the Focke-Wulf aircraft company, and made a name for himself as a mountain climber, scaling the highest peak in the Americas, Aconcagua.

The book is a great read. Even though I am an American, I can admire the accomplishments of this man and be against him at the same time. If he had been on our side, just think of how much quicker we would have won the war. He can never be a hero to me, as he never renounced the Nazi's after the war. In fact, in 1982 when he died, a West German Luftwaffe general was sacked for authorizing a flight of aircraft in the “missing man” formation over his funeral. I do respect him for what he accomplished. How can one find heroes in the ranks of our soldiers if they can’t face a truly exceptional adversary . Rudel was such an adversary. His motto was "Verloren ist nur, wer sich selbst aufgibt" ("Lost are only those, who give up themselves"). Actually, I thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would have been perfect to play him in a film back in the '80's but in this politically correct age this is one film that will never be made. Ironically, Graz, Austria figured prominently in the lives of both men.

“We fly in low from the south; it is dark and murky; I cannot distinguish anything more than 2000 to 2500 feet ahead. Now I see straight in the line of my flight a black moving mass: the road, tanks, vehicles, Russians. I at once yell: “Attack!” Already at almost point blank range the defense looses off a concentrated fire from in front of me, twin and qaudruple flak, machine guns, revealing everything with a livid brightness in this foggy light. I am flying at 90 feet and have bumped right into the middle of this hornet’s nest. Shall I get out of it? I twist and turn in the crazyest defensive maneuvers to avoid being hit: I shoot without taking aim… my head is as hot as the metal screaming past me. A few seconds later a tell-tale hammering. “Engine on fire!” Flames lick the cockpit. Our Kite will be our crematorium. Can we bail out in time?”

This drawing was done with ink and a number 4 brush. Click on it to see it full size, like all other drawings on this blog.I hope you like it- Tim

COMBAT! Starring RICK JASON! And Vic Morrow

I have been told that I need to update my blog so I have tapped a childhood memory for my subject. Back in the mid-sixties, COMBAT! was the longest running TV series about WWII, and I was a HUGE fan. Although I thought Saunders (Vic Morrow) was very cool, Lt. Hanley (Rick Jason), was always my personal fave. Rounding out the cast of characters were Caje (Pierre Jalbert), Doc (Conlan Carter), Littlejohn (Dick Peabody), and Kirby (Jack Hogan). Rick's life ended tragically with a self inflicted gunshot wound in 2000, just after attending a show reunion where he was said to be in high spirits. He was 78. It is ironic that Vic Morrow also died (in 1982) under equally tragic circumstances (he was killed while filming a scene for "Twilight zone, the movie", and was decapitated when a helicopter crashed after an explosion caused it to lose control. John Landis the director, barely escaped jail for manslaughter, but that's another story).
In the opening of his autobiography, "scrapbooks of my mind", Rick talks about his suburban life on a quiet cul-de-sac, and how the niehborhood kids come around whenever they are bored or need help with something, like he was sort of the Grandpa of the street, none of the kids knowing that he was once a big TV star. To them, he was RJ, the old guy down the street. They knew nothing of his boyhood struggles with anti-semitism (Rick was Jewish,as was Vic Morrow,but really secular, not practicing. His real last name was Jacobson), joining the Air Corps at the outbreak of WWII, struggling to find acting work in New York, his B-movie career in the 50's, acting in COMBAT! in the 60's, more film work (mostly overseas, there is a hilarious story about a film he did in Israel called "Eagles attack at dawn") Guest star and TV commercial voice-over work (he was Toyota spokesman on TV in the 80's, and was very popular in Japan, where COMBAT! was huge in re-runs), 5 marriages, world-wide travels, hunting and fishing trips in South America and Africa, just so many experiences of such a full life. Sometimes I wonder if people like this (Hemingway, another person I admire, comes to mind) just can't adjust to a normal life. No longer the center of attention, maybe not as rich as they once were, no longer in the Jet-set, they become bored with life and want to see what is next. He never had kids, so he didn't have that tie to hold him here. I wish I'd have gotten the chance to meet him, as he was one of the people who unknowingly taught me what a man was supposed to act like. I did the sketch below a few months back. My scanner does not do it justice and I am thinking of inking it, but if I do it'll be on tracing paper over the original. So Rick, if you can see this from wherever you are, I hope you like it.