Wednesday, June 10, 2009

latest stupidity

I finally got off my lazy butt and got more doodles scanned in, can't believe it's been so long since I posted some drawings, this annoying thing called "life" keeps me busy. That being said, I'm never too busy to watch old Van Beuren cartoons and gain inspiration from them which is where the majority of these doodles came from.

Ghosts, robots, and Batman. I think we have a new tv series.


I've said it before and I still stand by it, Popeye is really tricky to draw. Segar is one of my favorite cartoonists so I can't help but take a crack at his characters every now and then. I then feel the need to surround them with my typical weirdness.

The guy on the bottom left was inspired by a creepy "To Catch a Predator" lookin' guy I saw at my favorite bookstore. He was of course browsing old comic books like I was.

Here we have an assortment of unpleasant faces. The face on the top left page was inspired by my favorite cartoon short of all time, the Fleischer's "Swing You Sinners".

A robot that shoots balls out of his head, still not sure why, but does it REALLY matter?

I must say the sun on the right page may be the closest thing to "cute" I can muster.

Lastly, I wanted to share this photo that was taken after one of the greatest experiences of my life (my wedding day counts slighty above this). I attended a live show called Cinematic Titanic which was performed by the original cast of my favorite tv show of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000. After the show I got to meet everyone and they were all cool enough to sign my Tom Servo head. The picture is me with Joel Hodgson, the creator and star of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cinematic Titanic. I really don't geek out over much these days, but I hold MST3K so dear to my heart that getting to meet the creator and star of the show was close to a religious experience for me. It would be like a Trekkie meeting Gene Roddenberry while winning the lottery at the same time. It was a blast and if anyone gets the chance to see them perform live then by all means GO GO GO!!! Thanks for lookin' folks!

11 comments:

Bob Flynn said...

Thanks for posting your latest! Lots of gems in this batch. I've been meaning to pick up some DVDs of Van Beuren cartoons. Can you recommend some? I'm well-versed in Fleischer at this point. "Swing You Sinners" is indeed a masterpiece.

David DeGrand said...

Hey Bob, thanks man! My favorite Van Beuren DVD is available from amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Cartoons-That-Time-Forgot-Beuren/dp/6305269149/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1244764436&sr=8-5

I think they're really great cartoons. Not in the same league as the Fleischer's but there's some really great stuff, especially "The Sunshine Makers". a particular favorite of mine.

Jason Curtis said...

Oh boy! There are so many great characters on these pages. I just love your twisted sense of humor David.

There are far too many drawings here for me to comment on them individually, but let me say that I have just spent a great amount of time procrastinating (from things that I should be doing) in order to digest all this goodness.

Great stuff, as usual.

Oh, and thanks for sharing the photo and little story.

JustMe said...

This post should be called "Latest Genius"! Cool that you got a photo with Joel Hodgson.

David DeGrand said...

Hey Jason, thanks buddy! Funny you mention procrastinating, I do the same thing every time I see all the new cool stuff you keep posting! Seriously, I need to try and do a daily post like you do, so much to check out, it's awesome!

Hey Justin ol' pal! Although I feel it's far from genius, I certainly appreciate the comment. Hope you had some relaxing time off, now it's time to buckle down and post some more Winslow awesome awesomness!!

JustMe said...

Dude, you are the best blog commenter (commentor?) ever. I always appreciate your kind words, however, you're crazy to say my style is any more "professional" than yours. :) I just had to leave another note about your doodles. I love how your "cute" Mr. Sun looks like he's totally OFF his meds. HA. You capture dementia through your characters so well, I love it.

Jason Curtis said...

I'd love to see you post more often David, simply for selfish reasons (because I love your work so much).

Clarity said...

Prolific, well done.

I tend to stop myself doing too much "research" as it can get in the way of work if you enjoy it too much.

David DeGrand said...

Thanks Clarity! Yeah I try and just focus on drawing as much as I can.

BRANDI MILNE said...

This is flippin amazing!! I can't believe you can focus and finish each character - I wish!!

Jerome D'Costa said...

Fabulous doodles! Good work. If you are interested, you may see my doodles, too. Please keep up the good work.