No Zip?

When I browsed a stack of copies of Mickey Mouse dailies from 1966 I noticed how "clean" they looked. Didn't Floyd Gottfredson use any Zip a Tone that year?

It wasn't until I started to dig deeper into the stack when I found a double set of strips with and without Zip a Tone!
Here's what the same strip looked like with all the small dots.

I had no idea that he prepared two different versions of the strip. The one without Zip was apparently shot before the dot pattern was glued on.

Does anyone out there know for how long this went on? Are there strips from the 40's or 50's known to be without these screen tones? Were the dot free versions used in any newspapers or prepared for other reasons?

First appearence of Disney's Mowgli?

On October 18, 1967 Disneys animated version of the Jungle Book was released. (Exactly 29 years after those model sheets in the last post were OK:ed...)
But observant readers of the Mickey Mouse daily strip already had a chance to see what Mowgli looked like.
In the strip dated July 6, 1966 we see Morty reading from one of his favourite books. And who's on the cover? Ta-da!
Is this drawing of Mowgli, by Floyd Gottfredson, the first of Disneys version to see print?

Mickey Mouse Oct. 18, 1938

Here are two more model sheets from the same stack that the Paul Murry sheet came from.
Incomplete fourth grade copies, but still interesting as they shows the "Latest models of Mickey" and are dated October 18, 1938. He has been re-designed several times since, but this design has always kept coming back. Timeless and classic. Click images to enlarge.


Has these been published anywhere? (Got too many books on Disney animation to check, but I cant remember seeing these before.)
Got two more sheets dated 10-18-38, featuring action sketches and heads.

Frank Grundeen artwork

Todays post is an item that was recently sold by Howard Lowery.
A piece of artwork done by Frank Grundeen at Disney. Possibly for a colleauge that just left the studio.(In the 1940's?)
His name appears to be Tony Pearson. Any familar names around the art? Myself I havn't heard of any of them. But then Disney employed tons of people that nobody have heard about.
Notice the sign to the right pointing to "Disney's Land"...

More Patterson

Still in Russell Patterson mode.
I hope you enjoy his stuff as much as I do.

Following are some scans from an original Ballyhoo cover. Simply beautiful...





A sample of his rare "Runaway Ruth". Wish I could find more.


And to end this post, an example of the kind of work Patterson did later in his life. It wasn't all glamour girls you know...


Today the rain is continuing to pour down. The whole town is soaked with water. And they say it will go on for several more days. Soon we'll be swimming in the streets here...
Myself I'm doing some work in the studio. Trying to figure out a simpler drawing style for "Emma & Sara" and roughing a new page.
The menue for tonight is fish sticks and mashed potatoes. :) Done properly it's a delicious dish! True!
And!!! The Art of Ratatouille book is out now! Dont miss it! Seems to be loaded with great art. I've ordered it and can't wait to get it!

Russell Patterson

I'm in Russell Patterson mode today, so why not share some random scans that I've collected. For those of you who hasn't seen a photo of the man before here's one. Posing with a model, as usual... :)

These are just taken from eBay. Some day I'll make better scans of other pics from magazines I've got, and post them here. But these will do for now. If you like his art I'm sure these small pics are better than nothing. For me every piece of new Patterson art I see is a treasure found. And there are plenty of it. Anyway: Enjoy!








This is just to wet your appetite for the book TOPHATS AND FLAPPERS: The Art of Russell Patterson from Fantagraphics Books.
184 pages. Hardcover!
A beautiful, beautiful, beautiful book!
Available from Bud Plant for only $19.95! Go get it! It's worth every cent.

Murry model sheet

Found this in the trash a few years ago along with a huge stack of other old model sheets. The only example of something Paul Murry made at the Disney studio that I've seen his name attached to. A fourth grade photocopy, but still better than nothing.


Today I'm having a slight hangover.
Drank rum and coke last evening with David Gerstein, Germund Von Wowern and Hedvig Häggman-Sund while watching old cartoons. We had a fun evening and today is just a lazy sunday. :)

Pop goes the eye!

Just when you thought the nightmare was over. Here he is again!
The one and only TRUE Popeye!
Would you tune in to a radio station featuring him?

This is beyond scary...

Me and my Shadow

Have been busy lately. Just enjoying summer.
There will be more updates soon, so check back.
Until then, here's an unpublished the Shadow cover by Rolf Gohs! Made with a BIC pen (!)and watercolors in the late 80's/early 90's. The artwork for this one is buried somewhere in my evergrowing stacks of original art. Should have it displayed I guess. Posted here for just one reason. It's so damn good!
As I use to say: Enjoy! ;)

Nonsense...

It's late.
Just beeing tired, playing with my
wacom tablet and Photoshop.
I really should be heading
home instead of hanging
in the studio.
Yaaawn!

Shane Glines books

Got Shane Glines thick hardcover book "S Curves" in the mail today.
And what a beauty it is!
If you have hesitated about ordering this book I can just say: Just go ahead and buy it!
It's filled from cover to cover with sketches, finished artwork, rough concepts and fun stuff. And it's all in color!
And then there's the smaller Lily and Flinch sketchbook. Softcover, but just as good. Filled with girls and cats. Can it get any better?
You can order them at both Lulu.com!

Here are some teaser pages from "S Curves":


And there's 400 more pages filled with stuff just as good as this! :)
Go get it!

Playmates in print

And you thought you would see Playboy bunnies here? No, no, no.
"Playmates in print" is the title of a childrens book by Edna Whiteman. And it's illustrated by no one else than Earl Oliver Hurst! While his illustration art from the 30's and 40's is pretty common, seeing this book from 1926 made my heart skip a beat. Naturally I bought it on the spot. It has six full page plates, an illustrated title page, wonderful endpapers and loads of small illustrations in black and white. All done in a style that makes me think of another favorite: Gustaf Tenggren. (Click on the label below to see a piece of early Tenggren work.) There are traces of master illustrator Arthur Rackham to be found in these pieces too.
Here are few scans from the book. If there's interest in seeing more I'll post the rest of the full page illustrations.




For more on Hurst please see the book "The art of Earl Oliver Hurst" now on sale from Bud Plant!
+ some more artwork here to wet your appetite on the book!

T. S. Sullivant

It's always a pleasure to find a piece of long forgotten artwork by T.S. Sullivant.
These appeared in Campus Comics #2, 1931. But they probably appeared in print many, many years before that. Anyone know where they were first published?




Noticed that the bear in the second drawing looks a lot like another bear by Sullivant that appeared in Life January 4, 1912.
For those of you without complete runs of Life it also appeared in Black & White ImageS #1. Compare the two. Pretty similar, eh?

Check out Jim Vadeboncoeurs homepage for back issues of ImageS. Lots of Sullivant in his black and white annuals!

Don't miss tomrrows post featuring exclusive material from the book "PLAYMATES IN PRINT"! I'm sure you don't want to miss that!

Meet Wag Patakey Pt.IV

This just in from Arnaud Wirschell, who is a true Crane/Turner fan!
I should have known he had it. :)
He also confirms that the 4-26 sunday is the end of the story.

Arnaud also writes:
"By the way, did you know that Wag Patakey returned in the dailies? For example in the first week of 1956, he meets that other famous artist Marmaduke Koontz. They used to be at art school together (just like Crane and Turner)."
I have to confess that I had no idea. I've read a lot of Turners dailies but very little from the 50's. I sure hope there will be more of Capt. Easy in Big Fun Magazine.

And speaking of Big Fun; I got #5 yesterday.
And what a beautiful brick that is!.
Thick and heavy.
And Warren Tufts "Lance" in glorious color!!!
Can't wait to read it!

Even more Raymond...

As promised here are some more Alex Raymond photos. There are more to be seen but I don't want to shove them all down your throats at once. Some of you probably prefer to see photos of babes dressed up in bunny suits instead of photos of a cartoonist that died more than 50 years ago. Right? But what do I care?
Here are Raymond in his prime. Enjoy!

First off is a photo of a younger Alex. This was shot in late 1940. (Date on back of photo is Dec. 24.)

Here he is in 1950 with Rube Goldberg and Milton Caniff! Anyone knows what happened with the artwork he was presented? Reproduced anywhere?


Here he is seen signing something in 1950. Anyone knows what and who the other people on the photo are?


OK! OK! Now I'm getting tired of Alex photos myself.
Let's see... What do I have here? A photo of a babe in a bunny suit!
You knew it, didn't ya?
Info for Bunny spotters: This is Lori Lancester picking cotton (For her tail?) in 1962.