Holland x 2

Got two packages from Holland a while ago.
Two packages filled with great stuff by two very talended artists: Gerben Valkema and Maarten Gerritsen!
I just want to share some images from these books to give you a glimpse of their artwork. I hope you enjoy these samples and by all means, if you like what you see, make sure to get these publications for your own collection. :)

First off is a new Elsje book by Eric Hercules and Gerben.
Now in Hardcover!

As usual it's filled with dailies ...

... and some neat full page illustrations.

And then Gerben's own character "Kik" gets the album treatment.

Gerben also sent me this: A sketchbook featuring previously unpublished stuff and sketches for published pieces. I believe that only 50 for these were printed? I'd be surprised if there are any left. If you're interested you should act fast.

For more on Gerben and the stuff he do follow him on Twitter by clicking HERE. Or check out the Elsje website by clicking HERE.

From Maarten I got a collection of Bruno de Bever that is just beautifully drawn. Check out the samples below.

And the second album in the package from Maarten shows that he knows his way around with the brush. Nice to see how easy it seems to be for him to change style from funny animals to drawing humans.

Maarten has also done a few Tom and Jerry stories for Egmont. And I hope there will be more, as I feel his style works really well with these characters. Here's a sample page from a recent issue.

Want to see more by Maarten? Check out his website by clicking HERE.

Want to see more by Dutch artists?
Here are a few links that will help you navigate the web for them:
Jorg de Vos
Henk Kuijpers
Michiel van de Vijver
Alex van Koten
Henrieke Goorhuis
Mars Gremmen
Studio Noodweer
Dutch Comics History
Dutch Comic Artists

And the list could go on, but it's back to the drawing board for me.
Gotta catch up with these guys...

The Westerner #194, 1966 part VIII

At last, the final pages of the Westerner #194. :)

And as a "bonus" here's a photo of the commercial Art Department at Western, taken in January 1943.

If you have scans of interesting issues of the Westerner please feel free to share them. If you don't have a blog or a website of your own I'd be happy to post them here.

/Joakim.

The Westerner #194, 1966 part VII

Thought I had forgotten about the Westerner?
Er... I had. Almost.
Thanks to Dana G. for reminding me to post the rest.
Here are pages 29 to 33 from The Westerner #194:

 Will try to post the final pages this weekend!
+ a rare photo taken at Western in the mid 40's

Public service...

Since this page was bumped off the recent Swedish and Danish editions of the Scandinavian Donald Duck Weekly, by an italian soccer story, I feel that's it's not more than fair to post it here.
Story and art by Daan Jippes. Enjoy!


More stuff from Holland coming soon...

Coming soon...

And speaking of "coming soon": I heard yesterday that advance copies of the Buck O'Rue book by Paul Murry and Dick Huemer has been shipped from Classic Comics Press! :)

Close-up, part II

Time for an early piece by Dick Moores of Gasoline Alley fame.
This is a "Windy and Paddles" daily, the strip that followed in the footsteps of his Jim Hardy. 
This strip might not be everyones favourite, but look at the inking,
just look at the inking...
Lots of contrast between the different types of shading. And a nice use of black spaces. He sure knew what he was doing.

Shortly after this Moores joined the Walt Disney studio were he worked at the Comic Strip Department.  And this strip once belonged to one of his colleagues there: Bill Wright.
How do I know that? Just take a look at the back of the original art. :)

Watch out for the first volume of Dick Moores Gasoline Alley coming from IDW this fall!

Close-up, Part I

Over the years I have gathered a lot of original art for inspiration, and to study how my favourite artists worked/works. So why not share it with other people by scanning it in color, in high resolution so that the fine details can be seen?
Let's begin with a 1967 Bob Lubbers/Bob Lewis X-9 daily from Bob's final episode, before Goodwin and Williamson took over the strip. Enjoy!
(Click on the images to super size them.)

And a bonus: Two sketches from the back of the strip.

PS. While you are waiting for the next post in this series, here's another daily posted in 2010:
Frank Robbins 1969

Robin Malone 1970

Have picked up a lot of Robin Malone dailies by Bob Lubbers lately. All from 1969 - 1970.
Just thought I should give those of you who never have seen the final RM adventure a taste of it. Enjoy!

Donald's Nephews

This post has been moved and a ton of images has been added.
Check it out here:
http://sekvenskonst.blogspot.se/p/donalds-nephews.html

Alameda Times-Star, Nov 10, 1937

Got this from Bill Blackbeard many years ago.
An Al Taliaferro drawing from Alameda Times-Star, Nov 10, 1937.
It was reprinted by Gladstone in the 80's and is often credited to Floyd Gottfredson.
Enjoy!

How to spot a Mickey drawn by Taliaferro? The easiest way is to check if Mickey is moving like Donald Duck. Then it's Taliaferro behind the pencil. Here are two samples of how he drew characters walking. (Notice the dust clouds.)

Last weekend I took a walk with Hedvig through one of the parks in Gothenburg and we ended up at Palmhuset. Lots of orchids and exotic plants in there. And a beautiful sculpture!
I don't know who the artist is. Anyone who knows?
Just love it. Like Hedvig said to me when we saw it, it's like a sculpture made of a Claire Wendling drawing. 
Enjoy! 

Last weekend I attended the first SIS in Stockholm. (Stockholms Internationella Seriefestival = The International Comic Festival i Stockholm, previously known as SPX, Small Press Expo).

Didn't pick up much stuff this year. Maybe it's me getting more picky over the years, realising that every item takes shelf space... But on the other hand the three (3) items I brought back were really good. I urge you all to check them out/to buy them. You won't regret it!

First off we have Tamara Drewe by Posy Simmonds.
I'll let the images speak for themselves, but I can tell you that once I began to read it I couldn't put it away. I had to finish reading it. The story was so well told and got me hooked in a way very few comic books or graphic novels do these days. (Latest one was Asterios Polyp over a year ago.) The storytelling and the artwork makes a perfect marriage in this book. Published in Sweden by Wibom Books.

Posy was there and I was happy to get a nice drawing in my copy. :)

The two other items I picked up were both by Hanna K: "Lite drömmar typ" and "Astrobebis".

If I got it right she sold out during the convention, but has already printed more if you want your own copies.
And you do.

To see more of her artwork check out her tumblr: hannakdraws.tumblr.com