WordPress can be kind of a pain in the ass to navigate sometimes, and the storage limit seems to be quite minimal (I barely have any media up on here, and I’ve already made a substantial dent in what they space they’re allowing me to use unless I start paying them money– which isn’t in the cards). So I’ve decided to move this blog over to the aptly-named Blogger, where the layout is straightforward enough for a dummy like me, and as far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be any cap on how many pictures my cheapskate self can upload there.
Was re-watching this Woody Woodpecker/Walter Lantz DVD boxed set I’ve owned for 20-odd years by this point, and was struck by a short called The Legend of Rockabye Point. It reminded me of an idea I had for this blog, just ’cause at this point I’m not entirely sure what I should be posting here. Not all that long ago, I thought about doing a feature on here where I talk about some old cartoons I enjoy, both popular and on the more obscure side, and highlight some specific moments from them.
Rockabye Point is an optimal short for such a thing. It’s the second (and final) Chilly Willy cartoon that was directed by the great Tex Avery, so naturally it’s a lot of wild fun. In particular, the main thing I was drawn to was a polar bear character featured within it. His design is a personal favorite of mine… it’s fairly simple-looking, but he’s constructed in such a way that makes him so wonderfully malleable and expressive. Rubbery designs will always hold a soft spot in my heart.
The following screen grabs aren’t of the *greatest* quality– I don’t know where my USB-DVD player for my laptop is at the moment (somewhere around here for sure), so I took these frames off of a somewhat low-res copy of the short from YouTube— but I feel like they’re enough to get the point across. If you’re a fan of this type of animation like myself, I think you’ll have a good time here.
His eyes can shift subtly but effectively around his skull when need be.He looks like Scooby-Doo’s long-lost uncle here and in a few other drawings.I love the guard dog’s design as well. How does he stand up?This is a pretty simple drawing but the energy and direction in it is great.There are a couple of moments in the short where he tiptoes over the dog. This is the aforementioned malleability he possesses at its peak.Smears!This is a great, angular pose and expression. He looks so relieved yet so frazzled at the same time, like he’s been through the wringer. Which, by this point in the proceedings, he has.His face looks like a sock puppet from this angle.Like his eyes, his mouth is able to shift placement just a little bit, whenever it serves the drawing.Scooby-Shmoo?This is the crappiest-quality screengrab I’ve put in this post. Bleah.Yogi?This is such a fun, fluid pose. You’ve gotta have real control over your drawing to successfully pull off something like this, even though it might look simple at first glance. Screwing something like this up, making it look too messy or janky, is pretty easy to do.Love this expression/alternate angle we get here. Again, malleable: remember, his mouth wasn’t quite like this in the front-facing pose a few images above (the one where I said he looked like a sock puppet).More malleability in full force!
Now, my purpose in posting this sort of thing isn’t to merely give all us cartoonists some eye candy– okay, that’s a large part of it– but I’ve always strongly felt that analyzing frames/drawings that appeal to you, just lookin’ at them for a while and taking them in, is a constructive practice. You should try to figure out why exactly they appeal to you. What’s going on here that draws you to such a thing, and can you incorporate it into your own art? You can refine your own style by Frankenstein-ing bits and pieces of other artists’ work together and seeing what makes you happy. We all start out copying the artists who inspired us in the first place, but eventually you’ve mixed and matched different sensibilities from all sorts of different people, and run them through your own personal filter and points of view, that in the end you end up developing something uniquely you. This doesn’t just apply to cartoons– even if you’re a cartoonist! I urge everyone to try and broaden their horizons, give yourself your own little personal arts education. You can look at paintings, architecture, frames from films… I know the few posts I’ve put up here have been predominantly cartoon-related, but trust me, it’s beneficial (to your soul!) to branch out. (And I’m not suggesting animation is a “lesser” art form that needs to be supplemented– I have an Honors Bachelor in Animation, obviously I don’t feel that way– I think this principle applies to any kind of artist or creative person, regardless of what kind of medium or genre they’re working in. Try to look beyond your frame of reference.)
Anyways! What exactly drew me to this character, his poses and his expressions so much? The obvious answer would be a term I used earlier on here: malleability. But what of it? He’s heavily shape-based, there’s consistent energy to the way he moves, there’s a kind of looseness to his form that allows him to look how he needs to be, like some kind of art amoeba. But these seem like very broad and vague terms– everyone likes shapes and energy. What specifically gives this bear that? I think the answer seems to be two main things: an emphasis on silhouettes, and a strong line of action with each pose. Keeping those two ideas in mind leads to the dynamic drawings we looked at above. These are fairly basic principles, absolutely– but there are so many principles to keep in mind when it comes to this sort of thing, it’s easy to mistakenly let some crucial ones take a backseat in your mind when you’re working. I could certainly stand to really emphasize those two in my art, to keep reminding myself not to lose sight of it– sometimes I feel as though my poses are too stiff and a bit cluttered/messy; this would be the obvious solution. Something fundamental, but something I’ve often gotten easily distracted away from.
Anyone out there, if anyone at all– thoughts? Do you have anything to add about this? I’d love to hear it.
The news of Ace Frehley’s abrupt passing today really depressed me. Went on a mini-KISS binge, including his debut solo album (twice!), then felt compelled to draw the plumber spaceman himself to top it all off.
Once you get to a certain point in your life, you need to stop running and admit that KISS was great in their prime. Amped-up British Invasion riffs cranked down a half-step with lyrics about your balls sung by a horde of space clowns… if you can’t see the appeal in that then your heart/soul is broken beyond repair. Ace was the not-so-secret ingredient, the rock and roll heart of the group who had the tone and swagger to make it all work. Plus a sense of humor about the whole business itself. Lots of other bands have tried and failed to be KISS, and it’s probably because they didn’t have him. He was always my favorite. Read his auto-biography if you haven’t yet, it’s great.
The other night I had a dream where Mickey Mouse looked like this. At least, I think he did. Dreams are famously very rock-solid tangible and easy to remember.
Recently splurged on (what I’m rationalizing to myself as) an early birthday present to me, the long-awaited and newly-released Huckleberry Hound Show Complete Series Blu-Ray set from Warner Archive. Cost too damn much but I’m enjoying it greatly! These new restorations look phenomenal, the colors pop and everything looks bright and crisp.
Another note on Huck and my birthday… the first season DVD of his self-titled program came out in 2005, when I was five years old. Then it was total radio silence on the Huckleberry home media front… until now. I am turning twenty-five next week. I waited two decades for this thing to come out! Was worth the wait though; like I said I’m having a blast with the set. Here’s hoping this means the equally-as-long-anticipated release of The Quick Draw McGraw Show is somewhere in the near-future (I’ve heard rumors, but who knows. The internet would never lie to me, I feel). Once I get my hands on that and the upcoming complete ‘n uncensored Tom & Jerry box set, I’ll have just about all the classic Hanna-Barbera material I’ll ever need on my DVD shelf.
(For those wondering, as millions doubtlessly are, I also have the complete Yogi Bear Show, complete Flintstones, A Man Called Flintstone, complete Jetsons, complete Top Cat, complete Loopy De Loop, various Tom & Jerry collections, the aforementioned season one of Huck, and some scattered Scooby Doo material. There are a few more HB sets I’d like to track down someday but I’m not gonna lose sleep over not having them, y’know?)
The future looks bright for a freak such as myself, at least in terms of discs coming out. In terms of everything else, not so much. But we go on.
Anyhow, I’ve been meaning to get my butt in gear and start uploading to here/my portfolio site a bit more to get my name out there and get more art-related work. I graduated Sheridan just over a year ago, and I’ve had a couple of freelance gigs since then, but we all want stability right? It’s go time for me. I’ve got a lot of cartoon-related stuff I’m trying to get to work on soon. Thought I’d inaugurate this new era with a doodle I just cranked out of a slightly off-model and stylized Huck. Watch this space?
Noah Pasternak's Blog 
