Best of Draw! Vol. 3 by TwoMorrows Publishing

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THIS BOOK CONTAINS NUDITY FOR THE PURPOSE OF FIGURE DRAWING AND ART INSTRUCTION, AND IS INTENDED FOR MATURE READERS.

9 781893 905917

TwoMorrows Publishing Raleigh, North Carolina

$29.95 in the US

ISBN 978-1-893905-91-7

TWOMORROWS PUBLISHING

52995

BEST OF

VOLUME THREE

MIKE MANLEY, EDITOR

ISBN-13: 978-1-893905-91-7 ISBN-10: 1-893905-91-8

The Best Of DRAW! Volume Three

The Best of DRAW!, Volume Three compiles material from the sold-out issues #5, #6 and #7 of DRAW!, the professional “How-To” magazine on comics and cartooning, with previously uncollected material from issues #3 and #4! Featured here are tutorials by, and interviews with, the top artists in the comics industry: MIKE WIERINGO (penciling), BRET BLEVINS (drawing hands, sketching, and using shadow and light), DAN BRERETON (painting and illustration), CELIA CALLE and ALBERTO RUIZ (digital illustration), BILL WRAY (cartooning and painting), PAUL RIVOCHE (drawing and design), ZACH TRENHOLM (caricature), STEPHEN DESTEFANO (comics and animation), and more! Each artist presents their work step-by-step, so you can see it progress to finished form, learning valuable tips and tricks along the way. See how the pros do it, and learn from the best, as editor MIKE MANLEY assembles this wealth of information for both beginning and experienced artists!

THE

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STEP-BY-STEP LESSONS & INTERVIEWS BY TOP PROS IN COMICS, CARTOONING, & ANIMATION!

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THE BEST OF DRAW! VO L U M E O N E Edited by Mike Manley Designed by Mike Manley and Eric Nolen-Weathington Front cover illustration by Dan Brereton Back cover illustration by Celia Calle Proofreading by Eric Nolen-Weathington and John Morrow

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 www.twomorrows.com • e-mail: twomorrow@aol.com First Printing • April 2008 • Printed in Canada ISBN: 978-1-893905-91-7 Trademarks & Copyrights All contributions herein are copyright 2008 by their respective contributors. All artwork herein is copyright the year of production, its creator (if work-for-hire, the entity which contracted said artwork); the characters featured in said artwork are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners; and said artwork or other trademarked material is printed in these pages with the consent of the copyright holder and/or for journalistic, educational and historical purposes with no infringement intended or implied. Aqualad, Aquaman, Batgirl, Batman, Birds of Prey, Bizarro, Catwoman, Fiddler, Fight for Tomorrow, Joker, Justice League, Legion of Super-heroes, Live Wire, Lobo, Lois Lane, ’Mazing Man, Mera, Mr. Mxyzptlk, Spyder, Starman, Superman, Vigilante are TM and ©2008 DC Comics • Tom Strong TM and ©2008 America’s Best Comics LLC. • Blade, Devil Dinosaur, Dr. Octopus, Fantastic Four, Hulk, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Kitty Pryde, MechaniX, Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Modulus, Moonboy, New Mutants, Sleepwalker, Spider-Man, Spirits of Vengeance, Storm, Wolverine TM and ©2008 Marvel Characters, Inc. • Archie and all related characters TM and ©2008 Archie Comic Publications, Inc. • Powers TM and ©2008 Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Oeming • Mister X is TM and ©2008 Vortex Comics.• Tarzan is TM and ©2008 ERB, Inc. • Tellos TM and ©2008 Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo • Static Shock! TM and ©2008 Milestone Media, Inc. • Hellboy Jr. TM and ©2008 Mike Mignola • Big Blown Baby TM and ©2008 Bill Wray • Jingle Belle TM and ©2008 Paul Dini • Dollz TM and ©2008 Randy Green • Monroe © 2008 E.C. Publications Inc. • Dexter’s Lab, Samurai Jack, Zesty Relish TM and ©2008 Cartoon Network • Dennis the Menace, Popeye TM and ©2008 King Features Syndicate • Elvira® TM and ©2008 Queen “B” productions • Ren & Stimpy, Wild Thornberrys TM and ©2008 Viacom International Inc. • The Crow TM and ©2008 Fallen Bird Productions Inc. • Nightbreed TM and ©2008 Clive Barker. This entire book is ©2008 Action Planet Inc. and TwoMorrows Publishing and may not be reprinted or retransmitted without written permission of the copyright holders.

Acknowledgements I want to thank Brian Michael Bendis, Bret Blevins, Dan Brereton, Ken Bruzenak, Celia Calle, Stephen DeStefano, Mike Oeming, Peter Pantazis, Paul Rivoche, Alberto Ruiz, Zach Trenholm, Mike Wieringo and Bill Wray for taking their time and sharing with us their knowledge and love of comics, and to thank my family, friends as well as the many, many regular readers of DRAW! who have given me nothing but universally positive feedback on DRAW! since day one.

If you enjoyed the Best of DRAW!, remember:

M AG A Z I N E

…is available at finer comics shops and bookstores, and by subscription (print or digital) from:

www.twomorrows.com

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CONTENTS INTRODUCTION BY MIKE MANLEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 FROM DRAW! #5 PENCILING AN INTERVIEW WITH MIKE WIERINGO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 DRAWING AND DESIGN DREAMING DESIGN: THE DEPTH ILLUSION, BY PAUL RIVOCHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 POWERS: STEP BY STEP FROM SCRIPT TO PRINT WITH THE POWERS TEAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 PENCILING DRAWING HANDS, BY BRET BLEVINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55

DRAWING AND DESIGN DREAMING DESIGN: OBSERVATION AND MEMORY, BY PAUL RIVOCHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68 FROM DRAW! #6 CARTOONING AN INTERVIEW AND PAINTING DEMO WITH BILL WRAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79 DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION AN INTERVIEW AND DEMO WITH CELIA CALLE . . . . . . . . . . . .102 INKING TIPS, TOOLS, AND TECHNIQUE WITH MIKE MANLEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 COMICS AND ANIMATION AN INTERVIEW AND DEMO WITH STEPHEN DESTEFANO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 FIGURE DRAWING THE FIGURE IN LIGHT AND SHADOW, BY BRET BLEVINS . . . . . . . . . . .149

DRAWING AND DESIGN DREAMING DESIGN: THE DESIGN PROCESS, BY PAUL RIVOCHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161 FROM DRAW! #7 PENCILING THE POWER OF SKETCHING, BY BRET BLEVINS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175 CARICATURE AN INTERVIEW AND DEMO WITH ZACH TRENHOLM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .196 DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION INKING AND COLORING IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR, BY ALBERTO RUIZ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .212 ILLUSTRATION AN INTERVIEW AND DEMO WITH DAN BRERETON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .218 DRAWING AND DESIGN LIGHT AND SHADOW, BY PAUL RIVOCHE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

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INTRODUCTION elcome to the third Best of Draw! collection featuring the best of the “how-to” material culled from the pages of DRAW! Magazine. This being our third volume, or our third time around, gives credence to the fact that not only is the work of the artists featured in this volume some of the “best of the best” working in their respective disciplines in the field of cartooning, comics and animation; but that this material is timeless. There is no time limit or shelf-life on the principles of drawing and storytelling found in the demonstrations and the work of the artists featured in this volume. Many things come and go like fashion in the world of art—commercially and in the fine art field as well. But real drawing skill and knowledge is not changeable like the lapels of a jacket or the hemline of a dress, or even the ever-changing software and technology we all interface with and use every day.

Figurative interpretation by Bret Blevins

The artist, the Cartoonist—yes I said “Cartoonist” with a capital “C”—who has a long and successful career has a sound grounding in the principles exposed by the many artists featured here. We all use the same materials, the same basic handful of pens and pencils, markers, and computers, and yet we all employ them, and the knowledge we gain through practice and study, in a unique and interesting way as we project the impulse of

creativity through our artistic memory banks and the unique prism of our personality, down our arm to our hand, and finally onto the screen, canvas or page. Jack Kirby, certainly the most important cartoonist of the past 60 years as far as adventure and superhero comics goes, had a saying that, “One man can be a school for another.” In this volume, then, you have many, many schools to attend, study and learn from. I’d like to thank each and everyone of them who made this book possible, and to especially thank Dan Brereton for the new amazing cover, my best friend and fellow keeper of the flame Bret Blevins, and to my backbone and never failing friend and publisher John Morrow. I’d also like to dedicate this book to the memory of my great friend Mike Wieringo, one of the best artists to grace us with his charm, humanity and talent on and off the comic page—a stellar human being and booster of almost everyone he ever met—who was taken away from us too young. Now go Draw! something,

Mike Manley, editor

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PENCILING

MIKE WIERINGO

THE FANTASTIC PENCILS OF

MIKE WIERINGO

For over a decade Mike Wieringo’s animated and appealing artwork has graced some of the biggest icons in comics. From his break-out run on The Flash to his amazing work on Spider-Man to his creator-owned work on Tellos, to his current run on the first family of comics, The Fantastic Four. DRAW! editor Mike Manley conducted this interview over the internet and by phone with the easy-going, busy artist from his Artamus Studio in Hillsborough, North Carolina. WIERINGO: This is a panel from FF #61 where Ben is on the track of someone who played a practical joke on him. It was fun to show the public’s reaction to this lumbering monster running down the street. I tried to give the guy in the foreground a Sam Jackson-kind-of look.

DRAW!: Let’s begin with a brief bio. Give me the specifics. Where were you born? Did anyone introduce you into comics? WIERINGO: Well, I was born in Vicenza, Italy in 1963. My father was in the Army when I was born and that’s where he and my mother were stationed.We left not long after I was born, and we moved all over the place for years. We lived in New York state for a while, Virginia, over to Germany for three years and then back to Virginia in the U.S. in 1974. I’ve been in the U.S. ever since. My dad was actually the one who introduced me to comic books. He would buy comics from the base PX (Post Exchange) when we were living in Germany and he’d let me read them. They were mostly DC comics like Superman and Batman, but he would occasionally buy the odd Marvel like X-Men or Spider-Man. But overwhelmingly, they were the DC books. DRAW!: Why was that? Did you find DC just more appealing for some reason? DC’s were certainly more accessible in other mediums like TV and cartoons.

WIERINGO: Well, these were the books being bought by my father in Germany that I’m talking about. This was when I was between 8 and 10 years old. I didn’t start buying my own comics until I was 11 years old and back in the O.S. I wasn’t allowed to go to the PX myself because there was a lot of drug dealing and violence going on, on base (if you can believe that... but it happened). But I remember my dad telling me about the comics he bought when he was a kid—things like Airboy, The Heap (a predecessor to Swamp Thing), Blackhawk as well as Superman and Batman. I read what he bought, but when I got to buy my own books, I was into the Marvel stuff. DRAW!: So you were you into comics and cartoons as a kid? WIERINGO: Yeah—I really took to comic books immediately. The first time my dad brought some home, I was hooked. It’s always been that way. I can very easily get drawn into the “reality” of whichever comic book I’m reading/looking at. The comic book medium has always affected me in that way. I can open a comic book and get sucked in from the first couple of pages— THE BEST OF DRAW! 5

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STEP-BY-STEP

POWERS

48 THE BEST OF DRAW!

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STEP-BY-STEP

POWERS

THE BEST OF DRAW! 49

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DRAWING AND DESIGN

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PAUL RIVOCHE

DREAMING DESIGN: DESIGNING FOR COMICS AND ANIMATION: OBSERVATION AND MEMORY

recently received this e-mail question from someone who was interested in learning about background design:

“I guess what I’m asking is where do you begin?... where do you go from?... what speaks to you and says ‘put this here... put this sunken living room here in relation to this... this kind of track lighting is a good choice... etc... I’m sorry if I’m not making much sense....” My answer went: don’t worry, you’re making sense. It can seem overwhelming at first. There are many things to consider, and it can be difficult to sort out which to tackle first. So in the interest of “beginning at the beginning,” and instead of writing a typical by-the-numbers article about design filled with strict prescriptive formulas, I thought I’d start by discussing something that underpins any creative drawing: visualization. My aim is to provoke thought about and examination into this often-overlooked area; by no means can I cover all its aspects, but I will instead try to outline a few key points. After this, in subsequent articles, I’ll get into more specifics about various aspects of the process of actually creating a design. 68 THE BEST OF DRAW!

In the haste to get something down on paper as proof of improvement, it’s all too easy to concentrate solely on learning more about drawing and all its various ramifications, but forget to learn more about visualizing, which comes before drawing. “Visualizing” is a very important step in the process which results in a final drawing on paper. After all, everything man-made which we see around us started as an idea or image in someone’s head; then it became a drawing of some kind, and then finally was produced in the physical world. There is a chain of events there. But whether the final result is an object, or a drawing, everything starts in the mental world, in those “dream-images” in our mind’s eye. So it stands to reason that if we can improve our visualization, our “dream-images,” then our drawings should also improve. Loosely speaking, you could say that there are two kinds of drawing: the first sort is when we draw something right in front of us, and attempt to represent it literally; the second type is when we “draw from our imagination,” inventing freely without a guide in front of us. These two kinds of drawing, although different, are much more closely related than it may seem at first glance, and practicing both yields

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DRAWING AND DESIGN

PAUL RIVOCHE

have to simultaneously split your attention between inside and outside. It’s not easy to accurately capture that elusive image floating around in your imagination! “Inside,” you need to form a mental image that’s as clear as possible, and also be able to visualize variations on it, to play with it until it’s as close to “right” as possible. “Outside,” you have to deal with the drawing on your paper, and all the attendant technical challenges of line, volume, pattern, perspective, and so on. So: the better you can visualize inside, the better your outside results will be. To visualize inside, to develop this ability, you need to observe, observe, observe. Why? The answer is crucial: because it will give you raw material for later, when you need to invent “spontaneously.” But what appears “spontaneous” may really not be as random as it seems. Those “spontaneous visualizations” are formed from memories; so the more memories you have available to you, the more raw material you have to invent with.

much greater results than choosing only one or the other. They have a lot in common: both involve a sort of “copying and comparing,” and both involve visualization and memory. When you draw a real object in front of you, you “copy” down onto the paper what you see, constantly comparing the real object and your drawing in order to get them as close as possible. And when you draw from imagination, you also “copy and compare”— except in this case you do it from a subject seen only in your “mind’s eye.” But look more closely: in both cases, you first visualize, then try to hold a clear memory of that visualization as you copy it down on the paper. Even when you draw a subject right in front of you, your visualization and memory skills are at work: for the moment that you look away from the subject and glance at your paper, you are then drawing a memory-image of the subject, not the subject itself! You are drawing your own personal form-conception of the subject (its masses, structures, details,etc.)—be it a truck, a knee, a flower, or whatever. It’s here where the link between the two kinds of drawing exists: if you use “drawing from real objects” to expose, examine, and refine your own personal form-conceptions, memorizing the realities of the forms as they truly are, those improved form-conceptions will be there later when you draw from imagination. The more accurately you learn to “see” real forms in front of you, by drawing from life, the more accurately you’ll be able to “see” those elusive forms floating through your mind’s eye. The process of creative design really all starts with the flexibility of your imagination. You need to develop the ability to dream-in-daylight: to dream with your eyes open, while sitting at the drawing board, and then “catch” those dreams and put them on paper so others can see them. If that sounds like a strange description, perhaps it is, but it’s the best way I can describe what we do. I’m sure you know what I mean. You see something “inside” (in your mind’s eye)—and try and simultaneously trace it down “outside” (in the real world, on the paper in front of you). It’s a tricky juggling act, no doubt about it, because you

ABOVE: Experimentation is a lot of the fun of designing. Don’t lock yourself in too soon—feel free to play around and explore the boundaries of your design, the more extreme the better. You can never know what better idea lies just beyond the next drawing.... These were rough ideas for a bomb-carrying helicopter piloted by Batman’s nemesis, Mr. Freeze.

ABOVE: These were rough model sheets done to sort out design possibilities for a comic book project. I would do drawings like this to sort out the exact look of key elements, and also to get “warmed up.” I like to have all the information I need organized on one handy piece of paper. From Legion Worlds #3, from DC Comics.

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IN FASHION

Digital illustrator Celia Calle shares her unique insights into creating iconic covers for comics

DRAW!: You graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA, and you’ve won awards in fashion design. Some of your clients include Jean-Paul Gaultier Jeans, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. Big clients. How did you go about building this list? Do you advertise in the various advertising annuals or journals? CELIA CALLE: Not during the time when I worked in fashion, these were mainly based from my own portfolio after graduation and meeting with the designers themselves, e.g., from working with them (or with their respectives). DRAW!: Did you grow up wanting to do fashion illustration and comics?

This interview was conducted by DRAW! Editor Mike Manley via e-mail and telephone and transcribed by Steven Tice

CC: Actually, neither. I wanted to be a fashion designer and do animation in-between my fashion career. Yes, I had pretty unrealistic goals. But when I worked in the “Fashion Industry” (especially as a designer), I no longer sketched or painted as much. Instead, I was sent out to chase after the perfect buttons and renaming color palettes that sounded exactly the same to my ear. Fussing over a stupid hem line, that required little talent. It was a nightmare... and complete boredom for me. I got assigned to “Illustration,” mainly because during job interviews, most of the designers awed over my presentation (portfolio) and drawing skills and usually over-looked my designs. DRAW!: You live in the center for illustration—New York City. Were you born there? CC: I was born in Boston, raised in Texas, and have probably spent most of my life in New York City. DRAW!: You were working professionally while in school and getting paid for it? CC: Yes, I did work outside of school. And yes, I got paid for my work, but very little at the time. DRAW!: Was your first work traditional methods or did you start right away with working with the computer? CC: Pencils and paper. All traditional. DRAW!: How did you get introduced to working on a computer? Did you start out on a PC or a Mac? CC: Mac. After college, like all good children, I was searching for full-time work. After a year or two of being a full-time assistants to ‘up-coming’ fashion designers (at the time) Amy Chan and Jeffery Costello, I landed a full-time job as an illustrator with a 102 THE BEST OF DRAW!

small company that worked on “Fashion Trends” (1995-96). The art director/supervisor, Ben Veronis, he and I shared the same office. Sometimes, he would ask me to help him scan a few things, and every day he would show me something new. Soon, he helped me set up my own station at home. Since then, I am forever grateful to him. I call him my computer-Jedi-master “O Ben.” DRAW!: Did it take a while to learn to approximate your techniques in the virtual world of the computer versus the real world of traditional media. CC: I suppose I’m still learning no matter which medium we are discussing. There’s never an end to these things. But for what I do know now, it was all pretty much by accident and having the basics placed on my plate. The rest just fell naturally into place as I continued. DRAW!: Did you start out trying to reproduce in Photoshop what you were doing in traditional media? How did you do this? Was it trial by error? CC: To be very honest with you? I really don’t remember. I defi-

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DIGITAL ILLUSTRATION

CELIA CALLE

nitely did not try to reproduce what I did in traditional media in Photoshop. With the tools that it supplied then, it wasn’t possible. I started off using lots of airbrushing, and stuck to the only tools I was familiar with (and sometimes still do). A lot of “trial by error.” CALLE: Starting with the bottom layer—I would trace over the rough sketch, defining the lines, and start with a new fresh, clean pencil. Scan approx. 500dpi grayscale into Photoshop. Clean up minimum noise, using LEVELS. 1: Taking file into Painter and using the BRUSH tool, I will start with a quick light wash to areas needed. Then I bring the drawing back to Photoshop, with the painted layer, Placed on MULTIPLY. 1A: I select objects out, and place into a new layer with the girls and objects only. 2: In Photoshop, using the PAINT BRUSH tool, I start by selecting the areas I want to color, using FILL IN [paint bucket] the clothes, jackets, pants and tops. Using solid colors, I LASSO to select the areas I want to lighten or darken. Using the SMUDGE tool to smooth out wherever necessary. 3: I apply details to the clothes, such as pinstripes, burnt marks, using the selection tool, FILL IN. CONTRAST and LEVELS to highlight areas needed. 4: Touch-ups and Shadows—Redefining the images and areas. Again, using the LASSO, I select areas under LEVELS, to bring them up or down. 5: Touch up, Shading—using the SMUDGE tool, or BRUSH, to soften up hard edges. 6: Add-ons—additional objects, such as the ribbon, numbers on the measure tape, I add highlights to the screws on the ground. 7: The final shadow and detail touch-ups: Such as tip of the nose, hair, shine to their garments, the dress forms, etc. BACKGROUND: The circle. I use a thick, flat BRUSH, creating an abstract “Tire-like” circle, placed behind all layers, to hold the entire illustration together.

DRAW!: How has the computer effected the way you work, your process? CC: Take “speed” for instance, I can barely remember how I got by without one. I no longer have to re-draw everything if there’s a correction needed or demanded by the client. If a client wants specific colors added/revised, it’s just a simple adjustment. The downside of all this (virtually), is that I rarely have originals in my portfolio anymore, most of my work today just sits in discs and files that no longer apply. DRAW!: How do you feel about that? Do you feel uncomfortable not having original works to hang on your wall or show later? CC: Yes, I am very sad of not having many originals to show anymore, and the physical THE BEST OF DRAW! 103

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INSTANT CARTOONIST

STEpheN DE STEFANO

Interview by Mike Manley Transcribed by Steven Tice

DRAW!: So this interest was genuinely supported by everybody in your family, it wasn’t looked down on...?

DRAW!: Why don’t we start at the beginning, okay, and go over your career a little bit. How did you get interested in comics? Did you read comics as a kid? What about animation? Is it something you’ve always wanted to do?

SDS: I think they didn’t understand it very much, but they knew that it had some notoriety to it and that it was a big business, so nobody said, “I forbid you to be an artist,” or anything like that. They were fairly supportive, yeah.

STEPHEN DESTEFANO: Okay! Well, I always wanted to be a cartoonist, because I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember.

DRAW!: So when did you start drawing? When would you say you really started drawing your own comics or animation or whatever?

DRAW!: So you wanted to do comics and cartooning right from the beginning, as a kid? SDS: Yeah, I just loved cartoons. And the good thing was that my oldest brother loved cartoons. My whole family liked cartoons. 124 THE BEST OF DRAW!

SDS: Well, gee. I guess my first character was, like, Herbie the Pig or something like that when I was five. [Mike laughs] Or maybe earlier. And then my first super-hero was a character named Fastman, which I was really proud of. That was probably when I was six or seven. And he looked just like the Flash except that he had a cape, which I thought was really spiffy.

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COMICS & ANIMATION

STEPHEN DeSTEFANO

DRAW!: It made him cooler because he had a cape. SDS: Yeah, yeah! Capes made everybody cooler. But, yeah, I was drawing since I was really little. They tell me that when I was three or something that a neighbor would come by and ask me to draw Mickey Mouse and I would do it. DRAW!: Wow! SDS: Well, I dunno. It was just something that I always liked to do. My dad would bring home paper. He used to work at a Ford dealership, and I don’t know what these pads were for, but they were huge pads of paper. And he’d just bring home reams of them and I’d fill them up.

ABOVE: Probably the only “official” ’Mazing Man size relation chart drawn by the artist. BELOW: An un-inked page from the first ’Mazing Man Special. A good example of where the artist’s head was at in ’86, and how much his art would change.

DRAW!: That’s similar to my growing up, because my grandmother used to work for Chrysler. She was a secretary there, and she would do the same thing. She would bring me home just tons of old papers and markers, pencils and such, because a big corporation like that is always tossing stuff out. SDS: Yeah. My dad worked at a Ford dealership as a mechanic, and like I said, I don’t know what these pads were for, but on one side they had a grid that the mechanic would write in, and on the other side they were blank. And by the time I got through with them, they weren’t blank anymore. [Mike laughs] DRAW!: Now, did you have favorite cartoons or favorite characters as a kid? SDS: Oh, yeah, absolutely. My favorite characters then are probably still my favorite characters today. Popeye is probably my favorite character, except possibly for Bugs Bunny. And Batman is my favorite super-hero, I loved Adam West and stuff like that when I was a kid. I just thought that was amazing. DRAW!: Well, I think for everybody who’s in our generation—I assume you’re probably somewhere around forty?

SDS: Nearly, yes. DRAW!: That was like the coolest thing ever when you were a kid, watching that TV show. SDS: Yeah, yeah! And then you grow up a little and then there’s that whole backlash against it, against the camp thing. And I guess I sort of fell in for it, Batman should be serious and it should be really dark and angry and stuff like that. I guess I fell for that for a while, but in my heart I always loved that so much. And now that’s Batman to me. DRAW!: [laughs] And they’re rerunning the Batman show on TV Land. It’s fun to watch them now, as an adult. SDS: They’re amazing! For me, they’re the best representation of super-heroes on film, ever! [laughter] Except for maybe the Fleischer cartoons, the Superman cartoons. DRAW!: Did you seriously start trying to pursue cartooning in any real way in high school? THE BEST OF DRAW! 125

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THE POWER OF SKETCHING

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BRET BLEVINS

he value of sketching is impossible to overstate. Habitual sketching will sharpen your perceptions, teach your mind how to see with ever greater depth and subtlety, and transform your hands into skilled instruments of visual expression. It’s also a lot of fun—for a person in love with drawing, sketching is the path to the good life! Constant drawing is the surest means of becoming a fluent draftsman—if you are searching and stretching to improve the accuracy or emotional eloquence of every mark you make. This distinction is crucial—filling reams of paper with repetitions of learned rendering tricks or minor variations of familiar contrived imagery is not what I’m describing. You must draw as a process

of informing your perceptions—increasing your understanding of rhythm, form, shape, light and shadow, composition, your mediums and tools, and unlocking access to the core of your imaginative powers. This sounds like a daunting task, but a relaxed, playful attitude will work wonders and make sketching a pleasant and satisfying addiction. If sketching doesn’t appeal to you, or seems to be a waste of effort because there’s no money in it (a common stigma among commercial artists), decide to develop a joy for observing everything around you and a hunger for creating images. Don’t allow the act of creating art to become a chore—you can choose to approach your work with an attitude that feeds your spirit as well ABOVE: The old farm sketch (done in the late 1980s using a medium-soft HB pencil and a kneaded eraser) accents the linear contours of the forms—many small lines build up the shading within outlines. The overcast winter day weakened contrasts and softened the shadows into gray. LEFT: This Fairy-embellished life drawing (drawn with a soft 6B Rexel Derwent graphite pencil) is recent and more elegant in treatment; very simple, subtle lost-andfound contour lines edge the forms—the volume of the masses are shaped by smooth gray tones rubbed in gently with a finger.

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as your stomach. With proper enthusiasm it’s possible to eventually escalate that conscious choice into an obsession—then you’re on magical ground and every sheet of blank paper becomes a rewarding invitation to soar. Any act of intense creativity both drains and inspires the mind, opening the way for new ideas and skills to arise, building and building your store of experiences. The more energy you expend, the higher you rise— and constant practice is the pragmatic aspect of this ascent. Just as a musical virtuoso hones his or her talent by daily revisiting scales and technique or an athlete depends on specific physical exercises to achieve and maintain superb performance, diligent drawing is the training regiment of the master draftsman or draftswoman. Aim high and always shoot for the the moon— it’s the only way to find out how far you can go. The rewards of this enthusiasm are far greater than just filling your studio with stacks of filled sketchbooks—the practice of sketching develops technical facility as it nurtures your curiosity, observation skills, and sensitivity to ever more subtle perception, and this will enrich all your work. Until you make a considered drawing of a subject, you’ve only glimpsed it—never really seen it. The process of drawing an object, atmospheric effect, or emotional impulse carves nuances and depth into your consciousness that cannot be gleaned through casual observation, and builds a storehouse of memory that will inform all your future work. A devotion to sketching also enriches your experience of living—using your eyesight becomes a constant delicious adventure. No two trees are alike—no two leaves on a tree are exactly the same shape, size or color—the veins and patterns on each

BRET BLEVINS

TOP: The rotting barn was drawn was drawn the same day as the sketch at the top of page 59, and the technique is identical—more attention is given to contour and texture than the sculptural effects of light and shadow. ABOVE: My small son’s peaceful sleeping face inspired a spontaneous recording, with a fairly hard pencil on the nearest surface handy—the back of a comic book script page.

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From hard boiled detectives, giant monsters and super-heroes to the macabre, illustrator Dan Brereton covers it all with his lush and evocative brush strokes. The busy artist shares some of his working techniques. INTERVIEW BY MIKE MANLEY TRANSCRIBED BY STEVEN TICE

DAN BRERETON: I started drawing monsters as soon as I could draw. They were the first things I felt I could draw, people never interested me as subjects, nor machines or architecture. I’d draw a hillside full of caves in profile and then fill the caves with reclining monsters. I don’t have a recollection of doing this, but my mom has shown me some paintings that I did when I was two, two-and-a-half years old. She has one that’s a blue, pink and red watercolor. My mom painted a lot back then, and she’d set me up sometimes with brushes and paints. The painting is entitled “Pecos Bill” because it reminded me, for some reason, of the Disney character. I think just the colors, because there’s really nothing going on in the painting, it’s just a bunch of colors smashed on there. It’s probably one of the first examples of painting that I have. But as soon as I got to the point where I could actually sit down and think about what I was going to draw, it was monsters. I drew horned monsters with big teeth. Little more than stick figures, you know? One day in kindergarten we had an hour to kill and the teacher asked us what we wanted to do, so I piped up and suggested we draw monsters! She wanted to encourage me, I guess, so she indulged the request and the whole class had a ball. I was like the expert and I remember classmates coming to me with their drawings for approval and advice. It was like my first comic book convention appearance in a way. That day must have sparked something. It surely reinforced my love of creatures and the idea of excelling at something. I’ll never forget that day. 218 THE BEST OF DRAW!

DRAW!: So what got you interested in drawing and painting monsters and horror material? Were you into that as a kid?

DRAW!: So you liked things like the Godzilla movies, I take it? Things like that? DB: know what? This is really weird, but I watched Ultraman on a daily basis. I watched Speed Racer, I loved the Warner Brothers cartoons, I loved the Groovy Ghoulies and Scooby-Doo and stuff like that, but Godzilla I could not get into. Because it was just a big rubber suit with a guy in it, and it just seemed really fake to me. And a lot of the Godzilla movies that were out when I was a kid were the ones with little Minya, and the more friendly

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DAN BRERETON

DB: Yeah. It’s not even subtitled. And I just watched it. I just took it all in and realized what they were really trying to do with what they had, with the technology. One thing I was really, really into as a kid—about eight, nine or ten years old, around the time I was reading comics—were those Sinbad movies. DRAW!: Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts and all those Ray Harryhausen movies. DB: Oh, Ray Harryhausen was such a huge inspiration to me at that time. That was who I was really into, because I would see those commercials for those movies on TV, and I would beg my parents to take us to see the Sinbad movies. They never would. So I didn’t see the Seventh Voyage of Sinbad until I was a teenager. I think it came on TV. STARFISH ™ AND ©2008 DAN BRERETON

DRAW!: Were you also into the Universal Monsters? DB: No, that stuff was just scary. See, I grew up being afraid of the dark, and scary movies would just send me right over the top. So I couldn’t have watched a movie like Creature from the Black Lagoon when I was a kid; it would have just freaked me out too much.

Godzilla stuff was just lame. It wasn’t cool like Ultraman. I didn’t draw monsters from films or TV, most movie monsters scared me too much. I had what I guess you could call night terrors or something. I was scared to walk down the hall to use the bathroom at night and would imagine things wanting to get me in the darkness. My parents didn’t leave a single light on in the house at night and it was creepy. Years later when Poltergeist came out, I could totally relate to the scene with the clown, toys and clothing that always looked like devils and creatures in the dark. I would spook the hell out of myself. Its not like I had a bad childhood, either. My parents are great people and they encouraged my imagination. I just had this over-active imagination, like, to a fault. Comic books were my salvation, I loved super-heroes instantly and I loved stories where they triumphed over the villains. The first comic I ever saw was Captain America battling the Red Skull, drawn by Kirby, I knew I was home. The only time I wasn’t drawing monsters or aliens was when I was trying to draw Cap.

DB: I hadn’t really seen Gamera when I was a kid. See, I got into all this stuff later, when someone in ’95 or ’96 sent me some tapes of the more recent Godzilla movies of the early ’90s, and I was like, “Oh, this is cool!” They’re somewhat low budget, but they’re pretty well done for being low budget, and I really liked what they were doing. And I totally got into them. I completely fell in love with the Godzilla stuff. Old, new, you name it. I bought a Japanese laser-disc of the original movie, the Japanese version. DRAW!: Right, the one without Raymond Burr?

DRAW!: So were you into the Gamera movies at all?

TOP: Starfish of the Nocturnals. ABOVE: BRERETON—I’m a big fan of the old lurid girlie magazine cover paintings—and chose a stark red and black chiaroscuro background to frame this femme fatale.

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