Two Faced Guy on Storyboard Paper

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two faced dancer ArtRage digital painting cartoon

Painting fun in ArtRage (and a little in Sketchbook Pro). I took a doodle I had made on storyboard paper, scanned it, made the white paper background disappear in Photoshop. Then imported to ArtRage for all the painting. Then colored the lines in Sketchbook Pro.

I was trying out all the tools and settings to get that scrumbly Golden Books kind of texture to my paint. Fun!

After so many years of being hung up on making things look "just right," I'm not at ALL concerned about "painting inside the lines." It feels quite liberating !

Thanksgiving Thoughts from Ralph Bakshi

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Ralph-Bakshi
Last year I read this interview with animation legend Ralph Bakshi (Wizards, Heavy Traffic, Mighty Mouse). I love the last paragraph the most –- a wonderful look at being thankful for the the life of a cartoonist -- so I’ll share it here:
How would you like to be remembered as an artist?

Ralph Bakshi: You do something because you love it, and you do it with everything you’ve got. And then you die. What you leave behind doesn’t matter. How much money you make doesn’t matter. What people think of you doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is how you spend every fucking day of your life, how you feel about yourself—and not in the narcissistic, egotistical way. It doesn’t matter how I’m remembered, because I’ll remember everything myself. I’ve drawn every day of my life since high school and that’s a pure victory. I’m able to eat. I have hot dogs and I’m not starving. I live in a decent home on top of a mountain. I give my thanks, and I’m not angry anymore. The only person I’m angry with is Robert Crumb. He’s been on my back for too long. Tell him to get off it.
You can read the whole interview at: http://bit.ly/1o2A5W

Bakshi's Book:
Ralph Bakshi

And more wisdom from Ralph Bakshi:

My Last Cover for the Last Issue of Nickelodeon Magazine :(

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SpongeBob Holiday Cover Nickelodeon Magazine Patrick Squidward Gary Christmas Card sweaters mistletoe candy cane presents Santa hat

The last cover for the last issue of Nickelodeon Magazine. Very very sad to see the magazine close its doors, but I'm happy that I got the chance to work with so many great people at Nick Mag for the last 13 years. Proper eulogy will follow when I can properly gather the right words. I am very honored to have the opportunity to paint this final cover, capping a thirteen-year relationship with the coolest magazine on the planet.

SpongeBob Holiday Cover Nickelodeon Magazine Patrick Squidward Gary Christmas Card sweaters mistletoe candy cane presents Santa hat

Here’s the version of the painting that I sent in to the magazine, before all the text overlays and color adjustments.

I tried something new on this one...I used Photoshop to put a knit-sweater texture on all the sweaters. I never knew how to do it before, but all I had to do was import a texture that I found online, then cut it to shape, adjust the angle and make the layer mode into Overlay. It worked!

Original drawing in marker on printer paper. Inked in Illustrator CS3. Painted in ArtRage 2.5 "Knit sweater" Texture applied in Photoshop CS3.

I’ll run a “making of” process feature as soon as I have time to put it together. In the meantime, head to your newsstand to pick up this historic final issue.

SHERM Comics – In The Dog House – from Popeye Comics #21 1952

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from Popeye Comics #21 July-Sept 1952
Story and art by Bud Sagendorf

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More adventures with Sherm coming soon!

More “SHERM” Comics from the Pages of Popeye

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Cartoon boy takes a dollar and makes more
From Dell’s Popeye Comics #20 April-June 1952. Last issue (Dell Comics Popeye #19) he was called “Sherm.” Now he’s “Sherman” and already looking quite a bit different than in the previous story.
cartoon boy walking down street with money
cartoon boy walking down street with money
cartoon boy riding in big red car
cartoon boy riding in big red car
cartoon boy crashes big red car
Story and art by Bud Sagendorf
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Next time: From Popeye #21 - He’s back to being called “Sherm” and he’s in the “Dog House!”

SHERM! Comics by Popeye’s Bud Sagendorf

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cartoon boy and girl talking on sidewalk
I just about jumped outta my skin when I found these "SHERM" pages inside the Jan-Mar 1952 issue of Popeye comics #19
cartoon boy and girl get into a rocket and fly away from house
cartoon boy and girl fly a rocketship
cartoon boy and girl fly a rocketship into the ocean picking up an octopus
cartoon boy and girl fly a rocketship through a barn picking up a cow
Popeye pulls up an anchor
Story and art by Bud Sagendorf
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After looking through many other issues of Dell Comics' Popeye, this was apparently the first appearance of this backup feature…and there’s more to come! See you soon --Sherm

Angry Old People - Storyboard drawing from…?

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Angry old people cartoon storyboard
Some cartoon old folks from a storyboard drawing…I was scanning some sketches and came a cross this little overlay scrap. I’m sure I kept it because it was a fun surprise at the time. Never know what’s gonna come out of the end of that pencil. Can anybody guess the show?

Woman in The Tower – a Jack Kirby Nightmare Comic!

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  Dreaming woman chased by a lion Nightmare comic book scans Jack Kirby Strange World of Your Dreams
From The Strange World of Your Dreams #3
The woman in the tower Jack Kirby nightmare dream comic book scan
 woman trapped in tower jail Jack Kirby nightmare dream comic book scan
 Jack Kirby nightmare dream comic book scan blonde woman tries to escape from tower prison
 Jack Kirby nightmare dream comic book scan The dream is interpreted
If you missed the previous stories
from The Strange World of Your Dreams,
just click on the links below!
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Jack Kirby I Talked with My Dead Wife
Jack Kirby She's getting Fat

Spring Cover for SpongeBob Magazine

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SpongeBob and Patrick jumping and bouncing on springs Magazine cover painting by Sherm Cohen  
This cover for SpongeBob SquarePants Magazine ran last spring (see, “spring?” Get it? ahem.). Drawing in pencil and Photoshop. Inked in Adobe Illustrator. Painted in ArtRage 2.5 except the background elements which I stole borrowed from old production backgrounds. Usually I paint every background from scratch, but I was in a real deadline crunch. Below are a whole bunch of preliminary sketches and layouts…

 SpongeBob and Patrick jumping and bouncing on springs SpongeBob_Magazine-Rough
pencil sketch of Squidward yelling at SpongeBob jumping and bouncing on springs
 pencil sketch of SpongeBob jumping and bouncing on springs  pencil sketch of SpongeBob jumping and bouncing on springs magazine-cover--sketch-04-sherm-cohen
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pencil sketch of SpongeBob jumping and bouncing on springs
pencil sketch of SpongeBob jumping and bouncing on springs
    SpongeBob and Patrick jumping and bouncing on springs

Eddie and Medicine Man – Oddball One-Pagers from Authentic Police Cases #1

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Eddie comic book scan Authentic Police Cases #1 - Page 33
Wow...check out that mind-blowing perspective in panel #3

These are some fascinatingly clunky comic pages!

In the 4th panel of the page below, the voice balloon is pointing to the wrong person...it's the skeptical local yokel that should be asking about the smaller skull....
Medicine Man comic book scan Authentic Police Cases #1 - Page 34
Two more reasons why they’re called “filler” pages.

Escape From Lost Valley! Final Chapter of Wiggles the Wonderworm Epic Conclusion

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Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_41
The final chapter of the 7-part epic of Wiggles the Wonderworm from 1945's Taffy Comics #1. If you missed the first six chapters of this golden age funny animal comic book, you can find them here:
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_42
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_43
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_44
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_45
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_46
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_47
Wiggles the Wonderworm fighting cartoon dinosaurs and cavemen Taffy_48