Freedom From Want. . . tribute

JSA #54 features one of thousands of homages to Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want, one of the highly renowned Four Freedoms series. These are done so often, I normally ignore them, but this one, pencilled by Carlos Pacheco and inked by Jesus Merino, successfully conveys the emotions of gratitude and brotherhood appropriate for the legacy superhero book featuring the world's first superhero team.

Comic Cavalcade #18 from 1942 features an E.E. Hibbard cover. Everett Edward Hibbard worked in comics for less than a decade, but worked on some of the most important comics of the golden age. Starting with Flash Comics #3 he was the main character's main artist until he left comics and is believed to have drawn the iconic cover of All-Star Comics #3, the first appearance of the Justice Society of America. This light-hearted cover accurately reflects the attitude of the golden age, with a playful image that likely has nothing to do with the interior comments of the book, and one has to smile at the idea of Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman having a difficult time catching a turkey.

The idea of ducks eating turkey is an odd one, which the Disney artists seemed to ignore. This one's by Barks. One of turkey in the fridge comes to mind, but I couldn't find it. There have been an awful lot of Disney comics over the years.

L

Give thanks for giving. . .

Thanksgiving Magazine Cover

As I sit here convincing myself this is the best show my satellite service has to offer, I reminisce about what I've done with my life as of 32 years.  Specifically where I am at in my life vs. where I am heading.  Does it really matter what unfinished projects we keep telling ourselves we need to finish?  How long do we let them slide before they become abandoned and no longer good ideas?

To sum up, a lot of time has gone by and I haven't done half of what I've intended.  On the side, secretly I would love to be a stand-up comedian or some kind of musician, but watching bad tv seems more important.  Apparently.  That and Rock Band. . .

Movie Quote time:

Just as in the movie Waking Life, "How would we answer someone on the outside looking in who asked us if humans were lazy or fearful?"

 I would say lazy.  Look at the inventions we've created.  If you want to get rich quick, find a way to make someone else's life lazier.  Self flushing toilets, remote controls, infomercial exercise equipment, electronic toothbrushes, Ty Pennington, . . .etc.

On a completely separate note, I painted more beer today.  I had a lot of fun with the caustics in the ice, (though not realistically accurate), it stylistically creates the illusion.  (I call this the blue ice cave because I believe this is what lingers in every airplane's basement.)

The rest of the ice cave was rendered before my time at 8fish.

When I've considered what has been personally achieved vs. what I believe still needs to be done, the finished work far outweighs my intentions.  That being said, all we should consume are small chunks, until our large portioned goals suddenly disappear one day.

I'm heading to the CTN Animation Expo the 3rd weekend in November so if any of you are going, let me know.  Hopefully I'll have a Thanksgiving comic cover before the big day.

In the meantime, enjoy!

More Illustration from the Ad bin

Hello fellow artists that are hopefully working this time of year:

I wanted to keep in touch by creating a quick post of my latest exploitations.  One of which is of the beer industry.  Ahh advertising. . . thou art a drunken-hearted, chilled painting. . .

The surrounding environment was done before me, but I bought and painted beer for the first time and got carded.  (I think she was just flattering me, but the bald spot should have covered the bill.)  These two cold ones will be appearing at a Maverik mural near you, hopefully by Thanksgiving.

On a side note, I'm prepping for the CTN Animation Expo happening in Burbank this November.  That being said, we have in-house assignments that are designed to remind us of what we try to achieve, culture-wise, here at the 8fish.  This week being my 2nd week, my theme was "Always Offer to Help".

We only have a limited time to create these as the company foots the bill when we work on them.  This was what I came up with in an hour and a half.  Being in the animated mood, the worm, (because we're 8FISH), is representational of the work load we carry.  It's a reminder to offer help to your coworkers so everyone gets home at a good time.

In the meantime I'm looking for a good comiccover that is indicative of the Thanksgiving spirit.  If any of you have any suggestions, my blog door is always open.  :)

Enjoy~