I Found My Brains!

I can't remember for sure, but I think this drawing was based upon my French teacher in High School. Not sure what the reference is to!

Eddie

Back in High School, I used to draw Eddie, the mascot of the heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, in my notebook at school (and at home) a lot. Eddie was the creation of Derek Riggs, the very awesome painter who did all of Maiden's album covers. Eddie went through all kinds of changes, from the long haired version I was drawing here, to the lobotomized one, with shaved head, featured on 'Piece of Mind,'to the Deathlok styled sci-fi character from 'Somewhere In Time.' Here are a few of my old drawings, from 1983 and 1984.

Micropainter Monsters - 1985 and 1986

These are two of the earliest examples of computer art I did - way back in 1985 and 1986 on an Atari 800, maxed out at 48k!! I did these in a program called Micropainter, where you could draw in 21 (!) high resolution colors! You could draw on the screen using your computer keys in a sort of etch-a-sketch way, but the best way was to just use your joystick. That's how these were done. Over on
The Collection blog, you can see pics of the Micropainter box and contents, which I still have. Unfortunately, I don't have the actual program anymore. Not that I've got my Atari 800 to use it on! (or would want to!). The screen versions of these were in color, but I guess I only had a black and white printer at the time. The monster is an original, but the guy that looks like Warlock from the X-Men was a copy of an ad I saw in a computer magazine.

Sketches

These were all done way back in the dark days of February, 1985. Well, I'm pretty sure, maybe a few of them I did earlier or later. I think these sketches - loose and scribbled as they may be - were an important step forward (backward??) for me as I tried to improve my drawing skills.

High School Sketches

Mostly what I did through classes in High School was draw in my notebooks. I've got pages and pages of drawings done in class, when most other kids were taking notes. I listened with one ear and drew away. I don't remember ever getting in trouble for it or anything like that. As long as I was doing OK in the class, all was cool. Bear in mind, I wasn't drawing during math class. I had to pay attention there, not that it did me much good!

Posted here are various drawings c.1981-1983. Aside from the werewolf head profile (which is from 1985), these are sketches based on photo stills. Besides the two E.T.'s, there's a Gamorrean Guard from Return of the Jedi, a Lon Chaney Wolfman (c.1981), and the twisted cartoon monster creatures (originaly created by Rob Bottin) from the Joe Dante directed episode of The Twilight Zone movie.

Teen Wolf

I'm jumping ahead here a few years. I was originally thinking of doing this blog chronologically, but I realized that would limit me. So then, here are some drawings from 1982, my Sophomore year in High School.

These were done for my art class, a specialized cartooning class, taught by my favorite High School teacher, Ms. Krumholtz. The only piece of finished art I ever saw of Ms. Krumholtz' (she would sketch stuff on the chalkboard) was this very cool 1950's, Wally Woodish style, inked piece of a rocket in space, with maybe a cartoony character outside..or maybe the rocket was cartoony. I just remember it was really cool and I was thinking...'she did.that!!?'

This werewolf set of drawings was one of the first things I did in her class, which I was able to take continue take for the next couple of years. There were four 'plates' originally, but I can't find the fourth. I've got plates 2-4 here. Around 1984, I was working on what was at the time, my most large and detailed piece. It was a take-off of a 1950's E.C. Tales From The Cryptish kind of comic cover, complete with title, indicia, and large, full head, inked old witch character. We kept the art we were working on at the time, in large flat files in the back of the classroom, and unfortunately, someone stole my piece, as well as someone else's. I was flattered and pissed at the same time, as I remember, but looking back now, I'm more pissed, as I'd prefer to have that piece back!

As for this set of drawings, at the time (and still, to a degree!) I was really into all things dealing with werewolves. I had loved An American Werewolf In London (not to mention The Howling), to the point that I worked on my own version of it. 'Lycanthrope was a collaboration with a fellow Werewolf enthusiast (and cartooning classmate), Wolfgang Rubio (couldn't pick a guy with a better name to write and star in a werewolf movie). He had a script, which was basically 'An American Werewolf In High School' and the make-up knowledge to pull off some half-way (for the time and for kids!) transformation shots. But that's a story for another day.

I just loved werewolves, thought about transforming into one myself and drew them a lot.

Horse Head

I did this drawing while my family stayed for a week on Fire Island, during the Summer of 1979, which would make me eleven years old when I drew it. I copied it from a book on how to draw horses by Walter Foster, which I still have. Walter Foster published a great series of 'how to draw' books, covering all kinds of areas, from painting humans to animals and working realistically to cartooning. And most of them were only $2!! They were oversized, paperback books, almost portfolio sized and each page was filled with great art and tips. They still publish lots of art books, though the books I had as a kid are no longer in print. The new books are also a lot more expensive!

Han and Chewie

One of my first Star Wars drawings, I remember doing this at my friend Marcos' house...my memory is of drawing it outside one day, but maybe my memory is wrong...who knows...it was so many years ago. I'm figuring I was around ten when I drew it, likely sometime in 1978. I've got a few drawings that all seem to be from this same time period (1977-78). The main identifying trademark among them is that I signed all of them with just the underlined 'L.'....a bit later I started signing my full name. (and more often than not, the date).