text:
One of Ron Santo's biggest dreams was realized Sunday as, at long last, the Chicago Cubs legend was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
One of Ron Santo's biggest dreams was realized Sunday as, at long last, the Chicago Cubs legend was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
Sadly, though, the honor came too late for Santo himself to take part in the celebration. In a cruel twist of irony, the former All-Star third baseman didn't get the call to the Hall until last December - a year after his death.
There's no doubt No. 10 had the numbers. He was a nine-time All Star, won five Gold Gloves and holds the National League record among third basemen for consecutive games played, most games played in a season and most seasons leading the league in fielding chances. Santo was also a lifetime .277 hitter, boasting 342 home runs and 1,331 RBIs in 15 big league seasons.
So what kept him out for so long? Even experts seem to be baffled as to how to explain such an egregious oversight year after year - first passed over by Baseball Writers' Association of America voters for 15 years, then by the old Veterans' Committee for the following three votes.
There has been speculation that some may not have liked Santo's trademark heel click - celebrating Cubs victories - or that people were reluctant to induct a fourth player from the 1969 Cubs into Cooperstown (Santo teammates Billy Williams, Ernie Banks and Fergie Jenkins were already enshrined).
I admit it has even crossed my mind that some voters might have seen the whole "will Santo finally get in" debate as a way to drive interest in Hall of Fame voting, but that seems too mean-spirited even to contemplate - especially to someone who wanted it as badly as Santo did.
And he never made secret his desire to be admitted into Cooperstown. Yet each time he was passed over, he handled his disappointment with class, not bitterness. Watch "This Old Cub" - an acclaimed 2004 documentary about Ronnie directed by his son Jeff - and you'll see his evident heartbreak in 2003 when he got the call, in front of a room full of reporters and photographers, saying that he once again had been refused membership to the club he so longed to join.
He blinked back the tears, and during an interview immediately afterward, he credited the fans for giving him the strength to get through yet another disappointment. And when the Cubs retired his number in 2003, he emotionally declared, "This is my Hall of Fame."
I have no doubt that he meant that, as there was no bigger Cubs fan in the world than Ron Santo. During the induction ceremony Sunday, Santo's widow, Vicki, recounted a conversation she overheard between her husband and a doctor right before his second leg was amputated.
"As the nurse was wheeling him into the operating room, I heard him telling the doctor that the timing was perfect for this operation because he could be back for opening day," Vicki Santo said. "Only Ron. That's what was on his mind, getting ready to broadcast Cubs baseball on opening day."
However, despite his unflagging loyalty to the Cubs and its legions of fans - and the enduring love Cubbie Nation showed for him in return - seeing his place in history cemented in Cooperstown would undoubtedly have been one of the highlights of his life.
And celebrating the highs is what her late husband was all about, Vicki Santo noted.
"Words cannot express my sorrow that Ron Santo didn't live to see this day. That he's not here to give this speech. ... But this is not a sad day. Not at all. This is a very happy day," she said Sunday. "He had incredible lows and highs. But Ron's life was never about the lows. He always found a way to make it about the highs. Looking back, he believed he was given the gift of talent as well as the challenge of diabetes so that through his hardship, he could shed light on a cause, that he could help others though his story."
"But without the difficulties, what would have been the value of the gift? What meaning would have been the journey? It never held him back. Not even double [leg] amputations. Because Ron Santo believed it's not what happens to you in life that people may judge, but how you handle what happens to you in your life."
Santo wasn't alive to see one of his greatest wishes come to fruition, but his actions on and off the field have assured that his legacy will live on in the hearts and minds of baseball fans for generations to come.
City editor Amy Gehrt may be reached at email@example.com.


text:
***For those of you who asked where my sis got her homecoming dress, I called her to ask and the convo went like this:
Me: Hey Rory, I have a few readers that want to know where you got your dress from...
Sister: I got it from JCPenney
Me: Ok, thanks I will let 'em know
Sister: NO! Don't tell them!
Me: Why?
Sister: Because then everyone is gonna have the same dress as me...
Me: You are retarded
Sister: I know (then we both start laughing)
So she got it from JCPenney y'all!
Jessica asked me to post a pic of the rest of the clan. I found this tattered photo in one of my old wallets. Waaaaayyyy back in the day! This was our first real family portrait--pre-Megan days (before the youngest one was born) when it was just me and my bratty sister Lauren Ashley. Look how cute and TINY she WAS haha jk, she turned into a beauty, but she is STILL a brat. LOL. This family pic was taken I think when I was around 12 and Lauren was about 2 or 3- can't believe she was this tiny little toddler who used to follow me around and now she is turning 18! Geezus I feel old!
I laughed when I found this pic, my dad has so much hair! And my mom actually wore makeup! She doesn't wear any at all now, and dad is slowly losing his hair, LOL. My hair was natural, even though when I was a kid it was a medium brown, then turned jet black. I didn't wear any makeup and mom told me to put a little lipgloss for this pic so I wouldn't look dead and pale since I was white like Casper, and boy was I skinny! LOL.
Me, Lauren (yes the same girl in that red homecoming dress!), and mi madre
I got tanned since I was a cheerleader in elementary school, I don't even look like I am her kid haha. For some reason I immediately thought I looked liked Mady from "Jon & Kate plus 8" here, LOL. My sister LOVED Mickey as you can tell.
(Picture deleted)
Lauren Ashley is the middle child-the black sheep (and she knows it!) She is definitely her own person and loves music, she always has her iPod (even in this pic she has them on!) and she is VERY smart. Has been in gifted schools/classes since she could walk and has continuously maintained good grades. She is also the quietest one out of me and the youngest, she doesn't look the part, but she is VERY shy.
My other sister Megan Elsa, the baby of the family. She is also called my twin because she is exactly like me. We like the same things and hate the same things. When she is injured somewhere, I have the same injury on the same side- no joke. She is a bigger brat than my other sis, but she is very caring and energetic. She has such a big heart in such a tiny body. She can make you laugh till you can't breathe! She is just so hilarious and she is always happy. She is also very stylish and loves clothes, shoes, and accessories- just like me! She has a soft place in my heart, so unfortunately I contribute to her being a brat since I can never can say no to her!
The tres marias:
The Present:
So yup that's my awesome family, and I love them dearly. We are all very close and we talk everyday even though I am now MILES away from them. My mommy and my sister read this blog and my whole family has been SO SUPPORTIVE in everything I do...my mom even has some of my old pics from my modeling portfolio hanging in her house and she's always calling me asking me about the products I write on my blog, LOL. I swear they keep me going...they truly helped me become a better person.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Ohana=My FamBam
54 comments
- Ling said...
Such a heart warming entry. I wish I have family like that too! T.T
Oh well..
You look freaking gorgeous in that white dress! Whee whee Nessa! :D
- October 21, 2008 at 3:29 AM
- Joanna said...
you have a beautiful family! you and your sisters are so cute together. i wish i have a sister. im the oldest and i have a bratty/annoying little brother. lol
- October 21, 2008 at 4:20 AM
- Anonymous said...
Thats so nice to have a family so supportive. and let me say your entire family has an amazing sense of fashion like in that last picture so lovely.
thank you for sharing this. and please keep up the hard work really appreciated.
- October 21, 2008 at 5:06 AM
- miemiemie said...
aww your sis is cute! she looks just like you!! she's like a xerox copy of you..haha that's the term pinoy people use when a sibling or a child of a parent look alike.. nice family picture :) your 2nd sibling doesn't look like you..but the "bunso" sobra hahaha :)
- October 21, 2008 at 5:55 AM
- Roberta said...
Hi Vanessa
I'm from Brazil and I red your blog everyday, I love it. Loved the family pics!
The whole family has good genes!
- October 21, 2008 at 6:03 AM
- xppinkx said...
Now that is what i call a good looking family!!!!
your sister does look different from the rest of the CLAN...she is absolutely gorgeous...but of course your the fairest of them all *cough*...HAIL THEE MAPLE...i esp. love you in the white dress...love your makeup...funny your family reads your blogs...i would be horrified if my family ever read mine...
and a quick question???
love your cougar FACE!!!...i need to find a white base to do some halloween makeup myself...is that white tube oil free???? what other white products can you use for a stark white face??? and do i need to set the face in powder to apply other colors on top???...and if they blend it will it look pastel???
- October 21, 2008 at 6:14 AM
- GS said...
Is your mother the woman in the silver dress?? OMG she looks so young!! she could easily pass as your sister... by the way, I hope she´s doing better?
- October 21, 2008 at 6:19 AM
- GS said...
Is your mother the woman in the silver dress?? OMG she looks so young!! she could easily pass as your sister... by the way, I hope she´s doing better?
- October 21, 2008 at 6:19 AM
- sab said...
awww! the Garcias are a lovely bunch! you also look a lot like Megan! how cute!
i love the white dress btw. :)
- October 21, 2008 at 6:25 AM
- Saito Florence said...
I love to vist your blog, there is so many pretty photo especially your family photo,all look so pretty & your mum is awesome,your sister is unbelievable,her looks is stunning & you,your face didn't really change when you took your first family photo,it's looks the same as now.......why you & your sister look so pretty???haha
- October 21, 2008 at 6:27 AM
- Robyn @ Purely Cosmetics said...
You look exactly the same now as you did in that first picture! OK, a little older, but your face hasn't changed!
Waaah... should my feelings be hurt you're not following me on Twitter?
- October 21, 2008 at 7:22 AM
- Askmewhats said...
girl, thanks for sharing stuffs about your OHANA! :) Remembered Lilo & Stitch, I love reading about you and your family, I'm glad your family is close and each of you got different personality but who cares? family is family! :)
- October 21, 2008 at 7:29 AM
- J said...
This is such a heartwarming and sweet entry!! You have a beautiful family Vanessa! :) You and your sisters are so beautiful!! :) Your mum looks sooo young too!!
- October 21, 2008 at 7:33 AM
- Dao said...
This is such a beautiful post! Megan is your mini-me, she's so cute! Your mom looks so young and beautiful, I thought she was your younger sister :)
- October 21, 2008 at 7:38 AM
- iamgrape1119 said...
Aww, your family looks SO adorable! You look so SQUISHABLE when you were young! AH~ *dying from cuteness overload*
I hope that everyone in your family continue to live a very happy life!
- October 21, 2008 at 8:04 AM
- Groovy Black Chick said...
This is the cutest post ever. Your love for your family totally comes through. Very sweet :). And what a beautiful fam you are!
- October 21, 2008 at 8:15 AM
- Jennifer @ www.aegiscode.net said...
Vanessa u look absolutely radiant in the last pic, are u and ur sis wearing the same dress?
u guys have such a beautiful family, i wish i had the same relationship as u and ur mom. :/
- October 21, 2008 at 8:29 AM
- Jennifer @ www.aegiscode.net said...
vanessa u look absolutely radiant in the last pic.
are u and ur sis wearing the same white dress. u have such a beautiful family. I wish i had the same relationship as u and ur mom :/
- October 21, 2008 at 8:31 AM
- Emeria said...
You guys are sooo pretty! The middle sis looks mixed! We're three girls; I'm the oldest then a 15 year old and then 13 year old.. and everytime we go to a family party we always hear, "OHH the tres marias are here"..haha! :]
- October 21, 2008 at 8:57 AM
- veraology said...
what a beautiful family!
- October 21, 2008 at 9:04 AM
- Emeria said...
OMG NO WONDER!! I thought you're mom was just like one of those mestiza looking filipno mommys! How did your parents meet? That's soooo cool!! Hispanic and French I haven't heard of that mix..You guys are muts then! I wish i was mixed
- October 21, 2008 at 9:25 AM
- MakeupByRenRen said...
awww sis! i love this post...you have such a beautiful family...so many girls in the house how fun!
- October 21, 2008 at 9:27 AM
- Tammy said...
What a beautiful post. You have a beautiful family. And yes you do look like Mady in that pic..lol
- October 21, 2008 at 9:38 AM
- Ethereal Prey said...
awe...such a cute family! jcpenny is where the dress came from now there will be millions of us wearing it now! lol! what are you gonna be for halloween?
- October 21, 2008 at 9:41 AM
- Gee said...
What a beautiful family, Vanessa!
- October 21, 2008 at 10:10 AM
- A Gal On A Budget said...
I've got to know: did your dad keep hoping each subsequent child would be a boy or did he give up after the second girl? And I totally agree, you have a beautiful family!
- October 21, 2008 at 11:22 AM
- Fabuless Beauty said...
Beautiful family! You all grew up so pretty!
- October 21, 2008 at 11:33 AM
- ruby14 said...
your sister looks like a mix of alexis and leah from jon and kate hahaha your family looks beautiful
- October 21, 2008 at 11:45 AM
- fuzkittie said...
How sweet!! :D
- October 21, 2008 at 11:56 AM
- makeupw. gevie said...
aww.. how cute!! You really do look like your dad.. but it's not a bad thing =).
- October 21, 2008 at 12:34 PM
- vanillasmush said...
Absolutely beautiful family...your mom is a stunner vanessa! all of you look gorgeous!
- October 21, 2008 at 12:39 PM
- jeSmakeup said...
OH WOW 3 beautiful gurls!! ur sis def. has ur MOM GENES! ur mom looks half white n half pinay but ur sis looks like 100% WHITE! and u look the most asian! this is a crazy family mixture... everyone has their own pretty look! soOo beautiful<3333 thanks for this post! im so happy for u to have a supportive & caring family... sometimes i wish my small family was like that -__- well maybe just my mom... this pic makes me sad at the sametime u guys r such happy family =)<#333333
- October 21, 2008 at 12:46 PM
- Phyrra said...
You guys are all beautiful. What a warm and loving family!
- October 21, 2008 at 1:23 PM
- Emeria said...
Awww what a good love story!!! And that's funny that people think you guys have different parents and I know what you mean about people not thinking what you are..i ALWAYS get Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean and sometimes Japanese, but NO ONE ever says filipino ever!! It's so weird!
- October 21, 2008 at 1:24 PM
- A Gal On A Budget said...
Vanessa--I totally didn't expect that! I've always heard about dads wanting male children.
- October 21, 2008 at 1:34 PM
- EbeautyBlog.com said...
This is my favorite entry thus far!!!
Your family look wonderful. So close and so loving :) You were so tiny in that first pic...gosh, what did you eat that makes you so tall now?
We have three girls in the family too only I'm the youngest. I'm not a brat though. LOL. All you girls are so pretty :)
- October 21, 2008 at 1:45 PM
- Starry x2 night said...
Hey, thanks for your comment! Aww, you have the sweetest family ever! And you sound like the most awesome big sister--your sisters are so lucky
- October 21, 2008 at 3:36 PM
- Anonymous said...
beautiful family indeed! your mom does look ever so young! and i like how fabulous all of you looked in the present family pic! very nice. ;)
- October 21, 2008 at 4:15 PM
- Anonymous said...
what a beautiful family!!!
- October 21, 2008 at 6:45 PM
- Sher said...
aww you look the same :) I used to look cute as a kid, I miss being one. so care free =p
everyone has trouble guessing what I am, but I'm 100% filipina. except that I dont speak it haha
- October 21, 2008 at 6:59 PM
- A Gal On A Budget said...
Your dad must be absolutely adorable! By the way, since I'm totally out of the loop, could you explain what "tres marias" means?
- October 21, 2008 at 7:03 PM
- pookie said...
that dress is sooo prettty and your sso lucky to have such a family!!! thats honestly great! I wish my parent/fmaily was more like that..
Anyway, where'd chu get that dreess? it definitely flatters yoU!
- October 21, 2008 at 7:27 PM
- Jessica Dee said...
your family is soooo gorgeous! and you and your youngest sister look most similiar! Suchaa great mix!
- October 21, 2008 at 8:00 PM
- Mrs. Lynne, MakeupFix.net said...
what a great entry sis. you have such an amazing family and a good looking one at that. you are blessed :)
- October 21, 2008 at 8:32 PM
- Crystal Gale said...
hi sis! i know how you feel...I'm the eldest too and whenever I see my lil sis all grown up and doing her own makeup I feel a lot older haha..very nice entry by the way..you all look cute :)
- October 21, 2008 at 9:29 PM
- Alyssa said...
Wow such a good looking family! :) I see where your sisters and you got your good looks. Your mother is a gorgeous lady! :)
- October 21, 2008 at 10:04 PM
- Karin said...
Wow your family was first in line when they handed out the beauty genes. LOL
You have a very beautiful and very sweet family..!!
i'm glad you don't take them for granted
- October 22, 2008 at 12:09 AM
- Iyah said...
Very beautiful family! No Kuya? or lil brother? You're sooo cute when you were a lil kid but then you grew up to be more beautiful :D Your 2nd sister is also very beautiful and your "bunso" is sooo cute!
- October 22, 2008 at 1:15 AM
- Neeyuh said...
Thanx for sharing this, you have such a beautiful family! =)
- October 22, 2008 at 5:09 AM
- Jo said...
lovely family! my fave post! i actually think you look like your mum. you have the same identical smile =D
- October 22, 2008 at 5:18 AM
- Esmeralda said...
Beautiful family - and you look just like your dad! My maiden name is Garcia, too. :)
- October 22, 2008 at 8:46 AM
- Anonymous said...
I love when you write about your family. =) It's so cute and It makes me want to write about my own. I've got tons of my dad's old pics scanned, but haven't found much time to write about him yet, even though I've been wanting to for so long. I actually might have time this week though, since I've been out of commission.
- October 22, 2008 at 2:52 PM
- Vanessa said...
Hi Esmeralda! Maybe we are long lost sisters! LOL
Thanks for all the kind comments heSxCfk8qor8KWmjMMtwJjy2Zc85Erw- id love to see pics of your family!
- October 22, 2008 at 3:38 PM
- aYu LaLaLa said...
Owh wow.. u have all girls in ur family except ur dad lol! For me it's great to have girls because u can share everything. Just like my family, i have 5 siblings with 2 boys and 3 girls. it's fun to have more girls as u can share dress and makeup too!
- October 29, 2008 at 10:42 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
One is dead and one injured following a Saturday afternoon crash on Routes 5 and 20 in Canandaigua. According to Ontario County Sheriff's Deputies, the crash was a result of a medical condition that caused one driver to black out.
One is dead and one injured following a Saturday afternoon crash on Routes 5 and 20 in Canandaigua. According to Ontario County Sheriff's Deputies, the crash was a result of a medical condition that caused one driver to black out.
Barry E. Scutt, 57, of 17 Vernon Ave. in Batavia was pronounced dead at the scene after his vehicle was struck head on by a westbound vehicle driven by Steve A. Kloos, 68, of 6034 Grimble Road in Canandaigua.
Witnesses called 911 at 2:54 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25. to report a reckless driver traveling west on Routes 5 and 20, west of Cooley Road.
Ontario County Sheriff's Deputies believe Kloos, who was driving a 2006 Honda Ridgeline, blacked out due to a medical condition, after which his vehicle left the shoulder of the highway and struck a mailbox and road sign. The vehicle driven by Kloos continued west on Route 5 and 20, they said, for approximately one mile in the eastbound lane before striking the vehicle driven by Barry Sutt headon.
Deputies said Scutt was wearing his seatbelt and the airbag in his 2007 Ford Focus did deploy. The vehicle driven by Scutt sustained extensive damage, and Scutt was extricated by Cheshire and East Bloomfield fire departments. He was pronounced dead at the scene, a result of severe head and chest injuries.
Kloos suffered chest, pelvis, and leg injuries. The airbag in his vehicle did deploy, police said, but it did not appear he was wearing his seatbelt at the time of the crash. Kloos was extricated from his vehicle and treated at the scene by Canandaigua Ambulance and Finger Lakes Ambulance medics, before being flown to Strong Memorial Hospital by Mercy Flight.
After a lengthy investigation and reconstruction of the crash, police believe the cause of the crash to be a medical condition suffered by Kloos. Several witnesses who saw the accident and the events leading up to it remained at the scene to give statements.
Kloos is listed in stable condition at Strong Memorial Hospital, and will be cited upon his release for failure to keep right, reckless driving, and failure to wear his seatbelt. Those charges will be answered in Canandaigua Town Court at a later date.
Among those responding to the crash were East Bloomfield and Cheshire Fire Departments, Canandaigua Ambulance, Finger Lakes Ambulance, and Mercy Flight.


text:
Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
So... who are you anyway?
As this is sort of a momentous occassion (having presented you with my 500th post), I have a confession to make: I'm addicted to my Site Meter. I visit it about a dozen times a day. Its the last thing I check each night before shutting down the computer and going to bed. Why? Because it tells me about you.
That's the one frustrating thing about running this blog, dear reader... you're just not very talkative. Now I don't mean the ten or twenty folks who regularly leave comments or send me email -- to those of you (you know who you are) I am incredibly grateful. You provide the feedback and information and interaction I so thoroughly enjoy. You make the effort of putting together this blog each weekday that much more rewarding. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Its the other seven or eight hundred of you I'm talking about. We need to chat.
Really, each day I'm astonished to see that you visit me from all over the world. That boggles my mind. I'm ecstatic to know that my little blog is reaching someone in Dubai and in Dublin, in Hong Kong as well as in Hamilton (my home town).
You can see from these stats below that many of you just drop in for a brief visit ( the 0:00 timeframe means you're just looking at the first page without clicking anything... Sitemeter can't record the duration of your visit unless you click on stuff).
Its the visitors who stay for a while but leave no comment that I'm really curious about.
For example... Mr. Mandeville, Louisiana (below)...
He found me via a Google Image Search and stopped by twice for approximately 15 minutes in total to look at this:
And then clicked through to look at my Flickr Beverage set:
And then *boom* -- he's gone without a trace, leaving no comment. This drives me nuts! What was he searching for? Is he a designer? An illustrator? A student working on a research paper? Is he a she? Mandeville strikes me as a person with a mission -- and I'm dying to hear what it is.
My friend Ward Jenkins recently wrote about you guys on his excellent blog, The Ward-O-Matic. I did not know it (and perhaps you don't either) but you, dear reader, are a blurker.
Blurker (BLUR-kur): n. 1. One who reads many blogs but leaves no evidence of themselves such as comments behind; a silent observer of blogs. 2. One who reads many blogs but has no blog of their own; a blog-watcher or blog voyeur.
Now I must admit, I've done my share of blurking - even on the blogs of the people I know and love. And I understand you may not have a lot of time for fiddling around with comment passwords and usernames, especially if you are shy, busy, or just don't have much to say... but to all you blurkers out there, why not take a minute today and pop your head up into the sunshine! Tell me a little about who you are and why you visit here. Where are you from and what do you do?
I'd really love to know why you drop by every day and what you think about the blog. What would you like to see more of? Or less of?
C'mon... I promise not to bite. ;-)
63 comments:
Let me be one of the first today! Congratulations!!!! I LOVE your site! I post when I can, but most times it's my first stop before I start my work day and I run off without posting. I'll try to be more interactive. You deserve our participation gor all your efforts!
BTW, your tracking software is just a little scary! LOL What did I have for breakfast this morning> C'mon! I know you know!! :-)
- Chris Ferguson11:47 AM
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
Wow, Big Brother really is watching us! I never really thought about being able to track visitors to various blogs; it's pretty cool.
For my part, I'm the Art Director for IGA Grocergram, a custom published magazine for retailers in the Independent Grocers Alliance. The magazine has been around for just over 80 years, as long as the company. As you may remember, I sent you an ad scan from an old issue of a Del Monte Round-Up promotion. I'm also going to (when I get off my lazy butt) send you those Peak and Fuchs lessons from the FAS notebooks.
I really enjoy receiving the Today's Inspiration e-mails. I usually try to visit your site at the end of the week, when the final piece of a particular subject is posted, and read the entire week's worth of posts. Your site is an invaluable treasure trove of amazing art, and really makes you lament for the days where that kind of work was being done (and more importantly, being used) for advertising, story illustration, etc. I often look at the magazine article layouts to inspire me to better my own work.
I may have mentioned to you before that I have a modest collection of Saturday Evening Posts and Look magazines, so if there's ever any additional pieces of artwork you're looking for, feel free to let me know.
P.S. Joe Jusko, you're the man! Your Mary Jane and She-Hulk posters from the 80s were an adolescent's dream come true!
I'm relieved to discover that 0:00 doesn't really mean 0 seconds. I get a lot of those visits on the blogs I monitor.ReplyDelete
I visit your blog a few times a day and use some of the scans for my desktop image, which I've set to change every 5 minutes. I'm an illustrator and graphic designer, and all the information is interesting.
Thanks for your hard work!
I know nothing about art and illustration. I'm a writer -- primarily grants and other stuff for non-profits. I subscribe and visit your site almost daily because I love looking at the illustrations, reading the stories, and absorbing information (slowly) about a totally different way of looking at the world.
I often visit first thing in my morning. I live in the Hudson Valley of NY. When I'm under the gun with a grant deadline, you become my 5-minute refresher. I click on Today's Inspiration to clear my brain.
I've never commented before, so let me take the opportunity to thank you. You are integral to my daily life in a way you probably never suspected.
- Anonymous12:20 PM
Well, I don't blame you for feeling frustrated: all those wonderful images and acknowledgment so thin on the ground! I'm here on a regular basis for my daily nostalgia fix. A feature of my childhood and adolescence was the free run I had at the magazines in my Dad's Connecticut grocery store. You can't imagine how these illustrations carry me back through the many, many intervening years!ReplyDelete
Bob Bollini
Congrats, Leif! I for one have enjoyed these daily gifts from you...though my harddrive was recently wiped out.ReplyDelete
Sooo...I was thinking...you mind resending all 500 images. ;)
I'm joking of course...god, I really shouldn't joke about it...I'd really hate for something to happen to them...I better back them up now!!!
Hi LeifReplyDelete
As an illustrator, impossible to live (to work) without your site! Your sets of images are abolutely amazing. each day begins with your RSS feed. Just fantastic.
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
Well, since you asked, I am an alleged artist in Saskatoon. I run a small design and illustration shop called 'EYECATCHER Graphics & Design" and I specialize in "retro" images, usually comic book style (which makes it a big thrill to see the renowned artist Joe Jusko on this thread!). I've been published in MAD Magazine and in CRACKED, among others. This may explain why the latter went out of business, I guess.
My website, if you're interested, is at:
(although there's not much there right now)
Probably a better example of my work is this website belonging to one of my favourite clients:
Essentially every graphic or logo on this site (except the Vancouver Canadians crest) was perpetrated by me so you can probably see my tendency toward the "oldschool" look.
Since this makes your blog right "up my alley", I greatly appreciate your efforts and I can't believe how diligent you are in getting the "Daily Inspiration" up like clockwork! It's such a great way to start the day and I don't think you've missed a single one yet.
I can't say enough about the marvellous service you provide. I guess the only suggestion I would have is that I would enjoy seeing each illustration even larger but I understand that's asking an awful lot for something you are so generously and efficiently providing pro bono.
All in all, I just absolutely love your site. Thanks so very much (incidentally, your own artwork looks great too!).
Please keep up the fantastic work!
Huw Evans, Owner
EYECATCHER Graphics & Design
Oh yeah, and congrats on 500 posts!ReplyDelete
Congrats on the big Five-Oh-Oh, Leif! :)ReplyDelete
I thought I was the only one who amused myself by obsessively tracking my blog visitors...I feel sooo much better now!
And let me just say that even when I don't leave a comment, I'm actually mentally commenting on all the wonderful stuff you post--you just can't hear it.
Seriously--I LOVE THIS INSPIRING BLOG, THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK!
P.S. Forgot to say 'who' I am--designer/illustrator in Lovely Lansing, Michigan!ReplyDelete
See, Leif? They like you -- they really like you! Ha ha! Seriously, I find myself not commenting sometimes because of my schedule and my obsessive multi-tasking -- haven't got the time. But you know I really really appreciate all the time and energy you spend on TI and the TI blog. Without you and your efforts, where would we be? To have you out there researching past masters in the illustration world gives us the rare opportunity to be reminded of our legacy. Thank you.ReplyDelete
And you know me -- I draw things for a living in my new home of Portland, OR. Woot! Keep it up, my friend.
- Marc Nischan2:30 PM
Okay, Leif, here's my story. I'm an artist in the Detroit area. I was turned on to your blog by a tremendous artist (and hot rodder) named Jeff Norwell from Toronto. I met him through a message board we both frequent that is dedicated to people who build and drive traditional hot rods and customs.ReplyDelete
I am very gratefull to you for keeping up the blog and look forward to visiting it each week. It is truly a treasure. Thanks!
~ Marc
Argh! I wrote a long comment and then the system ate it. Anyway, I'll try to remember what I said...ReplyDelete
I comment from time to time, and you even visited my blog once, so I guess I'm not much of a blurker, but I understand the urge to blurk. I always want to say something insightful or add something to the post in my comments, but usually I just end up saying "thanks for the beautiful pictures." Posting that as a comment on every single post you make would probably be a little tiresome of me, wouldn't it? ;-)
They are beautiful, though, and thank you for posting them.
I'm not any kind of illustrator, just a hobbyist, but I appreciate this blog for the inspiration and the education it provides. I come here every day, sometimes more than once, and stare at the pictures, trying to figure out how they were done (and just enjoying them for the works of art they are).
I must say, it is a bit scary that the tracking system is so detailed. My profile probably shows I linger a bit too long over the pictures of pretty ladies. Don't tell anyone!
I just found this place today, but I love looking at illustrations from the past. It's like playing catch-up on images I was too young (or non-existent) to enjoy.ReplyDelete
funnily I have to say that so many times I thought I would love to thank you for making the newsletter so inspirational : )ReplyDelete
But I thought you would simply be annoyed to get a mail for that only ^_^
So I have to make apologies for being so silly : )
I 'll know it from now !
So , let me tell you :
I 'm french, illustratress, I discovered your newsletter via Marguerite Sauvage, french illustratress, who wrote on her blog how she loved this idea and the artwork she got from it : )
And I thank you for this wonderfull work !
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
yes I think I'm a blurker:) Once in a month or so I leave some little comments on my italian friends' blogs, but I'm so lazy when it comes to write in English, it takes a tremendous effort to me!
Anyway, I look every day at your Flickr photos page, which I find terrific! You're making me discover artists I've never heard before, and I think you're doing an unvaluable job for all the people like me who weren't very familiar with classic illustration, but do want to learn something from the masters of the past, or simply love to contemplate their art!
Thanks for sharing, Leif, keep posting and forgive us shy blurkers!
I'm a comic artist who works for the italian market.
I'm from New Zealand and I read it to be inspiredReplyDelete
- Bob-O8:52 PM
Congratulations on your 500th post. My name is Bob-O, and I'm in Milwaukie,Oregon (home of Dark Horse Comics, and birthplace of the Bing Cherry). I'm in the process of starting an illustration/cartooning career.ReplyDelete
I don't recall how I found your blog, but I think it was a link from another site(perhaps Lou Brooks, Shane Glines, Ragnar or Font Diner?) I'm sorry I've been "blurking" I didn't realize there was a name for it. Anyway, I love your site, it brings me back to all the children's books, advertising, etc. from when I was a kid. I really appreciate you sharing all of your hard work.
- Anonymous9:02 PM
It's true... I must be one of these so-called 'blurkers', I watch a tonne of blogs but rarely to never say anything.ReplyDelete
You're in my my info blog folder, so that means I come here for the art and information that you share.
I'm just a mediocre animation student from Australia. Tried the blogging thing, but it didn't really work out.
I'm a design student living in Seattle. All I want to do is make comments but school's making me design spreads and whatnot so I come here for help.ReplyDelete
I think I found you through drawn.ca, which is also pretty great for daily inspiration.
Congrats on your 500th post!
Hah! "Blurkers." I'll have to remember that. I guess I'm one of them. I can't recall how I came across your site initially, but I've been a reader since. I love the illustrations you've been posting. I'm more of a web developer, and not so much a designer/illustrator, but I love the art.ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
This is my third attempt to post a comment.My computer skills are meager.I hope this one goes through ok.I visit your site almost daily and I'm a blurker.
I'm a Minnesota airbrush artist. I work with another artist, Rich Larson(penciler), to produce slightly lurid fantasy art.You can sample it at our website:fastnerandlarson.com
I'm a baby boomer,influenced by Marvel Comics, James Bama monster kit box cover art,Frazetta's cover art,and Richard Corben's comic art.
I love 1950's illustration.Parker, Saturday Evening Post art,Whitcomb and the Cooper Studio artists,and Loomis are favorites.I prefer the representational art to the more abstract stuff,but that's just my bias.Variety is a good thing.
Your Andy Vigil post was a treat,as was the Mcleans artists, British artists and the recent Parker posts.Its like browsing through a copy of Illustration magazine.Your flicker page is a treasure too.
Many thanks for your efforts.Keep 'em coming.
Congratulations on you 500th post!ReplyDelete
I check your blog every day (sometimes more). I love it!Mainly for what the name says it is.... my daily inspiration.
I don't know where you get all that material but there's no way I could find the same amount of info and images in books.
But I'm in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and that doesn't seem to show up in you states... So just imagine all the poeple that are reading your blog and don't get picked up by the meter... There could be thousands of us!! ;-)
Keep up the good work... please.
Well, I found your blog by following links from other design sites. I was actually looking for an image that I saw a couple of years ago but haven't been able to find since. It's a painting (don't know if it's on canvas or part of a mural) by Ludwig Bemelmans, creator of the "Madeline" series of children's books. It shows some waiters decorating a restaurant for the Christmas season. They're putting ornaments on a huge Christmas tree, if I remember correctly.ReplyDelete
But anyway, I enjoyed your blog so much that I spent a long time (I'm sure you could tell me exactly how long!) browsing around and checking everything out. It's a fun site!
Hello Leif,ReplyDelete
I am guilty of looking at your blog everyday (sometimes more than once) and almost never posting a comment. I did, however, sign up with blogger several months ago for the sheer purpose of leaving you a comment. I told you that I loved your blog (even though I couldn't draw a stick figure to save my life) and you responded kindly. But your sight DOES inspire me and it is the third thing I look at on my computer every morning (after my emails!).
As for me, I am a mother of a 4 year old and former TV documentary producer. I just moved from LA to Seattle 2 weeks ago and I am trying to decide my next career path - if only I could make a career out of reading you blog!
Congrats on your 500th post. Please do keep up all the amazing work.
- Mir4:42 PM
I visit this place often, sometimes I read, sometimes I just look at the pictures.And I like to look at your flickr sets.I am grateful for all the images, for the information and the interesting stories you put in here.Some people may be able to see such pictures in person where they live but I can't so I should be even more grateful.I'd like to think I could learn something for all those great illustrators.In fact if it were not for several blogs and a drawing forum I vist regularly I don't have such environment around me.ReplyDelete
So thank you for doing this!
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
I have to thank Mark Harris for enlightening me about what you do. Maybe I could take you up on your offer of showing me around Hamilton some time this summer.
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
This blog is such a valuable resource. I congratulate you on not only your unswerving taste but also on sharing the work by the (in general) unsung heroes of illustration. It's my first stop at the start of the working day and never fails to inspire - a blog that really does what it says on the can!
I'm an illustrator and lecturer in Illustration and Graphic design.
btw my students use and really enjoy this blog too.
much love
Hello LeifReplyDelete
I read your blog when I can, and in addition to your commentary, I love the fact that your images on Flickr are large enough resolution that one can appreciate the details. I run a message board which has a large collection of old art (about 20,000 images) and I enjoy a large selection of artistic styles in adverts.
As to who I am, I'm an Engineer (a real one), manager of several consulting and IT projects involving coal power plants, an author with a few published works, and I sometimes teach a University course.
I know what you mean about wanting to have people comment. In the past, I've spent woman-days researching and writing up a report on some science topic, only to have not one person comment on it.
hi leif and congrats on the 500th post. i came across your blog a year ago or so (thru Drawn, but not 100 percent sure), then stopped looking at it for a while because, you know... life, new job, moving across the country, kids growing up... i've recently come back to it more often since i put a link to it from my own blog. I enjoy seeing so much amazing illustration work from the past and reading all the interesting information you are able to research about the artists. thanks so much for all the work you put into it, your passion is contagious. i'm a newspaper artist in SeattleReplyDelete
Congrats on 500 post and then some: as you know I have them ALL! From reading the comments, it's easy to see that most of your viewers are illustrators and the fact that they don't write: goes with out lifestyle: deadlines approaching... can't write now...! Like all your viewrs, I want to say thanks and good job: mostly the fact that you have been doing it for so many years: well thanks for taking the time. As I said before: you've also created a serious condition amongst your friends in Toronto: it's called dependence, we're all addicts now, we need our daily fix of illustrations! You're an illustration pimp! We all know that it takes time and work to put up these daily posts: and if you're not getting in words the appreciation for your work: the numbers of the (big brother) counter, should be a quiet reminder that a lot of people appreciate!ReplyDelete
Hi, Leif, and congratulations on your fantastic achievement. 500 wonderful contributions to the study of illustration, 500 tributes to artists who wracked their brains for creative ideas and sweated to make deadlines... as I've told you before, this is a wonderful thing you are doing. I always think that, even when I just blurk. When do you find time to do illustrations????ReplyDelete
Great site, Leif. I file away stuff from you at least once a week, and have recommended the site to all artists I know. I often wonder the shape my art would have taken, and how much more rapidly I might have progressed, had a resource like yours be available 25 years ago. Thanks for all.ReplyDelete
Bonjour Leif,ReplyDelete
Je viens ici de temps en temps, sans doute par masochisme, pour me faire humilier par tous ces excellents illustrateurs dont le style graphique a émerveillé mes yeux d'enfant. En fait, la presse française des années 50 à 70 était pleine de ce genre d'image, et c'est sans doute un peu de nostalgie, mais aussi beaucoup d'admiration pour ce savoir-faire élégant qui me conduisent ici. Merci pour ces agréables promenades dans le passé.
( google translation : I come here from time to time, undoubtedly by masochism, to be made humiliate by all these excellent illustrators at which the graphic style filled with wonder my eyes of child. In fact, the French press of the Fifties to 70 was full with this kind of image, and it is undoubtedly a little nostalgia, but also much of admiration for this elegant know-how which leads me here. Thank you for these pleasant walks in the past.)
As a type designer, I'm sure I look for some different stuff than most here.
I will say that the Pepsi ads you posted here provided some real inspiration. You can take a look here:
Adding to the masses: I'm a designer in Richmond, BC (just outside of Vancouver) and I've been reading for a bunch of months now and love just looking at the images through my RSS. Occasionally I will go to the Flickr sets and make nifty desktops for myself, and otherwise I just love having that jolt of retro awesomeness everyday. Thanks!ReplyDelete
- Tris Mast7:07 PM
Your site is in my Top 5 best bookmarks. I always check it and pore over each illustration in wide-eyed awe. I am the art director for 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine (look for it at your supermarket!) and am currently doing painted illustrations for my second book. You have a devoted reader in Laguna Niguel, California, who thanks you a thousand times for inspiration today...and the day after...and the day after that...ReplyDelete
Leif, Your blog is cool. I found it from a link at Illustration Magazine. I commented because I also am mesmerized blog and your mention of your hometown, Hamilton. Mine too. Now in Rochester, only a little east of you.ReplyDelete
I am honing my skills as an oil painter and hang out with "fine" artists. Many use "illustration" as a four letter word. To me it is a step beyond fine art in that it generally is art come to life, or with a story it IS telling, or simply it spurs one to action like, BUY this book.
Illustration Mag is great and I am learning a lot from it and the likes of your blog.
Artist and computer consultant in Chicago, IL -- thanks for the great images!ReplyDelete
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
I probably found you through boingboing a while back. My love of 40's and 50's illustrations started when I worked at a used book store in Boston, the basement of which was literally filled floor to ceiling with old magazines. I've got a bunch of them and spend many a happy hour just flipping through ooh-ing and ah-ing over the ads. It's been nice learning more about the people behind a lot of them. (some of my favorites being the Pepsi smart set series).
Oh, and the Andy and Anita Virgil series was incredibly moving and inspirational. Thank you for everything you've done here.
Hello! Hello!ReplyDelete
Cheers from Lisboa, Portugal :)
Yes, I can understand your frustration about "us", silent readers...
Is not the first time I visit your blog but today I must say how much I really love it! I guess your images leaves me without words, heheheh.
I'm an illustrater myself and a complete fanatic about classic illustration.
Keep this great work!
I have the same problem with my site meter, Now I have become a person & place on yours, NOW come be a person & place on mine lolol http://groups.msn.com/MEATCUTTERSCLUBReplyDelete
- Ted Benoit9:20 AM
The way I found your blog is a long one. I'm an illustrator myself (french) and I've always been interested in american painting and illustration. But I almost didn't know any american illustrator's names, except Rockwell and Haddon Sundblom (found as I was writing a foreword for a book about Coca-Cola ads).ReplyDelete
I started spotting some on plan59 (http://www.plan59.com/main.htm), then this fascinating british site (http://www.fulltable.com/vts/aoi/index.htm). Then found yours by doing a Google search on Douglass Crockwell I believe.
That's about me. As for your site, wow! Just great, and rare.
I'll try to make more comments in the future. In the meanwhile, thanks.
Heheh, right on. I'm a storyboard artist and sometimes illustrator. Was looking for Tom Vroman, google popped up with an image that turned out to be a Fletcher Martin piece (the baseball one with the guy sliding on base). Alot of nice stuff here - the kind of retro look that the guys in Emeryville salivate over (They had it all over the walls at the studio there... the art, that is) - they really love that graphic, dynamic character look a'la Mary Blair. So, is good solid reference for me to look at from time to time.ReplyDelete
...Yeah, not much of a story, but there you go. I might have to link here sometime soon.
- Jenny9:38 PM
Hi Leif,ReplyDelete
I discovered your blog while looking for fifties illustrations to use for my wedding materials, and then I just fell in love with all the images. I'm not an illustrator, but I feel like your blog is teaching me so much. Thank you! It's an amazing collection of images, and your narrative is so informative!
Hi Leif! Greetings from Australia. I'm a pre-digital era educated illustrator. When things changed I resisted the computer for years and consequently found little work. I've since managed to re-educate myself in the 'new ways', but still lament the tactility of actual materials. At present I am reinventing myself, as many of the Illustrators featured on your blog seemed to do. I found your site whilst looking for samples of 60's illustration. I'm learning a lot from your great effort compiling all this history. I am very indebted to you for that. I've been digesting ALL your posts for days now. It's slowly sinking in. Thanks for the great effort! Yes, I'm the lurker who visited, looked at everything, and never left!ReplyDelete


text:
Monday, September 22, 2008
Kurtzman Bonanza
Boy, I still remember the thrill of discovering Kurtzman in the early 80s. I found a tiny book with black and white reprints of his old pre-Mad comic book work. Hey Look was in there and so were his take-offs of Dennis the Menace and Blondie and some of his early "realistic" comics. I took all these tiny images and xeroxed them up into a binder for myself. I showed the stuff to everyone I knew. Some cartoonists loved him instantly. Many thought he was primitive and I would yell at them.
Between the 1st and 2nd seasons of Ren and Stimpy, I kept some of the artists on, even though we had no work to do - just to train them and improve their skills. I made them study story structure, composition, experiment with BG styles and techniques and I also took a few of them and forced them to broaden their cartooning techniques and control.
One of my exercises was for the cartoonists to take Hey Look poses and draw Ren and Stimpy in those poses. Some of the cartoonists who at first thought Kurtzman was "primitive" quickly realized how many great artistic tools the man used. These fellows improved vastly over 2 months.*
Their poses became much more concrete and readable. More dynamic, more alive and more to the point. I also tried this same exercise with Milt Gross - who the artists rebelled even harder against!
But anyway, the point of this post is how lucky young cartoonists are today. All this great stuff that I used to hunt for in dank basements and sweaty comic book shops is all becoming available for free and in much better copies on the web. Take advantage of it! Study it. Draw it. Analyze it and race past your ignorant trend-following competition!
Thank your lucky stars for generous collectors and archivists like Ger Apeldoorn , Shane Glines, Steve Worth, Kevin Langley, Kent Butterworth and Chris (Lopez?) from ComicCrazies. There are many more too, and the number of great blogs is growing.
A lot of this stuff I've never even seen before! Look at these panels of crowd scenes. It's amazing how controlled and organized they are! The whole of each page works as a design, and then it's broken down into smaller groups of shapes, each with its own sub-hierarchy.
I personally like Kurtzman's work even more than the Mad artists he supervised. Kurtzman did the layouts for most of the Mad (and E.C) comics. In other words, he drew quick compositions in thumbnail form. The artists lost a lot of the larger design element inherent in Harvey's work. His organized crowds became chaotic hard to read jumbles in the hands of the more famous cartoonists - in my opinion. But one thing most fans are in agreement on: Wally Wood, Jack Davis, Will Elder and the bunch did their best work under Kurtzman's direction.
I love this little story about James Cagney's dancing! Kurtzman has great taste in other arts.
Kurtzman is a rare creature that sees the big picture. Most artists get buried in the details. The fact that Harvey drew each character "simpler" than most artists makes it easier to see the composition and big picture and we can learn from that. It also makes beginner artists tend to think he is "primitive".
Harvey thinks like a good animation director or a good short story writer.
One other thing none of the E.C. artists ever captured completely was the sense of life that Harvey's characters had. His characters seem motivated from within. You can tell they are thinking and feeling creatures, acting on their impulses. They also react to each other beautifully. They aren't merely illustrating a script.
This is a quality I don't see in anybody's cartoons today. Even well drawn ones (if there are any left).
I am awestruck by the organization skills in Kurtz' pictures.
This is a man who has great natural instincts combined with a sharp reasoning mind. He reminds me of Clampett. He can take a ton of elements and weave them together into a clear whole, and at the same time get the best work out of a crew of other talented cartoonists who probably don't even realize it.
Here is a great picture of my pal, Kevin Kolde thinking about his first dance.
If you have articles and art by Kurtzman and would like me to link to them, just add a link in the comments. Hey, does anyone have any of his early realistic comics? I love those too!
*(those who resisted broadening their tastes and skills went on to a warm welcome on Animaniacs)
39 comments:
- Mattieshoe said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Ed Piskor said...
Hey John. Thanks a lot for highlighting this work from Kurtzman. I really dig his stuff and I've never seen a lot of what you posted.
Great post john K, I enjoyed reading it.
I have another question for you
"do most animators use windows or mac's becuase my dad always tells me the media type profesionals always choose mac's if this is true do i need a good understanding of mac's in this buisness.
thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my question.
- JohnK said...
Hi John
most of the artists I know prefer Macs. I do. Although Macs get clunkier with each new model.
- Jake the Animator said...
i think kurtzman was one of the early guys of MAD magazine, too, wasn't he? He used to sign his name "Kurtz" with a stick figure of a man. as an 8-year old, i thought this was the coolest thing!
- Mitch K said...
Haha These are not only amazing well drawn, they're also hilarious! :D
This is sheer brilliance, professor. If you still had the manual, would it be possible to post a page or two? I would also love to see some more of those Pig Tales comics; I literally started 10 minutes at one of the panels you've showed in your last post.
If you're concerned, I'm being a good little egg and studying these old masters for months now, and a few others (such as Albert Uderzo, Burne Hogarth, etc.) I only did the history posts to pass the time, but in the end, I decided that I dearly wanted to focus my energies on becoming a well rounded artist.
From an aspiring animator/ artist
P.S., If you're interested to know who Uderzo is, here is a link to a brief summary, with some of the stuff he worked on over the years.
thanks for the reply john,
greatly appreciated
"I guess I need to look into mac's for a change".
My animation classes start next year, Once I graduate highschool.
any advice you give me will help out alot. :)
thanks again
- patrick said...
wow, these are gold!!! Thanks John & everyone!
- Bob Flynn said...
Thanks for opening my eyes to Kurtzman's work. Tons to pour over here and elsewhere on the web. His character's gestures, interactions, and framing in the panels is as dynamic as anything you'd see in great animation. Something I strive for in my comics and illustrations.
Studying as we speak.
- SoleilSmile said...
Did Kevin draw that pic in an older style or is that a pic you found and it looked like him?
I didn't know he could draw:)
- Pedro Vargas said...
Wow, really cool! I've always liked how his drawings are real simple with so much appeal. Did he work with Milt Gross at some point in his life? Some of his Hey Look comics have a certain feel that's kinda like Gross' drawings.
I like that you said that he drew in a simple way so that the copmposition of the whole drawing is readible and easy to see and that we can learn from that.
- Vanoni! said...
What a great post, John.
I love reading about your own introductions to these artists.
I think I've mentioned on my blog before that for whatever reason, I was introduced to Kurtzman (and Elder) later in life. And I was ashamed I hadn't discovered them before.
I had obviously been indirectly influenced by him through other artists and there I was, finally staring at the originator.
And this:
Between the 1st and 2nd seasons of Ren and Stimpy, I kept some of the artists on, even though we had no work to do - just to train them and improve their skills.
is pretty great. I wish I had been around to partake.
- ComiCrazys said...
Hey John - I saw your post and decided to post another Kurtzman Pigtales story I had planned for later this week. Not sure I've seen this one online yet?
I have a bunch of his later work too from the small digest-sized magazines, the Esquires, as well as a few prints, including one gorgeous comic-con print. A lot of this was reprinted in the Comics Journal volume.
I would love to get a hold of his Dracula strips for the French magazine, whose name escapes me now. I'll have to look it up.
- JohnK said...
Wow! Thanks again. I've never seen that one. It's fantastic!
I just added a link to it.
- ComiCrazys said...
Anytime, John. Glad I can contribute to some of your posts with some of my posts.
Thanks for sharing so much your knowledge, insight and anecdotes about cartooning on a semi-daily basis. Your site is the second site I hit everyday when I get online, and that's only because my site is my homepage. =)
PS - Yeah, it's Lopez.
- Shawn said...
Harvey Kurtzman is one of my VERY favorite cartoonists. The first time I ever saw "Hey Look!" I nearly crapped myself. I can see some of that influence in some of your Ren and Stimpy cartoons too.
The other EC artists are some of my favorites as well, but I do agree with you when you say that some of their final art looks more chaotic and hard to read compared to Kurtzman's layouts. For a good comparison of how the same artists worked in the similar humor/comic style WITHOUT the aid of Kurtzman, check out "Panic" (a Mad rip-off from the 1950's). Panic was also printed by EC and used all the same artists, however without Kurtzman's layouts, the art (although still REALLY great) doesn't read nearly as well.
A lot of those artists didn't like working under Kurtzman's thumb, with the exception of Will Elder. The art Kurtzman and Elder did together just kept getting better and better as time went by. Goodman Beaver and Little Annie Fanny comics are pure quality! But I still prefer Kurtzman's "Hey Look!" style more than all else.
I have some of his early "realistic" comics if you'd like me to scan some for you.
- Caleb Bowen said...
Great info and pictures. That Sheldon comic and Cagny in Ireland are amazing. Such perfect use of negative space!
Let me know what you think of my George Liquor ink, here
- Nikita said...
Um.. do you still remember what you did as the excersise? cause I would really enjoy to see them, I think we all would benefit from a more structured look, then asking the 12 year olds on DA
- Kali Fontecchio said...
This stuff is gold, seriously.
Look at the ideas that were applied Katie from a while back. When you told me about him and got me that book I got super excited and inspired and did some drawings from some of his poses, which reminded Katie how much she loves him. Yay!
- Phantom Spitter said...
Jake: Not only was Kurtzman one of the early artists for MAD, but he created MAD. It's true. Look it up on Wikipedia. Today's MAD magazine insists that that fat schmuck Bill Gaines founded MAD. Don't believe a word of it! Kurtzman came up with the title, some stories, and covers, while Gaines only OK-ed it and published it. He deserves credit as publisher, but not founder!
Artists (sorry, "Creative Professionals") use Macs because Macs are for fags.
The modern photoshop graphic design industry teamed up with Apple to give subsidies to all the art schools so they'd almost exclusively use Macs.
This, along with Job's presense at Pixar, trickled down to the other creative indsutries, like animation, indsutrial design, architecutre, etc...
By the 90s it was ubiquitous, which is ironic, because Macs have terrible OS.
- trevor said...
do most animators use windows or mac's
The best way to differentiate between PCs and Macs is this: a Windows machine is more likely to have problems more often, but they usually aren't difficult to fix and they don't cost much to do so.
Macs, on the other hand, have better security and seldom have problems, but when they do, they're real doozies and cost a bit to fix.
One is a PC ( Personal Computer ) and the other is a professional machine. You truly get what you pay for.
- trevor.
- trevor said...
One of my exercises was for the cartoonists to take Hey Look poses and draw Ren and Stimpy in those poses.
I'm totally going to do that with my own characters! Thanks again for the great advice, John!
- trevor.
- Vince M. said...
Hey, Phantom Fact Splitter, I've never read anywhere that MAD magazine or Bill himself ever claimed to be the creator of MAD. Kurtzman was always credited as the creator. In fact Harvey was pushed to create the humor comic by Gaines when he wasn't making a living creating and editing the war comics for EC.
That "fat schmuck" was in fact one of the most straight up, honest and generous publishers in the business, paying high rates on delivery, giving bonuses, Christmas gifts (even though he was Jewish) and taking his creative people on trips all over the world.
If anybody was a schmuck it was poor Harvey, who had some people whispering in his ear when he demanded 51% ownership of MAD, and was rightfully turned down by Gaines. I don't know of any publisher who would strike a deal like that with a cartoonist, especially in the decades before 'creator-owned' properties came into play.
Don't believe everything you read on Wikipedia, it's usually written by schmucks like you.
- JohnK said...
>>Um.. do you still remember what you did as the excersise? <<
"One of my exercises was for the cartoonists to take Hey Look poses and draw Ren and Stimpy in those poses."
- Adam Robinson said...
John, I remember Kurtzman from my uncle's extensive Mad collection. When I was a kid, I would read all of his magazines and emulate the artists on my own paper. Since I've gotten a little older, I still remember those exaggerations and subtleties.
Thanks for highlighting him. I'm kinda new to your blog, but have you ever highlighted any other Mad artists?
- k.dubb said...
this was a great read, thanks John K!
it's funny actually because i was just thinking the other day about how Vince Waller and i used to talk about these very same techniques you made the R&S crew do. i still use these exercises (along with a couple others he told me about) to try to push my skills even further!
hope to read more tips like this in the future!
- Ger Apeldoorn said...
And if you haven't got Hey Look, get it! You even have the only Pig Tales story I haven't got! Now for a color copy of his other humor work for Timely. I have some in black and white from Greg Theakston's Sunday Package. Tomorrow it's my turn for somemore rarely seen Kurtzman pages. You'll flip.
Do you know Kurtzman's unpublished adaptation of Dickens' Christmas Tale? He layed out all 60 pages with the full text and then painted about ten... and still didn't sell it. Denis Kitchen has the whole thing. I hope it will be published one day.
You mention Milt Gross. Did you now he was in almost every issue of The Killroys? Available for download on goldenagecomics.co.uk. I could go and post them, but they are out there.
- Phantom Spitter said...
Vince M.: Sorry if I offended. I really didn't mean to. It's just that I sometimes get mad that today's MAD doesn't mention Kurtzman in its credits, but lists Gaines. I actually know next to nothing about Gaines, and had no right to disrespect him. Forgive me, as I didn't know what I was talking about. Truly sorry.
- Phantom Spitter said...
I just read more about Gaines and have built much, much more respect for him. I feel really awful about calling him that, and truly regret it. If anyone's a schmuck, it's me.
- ComiCrazys said...
Ger, do you have any of the Madison Avenue Magazine work the he did, listed in the Kurtzman Index? I had no luck when I was in my Kurtzman hunting stage.
Oh, and I've seen and have some jpegs of that Christmas Carol story that Shane Glines had posted on his site years ago, along with jpegs of Jack Davis' finishes based on Kurtzman's layouts. Kurtzman's take is so much better than Davis'. The mood comes through better in the 'simplicity' of Kurtzman's drawing, rather than Davis' detailed style. If you could post that story I'd appreicate it. Save me the trouble of digging through backups disks. =)
John, what do you think of Kurtzman's later drawing style, i.e., The Grasshopper and the Ant story in Esquire and especially Jungle Book? While I like The Grasshopper and the Ant story, the colors are gorgeous, I'm not a fan of Jungle Book. I've opened it numerous times to see if I'm just not getting something, but that style doesn't appeal to me.
- oppo said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- Nikita said...
thanks for the reply john! I'll have my friends try it!
- Zorrilla said...
The Sheldon comic reminds me a lot of Peter Bagge, and particularly of Girly-Girl and Chuckie Boy.
Bagge used to read Mad magazine since he was a child. He even did a comic about the first time he read it.
- Ryan G. said...
>>his, along with Job's presense at Pixar, trickled down to the other creative indsutries, like animation, indsutrial design, architecutre, etc...<<
Architecture, industrial design industries use PC's. 3D programs are usually PC based because of the processing power needed. Until recently, Mac's couldnt supply this horsepower needed. They now have duel quad core power and you can run windows XP on Macs for 3D programs.
Macs are huge in the Graphic Arts/Desktop publishing indutries.
- Ger Apeldoorn said...
Too bad I can't leave notes on your page.
Yes I have the MoM stuff and will show it today. Too bad Kurtzman is the only one who could ever finish A CHristmas Carol. He layed it all out. You wouldn't want someone to do it in his style and I don't think Denis Kitchen would ever publish it as is. I suggested he he'd have John Severin finish it, but that was a little bit perverse.
- Mattieshoe said...
>>When I look up the credits of Animaniacs, the only artists that I see that were also on Ren and Stimpy were Lynne Naylor and Mike Fontenelli. But the ones that resisted your direction probably got the short end of the stick and didn't appear in the credits.
Rich Arons (Who worked on Ren and Stimpy) worked on Animaniacs, where he got alot of recognition (I think he ended up writing a couple of episodes)
Barry Caldwell was the only cartoonist to both write AND direct the same segment. ("Cat On a Hot Steel Beam")
Does that name sound familiar, John?
- Miss Karen Jean said...
Kurtzman is also amazing when he's not funny:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/11605669/Harvey-Kurtzman-Corpse-on-the-Imjin s-Two-Fisted-Tales


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text:
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Fr Girl's B'day!
47 comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRENCH GIRL!!!ReplyDelete
joyeux anniversaire fille française!!!!ReplyDelete
Très joyeux anniversaire chère FRENCH GIRL! Excellente journée avec ce temps magnifique!ReplyDelete
Happy Birthday French Girls !!!ReplyDelete
Merci pour tous vos post chère Carole, je suis fan !!!
- Judith from Australia6:41 AM
Happy Birthday to you,ReplyDelete
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear French Girl,
Happy Birthday to you
...Hip Hip
Hip Hip
Hip Hip
For she's a jolly good fellow,
For she's a jolly good fellow,
For she's a jolly good felllllllllllllooooooooooooooooooow,
And so say all of us,
And so say all of us,
And so say all of us,
For she's a jolly good felllllllllooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow,
And so say all of us,
Bonne Anniversaire,
Bonne Anniversaire,
Bonne Anniversaire,
Bonne Anniversaire,
Why was she born so beautiful,
Why was she born at all?
Because her parents wanted her
La la la la la la
Happy Birthday French Girl - congrats on reaching ???
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Happy Birthday French Girl ... thanks for letting us peek into "being & living French" ... bon chanceReplyDelete
May your tea and yummy buttered toast be dusted with a bit of birthday fairy dust today! Joyeux Anniversaire :)ReplyDelete
Happy Birthday to one classy lady! Wishing you many, many more!!ReplyDelete
Happy birthday French Girl!!!! Please continue to lead our Paris Breakfasts on a merry chase through all things French!ReplyDelete
Joyeux anniversaire, fille Française.ReplyDelete
(Mine was yesterday.)
Happy birthday Fr girl~~~~~~~ReplyDelete
- Anonymous5:22 PM
Joyeux anniversaire to the charming FG who has so graciously shared tidbits of her life and style with us. Be assured that your generosity is appreciated and that your style is admired by the readers of PB!ReplyDelete
And cheers to Carol for your originality and many talents - your blog is a true pleasure!
Happy Birthday!! from down under in Australia. Treat your self lunch somewhere special like "Laduree"ReplyDelete
Dianne xx
Happy birthday French Girl!ReplyDelete
Happy B-Day FG!!!ReplyDelete
I'm taste testing cakes in preparation for my children's upcoming birthdays, so I'll have an extra slice just for you;)
Happy Birthday french girl!ReplyDelete
Firstly, Happy Birthday French Girl!! :DReplyDelete
Secondly, to Carol, I'm a big fan on your blog and would like to ask your advice, I'm an 18 year old girl going to Paris for a city break on my own, and was wondering if it is socially acceptable there to wear short shorts (like the chanel ones in your post) without attracting the wrong sort of attention.
I was only 13 the last time I visited Paris, and can't remember a great deal of what local people wore.
Thanks! :)
Those are HELLO KITTY purses if that helps at all..


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Expanding our research is one of the ways we can find information to help us ready our goal in the process.
I attend Webinars frequently especially those that are presented or have Genea-Bloggers presenting about the topic of Genealogy. You never know what you might find while attending a webinar.
This evening I attended "DearMYRTLE's A FEW GOOD SITES Workshop Webinar". She was showing the participants various websites where we can do research.
She showed about 70 listeners a number of websites that she uses to pint out what you might find on each.
When Ancestry.com was brought up, she shared no only what you might find on this website, but then she opened up her Ancestry Member Tree. Please understand that she and I already have hints that we are related but haven't spent a lot of time talking about it. We have done shared Webinars and other presentations, online, but her example, right there online, in the Webinar, the exact family line that I had been working on, figuring out relationships, the previous night. Just on her screen, in the webinar, were probably 10 of the same names that I was working on.
As she was presenting, I emailed her several pictures of the Church where that group of people attended.
We will continue to put the pieces together and it may be that in her records, SHE holds the key to help me reach the secondary goal of finding out who David Ridgely Howards grandfather was. I think his name was on that screen that she shared.
Here is a link to her Blog: http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com
Thanks DearMYRTLE and don't forget to check into see what are up coming Webinars on this website: http://blog.geneawebinars.com/


text:
Spiritual Warrior (reisenshi)
Scroll to see all 7 designs
Spiritual Warrior in Japanese is 霊戦士 which is read reisenshi.
The Japanese kanji combination reisenshi is composed of 霊 (read rei) meaning "spirits, soul" and 戦士 (read senshi) meaning "Warrior; Soldier; Fighter
Translations You Can Trust: We want you to be as happy with the Japanese translation as you are with Master Takase's beautiful art. Click on any of the above links and you will be taken to an independent dictionary Jeffrey's Japanese English Dictionary where you can immediately verify the translation for yourself.
Japanese Calligraphy Designs
Order as a Tattoo Design, Graphic Design or Hand-Brushed Art
Each design may be ordered as a Tattoo Design (Adobe PDF) or Commercial Design (JPG) which may be immediately downloaded when your order is placed. Hand-Brushed Art may also be ordered and is personally created by Master Takase when your order is placed. The hand-brushed art whether unframed, framed or as a scroll takes only two business days to complete.
For Tattoos: We provide you with everything you need for the perfect Japanese tattoo including the line art (also called a stencil) that your tattoo artist must have to correctly ink the design. And you get your design immediately when your order is placed. There is no waiting! So all you need to do is print the design and take it to your favorite tattoo artist. And your tattoo artist does not even need to know Japanese! Getting the perfect Japanese tattoo really is just this easy.
For Graphics: Each design may also be ordered for use as a graphic image in JPG format in the resolutions 72 dpi, 300 dpi and 600 dpi. The lower resolutions are suitable for websites and crafts. The higher resolutions are suitable for print such as marketing material, advertisements and book illustrations. See the Licensing Agreement for usage information.
For Hand-Brushed Art: We are also pleased to offer each design as an original hand-brushed work of art. Each piece is personally created by Master Takase when your order is placed. We offer several unframed and framed options on handmade Japanese paper. And, when the design allows, we also offer the art as a beautiful Japanese Scroll. See the individual design for all the available options.
- Original DesignUS$7.95


text:
Written By: Ashley Southam
Piano Lessons Hillsdale IN 47854. I often have people ask me about playing a piano "by ear". What they are referring to of course is learning and being able to play songs just by listening to them.
I remember when I was young, and still learning the piano, watching a person listen to a song on the radio and then quickly walk over to the piano and play what was on the radio. I was very impressed and remember thinking how amazing that was. What I've learned since then is that if you spend time with music, listening to it, playing it, paying attention to it, that things begin to stick out. By this I mean certain chords start to become familiar, certain melodies that then go along with those chords. Probably one of the most important aspects of this is that chord progressions start to become apparent. These are the essential parts to being able to play by ear.
Something that happens very frequently when someone starts their piano education is they are often taught how to read music first, then to play using sheet music. So when it comes time to play something that isn't actually written down they have great trouble. I know, as this was how it was for me in the beginning.


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Daytime highs are expected to hover in the upper 90s with heat indices right around 100 degrees.
The next several days will feature more of the melting-in-your-shoes heat that has recently settled over us. Daytime highs are expected to hover in the upper 90s with heat indices right around 100 degrees.
To add a little variety to our days, forecasters are trying to bring us a little stormy activity, but it's proving difficult to lure it down here from Central Kansas.
The next week will provide multiple chances for thunderstorm development in in our state, but the bulk of the activity is expected to start in western Kansas and drift across Central Kansas. Saturday night through mid-next-week is currently targeted to be the most active spell, with some severe weather even possible.
At the moment, it appears that we may take a glancing blow from choppy weather on Saturday night into Sunday morning… if it makes it down this far. Something to keep an eye on as we approach the weekend….