Foot of Clay

I have been following the L`IL ABNER reprints over at Mark Kausler`s blog http://itsthecat.com/blog/ . I loved Abner when I was young. Currently Mark is posting the Joanie Phoanie series that tare into Joan Baez in a very mean spirited way. This was the last straw with me, the end of my love affair with Al Capp.

Years later at the Kubert School I had a number of conversations with Tex Blaisdell who had assisted on L`il Abner. By assisted I mean do all the artwork. Al Capp quit drawing his stripe early on. He wrote it but did not do any artwork in the last 20 or 30 years of the stripe.

I got all the stories like Al putting his wooden leg sticking out behind the bed and then ordering room service for himself and give my friend over there a double martini.

The most telling story was how Tex stopped working for Al Capp. Al would pay by the job but he would always want to turn his artists into unpaid servants. Hey Tex, would you bring me that bottle over there. Hey Tex how about running down to the drug store for me and picking up . . . and on and on. It got so bad that Tex was taking 5 times longer doing the artwork because Al was always interrupting to get waited on hand and foot.

Sure Al, I will be glad to get it for you, after all you are a cripple. So ended the tenure of Tex on Al Capp`s comic stripe.

There is another great Al Capp / Tex Blaisdell story. Not sure if it happened before or after Tex and Al parted ways. And I can not for the life of me remember who the cartoonist was that stipulated Al Capp, Tex Blaisdell and Irwin Hasen among others be his pallbearers.

Al Capp had a wooden leg, Tex was about 6 foot 4 or taller, and Irwin is maybe 5 foot nothing with his shoes on, on a very good day. It was not a good day. It was raining. The grass was wet. They had to carry the casket down a slop of wet grass and they lost it, the casket rolling down the hill and into the open grave on its own. That most likely was the original plan when the cartoonist picked his pallbearers. Leave them laughing.

Getting My Game Together

I have spent the last week working on my History of Videogames class. That means creating a compact and portable way to transport a group of older game systems, always too many wires. It has taken some doing but I have managed to get a Nintendo, a Super Nintendo, a Nintendo 64, a Game Cube, and a Play Station all in a 13 by 14 by 38 inch rolling cart.








The systems are the property of my son who has kindly offered to let me transport them into class to show older games. I foresee my office hours becoming a popular event. Today I did comparison play of Gauntlet I through Gauntlet Dark Legacy (about # 6 in the series depending how you count some of the ports).

Number 5 in the series, Gauntlet Legends, is still my favorite. I like the N64 for the start on the game but much prefer the end game on the Play Station version.

Gauntlet Dark Legacy, the next in the series after Legends, falls far short in my opinion. It is more of a port of the Play Station Gauntlet Legends with a few new levels graphed on at the front end. The Special Characters require a restart on level 1 which makes them almost worthless. The Game Cube port is a mess with very poor item control. All and all has a feeling of being rushed. Can`t say if the Play Station II version is any good since I don`t have that system.

Mission Viejo Student Art Show

The Senior Art Show at Mission Viejo High School was up this past week. The first 4 images are by my daughter Raven.












Lots of talented artists in the making. Always good to see.

Blast

Mark Vargas, John Totleben (Swamp Thing, Miracle Man), Harry A. Chesler, David Schwartz (Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys), Larry Loc and Tom Yeates (Swamp Thing, Time Spirits, Tarzan) photo taken by Christ Kalnick not shown (NON: The Transcendental Extraterrestrial)

Got a care package from my buddy Chris Kalnick yesterday. In it was a copy of this a photo of Harry A. Chesler`s 80 something-or-other birthday party. We found out it was his birthday and took him a cake in the afternoon. He was going out to eat with his family that evening but my little group of Kubert Students thought it would be nice to do something.

Harry was the guy who gave Joe Kubert his start. He had art files full of the most amazing original artwork. He had some good stories too.

Of this group of QB Students it is interesting that almost all of us have made our living as full time artists and quite a number of us still do. It is above the avarage for any sampling in any art school. Maybe it has something to do with all of us volunteering for something above and beyond?

I can always tell if a student is really going to make it by their willing to jump in with both feet and start living in the art world. The ones that can`t be bothered, some luck out some don`t. But the ones that jump in, they become part of the art world they join.

I got a care package from Ruth, my sister, yesterday. Ruth has been closing down my parent`s home in Florida now that my mom is living with my sister and her husband.

I got the ower`s manual for a 1921 Maxwell, a bunch of turquoise jewelry that my father took in trade and lots of other what-nots that piled up over the years.

I also got this newspaper printers plate for the New 1927 Chrysler 52. My father found this printing plate in the hay barn that had once been the new car dealership that sold his 1921 Maxwell.



I ran a hand ress when I was a teen and printed up a couple of these. Copy Writers are Copy Writers no mater when they write.




This stuff may not have a lot to do with animation but I think it may explain my obsession with history. My father (seen here driving his Maxwell for somebody`s wedding) spend his life restoring antique automobiles. I think my habits of research may have started watching him hunt down facts and parts for his old cars. $725 in 1927, what is that in 2008 money?

Gentlemen Open Your Vaults

In to LCAD today. Doing my office hours in the Library as per. Have had a couple of students stop by but mostly talking to Peggy the Librarian about copyright. She handed me an AWN tirade on the purposed Orphan Works Law calling it legalized THEFT! A conspiracy by big business!

Copyright is currently life of the artist plus 70 years. Thanks to big business there was another 20 years added by the Sony Bono Law. That means that for upwards to 150 maybe 200 years somebody can set on a work and stop anybody from using it. Disney made it big on Public Domain but has changed its mind when Mickey was in danger. I have a feeling that big business is opposed Orphan Works Law.

I am showing Crusader Rabbit today in class. Not the TV Spots color crap but the Jay Ward / Alex Anderson masterpiece. The first made for television animation and you can not get it anywhere. You can not find it anywhere because Fox has had it locked in their vault forever.

Rhino tried to bring out Rabbit in the 80s thinking it was Public Domain. But Fox stopped them. Then did they bring out their own version? No! Still in the vault.

So I am showing a videotaped copy of a 16 mm print I made when I had a friend show Crusader Rabbit in one of my classes. So much of are animation history is locked up in vaults. It would be really nice if people had to use it or loss it.

The article from AWN: http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=Columns&article_no=3605

Purposed Law: http://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/pdf/cspdproposal.pdf

Once More

Some times you just have to pull back and take some time off for yourself. I have had a hell of a month, with one blowup after another at schools and volunteer organizations. Which is why I have taken off the last 5 days and just read books and not been on the Internet at all. In the old days before the World Wide Web took of the world of communications I use to read up to 5 books a week. In the last 5 days I have read 4 books. It feels good. I feel good. Once more into the breach only this time maybe not so crazy.

Go Figure

After the ASIFA volunteer meeting yesterday I had a Laguna College of Art & Design animation faculty meeting in of all places Glendale right down the street from the shopping mart that use to be the Disney Studio. They have up a plaque.

Lack of enough figure drawing came up as it always does. A student should be doing figure drawing every semester and no school can run that many figure drawing classes. LCAD has open figure drawing classes including a Saturday morning class but students that really need it tend to just do the assigned classes.

Chuck Jones did figure drawing classes his whole life. I have a friend who was teaching a life drawing class in the mid 80s that Chuck showed up for. Freaked him out.

I saw 2 of Chuck`s drawing from a 1955 Don Graham master`s class at Chuck’s last public appearance and gallery show. The drawings impressed me very much because one was a success and one was a failure. (Chuck picked the show so he did that on purpose – got to respect the man)

Every school I have ever taught at has had the same problem. They just can`t put enough life drawing classes in the curriculum to force students to have the foundation that they really need.

So it comes down to the student to make the commitment. LCAD has the classes there if they want them. That is about as good as you can do. We can only lead students so far. That is real world. The students are adults now. Everybody has to learn to walk on their own. And make their own mistakes.

Still Alive

Real rough week that I can`t go into here. That is why I have not posted of late. Comic Con Volunteer meeting at Woodbury today at 3 PM. See details below. If you would like to volunteer for ASIFA at Comic Con come on out. More later.

Orange County Comic Con Volunteer Meeting

Tuesday evening April 8th from 8:00 - 10:00 PM at Laguna College of Art & Design South Campus Studio 17 ASIFA-Hollywood will hold our Orange County Comic Con Volunteer meeting.

Laguna College of Art & Design (South Campus - Studio 17)
793 Laguna Canyon Road (Next to Sawdust Festival)
Laguna Beach, CA 92651