A mad look at my Sergio homage

 I finished my tribute drawing of legendary cartoonist Sergio Aragones`.  It's an 24" x 18" graphite drawing on paper. I'm happy with it. I've titled it "Mustachioed Maestro At His Craft". 

Drawing Groo

   I've made another video, this time I did a Live Facebook video. I decided to draw one of my all-time favorite characters, GROO THE WANDERER by the Great Sergio Aragones`!
I give a little history on everyone's favorite dullard swordsman, as
well as on Sergio and answer some questions by a viewer.

Enjoy!

Feliz Cumpleanos` Bigote Maestro

Today is Sergio Aragones' 78th birthday!!!

My Quest For POPEYE

If any of you reading this know me, you know I am a life-long, hardcore Groo fan and Popeye fan. I've been drawing them since I was 7 years old. I read their books, collect what I can afford of their merchandise, etc. My lifelong dream (and I do have a few of those) is to professionally draw Groo and/or Popeye. Since Groo's creator Sergio Aragones and his cohort Mark Evanier have both voiced that if Sergio doesn't draw Groo, NOBODY does, I will never have the chance at the mendicant barbarian. But Popeye the Sailor has been published in recent years, beginning a regular new comic book series that unfortunately ended by its 12th issue, and then "Comic Classics" stories. These books are reprints of Bud Sagendorf's run on Popeye comics in the 50s on. Ok, so I can't draw a regular series. I tried and was not accepted. Well, the "Comic Classics" have variant covers to the issues, and have used artwork of professional cartoonists and fan art. FANTASTIC!!! I was sending samples and submissions since just before the new series began (I think it was 2011 or 2012) up until as recently as June. Nothing. I've been drawing Popeye since I remember drawing! I have studied him, the various E.C Segar creations as well as Sagendorf characters, and thought I represented the character well. That's what was looked for in the series, but I don't recall if I sent sequential art or not (sequential art is artwork that tells a story panel-to-panel or step by step, like a storyboard for a movie. THAT'S one of the biggest things editors and publishers look for in artists, not just art quality). But the variant covers wouldn't require sequential art! I love the character and try my best to show that through my illustrations. I don't want to veer from the classic style. Why mess with perfection (not my drawing of Popeye, the perfection that is Segar's characters)? Then I start to see the variants coming in for "Comic Classics" and they are WILD, abstract takes on Popeye. I find that I cannot do what they're looking for. I am not abstract. Don't get me wrong; I'm not bad-mouthing the covers that grace the covers. It's that they were NOT what I expected to see. The styles are beyond my wheel-house. I don't want to alter my vision of Popeye. I even TRIED to make some "wackier" styles, but they also were not accepted. I also can't get feedback. WHY am I not good enough? I've dreamed my entire life to draw for POPEYE, and when I was hipped to the news that the publisher was going to start a new POPEYE comic and they were looking for artists, I thought I'd be a shoe-in.
 You tell me, and I'm not looking to boost my ego, but what do you think? What is wrong with how I draw Popeye?

The Best They Is At What They Do!

This would be a dream come true for me: Popeye and Groo crossover. It will never happen, so I entertain myself with these little scenes (I actually had, or have, a story mapped out where they WOULD crossover).

It ain't all real, ya know

I get into moods. Right now, I wanna do some cartooning. I've been drawing alot of Popeye and a little Groo. Working on realism sets a little tedious sometimes. So, this is what I did the last couple days. I'm planning on coloring them when I get the chance.

Moustacheod Maestro

I cannot BELIEVE I haven't posted this yet!! Back in 2007, I fulfilled a lifelong dream of meeting one of my biggest inspirations and heroes, Sergio Aragones (GROO, MAD Magazine, Sergio Aragones' Funnies). During our meeting, my wife Melissa took photos. From those great photos I chose the one that I worked from to make this graphite drawing.

Did I Err?? No...

I gotta post this. It's tugging at me.

I'm working on a book about the experiences I've had through my artwork, so the stories told here will be brief so if I DO finish the book, people will still buy it. However, I gotta show these pics and write about 'em.

One of the large parts of the book will be about the man above, Mr. Sergio Aragones.

Sergio began drawing for MAD Magazine in 1963 (if that's incorrect I'll fix later) up until now, missing only one issue as fault of the post office. He is a widely recognized cartoonist, receiving countless awards and portrayed in one award (I'll add the name of the award later).

How I was introduced by the great Aragones was flipping through comics of my cousins and brothers. At the age of 7, I picked up my first intro to Sergio Aragones' GROO THE WANDERER, and I haven't stopped flipping. It is about a mindless wandering barbarian who is quick with his swords and slow of mind. He tries to fight for good, but in fact he just tries to fight. I began drawing the gourd-nosed warrior instantly, and playing Groo (nobody knew what I was doing, so I played with trees. Really, I played Groo with trees as playmates). I learned how to read in part from Groo (and comics in general, a credit comic books don't get. They help to learn kids to read). I also learned of the legend of Groo through the writings of the Groo writer, Mark Evanier. He would tell stories in the letters page of how kind and how crazy FAST Sergio can draw. Many fans and friends speak highly of how fast Sergio can think and draw. I became fascinated by this fact and tried my hardest to learn to draw fast, just like my hero (did I just say HERO??). I will stop here in my brief history lesson and explain the photos above.

In 2007 the fans of GROO celebrated the 25th anniversary of GROO. The "Groo Crew" (which consists of Sergio Aragones( creator, plotter, artist), Mark Evanier (writer), Stan Sakai (letterer, creator of Usagi Yojimbo), and Tom Luth (colorist)) released a 25th anniversary book, after 4 years of a Groo-less world. Also in 2007 came a new miniseries, Groo: Hell On Earth. It also marked the return of Sergio to the Michigan based comic convention, the Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan. Also attending was comic great Stan Sakai, letterer of Groo since 1982 and most notably the creator of Usagi Yojimbo. These two comic powerhouses are good friends and colleagues and were seated next to each other at the Motor City Con.

After almost 25 years of writing to the GROO GRAMS (the letters page for Groo to the creators), doodling Groo on any paper in front of me, and dreaming of meeting my idol, I finally came face to face with one of the men responsible for my becoming an artist. With me I brought a drawing I did for Sergio, two block prints for him, a copy of my comic M.I.A.: Mime In Action, a few things to get signed, and photos. One of the photos is shown in the photo above of a papier mache sculpture I did of Sergio and Groo. He seemed genuinely impressed and flattered. I also showed pics of each of my kids dressed as Groo for their first Halloweens. Unfortunately for them, they were all either one month old or one WEEK old when we dressed them. I also showed him my Groo sculpture I did 7 years ago, and he loved it, and told me "You know, I sculpt too! I sculpted this piece here", he told me as he pointed to a bust of Groo and his dog Rufferto. I had thought for years that someone else had done that, I told him, and was very impressed that it was he who did it.

I also bugged the hell out of Stan Sakai, another one of the nicest gentlemen I have ever had the pleasure to meet. I will post that meeting soon, but right now my hands are cramping and my wife is glaring at me about being at the computer too long, so keep checking in for more pics, more stories about these two men called Sergio and Sten...er, I mean STAN (started rhyming. Sorry!) and my historical day with them!