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". 

Invigorated in Art!!

 As the year 2021 begins, I've somehow gotten a new lease on creating art! I'm working on 3 separate projects of my own, and I'm excited to work on them, which I haven't felt that way about drawing or painting in...well, years, really! I don't know what it is, but I am enthusiastic about getting back to these projects every day! I even want to skip work, meals and sleep to keep at it!! 

These pieces are not being made to sell. Just for me and to maybe put in an exhibit, who knows? 

These ARE works in progress. The b&w graphite drawing of cartoonist (and idol) Sergio Aragones`  is 18" x 24"

W.I.P. oil painting of Sammy Hagar and the late Eddie Van Halen is 12" x 1 6"

this image is of my largest watercolor painting ever. I'm not much of a watercolor artist, so this is quite a challenge, at 36" x 24", or 3 ft x 2ft of Van Halen at the Whisky a Go-Go in 1992, I think? Van Halen has been my BAND since I started listening to music in 5th grade. All Van Halen was great, but when I discovered them, Sammy Hagar was the frontman and quickly became my favorite version of VH. This is my tribute to the band who could do no wrong (until Eddie fired Sammy in '96, that is). The VH pics are also in memory of my favorite guitarist (at one point in time), Eddie Van Halen.

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!!!

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.

Paying the Cost to Read

Ok, I'm going for it.
When I was a wee lad, my brothers left their collections of comics when they moved out (being 12 and 15 years older than me), so I was basically born addicted to comic books. When I had my appendix removed in kindergarten (or 1st Grade. Can't remember)my dad brought me comics he and my mom bought for me. I then started using my allowance to buy comics on my own, starting with GROO THE WANDERER #7 from Epic. The comics then were 75 cents. I'd get $5/wk for allowance and would buy at LEAST 3 comics a week. It was just before the industry hiked the price to $1. Well, what's a quarter, you know?
I walked into a comic shop recently and the printed price on most of the books I wanted to pick up (being a semi-regular collector, I'm behind on story arcs right now but I'm still a full-time comic geek), only to find the high-priced $2.99 had risen to the ABSURD $3.99!!! I used to buy ANNUALS for that much! 90-120 page books!! These are 30 page (including ads)monthly books, and SOME weekly or bi-weekly, whose print quality seems no different than the $2.99 days of old. I know that when prices went up a few years ago, the reasoning was because the quality of the paper being printed on was better and more expensive. I don't remember many comic fans complaining about the paper quality before, though. And the quality THEN is the same as NOW, but more expensive! If I want to buy, let's say, GREEN ARROW #2-3 off the shelf, it costs me $8. For 60 pages! And not even FULL story pages! Ads take up a few of those 60 pages! I have been picking up trades lately, but mainly because I live so far away from a comic shop that I can't get my monthly (ok, weekly) fix. Now, I have to wait for storylines to finish, then wait another couple months for the trade of said storylines to come out, then wait for the price to drop to a number I can afford. I also feel bad for the creators who bust their asses to get a monthly book out, only for the fans to have to wait to read what they did for months after the creators finished.
Ok, rant over.

USAGI CREATOR IN NOVI!!!!

It's just been announced on the Motor City Comic Convention website, http://motorcitycon.com Stan Sakai has been added as a guest. If you've been reading my blog, you know that I met Mr. Sakai the last time he was at the con,and HERE is the link to that post.
Stan Sakai celebrated the 25th anniversary of his creation, USAGI YOJIMBO in 2009. He is also the letterer for GROO THE WANDERER and has for 28 years now (of course, not EVERY year.Just the years they were making the book). He is also the letterer of the Spider-Man comic strip, where he works with another Stan, Mr. Stan Lee.
Stan Sakai is a highly regarded cartoonist and a very generous and kind man. I felt a sort of kinship with him when we met, and hope I haven't driven him nuts over the past couple years since meeting him, as I still feel that connection and hope it continues.

The Groo Crew (Heavy on the Sakai)

If you know me, you know that I am obsessed with Groo the Wanderer. I have been flipping through the pages of Sergio Aragones' creation longer than I've been able to read. Groo (and countless other comics) contributed to my learning how to read. It is also, along with Popeye, the greatest reason for me to start drawing. I drew Popeye in First Grade, and Groo in Second Grade. Over the years I learned the names of the men who put the Groo books together (Sergio Aragones-Creator/Pencils/Inks, Mark Evanier-Writer, Tom Luth-Colorist, Stan Sakai (seen above)-Letterer) and came to admire each individual's work. I also found that Groo wasn't ALL they did! Sergio, apparently, has been working with MAD Magazine since 1962 as well as many side projects and collaberations with Evanier and other artists. Mark Evanier has written many books, written for television, written other comic books, and was assistant to legend Jack Kirby (he currently has a book released, titled "KIRBY: King of Comics". You can read about it here, or buy it here). Colorist Tom Luth has worked on various comics, including USAGI YOJIMBO by Stan Sakai, Disney Adventures, and others. He also works in book design and if you visit his site, I won't have to list the many things this man is capable of. Stan Sakai will be celebrating in 2009 the 25th Anniversary of his creation, USAGI YOJIMBO. He also letters for the Spider-Man comic strip and will be doing (or did. I'm behind in my comic shop dwellings) a special for Marvel Comics.

Stan is also one of the kindest gentlemen I have ever had the fortune to meet. I met him at the Motor City Con in 2007. I spoke to him throughout the day, as well as the guy whose table was to Stan's left. Some guy from MAD with a swirly moustache. Also a great guy. Stan appreciates the true fans and treats them as family rather than like they're stalkers. If I'd had money, I would have bought more because his work is great, but times have been tough for awhile.

ANYWAYS, I did a drawing for him as well as Sergio. 2007 marked the 25th Anniversary of Groo so I did a woodblock to commemerate the occasion. I printed 6 copies. One for each member of the "Groo Crew", one for me and one for another crazed Groo fan. GARY!! (He was kind enough to take Tom and Mark's prints to the San Diego Con to give them). Above is a photo of Stan viewing the print I gave him. He told me that he enjoys block printing as well. He also has a Bachelor's in Drawing and still a fan. Some of our conversation really touched me and inspired me to continue what I do. It meant alot and I took a great deal home from that day from both Stan and Sergio (who shared his "fanboy"-ness when he was a kid that I was experiencing in his presence.

Seriously, I couldn't stop shaking and smiling.

I wish I could give Stan more because I don't think he realizes how much he gave me that day.

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!