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!!!

MAD since the 1960s

I did this painting about 1 1/2 years ago, before Nuttall Art Studio closed. It's in honor of the subject, Sergio Aragones`.

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?

Sometimes, I start on a project and I have to walk away for a moment, and when I get back to it, I'm filled with happiness and fulfillment. My Hero series has become one of those projects. My Sammy Hagar Jumping series gives me such energy and now this first painting of Sergio Aragones` makes me just happy. I want to keep working on it, like right now as I sit at home. BUT, I have to wait until tomorrow... Until then, here's a little video I made and an updated photo of the Sergio painting.

Put the candles in the Cheese Dip!

As soon as I try to take a break from mentioning his name, his birthday pops up!!
Today is the day we Groopers celebrate, not as Labor Day, but Sergio Aragones Day, as it's his birthday! I can go on and on about what this man means to me (and I have here , here , and here ), but the great Mark Evanier summed up some of it on his blog here

Tiny Heads

I'm thinking of doing handheld ceramic rattle heads to sell. Could be celebrities, could be personal. Here's an example.

Sergio Draws me!!!

This is what Sergio has to deal with when I come to the con to see him. But he's a very polite, generous man who did a sketch for me, and included my ugly mug in the drawing! He told me he's not very good at caricatures of people (WHAT???) like I can capture a person's likeness, but he drew me anyway (I made a JOKE about him not having to draw me, and he did it. I really didn't want him to, but I didn't argue).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Hoboes and Tramps, cross-eyed mosquitoes and bow-legged ants...

Where to begin??? I have alot happening in the next few months- Blast The Blues, the Nuttall Art Studio Opening May 8th from 4-6 (with a raffle of artwork), Motor City Comic Con to see Sergio and Stan Sakai again, teaching at the Midland Center for the Arts, but something came up this morning that got my blood pumpin': SAMMY HAGAR and the WABOS at Common Ground Festival in July!!! It's a great event, and a great line-up every year, and the Red Rocker being in the mix is a Can't Miss!!! My hands are shakin' and my mind is racin'! "Should I do some drawings/paintings for the band?" "What should I do?" "Should I try to meet them again, and if so, HOW?"
As I'd mentioned in previous posts, the last time Sammy was at Common Ground, Melissa and I raced from teaching in Midland to East Lansing at the last second (we got out of teaching at 4 and the show started at 6 or 7). We only had enough money for gas for the next day to get to work, so we wouldn't be able to get tix into the show, but it's an outdoor event and we could listen to the show, at least. Melissa convinced me we should go, so we went. We got there a little bit before the Wabos hit the stage. A guy was trying to sell his ticket but we told him we had no money and I told him my story about Sammy. He moved on to sell his ticket, but turned around and just GAVE it to us! "You deserve this more than anyone." Perfect example of a true Redhead. Only problem was, 1 ticket, 2 people. So, we just decided to watch from the side because we didn't want to separate. In a few minutes, somebody went around and was GIVING tickets out for free!! HALLELUJAH!! So, I gave our ticket to someone sitting outside of the fenced and took our 2 tickets and went inside!
So, anyway, the whole experience, including his story about the re-vamped "Dreams" song, inspired me greatly, to tears even. I've held his words close to heart, and the decisions I've made in the last 2 years have been greatly influenced by Sammy Hagar (so I have HIM to blame for any fallout!).

Cheese Dip, Spinach and...whatever Usagi eats...

It's been confirmed that not only is STAN SAKAI going to be at the Motor City Comic Con, but the man who has been an inspiration since I was 7yrs old, Sergio Aragones! My geeking-out meter is off the charts right now, because also at the MCCC is Ken Wheaton, artist of the "Popeye Picnic Special Edition" comic book, along with one of the writers of the Popeye special, Chris Yambar.
So, we have the creator of GROO and artist of Popeye, THE two characters who've been at the tip of my drawing pencil for over 25 years, plus a newer favorite, Usagi Yojimbo by Mr. Sakai. My head's a' spinnin'!
The event is May 14-16th, I do believe. I met my hero in 2007, as any fool can plainly read HERE .

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!