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Work in the Spirit World

| Aaron McConnell

Miyazaki Week at the Periscope Tumblr finds me reminiscing an Epic Failure back in 1994, I think it was.  I thought I’d work in the kitchen of Aplets and Cotlets for a summer job, and gave up without even putting in a full day.  I’ve always had a strong sense of self-preservation and the combination of smoldering hot caldrons bubbling with candy and my poorly developed muscles, I was afraid a full day of work would end in disaster.  I left the job in shame, and decided I’d spend the rest of my life at a drawing board.  Now that I’ve confessed, I think you may be able to appreciate the personal significance that this scene from Spirited Away has for me.  Quite powerful.

The return of Not Brand ECHH?!

| Aaron McConnell

Wow!  Came across this milestone issue of Not Brand Echh in my extensive internet browsing.  I gotta make sure my comic shop reserves a copy!  Consistently mild-mannered comic book consumers will transform into raging, stampeding Hulks to get their hands on this;)

Self-Indulgence

| Aaron McConnell

Two adventures this week (so far).  I went downhill skiing with my son for his birthday.  He was on a snowboard, and that seems to be the preference based on the SkiBowl crowd up Mt. Hood.  The other adventure was seeing TRON: Legacy last night!  I was fully immersed in the grid.  Loved it!  So here’s a little tribute to those two events.  **This may be the most idyllic drawing I’ve done of myself, possibly ever.  I guess I’m ending 2010 on a positive note.**

I’m Your Man. I’m Batman.

| Aaron McConnell

Here’s something that may or may not need an explanation, but I’ll offer one nonetheless.  It’s basically a sight gag that occurred to me that I thought would be amusing to draw.  The original inspiration was from the latest issue of Batman Odyssey by Neal Adams, a comic that I’ve been enjoying for it’s madcap portrayal of superheroes and the expressive drawings.  The story reads a lot like a Mad Magazine movie parody, a narrative style that I enjoy.  It jumps from scene to scene and the characters talk to each other a lot, but they don’t really seem to listen to each other, and they often talk directly to the reader.  It’s nutty and I like it.  The first page of issue 5 depicts Bruce Wayne eating a banana and drinking raw eggs.  The banana reminded me of Leonard Cohen who I’ve been listening to  recently on the home stereo.  The cover of the album I’m Your Man is a real cool pic of Cohen in sunglasses … eating a banana.  It tickles me, and so there you have it.  Batman, Leonard Cohen, banana.  Beyond that I don’t know what to tell you.

Malinky Robot

| Aaron McConnell

This is a piece of fan art for the comic Malinky Robot by Sonny Liew.   I met Sonny back in 2001 at RISD and we’ve kept in touch over the years.  He’s been much more prolific than I.  The comic that he started in 2001 has developed into a GN and will be put out by Image some time next year.  Apart from this book he’s done stuff for DC and Marvel, a very unique sequel to Disney’s Alice in Wonderland, edited a couple anthologies on the side, done some painting, and did I hear that he traveled to the moon, too?  That might be a rumor, but I wouldn’t put it past him.  My Fan Art celebrates a couple of the many colorful characters that show up in his Malinky Robot collection.  It’s a really playful comic.  And Sonny is an astounding talent.  I remember the day I met him, he cranked out a high energy dynamic one page comic about a character cutting his toenails.  Brilliant!  Here’s the link to the guest artist site:  http://malinkyrobot.wordpress.com/ You’ll be rewarded with some stunning illustrations if you follow that link.  Turns out he’s friends with a bunch of movers and shakers in the comics/illustration industry.

Portland Opera’s Hansel and Gretel

| Aaron McConnell

The good folks at the Portland Opera invited cartoonists back to another drawing session.  This time we watched the rehearsal of Hansel and Gretel.  In comparison to Pagliacci, this one seemed to move a lot faster, or rather the performers were moving faster around the stage.  Hansel and Gretel were especially spritely.  Very entertaining to watch, but a greater challenge to sketch.  I tried to follow best I could while sketching down details, but don’t be surprised if you find some inaccuracies in my brief retelling and the actual opera.   The Portland Opera puts on very entertaining shows and I encourage anyone reading this to catch Hansel and Gretel while it’s playing.  There are 3 more shows, tomorrow’s matinee and Nov 11th and 13th.  I found it truly inspiring and certainly entertaining.  I’m a novice to opera, but I’m getting bit by the bug, and the Portland Opera knows how to scratch it.

Civil War for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

| Aaron McConnell

I was working on one Civil War comic and now I’m working on two.  I may not be drawing much else for a while, so I’m going to blog some of my sketches for these projects.  Here’s the first.  This is one of our main characters (in a way) for the adaptation that Jonathan Hennessey and I are currently working on.  His script called for a panel of the character looking up toward the ceiling and the iconic Nina Simone photo sprung to mind.  I updated the hair and removed the bling to make her more modern, but hopefully the Simone spirit is still there.

The next sketch is from the other Civil War project.  Here we have an antagonistic paymaster, and the following panel in sequence…the reaction shot.  There was an image reference for the paymaster (and that hair is not much of an exaggeration), but I added a little extra Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher.  (I’ll line up with everybody else to watch DDL play a nasty, dangerous man, and I’ll sneak him in my comics whenever possible;)

And one more sketch to celebrate one Mr. Frederick Douglass, the original Man!  Forget that Old Spice knock-off.  Fred Douglass is where it’s at!

BONUS PHOTO!  “Douglass, you Dawg!”

(Actually that’s his wife Helen Pitts and their niece Eva.)