Everything's copacetic here in Pittsburgh. Working for Bill Boichel while he is out of town with the family. Copacetic Comics. Nice to be here up in the clouds. Truly one of the most comprehensive comic book stores I have ever encountered in all my travels - Copacetic remains a cut above the rest.
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Check out the view from the Copacetic porch - three floors up - on Polish Hill. That's the church Andy Warhol attended growing up here.
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Below: small press madness - no order - all chaos - ever wonder why art comics aren't popular? Think about it manga = fixed format. Mainstream American comic books = fixed format. French Bande Dessine albums = fixed format. Mini-comics = madness.
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The best thing about Copacetic is talking to Bill. A motormouth of comic book trivia - I learn something new every time I come in here. Just the other day, I stopped by and Bill was like, "Oh, I gotta show you this--" and he pulls out a copy of Sunday Funnies. He turned to the Bronc Peeler by Fred Harman section and said, "Look at this - who does this look like?" I stared and stared at the spread. "Look at the trees, look at the inset panel, the signature -- doesn't it look like Frazetta?" And it did. It did look like Frazetta.
Basically, Bill's theory is that Harman was a formative influence on Frazetta. He pointed out the way the large inset panels are like paintings - that Hamlin contained both impulses in Frazetta - the painter and the cartoonist. Plus the little flourishes like the way Harman does trees and especially the signature. "Think about it - these Harman strips would have come out when Frazetta was little - it fits timewise and stylistically. Check out even the way Harman frames things in the inset panels - it's totally like a Frazetta painting - big dynamic foreground element - like a cliff or a hill - and the harsh shadows. I'm convinced this guy was a big influence on Frank."
Let's go to the videotape.
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Check out the inset panels - totally proto-Frazetta
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Doesn't that signature remind you of Frazetta's signature?
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Those horses look proto-Frazetta to me...
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Harman's bear close up - this looks like Frazetta framing, doesn't it?
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Compare it to the White Indian collection back cover
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Frazetta trees on left - Harman trees on right - very similar to me
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Classic Frazetta sketch with big foreground cliff - reminds me of Harman inset panel in Bronc Peeler strip shown above -
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Anyways. Food for thought. Thank you, Bill. You will always remain my best teacher.
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DON'T FORGET!!
SANTORO CORRESPONDENCE COURSE FOR COMIC BOOK MAKERS
SUMMER 2012 - Deadline for applications is May 30th
Application guidelines:
The new course begins June 4th. You can start late if need be. The course is a walk through my process of how to make a 16 page signature. Lots of fast drawing and composition. Lots of simple sequencing. We focus on timing. And color. And working in layers like a printmaker. If you are interested - please send me some work - small jpegs of things you have done. And tell me about yourself a little bit. There are ten spots open right now. I also need to see 3 figure drawings and 3 landscapes - all done on blank 3 x 5 inch index cards in direct pen - no pencil underdrawing. You should be able to do these 6 drawings in less than one hour. Draw fast and loose.
The course is 500 for eight weeks. I ask for a good faith payment once you start - half if possible. If not talk to me and we can work something out.
Basically it can be done on your own time - it is intense for the first four weeks and then you are more on your own. The idea is to use me during those eight weeks as an editor. After the eight weeks I will be less available - so if you don't finish - that is okay - you can finish on your own time. It has worked well so far as a projected deadline. And if you blow it, so what? You do it when you can. But since so much of comics is about getting it done - I try and get you to work in a system that can get it done.
Check out a comic done for the course by one of my students here.
Email me - capneasyATgmailDOTcom
Also check out Dustin Harbin's nice write up about the course for the Drawn blog.
Thanks. Over and out.
