So I had the great pleasure of being invited to see a dress rehearsal of the Portland Opera’s production of Candide. So much fun! The show is hilarious, just a little bit dirty, and incredibly cynical, and the performances were all terrific. I think Candide is one of those operas that even folks who don’t usually like Opera would like, so if you’re in Portland I recommend checking it out.
I didn’t have time to do illustrations as elaborate as I’ve done for past Portland Opera productions, so I did caricatures of four of the characters in the show. I’m pretty pleased with how Pangloss came out.
Also, be sure to check out the #pdxcandide tag on twitter to get links to the drawings by all the other Portland cartoonists who were invited!
My friend, the brilliant cartoonist Jenn Lee, is self-publishing the first book of her sci-fi webcomic Dicebox. Last week she posted the flip-through:
Jenn let me contribute a blurb to Dicebox. Here’s what I wrote:
Molly and Griffen are blue-collar workers in space looking for work and avoiding past mistakes. Jenn Manley Lee’s unique brand of science fiction — part slice of life, part travelogue — is daring, refreshing, whip-smart, and gloriously entertaining.
And Scott McCloud’s blurb:
In Jenn Manley Lee’s elegant pages, the mysteries of the universe are matched by the mysteries of the human mind. Dicebox is science fiction done right.
The book also includes a short Dicebox story written and drawn by me, years ago. (I’m kind of embarrassed by my old artwork, to be honest, but Jenn says she likes it.)
Dicebox is available as a hardcover, a softcover, and a very affordable pdf — all three versions are for sale at Jenn’s store. A warning, though: The book does have a little sex and a little swearing, so probably for grown-ups only.
Here’s the line art for the still-ongoing drawing I’m making of “Oracle’s Last Supper,” featuring nearly every female hero of DC’s “Bat” family arranged in a “Last Supper of Christ” pastiche, plus a dog. There are 17 figures in all. Please click to see it larger.
It’s still not finished — there will to be two versions, a hand-inked version that will be auctioned for charity as part of Women of Wonder Day, and a computer-colored print — but I kind of like the clean look of the line art.
From left to right, the characters at the table are Katherine Kane (the original 1950s Batwoman), Betty Kane (the original 1950s Batgirl, Katherine’s niece), Robin (Stephanie Brown), Spoiler (Stephanie Brown), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Batgirl (Stephanie Brown), Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Batwoman (Kate Kane), Huntress (Helena Wayne), Robin (Carrie Kelly), Black Bat (Cassandra Cain), and Batgirl (Charlotte “Charlie” Gage-Radcliffe, aka Misfit). In the background is Robin (Rochelle Wayne) sitting on a robot dinosaur; Blackbat (Barbara Hardy) on the giant rook; and Robin (Trish Plover) flying near the ceiling. And the dog in the foreground is Ace, the Bat-Hound.
On September 21, 2011 · Comments Off on Stephanie Brown takes a photo of Stephanie Brown posing with Stephanie Brown
These are figures from a drawing-in-progress I’m working on, featuring the Last Supper done with 16 Batgirls, Batwomen, female Robins and female Black Bats. Plus Oracle,Spoiler, Huntress and Ace the Bat-Hound.
On September 12, 2011 · Comments Off on Rochelle Wayne, also known as Robin, on a gigantic toy dinosaur
Ongoing work-in-progress for a drawing that will be auctioned off as part of this year’s “Women of Wonder Day.” The woman in the drawing is Rochelle Wayne, who was Robin in an “Elseworlds” Batman comic set during the French Revolution. Rochelle Wayne was designed by the wonderful José Luis García-López; my attempt to draw García-López hair looks pretty silly, but it was fun to try!
The completed drawing will include 4 female Robins, 5 Batgirls, 2 Batwomen, 2 female Black Bats, Huntress, Spoiler, Oracle, and Ace the Bat-Hound.
On August 24, 2011 · Comments Off on Sketch of the 1950s Batwoman and Batgirl
Katherine (Kathy) Kane and her niece Betty Kane were the original Batwoman and Batgirl, in the 1950s.
This was kind of interesting to sketch. I had to draw things I virtually never draw, like — well — superheroes. And high heels.
On April 10, 2011 · Comments Off on Wacky face from my sketchbook
Just because.
On March 30, 2011 · Comments Off on Another Portland Opera Drawing: The Bewitched Child
As I said in yesterday’s post, Portland Opera was kind enough to let me and other area cartoonists view their latest production, a double bill of The Spanish Hour and The Bewitched Child.
My previous drawing was from The Spanish Hour; this one is from The Bewitched Child.
To see what other cartoonists at the Opera have done, search on twitter for #pdxoperacomics.
(You can see previous Portland Opera illustrations I’ve done here.)
Once again, Portland Opera graciously hosted me and a gaggle of other cartoonists to see the dress rehearsal of one of their productions, this time a double bill of The Spanish Hour and The Bewitched Child.
Here’s the first drawing I’ve done as a result, of a man hiding in a clock. (The Spanish Hour is the sort of comedy in which a lot of men hide in a lot of clocks.)
To see what other cartoonists at the Opera have done, search on twitter for #pdxoperacomics.
(You can see previous Portland Opera illustrations I’ve done here.)
On March 24, 2011 · Comments Off on Character drawing from a short non-Hereville comic I’m working on
