Yogi Bear T-Shirt

 

The one, the only, my beautiful daughter, Miss Indiana Grace Crawford. Along with Dad (Me), showcasing a recent Yogi Bear illustration I did, on a T-Shirt.

Will post close up of image soon.

Thanks for visiting

Journey to become, Cartoonist

Why Cartoons?

Why not, that's what I say. Why not...but, well... I cannot help but be drawn (literally) to art. And to create. Pencil in hand. Scratching out shapes, erasing, refining. I just...love it. The whole process. And cartoons - a love affair. Stretching way back to some of my first fond memories, as a child (see below on Murray Ball).

It started when I was young. At my Grandparents house. My Grandad had these receipt books which had this transfer paper. Which, when you placed it underneath the page you were to write on....it would magically copy the marks you made and transfer them to the next page. For a five year old - mind blowing!!! 

I was never really great at school. Average were most of my school grades. But I always did well in the arts. I loved it. 

Fast forward to my mid twenties where I reconnected not only to my art, but started to wonder, could I do this as a career? It was during this time that I found a correspondence course that offered a Diploma in cartooning. I was sold. It is funny, but even as I write this now, this course was still one of the best decisions I had made in regards to my education. Even now the Diploma certificate is mounted in a picture frame. Which is saying a lot, as other courses I have completed are just stored away, in a box, somewhere.

Fast forward another year or so, Sonya, my wife and I, did a graphic design course. Two years in the making. And at the end of it, I had fairly much done a concept art portfolio. I went out into the big wide world, met with working designers and also applied for design work. Of which all these experiences revealed that graphic design was not the path for me. So I took that Graphic diploma, put it in a box out in the garage. And said good bye to graphic design.

Proud achievement

First fond memory: a letter from Murray Ball (at primary school)

Back in primary school, maybe around 6-7 years of age, a friend and I decided to write a letter to Murray Ball. Murray Ball is an iconic New Zealand cartoonist, best known for drawing a syndicated cartoon strip called Footrot Flats, which is awesome!!!!

Footrol Flats, number 1

I will admit the details are a little hazy but it went something like this. After sending the letter off to Murray Ball, we got a response. From thee Murray Ball... on an official Footrol Flat letter head. To say that both my friend and I were blowing away was an understatement. As for the contents of the letter from Murray Ball, it was an encouragement to keep up our drawings and best wishes for the future. And it had a small drawing of dog on it - awesome.

Unbeknownst to me, this single event would shape my love for cartooning, inspire me to draw like my art heroes (and Murray Ball of course), and actually discover a passion.

As a side note, both at home and between both sets of my grandparents, it was common to have cartoon books lying around. This exposure to these books helped me to discover the joy of art which has lasted me a lifetime. And a love for books, reading and cultivating the imagination too.

So thank you Murray Ball. You are a legend.

So why cartoons?

I always marvel at how someone comes into their happy place (enjoyment), by way of passions/gifts. 

This joy is not something you can manufacture or force (whether by your own efforts, or the efforts of others). And if you are fortunate enough to not only discover what makes you happy, but nurture it throughout your life, you are blessed indeed. 

I often need to remind myself that creativity, the joy of it, is a truly high order of spirituality. It nourishes you. Sustains and keeps you of sane mind. There has been countless times when I have felt down and restless, only to be re-focused and fulfilled after a session of drawing. Reading too.

So why cartoons? Why this particular art form? I can only answer it through a magical lens - that it chose me. I didn't go initially looking for it. And I didn't try to force it. I just found myself, scribbling at first, then doodling. And from there, marveling at these magical beings called cartoon characters - how they occupied a world that was funny, sad and everything else - so human, yet so zany, crazy and loveable.

So in a nutshell, I love, cartoons.

A little collection of cartoony stuff I own

** the x2 footrot flat images are cels from the actual animated movie.

Murray Ball - Legend - R.I.P

 

Murray Ball, pictured at his home in 1993 - BILL KEARNS/STUFF

Kiwi cartoonist Murray Ball farewelled

The life of iconic New Zealand cartoonist Murray Ball was celebrated in Gisborne today.

Ball was the creator of the famous Footrot Flats cartoon strip, which was made into a movie in 1986. Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale was New Zealand's first feature-length animated film.

He died aged 78, after a long battle with Alzheimer's, at his home at Gisborne on Sunday.
Funeral celebrant Norman Maclean said the family, wider community in New Zealand and abroad were hopeful Ball's death was a long way off.

"But it was not to be. The severe limitations of ill health imposed on Murray for such a long time have now gone. He has been released from all that has hampered him from being the man he was."

But the departure was still a major blow.

"He was a man larger than life itself."

For Ball, the sun rose and set on his wife Pam.

She was a wonderful partner and Mason, Gareth and Tania (their children) and seven grandchildren were privileged to have a husband, father and grandfather of such calibre, said Maclean.

More than an expression of sympathy, the funeral at the Bushmere Arms this afternoon was a celebration of Ball's extraordinary life.

All walks of life from the Gisborne community were represented at the funeral.

"Your fundamental decency and kindness touched us all."

Murray Ball was the antithesis of the party animal.

"He would shy away from crowds and publicity. Interviews he did not enjoy at all but, to avoid disappointing his fans, he did them."

Gisborne Mayor Meng Foon said Murray was a legend who lives on in his work.

"I thank you for your marvellousness, from our community."

He loved travelling and music, rugby and cricket.

His daughter Tania Fowell thanked all the health workers involved in caring for Ball on his difficult journey.

"Without these people helping, dad would not have been able to stay at home."

She thanked her mother Pam.

"Dad's rock, best friend and fierce protector of dad's privacy."

Fowell said her dad had strong beliefs and principles.

"And he was the enforcer. We soon learned to do what he said. He was hardworking and up before anyone. That was his favourite part of the day. He had a strict daily schedule and I always knew where he was at any time.

"Sometimes the boogie man came out in the form of dad dressed in a sheet and he would jump out and frighten us. He would walk around in his undies . . . freely . . . was known to pour a bucket of water over his head in the courtyard . . . often. And he sneezed so loud he would scare the sheep and it echoed around the valley."

He did not show much emotion, but she remembers sadness when the cat Horse died.

"He was really sad - Horse was real, he was our cat. He really used to drag eels across the road from the creek."

Her husband James Fowell said Ball was "like a father" to him and loved the All Blacks.

"Once I remember watching him being interviewed and up came this probing question - 'if you could change something what would that be?' He quickly answered, "that the All Blacks would keep winning all the time."

Fowell said he found solace in the Ball household.

"I loved the structure. There were right and wrong ways to do things and no one stepped out of line."

Eldest son Mason said even though his dad was not comfortable with crowds, he would have appreciated the large crowd at the service.

Family members had travelled long distances, including from Tokyo, Australia, England and from around New Zealand.

He said Ball's dad Pop Kelly was very important to him.

"He was monumental in dad's eye. He financed dad in his early writing and cartooning days - without this support at the start he might have got nowhere."

Mason said his dad was not funny "at all - in fact he was always very serious at home" - he had one standard joke he reeled out now and then, and did not get into chatting.

"His idea of a chat was 'so what are you going to do with your life? Where do you see yourself in the next seven years?' - well that was the end of the chat."

Ball's wife Pam said it had been a devastating, sad week.

She is English and Murray a New Zealander. They met in the middle in South Africa in September 1963 and married in under a year.

"Some people, including our parents, thought it was a bit quick, but we proved them wrong and recently celebrated 53 years of marriage."

She said her children had been amazing support, but it had been a hard journey.

"He has not talked for the past two years. I found that hard. It is time to rest now Murray - you have given us all wonderful lives. We miss you. We are so lucky to have had you in our lives - rest now darling."

Article: 17 Mar, 2017 05:20 PM / NZ Herald - click for original article here

Inktober 2020 - What I learned

 What I learned in Inktober 2020

After 31 days of rushing to the art-board and drawing yet another image, my two characters for a potential comic - I said to myself, why am I doing this? Why? So I started to take some basic notes to answer that very question. I realised, I had to to be conscious enough to see some improvements. What was the measurement for improvement? For me it was not enough to just submit an image only. I had to see an accumulation of my efforts rewarded.

 So, what follows are my observations of what I learned in Inktober, 2020.

1. Define/practice on x2 characters only

I decided from the get-go to illustrate in inktober only x2 characters. By doing this I

1. Eliminated the feeling of being overwhelmed with where to start. Because I knew I had to make the x2 characters work with the daily prompts, half the battle for me was already settled.

2.  Because I was constantly drawing the x2 characters I really started to get a feel for them. And my confidence grew when drawing them. I also found out what I didn't like - where on some days the characters became too cartoony. Overall, by the time Inktober was finished I had amassed a great deal of drawings. These drawings will definitely benefit me when I get around to doing up a small comic of these guys.

2. Using limited inking tools

In past Inktobers that I have done, specifically digital inking - I really tried an array of digital inking brushes. Which was good in some ways. A real chance to try them out. But more than not, because I was trying so many brushes, I wasn't able to pick up on the nuances of a particular brush. Let alone persevere with its limitations also. And as a result of this, I wasn't able to track progress. So, I used only x4 pen's for the whole challenge. They were

1. Zig Mangaka (Kuretake Brush pen)

2. Tom Bow ABT N15 (Brush pen) 

3.  Zig Art & Graphic pen (Kuretake Brush pen)

4. Artline 200 0.4mm (fine tipped pen with dead line weight) 

The go-to pens for me were numbers 1-2. The Zig Mangaka (1), which I only found days before the competition, is awesome. I found that you could keep a steady line, almost bring the pen to a stop, and then push it around and get a lovely smooth transition. It also gave nice fat-to-thin tapering effect. Number (3), Zig Art & Graphic pen was almost running out. But I found out you could get some nice textures as a result. So lesson learned - don't throw pens out until they are well and truly gone.

3. Where to place areas of black

It was rather by accident, but my wife had left a compass out on our drawing desk. And I thought to myself, drawing a circle might help along the composition for this image. Which yes, it certainly did. And so there a now quite a few images which have a circle (filled black) for my images.

So, the circle shape is a very pleasing element. It also helps to guide your audience to a particular section of your image - and create a hierarchy or focus. 

4. Not to be perfect

Perfectionism is such a beast. It can silently come upon you and then devour and destroy all your creativity, within minutes.

For me, doing Inktober is as much about getting better at inking as it is about pushing through to complete an image - no matter how (eek), ugly or imperfect one image maybe. And I certainly created my fair share of eek pictures. But what I came to appreciate was I could see why something wasn't working. And I still had to go through with it, say its done. And then upload it. Pat myself on the back, and do another drawing for the next day. And it was the next day where I found you had to overcome the beast of perfectionism. Because now you had a failure in your mind only a day earlier.

Lesson learned - fight the beast. The more ugly you do, the more resilient you will become and bounce back to hit those good/great and amazing images.

DON'T GIVE UP!!!!

5. Composition and the use of extra elements

This is something I am always struggling with. I think some days I've got it, then, damn it, it gets away on me.

Composition is challenging for me as I often go straight into the pose of the character/s without often thinking also about how other elements will work in a pleasing way, within the piece. And so often what will happen is, I will be stuck trying to add elements (like fire, wind, smoke, etc) with the characters.

These above poor babies (my imperfect offerings) - sad face, are for me, compositions which, with the added extra elements just weren't doing it for me. The one at very far right I laboured over. I used the black mountain (which is hard to read I think) to help frame the x3 creatures. However I feel that this then competes with the dark area at bottom left (which I initially thought might help frame for the bottom x2 characters). I just feel that overall the image doesn't read well - it's a little jarring and confusing. So to make myself feel better, here are some images of which I feel have good composition. And also good use of elements.

That's it. Survived another Inkober challenge. Wahooo!!! Until next year, 2021. Bye for now.

If you, yes you, dear visitor. Have read all the way to here. Thank you. Really - thank you.

Please check out my instagram account here for all new stuff. I upload there more often.

I hope you have learnt something, or enjoyed this read. Have a great day/night.

Book Competition and what I learnt

For a month and a half, I had the opportunity to submit illustrations for a book competition. Whilst I was unsuccessful, I had learnt a lot of things during the process.

What follows are key points that I learnt along the way.

1. Follow your gut

Due to time constraints of my daily life (daddy-daughter days, family commitments and looking for work), I had to find a way to maximise my time. And whilst definitely planning a head was a key factor, my attitude of backing myself was critical. 

What I mean is, to believe in your ideas and then move forward. So much of your efforts are underpinned by your beliefs. Beliefs like, can I do this!!! When I was developing thumbs for the story, I was constantly thinking if it was the right idea. And as much as ideas can definitely change, there comes a point where you need to just 'seal the deal' and back yourself. 

I still believe that even after not successfully winning the competition, I did the best that I could with what I had done. This choice to follow your gut (back yourself), to me is critical.

 

2. Allow your art to breathe

This point definitely complements the previous, but what it does is allows you to see your art with fresh eyes. Been able to step away from your drawings, even for a day, a few hours, really helps to re-set your vision. Obstacles that came up, and there were many, are managed by simply having a break. Many times I had serendipitous moments where an idea had formed - away from the drawing board. Away from the pressures of not getting it right the first time. Which is a crazy way to think. But oh-boy, have I had to learn that the hard way.

Much of creativity flows organically. And not necessarily all in one shot, at your desk drawing. Take breaks, often. Breathe.

3. OneNote, your friend

Ok, so there was some intensive planning too. Plan to plan. The last two points mentioned above definitely aided in releasing levels of anxiety. Planning however is the 'how are we going to do this'. And thats where OneNote (Microsoft) comes in. Its just awesome.

Some examples of the awesomeness of OneNote.

• Ok, lets breakdown how many days I have to complete this competition, OneNote. 
• Where do I find out how to best setup margins and crops for a dummy page. I need to make a note to remember this, OneNote. 
• Must remember to re-read the script and then have it ready for dummy pages, OneNote. 
• Don't forget to schedule for the rendered two page spread, OneNote.

Ok, hopefully you get the idea. Planning the project is critical. How to best plan, organise and just remember things, OneNote.

In closing, I really felt a sense of accomplishment at completing a submission for a story. Certainly if I had more time I would change things, but overall I was confident of what I had produced. And ultimately it has reassured me that I would love to continue working towards the children's book market. Who knows, maybe even sell my own children's book one day?

 

Ren and Stimpy illustration

 

Did you hear the news!!!! What??? You didn't. OMG. YES....its happening. And I had to do up an illustration to celebrate.

So excited (joy oh joy), a re-boot of Ren and Stimpy!!! REN AND STIMPY.

This cartoon show was and still is one of my all time fav's. Absolute awesomeness on every level. I am probably being a little one-eyed, but not many cartoons come close to these guys.

I JUST LOVE THESE GUYS!!!!!

Also of note, top left - created my new logo design 'Jason Crawford - Illustrator'. Maybe I will share some of my fledging designs around the logo concept? See what happens.

Star Wars

My favourite galaxy couple from one of my all time favourite films.

I also had Han Solo's gun - way back in the 80's. Made sound effects too. Awesome

I did this is illustration way back in 2015.

Will hope to post up soon some more Star Wars stuff.

Thanks for visiting.