Thursday, March 11, 2010

Vault O' Shame: Baby Screwy

So very busy, busy! I really haven't had the time to post a proper entry lately. I do know, however, that there are one or two of you out there who  check this site on a semi-regular basis for a heapin' helpin' of my nonsense, so I felt I should post something.  So here is... something.

The illustration you see here comes from the deep dark pits of my archive. "Archive" is a fancy word I use to describe the enormous piles of crap that are spread about my home. I was rooting through the archives recently, when I came across this curious piece. It is curious, because while I can tell I drew it, I have absolutely no recollection of doing so.

The drawing is, of course, a rendition of every body's favorite stupid duck-infant, Baby Huey. Huey starred in a bunch of Famous Studio cartoons in the glory days of animation, and for years was a staple of the Harvey Comics line. I love this character! One of the highlights of my otherwise laughable "career"  was drawing Huey for a line of European comics in the 1990's.

This drawing is not from that era.

I really have no clue when, why or where I drew this, but it must be pretty old. For one thing, this  drawing isn't too good, to put it mildly. The composition? Check out the complete lack of negative space between the little duck and Huey! They are practically on top of each other. The inking is pretty dreadful, too. From the looks of it, I used a brush marker that had worn out well before I started inking this piece. A napkin dipped in chocolate might have produced a smoother line. They say, "A poor artist blames his tools". They are right. The characters are "off model", too, but frankly, I have always considered that my Editor's problem.

Of course if I did this drawing today,  a few clicks of the mouse in Photoshop™ would fix most of the problems. Actually, it wouldn't, as I am not really "up to speed" on the whole Photoshop™ shizzle.

On a positive note, the gag here is in the same vein as the gags they used to use on the covers of the old comics.  Most of the jokes in the Baby Huey comics were of the "Wow, that baby duck is big/strong/a glutton!", variety. Here, I cleverly combined all three themes in one drawing.

Some of you may puzzle, "Why did Bill  post a drawing he isn't proud of?" There's a good answer for that: I dunno. Maybe I hope to inspire young cartoonists out there who are frustrated that they will never see any improvement in their work. Perhaps this will demonstrate to them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, if they keep practicing and drawing a lot.

That sounds nice. The truth is of course, I really had nothing to post.

Better luck next time.

By the way, all the characters in this post are copyright by whoever owns these characters now. So be respectful!

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8 Comments:

Blogger David said...

Bill,

I wish I could draw half as good as something that you are ashamed of!

My earliest memories of comic books are Baby Huey, Hot Stuff and Casper. I was no more than 5. Sadly the older I get the more my body resembles Baby Huey's.

March 11, 2010 at 7:33 PM  
Blogger Gary Fields said...

Willie,
You're being too hard on yerself. It's a damn fine pitcher of BH. Hey, you forgot to mention our days at Harvey Magazine!
G

March 11, 2010 at 9:32 PM  
Blogger Pepper Potts said...

I agree with both comments. You are much too critical of yourself. You must have saved that picture in your "archives" for a reason. That will teach you to sign and date your artwork!

March 12, 2010 at 10:33 AM  
Blogger Bill White said...

Thanks for the kind words true believers.

After I posted this, I was worried that people would think I was posting a good drawing and then putting it down. I was afraid readers would think I was pitching for ego-boosting complements.

Nothing could be further from the truth; I still ain't crazy about this drawing. Thanks for the ego-boosting complements anyway, folks!

Gary- I do remember our times on Harvey Magazine. An enterprise doomed from the start, I'm afraid. It was fun while it lasted.

March 12, 2010 at 10:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i think this cartoon looks great!

your so lucky to have gotten to work on baby huey.

most of his harvey comic book adventures were drawn by marty taras, who is one of my heroes.

his animation was always 100% spot "on model", and had beautiful fluid quality to it.

what a shame that most harvey fans ignore his work in favor of kremer and colon.

eet eed

March 12, 2010 at 2:13 PM  
Blogger P.L. Frederick said...

I love seeing your work. It's all great, plus there's the added mystery of figuring out what it is you don't like about it. A napkin dipped in chocolate? Hee hee. I don't suppose you could guess why the cup holds 2,432 ounces and not, say, 2,431 or 3,862?

P.L. Frederick (Small & Big)

March 18, 2010 at 3:59 PM  
Blogger SNeelyArt said...

Actually, looking at the drawing as a small drawing and not clicking to see the big version, it doesn't look that bad at all. The proportions and volumes are well done and you could lasso the baby duck and move him down a smidge to create more negative space. But it looks good to me.

Clicking on it to see the big version, then I'd agree that it's a crappy ink job and looks more like a sketch that someone might do at a comic con to bust it out. Inking can always be redone and fixed. The hard part is drawing it and having it have form and function. You were able to do that well.

I've seen worse drawings in my own hidden dark corners of the studio and they stay hidden of went into the trash a long while ago! Ha!

Funny you guys mention the Harvey Magazine. I just downloaded issues 1 and 5 from a scan site like 5 minutes ago! Now that's creepy!

March 19, 2010 at 2:39 AM  
Blogger Bill White said...

Folks, I think Scott may have the answer to the origin of this piece. It does look very much like a drawing that was "banged out" at a convention. Why I still have it remains a mystery.

Scott- Where did you find the Harvey Magazine downloads? I haven't seen a copy in years, but I'd love to. I'm sure a lot of the work in there makes this drawing look like a masterpiece!

March 19, 2010 at 9:56 AM  

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