The new issue of ARF will be re-printing a bunch of Milt Gross comics from the 20’s!

Apparently the comics being reprinted were intentionally created with a blank panel at the end, so aspiring cartoonists could finish the gag off themselves.

So in this issue of ARF, the strips are finished by contemporary cartoonists like Robert Crumb, Bil Keane, Johnny Ryan, Mort Walker, Kaz, Gene Deitch, Matt Groening, Patrick McDonnell, Mike Mignola, etc….

isn’t that painted cover amazing? what a treat seeing all the cartoon stars of the 20’s drawn by Gross…

Fellow cartoon pals Gabe, Sean, Luke, Katie, Ricky, and Fred have created a wonderful new site where they will be posting daily new comics:

And after you read the comics, be sure to check their blogs (click on their names in the sentence above) for a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of these digital funnies.

BIC pen on bond paper

BIC pen, pastels and pencil on bond paper

pencil and pastels on bond paper

When we break for lunch at these all-day life drawing workshops, I always try to get our workshop leader Corny to talk about cartoons and animation he worked on in the past.

BIC pen on bond paper

This Sunday he told me about the titles he did for a television show called Mr. Terrific as well as the titles for a feature called With Six You Get Eggroll, directed by Howard Morris.

I also learned that Corny designed the aardvark in DePatie-Freleng’s television cartoon The Ant and the Aardvark.

pencils on 18″x24″ bond paper

pencil, pastels and BIC pen on 18″x24″ bond paper

pastels and BIC pen

pastels and BIC pen

pencils and pastels on 18″x24″ bond paper

Corny told me that drawing animals is a good exercise because we usually don’t have pre-conceived notions of how the animal drawings should look.

So as a result, you really just draw what you see, not what you think you’re supposed to see.

pencils and pastels on 18″x24″ bond paper

pencils, pastels, conté crayon and black sharpie on 18″x24″ bond paper

I’m not really a pets person, but man I love drawing animals.

amazing the poses you get with 2 models

pencil on 18″ x 24″ bond paper