The Phantom strikes

During my stay at Disney in 2000, something strange was going on.



I had just left Pixar after a four and a half year run and Steve Jobs and John Lassiter were trying to get me to come back. I was almost convinced this was true. Every day when I came in to work, they would leave me little notes like this:



I was touched by the outpouring of emotion.



And the sadness was just heartbreaking.



Then once I was ready to call Steve and John back, Disney security sent me this photo. Yes, folks, it was Floyd Norman, and once again, The Phantom strikes.



I had the pleasure of working with Floyd at Pixar on "Toy Story 2" and "Monsters Inc." Floyd is one of a kind. Disney's first black hire, a Disney legend and one of the best trench buddies you will ever have on any production. I should know because Mr. Norman and I pulled way too many late nights back at "the little studio that could" on Cutting Boulevard in Point Richmond.



We would seem to lapse into Benny and Rochester or the occasional Mantan-Charlie Chan routine, all the while scaring the PC-straights.



You couldn't help but laugh. We are funny guys.

Floyd told me a few very important things during our tenure together. One, it's all right to be white and like Mantan Moreland. The guy's a genius.



And two, "As you go through life, always remember: Rich people are funny."
He has made this way too clear in his "Faster! Cheaper!" books.



The three editions are full of sketches Floyd would leave all around the studio. A painfully funny look at living, dying and working in the animation industry.



If you have not seen these gems, pick one up. It's the God's honest truth about working in the animation business.



His website is a hoot too, full of pictures of him and his pals working at Disney in the '50s.



And the gag wall is just packed with cartoon goodness as well. No target is too big or too small when it comes to Mr. Norman, and if you're in charge of a studio, watch out!



I do love working with Mr. Fun, and I hope we get to do another project here very soon. But until then, I will keep a sharp eye out, because you never know when THE PHANTOM STRIKES!

Golden Oppotunity

And now back to Blog Fink already in progress......

My last task during the end-of-the-year rush of 2009 was to do a little favor for The Redhead and her boss, Marc, at the Benicia Herald:



Freshen up the lettering in the window of their newspaper office. As you can see, the sign was a bit worn out.



And it was due for some much needed TLC. Also, I wanted to replace the gold paint with some fresh gold leaf to add a little pop to the thing.



So, the day before I had to go back down south, I grabbed my paint kit, brushes and The Redhead and headed off to Benicia. I was a bit worried getting started, because One, I had not done any gold leaf work since the 70's, and Two, I was using a new water base sizing that Coop had recommended.

Well, I hoped it would all be worth the $4 toll across the bridge.

Once I got there, the first thing to do was to clean the outside window and trace off the old letters.



With that done, the next job was to scrape off the old letters, clean the daylights out of the inside window, and apply the new sizing. This stuff goes on milky so you can paint it in the right place, and then it dries clear in about half an hour. Better than the old stuff that could take anywhere from 2 to 10 hours to dry. Who has that kind of time?



Once the sizing was dry, next came the nerve-wracking task of putting on the tissue-thin sheets of gold leaf. I forgot how damn delicate this stuff is.



Once the gold leaf had been applied to the sizing, I used an acid brush I had in my kit (Yeah, I forgot the cotton) to loosen up all the unattached gold.



It seemed to work out just fine.



With all that out of the way, it was time to get back to good old Mr. One Shot and run a black outline around the work.



This would pop it from the outside.



And, as always, The Redhead was helping right along the way. Here she seals the gold leaf with a coat of One Shot so it won't get scraped off later.



It was getting late as we finishing up, but it was looking tons better.



Once it was complete, I went outside and checked it all out before cleaning up the job site and heading next door to Aroma for a nice Indian meal.



The next morning, I was on my way back to Vista, but I wanted to check the sign in the daylight and make any changes I needed to do. As you all know, I never know when I'm going to be home from one week to the next. She looked great out there in the sunlight, and only required a few tweaks before I took off.

Mission accomplished.



Making Benica an nicer place to look at for 2010. Well, the Benicia Herald office window, anyway.

Blogus Interuptus

November was a blur and December has gotten crazy. Trips, Birthdays, Movie and TV work. Life intervened. Next week i start the welcomed Christmas and new years break and will post a ton of back logged stuff. Till then enjoy the fire bowl and friends and the holidays.



See all you blog pals soon.

"Smitty"

Here's another gem i story boarded on a few month ago for my buddy Dave mickey evans . Dave is cutting away on it right now and i wish him all the luck in the world.

Beach Party!

No, Not that kind of beach party. The Elegy Beach party!




On a cold, foggy Nov. 3 night in San Diego, Steve Boyett had his opening day book signing at Mysterious Galaxy book store, and I wasn't going to miss it.



By the time John Field and I arrived, Steve was doing a Q&A.



Tom Morgan kept the Q&A rolling with some very good questions, followed by some very good rants and answers by Mr. Boyett.



In the crowd were some of my good friends and trench buddies from Omation . Tom,Woody,Hayley and Paul had braved the fog to wish Steve good luck and to get a few copies of his books signed.



Once Steve finished up with the general public signing,



the "O" crew got a chance to get their copies signed. Here Paul Claerhout steps up to the plate,



followed by Tom Morgan



and new convert Hayley Kohler.



We heckled, cut up and generally had a great time.The bookstore was a real treat, and Tom Moran signed a few copies of the Obama comic collection he had done.



Once everything was signed, we were off to Godfather's for a fine Italian meal and more silliness.



So remember, gang: Don't be a "Bonehead!"



Go get your copy today.You will be glad you did.

"Elegy Beach" in book stores now !

Steve's got his, and Igot mine. So get out there and get yours. You will be glad you did!

Original Newt

During the premiere in Austin, Texas, of the "Tales of the Rat Fink" documentary a few years back, there was an after-party where all involved got to display their painted Rat Finks for the upcoming Rat Fink's Revenge book.



Upon arriving, I checked in on my little contribution. Rust Fink was happily rusting away on the far wall.




But that was not what caught my eye. Above all our crazy painted rats was something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Ed Newton originals from back in the day.



Needless to say, the rest of the night was me going into hyper-study mode. Ed is the look of the Roth World for me, and I had only that evening to soak up every brush stroke and chrome accent. Just look at this beautiful work.



Super Bee looked great. And even greater with all the detail.



Ed's hand lettering is just amazing, and you will NEVER make a font cooler.



The feeling of speed and power is unbelievable here.



Not only does the letting, VW bug and the monster design look great,



but the feeling of the back wheels pushing the design up off the front wheels is awesome. You can almost smell the rubber burning.



His monsters designs are wonderfully original,



and have been an inspiration for me since I could hold a pencil.



They have to be turned up so they're lost by the power of the cars.



There is so much wonderful control in his brush work



and for black and white art, his chrome is blinding.



When I started doing art for Ed Roth back in the day, he always reminded me to study how Newt used his opaque white.



To me, that's half the artwork right there.



Most, if not all, of this original art got auctioned off at the Peterson Museum a few years back, and I wish I had had the dough to pick up just one of the pieces seen here.



I would have dug that, but I did have the presence of mind to snap these pix for my Roth cartoon morgue.



One day, I hope to meet up with his Newtness and pick his brain about all he brought to the Roth designs. Like always, I'm sure I will learn more and more as I go. Once you stop learning, you're dead.



I hope all you budding monster shirt artists out there will study the above images. It will help you, I guarantee it. I know it helped me a ton. Ed Roth was right as always. Thank, Ed Newton!