“I’m a comic book artist. So I think to myself, what do I like to draw? I like to draw hot chicks, fast cars and cool guys in trench coats. So that’s what I write about.” – Frank Miller

I actually spent some time recently in Austin getting to know Frank Miller.   This quote really pretty much sums it up.  He is a funny man who does like hot chicks and fast cars.  Of the times we discussed art it became clear to me that he had worked it out to a “Science” if you will. A personal  science that is the result of always questioning what do I want to see and can I do it.  The answer pretty much is to just try.  It’s that simple.  Never stop trying to do things you don’t know how to do and ultimately – if your not enjoying doing it the chances are no one will enjoy looking at it.

Now to try my hand at comic strip art or cartooning I know I need to go into this with a light touch.  It needed to be authentic and simple.  I didn’t want it to become to complex of a story line or cluttered with too many characters as I fully intended to do this the way I saw Frank doing it.  Sketchbook, Pencil, Pens etc..  If there is to be any computerization it will come after a true sketch has been created.  This is when I realized my sketchbooks are full of sketches of my dog.  He is one of those dogs, I’m sure you’ve met one or two in your life, that is a real character.  He does things, I believe, intentionally to make me laugh.  I think in his doggy wisdom he has figured out that a laughing me is a happy me.  Good Boy!  So I settled on a simple story of a girl walking her dog and the comedy and drama of an innocent walk on a sunny day in Austin Texas.

This is when I began to figure out how to make moving images by drawing the same image over and over slightly moving only the parts I wanted moving.  Like Walking or Running.  THIS is the way cartoons were made before computers.

So I sat in my studio in front of a huge iMac with full Adobe Creative Suite and sketched every frame by hand.  Why? Because I wanted to see how it was done when Walt Disney was doing it.  So here is my very own Steamboat Willie.  I called it Kitten in a Bucket.

Episode One is rough quick sketches.

You can clearly see I am figuring it out.

By the end of this episode I am elaborating more on location and action.

Episode Two was just plain fun! It has more action and I let myself just play and enjoy it.

Episode Three is where I attempted to create more of a sense of drama and danger (of course still silly though, always silly!)

I hope you enjoyed the series.

I will most likely attempt another comic strip or cartoon when I decide on a subject.  I’m still trying to figure out how to do a comedy about the great world philosophers meeting my dog.  Titled “Dogma” ?? maybe? too cliché?