Space Age Art of Robert McCall

This weekend, Sir Robert and I paid a visit to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC.  It had been about 20 years since I had been there, so it was good to get back there and see some great things again.  Space capsules, a Lunar Module, giant rockets, a section of Skylab, Pioneer, Viking, they were all there.  One of the most impressive things to see, however, was not a piece of machinery.... it was a mural.  On the wall in the main lobby was an amazing depiction of space exploration.  A moon landing and an larger-than-life Apollo astronaut seemed to gaze out at the museum visitors, amid a backdrop of countless planets, starts, and galaxies.   The style of the work was very familiar to me, so today,  I did some Googling to find out who the man was behind the work.

The mural, aptly named, "The Space Mural - A Cosmic View", was painted in 1976 by Robert McCall.  McCall is probably one of America's greatest space age painters of all time.  As I paged thru images of his work, I realized I had seen lots of his paintings before.  I was taken back to my youth, when I had a great sense of optimism for space exploration, science, and the future.  It's clear to me that McCall wished to share this same sense of optimism and vision with all those who saw his work.  He really spoke to an entire generation that grew up watching moon landings, shuttle launches, and planetary fly-bys.  At least, I can say, he spoke to me.  As I looked at the mural, and the array of capsules and rocketry, I said aloud in the museum that I always dreamt of space travel and the future... and I still do.

These are photos I took of the mural:

Here's a great article about McCall.  Here is another.

And just because... here are images of a few of the space stamps that Robert McCall's work appears on:

Retro-Active....

I must admit, some of my most favorite toys were the original MEGO "Worlds Greatest Superhero" dolls.  Well, action figures.  I had Superman, Batman, and Robin.  I remember being a little perplexed why they didn't have wieners underneath their clothes.  If that wasn't a sign, I don't know what was!  But they were great, and how I wish I took care of them or held on to them.  Like-new MEGO's go for a pretty penny today.  Of course, I wouldn't be collecting them for the investment value... as it is, I have too many Superhero figures.  But when I found out that Mattel came out with a new line of "Retro-Active" figures done in a similar style, I'm as perplexed that I didn't know about them!!  Drat!!  I have the Green Lantern and Green Arrow ones they did in the 90's (along with Aquaman, Superman, and Batman) that were meant to look like MEGO, and now I'm wondering if the Retro-Active ones are smaller?  I'm guessing I would have to start over if I wanted something close to a JLA.  I swore I would not spend any more money on toys that were going to sit in boxes... but damn, these are cool looking!

1960's Superhero Cartoons!!

I totally on a superhero kick right now... they just announced the theme for SpookyBear Weekend 2013 as "Heroes & Villains" and that is totally right up my alley!  So I've been taking a trip down memory lane (again), catching up on the old Filmation superhero cartoons that predated the 1970's Superfriends programs.  It was not an unusual thing to see Green Lantern solo adventures right along side Superman, Superboy, the Atom, and The Flash.  Of course, we didn't get these shows locally... you had to hope the antenna on the roof would catch those weak signals from channel 5 from NYC.  When we finally got cable, they came up once in a while.  So here is an idea of what I'm talking about... totally goofy, primative, and campy to boot.  Here is my favorite superhero of all time, GREEN LANTERN, in his own solo adventure.  Check out the entire channel of Filmation's cartoons 

Cell Painting Tonight

Tonight I am painting a new Hairyer Parts Universe cartoon cell. If all goes according to plan, this priceless baby will be auctioned off for charity at the Northeast Ursamen's Out Of Hibernation 2013 in Provincetown, MA next weekend.

FYI, Hairyer Parts Comics now has a Facebook page, at http://www.facebook.com/HairyerPartsComics.  The final image of the cell will be previewed there before being put up for auction.  The entire collection of behind-the-scenes photos of the "making of" the cell will be featured as a permanent article on http://www.hairyerparts.com/ after OOH.

Star Blazers - WCC Animation Comics

In my teen years I began going to sci-fi conventions, and the vendor rooms were usually a treasure trove for fans of anime.  I remember seeing stacks of Japanese books on Space Cruiser Yamato, known here as Star Blazers.  It must have been around 1986 or 1987 when I stumbled upon an English print edition of the "Quest For Iscandar" series of Star Blazers.  I think I went there with hard-earned lawn mowing cash and spent $50 to get all five volumes of these "animation comics" which featured full color screenshots of the television series.  I went home that day with all five volumes.  I knew then I was starting a library of great art books.  I had often figured if there was ever a house fire, I would grab these books and go! I still have them today.

Homemade Voltron Animation

So it's been about a week since my last post... work has been crazy, and this weekend at home has been all about spring cleaning.  As I was pondering what to post, I realized I had hardly posted anything about my favorite cartoon from my teens... and that would be Voltron!  Most people who knew me at the time associated this cartoon with me, mostly because it drove my creativity to new levels... if I wasn't drawing Voltron, I was writing with my best pal Debra.  We had a titanic expanded universe with both Voltrons, plus our classmates as cast members of the show.  So I really cannot leave out the Defender Of The Universe... there is so much I could include about this program.  So when you look at my characters, you are seeing something that is greatly influenced by this 80's anime program, among others.

Every once in a while, I dabble with animation... I am by no means an expert, but I don't let that stop me from trying things out.  A few years ago, I wanted to recreate one of the original clips of Lion Voltron swinging his sword back... not the one you saw in every episode, but one that would have been seen in one of the early episodes.  I heavily referenced the original animation to get this done... I quite literally reverse engineered it.  The final result contains about six frames (the original production would have used many more), each had to be digitally stitched together and then colored.  The lens flare was added later.  Check it out... enjoy.