Too much Dana is never enough!

I swear he looks like a Bond Villain.

"Excellent!"

Performing as a Gothic Mentalist at a very private affair. Winter Solstice, 2000.

Some funny stuff from the Dana Reemes Files!

Don’t you guys hate it when this happens?!

For the benefit of the laymen, here is what a clean up artist brings to the table in animation.

An awesome parody of the classic Ripley’s cartoons by madman Dana!

Lureline Weatherly:

a self-portrait.

She is Dana’s first wife and left quite an impression on him!

Ramses II’s Great Royal Wife Nofretari and Dana –Dana is the one on the right.

The Glamorous side of being an Animator.

Filmation also made live action Saturday morning kid shows.  One of them was Space Academy!  When it tanked, the abandoned  sci fi sets were  used to house artist cubicles! Studios will literally shove artist cubicles ANYWHERE!

When I was boy vs. art this stuff was THE BOMB!

File the next two under so horrible they are  great!

Shazam is cool.  Everyone knows that!

This takes the cake! Bigfoot raises an orphan and together they fight CRIME?!!

Will the REAL Ghostbusters please stand up?

Controversy!

While working at Filmation Dana had a ringside seat to the cartoon drama between “The Original Ghostbusters” and “The Real Ghostbusters.”

In 1984  Columbia Pictures released the blockbuster film Ghostbusters.   As they raked in millions  Columbia was clueless to their huge blunder.   Apparently they did not realize the name “Ghost Busters” was taken!  Believe it or not Filmation had already produced a live-action comedy series with that same name in 1975 starring Forest Tucker and Larry Storch.

In 1985 Filmation sued Columbia. As part of the out-of-court settlement, any cartoon based on the Columbia Pictures property could not be called “Ghostbusters.”  That title was reserved for Filmation!  Columbia had to name their cartoon show “The Real Ghostbusters” to directly distinguish it from the Filmation show.

Filmation then proceeded to call their version “The Original Ghostbusters.”

Columbia’s “The Real Ghostbusters was produced by DIC.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

I worked as a clean up  Inbetweener on the Phoebus Unit on  the 1996 Disney production The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Phoebus was the handsome soldier who falls in love with the Gypsy Esmerelda.  He was interesting to work on thanks to some great rough animation by Russ Edmonds and Dave Brewster  as well as the charming voice performance by Kevin Kline.

But the helmet and sword gave my boss the suave  Brian Clift a hard time.  Anyway,   no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t get the props right.  The sword and helmet always morphed and wiggled.    The  head of the clean up department Vera Lanpher, wisely put Dana on the case!  It turns out Dana has a real knack for metal  props and his sense of  perspective  is razor sharp! Every frame of film that shows Phoebus’s helmet and or sword was done by Dana.

Helmet by Dana Reemes.

Something from the “Q” branch!

Dana owns a custom hand made animation lightbox setup made by the same guy who made the black acrylic animation discs at Disney.  It is beyond awesome! It collapses into a briefcase and comes with top and bottom pegs!  For $300.00 Dana got himself the coolest portable animation table set up I have ever seen.  Hand made in Korea!

Coolest animation lightbox ever!

Dana Reemes: The Filmmaker

NECROMANCE, a sequence from an unfinished feature film by Dana Reemes, is provided here as a public service by ManvsArt.com.  The names of the cast aand  crew have been changed to protect the identify of  some of the most prestigious individuals in the worlds of music, fashion, entertainment and the visual arts.  This film has been recognized for its artistic merit by countless audiences and critics over the years. NECROMANCE is, to put it bluntly, a deathless classic of the cinema.

Ahem!…..

Corrections!

I goofed in the last post a few times when it came to selecting images Dana admires.  So he wrote to me and pointed my mistakes out and offered his solutions. Here I cut and pasted Dana’s emails.  Isn’t he precious?!

Hey Raul, buddy,

It’s Dana “Not Tall” Reemes, here. Know you’re a busy guy, but thought I’d offer another suggestion for Man vs. Art. I think that Swafford’s great caricature would benefit from some judicious cropping; there’s too much negative space around the image. Use the crop tool and pretend you are an art framer. That’s all for now… Back to my writing.

Dear Raul,

Hope all is well. Don’t mean to be a pain in the ass, but thought I’d write. The TUROK material that you have up is not what I found particularly inspirational. I sent you a couple of really magnificent early painted covers by Morris “Moe” Gollub, who incidentally had been an assistant at Disney and was later a very distinguished layout guy and president of the MPSC 839 animator’s union when I joined up. Of course, I didn’t know any of this when I last saw you; Sito came by for an enjoyable visit on Friday and gave me an inscribed, author’s presentation copy of his illuminating book DRAWING THE LINE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE ANIMATION UNIONS FROM BOSKO TO BART SIMPSON. (You would like this book, as its primary focus is “man vs. art”; artists trying to make a living doing what they like to do best, while having to deal with bullshit all the time from greedy or incompetent employers.) Sito, for his part, had an error in the book, describing the cover paintings that Mo Gollub did for Western Publishing titles like TARZAN and TUROK, SON OF STONE as being for paperback books rather than comic books. Gollub was just a guy like us (only talented) who knocked out those beautiful covers in the late ’50s when he was about your age. It was just something he did on the side as he was basically an animator. As for the interior page art, the examples you have are from the garishly colored Darkhorse reprints of one of the early issues illustrated by Rex Maxon, an old-timer that had done the TARZAN full-color Sunday newspaper strip (back when such strips were a big deal) for years starting in 1930, until it was later taken over by Burne Hogarth and the great Russ Manning (who later did MAGNUS,ROBOT FIGHTER for Western Publishing). Maxon’s Turok work looked old-fashioned at the time and while professional, always appeared to be done in great haste, mostly with brush (it’s faster). The finest draftsman ever to work on TUROK, was Alberto Gioletti (correct spelling, this time) a highly trained Italian, who later went back to Rome and established a well-respected comic book publishing firm. Considering how fast he worked and how little he was paid, his work is of a very high illustrational standard; other artists still use his drawings for reference when doing all manner of things like jungle, rocks, caves, etc. His work was always well-researched and had a real look of verisimilitude. All of the living beings, humans, cave-men, dinosaurs, etc., convey a sense of anatomical conviction. Anyway, it is factually incorrect to say that I liked the “Italian artists” that did TUROK; everyone involved with TUROK over the years was American except for Gioletti. (To complicate matters slightly, Gollub’s great covers were done early on when Rex Maxon was still doing interior page art; some other decent, but second-rate guy did the covers later on when Alberto Gioletti was doing the inside pages.)

One last thing, Sito right away knew the cartoonist who did that “Out of the way, swine, a cartoonist is coming!” panel; it is New York artist Bernard “Hap” Kliban, usually known as B. Kliban, and remembered now mostly for his goofy cartoon cats. He died sometime in the ’90s. You need to give him credit for that panel which so perfectly summarizes the way we cartoonists deal with our perpetually shattered dreams and frustrated aspirations. CARTOONISTS RULE!

B. Kliban

Well, I’m getting back to work on my doctoral dissertation now… Good being back in touch with you.

Your pal,
Dana

Also….

Also, with regard to the MAGNUS material you posted, you should say that this was the work of the great Russ Manning, as some of your fan-boy minions will no doubt know this and wonder at the oversight. Check out the way Manning does Magnus’ girlfriend in the finely-pleated, partly transparent mini-dress–very sexy, yet demure.  Don’t think he ever did the cover art though.

Here’s some random pages of Russ Manning MAGNUS art for you to pick through. Looked really good to me when I was a teenager!

Oh yeah, before I forget!

Also get a load of the latest Ghettomation Podcast! A fun and crazy animation round table discussion I take part in with Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross!

One last thing….

ManvsArt.com’s  Subcommandante  Jim Lujan has just released his first DVD Ghettomation Garden.  If you like stuff that is different, innovative, and funny then this is for you.

The reviews are in!

“I gushed my chonies….in a good way!”

The Che Guevara T-Shirt.

“I couldn’t stop laughing for hours!  And that was just while trying to get the shrink wrap off the DVD case!”

Raul Aguirre Jr.

Total with shipping: $13.00 USD

For less than a 12 pack of Dos Equis! ($13.49)

But just as fun and twice as intoxicating!

Thanks for dropping by!

Ciao.

R.

Here it is! At long last the eagerly anticipated second part of……

The History of Animation According to me.

But before I get into it I need to let you guys know right from the get go,  that this episode of the Man vs. Art Podcast is heavy.  I mean really heavy.  It clocks in at over 90 minutes.  I went balls out on this one kiddos.  I started from the 1987 debut of the  Simpsons shorts on FOX’s Tracey Ullman show and went all the way to the present day.  I made a real effort to touch on as many key moments  in cartoon history as I could,  with that bombastic fiery passion you all have come to expect from me.

I gushed over the things I love like some sort of braying seal/James Lipton hybrid and I tore into the stuff  I hate like a drunken Wolverine slashing into a pack of Ninjas.

In other words, I kept it Raul.

This time it was a little different than part one because this time I was actually there and experienced it first hand for myself as an animation artist.  So at times I got a little worked up and perhaps a tad emotional.

FYI, this is a no B.S. zone.  Rest assured that I offer the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help me Walt.

In producing this episode I  learned that there is no free lunch in Animation.  Never has been. The first hundred years of modern animation was no picnic!  Especially for the Artists.

Producing animation is tough.   It takes hard work, devotion, and vision.  Even animation that is “phoned in” or “hacked out” requires effort.

Animation has dealt with B.S. and adversity at every turn. But more importantly I learned  that  the greatest achievements in animation no matter the era,  always have the most humble of beginnings.

Do you remember where you were on  April 19, 1987? I do. I was watching Animation history being made.

That night was the very first appearance of The Simpsons in a 1:40 minute short interstitial on the Tracey Ullman Show.   This little Ghettomation ushered in a new era for cartoons and became one of the biggest most successful animation properties in history.

Don Bluth Corner

Don Bluth Single handedly saved 2D Animation in the early eighties with awesome awesomeness!

Don Bluth’s Space Ace

Don Bluth Draws Kimberly from Space Ace

Notice he is using a yellow Dixon Ticonderoga #2 pencil.  It’s no secret Minions! You’ve heard me say it before! The magic pencil is the one you happen to have in your hand.

Here is Don’s youtube channel with some cool animation tutorials!

Disney’s The Black Cauldron 1985

80′s cartoons intro mix!

IMHO the Defenders of the Earth intro was EPIC!

Best Animated Feature Prologue EVER!

Awesome Ghettomation Parody of Saturday morning fun!

Slip and Fail by Jim Lujan

Channel Frederator!

Subscribe Here for Best Free Content on ITunes!

Bloat your IPOD with Channel Frederator’s Cartoon Goodness.

Newest Inductee to the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

art and text by Mike Garvey

I hereby nominate Benjamin Franklin for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness. He has been one of my biggest heroes for as long as I can remember. Heck, I even named my son after him. My reasons, several, but I’ll keep it to a few. I’ll start with the obvious and then move on to what really makes him great in my book.

His discovery of electricity changed the world as we know it. Steve Jobs has nothing on him. From the light bulb to the internet, electricity may be one of the most important elements in any artist’s toolkit.

Social networking: In 1727 he formed the “Leather Apron Club” (later called “Junto”). Called the Leather Apron Club because of the leather apron he and his fellow printers wore, it was a club that met in tea houses and pubs for the purpose of ‘business, friendship, and conversation’. It became so popular over it’s 30 year span that several spin-off clubs were formed.

He was America’s first cartoonist. His political cartoon “JOIN OR DIE!” (drawn in 1754 in response to the Seven Years War) would become a rally cry during the American Revolution. His cartoon was an inspiration for the people of thirteen colonies to come together and stand against, and amongst, the world’s superpowers of the time. Now that’s the power of art!

He founded the first library in 1731. For the first time ever, access to knowledge, information, poetry, etc. was now available to the general public rather than the few wealthy elite who owned private libraries. Thus enabling everyone, not just the aristocracy, to have an educated voice in the world.

Franklin was so disenchanted by elitist societies of higher learning, that in 1781 when solicited by Royal Academy of Science to submit an essay on his scientific experiments, he responded with a letter which became popularly titled: “Fart Proudly”. The letter discusses scientific means of making farts smell pleasant, and ends with: “…[compared to the practical applications of this discussion, other sciences are] scarcely worth a FART-HING.”

And so, for giving artists the power of lightning to create and unite, for making art that made the little guy feel like a big guy, and for recognizing the importance of every individual in a society, I nominate Benjamin Franklin for the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

John Narcomey The Man, The Myth!

Indy comic creator and friend of the show John Narcomey had a one man art show at Geeks Comics last weekend and MAn vs. Art was there to check out his gallery and books! That Batman John had on display behind is SICK! I love it!

Geo Brawn IV

was there as well! What a stud! Just in case you are wondering, no He’s not Samoan.

The lovely and vivacious Hortencia looked smokin’ (as always)

I'm a lucky guy.

She makes me look good.

Graciella Rodriguez, Melissa and Hortencia the Geeks Chicas!

John and his soon to be wife Melissa sure make a great couple don’t they?

I gotta give John props on his t-shirt.  PURE NARCOMEY!

GEEKS-CON 2010

Everyone is invited!

Javier Hernandez

Tribute gag Promo by

The Che Guevara T-Shirt

click the pic to Jav's Blog!

Last but not least, I am thrilled to announce that the Man vs. Art Podcast  is now a proud member of the Visual Artist Podcast Network at visualartistpodcastnetwork.com

Sherm by Sherm

Sherm  is a storyboard artist with 16 years experience on many hit cartoons including The Ren & Stimpy Show, Hey Arnold, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Mighty B, Phineas and Ferb, and “Kick Buttowski, Suburban Daredevil.” In addition to his storyboard work, Sherm has written and directed episodes of Hey Arnold, SpongeBob and Phineas and Ferb, and has written songs for various cartoons including “The FUN Song” for SpongeBob. Sherm is currently working as Director and Storyboard Supervisor on Kick Buttowski, a new series for Disney TV Animation. His latest book, “Cartooning: Character Design” is published by Walter Foster Publications. He also publishes the KICK ASS cartoon blog www.cartoonsnap.com!

a fine example of Sherm's comics work! POW!

Contemporary Storyboarding

During the course of the interview Sherm gave us some insight into what can make or break a storyboard, as well as his thoughts on the digital storyboard process.  Always think story first.  Keep in mind how the sequence you are about to storyboard fits into the big picture.

Here you can find some samples of the digital storyboard software Sherm was talking about.  It’s called Toonboom Storyboard Pro.

check it out!

The program is used in conjunction with a Cintiq by Wacom.  A wonderfully expensive hi tech tablet that allows you to draw on the screen with a stylus.

Ren and Stimpy

best episode….EVER!

Below is the first episode of Ren and Stimpy that both Sherm and I ever saw.  This insane cartoon blew me away and made me a John K. and Ren and Stimpy fan for life. The quality is so so, but I still suggest you check it out!

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf

One of the reasons Sherm refuses to attend the San Diego Comic Con is because he ends up spending too much money at places like Bud Plant.  Who incidentally has the most massive art and cartoon book catalog ever!

Check out the Ditko book!

HARVEY KURTZMAN

When asked who his greatest cartoon idol was,  Sherm was all about Harvey Kurtzman, who is without a doubt one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century.  In 1952 Kurtzman talked EC comic book publisher Bill Gaines into launching a new comic book title  totally unique in  concept and style from anything that was ever published — Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad! That’s right kids! He was the guy that came up with the idea that is  Mad magazine. The first publication that was dedicated to ripping on pop culture!  Other famous Cartoonists like Art Spiegelman , Bill Griffith  and Robert Crumb credit  early Mad as heavily influencing  their own styles .  In later years  Kurtzman sometimes referred to himself as the “brother-in-law of underground comix”.

Harvey Kurtzman one of the greats!

Roy Crane

Roy Crane is one of the inventors of Adventure strips and was a big influence on Kurtzman as well as Sherm!

ROY CRANE

Look at this awesome page by Crane!

Here is a link where you can find old comic scan to check out and be inspired!

http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/

To open up and read digital comics get yourself

• comic rack for PC
• comicbooklover for Mac

Sherm also mentioned this great book on story you may want to check out.

Directing the story by Frances Glebas.

All Hail Bakshi!

And lastly we talked about the highly inspirational video from the 2008 Comic Con featuring Ralph Bakshi.  In this video Ralph scolds us youngsters for not taking advantage of the technology available to us and for being wimps.  I’ve mentioned this before, but I for one can never get sick of this.  This is like red bull for animators man! Get your Bakshi ON!

• Tough Times are a Chance to Reinvent the Cartoon biz.
• Don’t Work for the Big Studios or Corporations, Work For Yourself.
• The Digital Revolution Allows You To create professional stuff equal if not better to the studios!
• We must  develop New Markets for our Work
• Creatively fly When Everyone is Still walking.

Because of his wisdom and overall testicular fortitude, Ralph Bakshi is hereby inducted into the Man vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness!

Man Vs. Art Pantheon of Awesomeness.

Ciao!

R

Share and Enjoy:

]]> http://manvsart.com/man-vs-art-episode-20-sherm-cohen-from-cartoonsnap-com-talks-about-the-essentials-storyboards-comics-and-cartoons/feed/ 6 2D traditional animation,an,animation drawings,art theory,cartoon network,cartoonist,cartoonsnap,comic book,comics,disney,DRAWING,help artists. Sherm is a storyboard artist with 16 years experience on many hit cartoons including The Ren & Stimpy Show, Hey Arnold, SpongeBob SquarePants, The Mighty B, Phineas and Ferb, and "Kick Buttowski, Suburban Daredevil." In addition to his storyboard work, It is my  pleasure to introduce to the Man Vs Art Minions the talented and very funny Sherm Cohen. Sherm  is a storyboard artist with 16 years experience on many hit cartoons including The Ren & Stimpy Show (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101178/), Hey Arnold (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115200/), SpongeBob SquarePants (http://spongebob.nick.com/backstage/characters/spongebob/), The Mighty B (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0917551/), Phineas and Ferb, (http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/phineasandferb/) and "Kick Buttowski, Suburban Daredevil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kick_Buttowski)." In addition to his storyboard work, Sherm has written and directed episodes of Hey Arnold, SpongeBob and Phineas and Ferb, and has written songs for various cartoons including “The FUN Song” for SpongeBob. Sherm is currently working as Director and Storyboard Supervisor on Kick Buttowski, a new series for Disney TV Animation. His latest book, "Cartooning: Character Design" is published by Walter Foster Publications. He also publishes the KICK ASS cartoon blog www.cartoonsnap.com! (http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/) Contemporary Storyboarding During the course of the interview Sherm gave us some insight into what can make or break a storyboard, as well as his thoughts on the digital storyboard process.  Always think story first.  Keep in mind how the sequence you are about to storyboard fits into the big picture. Here you can find some samples of the digital storyboard software Sherm was talking about.  It's called Toonboom Storyboard Pro. check it out! [youtube P2dAY5l5M0w 480 385] The program is used in conjunction with a Cintiq by Wacom.  A wonderfully expensive hi tech tablet that allows you to draw on the screen with a stylus. [youtube Inrl7JgnYK4 480 385] Ren and Stimpy best episode....EVER! Below is the first episode of Ren and Stimpy that both Sherm and I ever saw.  This insane cartoon blew me away and made me a John K. (http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/) and Ren and Stimpy fan for life. The quality is so so, but I still suggest you check it out! http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf (http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v14085830Cq24yFjf) One of the reasons Sherm refuses to attend the San Diego Comic Con is because he ends up spending too much money at places like Bud Plant (http://www.budplant.com/).  Who incidentally has the most massive art and cartoon book catalog ever! Check out the Ditko book! (http://manvsart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/STV01-231x300.jpg) HARVEY KURTZMAN When asked who his greatest cartoon idol was,  Sherm was all about Harvey Kurtzman, who is without a doubt one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century.  In 1952 Kurtzman talked EC comic book publisher Bill Gaines into launching a new comic book title  totally unique in  concept and style from anything that was ever published — Tales Calculated to Drive You Mad! That's right kids! He was the guy that came up with the idea that is  Mad magazine. The first publication that was dedicated to ripping on pop culture!  Other famous Cartoonists like Art Spiegelman , Bill Griffith  and Robert Crumb credit  early Mad as heavily influencing  their own styles .  In later years  Kurtzman sometimes referred to himself as the "brother-in-law of underground comix". Roy Crane Roy Crane is one of the inventors of Adventure strips and was a big influence on Kurtzman as well as Sherm! Look at this awesome page by Crane! (http://manvsart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Captain_Easy_first_Sunday_1933-424x600.jpg) Here is a link where you can find old comic scan to check out and be inspired! http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/ (http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/) To open up and read digital comics get yourself * comic rack (http://comicrack.cyolito.com/) for PC * comicbooklover Raul clean 1:05:20 http://manvsart.com/man-vs-art-episode-19-cartoons-agents-comics-pitching-demo-and-other-such-nonsense-with-ghettomation-net-guys-jim-lujan-and-kevin-cross/ http://manvsart.com/man-vs-art-episode-19-cartoons-agents-comics-pitching-demo-and-other-such-nonsense-with-ghettomation-net-guys-jim-lujan-and-kevin-cross/#comments Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:44:07 +0000 Raul http://manvsart.com/?p=865 A very special Man Vs. Art….

On today’s podcast I had the pleasure of speaking with Indy animators Jim Lujan and Kevin Cross from ghettomation.net.  What is Ghettomation you ask?
By Ghetto they don’t mean bad or poorly made. Au contraire! They mean underground/indie/creator owned. Gorilla style! Ghetto compared to the big corporate animation…..Ghetto is good!

The Mighty Jim Lujan!

One of L.A’s Finest.

Jim is a genuine talent with a unique vision.

Citizen Sanchez Tribute By Jim Lujan

Jim Lujan scathingly observant master of satire.

Check out these two most recent animated shorts by Jim.  Set your asses to laughed off!

First up is AlphaNerd: DEN of the BEER THIEVES!  Batman ain’t got nuthin’ on AlphaNerd!

Next up is the sordid and tragic tale of the rise and fall of the greatest club DJ who ever spun a record! Of course I’m talking about  FreakDaddy! You can almost smell the  coconut scented fog man!

If you pay attention you will notice  a very Kubrickesque feel to Jim’s films.

• Kubrick favored symmetrical compositions which he  mechanically repeated to both unify and dehumanize.

• Kubrick used a lot of extreme closeups of faces that were darkly lit  and full of emotion.

• Kubrick loved wide and slow pan shots, which more often than not produced an eerie and surreal vibe.

• Let’s not forget the ever present and very effective “KUBRICK STARE.”

If you want to see more of Jim’s cartoons check out his youtube channel and subscribe! You won’t be disappointed.

The Uncanny Kevin Cross

Straight outta Portland!

Kevin Cross and his Lady taking care of business.

Kevin Cross capering with his creation Monkey Mod.

Monkey Mod by Kevin Cross

Kevin Cross is a Portland Oregon based Illustrator/Comic Book Artist/Animator/ Punk Rocker! His Webcomic Monkey Mod is delightfully fun and expertly crafted.  This guy can DRAW folks and he knows art comics and animation Like yours truly Kevin is into UPA and 60′s Hanna Barbera animation big time.  What can I say? The guy has good taste!

One time I  asked him how he liked living in Portland.  Without missing a beat  Kevin replied “It’s great except for one thing.  The Mexican food sucks!”  I can’t stand to see people suffer such deprivation! I think I’ll Fed-Ex  him  some King Taco.

Enjoy a taste of Kevin’s killer animation.

In the podcast I performed a pitch of one of my latest creations the Penalizer.

Below is a recent development sketch that I think really captures the Magnificent Bastard that is the Penalizer!

Damn! I should have brought the big gun!

The Man Vs. Art Agent Primer.

Why would you need one?

Well if you have a great idea for an animated TV show, Movie, or book and want to pitch it to the major studios and networks, you’ll have a tough time getting a meeting without an agent.

Disclaimer!!

If the following seems a bit harsh and discouraging don’t worry.  The mere fact that you are here reading this means you are not one of the chowder heads .  After all you are doing research on agents and reps right?  You want to be informed and prepared to put your best foot forward right?  Good!  I’m ripping on those that think they have it all figured out without bothering to learn the rules of the game. If you want to succeed in this field you need to know what’s going on.  A great man once said, “This isn’t ‘Nam.  There are rules!”

Let us proceed, shall we?

Ahem.

We  artists dream of being represented  by an agent who will market our work,  set up pitch meetings, score us an in-house or freelance gig,  and do all that boring  non-art stuff like marketing, negotiating, and selling.

The stark truth is that it’s extremely tough to find a good agent.

For artists it’s best if you’re already known enough in your field to have  agents seeking you instead of you going to them. Sadly few artists get this privilege. The rest of us must submit material to many agents and agencies and choke down the pile of rejection slips before eventually hooking up with an agent willing to take a chance on us.

Here’s the deal.

In a nutshell, it comes down to  who you know people.  Agents are busy.  They don’t have time to deal with deluded dumb asses who lack what it takes in terms of credits, talent, and ideas.  Believe it or not, there are a lot of posers out there that think they have the next big hit.  99.9% of these knuckleheads are out of their minds and their creations are terrible.  Agents can’t be wasting time dealing with every mouth breather who walks in off the street with a half baked idea about talking cats.

Think about it.  Everyone knows that guy who thinks he’s Alan Moore the master storyteller right?  But  in reality this moron can’t even tell a  knock knock joke.  At one time or another we’ve all been cornered by Kurt Busiek Jr. and  subjected  to a forty seven minute barrage of  incomprehensible nonsense! A story so convoluted and absurd that it makes  you want to  run away screaming and jump through the nearest plate glass window!   These days I carry a cyanide capsule just in case.

Now imagine how many of these clueless wonders agents have to deal with.  Every day!

The Circle of Trust.

One of the few ways you can get a agent to even give you the time of day is if you are recommended by someone in the agent’s circle of trust.  It is equally important that you have  the professional credits and polished marketable work to back you up.  If you do, then  an agent will be way more likely to take the time to meet with you or at least check out what you have to offer.

This circle of trust extends beyond the agent and goes all the way to the studios and networks.  Studio and network executives are also busy people and they can’t be meeting with every dork that comes at them with a Naruto ripoff.  You must be recommended to them from someone in their circle of trust which in most  cases is an agent.

Case in point.  Someone I know once told me his foolproof series pitch.  He was absolutely convinced his idea was as good as greenlit. He said, “Well my show is a bout a giraffe, and as you  know there’s never been a show where the main character is  giraffe! I can’t lose!”    The mere fact that it has never been done,  does not make it a good idea.   There has also never been a show where the main character is bucket of  platypus snot either!
Get it?  The whole agent thing is meant as a filter to keep  their time and that of studio brass from being wasted by idiots.   A good agent with a solid reputation would never send a dork to a pitch meeting at Disney.

You need to network.  Meet people who know agents. Directors, Producers, Art Directors, Lawyers, and Bartenders.  Maybe, just maybe if your pitch isn’t completely retarded you might get your foot in the door.

Oh yeah and one last thing.

If you meet an agent who wants to rep you but wants  ANY sort of upfront fee, throw your coffee in his face and run.  It’s a scam. Real agents are only  paid from gigs or deals they hooked up for you. Period. Usually it’s anywhere between 10% to 15% of what you earn.

Good luck!

Recently my friends the Cartoonistas and myself celebrated the birthday of our good friend Sal Felix the owner of Geeks comics in Whittier California.  It was good times all around!  Literally a cartoon Carnival!

The lovely and vivacious Hortencia, the Man vs. Art, and Sal Felix

The usual Gang of Locos! Los Cartoonistas

A group of escaped cartoon loving lunatics that run around drawing funny pictures!

Back row from L to R John Narcomey, Geo Brawn IV, Javier Hernandez, Luis Escobar. Middle row Man vs. Art Raul Aguirre Jr., Grasiella Rodriguez, Rene, Jose Cabrerra Front Row Michael Aushenker, Jim Lujan

We all busted out self portraits on a big poster board and presented it to Sal!  Part gift, part vain self promotion!  Yipee!

Another Cartoonista shameless promotion!

Here we have a bevy of beauties known as the Cartoonista Groupies!

Pretty ladies to inspire the cartoon madness we put out!

Man Vs. Art busts out an Epic birthday present!

I  unveiled a painting that I made as a gift for Sal.  I really appreciate his generosity towards the Usual Gang of Locos!

The artist unveils his creation!

Sal Felix, The man, the myth!

Sal Felix by Raul Aguirre Jr.

Life imitates art and art imitates life!

This scene from the classic movie Airplane! with Lloyd Bridges inspired this piece.

Looks Like I picked a bad week to quit smokin'!

My version of the gag!

Looks like I picked a bad week to quit reading comics!

Sal takes the Cake!

Cake makes everyone happy!

Moving right along…..

Some tips when sketching in public.

When you are drawing people in public, it’s a good idea to be discreet.  You never know how some folks might react.  Especially the ladies and vain guys.  You know “Metro” guys.   Try to be tactful also.  Save the mean drawings to do at home. And for the love of god, if you are going to let people flip through your sketchbook make sure there isn’t anything in there you don’t wouldn’t show to your mother!

I recently attended a wedding where this lady fell victim to my pen.

A lovely young lady I recently sketched.

Steve Sievers and Dahveed!  the creators of  SUPA PIRATE BOOTY HUNT!

Steve Sievers (l) Dahveed (r)

Some great design work folks! Supa Pirate booty hunt is off da’ chain!  Check out the tattoo some chick got! Now that is what I call FAN DEVOTION!

Supa pirate booty hunt RAWKS!

check out  the animated shenanigands from the warped minds of Steve Sievers and Dahveed creators of Supa pirate Booty Hunt at www.supapiratebootyhunt.com

So keep those pencils sharp and keep those sketchbooks flipping!

Ciao!

Raul