polarized double

TODAYS' ITEM is very different from the usual shenanigans, however , for better or worse----it qualifies as part of my 'cartoon past' at least in terms of employment. This is me sitting at my drawing desk holding up an acetate cel from an animated feature I worked on, it was called AMERICAN TAIL 2: Fievel Goes West, and it was put together in London in the very late 80s and early 90s. Not a happy time in my life [it could have been, had I been given the freedom to be let loose on my best stuff] it nevertheless provided me with work in a field I had a deep interest in, in fact we were working up to 70 hours a week in an intense London heatwave in the Summer of 1990. I refrain from putting on any of the  frames I 'drew on' from this film, on the grounds the system of making these animated works rellies too much on the layouts and control of other artists: this has got absolutely nothing to do with my usual approach to cartooning, where I often bear responsibility for

TODAY'S ITEMS are further excursions into ' REPEAT BUSINESS' territory: a customer returned to me a good bit later with more requests for cartoon chicken illustrations to decorate his website. I am quite happy to do this sort of thing: it means I sit there and come up  with designs almost as if I am creating characters in an animation studio: no complaints from me on that score. My earlier cartoons on this subject were of the older-school, bottled black  ink variety, and here I would say my technique is a lot more 'modernized' although at the heart here we have very traditionally-looking character designs. The pencil on paper early stage is still the best part to me, though! RAB L. RAUSER

THE PROBLEM WITH utilizing composites made up of different drawings---as I use for almost all of my finished-quality cartoons these days----is that a lot of fine detail can easily get lost when the shrunken-down elements are all put together. The polished effects are better seen in 'loving close-up', and here is a prime example. Striking the right balance in putting these images together usually means trying to avoid spending time on details that will be rendered near-invisible at the end of the task. ON A BRIGHTER NOTE: ---At long last, I seem to have finally shook off the heavy Barrie Appleby influence [ Barrie drew Cuddles and Dimples for DANDY from the mid-80s onwards  ]     as regards the depiction of the 'sexy blonde nurse' as seen below. I do like to think that the design of the nurse here is a Smith creation through-and-through, or at the very least I am free of ape-ing the style of another artist----that was the intent here, at least. Barrie's work was tops

TODAY'S ITEM is the fourth---and last, to date--------customized tailored caricature job I got offered by a kindly gent who liked my stuff enough to ask me back a few times. Great fun as usual and again I liked to do it in  fairly elaborate technique-style. Also contained below: not-quite-finished artwork [complete with image underneath burning through] , the original rough sketch required to 'sell' the proposal, and other miscellanea. Enjoi! RAB L. RAUSER