Fathersday dads..

I made these cartoon dads for my grandfather. He's going to use them for fathersday cards or something. My little homage/ripoff of the Hanna-Barbera style, invented by the brilliant Ed Benedict. I suppose there's a bit of Simpsons in them aswell. Hmm..

Spümcø - Ranger Smith Cartoons

"Man.. four o'clock every morning.. what kind of life is this?"

Oh my goodness. How I love these Ranger Smith cartoons. They were made by Ren & Stimpy creator, John K. If I remember correctly, they had a short run on Cartoon Network in 1996. It's basically John's homage to the classic Hanna Barbera Yogi Bear limited-animation cartoons from the 1960's (which also had great character and design). To me, this is pure art. These drawings capture so much mood, emotion, sincerity, appeal, character, personality, expression, humour, design, and draftsmanship, that it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Just look at these great stills..

These backgrounds are just amazing! I wish I could find somebody who could paint like that.. Note the subdued use of colour. No loud 'cartoon' colours. The way cartoons used to look in the golden age.

Some of the background layouts were done by Ed Benedict.. designer of the original Yogi characters.