To celebrate Mother’s Day, the girls helped me with a present to my mom, Pat Miner. The girls drew themselves in their superhero identities — Saving Grace and Cate-Tastrope – and I drew Super Mimi, who fights injustice with her keen fashion sense and magically delicious chocolate chip cookies. (And, yes, my Mom’s cookies *are* that good.)
It was Cate’s pick tonight and “super bunny” was her request. We’ve drawn Hoppy the Marvel Bunny before, so we went in search of something new … and it wasn’t too hard to settle on Jojo from Ben Caldwell’s Dare Detectives who Cate thought was “super cool.”
The girls had fun, laughing as they drew … and doing a good job. We talked about using guide shapes and that Jojo’s body was composed largely of a triangle. Don’t ask me exactly why Grace has Jojo saying “Feel the Burn.” She laughed about it and said he looked pumped up. She really got the attitude in his eyes.
I am happy with the lower half of my work, but the face looks like, well, a dog. So, in 5 Minute Marvels tradition, I put up the art. But, I did take a another crack at it after the girls went to bed. I’m happier, but Jojo’s forehead should still be larger. Ben, you make it look darn easy … but it ain’t.
Check out Ben’s incredible daily sketch work here: http://purgetheory.blogspot.com/ And, join me in praying DC finally comes to their senses and gives him a Wonder Woman book. What *are* they thinking!?!?
Like so many families on this planet, the Miner clan has a very soft spot for “Where the Wild Things Are.” It’s one of the first books I remember reading to the girls when they were young … and we owned before they were even born. So, like many kids raised on the Wild Things, Pierre and Chicken Soup with Rice (my personal favorite), we mourn the passing of an amazing creator, Maurice Sendak. And, we hope to honor him with our art. (Coincidentally, in trying to emulate his intricate cross-hatching, I found a brand new respect for his talent. Whew! That’s a lot of work.)
Yesterday was busy one at work, so I needed to stop and have a sketch break. I’ve been working on character expressions … and the stunning expression work Chris and Shane Houghton are doing on “Reed Gunther” is a source of great inspiration. A 10-minute sketch session with Reed and Starla was a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy.
And, now a word from Shane Houghton ( @shanehoughton ):
I took most of the 90s off as a comics fan, so I missed the advent of Deadpool. A character I admittedly know little about, other than he looks like sarcasm and violence rolled into one … which means I probably should enjoy him. But, as a subject for the girls … not so much. But, some fans requested him, so we went with a weapons-free baby version of Mr. Deadpool. Whatcha’ think?
Working on this blog for the past two years, we’ve learned that sometimes, even 5 minutes is too much. And, that forcing drawing when you’re not in the mood can lead to a fun activity being a frustrating one.
Such was tonight, when Grace was bombed after a long day of school, Girl Scouts and homework. So, we were going to let it go when Cate said she wanted to draw. We gave Grace the night off and looked for inspiration, which she found in Maris Wicks’ “Yoga Hulk” … a perfect subject given our need to “get into the zen” of sketching tonight.
Check out Maris’ amazing work at her blog: www.dotsforeyes.blogspot.com
From Tales of Unusual Circumstance to The Ride Home to Cavemen in Space, it’s safe to say the members of the 5 Minute Marvels crew are fans of artist/writer, Joey Weiser. We love his work and, when it comes out, we’re there.
But, the household favorite is Mermin, Joey’s tale of a powerful, but playful fishman out of water. For the recent FLUKE Festival, Joey release a two-story ’zine, Mermin Theatre. The second story features a pup named Peanutbutter Marshmallow the girls wanted to draw. So, drawn it was.
You can pick up Mermin Theatre for a measley $3 on Joey’s Website, where all manner of other goodies can be found.
The Miner Ladies and I have been away on a church retreat all weekend, so I’ll be brief tonight. We DID have time to draw! Out of nowhere (and seemingly with no discernable motivation) Grace chose The Pink Panther. And, it was an inspired one. I think both girls did great work tonight. I decided to throw in a :30 second drawing of Joey Weiser’s Mermin, just for fun.
As a father raising a daughter in this digital age, it’s always gratifying to see Grace excited about reading. But, when she voluntarily picks up a comic at a school book fair and comes to me to talk about what she’s reading … I’m elated.
Enter Zita the Space Girl by Ben Hatke. Grace has really enjoyed this story of a young girl whisked off to adventures that would make Buck Rogers jealous. She likes to chat about the characters and … of course … draw. Read more about Zita here!
One of Grace’s pals, Jordan (8 years old) send this in. It’s a perfect mix of cute and Lovecraftian horror!
It all started one night when Grace drew Ms. Marvel on a piece of paper about the size of a post-it. She was 6. That night, we posted it on the Internet.
A few nights later, she asked me to draw with her. A few weeks later, Cate decided it might be fun to join in. 5 Minute Marvels was born. And, It’s been so much fun these last two years, creating memories the Miner family will remember forever.
We’ve made so many friends around the world — professional comic book creators, aspiring artists and writers, kids who dream of making comics someday and adults who’ve never stopped dreaming about it.
Here is art created to celebrate this 500th post by just a few of our many wonderful friends. Thank you so much for being part of this journey. We hope to draw with you for years to come! And, for those of you who’ve followed us and drawn with us — I hope it’s been half as much fun for you as it’s been for us.
Grace Miner (8)
Cate Miner (7)
Dad
Kelly Sue DeConnick: http://kellysue.com/
Kelly Thompson: http://1979semifinalist.wordpress.com/
Tara Abbamondi: www.tarabba.com
Jordan Gibson: http://flavors.me/jordangibson
Joel Carroll: http://www.joelcarroll.com/frontpage/
“Calamity Jon” Morris: http://calamityjonsave.us/
Erin Kelly: http://literateknits.wordpress.com/
Jamie and Tyler (10) Cosley: http://www.jamiecosley.com/
Janet K. Lee: http://www.j-k-lee.com/Home.html
Calliope den Ouden: http://www.inktspatten.nl/
Karine Charlebois: http://kantharasloft.net/
Meredith McClaren: http://iniquitousfish.blogspot.com/
Philip A. Buck: http://www.philipabuck.com/
J. Robert & Samantha (6) Deans: http://icrvn.com/blog/
Josh Bowron: http://discernland.blogspot.com/
Jason & Marghread Enright: http://wecomics.com/
This weekend, our 500th post will go up … and we hope you’ll draw with us. Grace’s first 5MM was Ms. Marvel, so she’s our subject. If you, or the kid(s) in your life, want to join in … take 5-10 minutes, draw the new Captain Marvel, scan and send to marvelsmartass at live dot com by Friday morning!
It was a crazy bedtime tonight, but we did find a few minutes to sketch Cate’s pick … Animal from the Muppets! Perfect timing as Grace brought a biography of Jim Henson home from school. (Proud Poppa moment!)
One more for the night. Cate, Grace and I found the work of Geneva Hodgeson on her TumblR blog – cartoonfuntime.tumblr.com - and loved it.
It was Grace’s night to pick our subject and, after much lobbying for Geneva’s cat with glasses, this silly little bunny was the winner.
And, now a word from Geneva!
I am an unabashed Scott Pilgrim fan. I love it so much, that I’ve been painfully aware that with every page turn, I am closer to the end — no more Scott, Ramona, Young Neil, Knives, Stephen, Wallace and the whole gang. And, then there’s Kim Pine. *Sigh* Kim Pine. My favorite character.
I was feeling kinda’ deflated when I couldn’t hold off the end any longer and finally finished the 6th book … so Grace drew Kim with me.
But, I was still a bit sad until I realized: I actually DID marry Kim Pine. Short. Red Head. Freckles. Sarcastic. Sensitive. Energetic. Indomitable. Willing to put up with idiots. And, named, “Kim.” So, maybe that’s why I loved the character in the first place. Thanks, Honey.
NEW! Here’s a Kim Pine from Cate!
So, a few of our pals got caught up in our little hiatus. The first is this incredible Spider-Man sketch by 5-year-old, Charlie Breedlove. Charlie’s mom, Jessica, has an amazing site called kidsART2canvas.com where she puts her spin on children’s drawins to transform them into works of art. You need to stop and check it out here!
Charlie is a chip off the old block.
And, now a word from Jessica Breedlove!
The second is a little sketch sent in by my buddy, Father Josua Bowron, who proves that priests can be geeks, too … and tremendous Dave Sim fans.
Cate hasn’t been burning it up exactly, but she has picked up the pencil on occasion. After seeing “The Lorax,” she was ready to draw. Yep, she wanted to celebrate an eco-friendly movie … by drawing on a piece of paper made of trees. Hmmmm…
Proud father moment … Grace was interviewed about her participation in Womanthology: Heroic on GeekMom.com. She was really awesome in her taped interview and sounded so grown up talking about the predjudices of girls/women and comics. I was busting with pride. You can read the article here!
Wow. You take a day off from posting … life intervenes … and suddenly it’s a month. But, we’ve been drawing and we HAD to end the haitus for one of our favorite people, Return of the Dapper Men artist and artist/writer of the “Wonderland Alphabet.” Happy Birthday, JKL! And, buy the book here!
Sorry this is so late — Mordecai and Rigby from “The Regular Show” by the Lindwall Boys!
As you can see, we’ve been having a lot of fun with the Ed Emberley fingerprint cartoons … me probably more than anyone else. I was inspired to create a “thumbs-eye view” of the classic Amazing Spider-Man #50 by the great John Romita, Sr. I really had fun with it, but now that I’ve finished, I want to redo it … ”thumbday” soon.
The girls enjoyed my fingerprint Godzilla from the other night and wanted to get into the act. And, for the first time, Mama 5 Minute Marvel, my wife, Kim, got in on the act! Awsome!
I decided to add in our typical superheroes theme into my Ed Emberley thumbnail drawings, riffing on Jim Lee’s Justice League. Sorry for the crummy pictures, the scanner is on the fritz.
Cate (Aged 6)
Grace (Aged 8) – a drawing of our family
Kim (Aged … She’d Kill Me)
Dad (Current Age Belies Maturity)
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Watch out, pigs! The Lindwall boys have sketched the Internet’s favorite flyin’ featherballs!
Grace declared tonight “Free Draw” Monday, so …
Cate drew Powerpuff Girls.
Grace drew another “Capture Creature” — a reindeer worm or … “Reinworm.”
And, I turned to Ed Emberley, my “go to” inspiration a la his fingerprint book. Just a few kaiju on a Monday for ya!
After drawing Andi Watson’s “Pricess at Midnight” a few days ago, the girls wanted to take a crack at his character, Gum Girl! Lots of fun. Check out more of Andi’s work here!
The Lindwall boys sent in this terrific due of Calvin & Hobbes sketches …
More Capture Creatures. The girls are really loving these. Cate drew a pig/turtle/squirrell/chipmunk without a name. Grace drew a star-shaped squirrell (kinda’ like Flystar). She made a point to tell me she did NOT copy off Becky Dreistadt for this one. I went with a Storokoth … a stork with tentacles. (Yeah. I’ve been reading too much BPRD lately.)
The Lindwall boys are back! And, this time, they take a Nu Skool/Old School take on the Sentinel of Liberty.
I know Batgirl is cool and all, but I already miss Oracle. And, apparently, so do Maddy Wahl ( @H34rt ) and Erin Kelly ( @LiterateKnits ) …
We had so much fun drawing Becky Dreistadt & Frank Gibson’s Capture Creatures … we drew more. In fact, Grace has declared this “Capture Creature Week.” Cate drew “Pinky” a two-headed weiner dog who turns people into hot dogs. Grace drew “Violet Venom,” a flower spider. And, I drew “Slubblefly” … snail with a bubble shell and butterfly wings.
And, Capture Creature fever is spreading, as Grace and Cate got their buddy, Jack Williams in on the act. Jack drew “Dragon Dog.” And, let’s face it the legs are creepily awesome as is the blood red flame! Awesome, Jack!
We were excited to see our buddy Stephanie Buscema‘s new venture — Saturday Morning Webtoons. This is a super cool site that collects weekly updates of 7 webcomics by 9 fantastic creators. Looking at it, the girls were taken by Andi Watson’s “Princess at Midnight” and wanted to draw. P.S. Steph B. just did a cover for Adventure Time’s comic. Check it!
Becky Dreistadt of Tiny Kitten Teeth fame is a fave at 5 Minute Marvels … she’s inspired us here and here. So, when we read about her new Capture Creatures project with her partner Frank Gibson, she inspired us again. Cate drew Flower Pot, a bear who grows flowers with a laser. Grace drew Scdodel (“ska-doodle”), who brings colors to peoples’ lives. And, I went with Peacniksticker, the hippie porcupine.
For more Becky & Frank brilliance, see Tiny Kitten Teeth, Deviant Art and Becky’s sketchblog, Sand Pail Tail.
We are proud to say that today is our second anniversary on 5 Minute Marvels! It’s been a long way, baby from our first drawing of Quicksilver on 2/22/10 … and Grace and Cate have something to say to you and to all our pals who have drawn with us …
Our second anniversary was all the sweeter learning about Cartoon Network’s plans for a series of DC Nation Shorts … including Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld by Brianne Drouhard (creator of Billie the Unicorn!) and Super Best Friends Forever led by Lauren Faust of My Little Pony & Milky Way & The Galaxy Girls fame. A show about teenaged Supergirl, Wonder Girl and Batgirl … !?!? We can’t wait. Thanks, Cartoon Network, for understanding that girls love comics, too! So … we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate two years than to draw.
A few months ago, the girls and I saw some of the concept art from Brianne Drouhard’s book, Billie the Unicorn. Last week, I read that Brianne had done a 3D/Interactive iPad version of Billie and downloaded it this weekend. Grace and Cate absolutely loved reading the story and hunting for hidden cornflowers.
And, when we were done, Gracie wanted to draw Billie, the adorable country unicorn.
You can find out more about the iPad app for Billie the unicorn here!
And, you can see Biranne’s amazing work on her blog here!
And, now … a word from Brianne!
Our super awesome buddy and Eisner-Award Winning Creator, Janet K. Lee, was invited to a Womanthology signing at the awesome Acme Comics in Greensboro (seriously, a comics palace not to be missed) last weekend … and Grace, Cate & I had to miss it. But, Janet created these two incredible sketches for the girls — the Powerpuff Girls for Cate and Paula Pansy, Grace’s creation for Womanthology! So very, very cool.
See you at HeroesCon in June, Janet!
And, now … a word from Janet!
Gracie is excited about her school studies for Black History Month and asked to draw a black superhero. There aren’t enough of them, but there are some great options from which to choose. She wanted to draw Storm. Excellent choice in my book.
As I started reading Uncanny X-Men with issue #191 (my very insightful mom got me a subscription as a surprise), there is only one Storm … angry Mohawk Storm. Grace was really nervous about attempting a profile, but I think her drawing is adorable.
Our friend, Jon Esparza of www.jonscrazystuff.blogspot.com is back again with Lumpy Space Princess from Adventure Time. The girls don’t watch it (Grace says it looks revolting. Cate says it might “hurt her brain” like Spongebob.), but they had fun with this … and we may just have to give it a try.
Check out Grace’s new signature. She’s very proud of it.
Cate couldn’t just draw her once … so she went with five.
Our pals Erin Kelly and Maddy Wahl sent in some long-lost 5 Minute Marvels, like these two, awesome Booster Golds!
Grace, Cate & I got a cool treat last week … our first piece of fan art of us! Many thanks to artist and graphic designer, Joy Frezza. We love this. Check out her blog at http://joyfrezza.wordpress.com/
We’ve proudly reported that Grace is part of a massive anthology of work by female comic creators … Womanthology. Well, the wait is over. The books are done and on their way. Tonight, editor Renae De Liz released a video showing off the book … and, around the 5:00 mark, we get a nice little shout out to Gracie!
And, as an extra special bonus, here’s a character Grace created with her “Aunt” Sharon for the Womanthology Chrismas Special … Jingle Jangles, the Mystery Elf. You can see a very larger version of it here.
And, now … a word from Renae De Liz!
