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!)
Animal from the Muppets!
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Author Archives: 5MinuteMarvels
Silly Nonsense Inpired by @cartoonfuntime
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!
UPDATED! Drummer Extraordinare — Kim Pine!
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!
Art with Friends
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.
The Lorax
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…
Grace Interviewed on GeekMom.com
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!
Happy Birthday, Janet K. Lee!
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!
Mordecai & Rigby from The Regular Show!
Sorry this is so late — Mordecai and Rigby from “The Regular Show” by the Lindwall Boys!
“Spider-Man No More!” — Thumbrpint Style
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.
Thumbodies & Thumbthings!
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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Angry Birds by John & Jacob Lindwall
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Watch out, pigs! The Lindwall boys have sketched the Internet’s favorite flyin’ featherballs!
Free Draw!
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!
Gum Girl!
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!
Calvin & Hobbes by John & Jacob Lindwall
The Lindwall boys sent in this terrific due of Calvin & Hobbes sketches …
Capture Creatures — Part the Third!
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.)
Captain America by Jacob & John Lindwall!
The Lindwall boys are back! And, this time, they take a Nu Skool/Old School take on the Sentinel of Liberty.
Oracle by Erin Kelly & Maddy Wahl
I know Batgirl is cool and all, but I already miss Oracle. And, apparently, so do Maddy Wahl ( @H34rt ) and Erin Kelly ( @LiterateKnits ) …
More Capture Creatures
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!
Princess at Midnight
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!
Capture Creatures!
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.
A Word from Grace & Cate on our 2nd Anniversary!
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.
Billie the Unicorn!
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!
Powerpuff Girls & Paula Pansy by Janet K. Lee!
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!
Storm!
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.
Lumpy Space Princess
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.
Booster Gold!
Our pals Erin Kelly and Maddy Wahl sent in some long-lost 5 Minute Marvels, like these two, awesome Booster Golds!
Fan Art! by Joy Frezza
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/
Womanthology is here!
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!
Sketchin’ – Angry Birds, Peter Porker & Spidey
After surviving an extremely long day, my good friend Josh Bowron (keeper of the Discernland blog) capped it off with car trouble. So, I gave him a lift and we enjoyed a quick beer while sketching with his young son, Henry. And here are the results …
Angry Birds by Henry
Peter Porker – The Spectacular Spider-Ham by Josh
Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man by Dad
Wonder Woman!
As the father of two daughters, I’m more than a little attuned to the way women are portrayed in the comics I love so much. And, most of the time, I’m rather disappointed. Yesterday, David Brothers posted the first of a series of articles on the oversexualization of women in comics on ComicsAlliance.com. It’s great and you can read it here.
In the piece, Brothers praises artist Cliff Chiang for his work on the New 52 Wonder Woman. I have to agree. She looks strong and beautiful. She has more … “heft” than previous incarnations. I can really see Cliff’s WW kicking a bad buy to the moon. But, she’s feminine at the same time. So, in honor of David and Cliff, the girls and I drew the famous Amazon last night.
And, for a little extra fun, I drew Wonder Woman again. I wanted her to be fighting someone, so I created Dr. Pork. I don’t know why. Please don’t tell my therapist.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Gracie declared Valentine’s Day a “free-for-all” and that anyone could draw anything … as long as it was about love. The girls drew funny valentines. I drew Power Girl … a character a love with a costume I hate. So, I made a slight revision. 
Dad’s “Whoddles!”
I had fun doodling Doctor Who monsters from the Pertwee era with Jon Morris. So, I thought I’d create some more “Who-ddles” (Doctor Who doodles … get it? Yeah. You probably do.) from the days of William Hartnell, my favorite Doctor. Ya’ kinda’ have to be a total Whovian geek to recognize or, worse, like these characters … and I fit that bill. It’s a Monoid (from The Ark) and a Menoptera and an Optera (from The Web Planet).
Dad’ Doodles – Pertwee-Era Who Monsters
My internet buddy and amazing artist, “Calamity” Jon Morris and I got chattin’ on Twitter about his recent Doctor Who monster sketches … and I said I’d take on some of the classics from the Third Doctor’s era. So, here’s an Ogron, Axon, Draconian, Auton, Silurian (or “Eocine” if you wanna’ get technical about it), Sea Devil and Alpha Centauri. Your move, Jon!
Ed Emberley’s Watchmen
Bugsy from “Bedtime Stories”
Last weekend, we watched Adam Sandler’s “Bedtime Stories.” (Don’t judge me … I have 6 and 8-year-old kids.)
Since, Cate has been fairly obsessed with Bugsy, the film’s CGI guinea pig. And, she made me promise to draw him.
Actually, I think this turned out to be kinda fun.
Kermit T. Pirate by Philip A. Buck
My brain is curdling. I completely forgot to put up this amazing sketch of Kermit as Captain Smollett by illustrator, Philip A. Buck. Philip graciously sent this to us after we drew Kermit for him when he became our 900th follower on Twitter. You can follow him at @philipabuck and you can follow us on Twitter here!
Tigers! Tigers! Tigers!
The girls, Kim & I were fortunate enough to visit the circus this last weekend … and Gracie was quite taken with the tigers. She drew the picture above while the tumblers were on. I loved it, but was compelled to draw some famous tigers — Prince Tuftan from “Kamandi,” Shere Kahn from the “Jungle Book” and Mr. Tawny Tawky from Fawcett’s Captain Marvel.
And, one more to grow on … Tony!
Baby Jack Jack!
It’s been a few days since the last time we posted, but we have been drawing … promise. I’ll be putting up a lot of work in the next few days, but, tonight, we squeezed in the youngest member of The Incredibles before bedtime.
Enjoy!
Boo Boo Bear & Monocle Bear
Cate wanted to draw Boo Boo (which, she rocked out … how ’bout the signature in the word balloon!!?!?) and I took the opportunity to draw Monocle Bear from my favorite Webcomic, The Adventures of Superhero Girl, by Faith Erin Hicks. Check it out here!
Kermit the Frog!
Our 900th follower on Twitter, illustrator Philip A. Buck (@philipabuck) requested we draw Jim Henson’s famous frog … and we were happy to oblige. Here ya’ go, Phil!
And, check out Philip’s blog here: http://www.philipabuck.com/
