Snarked!

The girls enjoy Roger Langridge’s Muppet Comics and I am a totally unabashed fan of Thor: The Mighty Avenger, which Roger created with our pal, Chris Samnee. It’s one of the best books over the last decade … and it’s all-ages.

Roger’s latest ventures are reviving Popeye and his own, Snarked!, inspired by the Alice in Wonderland books. We drew two of his main characters – Princess Scarlett and Prince Russell – and had a lot of fun. I think Grace, especially, did a great job capturing Scarlett’s personality. Visit Roger’s site: http://www.hotelfred.com/  

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Zita the Space Girl!

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!

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!

 

Sketch Monsters & Spiral-Bound

Grace and I both got books over the holidays we loved … and that love led to sketchin’. In Grace’s case, it was Sketch Monsters by Joshua Williamson and Vicente ”Vinny” Navarrete. Grace wanted to draw “The Love Monster.” For me, I went with characters from Aaron Renier’s “Spiral-Bound,” which was just made available on Comixology. (I’ve already gushed several times here about my love of Renier’s “The Unsinkable Walker Bean” for which I need a sequel, like, now.) Enjoy! And, buy.

• “Sketch Monsters” from Oni Press
• “Spiral Bound” from Top Shelf
• “The Unsinkable Walker Bean” from First Second

New Year … New Art!

Happy New Year! Sorry it’s been a while since we last posted, but we have been drawing … as the next few days will show. We’ll start with a tour of some of Grace’s favorite holiday characters!

The cool thing is that after we drew The Bumble from Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, we got to see a licensed puppet performance of the same story at Atlanta’s Center of Puppetry Arts last week. Check out a link to a video trailer of it here. If you’re anywhere near the ATL next Christmas, you HAVE to make this show. It was terrific.

Master Yoda!

The 5 Minute Marvels experience started just under two years ago when I got the Super Hero Squad Wii game … and Grace got excited and wanted to draw the characters.

So, it was a pleasant surprise when, after I bought the Star Wars Clone Wars LEGO game this week, Gracie now wants to take on drawing Star Wars. And, the style from the Cartoon Network’s Clone Wars series was perfect. So, “Draw or Draw Not … there is no try.” 🙂

Chapel Smith with Emma T. Capps!

This is a special one. About six months ago, we learned about the amazing Emma T. Capps from our buddy Tara Abbamondi. Emma is an award-winning artist and storyteller. She has distinctive style, a signature character, a line of greeting cards, robust Webcomic and the respect of the industry. Oh, she also just happens to be a teenager. Amazing and inspirational. (P.S. She also manages to be a first-class Doctor Who fan, too.) You can see a cool time-lapse of Emma at work here: http://www.thechapelchronicles.com/about.php

Emma graciously agreed to sketch her character, Chapel Smith, and Chapel’s pet hedgehog with Grace and me. It was an honor.

We expect to see great things from Ms. Capps for many years to come and hope to meet her in person some day!

And, now a word from Emma!

Mickey Mouse at Disney Animation Academy!

Last week, my wife and I took the girls on their first pilgrimage to Disney World. Truth be told, I’ve always thought of myself as a Disney Hater. But, walking around the Magic Kingdom, it’s hard not to realize a) how much you loved Disney films and characters as a kid b) how creative and amazing Disney creators are.

The highlight of the trip for me was taking three 20-minute drawing classes at Hollywood Studios Disney Animation Academy. We drew Piglet, Rapunzel and Mickey. While Grace liked it … Cate LOVED it. Loved. If she’d had her way, we would have drawn all day. In a rare development, Mrs. 5 Minute Marvels drew, too.

Our instructor was a talented illustrator and nice guy, Brian James Fichtner. Check out his art blog here! And, he has a tremendous second blog, Amazing Cosmic Powers, with his insights on famous cartoonists and illustrators. It’s fantastic.

Super T & T Tot! – A Grace Miner Joint

Move over Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Grace has gone Kirby and is in full-on creator mode. Her first two creations are the heroic turtles — Super T and his sidekick T Tot. She was very specific in the design instructions, down to the bowler hats.

And, the world building has already started. These two have a rogues gallery — a married couple of evil turtles, Dr. Flop and Frogula, and their daughter, Deathany. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they show up on the blog soon!

 

Ice King! by Jacob & John Lindwall

The fabulous Lindwall Boys are back again tonight! This time it’s The Ice King from Adventure Time! Nice work, men.

War Machine! by Jacob and John Lindwall

Tonight, we were excited to receive art from a new father and son duo, Jacob (9) and John Lindwall. They chose to take on the grey and white majesty of Iron Man’s BFF, War Machine! Nice work, you two. We hope to see more from you for a long time yet to come.

MODOK & MOBLOCKHEAD! for Spitballin’ Comics

We love following daily and weekly sketchblogs and have made many friends at incredible blogs like Cornered, ComicTWART and Bristolwhip. So, we were excited to surf our way over to a new sketchblog with some awesome new talent — Spitballin’ Comics. Check them out now!

We were doubly excited when Michael Walsh asked us to participate in this week’s theme … Jack Kirby’s supreme creation – MODOK!

Grace had a lot of fun with this one … and I think it shows in her work. Great expression. Good pencils and tight inks. I was still having fun with my classic funnies/comic book character mash-ups and decided to blend everyone’s favorite blockhead, Charlie Brown, with everyone’s favorite flying head.

Stitch! (for Priscilla Tramontano)

Just a few weeks ago, Project: Rooftop, the dead center of awesomeness in this universe, featured some amazing redesigns from Brazilian artist, Priscilla (Pris) Tramontano. She is currently working as a colorist on IDW’s Transformers books, but she is an incredible illustrator of her own rite. Check out her fantastic body of work on her site here.

We were ecstatic when she agreed to draw with us, sending the watercolor of Disney’s Stitch above. Beautiful.

And, she sent along some advice for artists of all ages:

Drawing is what I love the most. That said, I’m always drawing, studying, practicing, getting inspired by everything around me, things that I love and by other people’ work. “Not a day without a line drawn.”

Thanks, Pris! You inspired us.

Dazzler!

 As I’ve said before, fashion and superheroics are a winning combination in the 5 Minute Marvels household. But, when you add popstar into the mix … watch out. Dazzler is just about the ideal superheroine for Grace. (P.S. Yes. Cate is on strike  … again.)

Popping over to Project: Rooftop for inspiration tonight, we didn’t have to look much further than Erica Henderson’s many, many redesigns of Dazzler’s costume. But, it was this, clearly Gaga-infused, model that was Grace’s pick.

Amazing work, Erica. We hope to draw with you soon!

 

Ninjasaur for Jason Horn!

One of our favorite aspects of HeroesCon in Charlotte this year was the fact that a bunch of our favorite artists – Stephanie Buscema, Joel Carroll, Mike Maihack, Dean Trippe and Jordan Gibson – were all teamed up in one area. An artist we didn’t know on their row was Jason Horn, creator of the Ninjasaur webcomic and super nice guy. Here’s his site!

We bought the latest book, Ninjasaus Vs. Dr. Deadbones, and had a ball with it. And, perfect for aspiring artists leaning their craft, was a how-to on drawing Ninjasaur with shapes. See below and draw!

And, to learn more about Jason, here’s a link to a great interview he did with Tim O’Shea at CBR!

And, now a word from Jason …

 

Candace! (from Phineas & Ferb)

Cate was in a drawing mood, so we decided to attempt everyone’s favorite heroine whose head is shaped like a capital “P” … Candace Flynn from “Phineas & Ferb.”

There are lots of pictures of Candace smiling on Google images, but Cate opted for one of her screaming with righteous indignation, which, if you know Cate, is fairly spot on.

For those trying to learn to draw with shapes and get lots of character and emotion out of simple figures, you can do a lot worse than spend some time studying the character style on this Disney cartoon.

Ed Emberley’s Faces!

Like a lot of children of the 70s and 80s, my education on drawing cartoons was largely shaped by the masterful Ed Emberley. I had five or six of his books, which break down the complex art of drawing bodies and faces into simple shapes and step-by-step instructions. I loved it.

So, naturally, as we’re working on both drawing with shapes and faces, Grace and I spent some time with Mr. Emberley’s books. She really took to it and was able to understand his lexicon. I decided to have some fun and draw the Avengers as Ed might have!

Hawkeye & Mockingbird!

One of the real joys of this blog is that the girls and I have met some people we really like. One of them is up and coming artist, Jordan Gibson http://twitter.com/#!/superbatgibson).

After seeing his work on Project: Rooftop, we drew Red Robin with Jordan a few months ago. He has an incredible style that’s modern, while recalling the simple joy and color of the classic age of comics. Bright times ahead for him.

Grace and I were thrilled to meet Jordan at HeroesCon last week. He shared a booth with another of our favorites, Dean Trippe. Jordan drew the incredible Hawkeye and Mockingbird below for Grace … and it turned out to be his first con comission ever. We were honored! So we drew Mockingbird, too.

Lois Lane – Girl Reporter!

Oh, what could have been …

Dean Trippe has been a tremendous friend to us at 5 Minute Marvels. He is an incredible artist and a creator who sees the best in comics — the most wonderous, magical potential in comics. Potential that can reach the kid in all of us. I only wish the powers that be would realize what he could do for them.

Case in point … Lois Lane, Girl Reporter, a pitch Dean made to DC comics to bring the adventures of a teen Lois, Clark and Bruce to young adults. To read more about it, go here.

Well, DC may have passed on this (Grrr… shaking virtual fist in frustration), but we can dream about it. And, as Grace and I did, we can draw it, too. And, we can see Dean’s incredible work here and over at Project: Rooftop. Dean … we couldn’t love this more.

And, now a word from Dean Trippe!

Hyperion! by Cate (5), Grace (7) & Dad

The guys over at Comic TWART are drawing Superman this week, so we thought we’d draw Marvel’s “homage,” to the Man of Steel — Hyperion of the Squadron Sinister/Supreme!

 And, Holy cats! Cate has come out of retirement to draw Hyperion. She was inspired by an episode of “Super Hero Squad.” Give her love, ya’ll. We need to keep her drawing.

A Very Dapper Contest …

Just before Thanksgiving, Jim McCann (A.K.A. “Uncle Jim” — hey, my wife and I are only children, so we adopt aunts and uncles for the girls) stopped by on his way from a signing at the very cool Acme Comics in Greensboro, N.C. And, it gave me an idea … it is time for a contest!

Jim is the author of the amazing new graphic novel, Return of the Dapper Men with Archaia. He creating it with his longtime pal and uber-talented artist Janet Lee (who just got tapped by Marvel to draw Jane Austen’s “Emma”!). And, if you haven’t seen it, you need to get on it and order your copy here!

So, here’s the deal … adults and kids, get your Dapper on. Draw your best Dapper Man (or, in our case Zoe the Robot Girl and Ayden the curious young lad) and send it to tim_miner73@hotmail.com by Monday, December 20. Jim and Janet will pick one winner for best child (1-12) art and, well, one from everyone else. The winners will get an original sketch by Janet!  Have fun! 

To get you started, here’s what Grace and I drew!

Two Creepers …

So, Grace said, “What do you wanna’ draw, Dad.” I said, “The Creeper.” We had two very different ideas of who that was …

Catch Up …

So, it’s been way, way too long since we last posted on this site. Life caught up with us a bit and we just stopped putting up our art. But, Grace and I have kept up the discipline of drawing, and we have lots to share. Here’s the first installment.

Here’s a photo of Grace at our new drafting table/drawing station …

And, now … on with the art:

Joey Weiser (www.Tragic-Planet.com) Tribute – Art from “Cavemen in Space” and “The Ride Home”!

And, inspired by Brendan Tobin’s Amazing Marvel Monster Cocktail Party (Here: http://brendantobin.blogspot.com/2010/10/amazing-marvel-monster-cocktail-party_30.html)

Holy Cow! Cate is Back!

Don’t fall out of your chair or anything, but while Grace was away at Girl Scouts, Cate wanted to bust of the DC Encyclopedia and draw. She chose Black Canary and set to work. “This is the best I can do!” she exclaimed with a sonic scream of her own. I love the pigtails on Dinah.

Captain(s) Marvel! by Grace (7) & Dad

Grace and I love to see what the boys over at ComicTWART are going to draw this week. And, today, they started C.C. Beck’s Captain Marvel (or Shazam!, as you may know him). He was up in our rotation, so it was perfect timing.

But, having already drawn Marvel’s Monica Rambeau version of Captain Marvel, we decided to draw a few of the 56,736 characters who have born the Captain Marvel name … including this silly version.

Scooby Scooby Doo! by Grace (7) & Dad

Grace has fallen in love with all incarnations of Scooby Doo. So, it was only natural we’d draw them some night. She rendered them all in her style and I think the personality of each character comes out beautifully.

(And, yes, my Shaggy is high on Scooby Snacks.)

Devil Dinosaur & Moon Boy! by Jon Morris, Grace (7) & Dad

Grace and I are the proud owners of the incredibe sketch of two of my favorite Kirby Kharacters of all time — Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy. They were rendered by the uber-talanted artist, Jon Morris, who drew them for a 30-days of Marvel he unertook on his blog — www.Ape-Law.com. Best of all, there are several other works from this event available for an amazing $10 each at Jon’s Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/CalamityJonSaveUs

So, tonight … we drew. And, I think this is Grace’s best work yet. Grrrrrrrrrrr!

Spidey! by the Wahl Family

Hold on tight, True Believers! The amazingly fun and talanted Wahl family is back with this amazing ode to your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! And, while all of it is fantastic, you have to admit … someday you’re going to be reading comic drawn by Maddy Wahl! Here’s here lead in to this art:

“We got quite a few for you today. My birthday was like a month ago and I got my family and some of my friends to all get together and draw Spider-Man with me! (Ultimate of course. He’s my favorite! (: ) I’ve been savin Spidey for something really special and I was not disappointed.   We got 10 whole adorabible Spider-Men… Nar, too tired to describe all o’ them but from Dad’s bearded Spider-Man, to Erin’s chicken eatin’ Spider-Man, to Brieanna’s Spidey chillin’ with bats, nannerpusses, and gosh knows what else,  they all awesome.”

Dad’s Lunch Break Doodles

I’m having so much fun with my new brush pens, I decided to freestyle a few 5 Minute Marvels on my lunchbreak. And, it all started with Loki. And, then led to two of my favorite indy characters. Hey, Chris Samnee, thanks for the inspiration, Bro! Keep Thor coming!

Ch’p! by Cate (5) and Dad

CATE IS BACK! We were thumbing through the DC Encyclopedia and Cate took a shine to Ch’p, the chipmunk/squirrel Green Lantern. And, yeah, he’s real: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch’p

Bat Villains! by Grace (7) & Dad

After watching a little “Bat-Man Lego” on the Wii, Grace decided to take down some Bat Villains. And, I think her Penguin is terrific. She gave him the long, nasty hair from “Bat-Man Returns” and “The Animated Series.”

Then, we drew Mr. Edward Nigma … The Riddler …

And, I was having so much fun, I kept on going …

Dad’s Doodles by … um… Dad (Tim Miner)

I was able to buy a pack of brush pens on sale … and I’m totally in love. So, I’ve been making a few 5 Minute Marvels on my own.

First up is a new costume for Valkyrie in response to an open request from 1979 Semi-Finalist’s Kelly Thompson. I happen to agree with her that it’s 2010 and … well … steel breast cups are out.

And, then I decided to explore the differences between DC’s Etrigan the Demon and Marvel’s Gargoyle. Turns out there aren’t many. But, I love them both.

Jack Attack! by Jack Williams (5)

A few days ago, Grace and Cate had a play date with their buddies Ella and Jack and, of course, superhero drawing was in effect. Jack gave us the drawings below. And, I must confess a partucular  fondness for his M.O.D.O.K. Go Jack!

Kid Beowulf! by Alexis Fajardo

Grace and I got a lovely surprise over the weekend … a sketch from Alexis Fajardo, the writer and artist of Kid Beowulf, a fun comic inspired by the epic poem BEOWULF. Kid Beowulf follows the journey of 12-year-old twin brothers Beowulf and Grendel as they travel to distant lands and meet fellow epic heroes therein!

Kid Beowulf is an all-ages, action adventure series similar to Bone, Asterix and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The newest book, “Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland” just came out this spring. You can check it out at www.kidbeowulf.com

As an English major and a comic fan, this really appealed to me … and we had fun drawing. And, Cate even ended her strike to draw a picture of Hama the Pig. Alexis, getting Cate to consent to draw again is a coup. Thanks!

Art-O-Rama! Drawing with Your Buddies

It’s been a few days since Grace, Cate (YES! She’s back!) and I last posted, but we’ve been busy.

Last week and this, Wednesday brought us comics from our friends Jim McCann (www.JimMcCannOnline.com) & David Lopez on Hawkeye & Mockingbird and Chris Samnee (www.ChrisSamnee.com)  on Thor: The Mighty Avenger.

And, Evan Shaner (www.EvanShaner.com) created an awesome Mary Marvel on his blog. So, Grace and I decided to draw for our buddies. And, Dan McDaid, my fellow lover of all things Kirby and Doctor Who (seriously, he and I were seperated at birth) proposed the Sandman for www.ComicTWART.com

Away we go!

Kudos to Jim and David for breathing new life into two characters who have lived on the fringe of the Marvel U. for many years. I have always loved the Phantom Rider (Long live the Rangers!), but Dominic Fortune … not so much … until now. Jim and David have made him the Han Solo of the Marvel spy game … and I look forward to his brief appearances almost as much as I do for Hawkeye & Mockingbird — my two favorite comics characters. That’s some feat.

And, what can I say about the majesty that is Thor: The Mighty Avenger, Marvel’s new Thor book for reads of all ages? I know … BUY IT! Daniel Von Eggidy at Heroes Aren’t Hard to Find (our comic shop in Charlotte, NC) called it “Frank Capra’s Thor.” Man is he right. From Chris’ playful art, to the lush colors by Matt Wilson and writing by Roger Langridge, this book is everything that got me into comics into the first place. It just has a great heart. And, that’s somewhat hard to find in comics these days.

This week, a fave — Ant-Man — showed up to battle, then befriend Thor. So, we drew. Grace knows Ant-Man’s helmet is silver, but she got to use the “grown up” black marker to ink her work … and she took full advantage.

And, finally, Evan “Doc” Shaner — the world’s most passionate fan of Fawcett/DC’s Captain Marvel — put an awesome drawing of Mary Marvel up at www.EvanShaner.com. We were inspired. Grace’s Mary looks a little weary, but I love the way she drew Mary’s eyes … and she spent a lot of time on the hair.

Over at www.ComicTWART.com, the weekly theme is The Sandman … and how many choices there are. Most of the TWARTers have gone with the DC hero, Sandman — a great choice. But, I think Dan McDaid, who proposed Sandman, was leaning toward the Marvel villain Sandman. So, we chose to go in that direction and to draw him in his late 60s/early 70s costume designed by Jack Kirby. Ah, feel the Kirby Krackle!

I know I’m partial to her work, but I love Grace’s Sandman here. He just looks like so much fun to be around … like a day at the beach. (Oh, that was a truly poor choice of words …)

The Crime Syndicate! by Grace (7) & Dad

I know that DC’s Earth-2 by Frank Quitely and Grant Morrison made The Crime Syndicate of Amerika ultra-cool. But, me, I love the goofy, silly and innocent first appearance of the Syndicate back when Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky were calling the shots at the Justice League of America. To me, Sekowsky’s style was so inviting, so fun, so comic-booky … so Grace and I went there.

And, I’m proud to say, we polished off the whole Syndicate in just 10 minutes.

P.S. I ABSOLUTELY ADORE Grace’s “big head baby” version of Power Ring.

P.P.S.S. Cate promised to draw tonight … but, yeah, she’s still on strike. Grace says she’s “retired.” At five.

The Green Monk! by Grace (7) & Dad

Sometimes work just calls out to you. While stolling Artist’s Alley at HeroesCon this year, I saw a poster for Brandon Dayton’s inaugural book for his character The Green Monk. I am a sucker for two-color work and those who grasp it’s use — and Brandon nailed it with the cover.

The best news is, in a few short pages (one-panel each), Brandon weaves a tight story of the titular Monk’s encounter with a very large ogre and his haunted weapon. With sparse dialogue and no sweeping spreads, the story moves along and leaves you eager to know more about the Monk. Which is what every good story should do.

Do yourself a favor, order the book and check out more art at www.BrandonDayton.com and follow Brandon at ‘http://twitter.com/brandondayton

Doctor Doom! by Jen Richards, Kevin Spooner, Grace (7) & Dad

THUS SPEAKS DOOM – Tim Miner is Rude!

Our Web buddies, Jen Richards (AKA @Mockingnerd), the world’s most adorable Brit/artist/marine biologist, and Kevin Spooner (AKA @TheBlackSwan), the world’s coolest cosplayer/engineer/rock god sent us these cool images of Latveria’s own Victor Von Doom … and we drew … and scanned … and forgot.

Sorry guys, but hope you dig this!

Harley Quinn & The Joker

So, it’s taken us a while to get here … but a counselor at Grace’s day camp requested she draw The Joker. Eager to oblidge … and always interested in a character’s love life, Grace was more than game to draw the Joker’s therapist turned partner-in-crime, Harley Quinn!

Paisley! by Grace (7) & Dad

So, after drawing lots and lots of heroes and villains from the Big Two, Grace and I are having lots of fun exploring the world of indy comics and Web comics. The styles are are often compelling for Grace to imitate and the characters are fresh …

This week, we stumbled upon www.HeyPais.com, a Web Comic devoted to the life of Paisley the Cat. If you’re a cat owner, this should be required reading. Grace loved it. Check it out!