A cartoon inspired by 80s stand-up video games? Yes, please. The girls have been just as enchanted by the Wreck-It Ralph trailer (below) as I am. This looks to be a trip back in time powered by sweet, sweet video game love. So, when Monday night rolled around and it was time to draw, Ralph and his sarcastic love interest, Vanellope, were a natural choice. Enjoy!
The girls and I have looking at the incredible art of Disney Artist, Victoria Ying, in quiet amazement and, I’ll say it, more than a little envy on my part for a long while now. Last night, we saw her ballerina cats on a 2012 calendar she created and had to draw. Ballet and cats? The girls were sold.
Seriously, stop what you’re doing and check out her blog and follow her on Twitter. And, if you’re at SDCC, she’s at Small Press N-02!
One of the highlights of HeroesCon for us was the Womanthology panel. The remarkable ladies on the panel kindly invited Grace to participate and even gave her an incredible poster they all signed afterwards. They were so nice and encouraging to her. We made many new friends – Rachel Deering, Rachel Pandich and the amazing Becka Seashols, an incredibly prolific artist. (Seriously, follower her on Instagram and just see how much she cranks out in a day … awesome). Click here to see her Web site and here to follow her on Twitter!
Becka draws lots and lots of Star Wars characters, so, tonight we drew Jabba the Hut for her!
And, here’s a photo from the panel!
Like many of you, the girls and I have fallen head over heels for the newest Disney cartoon, Gravity Falls. With excellent vocal actors and amazing art direction that feels positively inspired by Schoolhouse Rock, it’s a must watch … and draw.
First up, is an awesome sketch of Mabel & Dipper by our buddy, Joe Hunter, whose work you can see here: http://ghostbucket.com/
Here’s ours …
And, for kicks, Grace got in on the act to draw the evil gnomes …
(P.S. Cate is mad at me. She meant to write “I am a freak,” but, as she often reminds me of Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica, I had to leave it as “I am a frak.”)
And, if you’ve ever wanted to see gnomes puking rainbows, this is the show for you!
And, I threw in Wendy & Soos for good measure!
We haven’t posted in a while. Sorry. A lot of energy went into prepping for HeroesCon … and then the girls went full-on into dance camps and gymnastics. But, we’re back on the wagon and will be posting again tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some sketches I’ve done over the last week.
A tribute to Jason Horn’s Ninjasaur!
Fan art for Justin Peterson’s Very Near Mint
My “baby superhero” sketch from my first session with Sketch Charlotte.
Toddler Starfox hitting on Toddler She-Hulk.
It’s hard to believe it, but this time next week, we’ll have enjoyed the first day of HeroesCon. (Okay … we’re really excited.)
Two folks we’re really looking forward to seeing are Joe Quinones and Maris Wicks. Apart, they’re awesome. Together? It’s hard to imagine that must amazing working in one studio at the same time. The girls and I had fun rummaging around their blogs for inspiration … and you should, too.
And, now a word from Joe!
HereosCon is almost here! Less than two weeks! Wow. One of our favorite friends last year was Andy Runton, creator of the Owly books. He has a joy of drawing and for fans that is absolutely infectious! He also has a wonderful habit of drawing Owly and Wormy as a wide array of characters … evidenced by hundreds of “Owly As …” sketches on his Web site. So, Cate drew Owly as a Hula Girl, Grace as a ballerina and me as The Thing & Human Torch!
Check out Andy’s incredible work on his site: http://www.andyrunton.com/
And, now a word from Andy!
Stephanie Buscema is one of our oldest and bestest buddies on 5 Minute Marvels. She drew Scarlet Witch & Wasp with us waaaay back in the day … you know, 2010.
The girls are excited to see her at HeroesCon in (gulp) two short weeks and wanted to do a collaborative drawing for her. Check out Steph’s work at: stephaniebuscema.com
And now, a word from Stephanie!
It’s been YEARS since I thought about the adventures of Danger Mouse and Penfold. So, many thanks to Mat Nixon for the suggestion and his tremendous sketch. This was a lot of fun for the girls and me. Cate was especially keen to try a step-by-step we found on DragoArt … and did a great job with it.
But, back to Mat. He has an awesome little sketch blog called: http://funwithmarkers.blogspot.com/
How can you not just love that?
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/
It was Grace’s pick tonight, and we found ourselves pouring over the amazing archive of work by artist Amy Mebberson — a treasure trove for kids. She does Disney, PIXAR (and, yes, there is a BIG difference between PIXAR and Disney) 80s Cartoons, Retro Art, Doctor Who … it’s impressive.
When Grace saw Old School Strawberry Shortcake, it was on. Both girls were tired, but rallied to take on Ms. Shortcake. Halfway through, Grace said, “Wow. This is harder that I thought!” But, we had a good time. To take a look at Amy’s Archive for yourself, visit http://mimi-na.deviantart.com/gallery/
And, now, a word from Amy!
More hidden treasures from Dan Christensen (http://dcdrawings.blogspot.com/) and his sons. These are three really fun Deadpool sketches!
It was my pick tonight, and I wanted to draw something from Becky Cloonan. While I love her art, finding something the girls could draw was hard. Conan seemed a bit much for two little girls. But, they absolutely loved this monkey Becky says (on her blog) was created for an opera house.
The monkey’s over the shoulder view was a source of some consternation for the girls … and a teachable moment. Grace did it her way, but did ask “What’s on the front of his shirt?” The flowing ribbons and smoke also vexed them a bit. Cate got mad at herself and said, “That head! I can’t make it look just like the picture!” We calmed down and agreed it was okay to do it in our own styles AND (more importantly) that Cate was just 7 and Becky had been drawing for many more years than she. And, that if she practiced Cate could get there, too. That seemed to chill her out. She proceeded to ink without tears.
For more of Becky’s work, check out Conan the Barbarian and her novels, The Mire and Wolves. Or, you can visit http://estrigious.com/becky/
A few weeks ago, I read Brian Ralph’s zombie survival story, “Daybreak.” Popular culture is completely flooded with zombie stories, so I almost didn’t pick it up. But, I’m glad I did. It was a fresh take on a well-trod story told entirely in 4-panel pages from the point of view of the reader. Good stuff. But, fare for 5 Minute Marvels drawings? … not so much.
But, looking through Brian’s online portfolio, we found Waltee, a mascot he created for the Walters Art Museum. The girls loved it. We drew. And, had a great time.
Check out more of Brian’s Work at http://bralph.com/
And, now a word from Mr. Ralph!
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!?!?
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.
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!
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/
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!)
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…
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!
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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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!
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!
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!
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
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.
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. 🙂
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).
5 MINUTE MARVELS 