Bill Peckmann &Books 20 Feb 2010 09:24 am
Cartooning – 1
- Bill Peckmann reminded me of a “how to” book that was published in the ’70s called, “The Art of Cartooning.” It was written by art director/designer, Jack Sidebotham. He worked at a number of agencies and had a lot to do with the Piels Brothers and Scholastic Rock.
For this “Art of” book, he brings back the Piels Brothers without the wit and charm of their great voices, comedians Bob and Ray, to escort the reader through a few lessons in cartooning and a sample of a number of different jobs in the field.
I think the book was originally published by Grumbacher, along with several others on art and painting techniques, to compete with the cheap and successful books published Walter T. Foster. They were all sold in art stores for very little money, and if you hit on a Preston Blair book, you’d found gold.
here’s the first half of the book. Next week, I’ll start with the four-page chapter on animation.
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on 20 Feb 2010 at 11:09 am 1.bill said …
Another blast from my past. It may look crude to us now, but this book was great for budding nine year old wanna-be cartoonists like me.
I remember thinking, “I can draw as well as this guy!” That was a big confidence builder for me.
Thanks for the memories, Michael.
on 20 Feb 2010 at 11:40 am 2.Bill said …
Jack Sidebotham was one of the legendary art directors of his time, please don’t let his simplicity fool you.
on 20 Feb 2010 at 7:27 pm 3.Stephen Worth said …
Yikes! The graphic layout is interesting, but the drawings are pretty hard on the eyes.
on 20 Feb 2010 at 7:57 pm 4.John said …
Why do I feel like having a beer after looking at the first series of drawings?
on 21 Feb 2010 at 6:27 am 5.slowtiger said …
You may link to your younger self just a month ago …
http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2123 – Bert & Harry Piels but without mentioning Jack Sidebotham.
on 21 Feb 2010 at 8:47 am 6.Pierre said …
I really love the page layouts. I’ve always had a soft spot for 1970′s graphic design.
on 25 Mar 2010 at 5:18 pm 7.John Sanford said …
Holy crap!
This is THE book that changed my life!
My mother bought this book for me and my brother when we were 11. After this, all I wanted to be was a cartoonist. That was it.
Thank you for posting this, as my copy is loooong gone!