random blogs and postings

Saturday, January 18, 2014

My Review of the DVD "Dear Mr. Watterson," and a Rare Look at Some of My Own Personal Artwork from the Past

On Christmas day, I purchased a DVD bundle with my Christmas bonus money, called "Dear Mr. Watterson." It is a documentary about how various fans and cartoonists were affected by the classic syndicated comic "Calvin & Hobbes." I started to worry after a few weeks when my DVD had not arrived in the mail. I mostly order things from Amazon, and those items ship real quick. The DVD, "Dear Mr. Watterson," was a purchase from another online company. I was beginning to think I got ripped off, when, suddenly, my stuff arrived last Thursday! I was so excited!

I was not disappointed, either. The documentary has several cartoonists I admire, expressing their opinions and some of their interactions on the very private Bill Watterson, who drew and wrote the legendary comic strip. I did not always agree with some of their opinions, but it was nice to hear them, nevertheless. A few of them showed how they they get inspired to draw their own strips. I found that particularly fascinating. Being someone who has studied art particularly in the field of cartooning, and read every syndicated comic in our paper since I was very young, to the point I was having to ask my parents what certain words meant, I may have found the documentary more interesting than others.

There was a time when I did publish some of my own cartoons for a brief while. It was for a newsletter about sheep. Many of those particular cartoons have been compared to Gary Larson who drew "The Far Side."

I guess if sheep are standing and talking, then Gary Larson is the first person they think of. I may have been a little influenced by him, but Sandra Boynton also drew standing and talking animals before before I discovered Gary Larson in the comic pages, so I feel like my influence was more from her, at least to begin with. Peanuts influenced me as well, being my first absolute favorite of the comics.

In college, I would look at Bill Watterson's work to figure out how to adapt some of the facial expressions to my work. I think I may have read somewhere that he would make faces in the mirror to capture an expression... or that could have been some other cartoonist I read about, that said that. It was a long time ago. I found that the advice helped.

There were a number of occasions I would take my work to Kinko's, for an art project for school, and they would almost not copy my work for me because they thought it was not my original artwork! They thought I was in copyright violation of my own drawings! I would pull out my I.D. to show them that I indeed was the illustrator to my own signed work, and then they would then make the copies. One of the workers compared my artwork to South Park. I had not heard or even seen any of that cartoon at the time. I think I even asked, "What's that?"

In the "Dear Mr. Watterson" documentary, cartoonists talk about some of the challenges that come up when writing and merchandising their strips. Merchandising sounds like a particular nightmare. I can definitely understand why Mr. Watterson would not want to merchandise his product for the most part. He did merchandise his books, obviously, but he also merchandised calendars as well, which featured his comics from the newspapers on a once-a-month glossy page. I really enjoyed flipping to a new month to see which strip would be featured for the next 28-31 days.

The one thing I wished the documentary had was at least a short interview of Bill Watterson himself. I am sure everybody would have loved that. However, the man is a very private person, which I can totally empathize with. I fondly remember seeing interviews on T.V. from the cartoonist, Charles Schulz (Sparky). He reminded me of my grandfather. In some ways, he was like a grandfather to me - just one I was not related to, and never met. Bill Watterson is more of a mystery.

I am not disappointed that Mr. Watterson wants his privacy. I think most of us, who are fans of the comic strip, would just like to have an idea of what he is like in real life. I think "Dear Mr. Watterson" does help satisfy some of the fans curiosity, and I am glad to have it as part of my collection.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas Lights and Gingerbread

Earlier this year given a couple of free tickets to go see a holiday light display in Stanwood, WA. The large display of over one million lights is called "The Lights of Christmas," and runs during select days in December.

I decided to invite my friend, Melissa. She lives in Marysville, which is on the way to Stanford, so she was the perfect choice. I also hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was nice to be able to see her again. We originally planned to go to the Bellevue Botanical Gardens, to see their holiday lights, but changed our plans, as my friend was unable to travel my direction.

My parents were in town for the holiday weekend, so they came as well. The weather was nice for the display, but it was very cold. I am really glad I brought gloves and a warm coat. There were places to sit and beverages and cookies available for purchase indoors, and various places outdoors. I got some steamed hot cocoa and a cute polar bear cookie (shown above), it was very tasty.

Fire pits were also available outdoors for people who want to remain outside.

Hey Diddle Diddle: Created by Weber Thompson. Chef David Mestl.

After seeing all the holiday lights, my family and I went to dinner. On the way home, we stopped by the Shereton in Seattle. I heard for years about a large display of gingerbread houses they do every year, and I really wanted to see it this year.

I Saw A Ship A-Sailing: Created by 4D Architects, Inc. Chef Jay Sardeson.

The gingerbread display was quite spectacular. There were six gingerbread entries total. All of them impressive. One display had a large tree, made with sugar, that looked like turquoise shards of glass. It had lights and spun in the center of it's village.

Detail of: London Bridge is Falling Down:

Created by MulvannyG2 Architecture. Chef Joleen Anderson.

Another, was inspired by the nursery rhyme, "Hickory, Dickory Dock." It had what appeared to be Swiss Cheese with mice peeping in and out the holes. A Krazy Kat figure was spinning at the top of that display.

Detail of Hickory Dickory Dock: Created by Master Builders Association of King and

Snohomish Counties & Gelotte Hommas Architecture. Chef Jay Sardeson.

I was in awe when I saw the gingerbread boat, rocking back and forth. It was very impressive, and may have been my favorite.

Detail of: I Saw A Ship A-Sailing: Created by 4D Architects, Inc. Chef Jay Sardeson.

There was a large, upside-down shoe, that various creatures lived in - that was really fun.

Detail of: There Was an Old Woman who Lived in a Shoe: Created by DLR Group. Chef Armstrong.

Another favorite of mine, had a cow jumping over the moon of the village. There was also a dish and spoon running off together, a cat playing fiddle, a dog laughing, and lots of other details. It was totally beautiful.

Detail of: Hey Diddle Diddle: Created by Weber Thompson. Chef David Mestl.

There was so much detail put into every display, they were obviously a ton of work to get together. I looked over and over at each display, trying to take it all in. I did not even notice, until I got home, that one of the displays had a Loch Ness Monster as part of it! So, that was an unexpected delight.

Detail of: Jack and the Beanstalk: Created by Callison. Chef Lee Baldyga

Overall, it was a very fun evening. I was happy to share it with my friend and my family.

Today is the last day for "The Lights of Christmas," but you can go see the gingerbread houses another displays at the Sheraton until January 5, 2014. Wishing you again happy holiday season!