a Timbertoes Winter

Found a stack of Timbertoes pencils from when I was still doing the Timbertoes strip for Highlights.

I found it difficult to do a strip that was obviously well-loved characters by John Gee,conceived straight from his imagination.

I wanted to go in  a quirkier direction than Highlights would allow...treating them as small marionettes or dolls that somehow came to life and had to deal with all the issues of smallness in a big world.  Little kids can relate then. Highlights wavered with the Timbertoes being either human-sized or as small as squirrels causing their scale to strangely change over the course of the years I did it.

What also complicated matters wasHighlight's approach to make it a safety aware, politically correct strip....much analyzed by more than one editor. Still I managed to do it regularly for almost 9 years. Not bad for a comic strip.

*On Highlight's site I am given credit for both Sidney Quinn's art and Ron Zalme who took over after I left doing the strip digitally and giving the "naked" Timbertoes "sprayed on" clothes. Hey....if Pa, Tommy, and Mabel were always running around naked why did Ma always have clothes on? Weird thinking this way.

Personally, I always wanted Ma to get with it, wear whatever she wanted to and let her hair down. She is a sad, very hung-up imprisoned in the 40's female comic strip character.

A Land of Ice and Snow...

Evangeline © Judith Hunt & Ben Dixon

....and in that land there has just got to be a beautiful dangerous woman, guns, and a great big wolf, right?

Here's to a 2010 full of cartooning and illustration adventures!

Cartoon Styles

I learned early to do differing cartoon styles to obtain work, meet the clients needs, and to empahsize the illustration assignment.

I found cartooning difficult at first as I needed to learn squash and stretch, exaggerated movement, and making people fun looking... but not too weird looking. I also found that I was unhappy unless I cartooned 3 dimensionally. I can't seem to draw "flat" cartoons and I blame it all on my early fascination with Disney films such as Pinocchio and Snow White and the early Warner Bros. cartoons. This ability came in handy as an art director to draw quick sketches to explain what I wanted from illustrators and later when I drew for Disney and Henson.

There is an emotional release in being able to cartoon the human or animal form. And when I have to go back to drawing accurate realism I have to get back into a serious frame of mind.  Often, when I would get differing style assignments, I would feel like a two headed artist.

The above cartoons were for Highlights for Children and an advertising assignment.

Realistic Illustration for Children's Publishing

A couple of sketches for chapter books assignments.
I especially liked doing the "little brother" with the "Who me?" expression.

Anyway, having realism to draw keeps me honest and remembering where the bones are in people.

Sorry about the quality, the publisher did not return the originals so all I have are tearsheets.

Conan the King

Finally had time to find the Conan the King pencils on a cover that was not inked or printed from ages past. Amazing what you can find when you sort through old hardrives.

Wonder Woman and Tentacles

Wonder Woman and the Terrors of the Abyss © Judith Hunt

A fun fantasy painting done to exchange for the WonderWoman vs the Robot Bugs painting I did and was auctioned off at the Wonder Woman Day IV event in November.

The mediums are colored pencil, gouache, watercolors, pastels, watercolor pencil.

 

Conan The King

 Conan the King*  pencils by Judith Hunt inks by Al Williamson

Doing Conan the King was both challenging and interesting to draw.  The armor, castles and fortifications, swords, and battle equip...and yes beautiful woman, crazed villains, and above all lots of muscles!

Working on the pencils for this book was a bit intimidating at times knowing Al Williamson would be inking the pencils. I admired his work a great deal and had studied both his work and career. I was quite concerned about giving him perfect as possible pencils to ink. Of course, he did a fabulous job as always.

*The above page was the one and only page returned by Marvel to me from all the issues I penciled. Have no idea what happened to them.....whether they were lost, stolen or just stored...I was never given a reason by Marvel.