RIP John Barry

My friend Jim emailed me this morning informing me of the sad news that veteran film composer, John Barry had died at age 77. We're at a time now where many of my favourite personalities are leaving us - I was also very sad to hear of the passing of director, Blake Edwards a couple weeks ago. Both John Barry and Blake Edwards were highly representative of my favourite era of movies: the 1960's. Yes, I know many movie buffs won't share my opinion of the films of that era, but I personally love the STYLE of everything from the 60's - in movies, music and television. And both of these talented men helped to shape that style.

In the case of John Barry, he was one of a handful of film composers that I really admired from that era, the others being Henry Mancini, Michel Legrand, Maurice Jarre, and Ennio Morricone. All of these incredible composers wrote memorable and melodic film scores, often with title tunes that went on to become well loved standards. Barry was of course best known for creating the exciting scores from the James Bond films of the 60's through 80's. He won Academy Awards for both the title song and score to Born Free, about the orphaned lion cub, Elsa. I even have the soundtrack record album for Disney's The Black Hole, a somewhat disappointing film somehow made more interesting through John Barry's imposing and exciting score.

Anyway, I figure the best way to celebrate this legendary film composer is to listen to his music. Here then is the maestro himself conducting his score from Goldfinger, followed by another YouTube clip featuring the wonderful Shirley Bassey reprising her rendition of the title song in concert. Enjoy!

Service Ribbin: Rod Scribner

Cute cartoon from genius animator Rod Scribner, taken from a bad photocopy of the 1945 military publication "Service Ribbin"

WEEKEND WRAP UP

Here are some more flicks from the Grand National Roadster Show over the weekend that our friends Jae and Stephanie Bueno took..

SOUL SUNDAY

James Cromwell

The subject of this week's challenge at Caricaturama Showdown 3000 is James Cromwell, the veteran character actor. Oddly enough, despite his extremely notable facial features, I had a tough time getting the likeness to my satisfaction. The caricature was primarily sketched while watching him in Space Cowboys, which starred Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and my favourite actor, James Garner. Cromwell plays an officious head at NASA who is none too happy about letting the quartet of past their prime, ex-fighter pilots/astronauts set out on a shuttle mission to fix a Soviet communications satellite, as there has long been bad blood between he and Eastwood's character.

On the subject of caricature, please take note all local caricaturists, that there will be a first time get together of the new Canadian Chapter of the ISCA this coming Wednesday, Feb. 2. It will be held at The Firehall Cool Bar Hot Grill, 2441 Lakeshore Rd. W. Oakville Ontario (near Bronte Rd.). If you're already a member of the ISCA or are interested in perhaps joining this organization, this would be an opportune time to meet fellow caricaturists in the Greater Toronto Area. I'm planning on going, so hopefully we will see you there!

TRAILER OF THE THE WEEK

DAY 1

Its Day 1 of the Grand National Roadster Show... This is just a preview of what you have to look forward to if you are coming out this weekend.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

THE HOMIE

Came across this video of the homie Risk...

Check it out!

SHOW OF ALL SHOWS

Its that time of year again and we are getting ready for the show! Get your tickets and come out and support the Kustom Culture..

REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE

Check out this sleeve on a client who came in and wanted to add to the portrait he already had.

SOUL SUNDAY

Brenton Wood (born Alfred Jesse Smith, July 26, 1941, Shreveport, Louisiana)^[1] is an American singer and songwriter, best known for his two 1967 hit singles: "The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign".

When Wood was a child his family moved west to San Pedro in Los Angeles, California. He attended San Pedro High School for part of his freshman year before moving toCompton. In his high school years his family relocated to nearby Compton, where Brenton became a member of the Compton High School track team and received several awards for his athletic achievements.

Following his high school graduation, Wood enrolled in East Los Angeles College; soon after, he took the stage name Brenton Wood, possibly inspired by the wealthy Los Angeles enclave of Brentwood (some sources state that the name is in honor of his "home county"). During this period, his musical interests began to manifest themselves. He was inspired by Jesse Belvin and Sam Cooke, and he began cultivating his songwriting skills, also becoming a competent pianist.^[1]

Early singles for Brent Records and Wand Records failed to chart. After signing with Double Shot Records, Wood had a hit with "The Oogum Boogum Song" in the spring of 1967. It reached number 19 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 34 on the corresponding Billboard Hot 100 pop listing. Locally in Southern California, "The Oogum Boogum Song" hit the top 10 on both KHJ, Los Angeles, and on KGB in San Diego. His biggest hit came in September of the same year, as "Gimme Little Sign" hit #9 on the pop chart and #19 on the R&B charts. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[1] In the song, "Gimme Little Sign" is not sung, instead the chorus repeats "Give Me Some Kind of Sign". In late 1967, Brenton charted a third single, "Baby You Got It", again seeing top 30 success on pop radio in Southern California.

Wood continued to perform, even recording a duet with Shirley Goodman. He reached the charts again in 1977, when "Come Softly to Me" registered in the lower reaches of the listings. Following its release, Wood became part of the oldies soul circuit. In 2001, he returned with an album of new material, This Love Is for Real. Among his later appearances was a 2006 appearance on the Los Angeles public access program Thee Mr. Duran Show, where Wood and his band performed several of his hit singles [1].

Wood does not own the rights to any of his songs. They are all owned by the Los Angeles disc jockey, Art Laboe.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]

TRAILER OF THE THE WEEK

The Look Of Quiet Desperation

This week's subject on Caricaturama Showdown is comic actor, Steve Carell. He's got such a great face for caricature and, after searching through many video clips on YouTube, I finally decided to draw him in his most familiar role as Michael Scott on The Office. Ironically, even though The Office is about five years into its run and Steve is about to leave the show, I am only just now starting to follow the series. I recently bought Season One to see what all the fuss was about, and I must say I can see why so many people like it. Steve Carell and all of the ensemble are just great.

PAINT WARS

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Here is something new for Throwback Thursdays. Every now and then we are going to be breaking down samples that are used in new records...

Today we are showing you the sample from Empire State of Mind.

The Sample was used on Alicia Keys piano solo from The Moments "Love on a two way Street"

piano solo.

FAMILY FIRST

Here is a piece on a client who came in to add his girls names to tie in the warrior he got a while back..

CITY OF ANGELS

Matt Barnes came thru the other day to get a Memorial piece of his Mother..

SOUL SUNDAY

TRAILER OF THE THE WEEK

DEDICATED

Here is a piece on a client who came down to ger her Husbands name down her ribs.

Caricaturama Showdown 3000

After many months of looking at all the fun stuff being posted up on Caricaturama Showdown 3000, I finally got around to joining this Facebook group. It's really intriguing to see all the different variations on achieving a likeness of the same subject. In hindsight, I really wish I'd gotten in much earlier, so I could have drawn such subjects as John Cleese, Sophia Loren and Michael Caine.

Anyway, I have now thrown my hat in the ring and here are my first two entries, Amanda Seyfried of Mamma Mia and Chloe fame, and veteran rocker David Bowie:

THROWBACK THURSDAY

THE PREVIEW

THE ARCANGEL

Here is one of Michael "The ArcAngel" for all of you walking through the shadow of death...

SUITED AND BOOTED

Here is a piece from a while back..

Remembering My Dad

Ten years ago today my father, John Emslie, celebrated his final birthday at the age of 78. Two months later he died, after a couple years of health problems and having undergone recent surgery. It's hard to believe it's been ten years since he passed away, and I've been thinking about him a lot lately. The above image was from the card I did for Christmas of that year, 2001, in memory of my dear Dad.

While we certainly had the same father/son tensions and arguments that most guys have, all in all we were pretty close. My Dad was always there for me, supporting my desire to follow a career path in the arts, and always ready and willing to lend a hand with house repair work and such. He put up some insulation and wood paneling in my first townhouse, and I think that was something he liked doing a lot, as our family homes through the years always ended up with many rooms getting wood paneling!

One thing I'll be eternally grateful to my Dad for was his influence on my taste in music. When I was just a young kid, we had this wonderful old hi-fi - pretty much just a wooden box on four legs, containing a radio and felt covered turntable. Dad loved to play music around the house, and mostly he played jazz records. While he never tried to force his music tastes on me or my sister, I was just naturally drawn to such artists as Louis Armstrong and New Orleans clarinetist, Pete Fountain. Also, my Dad was a huge fan of Bing Crosby, so every Christmas, Bing's holiday album containing his classic "White Christmas" got plenty of airplay. To this day, I can't listen to Bing Crosby without thinking about my Dad. Funnily enough, I don't recall Dad ever playing any Frank Sinatra, but I know my interest in Frank was a direct result of all the great music I grew up listening to at home back in the 60s and 70s.

So, as this holiday season winds down, I just wanted to celebrate my Dad's birthday with this posting of that Christmas card illustration I did way back in 2001, as I fondly remember the good times we had and the influence that he had on my life.
Happy Birthday, Dad!

SOUL SUNDAY

TRAILER OF THE THE WEEK

LOVE INFINITE

Here is a piece dedicated to the new addition to our friend Kurt Hoffmans family..

THROWBACK THURSDAY

THE HEADHUNTER

Here is a recent piece Josh Cappo added to his collection..