A Blast from the Past?

November 5th, 2012 | Posted in General

You have to love Facebook . . . where almost anything from the past can come back to haunt you.

The above is a picture of an airbrushed T-shirt I did about 20 years ago (I’m guessing 1992 or 1993) for Barry Peterson, who was at the time an art director and writer for NOW Comics, the company for which I drew Married… with Children comics. In my defense, this was probably the first time I’d actually airbrushed on a T-shirt in years, and I was never very good at it. Things like freehand airbrush lettering is a real skill you have to do a lot of to become good at. I was not. I am also guessing I did those caricatures of Al and Peg Bundy from memory, since I drew them so much I didn’t need a reference. . . or maybe I did but didn’t think I did.

Anyway, Barry ran across this recently and posted a picture on Facebook. Fun to see old work like this and compare it to recent stuff. It’s hard for an artist to see progression in their own work while they are doing it. Every once and awhile you need to look back at older work and then you (hopefully) see improvement.

Comments

  1. Istvan says:

    Come now. That’s exceptional work.

    One piece that MAD hasn’t covered AND who knows maybe shouldn’t is the last King of the Saxons, a subject near and dear to all Anglo-Celts and Anglo-Saxons alike.

    Prinz Albert of Saxony — his own domain in .de — carried the news —
    http://www.prinz-albert-von-sachsen.de/index2.html

    But not on a T-shirt.

  2. Istvan says:

    Prinz Albert [passing one month before the election] was descended of Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen and Princess Elizabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis. To prevent Saxon extinction, HRH Prince Ruediger of Saxony took the title King of Saxony in pretence a month ago, being descended of Prince Timo of Saxony and Margit [Margaret] Lucas.

    No relation to Lucas film.

    The news came during the run of MAD #517 with the parody of the LucasFilms’ Avengers movie, Scavengers.

    The drawing being much improved. Low-key. No Warhol but nonethless.

  3. For the record, I never complained about the lettering Tom. Thanks again for the gift back then.

  4. Istvan says:

    The lettering is a bit different. The A could be stronger rather than looking like it might be an R. The color however does compensate as it is “Tequila Sunrise Char”. With any art there is always room for improvement if one can wait and see how the art and artist is developing his craft.

    If one can wait and see what practice and nerve can do, one is inevitably rewarded.

  5. Istvan says:

    Fyi: Prinz Albert of Sax ony and THE Movie. Some pundits might know that his death came exactly one month before the US election. He was 77. October’s MAD cover “Welcome to Election Hell” drawn by Mark Fredrickson eerily foreshadowed last nights results. Brrr.

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