Grimmy Comes to Pittsburgh
One of my favorite comic strips is “Mother Goose and Grimm” drawn by the incomparable Mike Peters. Always funny, great artwork… one of the best done strips ever, IMO.
Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum, a part of the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh that exhibits cartoon art shows and events, will be opening a “Mother Goose and Grimm” show in October:
From Joe Woos and The ToonSeum:
Opening Friday October 17th– Mother Goose and Grimm: the Art of Mike Peters. Meet the creator Mike Peters and Grimmy on Saturday October 18th at the Children’s Museum. Free smiley cookies to the first 150 guests thanks to Eat N Park!
October 17th-19th– A Mother Goose and Grimm Weekend. Meet Mike Peters, award winning editorial cartoonists and creator of the popular comic strip Mother Goose and Grimm. Exhibit runs through January 4th 2009. Exhibit sponsored by the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
Saturday October 18th– Join us at the Andy Warhol Museum for a panel discussion on cartoons and national politics with Mike Peters, Rob Rogers and other special guests.
If you have never met Mike Peters, then you’ve never met Mike Peters. The man is a dynamo. He makes Robin Williams look like Ben Stein. He hugs everybody, and is genuinely delighted to meet anyone and everyone… especially those who also toil over the blank paper on the drawing board. He also loves MAD, and Jack Davis is one of his heroes. Come to think of it… isn’t Jack Davis one of every cartoonist’s heroes??
When I did the Reuben artwork for this year’s NCS awards weekend, I included Mike in the forefront of the parade as he was MCing the ceremonies (closeup above). The Superman suit is a trademark of his. He’s done a number of skits and MC duties for the NCS and always manages to appear in that suit at some point, so it was a perfect fit being a Mardi Gras parade and all. A month or two later my phone rings and it’s Mike Peters, who proceeds to rave about my drawing of him and how his granddaughter saw it and exclaimed “it’s you, Grampy!”. Naturally I was more than a little flattered by that. He wanted to know if he could get a copy somehow, and I printed off a large sized poster on my over-sized Epson printer on photo paper for him and gave it to him at the Reubens.
I got three hugs for that.
If you have a chance to see this show, I would recommend it highly… even having not seen it myself. Cartooning does not get any better than the work of Mike Peters. If you get a chance to attend the weekend where Mike is making an appearance, you will not be disappointed meeting the man behind the mayhem… and the hugs.
Check out the ToonSeum website for details on this and other events and shows.
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I’ll make time to check it out.. btw PittsburgH has an H!! I should know.
Great Peters, Tom! I’ve been enjoying Mike’s work since he came to Dayton, OH when I was a kid and worked as the editorial cartoonist (and I assume still does but from his home in Florida) there. I’ve always been cautioned not to get within arms reach of him, however…
PittsburgH?? D’OH!!
I’ve met Mike Peters twice and I can attest to his great personality. Very funny, friendly, and energetic.
I was lucky enough to meet him back when I attended Ringling School of Art & Design. He didn’t hug me but he did dance with me….twice. Yes, I am a guy…It’s complicated. Well it isn’t that complicated. It’s just not what you’re thinking. That is if your thinking slow dance. I showed him a line dance I learned back in Detroit and he loved it. We cleared the floor at a fundraiser 2 years in a row. He was kind enough to draw a personal Grimmy cartoon made out to his “Shufflin’ Buddy”. It hangs on the wall in my studio to this day. Wow, that was 18 years ago!
Mike Peter’s right foot is wrong.
The curved side of his foot should be on the INSIDE of his foot, not on the outside.
It’s totally wrong. It’s like he’s wearing his left boot on his right foot.
I can see what you are saying, and the angle of the foot is awkward, but I think you are mistaking the curve of the bottom of the foot, and the ball of the foot, with the instep curve. What I was trying (inadequately, apparently) to show was an exaggerated step where the toes of the foot curl upwards and back toward the figure as the ball of the foot protrudes forward leading the step.
The bottom of the foot is not flat. between the heel and ball there is the arch area that is narrower that the ball and arches between them. In the case of a boot or dress shoe, the heel mimics this and the flatter, broader ball arches up while the heel sticks down below it. When people walk, the toes curl up and try to splay open as the ball of the foot curves forward to prepare to meet the ground. That’s and the curve of the outside of the foot, which is NOT flat but also curved, is what the drawing is trying to depict. If anything the heel itself is not at quite the right angle to the rest of the foot.
Flip his foot horizontally in Photoshop, paste it back on and see if it doesn’t look more natural.
Take a dress shoe or boot with a separate heel, hold it up at that angle and bend the toe backward to simulate a step. Because of the angle, the interior curve of the foot looks more flattened out and the slighter curve of the exterior is more pronounced and even more curves due to the rounding of the ball of the foot. Again, it’s the heel that is messed up.