Thursday, January 03, 2013

Thundarr the Barbarian, Ookla, and Ariel

This year I've been invited to paint an image for a gallery that's celebrating Hanna Barbera cartoons.

Many of the younger kids won't remember any of these, and to be honest, many of their cartoons seemed super generic and cookie cutter.  There were also several incredible gems of imagination.  And much of their stuff is riffed on or recycled so well that the new shows are very popular (see space ghost, harvey birdman, hell - venture brothers!)  Hanna B. even did a pacman show.  What the hell, right?

As I'm looking them up I'm realizing that they were involved with cartoon network and a bunch of productions well into the 90s that I would not have though were them.

I want to take a few days and explore some of the characters in their toons, pick the ones that feel the best about and throw them into a painting.

Last night I spent an hour sketching and coloring in some shapes in the form of Thundarr - one of the weird barbarian/alien cartoons that involved the Sun Sword - a wookie like Ookla and a hot olive skinned mage named Ariel.

I really want to do Herculoids next, which is more of the same weirdness.  I'm really disappointed not to see more interesting homages to these sorts of characters.  There are a few Jpegs out there worth merit, but not much.

Ariel, Thundarr, and Ookla

Blah blah blah. Words.

Happy 2013 so far ladies and gentlemen.

be seeing you,
&Rew.

No comments: