Here's a re-presentation of an old pencil sketch from 1980, which I drew standing up whilst looking down at the subject - who, incidentally, was reading my then-brand-new copy of HOW To DRAW COMICS The MARVEL WAY*. (Which I got autographed by STAN LEE 11 years later.) However, lazy me couldn't be bothered drawing the cover, so I blacked it out to avoid having to include any unnecessary detail. And even though I say so myself, it was a perfect likeness and everybody acquainted with him recognised who it was at first glance.
As you see, the chair is low and the subject rather gangly, so because of the angle I was observing from, it looked as if he was too big for the chair. Perhaps I should've added some background detail to give a better sense of perspective, but I decided it could wait 'til I'd watched some paint dry. It was drawn on the blank side of computer print-out paper, but I've cleaned it up to hide the lines of digits showing through the sheet. Not too bad a pic for 10 minutes work. In the photo below, you can see he was indeed rather lanky and the chair low, just as described.
Anyway, just learned this very afternoon that the subject passed away in September of this year due to issues associated with Alzheimer's, thereby drawing down the curtain on another aspect of my teenage years and mid-'20s. Although I hadn't spoken with him since 1986 (he and his wife worked abroad for some years and then resided somewhere in England), it's still rather sad to hear of his demise. Yet another leaf fallen off the tree, alas. R.I.P. Paul Farrant.
*The book was actually mail-ordered sometime in 1979, but I received a note from Maya Merchandising (I think) saying they were out of stock and had ordered more in. It was toward the end of '79 or the start of 1980 when I received a card from Royal Mail telling me it was awaiting collection from the main post office. They must've tried to deliver it when no one was in.
We are all just flotsam and jetsam swept along in the great river of time.
ReplyDeleteNot exactly a very comforting thought, CJ, however profound it happens to be. (You're becoming a philosopher.)
ReplyDeleteNice drawing. Sorry to hear about your friend, life can be cruel .
ReplyDeleteTa, McS, though to be honest, we weren't exactly close pals and I'd last spoken with him 38 years ago. Still, it's a shame he's dead though. Was a very clever fellow in a lot of ways, so to be deprived of his mind in his later years was very cruel.
ReplyDeleteKid - That's a pretty nifty sketch of your old acquaintance. A lot better than I could do!
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, my family's 2nd car was a white Lada estate car. A few years ago, I found a drawing I'd done from the Lada's back seat ( probably on a long holiday trip to the airport ), depicting my father, with his hand on the Lada's steering wheel. On the centre of the steering wheel column was a viking long ship(?) symbol ( Lada's emblem), displayed in my picture. That's a little detail about the car I'd completely forgotten, until seeing that old sketch. A sentimental reminder of my late father, and a car associated with family trips and memories.
Didn't Rover cars have a similar emblem, later on?
Phillip
Thanks for the compliment, P, and that's a touching reminiscence of your late father and old car. As for emblems, not very familiar with them so don't know which one Rover had.
ReplyDeletePhillip, I used to have a Rover car and they did indeed have a Viking longship emblem with a sail on their car emblem.
ReplyDeleteH'mm, seems to be a bit of an echo in here, eh, McS?
ReplyDelete😁
ReplyDeleteKid - Soz for tardinesss in my reply. My brother visiting for X-mas, I didn't 'check in'. That's my excuse, anyway.
ReplyDeletePaul - after 2 secs internet research, I've found the two 'emblems' - it seems 'marque' is the correct automotive term, of which I was unaware!
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/lada-logo.html?sortBy=relevant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_%28marque%29#/media/File:Rover_logo_2002.svg
Lada's a 'profile shot' of a longship (c.f. Sidney Poitier & Richard Widmark). whilst Rover's a head-on, 'in-your-face' shot of a longship, bearing down on the viewer.
Russia was supposedly founded by the 'Russ' - possibly Vikings; and maybe Rover - well, Vikings 'roved' the seas ( just guessing! )
In reality, of course, Ladas were actually Fiats, with a few tweaks, so the emblem ( I mean 'marque' ) could have been a pizza . Ladas get slagged off a lot, but they were cheap ( important in the 70s ), and- as a kid - I liked ours!
Phillip
I remember Ladas were regarded as a bit of a 'figure of fun' for a while, P, but I think they eventually overcame that and came to be quite well-regarded.
ReplyDeleteOn YouTube there's some film from the BBC archives showing a department store Santa in 1955 asking children what they want for Christmas. One little girl asks for a doll that wees itself and the Santa replies "A doll that wheezes?"
ReplyDeleteAll the kids ask for such simple gifts - nowadays they'd demand a Playstation and an iPad.
That's because most kids today are greedy little buggahs, CJ, and their parents are too thick to see they're spoiling them. "Children should be seen and not heard" is what my father used to say. I've amended it to "Children shouldn't be seen or heard!" I think my version's better.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot - humbug!
DeleteGreat drawing, Kid. You're a very talented lad. If you have others to entertain us with, please post 'em from time to time.
ReplyDeleteThat one's appeared before, B (as have others), in my Sketch Of The Day feature. Just type those four words into the blog's search box and - hey, presto!
ReplyDeleteAlso try Not Just A Letterer for quite a few drawings by me over the years from when I was a teenager.
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