Jonesing

Sorry for the long break, guys. I've actually been booked solid during the last half of September. I got a new part-time job at an apple orchard/cider mill, then went through a bit of an art block (that's over now, thank goodness). Oh, and I'm going to be a proud uncle. "Uncle Scooter"- I'm already diggin' the sound of it.

With all that being said, October is here, and with that, the door's open on spooky encounters and Halloween thrills for our Duck and Husky! Our first strip for the month pays tribute to the style of the late-but-great animator Chuck Jones, whose 100th birthday is is this year. Chuck Jones is not only my favorite "Looney Tunes" director, but also one of my major influences as an artist.

•  Jones' birthday was September 21, but better late than never (I had actually started on the layout the week before that day, but got swamped with other things before actually drawing/inking it). Jeff Goldblum had it right, folks: "Life, uh, finds a way."
• I had the most fun drawing Tyrra in the Jones style, sticking her with a Wile E. Coyote/Ralph Wolf-ish appearance. I had thought about making her look a little like the wolves from Jones' adaption of "The Jungle Book", "Mowgli's Brothers" (1976), but the initial sketches didn't translate well with aspects of her usual design (mainly that hair of hers). 
• Tyrra being in charge of the explosives is something I plan to exploit in future strips.
• Drawing Quacklad was easy; I just basically drew him like Jones' take on Daffy Duck while exaggerating the quirks of his wardrobe.
• The kid decoy/trap was loosely based in appearance on Ralph Phillips, the little boy who liked to daydream from two of Jones' cartoons, "From A to Z-Z-Z-Z" (1954) and "Boyhood Daze" (1957).
• The witch and vampire were inspired by Witch Hazel of "Looney Tunes"/"Merrie Melodies"-fame and Count Bloodcount from "Transylvania 6-5000" (1963). I drew them both with the notable "skin tooth", and made the vampire a bit like Count Orlok of "Nosferatu"-fame.
• To give the background a more cartoony look, I watched a good number of Jones' "Looney Tunes" shorts and Maurice Noble's background/layout work, then settled with flat coloring with minimal digital altering and effects. To give it that right amount of spooky and funny, I watched "Transylvania 6-5000" again ("Abraca-pocus!").