Digital Imaging Final Research Component

Alyssa Hess

Digital Imaging Final

Research Component

I. Robert Crumb

Humble Beginnings:

-          Robert Crumb was an American cartoonist born in Philadelphia on August 30, 1943

-          He had one brother named Charles who proved to be a major influence on Crumb’s work because of his love for comics

-          Crumb often felt like an outcast in school and sought comfort in drawing

“I was one of those social rejects, but then, you know, a lot of people were — nothing unusual about being an outcast in high school.”

            Illustration:

-          Crumb’s family moved to Delaware in 1956, and Crumb lived there until 1962, when he moved to Cleveland, Ohio

-          Crumb found a job with the American Greetings Corporation

-          He began slowly, working as a color separator, but was then promoted to commercial illustrator for the company

-          Crumb’s artistic style largely went unappreciated by the American Greetings Corporation, who preferred him to draw more appealing characters

-          Crumb admitted to taking L.S.D when he started working in Cleveland and claims that during that period he created his best characters and learned a lot about his drawing style

“My boss kept telling me my drawings were too grotesque. I was trained to draw 'cute' little neuter characters which influenced my technique, and even now my work has this cuteness about it.”

         

                   Fritz the Cat:

-          Crumb’s first major cartoon was one called “Fritz the Cat”

-          He had created the character as a teenager and was approached by Ballantine Books to make a comic using Fritz the Cat

-          Feeling that the cartoon was a failure, Crumb swiftly ended it

Mr. Natural:

-          During the seventies, Crumb moved to California where he introduced some of his best characters, one of which was named Mr. Natural

-           Mr. Natural was a bald man with a long, white beard, who wore a yellow robe and big red shoes

-          Mr. Natural was a mystic and a guru who lived a humble life without many material possessions

*(another famous cartoon by Crumb was Angelfood McSpade, a stereotypical African American woman portrayed as a nymphomaniac)

II. Animation:

For my animation, I drew 84 frames for my cartoon “Clyde” by hand using micron pens and sketchbook paper. I then scanned in the images to Photoshop and edited them, making each frame the same resolution and size. Then I used the animation tools in Photoshop to organize my frames. Finally, I added sound clips and exported the file.