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MJBivouac — Dave Stevens Tribute Art
Published: 2008-03-17 03:32:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 4182; Favourites: 74; Downloads: 236
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Pencil on Bristol Board. Digital colors. Dave Steven has been a favorite comics creator of mine for many years now. I loved his character The ROCKETEER. He was one hell of a draftsman. Dave died a few days ago and I wanted to do something in tribute to him. And this is what I came up with.Related content
Comments: 82
Thank you very much. It was a pleasure to draw it.
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Hmm...now that I think about it, when's the last time you did a Rocketeer picture? T&A is...well, okay (if you're into that sort of thing), but the Rocketeer is just classic!
How 'bout Cliff wrestling a Nazi spy on the mooring mast of the Empire State Building (or something similarly "cliffhanger")? Or standing majestically with Bettie slung over his shoulder? No, that's been done...
Just a suggestion.
It would look good on that chipboard, too. That stuff's cheap--right?
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I actually use the acid-free chip board that you buy in the scrape-booking section of a craft store. It's a bit more expensive, BUT will be around in ten years. It has an interesting LOOK, a natural warm grey, but you can't overwork it as it starts to shred. But there is something about that is nice to work on and it takes the colored pencil rather well, as long as you know when to stop working it!
You know, I do the erotic stuff mostly because I can sell it easily. I'd love to do more conventional work, but it is much harder to sell than T&A. And I am really hurting from the economy right now so T&A it is, I'm afraid.In a perfect world I'd love to do a cool PG-Rated ROCKETEER piece...or just a landscape, or a portrait...but they are much harder to sell.
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As great a tragedy as the passing as Jack Kirby and Gary Gygax.
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Thank you, and I could not agree more.
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Such a sweet, sincere tribute. You speak for the multitudes who loved and admired this perfectionist and his work (slow though he was).
I knew a pin-up artist in Colorado who'd known D.S. He told me Stevens had said that producing art was such a lonely process; he loved "talking shop" with other artists and meeting his fans at conventions, in spite of his leukemia.
I saw him signing books at the San Diego Comicon in 1996, but was too intimidated to approach him. I just stood there and stared. How I wish now, I'd had the nerve to speak to him!
Anyway, thanks for the nice tribute, MJ. We need to keep his memory alive for fans yet to come.
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Dave,
Thank you very much. I first saw Stevens' work way back in Pacific Presents comics, where the Rocketeer debuted. The moment I saw that art I was hooked. I also loved the period setting. This guy was special! Well above average compared to most other comicbook artists. I rememebr too finally getting the last installment of the Rocketeer L.A. Adventure, and only after a couple of readings did it suddenly slam me on the head that guy in the flight suit was NOT Howard Hughes! I went back and re-read the tale and felt like I had a huge secret that nobody else knew! Of course plenty of other people figured out who it was, but I felt special for a little while anyway.
I was working for a guy who knew Stevens a little bit. He and I used to talk comics and artists' whom we liked...Stevens, Cho, etc. And one day my friend/boss said that "Dave" might stop by that week for lunch. Was I ever excited! But for whatever reason he did not make it. I would have been in geek heaven. I loved his work.
I had no idea he was ill, so it was a surprise when I heard he died. I just had to do an art tribute ASAP. I kind of rushed the color work a bit because I wanted to get it posted as quickly as possible, but it still came out nice I think. A bit corny, but sometimes that is just so much fun to draw...and it was.
Thanks for the kind words. This was kind of a special drawing for me too.
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I love this.When I was a kid,Dave Stevens was the standard that I tried to measure up to.I never made it,but I sure tried.
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Boy! Isn't that the truth. My sentiments exactly. What a talent that man was.
MJB
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Holy Crap!
I didn't know Dave Stevens died.
What terrible news.
Wonderful tribute.
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Yes, it was a few weeks ago now, Very sad news indeed.
MJB
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What a wonderful tribute--especially with the GeeBee 'going West'. Keep 'em flyin'.
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Thanks! I was pleased with how this came out....but was sad that I had reason to draw it. I wish i could have met the guy.
MJB
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had no idea..this is FANTASTIC, and I LOVED that movie..NICE piece here! very fitting tribute to the guy (unfortunately I've never even heard of him, but if he created the rocketeer, that accounts for something great)
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He was a very talented guy. What a waste of talent to die so young...and especially when the world is filled with so many worthless people who no one would miss if they dropped dead. Check out Dave Stevens on line. All kind sof links to his work.
MJB
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Great piece, captures a sense of sadness alot of tributes don't have. The only work of his I'm familar with
is the Rocketeer, and that from the movie. I've seen pieces of his art online but never read his comics. He was a very talented artist
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B2,
Thanks for that comment! That is exactly what i wanted to capture. Some have said that this piece is a bit corny...and maybe it is, but it's all about emotion, and if emotion is CORNY, then so be it!
When it comes to Stevens' comics, the ROCKETEER is pretty much IT! He did a lot of covers and pin-up things. His probalem was that he was a perfectionist, and he was very slow! The finished work was always flawless, but he was just too slow to even consider taking on a regular monthly comic. His female pin-up work is pretty amazing too! A talented man...he is already missed.
MJB
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Aww. This is really great! I love your rich linework, especially in the mountain range and the clouds. Smooth colors complete the great look. Beautiful tribute!
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Such kind words from someone so talented. Thank you very much.
MJB
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great work.
i also enjoy the Rocketeer, he is my avatar at the wwoec forum.
sad, but now i belive Dave can fly without the rockets or a plane.
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Thanks very much. I'll have to check out your pages at WWOEC. I used to have an account there, but failure to update lost it for me.
MJB
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Thank you, I enjoyed drawing it, but was saddened by the fact that there was a reason to draw it.
MJBm
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AB,
Thank you. I'd like to think this piece is just that.
MJB
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Please ignore the MOVIE! It's not very good, but the original comicbook work is great!
MJB
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I don't know of the comic.....thanks for the information.
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Do a web search...lots of links.
MJB
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Thank you. So nice to get such nice comments from complete strangers.
MJB
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Well, we aren't 100% complete strangers since we know we have an admiration for Dave Stevens in common
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You, me and THOUSANDS of other folks who know great work when they see it.
MJB
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I've never heard of him before, but the movie is one of my favorites and it was just on today so this fact makes me sad. This will probably cause me to investigate his other works like these kinds of things always do.
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Please do! The movie was a major concession to the original comicbook work. The things that made the comic unique and special had to be left out of the film for legal reasons. In the comic, Cliff encounters a character who appears, it is later surmised at story's end, to be Howard Huges. However, if you read between the lines you realize that it is NOT Huges, and who it turns out to be is even more amazing. And, of course, it is real-life pin-up superstar Bettie Page who is Cliff's girlfriend in the comic. They had to change her name and make her just a beautiful girl in the film.
Stevens later did a story where Cliff goes to New York looking for Bettie, and encounters a few other amazing pulp fiction and real-life characters along the way.
Please seek out the comics. they are well worth the effort.
MJB
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Z,
Thanks very much. It was a bittersweet experience. I wish I did not have to create it.
MJB
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So that's why they aired the Rocketeer movie the other day... I thought it was a little obscure. Nice job on this!
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The movie is the least of what Dave and The Rocketeer were all about. I wish more people copuld get a hold of the comic and see just how great it is. Thansk for the kind words.
MJB
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Ditto! Thanks for stopping by.
MJB
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That is a shame when someone is taken away from us at a young age. A very powerful and beautiful tribute Biv.
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Duck,
Thanks very much. This is one of the few things I have drawn in a long time that had a real emotional meaning for me.
MJB
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Great job on this one, MJ . . . a very nice tribute to him, and to his work.
Thanks for sharing!
-- Stephen
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Stephen,
Thanks so much for the comments. This drawing was a labor of love, but also a sad piece to do.
MJB
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I can understand. I lost my younger brother a few years ago. I have an oil painting portrait of him I did in college. A great likeness...I am now torn about sending it to my parents or keeping it. I don't know it they would like it or if it would be too much of a reminder...what to do? I also have a sketchbook drawing of him sleeping in the hospital...I would never get rid of the drawing, but i also kind of dislike looking at it. Agian, a good likeness, but he had just had a major brain operation, and he did not look GREAT...but it was what he looked like at the end. A bittersweet feeling.
MJB
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believe me, I had similar feelings when I did the pencil piece of my father.
You did good, MJ. He'd be proud, I'm certain.
-- Stephen
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