Popeye the Sailor Man (toot, toot)

I worked up this Popeye sketch with pen and marker at last Friday's Drink n' Draw.

Popeye

first. a quick sketch!

and a second quick sketch! :D

I Yam Wut I Yam

Oh my, did I watch a lot of Popeye as a kid! And, Oh, Boy! Did I wait for something awesome to happen every time I ate some nasty ol' spinach. I think my problem was that mom never gave us frozen spinach. I don't think Popeye's powers come from the fresh stuff.

I'm strong to tha finach cuz I eats me spinach

POPEYE! I was so excited when I saw Andy Jewett picked this for our latest sketch challenge subject as Andy and I have a shared love of E.C. Segar's amazing creation, Popeye. 

Like most people my age, and those that are a bit older too, for YEARS my only exposure to the character was through the Paramount cartoons, and the Robin Williams/Shelly Duvall movie--the Fleischer Studios episodes obviously being the greatest of them. Even at a young age, I rejected the later episodes in favor of the Fleischer cartoons. The later ones were passable, but not even in the same plane of existence as the Fleischer cartoons.  Later in life (my late teens/early 20s), I discovered the Segar's original newspaper strips and fell in love all over again. I even think I have a pretty decent Popeye impression.

This offering features two of my favorite Popeye characters: Popeye and Goon. I wanted to fit Wimpy in there, but then thought I would save it for a later piece. Although, if I'm being honest, Wimpy is my favorite Segar character...but I digress. 

The piece above is my favorite of the four I posted today. I don't know if the action is perfectly clear, but I am satisfied with it for now and there are NO direct swipes in this one. Just looking at how Segar presented his characters and trying to emulate him. I'm definitely more pleased with the color in this one than I am in most of the others, but I think that has a long way to go yet too.

Anyway, I hope you dig it! I had a blast drawing it!

I Yam What I Yam

The one-eyed sailor has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember... I was introduced to the character as a cartoon first and have enjoyed getting to know him again through the strips. I named my youngest daughter Olive, for crying out loud. Toot! Toot!