Walter Dickinson, of the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop, has posted video of Ty giving his famous (infamous?) speech about the myth of talent. Watch it and be inspired to learn, learn, learn. And practice.
November 29, 2009
F.Y.I.
@Keith, who asked how well Sean captured his sister’s image…
a pic of Miss Katherine Rose Templeton-Smith
November 26, 2009
Nepotism Thursdays!
There’s a great moment, in an old Will Smith film called Six Degrees of Separation, where an art teacher is showing off the water colour paintings of a classroom full of eight year olds. Somehow, these paintings are magnificent. Every one of them a bold and wonderful landscape, or haunting portrait or daring abstract, each with brilliant composition and personality.
All of them.
These are the canvases that generations of expressionists have longed to be able to create, all dashed off by eight year olds with casual ease.
“How on earth did you teach your students to paint so beautifully?” the art instructor is asked.
“I taught them nothing,” she answers, “I just hand them the brushes and watch them paint. My trick is knowing when to take the paintings away and knowing how to crop ‘em.”
The untrained mind creates some of the most interesting art. The example above is by my untrained ten year old Sean. It’s a portrait of his eight year old sister. And here’s what I like about it beyond the proud papa, lookie at what muh BOY did aspects…! I like that he liberally mixes pencil crayon colours in the hair and face, including some BLUE(!) in the facial features. I never put blue in a flesh tone until college, and even then against my will. But there it is. And the blacks in the blonde hair to tone down the way-too-yellow pencil crayon that was supposed to be blonde. Lovely.
I like the eyes being white, with blue pupils, around gray dots. That’s my favorite part of the portrait, simply because my mind would never go to that interpretation of reality. There’s a bit of Modigliani in there, perhaps. The family has large, framed reproductions of his work up in our house, and he’s one of my favorite painters. To the left is one of the two that hang in his parent’s bedroom, and the elongated face so common to Modigliani’s work is visible in it.
Another painter we have numerous examples of, up around the house, is the deco master (or mistress) Tamara de Lempicka. Her work also features a glassy eye and an elongated face. Since I ain’t a zillionaire, we have framed copies of her work darting about our walls, 
another influence into the ten year old brain, mayhap…?
And finally, I like that Sean has a habit of cutting his artwork out of the paper it’s drawn on after he’s done. There’s always an element of treating the drawing itself as an object with him…once the art is cut out, it’s then glued to something else, or folded into something, or often just given away in its cut out form.
The trick is knowing when to take it away.
So…take it away Sean Templeton-Smith, this was your first gallery show, and in the company of two modern masters, to boot!
I have four kids in total, each with their own stunning set of talents, so be forewarned, this feature will likely show up again.
Ty the Guy. Once again, tricking the family into doing his job for him.
November 25, 2009
Bunny Funnies
Sometimes the pages Ty did for DC Comics’ Shoptalk didn’t feature bunnies…here are Ty’s Desert Island Five.
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November 22, 2009
Sunday Sunday Sunday
Ty is at Toronto ComiCon, right now–as I type! Drop by and see him at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop table.
November 20, 2009
Hoverboy Friday on Friday for a change!
Here’s this week’s dip into the Hoverboy wading pool with one of the oddest ripples that Hoverboy ever caused.
This box of cereal, from 1985, was the last officially licensed Hoverboy product until the comic book revival in 2007. 
The box art (painted by the great Dexter Munroe) was available for only three months in ‘85, and only in the American Southwest, and parts of Maine. Hoverboy cereal was discontinued (after decades of success), because polling proved the character was no longer popular following the 1982 shooting spree by Bucket-Boy co- creator, Bob Stark, at a Michigan shopping mall. It’s a wonder this cereal lasted as long as it did.
The real tragedy came when America’s Best decided to repurpose the cereal shapes and box artwork with a new rising star in the world of sp0rts, basketball player Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
In their 
haste to get the new product to market, the usually professional AB Co. art department only changed the head and face on the box , leaving the unfortunate pistol in place.
As liberal as America was in the Eighties, they still weren’t willing to buy a cereal featuring a black man holding a gun in New Mexico (and parts of Maine). The cereal sold very poorly, and eight people died as a direct result of seeing the box on shelves. For the next decade, America’s Best gave up on celebrity based breakfast foods and focused on toaster pastries and tropical juices.
It was their next, and final foray into the lucrative world of celebricereals that ultimately closed the doors of one of the nation’s best known breakfast brands.
After years of keeping away from star based breakfasts, ABCC jumped in with both feet in May of 1994, once again bringing out the original “Buckets and Fists” cereal under a new name, trading on the enduring fame of well known movie star and sports hero, O.J. Simpson.
In what seemed like a stroke of excellent luck for the early morning foods giant, three weeks later, Mr. Simpson was arrested on suspicion of murder, causing sales of the cereal to be astoundingly strong for a month and a half, selling over a million boxes, until the factory was mysteriously set on fire by a large crowd on August 22, 1994.
For more of the fascinating world of Hoverboy, go to www.hoverboy.com and strap into your hover-chairs for the floating ride of your life. As the old comics used to say “It’s Somewhat Fun!”.
Ty the Guy. See you at the Toronto convention this weekend!
November 19, 2009
Next Appearance is
on Sunday at Toronto ComiCon. Check out the details, as blogged by Kevin Boyd over at www.joeshusterawards.com.
Ty will be signing, sketching, looking at portfolios, telling tales, and accepting cold Cokes. There will be pages for sale…I’m going to put together a pile. If there are particular Ty pages you’re hoping to see (everyone asks for Batman covers–they’re gone, people, gone! Ask for interior art!), drop me a line at tytempletonart@gmail.com, and I’ll see what I find hiding in his studio.
Keiren
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November 18, 2009
Bunny Funny
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Many years ago, back when Ty and I were first living together, we went on a trip to New York that was to be capped off by our first convention together. A chance to see Ty in his environment, in his element, with his peeps. Heh.
My first sign of trouble was that Ty had never heard of the con before, “Odyssey Trek–what the heck kind of a name is that?” The second sign of trouble was in the hotel lobby, “Honey,” I asked in a slightly confused voice, “Why is there a Klingon baby in a stroller?”. Yep. He’d been invited to a Star Trek convention. Star Trek–not Star Trek comics, Star Trek. Turns out one of the organizers was a huge Ty Templeton fan and really didn’t care that the rest of the committee apparently couldn’t see the point of inviting Ty–he wanted to meet Ty, so by God, he invited Ty.
It was a long weekend.
To be fair, Ty loves Star Trek and happily counts himself as a Trekkie (and defiantly so–won’t use the term “Trekker” and mocks those who do). He was thrilled speechless to write a Star Trek mini last year. But back then–
It was a long weekend.
I was threatened by the Klingon bodyguards when I tried to stand near Ty at a signing table–turns out he was beside Gowron, Chancellor of the Klingon Empire. I believe I threatened to emasculate a few of them.
It was a long weekend.
Keiren
November 17, 2009
Workshops…
There may not be a lot of spaces left in the workshops–most of this year’s bunch has expressed interest in signing up for the next one. Book now and don’t be disappointed!
