As has been noted in the comments, a close study of Kelly's artwork is almost a tutorial in cartooning, or at least uber inspirational for cartoonists and animators. As such, we'll also attempt to gather and assemble material detailing Kelly's characters, which were numerous.
These Senator Bulfrog drawings are from 1969, and I don't know if it's a caricature of a specific senator or of the political species itself. Senator Everett Dirksen comes to mind, but he died a couple of months before these usages and didn't specifically resemble Bulfrog, except in ways of bombastic behavior.
Kelly gave Bulfrog a classic treatment with his own sort of flowery word balloons, as politicians tend to inflict upon us.
And it's always lovely to examine Kelly original art . . .
November 4, 1969
Bullfrog reminds me of Jack Nicholson, but probably 1969 is too early for that.
ReplyDeleteI see wot you mean, though Bulfrog seems to be a specific caricature of a politico. I just can't place it. As I say, it could just be a caricature of the entire political species, puffing out their chests and booming platitudes.
DeleteYou should add "character design" to that list of skills that can be observed from Kelly's oeuvre. I can't help but get a little excited whenever I discover another one of his characters that I hadn't seen before. They all have great magnetic appeal to them. And they can be pretty diverse too.
ReplyDeleteI've got a list here, somewhere, that someone made of all his characters for just one comic strip. I hope to put at least one face to each of them. I bet Kelly came up with characters spontaneously as they walked into the strip.
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