 This
,is a comp.What is a comp you say?Why, no one really knows,but everyone
in advertising uses them.When I first started working for ad companies
such as Martin Agency, they asked me to do comps for ad campaigns such
as the one above. I said, you want me to do a presentation story
board? "No, we want comps." So I did presentation storyboards and
called
them comps,and everyone was happy.Years after I finally found out comp
is short for "comprehensive".Or a design that's comprehensive of a
concept
etc. I had been doing those all my life and didn't know it .Well, live
and learn,especially that in one industry you may be doing the same
thing
as another ,but calling it by a different name.Comps were fun though
and
much less intense than animation production work, although the
deadlines
could be very quick and sudden,such as over night.That's where being
able
to draw quickly for animation paid off.Often you didn't have time for
any
research or creative forethought.You might grab a book off the shelf
or
maybe not, dive into the drawing board and then over to the computer
for final coloring etc.You'd have to come up with an idea
quickly,sometimes , conciously or not, dredging up images out of memory
that
fit
the "casting" of the scene.(Often what comes into your head
first works best).Afterwards ,you might realize you've drawn someone
you
know.In
this case the man on the right being flippant I realized resembles Gene
Horton, a very nice and talented man who worked for Texaco and with
who's
family I grew up with in church.Although very intelligent ,he was known
to be rather silly at times,so the drawing worked--a case of "pencil
casting"you
might say.Don't ask me who the guy on the left is,but I think he's
somebody.If
you "draw" on real life (even subconciously) while at the same time
reaching
for originality, I think you always come up with believability and a
drawing
that "lives".KVA
 This,
for instance is my brother,Russ Van Allen.He's a chemical engineer and
as much a character in his world as I am in mine.Our worlds rarely
collide
though ,so we tend not to understand one another.For instance, he
believes
a pocket protector has a magical power to protect his whole body.Where
does he get this stuff? I much prefer the stable and sane world of
animated
cartoons.
 And
the kid on the right is my little cousin Josh Cornell.Who's no longer
so
little.The rest was inspired by National Geographic,always an
invaluable
source.
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