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Sports Cartoons IllustrationsBiographyContactBulletin
BoardLinksHomebobstaake.com |
| Detail from New York Yankees Sports Cartoon. Mullin's baseball
cartoons are particularly sought after by collectors of original
cartoon art. (Collection
of Bob Staake) |
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The "Home Run" -- a re-occuring character
in Mullin's New
York Yankees
sports cartoons (Collection
of Bob Staake) |
| Comfortable working with a brush or simply
pen and ink, this Mullin piece on "professional" wrestling
includes virtually no grays -- yet he is able to suggest shading
with well-placed, expressive linework. It is worth noting that
most of Mullin's sports cartoons lack backgrounds -- and subordinate
characters. Clearly by only focusing on central players, Mullin
was able to complete a cartoon in faster fashion, but his lack
of background imagery also allows for cleaner, easier to read,
artwork. |
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A strong draftsman, Mullin helped define the
genre of sports cartooning by dually employing respresentative
portraiture, and cartoonish playfulness. In this detail, it's
apparent that Mullin was in top form while performing his aesthetic
balancing act. (Collection
of Bob Staake) |
| A study of Mullin's original artwork reveals
that the cartoonist first sketched his drawing, very loosely
but with intent, in pencil and then utilized very spontaneously
applied, inked brushwork. Pen and ink was used as well, particularly
to render text, and grays added to the pebbled coquille board
by the use of conte crayon. The usual whited-out, corrected areas
can be found in Mullin originals, though usually only to clarify
a line. The actual size of the detail to the right is 5.25"
x 9", the complete size of the full sports cartoon 14"
x 16".
(Collection of Bob Staake) |
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| Sports CartoonsIllustrationsBiographyContactBulletin
BoardLinksHomebobstaake.com |
