Mikenesses
December 14, 2013 6:07 PM   Subscribe

Cartoonist Mike Holmes draws himself (and his cat) in the style of other famous cartoonists/illustrators/animators. Examples: Maurice Sendak. Chris Ware. Rob Liefeld. Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
posted by Greg Nog (66 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble



 
That last one is actually Chuck Jones, not Dr. Seuss, but it looks great!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:10 PM on December 14, 2013 [5 favorites]


I love the Paul Pope and Bill Watterson ones!
posted by Artw at 6:18 PM on December 14, 2013


Dang these are awesome. I'm impressed that he takes only an hour out of his day to do these.
posted by danny the boy at 6:22 PM on December 14, 2013


The Liefield feet are much too realistic.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 6:24 PM on December 14, 2013 [19 favorites]


I do love a good bacon joke.
posted by psoas at 6:24 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


I like this one, not so much for the drawing (cause he really misses Schulz's line) but, rather, because really gets the look of a cel on a background right, with the uneven paint and the slight shadow of the painted area against the background. Nice attention to detail, that.

His run through the Mad Magazine artists is great, too. Especially Aragones.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:24 PM on December 14, 2013


I love the Chuck Jones ones because it really gets to like the essence of his style: a billion knuckles all at nauseating angles
posted by danny the boy at 6:29 PM on December 14, 2013 [3 favorites]


Hell, the Liefeld feet are physically in the picture.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 6:40 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


I clicked on the Liefeld first to laugh about the pouches and BEHOLD kitteh pouches.
posted by elizardbits at 6:41 PM on December 14, 2013 [3 favorites]


Man, this is fantastic. I wasn't expecting it, but scrolling through the archive reminded me how lucky I am to have read/watched so many of these brilliant artists.
posted by gwint at 6:55 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


The liefield one IS great...the crotch-sphincter is especially well done, but really at least one foot should have been hidden behind the cat, the cat's pouches should have been leg pouches, and each paw should have been "holding" a sword or gun, or better, a gunsword.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:07 PM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]


The Chris Ware version is pitch-perfect!
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 7:10 PM on December 14, 2013 [3 favorites]


The Chris Ware one looks perfect but it needs about 20% more self-loathing and a touch of misanthropy.
posted by velebita at 7:13 PM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]


I don't know, I thought the Liefeld one needed a smaller head and even bigger man-boobs.
posted by axiom at 7:14 PM on December 14, 2013


The real man is pretty damn sexy- would love to see his Tom of Finland version.
posted by ethnomethodologist at 7:22 PM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]




ADORABLE AND PERFECT
posted by The Whelk at 7:24 PM on December 14, 2013


He wrote that, with few exceptions, he allowed himself ONE HOUR to complete each of those... I am double impressed.

I wonder if his "Adventure Time'd myself" helped land him his gig doing Adventure Time comics.

Lots of other cool stuff on his blog besides the Mikenesses: he said he doesn't do mashups often, but after seeing "Adventure Tintin", I think he should do it more often.

He has only done a few since completing the collection for the book (and the last one is '6 months ago'), but if he discovers this thread, Mike, go Jay Ward yourself, Carl Barks yourself, R. Stevens yourself (it's easy, even I could do it), Richard 'Cul-de-Sac' Thompson yourself, Al Capp yourself, Alex 'Space Ghost' Toth yourself, Zack 'SMBC' Weinersmith yourself, Noelle 'Nimona' Stevenson yourself, and WHAT, you haven't Lauren 'My Little Pony' Faust'd yourself yet?
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:26 PM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]


It's insane that he can do so many styles and get even 85% there, which is how close I would characterize most of these as being.

Really like the Jamie Hewlett one. I wanted to really like the Frank Quitely one but there is something just not quite right about the face. It doesn't have that "a 3D printed model of a character designed by drunk aliens" feel to it.
posted by selfnoise at 7:29 PM on December 14, 2013 [2 favorites]


This is great not only for the wonderful art, but for all the new artists it's introducing me to. I have no idea who Marlo Meekins is, but she sure seems to like butts a lot.
posted by archagon at 7:34 PM on December 14, 2013


And he makes the 'concert' posters for Patton Fucking Oswalt! One more bit of awesomeness.

Yes, archagon, Marlo Meekins is a 'relatively' new artist, and I love that he Kolchaka'd, 'Grickled' and Mr. Hipp'd himself, among others... a true depth and breadth of artists.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:44 PM on December 14, 2013


The Marlo Meekins one is one of my favorites.
posted by Windigo at 8:03 PM on December 14, 2013


more non-Mikenesses I want to share from his blog:
"The Weird Guy at the End of the Street"
"INTERNET - THE UNTOLD STORY: Legend of the Rise of the Internet"

And he explained one obvious omission: "I actually decided not to draw a Simpsons style for two reasons - I used to draw portraits for people in that style about ten years ago, and I just did it way too much to ever want to do it again. Plus there are Simpsons avatar generators out there, so the fun kinda went out of it."
posted by oneswellfoop at 8:05 PM on December 14, 2013


These are super. The Maurice Sendak version makes me wonder if this should be the new frontier in boardwalk caricature artists. Pick an artist-style to get your portrait done in! I would totally shell out moolah for a Where the Wild Things Are me.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:07 PM on December 14, 2013 [6 favorites]


OMG. Wallace and Gromit Mike is utterly delightful.

Mikenesses would be a great gift for a budding artist, part inspiration book, part comics crash course. (ponders who shall be the lucky one...)
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:14 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


Love this so much.
posted by Theta States at 8:20 PM on December 14, 2013


As much as I like riffing and mashup culture, why is it all right, legally, for Mike Holmes to sell these in book form? Why should he not have to pay the artists whose distinctive styles he's borrowing?
posted by Nomyte at 8:23 PM on December 14, 2013


Oh I totally wish his art book was still available. Anyone have leads?
posted by Theta States at 8:26 PM on December 14, 2013


> As much as I like riffing and mashup culture, why is it all right, legally, for Mike Holmes to sell these in book form?

I don't think you can copyright a style.
posted by archagon at 8:48 PM on December 14, 2013 [6 favorites]


And because all art is theft?
posted by axiom at 9:05 PM on December 14, 2013


As much as I like riffing and mashup culture, why is it all right, legally, for Mike Holmes to sell these in book form? Why should he not have to pay the artists whose distinctive styles he's borrowing?

It's hardly an artifact of "mashup culture," since this type of homage to another person's trademark style has some precedent behind it.

Either way, these are really great. The genius of it is keeping himself and the cat as the subject across all of these (well, most as far as the cat goes) since there's no mistaking what each artist's style contributes to the image. What a fun project!
posted by invitapriore at 10:03 PM on December 14, 2013


It isn't satire. Nor do I have a problem with Holmes offering his set of drawings for sale. I am just curious if there are any legal ramifications of him selling a collection of explicitly derivative work. I mean, a big part of the attraction here is how closely Holmes can imitate the style of other artists. It's not "here's a hundred distinctive ways to draw myself," it's "look how I draw myself as Charlie Brown, the Grinch, and a monster from Where the Wild Thing Are."
posted by Nomyte at 10:05 PM on December 14, 2013


It's a delightful exercise, in any case.
posted by lumensimus at 10:06 PM on December 14, 2013 [1 favorite]


Mike is an excellent fellow, and I highly recommend the print collection of his comic, True Story.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 10:53 PM on December 14, 2013


The Chris Ware one looks perfect but it needs about 20% more self-loathing and a touch of misanthropy.

Yeah, I think there was actual happiness and contentment there.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:15 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


This guy has got some real chops... nudging the jealously button
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 2:18 AM on December 15, 2013


this is either a really loving parody or the iciest burn
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 2:18 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


I scrolled patiently, looking for the artist to Kate Beaton himself; was not disappointed.
posted by The Nutmeg of Consolation at 6:56 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


He hasn't Oglaf'd himself. Disappointed.
posted by ymgve at 7:16 AM on December 15, 2013 [4 favorites]


This guy has a ton of talent, and these are delightful.
posted by Fig at 7:47 AM on December 15, 2013


I am absolutely in awe of a lot of these, but the Liefeld one in particular. Not just because he gets the broad strokes of Liefeld's style down pat, but because the anatomy is so perfect. Like Liefeld's most memorable drawings, each body part is slightly (sometimes severely) off in its own way, but looks like an understandable mistake that could be made by someone working under a monthly deadline (though Liefeld, practically speaking, was not). No, it's only when taken as a whole that each part performs a spectacular failure to cohere. You can look at the arms and know they're wrong, and you can look at the legs and know they're wrong, but it's not until you look at the arms and legs together that your brain just basically shuts down.

It's impressive enough, in a weird way, that Liefeld can do this reliably by accident. Reproducing this effect on purpose is downright astonishing.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:01 AM on December 15, 2013 [5 favorites]


Also, strange as it may sound, I experienced an odd sense of relief when I got to his Gorey, because while it's a decent drawing on its own merits, it's not a very good reproduction of Gorey's style.

Upon realizing this, I had this feeling like, "So...he is human after all."
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:10 AM on December 15, 2013 [4 favorites]


He hasn't Oglaf'd himself. Disappointed.

While I applaud this idea in theory, I assume he has more respect for his cat than that.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:25 AM on December 15, 2013 [8 favorites]


These are great.

Dinosaur comics is gonna be nearly indistinguishable from the source.
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 8:56 AM on December 15, 2013


Oh no, not something else about cats on the Internet, I (almost) said, but these really are good. I too was pleased with how many of the original artists I recognized, and especially liked the Mad Magazine week. (The real reason I went ahead and checked it out is because I figure Greg Nog knows his stuff when it comes to cartooning. He was, after all, a host at the Olive Garden.)
posted by LeLiLo at 9:15 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


This is sublime. I have so much respect for any artist capable of aping even ONE style accurately, but this guy is a god among men.
posted by These Birds of a Feather at 9:57 AM on December 15, 2013


Mikenesses? What does this have to do with Social Distortion?
posted by sourwookie at 10:04 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


These are marvelous.
posted by Songdog at 10:14 AM on December 15, 2013


These are magnificent; it's too much to take in all at once.

Now if he'd just Walt Kelly, Al Capp and Will Eisner himself. Oh, and just for fun, Hal Foster himself as well. But the real challenge would doing Winsor McCay and keeping it down to an hour.
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:51 AM on December 15, 2013


I love these. I checked the Hirschfeld one to see it he had Nina'd it. Sure enough... sort of.
posted by valrus at 11:12 AM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


I was just wishing for Winsor McCay. Happy to see MAD week and George Herriman. So many times people attempt this sort of thing and only sort of superficially get the style they're trying to imitate. There's a few of these that don't quite gel, but I'm really amazed at the depth and breadth of his drawings.
posted by oneirodynia at 11:12 AM on December 15, 2013


I am just curious if there are any legal ramifications of him selling a collection of explicitly derivative work.

I'm trying to imagine the litigative bloodbath that would ensue if being "derivative" was legally infringing. Thousands of years from now, aliens would land on Earth, look at the crumbling ruins and the gibbering, vegetative remnants of humanity cowering in them, and say: "It's the same pattern we've seen on other worlds; a once-thriving civilization takes the concept of intellectual property that one step too far, and destroys itself."
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:04 PM on December 15, 2013 [2 favorites]


To the delight of many (and the disgust of a few others), the Mikenesses book is still available for purchase ($15.00 + bigcartel.com's calculation for postage).

As the debate continues over whether this is copyright-violating or not (I vote NOT), Holmes did make the following side-note early on:

It occurred to me the other day, and I may be way off base on this, that some people who see these sketches might get the impression that I’m swiping poses or copying other artists’ work outright, and just adding features to make it look like me. I would like to let everyone know that’s not the case - there are no direct references for any of these drawings. I Google Image a bunch of stuff, but all of my illustrations are from scratch.

Again, I may be worried about nothing, but I’ve seen enough swipes and underhanded dickery on the internet and I want to be absolutely clear that I don’t touch that shit with a ten-meter cattle prod. Especially when it comes to the amazing artists I’m drawing after.

posted by oneswellfoop at 12:19 PM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


As someone who tried to copy some webcomic styles, I am in awe of his range.
posted by The Whelk at 12:28 PM on December 15, 2013


the Far Side one genuinely made me lol
posted by Potomac Avenue at 2:35 PM on December 15, 2013 [1 favorite]


I don't think you can copyright a style.

I don't think so, either, and it's probably a good thing too. A lot of comics artists, including some well-known and popular ones, got their start closely imitating the work of earlier cartoonists; John Byrne and Bill Sienkiewicz both started off imitating Neal Adams, and Berke Breathed obviously based the early Bloom County on Doonesbury. The better artists move away from that to develop their own style; the worse ones... well, at least they're copying someone good. (Usually. I've seen Rob Liefeld imitators that tried to outdo Liefeld, and the result was sort of fascinating, in an utterly grotesque way.) It's usually considered theft to imitate a specific bit of artwork, but there are exceptions made for properly-attributed homages, as with the cover of Fantastic Four #1. (Before I looked that up, I'd guessed that Byrne had done at least a half-dozen homages to that cover throughout his career, and it turns out there are at least seven.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 2:44 PM on December 15, 2013


Gosh, these are incredible. I can't believe he spends just an hour on each.
posted by painquale at 6:12 PM on December 15, 2013


Wow, those are great! I really loved the Mad magazine ones, and the Berke Breathed/Bloom County one was also awesome.

There are so many more I'd like to see him do - Julie Doucet, Terry Moore, Alison Bechdel, Eddie Campbell, Andi Watson, Scott McCloud - hope he keeps it up! Dave McKean, too, though that might be hard to pull off in an hour. But yeah, I was really impressed how sometimes I recognised the style without even the name (that looks like... the Maxx somehow... what was the name of the guy who drew that? and sure enough, it was Sam Kieth.) Definitely a talented guy! Thanks for the post.
posted by Athanassiel at 4:07 AM on December 16, 2013


To the delight of many (and the disgust of a few others), the Mikenesses book is still available for purchase ($15.00 + bigcartel.com's calculation for postage).

Thank you! Book ordered.
posted by Theta States at 6:23 AM on December 16, 2013


I can't decide which part of this post/thread I've enjoyed the most: the incredible collection of Mikenesses, or finding out for the first time about Rob Liefeld, which eventually led me to spend most of yesterday laughing hysterically over this and this.
posted by scody at 12:37 PM on December 16, 2013 [1 favorite]


The only problem with any list of Liefeld's worst drawings is that it omits one of his most fascinating shortcomings: Continuity. It's something you don't really catch until you try to read a full story.

I was going through my old stuff at my parents' house last weekend and found some of the early Youngblood issues I'd been given by friends back in the day. While his art in general is just plain awful, there's also the fact that he can't keep track of what characters are wearing, over any damn amount of time. This particular issue opened witha jump out of a plane into an action scene, and the guy leading the charge was Diehard, a ludicrous visual combination of Captain America and Deadpool (character-wise, he's...pretty much every other Liefeld character).

And from one page to the next - sometimes from one panel to the next - Diehard's equipment kept changing. Sometimes he had a strap on his chest running between the two ridiculous shoulder straps. Most of the time, he didn't. Sometimes he had a holster one one shoulder. Sometimes he had a pouch belt on his calf, and sometimes he didn't. Bedrock (later Badrock) had the same problem. Sometimes one of his massive shoulder pads was made of ammunition (despite his not carrying a weapon). Sometimes it wasn't. His wristbands would appear and disappear unpredictably. They met up with a character named Prophet - same deal. Belts of pouches were there in one panel and not there in the next one, and sometimes they'd return and sometimes they wouldn't.

And to be clear, this wasn't a situation where the characters were being shown throughout the day - this whole thing was happening in the span of a couple minutes, maybe. Their outfits would change during conversations. They'd leap in the air with eighty pouches on their person, kick an enemy robot, and have a hundred pouches when they landed on the ground.

Like so much else the guy does, it was fascinating, in its own twisted way.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:25 AM on December 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


I couldn't access that link at work, and I was afraid it had been taken down on copyright grounds or something

I was wrong

yay
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 3:28 PM on December 17, 2013


Ha, I guess someone saw the post here, posted it to io9 on Sunday morning, and now he's sold out!
Glad I got my order in last week, before the rush. Thanks, mefi. :)
posted by Theta States at 6:31 AM on December 18, 2013


The Quentin Blake one is spot-on and delightful.
posted by coppermoss at 11:41 AM on December 20, 2013


All the Liefeld characters are bizarre Mobiusesque space gods now...
posted by Artw at 11:47 AM on December 20, 2013


That Perry Bible Fellowship one is great. These are all really good but that one's my fave!
posted by turbid dahlia at 1:51 PM on January 8, 2014


« Older The White Album demos   |   Do cats love us back? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments