Tarzan and Jane Goodall process

 

I'm sort of projecting my childhood memory of Jane Goodall in this cartoon. I realize I am portraying her as the person I learned about in elementary school some forty years ago. Many 20-year olds probably only know her as an old woman—if they know her at all. She's 81 this year.

Goodall is best known for her study of chimpanzee social and family life. She began studying the Kasakela chimpanzee community in Gombe Stream National Park, Tanzania, in 1960.^[16]She entered the world of primates back in 1957 after cold calling Louis Leakey while in Kenya.

 

Some interesting trivia from Wikipedia: Leakey, believing that the study of existing great apes could provide indications of the behaviour of early hominids,^[9] was looking for a chimpanzee researcher, though he kept the idea to himself. Instead, he proposed that Goodall work for him as a secretary. After obtaining his wife Mary Leakey's approval, Louis sent Goodall to Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where he laid out his plans.

In 1958, Leakey sent Goodall to London to study primate behaviour with Osman Hill and primate anatomy with John Napier.^[10] Leakey raised funds, and on 14 July 1960, Goodall went to Gombe Stream National Park, becoming the first of what would come to be called The Trimates.^[11] She was accompanied by her mother, whose presence was necessary to satisfy the requirements of David Anstey, chief warden, who was concerned for their safety; Tanzania was "Tanganyika" at that time and a British protectorate.^[8]

Leakey arranged funding and in 1962, he sent Goodall, who had no degree, to Cambridge University where she obtained a PhD degree in Ethology.^[8][12] She became only the eighth person to be allowed to study for a PhD there without first having obtained a BA or BSc.^[2] Her thesis was completed in 1965 under the tutorship of Robert Hinde, former master of St. John's College, Cambridge, titled “Behaviour of the Free-Ranging Chimpanzee”, detailing her first five years of study at the Gombe Reserve.^[2][12] The rest is history.

Baby Thumbs

Here are some thumbnails redlined on 1.5 x 2 inch post-it notes. I go over them with a Bic ballpoint pen (and sometimes a sharpie) and then finish them off with a quick splash of black watercolor using my Pentel waterbrush. These crude little thumbnails really take care of the “heavy lifting” in the creative process. I am amazed at how close the finished cartoons resemble these baby thumbs. You might recognize three of these panels as they have already been posted as completed pieces (far left/ Torches and Cocktail Forks; upper right/ The Easter Bunion; lower right/ The Shallow End of the Jean Pool).

The View From the Pew

Some faces from church.

Studies

 

Linework done with brush and India ink, followed up with Pentel waterbrush.

Studies

 

Linework done with brush and India ink, followed up with Pentel waterbrush. 

Peck sketch at A-1 Comic's Creator Con

Practice

Contour: Verithin Black

Shading: Black Watercolor with Pentel Waterbrush

Detail: Micron 01

on Canson Coldpress Watercolor Paper

Initial form: Verithin Black

Mechanical Pencil to finish (#2 lead)

on Canson Coldpress Watercolor Paper

Practice

Head Shots

Playing with my Pentel waterbrush this evening. Used various pencils (HB, Verithin Black and Prismacolor Gris Chaud 90%) along with washes of black watercolor.

Wheeee!

Here's my latest cartoon:  You can see below the red line /inked version. And then the crude little post-it note sketches I played with before compositing the final lay out.