 I think its a Berg (a Moebius creature from The Incal) but its definitely a Philadelphia hotel. It's late and I made the mistake of drinking red wine (not on my own at least) at lunchtime, So this is going to have to get coloured tomorrow.
 I was an innocent fan of this cartoon back in the day, it was definitely the best animation on TV in 1985 anyway and its still pretty easily available to watch (on Amazon, for a fee). This is one of the three Muskateers, the main guy is pretty much like snoopy with a hat on (so yes, awesome).
Although you might have heard of the Three Muskateers, and the Nutcracker you might not know much about the author, Alexandre Dumas (I didn't) and his life makes an interesting story in itself, one that clearly inspired him to write such widely read novels. You'll note he was of African origin (who isn't) and although of high standing in society, living between 1802-1870 he still had to deal with prejudicial treatment in France, because of his darker skin. His rather neat response to a man who insulted him was as follows: "My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends."  There's a story here somewhere. Lets see how things pan out time-wise.
Also there's a bit of Mary Blair in that boy. I like her style.  My new lifestyle has brought me the wonder of Tezuka on tap and what a wonder his characters and story-lines are! The more I watch the more I am amazed. They started off with a hint of the unusual and the longer the series goes on the more outlandish and experimental they become. I also love the little cartoon shortcuts, and nods you get like the horse opal skidding to a halt or the odd bending of the laws of physics for amusement.  It is therefore a real pleasure to study his character constructions - in the hope I'll learn some of that fluidity that I can feel as i reconstruct his drawings. Above is Sapphire, followed by some bloke from a strip called Manga college, and below is a rather grumpy looking mustachio'd chap called Tawashi. He looks like a policeman or a detective to me, its the curtain on his nose I think, that does it.  Otherwise, I have been doing commissions, and getting paid ! (wow) Which is quite a revelation I must say. It feels good to put the effort in and be rewarded, though I am tempted to take a break and draw just for fun for a bit. (Especially as I am working in an office half of the time.) We'll see how the cat-food stocks are running and act accordingly.
 I've been working on a children's book about this little guy. Really lovely to do children's stories because its just straight up loveliness. More please!
 These characters (from the court of the boviquee) would make a good chess set. Animated chess, so its not just move one place - they walk through places and if they take a piece, there's a fight, or a seige or whatever. I suppose it'd have to be a bit different to real chess, you'd have potential scenarios, combinations of moves, and you'd choose them and depending on how the opponent chooses, the pieces would confront one another and you wouldn't know exactly how it would pan out (to keep it interesting). Sort of chess but three moves at a time, and animated. Wish I could design computer games! Sometimes. Maybe I should just make animations. There's a huge wall of complexity in the way though. And time. Someone said something about Ghibli studios software becoming open source. Did they?
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The ARTIST
shut the front door 
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