It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman'

I really enjoy living in New York City, but the winters are cold, so, I am delighted that spring is here at last!

One of New York's treats is the annual "Encores" series at City Center on West 54th Street. If you love musicals, and I do, this is the place to see staged concert productions of terrific, but somehow forgotten musicals of the past.

This past week, I had the great pleasure of seeing It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman. This frothy and fun show only ran for three months in 1966. It was not a hit, but it certainly is a clever and unique take on the Superman comics. This is also the show that introduced Linda Lavin to Broadway audiences.

I loved comics as a boy. Drawing comic book characters always intrigued me, and Superman was a favorite.

I hope my drawing of this production for PLAYBILL.com shows my love of comics and musicals.
The color technique I use for my PLAYBILL and Wall Street Journal drawings is based on the flat primary colors used in comics.

You can see my color style in this drawing for WSJ of Douglas Druick, the director of The Art Institute of Chicago.

I found Mr. Druick to be a fun person to draw. All of the photos I used for reference showed an interesting looking man with great features. Of course I exaggerate the features in a drawing, as that is the definition of caricature. However, some of my subjects have features that lend themselves better for exaggeration.

The third drawing is of a new play on Broadway, Breakfast at Tiffany's, which I drew for PLAYBILL.com.

Here I have a beautiful actress, Emilia Clarke, a funny character actor, George Wendt, and the gawky, but attractive Cory Michael Smith. All three were a challenge, each in a different way.

Emilia reminded me of a young Gloria Vanderbilt, with a huge smile, slight overbite, large and thick eyebrows, and eyes that sparkle.

George Wendt is round, with lots of chins, and a squint to his stare.

Cory Michael Smith is tall, thin, and a bit awkward in movement. I tried to capture his deep set and dark eyes with one simple shape.

Each figure in this drawing was a fun challenge to capture. Well, I hope I captured them.

Let me know what you think.