Drawing Muppets at NYCC

There are two fundamental things that I have loved my entire life: The Muppets and comics. So when my dear friend and ToughPigs Editor–in–Chief, Joe Hennes asked if I wanted to draw Muppets at a panel for New York Comic Con back in October of last year, it was a complete no–brainer. Remember that for later!

From left to right (starting at the podium): Joe Hennes, Jay Fosgitt, Richard Gomez, Dave Hulteen (Hi!), and Christopher “Smig” Smigliano

Wizard World Philadelphia, 2003

Let’s talk real quick about Comic Con and Comic Con panels. In short, they’re great! Moving on! Oh okay, fine. A comic book convention is the ultimate fan experience. Whether it’s in the basement of a VFW or a sprawling convention center in a major metropolitan city, comic cons are safe, fun spaces where people are encouraged to nerd it up and be fanatical. Panels are the glue to that experience. In my personal opinion, there are two types of panels: functional and absurd. Both are so much fun but represent different experiences.

Functional panels are like live interactive updates. They usually feature creators connected to a fandom talking about upcoming story arcs, characters, and news. These panels can become news worthy like when the Avengers cast members first come together before you see them assembled on the big screen in full costume. It’s a great opportunity for fans to come face to face with their heroes and ask them burning questions that only matter to them.

Sam and Friends panel from NYCC, 2022

Functional panels can also be informative or educational. Ever wonder how your favorite voice actor comes up with how they want a character from a video game to sound? They can tell you! Want to write and publish a book? There’s a writer’s panel that has tips! Maybe you just want to hear music from your favorite YouTube creator. There’s a concert in Ballroom 7!

Absurd panels are everything else and they are my favorite. Want to see the most offensive cartoons from the 60s? There’s a panel for that! Have you ever contemplated the religious nature of the Smurfs? No, neither have I, but if you wanted to see a bunch of Tough Pigs guys draw obscure Muppets for an hour, Room 408 at the Javit’s Center is the place for you!

Now ToughPigs themselves have written about this entire event in much better detail that you can read about here. If you don’t want to read about it though, you can just watch the whole panel for yourself!

Panel art I created for promotional materials

So enough has already been covered about the event, but I want to expand on the experience from a more personal standpoint. The main takeaway being that I was by far the low man on the totem pole. I’m not disparaging myself so much as building everyone else up, but drawing well and drawing quickly are two very different and distinct traits, and I only have the former. The other guys though? They’re powerhouses! And they’re really fast.

Just to give an overview; Joe would turn to the panel audience for suggestions, but the overall concept was to give us artists a prompt, and then we’d get to work and crank out something in around a minute.

With Richard Gomez

Richard Gomez might have been the youngest on the panel, but he’s clearly the heart. Richard has grown in prominence a lot over the last couple years and it’s so easy to see why. Aside from being exceptionally talented, he brings a whimsical element that elevates everyone else. A talented puppet builder as well, Richard sees the world around him in a unique and colorful way. Whether it’s turning a paper towel roll into a singing sensation or converting the ELMO brand projector into Elmo; Richard is brilliantly imaginative. He’s also really fast!

An old comic strip I drew of myself, Smig, & Joe (2016)

Chris “Smig” Smigliano is ToughPigs resident artist and is easily the funniest artist on the dais. Smig was the cartoonist for the Salem News where he developed a keen ability to visually tell a gag with limited space. Also an avid fan of MAD Magazine, Smig harnessed his inner Don Martin to create very funny comics that easily leaned right up against the line of being inappropriate without actually crossing it. Smig is so fast that the amount of art he produces is just as staggering as how fast he created it. I have always admired Smig, but he stepped up his entire game for this panel and truly showed he has exceptional comedic chops.

With Jay Fosgitt at San Diego Comic Con, 2014

The biggest name on the panel though was Jay Fosgitt. If ever there was an artist that this panel was made for, it’s Jay. As a professional comic artist and writer, Jay consistently drew really funny and crisp illustrations. Truth be told, if he was the only artist on the panel, the event would have been just as great as it already was. Jay’s take on classic characters is distinct, well refined, and just perfect. Jay has the added bonus of being able to draw really obscure characters from memory. Like the others, Jay is also really fast, but Jay is fast because that’s his job. I know that Jay has self doubts and concerns that every artist has, but to watch him draw is a treat that would convince you he could do it in is sleep. Watching the entire time he was up there was magical. He would take a beat to compose his idea before laying it down effortlessly. If this were a game, Jay would have been the MVP every single round.

From left to right: Shane Keating, Joe Hennes, Bruce Connelly, Chris Smigliano, Will Carroll (Will was the alternate for our panel), Matthew Soberman, Richard Gomez, and Dave Hulteen (me!) after our panel, October 2023.

As an added bonus, in the audience was Bruce Connelly, Muppet performer of Sesame Street’s Barkley the dog since 1993! So it was very apropos when Joe suggested we each draw the lovable pooch in honor of having Bruce at our panel. Afterwards, ToughPigs staff handed out all the illustrations we did to people who attended the panel. Bruce wanted the drawing I had created of Barkley holding a banner that said, “We love you, Bruce!” but it had been picked by someone else already. My brother–in–law and I had met Bruce 9 years earlier at NYCC when we were promoting our own YouTube production of The Bang and Bump Show which Bruce was very supportive of. So I promised him I would draw a better version of my Barkley tribute—this time at my own speed and not in front of a live audience (I know my weaknesses). Six months later and I finally sent it to him too!

Bang and Bump at NYCC, 2014

I had the best time with my friends at Comic Con even if that particular setting wasn’t the best match for me (alternate Will Carroll can cover for me in 2024!). I don’t know if we’ll do another panel this year, but I do plan to be at NYCC again. In the mean time, I’ve got some more posts planned for this blog, so stay tuned and follow me on Instagram too!

My art proper created for Bruce Connelly

Celebrating Jim Henson the BEST Way!

Back in September on Jim Henson’s birthday, I got to be a part of a fantastic fan celebration with wonderful people, puppets, and music. Today I’m sharing those memories!

Joe Hennes with Heather Henson—our guides for the day.

Pulitzer Fountain at Grand Army Plaza with Bergdorf Goodman on the left and the Plaza Hotel on the right, as seen in The Muppets Take Manhattan. (MuppetWiki)

The day started out meeting up with Heather Henson from Ibex Puppetry (and Jim’s youngest daughter) at the Plaza Hotel just across the street from Central Park. The exterior of the building facing Grand Army Plaza was featured in The Muppets Take Manhattan for the scene where Miss Piggy spies on Kermit the Frog and Jenny after Kermit pitches Manhattan Melodies to Leonard Winesop. After Piggy is harassed by a trio of cat-callers, she returns to her job next door at Bergdorf Goodman (from the MuppetWiki).

Will Carroll helps Heather Henson show various clips that were filmed on location.

Heather Henson & Joe Hennes.

We then headed into Central Park where numerous Muppet related projects were filmed like the previously mentioned The Muppets Take Manhattan, a National Wildlife Federation spot starring Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear, and various segments from Sesame Street.

Heather takes a selfie in front of her dad’s bench

John Papovitch and his pal with yours truly

Jim’s bench all decked out!

A motley crew of Muppet fans!

Eventually we all made our way to the mall section of Central Park, specifically along Literary Walk—a wonderful spot I’ve visited numerous times before that has benches remembering many great historic figures. Legendary Sesame Street director Jon Stone has a bench right next to one for Jim. All of us decorated the benches with flowers, puppets (built by Richard Gomez), and chalk drawings before joining in an impromptu performance singing Happy Birthday and The Rainbow Connection. It was magical, or as our fearless leader Joe put it, “You all just had your own New York moment!”

The townhouse at 117 East 69th Street. As you can see, this is a holy place for us fans.

Heather draws an outline of Kermit’s feet just beyond the still visible foot prints.

We left Central Park and made our way past the old Henson Townhouse and the old Henson Workshop which is now a gym. However, as Heather pointed out, the impression of Kermit’s heels are still partially visible on the sidewalk!

Will Carroll, Lucas Ross, and Richard Gomez.

From left to right: Me, Heather Henson, Lucas Ross, and Joe Hennes. Heather & Joe’s shirts also designed by the talented Richard Gomez!

Oh look! Promotional items for Craig Shemin’s book, Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show!

Next we all filed into the Henson Carriage House where we ate lunch, mingled, and geeked out to the extreme over our shared fandom. It was then that Lucas Ross—oh yeah, did I mention he was there too?!—played his banjo and had us all singing and laughing.

Front row: Will Carroll and myself. 2nd row: Tau Bennett, Richard Gomez, Joe Hennes, and Gav. 3rd row: Tori from Muppets No Context, Chris Stulz from Muppet Stuff, and John Papovitch.

Lucas Ross performing various Muppet fan favorite songs.

With Tori from Muppets No Context and Will Carroll.

With Chris Stulz from Muppet Stuff

Lucas Ross and Kermit read the Sam and Friends book while Shane Keating contemplates all of this.

After we left the Carriage House, the real party started over at The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens—a place I’ve referred to as the mecca of Muppet fandom—where Craig Shemin showed an amazing collection of clips featuring Rowlf on The Jimmy Dean Show!

It was an incredibly magical and wonderful day and a reminder how much I not only love being a part of this fandom, but how much I love all its fans too. Special thanks to Ibex Puppetry, Lucas Ross, Joe Hennes, Chris Stulz, Will Carroll, and everyone else who took and shared photos with me. Follow me on Instagram and thanks for stopping by!

With Kenny Durkin at The Museum of the Moving Image. Kenny wasn’t at this event, but him and I did visit two weeks earlier and I wanted to share that here!

My Story with Sam and Friends, Part III

I was hired by Craig Shemin to work on promotional materials for his new book, Sam and Friends – The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show. Then he brought me on to fine tune the book’s cover. This week I’ll be talking about how it all ended up!

Right off the bat I need to be honest and tell you this post is rather self–serving as I will be gushing about how I got to be involved with some of the promotional events for the book, but I promise I’ll keep the arrogance level low… low–ish. Somewhat modest for sure. You know what? It will have nice pictures if you want to skip reading, deal?

Heading to the Museum of the Moving Image with my family, Sept. 24, 2022

I’ve written about my fan experiences and how the Museum of the Moving Image is kind of a mecca for Muppet fans, so when Craig asked if I would sign the Sam for President posters I created next to him at the book launch on Jim Henson’s birthday, I was ecstatic. For starters, being on the other side of the table was huge. Getting to have moments like meeting Bob McGrath, or chatting with other fans I only knew through Instagram or Twitter @’s was so much fun. I was also grateful to have my wife, daughter, sisters, and my parents all there as well.

Top left: Craig Shemin, bottom left: Stephanie D'Abruzzo, Heather Henson, top right: with Craig and Ryan Dillon, and meeting Bob McGrath

Top left to right: ToughPigs’ Shane Keating and Matthew Soberman, @gollygeemel and the beautiful Dr. Teeth key chain she gave me. Bottom Left to Right:Richard Gomez and the Snerf he built and gave me, Will Carroll, and finally Joe Hennes and Peter Savieri.

Two weeks later, I got to attend New York Comic Con and be on a panel with Craig, Muppet performer Ryan Dillon, and Henson Company Archivist Susie Tofte. Getting to chat with fans, fellow artists, and friends again tops finding any merchandise or rare treasure. It was a real blast and something I will never forget!

Please follow me on Instagram and Twitter and you should also totally buy Sam and Friends – The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show at Bear Manor Media in soft and hard cover.

My Story with Sam and Friends, Part II

I was fortunate enough to be hired by Craig Shemin to create promotional materials for his new book, Sam and Friends The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show. I wrote about it in–depth last week, so please check that out first.

While the work was very exciting and fun, it really was a distant secondary project to the book as the pieces were intended to be handed out at events like the launch at The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. Other than that though, I wasn’t expecting any public connection to the book online, and that was fine because just getting to be a small part of Jim’s legacy by distant proxy was satisfying enough for me. However, that all changed a few months later when in July, Craig floated the idea that he would need me to polish up the book’s cover now as well.

On a book like Sam and Friends, there are a checklist of items that have to be met for legal purposes. Craig had created a mock up of the cover understanding it would need to be punched up later, but its main purpose was to get clearance from all the legal sides of The Jim Henson and Walt Disney Companies. However when he approached me about this new addition, there were several things I needed to be brought up to speed on.

The first was obvious, the mock up Craig had created was approved, so I wouldn’t be creating any new concepts. The job was to create a more refined version. Period. The second was a huge surprise to me: there was no high resolution graphic of the Sam and Friends title! This was one of those “seeing behind the curtain” scenarios where I had just assumed the assets were tucked away somewhere in the archives. Now I was responsible for creating that high resolution asset and beyond everything I had done, this felt the most significant to me. I had created something of this asset partially when I designed the campaign poster of Sam that was one of the original promotional items, but now I would fine tune it—purple swirls and all—for future use of the book and whatever else the Jim Henson Legacy saw fit for as well. The third was a later surprise, and that was that Craig’s mock up had been shown and announced back in early 2021 and now I was being announced as the cover artist! My 15 minutes had officially started.

Several color and effect variations of the title

The last thing was something a little more nuanced. The television set used to frame the photograph of Jim, Sam, Kermit, Yorick, and Harry was art Jim Henson himself had created for the show. Unlike the set design style illustrations I had created for the promotional items, or even the Sam and Friends title card, Craig felt the television set art needed to remain Jim’s and therefore would stay intact as is. As a fan, I wholeheartedly agreed. As a graphic designer, this was a massive problem.

NOTE: While this is the actual art of the original TV set, the colored photo of Jim is Photoshopped into the image.

If you’ve ever looked at a digital picture on your phone and just zoomed in as far as you possibly can, eventually you’ll start to see distortion to the image. This is because a digital image is made up of hundreds if not thousands of individual pixels. When you print a digital image, there has to be so many of those pixels crammed into one square inch so that it looks good whereas the numbers of pixels per inch (PPI or DPI–dots per inch) on a screen can be considerably fewer. If an image is too small and you then blow it up/enlarge it, those pixels will be more visible in a ruddy way that will look really bad. It’s a good rule of thumb to enlarge such an image only 130% at most. Anything beyond that will start to show the physical dimensions are of a much lower quality.

Craig had super high resolution scans of almost everything, but for this television set alone to be increased just for the book cover (never mind any promotional uses that would require it even larger), it would need to be blown up 10 times larger which means it would look terrible in print. I suggested letting me recreate the art so that we could avoid every conceivable problem I could think of, but Craig was understandably hesitant. Fortunately, he also trusted me (especially because I told him we could trash it if he wasn’t happy with it), and I digitally painted everything down to the tiniest detail including the speaker and its screen. I also allowed for a humongous bleed area so that the wood grain of the set could easily wrap around the hard cover’s extended borders. Not only was Craig pleased with the result, but now that I had organized every single part into its own unique layer in Photoshop, we could tweak everything for alignment as well as the additional promotional pieces that would come to be, like a standing retractable banner. If that wasn’t helpful enough, my new painting was 200% larger than the necessary size of the cover.

Craig’s mock–up, my illustrated design update, and the Photoshop layers

Fortunately, the scans for the back cover were of a high enough quality that I didn’t need to mess with them too much. Again, having all the high resolution scans from the show weren’t just easier to work with, but very cool to have something I could really look at and enjoy months before the book was published.

The old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is always a thorn in a graphic designer’s side because creating book covers is literally our job. Craig was the perfect client to work for. He was very clear in his directions yet open to my suggestions. I wasn’t just providing him with my ability to create stuff for him but my years of experience as well. I don’t know how much any of those things played into his generous offers to have me join him when he signed copies of his book in Queens or be on the panel at New York Comic Con, but I was about to experience a whirlwind of notoriety and respect and it was super exciting.

The lined area for the dials now extends to the TV frame and the speaker mesh was painstakingly drawn with precision in Adobe Illustrator. The frame was digitally painted with a dry brush texture, the set itself was overlaid with a wood grain texture while the knobs have a felt texture over top.

Tune in next Friday when I share the last and most personal part of this story! Follow me on Instagram and Twitter and thanks for stopping by!

Starry Eyed & Tongue Tied

Last Friday I ended a 25 week streak posting my blog and while the world did not end because I didn’t post, I was bummed out. The problem is I am over my head with freelance and full–time work and some of what I’m working on is super cool and very loosely and indirectly related to this post and I cannot wait to share it with you!

Anyhoo, starting in the early aughts, I began attending comic cons regularly. Before I go any further, if you have never been to a comic con, you absolutely need to go. It doesn’t matter if you’re 8 or 88 and it also doesn’t matter if it’s a humongous convention like SDCC or a tiny one in the basement of a VFW hall. Of course, comic cons back in the first part of the 21st century were slightly different than they are now. For starters, they really were all about comics. Today they tend to be more of a “pop culture convention,“ but they are still a blast.

Wizard World Philadelphia. May 30, 2003

Over 20 years ago, they were also primarily populated with mostly male attendees. When my girlfriend (now wife) would accompany me and our friends, there would be somewhat of an awed hush for a moment when she would first walk on the convention floor. This was more of an initial reaction to her sex over her radiant beauty, but times slowly changed and soon conventions became a much more homogeneous experience. Now that we are married, she will often mention she no longer does comic conventions because she “served her time.“

Anyway, in 2006, I dragged her along yet again to Wizard World Philly with my primary goal of meeting comic artist Skottie Young. He is a well renowned artist today, and while he was certainly hot back then, he was arguably still an up-and-coming creator. This can be proved by the fact that he had his own table with no line of swarming fans or even an assistant! It was just Skottie hanging out and drawing alone all day and excited to talk to anyone. 

At the time, he was working on a run of Venom, continuing Marvel’s unconventional trend at the time of showcasing more cartoonish and exaggerated styles on Spider–Man titles along with other artists like Humberto Ramos. I was a super fan, constantly visiting his site to see all his sketches and drawings of any and everything. He wasn’t just an incredible artist, but a super cool guy as well who seemed to have similar pop-culture interests as myself. Not a surprise considering he’s barely 2 months younger than me!

Checking our convention guide, I located where Skottie’s table was and we made a B line so I could ask him to sign my Venom comic and maybe even take a picture with him. As I mentioned, he was alone and just drawing away. When we approached, he lit up like a Christmas tree with excitement. What a fantastic guy! I was so pumped and excited to gush over how great he was. I opened my mouth to greet him and introduce myself only to discover I had completely forgotten the English language. 

Skottie’s table was our very first stop at the con and the one and only thing I truly wanted to do and now that we were finally here I was so star struck that I literally couldn’t speak. I was like Ralphie Parker meeting Santa Claus at Higbee’s in A Christmas Story. I stood with a dumb, open–mouthed smile for a ludicrously long time that made Skottie and my wife shift awkwardly as they waited for me to do absolutely anything. Finally my wife stepped in to save me with a prompting and encouraging, “Hello.” Yes! Hello! What a novel way to start a conversation! I will try saying that, and so I blurted out much too loudly and abruptly, “HELLO!” “Hey! How’s it going!” Skottie replied with renewed energy and a warm friendly smile. I resumed my blank admiring mannequin face as if I was a Make–A–Wish patient who no doubt suffered severe injuries from his love of drinking gasoline straight from the pump. My wife—now staring at me incredulously—saved my bacon again with another encouraging prompt. “He really likes your art.” she said sweetly as I stepped over her last word obnoxiously, “I REALLY LIKE YOUR ART!” 

For the next few minutes, this was pretty much how we communicated. My wife patiently told Skottie what I admired about him and his work and then I would loudly repeat her words in the first person. It was like a bizarre avant–garde ventriloquist act where I was the dummy, my wife the puppeteer, and Skottie as the beleaguered volunteer pulled randomly from the audience. What a complete and total $#!t show. Somehow I managed to get my comic signed and a picture as well. Skottie was polite, patient, enthusiastic, and so kind. He was exactly the type of person I anticipated him to be and I blew it. 

Me still in complete disbelief that is indeed Skottie Young. June 2, 2006

As soon as we were out of earshot from Skottie, my wife turned to me shocked and somewhat exasperated. “What in the world was that?!” she asked. I had returned to earth at that moment as well and was equally stunned. “I have no idea!” I admitted. It was at that exact moment that I had a very serious problem on my hands and I needed to rectify it immediately. My main concern at the time was the realization of just how much this could hinder my own illustrative career. Thanks to sites like ToughPigs and the exposure I was getting from such a niche fandom, I was sure it was only a matter of time before I would have the opportunity to meet actual Muppet performers and maybe even work for them. At my core I knew it was vital they saw me as a peer and not just a fan. Of course if I couldn’t chat up a fellow artist just because he was successful, how would I speak to someone who was partly responsible for molding my childhood, affecting my overall trajectory as a creative person? 

It turned out it was even worse than I imagined as not long after that, I bumped into a family friend—yes, a family friend—whom I greatly admired. Now I had never met him prior, but I had seen pictures and heard recordings of him (he was a very talented musician) so imagine my horror when I got tongue–tied chatting with him as well!

I took the “Face Your Fears” approach by attending every book signing I could find, hung outside every service entrance after a concert, waited in autograph lines at conventions, and attended any speaking engagements featuring celebrities that interested me; all in the hopes I could act like a normal human being around anyone with a modicum of fame so that one day I wouldn’t completely lose my mind if I met someone really famous.

Weird Al Yankovic (2/2/2011), Jesse Ventura (4/7/2011), and Gary “Baba Booey” Dell'Abate (11/9/2010)

I very quickly realized “fame” wasn’t the crux to my star struck nature, it was admiration. If I somehow found myself face to face with someone like Hugh Jackman—something that actually happened —I was excited but maintained my composure easily. However, if I met the likes of Trace Beaulieu, Lorraine Cink, Doc Hammer, Louise Gold, or Stanley Lau, I’d start to choke up. Interacting with them at events did become easier and was also very safe. I was able to see them as actual people and before you knew it, I could at least fake acting casual. When I finally met those lofty Muppet people, at the very least I wasn’t a hot mess. 

MST3k’s Trace Beaulieu (11/27/2010), Marvel’s Lorraine Cink (7/24/2016), and Doc Hammer (4/19/2008) co–creator of The Venture Bros.

I still get very excited when I meet someone I admire—famous or not—and on the inside I’m fan freaking out. If I ever meet Lois Van Baarle or Frank Oz or Jamie Hewlett I think my heart would still explode. At the very least, my wife knows I can control my basic bodily functions without her by my side the entire time. 

Skottie Young, if you’re reading this, thank you so much for being so pleasant and patient and inspiring. Not just to draw better but to get my act together and focus. It changed my career. You really are the GOAT!

I’m not posting much now on Instagram and Twitter but follow me anyway so when I clear my slate you’ll see what I’ve been up to! And come back here every Friday for more creative thinking!

Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen

Whether it’s freelance or work from my day job, I usually work for one client per job or with a very small team. This allows for good collaboration but without causing too many unnecessary problems. A couple weeks ago I wrote in depth about how unnecessary opinions from other peoples can influence a client, especially when they’re not even directly involved with the project to begin with. 

Occasionally I will work on a project that has to go before a committee for final approval. Where I work, they are known as “the cabinet.“ The cabinet is a substantive collection of management that needs to review larger projects that will have a national or even international audience. Fortunately, by the time a project goes before them, they aren’t necessarily making changes or suggesting frivolous design choices, but rather ticking off all the boxes to make sure the project is ready for final approval. Things like making sure there is proper representation, a clear message, that there’s no misinterpretation, and that it includes all necessary information. Of course there have been a couple nightmare situations in the past, but for the most part, the cabinet exists as a good eye for checks and balances.

“The Cabinet” sounds like an NBC crime drama series, right?

Joe Hennes and Cookie Monster

As I love to do, I reached out to some creative professionals to see if anyone had any unique stories when it came to dealing with a situation where there were just too many cooks in the kitchen as the old axiom goes. Writer extraordinaire, co–owner & editor of ToughPigs, and my dear friend, Joe Hennes responded with the penultimate and quite literal interpretive telling of having too many cooks in the kitchen. Here’s his fantastic story:

I have very rarely been a project-based "work for hire" type. For most of the projects I've been involved with, I've either created it for my own needs or been a part of a larger, corporate production company. For the latter, it can be very difficult—and yet, very easy—to get a creative project off the ground. Confusing!

There's an unspoken rule on the business side of production that creative choices should be left to the creatives, especially if we're paying them money for their talents. Sure, there are internal think tanks and approval processes, but it's surprisingly difficult to scratch that creative itch when those responsibilities are handed off to the artists. On the flip side, being on the other side of the table means that you have a better idea of what's possible and what's not, what the company really wants, and how to cut every cost before an idea gets too big.

Back in 2014, I was working in an administrative role at Sesame Workshop, and constantly trying to find ways to be a part of creative projects. A truly bizarre viral video hit the internet that year - "Too Many Cooks", an 11-minute long spoof of sitcom opening sequences that originally aired on Adult Swim. And as all viral videos do, it was the hottest thing for a few days.

Part of my (unofficial) role at Sesame Workshop was to try and brainstorm fun content for grownup fans like myself. Very few of my pitches came to fruition (the most notable being "Big Birdman" - a spoof of the Oscar-winning film "Birdman", starring Caroll Spinney), but when "Too Many Cooks" hit our radars, it seemed like it'd be a HUGE opportunity to develop a "Too Many Cookies" spoof starring Cookie Monster. I mean, the joke was right there in the name!!

Joe with Big Bird & Oscar the Grouch performer Caroll Spinney

This is where that "business side of creative" stuff comes into play. What's the pecking order for getting something like this approved and made? As always, money comes first. Since this would be aimed toward adults, that meant it would be released on social media, so that division of the Marketing Department would be paying for it. I pitched the idea to the head of the social media group, and he agreed that we should do it. But he also recognized that there's no predicting how long things can be viral, so we had to act FAST.

Literally running down the hallway, we went to the Production Department, as they'd be the ones actually putting the video together. The Executive Producer wasn't in her office, but since time was of the essence, one colleague volunteered to start pulling videos of Cookie Monster and editing them together. Once this thing was approved, at least the work would have already started.

Our next stop was with Curriculum & Research, as all things at Sesame Workshop need to be approved through them. It took some convincing (there was literally nothing educational about what we wanted to make), but since there was nothing harmful, and the video would be aimed primarily toward adults, they reluctantly gave us the go-ahead.

Looping back around to Production, the Executive Producer was still absent. We couldn't do anything without her approval, and the clock was ticking. By the end of the day, we couldn't get in touch with her and the social media director made the call to cancel the project. Understandably, if we couldn't get it all approved and created by the end of the day, there was no guarantee that this little video would still be relevant 24 hours later.

Feeling a little dejected, I went home that evening and realized that there was no reason I couldn't keep moving forward with the project on a smaller level. I wouldn't have the resources of a big production company, but that's never stopped me before. I quickly wrote lyrics for a spoof of the "Too Many Cooks" song and recorded myself playing it on the ukulele while my wife Sarah sang. I ripped some videos of Cookie Monster off of YouTube and edited a short video together. (In case you were wondering, I figured out that the original "Too Many Cooks" video featured the "Full House" font.)

In the end, we were right - the video needed to go up at that exact time to benefit from the viral buzz. "Too Many Cookies" currently has over 74k views, almost all of which came in those first few days. Naturally, those numbers would probably be in the millions if Sesame had created it, but I got to keep all that attention for myself. Sure, I didn't make any money off of it, and it didn't do much to help increase my clout at work, but it just goes to show that when the kitchen truly has too many cooks, it just takes one absent sous chef to bring the whole thing crashing down.

For what it's worth, the next day the missing Executive Producer said that she absolutely would've greenlit the project. Oh well!!

Me, my daughter, and Joe, January 29, 2022

What a blast! Joe busts his hump over at ToughPigs, so I am very grateful he took the time to retell his experience here. Make sure you are following ToughPigs everywhere: on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube! If you like, you can also me on Twitter and Instagram and check back every Friday to this blog!

[Nearly] Every Instance of Kermit the Frog I've Ever Drawn [More Or Less... I Think]

Confession: This week’s blog was supposed to be a tribute to vintage advertising art, but that fell through and I was hard pressed to scrape through my ideas list which had little to nothing I could just slap together. The problem then became, “What the heck do I write about?!” The answer came when I realized this past week was Kermit the Frog’s 67th birthday. Not exactly a milestone year, but then @StarmansArt Tweeted this incredibly sweet shout–out.

Thanks, Richard!

I am a huge Muppet fan, and Kermit is my personal patron saint of sanity and my true north example when it comes to good leadership. Plus, I get a significant and disproportionate amount of likes when I post Muppet stuff so I thought I’d try and see how much Kermit the Frog art I’ve done that I can find. Let’s do this!

Now I drew Kermit a lot as a child, like a lot. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find anything before the 90s, so we’re starting there. Kermit appeared more in tribute rather than in focal portraiture back then because you didn’t get a lot of girls phone numbers like that. Lesson learned though: everybody digs the frog.

Top left: Kermit (and Robin—not that Robin) drawn with a mouse in Microsoft Paint, circa 1995. Bottom left: My Commercial Art semester final illustration in graphite, 1996. Right: Kermit makes a cameo in front of Wayne & Garth whilst I pretend to take notes in Community College, 1997.

2000–2008

Oofa, okay, please understand that every illustrator likes to experiment, especially when they are learning Photoshop for the first time and fresh from graduating. I was an avid member on the Muppet Central forums way back in the early aughts and was anxious to share some fan art. I was having a bit of an identity crisis as a Muppet fan and wanted to stand out so I drew a lot of weird shit. I’m sorry to curse, but you can see for yourself, even I didn’t know what I was trying to pull off.

I was huge into Anime and wanted to desperately mash that with the Muppets. The kawaii Kermit front and center was the pinnacle of those efforts. I was so darn proud of him (I still am now that I think of it). It was the halcyon days of online interactivity, Photoshop held no serious or practical value, and i can has cheezburger was a staple of daily life.

Keeping with the Anime vibe, I pushed hard on this idea. 2008

2009–2012

Commissioned work from Joe’s wife, Sarah.

It was around this time I actually started to try and learn how to properly use the tools I had at my disposal to create art that was actually, you know; good. Adobe Illustrator was fast becoming a tool that I relied on heavily, but it also was a time that I got to know a very amazing human being by the name of Joe Hennes; Co–owner and editor at ToughPigs.com. Joe was instrumental in not only getting me online exposure (something I am eternally grateful for and remind him of regularly) but also to actually draw, you know; good.

Despite being over a decade old, The Immaculate Jim, 2010 remains one of my favorite pieces of fan art I’ve ever done.

In 2012, my wife and I went on a cruise. She said to me, “I want this vacation to be really romantic!” so I drew several cards that I gave to her each night. This was one of them (and my favorite). See? Ladies totally dig the frog.

The Muppet Madness Tournament kicked off in 2010 and it was a huge collaborative effort between myself, Joe Hennes, Ryan Roe, Steve Swanson, and Ryan Dosier. It also got decent press online, so understanding my work would be seen by a ton of people, I brought my A game to the table.

It was during this time I started using the full capacity of the Adobe Creative Suite to push my illustrative work further. Kermit was the natural guinea pig to test different techniques on.

Some of the attention the tournament got.

2013–2014

It was during this point in time that I was starting to get noticed. I don’t mean popular because that still hasn’t happened. I mean that actual Muppet people and Muppet adjacent people would make my acquaintance. It was an exciting time, and I was fully immersed in the fandom as I never had been before. The Muppets—I mean the actual people involved with the Muppets—started to know who I was, and I was getting opportunities to know them too.

Transitioning back to working almost exclusively in Illustrator again, I began keeping a consistent color palette for all the Muppets.

I always had a full bin of ideas, but many of them never made it to fruition. One day I plan to finish a tribute to Dan Jurgens Superman the Man of Steel # 37 (DC, 1994) Zero Hour comic cover.

One hundred thousand years ago in 2013, there was a very brief moment in time where an app called Draw Something rivaled the popularity of even Wordle today. I used every opportunity I had to draw the Muppets.

2015

In 2015, I began to steer more towards drawing Kermit my own way rather than on model. Now that didn’t necessarily set a precedent from there on out, but it marked a moment where I considered my fandom and my relationship with it completely my own. In many ways, I had arrived… Exactly where? I can’t say but it smelled a lot nicer and people stopped trying to trip me when I went to the mall.

At this point, I was also creating all Muppet art with the express purpose of showcasing it on ToughPigs.

The most exciting thing about 2015 was being commissioned by Bill Barretta to create individual pieces as gifts for the cast of The Muppets ABC television series. I’ve never ever shared any of those pieces until now. This was done for Steve Whitmire.

2016–2018

At this point I learned that drawing Kermit was becoming gratuitous. I knew if I posted an illustration of him, I’d get attention, so admittedly I was throwing stuff at the wall just to see what would stick.

The bottom right illustration was a thank you gift to Mike Quinn, the performer of Nien Nunb from Star Wars and Kermit’s regular “right hander.”

2019–Present

When I draw Kermit nowadays, it’s usually a therapeutic exercise. Drawing him off model or otherworldly is the next evolutionary step most of the time. My friend and fellow Muppet cupcake enthusiast Zach Woliner commissioned me to do a bunch of Kermits as various pop culture movie iterations for his KermDubs YouTube channel.

Muptober eventually replaced Inktober for me.

If this makes you uncomfortable, then I accomplished what I was setting out to do!

So that’s every Kermit I’ve drawn… that I could find… and “slap together a blog post” that effectively took 12 hours to create. If you want to see more illustrations of Kermit, please follow me on Instagram and Twitter and stay tuned to this blog!

You can’t get a better model than this. 2016

Also, a big thank you to Richard for inspiring this post and being so kind. I’m more than twice his age and I’d wager he’s already drawn Kermit more than I have!

Dave's Muppet Collection 2.0

Unless you’re completely unfamiliar with me or my work (in which case, welcome to my blog and thank you so much for visiting!), I’m a huge Muppet fan. Well, that’s not exactly accurate, I’m a fan of Jim Henson, easily the most influential person to me as a creative professional and dreamer. That being said, I think “Muppet fan” is an acceptable blanket term for me and all my fellow fans, so we don’t take offense. Naturally, as a fan of anything, a collection of merchandise and memorabilia is one of the more defining traits every enthusiast of some form or another has.

Me and all around amazing human Ryan Dosier at The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, NY for a tribute to Muppet Performer Jerry Nelson, October 27, 2012

Ten years ago (oh my God, TEN years ago?!) I made a nifty little video of my complete collection of Muppet things for my friend Ryan Dosier; then the founder and owner of The Muppet Mindset. I thought I’d cringe at it (more) today, but I’m still pretty proud of that video. It’s moot however, as I have almost none of it in my possession anymore. That’s not to say I don’t have any Muppet collectibles today, in fact I’d argue what I do have is more valuable, even if that value is more personal and sentimental.

Jerome Green, Lisa Bober, and I visit Puppet Kitchen’s Monitor Night with Paul McGinnis. A great time and experience with so many other fans! Photo by Michael Schupbach. December 6, 2016

First let me address what I don’t have and why. I’m willing to bet that most collectors tend to get pigeonholed by their friends and family in regards to their fandom. Not that loved ones define you by your specific likes—even if they are a domineering factor in life—but come birthdays and gift–giving holidays, things from said fandom are very easy go–to’s in that regard. In my aforementioned Muppet collection video, I’d guess that 60–80% of my collection from that time were given to me by very sweet and good intentioned people who love me. I’m very grateful for those things too, and they increased the size of my collection tremendously. The problem is displaying anything—especially a lot of things—can be difficult and impractical. The Muppets in particular are a brand that have had difficulty finding their footing over the last twenty years, so merchandise can be execrable or subpar at best. Yes, that paltry painted, bendable Gonzo dressed in an exercise unitard was very thoughtful, but my limited shelf space isn’t exactly where it should go. I want people to admire my collection, not turn my wall into a bargain basement curio shop. So most of that late 90s/early 21st century stuff (the bulk of my collection) went on eBay or to the Thrift Store. Thanks, I hate it!

J.C. Penniey in 1976. Photo from Birmingham’s Century Plaza

J.C. Penney at Monmouth Mall. Photo from Wikipedia Commons

One of the more prominent pieces I had were the Sesame Street mannequins formerly on display in J.C. Pennies back in the 70s and 80s. So a quick recap here as well; I was hired to work in the art department at the J.C. Pennies at Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey back in the mid 90s. Early on we had to clean out the old display storage area which had these life size Sesame characters of Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Big Bird (Big Bird being smaller than life size as he was only moderately taller than the other three). I took them all home with me (they were destined for the trash!) which was quite the sight as heads and limbs stuck way out the windows and trunk of my car. Cookie Monster and Big Bird were almost immediately damaged from a water leak in my parent’s basement but Bert & Ernie were fine. I even began to restore them, but it became clear very quickly that this was a skill that needed to be left to a professional. They then went up in my parents attic where they waited patiently for 18 years. My parent’s house is (to this day) possessed by water demons, and moisture damage ruined pretty much everything in their attic also, including the iconic duo.

We had fun placing the old pals all over my parent’s house on Memorial Day weekend back in 2010 before they headed back up into the attic

I was heartbroken. My goal was to eventually put them on display at Christmastime for everyone to see, but now I felt like I was also being a really bad fan having let two more very rare treasures succumb to irreparable damage. I reached out to a professional to see if they even could be repaired, but not only would it be costly, the black mold that had developed inside their heads just wouldn’t be worth the trouble. I think about them often as now I finally own a home and think how neat it would be for my daughter and the rest of my neighborhood (which is flush with kids) to see and enjoy something so special from over 40 years ago.

Five years later cleaning out our parent’s attic, my siblings and I discovered extensive moisture damage, July 2015

The stuff I kept are all things deemed high quality merchandise. My Palisades figures, books and toys from the 70s and 80s, and a few plush Kermits as well will be cherished forever. I’ve even added to that with vintage stuff from online auctions and good finds elsewhere. I still have my prized possession, my original Fisher Price Kermit the Frog doll that I’ve owned since childhood, but I also found one still in the box that I got at San Diego Comic Con! Talk about precious! Occasionally I’ll pick up something smaller and kitschy but that’s exceptionally rare. The last big Muppet item I bought was ironically the nail in the coffin for collecting physical merchandise for me. The Diamond Select bust of Animal is gorgeous and looks so great on my office bookcase, but it was also expensive, and as soon as I opened it up, I realized getting it was more exciting than having it.

Getting a pristine Fisher Price Kermit at San Diego Comic Con, July 23, 2014

It’s cool, but that’s about it

It was at that moment I fully realized what I had been partially aware of for a few years: experiences are more valuable collectibles than material ones. Getting to be on set with and even commissioned by Muppet performers and production & crew members is way more satisfying and special. Now this could be a 21st century mindset in a day and age where we take pictures of everything for proof of the moment, but while there’s definitely credence to that, I think it’s a little more nuanced. The memories I have of my Muppet experiences are far more special because the photos just can’t encompass everything. For starters, they’re shared experiences. The people I was with make them memorable. Whether it was goofing off on the subway on the way to someplace or dinner afterwards; the full day from start to finish is precious. I don’t want to be pretentious here, and all of those experiences are not just dreams–come–true but also personal. That’s why I’m not littering this post with tons of pictures of me and Muppets. They are mine and they are so special.

On set with my best friends, Hollywood, CA, February 4, 2016

Heading to a puppetry class by Muppet performer Marty Robinson with new found friends, September 20, 2014. Photo by Mike Slawinski Jr.

It’s not just direct Muppet and Henson interactions either, but especially fan occasions that are really fulfilling. The Great Muppet Mural alone is a perfect example of this. Not only is my physical print arguably the nicest collectible I have, but getting to know and work with so many other fans was the penultimate venture. The Museum of The Moving Image in Queens is sort of a Muppet Fan Mecca where I’ve been able to spend so much time with so many incredible people. Yes, it’s always a chance to meet your heroes, but it’s the shared moments with people just as fanatic as you that really make those instances unforgettable.

Inside the Museum of The Moving Image for A Tribute to Jerry Nelson, October 27, 2012

Hanging with Austin Michael Costello (and Artie) at The Museum of the Moving Image for Brian Jay Jones’ biography on Jim Henson. October 1, 2013

All that being said, there’s one special anecdote I will share because the total experience is a sweet story. Back in 2013, Gene Barretta took me and my future brother–in–law to the set of Sesame Street for his son’s birthday. Again, truly an epic day that I have tons of pictures and video of but I’m not going to flaunt them. All I will say is that Gene gave me an adventure I am truly grateful for. Before we left, performer Ryan Dillon rushed over handing me one of Big Bird’s feathers that had fallen off (this happens a lot apparently) that he picked from the set floor. Wow, what a treasure! I held on to it tight and was relieved to have a place for it when we stopped at Midtown Comics on the way back home (another high note adding to the personal nature of the day) and placed it in the brown paper bag with the comics I bought.

With Gene Barretta, his son Ben, and Jerome Green just outside of Midtown Comics after a great day. December 4, 2013

The whole day was crammed with truly humongous moments so I was exhausted when I got home and crashed. The next day I was rushing around, straightening up our apartment and still riding on cloud nine. Just a few days later, I decided I wanted to find a way to display my Big Bird feather… now where did I put it? I looked everywhere and started to panic. Did it fall behind my dresser? Did a rogue breeze from an open window blow it away? Had a cat burglar stole it away in the night as I slept? I tried to think back. I had shown it repeatedly to my wife and everyone else that came by and then… then what? I would put it back in the brown paper bag with the comics. Yes! It’s still in the brown paper bag with my comics! Only my comics had since been removed and put in a long box and the bag, the bag had been thrown away! That was days ago! I ran out to our dumpster tearing open garbage bags furiously but that was futile because the waste management company had already emptied it. My Big Bird feather, the physical totem of that wonderful day was now lost and gone forever. Man was I crushed.

Over a year later for my birthday, my wife surprised me with a very special gift. She had pulled some strings and managed to get a hold of a brand new authentic Big Bird feather! The source confirmed it was just like the previous one—felled from a day of shooting and plucked from the floor of the set. The whole point of this being that the story of how I got the feather is just as remarkable to me as the feather itself. That’s not something a manufacturer can create in resin from a mold or sell on Amazon. True, there are still some collectibles I’m gunning for, but the potential for making more and new memories have been opened wide, and as a result, I just don’t think a Fozzie PEZ dispenser will hold up anymore.

My Big Bird feather and 4’ wide print of The Great Muppet Mural in my home office

So as cheesy as it sounds, it’s being able to exist in the world with the Muppets and other fans rather than collect whatever the Disney store deems marketable. And if I’m being really honest, I think I’ve always known that was the case. When I was a kid, my Muppet fandom was practically what defined me. In the late 90s, early 2000s when the internet became a more community driven vehicle, I was initially upset to learn that not only were there so many more Muppet fans, but that a lot of them rivaled my own fandom and I had a temporary identity crisis! Thanks in part to that breech, my fandom has been brought to a new level and my fellow fans and the niche corner we all exist in has not only introduced me to some really amazing people, but I’ve also formed genuine close friendships and been able to do actual work for the frog and some of his associates!

Hanging with Tough Pigs Ryan Roe & Joe Hennes and Unboxing cool stuff at the Jim Henson Company in Queens NY, with Karen Falk and Cheryl Henson. March 13, 2015.

I have a lot more Muppet stories that I’ll share in the future, so make sure you follow me on Instagram and Twitter and stay tuned to this blog!