Blue Moon Blog

I always wait several months to upgrade on software to allow plenty of time for everyone to work out the bugs. But after having waited about nine months to take the leap to Apple’s Leopard OS, I was eager to make the move. Before doing so, I’ve learned by being burned it’s best to check that other software or hardware companies support their prodcuts in a timely fashion for a new OS. I ran into trouble with my Microtek scanner last time I tried this when upgrading to Tiger. It took Microtek 18-24 months to make available a driver that would work with OSX 10.4. Yikes! Unfortunately, I discovered this fact after the upgrade, and was forced for a year or two to keep my ScanMaker 9800XL hooked up to my old computer in another room. What a pain!  Not efficient and a waste of time. This kind of problem has driven other artists to give up on Microtek completely.

Well, they’re more on the ball this time, as the driver was made available about eight months after Apple released Leopard. That’s not super-fast, but an improvement, and if you’re going to wait some months for the new OS, it’s probably worth it; at least, it is for me.  The Scanmaker 9800XL is a large scanner that accommodates the large comic book art I do (no more splitting apart pages with multiple scans and piecing them back together digitally), and is less expensive (now about $900.00; I paid $1100.00 five years back) than other comparable scanners (at least 2-3 times the price). It does a nice job on scans, saves tons of time given its image space. As long as they continue to improve on support, I’m going to stick with Microtek, and can recommend it.

After a couple really busy months with my regular jobs, I’m happy to have the chance to get back at work on a couple more personal projects, including a short back-up story to appear in the Image comic book, Proof. I’ve written here before about the early stages of the creative process, but here’s the first glimpse of a finished color panel.

I’m reminded just how much work comics can be, and while untold hours are spent fashioning what readers will absorb in seconds, there’s nothing else I enjoy doing more. In this story, I get to draw a bunch of weird creatures, a couple of whom remind me a small bit of my earliest comic book work on the creator owned and self published Trollords (with Scott Beaderstadt). In a handful of months, you’ll see what I mean.

We’ve completed another few installments of the comics stories we do for a Jewish kids magazine, a series which we’ve heard recently will continue for the foreseeable future, which is good news. Each story centers on certain Jewish holidays and the culture. One story focuses on the Four Sons of the Passover, which gave us a chance to go all super-heroic, thanks to the fun script by writer/editor Ella Broh. And another story features the star, Joey traveling the world for Shavuot to ask folks of other creeds and countries about the Torah.

It’s funny, as I work on these comics, what gets me most jazzed is not always the large splash panels and big action, but the smalls ways in which I can employ storytelling strategies that work only in comics. For this quick series of three panels (above) a tiny superhero transports Joey from a magical time-travel land back to his grandparents’ attic. Their return trip need to be treated differently than their way there, and while using as little space as possible. In a long horizontal strip and three tiny frames, I got Joey back where he belonged with simple, iconic images.

It’s also a treat to do these kids comics in the simple, bold fashion I prefer, rather than in a style that’s over-rendered in ink or color. To compliment the line art and for a look easy-on-the-eye, Mary and I stick with essentially flat color in this case. For other comics stories, I may use another look and approach entirely.

To read these latest editions, visit our Major Works section, open the Blue Moon Viewer, and click forward to “The Awesome Foursome!” Of course, you’re welcome to read the earlier stories, if you haven’t seen them before. Enjoy!

Work on my children’s book, Night of the Bedbugs has kicked into high gear recently, and I’m glad to be able to devote some time to it for a change. It feels great to check off more and more pages as finished. I’m still planning for the book to be a deluxe multi-media package, and began writing today another tune for the CD that will be included with the hardcover book. Below is another snippet of preview art.

From a postcard set I released years back, here’s an image with the earliest appearance of my Bedbugs. A couple years later, I painted on the nursery wall a mural featuring the FunRunt pigs and many Bedbugs. At the time, I think I considered the other alien creatures also to be FunRunts, but that didn’t last long before the pigs took over, and Bedbugs became an entirely separate thing.

I posted previously a couple sick & tired drawings, from quite a bit back, while I was experimenting more with the Hunt crow quill and various textures. Here are a few more I drew a few years later to expand the collection for a mini-comic I sold at comic shows. These guys are beaten down by life, and can’t seem to escape even in their dreams. I used no thumbprints on these, but rather messed with textures achieved with grease pencil, dry brush,  sponge, and toothbrush spatter.

Upon hearing Plymouth’s strong showing this year with Money magazine’s best city rankings, I was reminded of when Plymouth Magazine featured Blue Moon Studios a few years back. During the interview, I was called on to describe just what we loved so much about our chosen city. Read below the article in its entirety by Dan Emerson, with accompanying photos by Wayne Martin.

The so-called “American Dream” represents many things to many people. For Paul and Mary Fricke, the dream was finding a place where they could raise a family and make a living doing what they love — drawing and painting. With an art studio in the Plymouth home, the Frickes seem to have achieved their shared objective, and also handled the work-family balancing act that challenges most modern families.

A freelance illustrator and cartoonist, Paul and his wife, Mary — a painter of portraits and landscapes — are Chicago-area natives who moved to Plymouth in 1993.

Growing up there, Paul developed an interest in the fantasy world of comic books and harbored  the desire to create his own superheroes-on-paper. In 1986, the then 20-something Paul, and a friend, created a new comic series called “Trollords.” which he describes as a “fantasy-slapstick-comedy-adventure about love, life and death.”

Paul and his partner went on to produce about thirty issues of the comic, which were distributed by the same wholesalers and distributors who serve “the major comic publishers and fans all over the world.” At its peak, the self-published monthly book was selling 40,00-45,000 copies per issue. Several more years followed working for several major comic book publishers, including the industry leader, DC Comics. In the early ’90s, ready for new ventures, Paul went to work as a freelance illustrator

Around the same time, the high cost of living in Chicago led the Frickes to seek another place they could fulfill their shared vision. Minnesota, where they had made several trips to visit friends, provided the solution. Being self-employed, “we could have lived anywhere, but the (housing) prices and quality of life in Minnesota seemed to afford us that chance,” Paul explains. “Here, we have been able to put together all the things we talked about on our honeymoon. Since we moved up here, it’s not only met our expectations but exceeded them.”

When the couple planned their art studio, they considered whether to move to a larger home elsewhere, add on to the existing home or build a new one. “The longer we thought about it the more we realized we just wanted to stay here in Plymouth,” he says.

The Frickes founded Blue Moon Studios in 1996, shortly after the first daughter, Laura, was born under a blue moon — a second full moon in the same month. The lower level of their four-year-old, custom-built home is dedicated to the studio, where Fricke and his wife each have their own work spaces.

“It’s important for us to be home with our kids, even though things may get chaotic at times, ” Paul notes. Both daughters, 8-year old Laura and Emily, 5, are alos artistically inclined. “I don’t know if it’s a matter of exposure or a double dose of genetics, or both. Whether they’ll want to go into it for a living is up to them, ” he says. At times, all four family members may be working on their own drawing or painting projects.

Since opening his studio, Paul has developed a client list that includes ad agencies and some of the Twin Cities best-known corporations, including Best Buy, BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, General Mills and Target. One of his 2004 projects was illustrating a Food Safety Kit for the federal government’s Centers for Disease Control.

When he needs a break from the drawing board, Fricke also has another creative outlet to provide respite from his illustration work — music. He’s been playing piano since he was nine and writing songs since 17. “If I get stuck at the drawing board, it’s a great break to sit down at the piano and pound away,” he says.

Coming from one of the world’s largest metro-plexes, the Frickes appreciate the blend of city and small-town living Plymouth affords. “We’re tucked into a quiet area, but we’re still only 20 minutes from downtown Minneapolis, so it’s easy to take advantage of what the city has to offer. Plymouth is a really well-planned, well-designed community. Everything is very accessible, it’s easy to get around, and the schools are great. It just feels good here,” Paul says.

So, we’ve managed to set up shop and our little corner of the universe in what Money magazine has chosen this year as the best place to live in America. That’s cool; we sure like it and the recognition for our fair city. Glancing over the 2007 list, I see we didn’t make the top 100, while a few other Minnesota suburbs did, so it looks like the magazine likes to spread around the kudos across states and the country. Good ol’ Plymouth, MN probably won’t be on the list next year, so we had better soak up the spotlight while we can.

Mary and I moved from the Chicago area to Minnesota now fifteen years ago with the intention of eventually building a house, raising a family, all while continuing to work from home doing art and living in general a creative life.  While we knew we would miss family, and have, we thought we at least had a shot here of and achieving and balancing what we wanted of our lives. Pretty much on all fronts the decision and move has exceeded our expectations, and Plymouth has played no small part in that. Good thing we took the time to rent after having first moved here, to test the waters and get a feel for the area, where we wanted to settle. The more we looked, the more we liked Plymouth. And when we were ready to move from our first house in Plymouth, we decided to stay in town, lucky enough to find a lot on which to build only a block or two away. It’s a great place.

The Minnesota Orchestra plays at the Plymouth band shell for the annual Independence day bash, an event we’ve attended most years.

Blue Moon Studios was featured in Plymouth Magazine a couple years back. I’ll post that article soon, so you can hear me gush about the city and see my ugly mug.

In the mid-’90s I was hired to do a series of illustrations for a radio ad campaign. REV 105 was an alternative station with an eclectic playlist, and this campaign was an effort to expand their base. For the first illustration, they purchased the rights to use a panel from a comic book story I’d done, “White Trash Romance,” for a book conceived by my Chicago pal, Steve Darnall, “Empty Love Stories.” (That issue and a few more are still available. Order now via the link for a great deal!) I had that first one colored up for a promo piece, which you can see here.

All originally appearing in black and white, another 3-4 pieces followed, running in a local weekly paper, The City Pages, which is still around. That’s more than I can say for REV 105. Though a better station than any around, the station lasted another year or two, after having been swallowed up, gutted and homogenized by the same company that owned their competition. All of this is a good example why I rarely listen to music on the radio.  Especially aided by digital music formats, it’s so much easier to make my own playlists, be my own DJ.

Anyway, this series of illustrations were meant to tap into retro comic book styles and genre, and they were a lot of fun to do, especially that zombie shot!