Charles Ponstingl, the Man who carved the Comics

Abartig großartiges Posting auf der Website von Mel Birnkrant (den ich schonmal vor zwei Jahren mit seinen Memoirs of a Toy Designer hier hatte) über die Holzschnitzereien von Charles Ponstingl, der über 200 Stills aus vorwiegend Disney-Comics und -Cartoons in enormen Detailreichtum nachgeschnitzt hat. Die Bilder auf der Seite haben mich grade umgehauen, von Mickey Mouse bis Little Nemo und Bugs Bunny, alles aus Holz geschnitzt. Awesome!

To understand Charles’ interest in Comic Characters, one need only look back to his childhood. All the Funny Folks, and the Great Artists who created them, speak to him of simpler times and better days, echoing an era when America was still fresh and brave. They carry him back to his earliest days, a time when good and evil were still easily discernible, and almost everyone, as well as the Comic Characters that Charles met in the “Funny Papers”, were all on the same page.

Ron carried the carvings into my house, one at a time. Each one was contained in its own carefully constructed carrying case. As I lifted the lid of one box after another to feast my eyes on the treasures that hid inside, I thought, how strange this whole adventure seemed. These mysterious carvings; how did they come to be? The work of this reportedly unpleasant old man was clearly talking to me, and telling me a story that didn’t quite add up. Could this curiously friendly and so lovingly crafted body of work really be the product of a difficult and cantankerous old man? And why was it “he would never carve again”?

CARVING THE COMICS – The Amazing Art of Charles Ponstingl (via Boing Boing)