Todd Helton: A Career in Cartoons

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The Face of the Rockies

Class. The one word that I use to describe Todd Helton. It’s hard to believe he is leaving because, well, he is the Colorado Rockies. No player is more identified with the franchise than Helton. He has anchored first base for so long it’s hard to believe anyone else ever played there (Andres Galarraga). His work ethic was amazing. He was the consummate team player. He stayed when he should have gone. And now, finally, he is calling it a career. This one will take some time for me to absorb. He is to the Rockies what Elway is to the Broncos. Irreplaceable. Unbelievable. And I for one am going to miss him very very much. A special THANKS to 9NEWS for giving me a forum for this cartoon!

Drawing a Tribute cartoon

Tribute cartoons, for me anyway, are among the most difficult and emotionally draining kinds of drawings I do. I have always been one to try and reach beyond the obvious and to put my heart down on paper. Such is the case of this one for my favorite Rockie, Todd Helton. I started out with the famous Babe Ruth photo by Nat Fein in mind, and thinking that If I could change the scoreboard in the outfield to read HELTON in neon it might look cool against the background sky. I honestly didn’t know how it would look until I got almost completely finished. I’m not big at drawing buildings, mostly because I kind of think I don’t do it well, so the idea of drawing Coors field with a bit of detail almost made me abandon the whole thing. Since I knew this was for 9News, I’m always aware that I need to keep it simple. The 8 or 10 seconds they give it means It’s got to be a quick read and simple to absorb. I felt the initial drawing with Todd and the scoreboard would do that. But I also decided if I was going to do this thing with Coors field I might as well have fun with the thing. The heart on the scoreboard, the Cancer awareness ribbon in the bullpen area, The 9News ad. And, yes, even the original ad for the Rocky Mountain News which adorned Coors field until it’s demise in 2009, which, by the way, is one of my favorite parts of the drawing. It’s my way of paying tribute to my former colleagues at the Rocky and kind of a gentle jab at the current paper left in Denver who doesn’t consider this kind of content worthy to use as freelance. But I digress.

The final element was the moon. I wasn’t sure if it would come off as too “children’s booky” to include. But in the end, I’m glad I added it. It brings a nice balance to the art.

The drawing took about 6 hours to complete on a Wacom Cintiq tablet using sketchbook. I hope you enjoy it. Now how about one more homer Helton!