Bowery Bugs

MEDIUM:  Hand-Painted Limited Edition Cel
EDITION SIZE: 500
SIZE: 17" x 11"
SIGNED BY:  Art Davis
SKU: WB1034 

ABOUT THE IMAGE: This limited edition was inspired by the 1949 Merrie Melodies cartoon, “Bowery Bugs,” the first such edition to honor the work of Warner Bros. director Art Davis. This image captures the endlessly multifaceted Bugs (as “Swami Rabbitima” – one of three ruse characters Bugs portrays in this one cartoon) putting one over on the endlessly gullible rube Steve Brody. Bugs leads Brody on a series of wild errands (in search of good luck) that ends with a swan-dive off the Brooklyn Bridge.

ABOUT THE MEDIUM: This limited edition cel began with a drawing recreated from the original animation. The master character line was then serigraph screen printed onto an acetate sheet (or “cel”) along with the Warner Bros. Masters Collection/Art Davis seal. Each cel was then expertly hand-painted on the reverse side. The original background was reproduced using the lithography process on acid-free paper. In the final step of production, the edition number was hand-inked on each cel in an edition size of 500. Finally, Mr. Davis approved each cel with his signature.

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Art Davis was an American animator and director for Warner Brothers Studios.  He directed a number of Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies shorts with a tone somewhere between those of Clampett and McKimson. He had a distinctive characteristic visual style, which can be seen as far back as Davis' Columbia shorts, in which the characters move from the foreground to the background, as well as from side to side, using all axes of the animation field.