The Art of Marcus Hamilton

While Marcus Hamilton is best known to comics fans as the artist on the daily Dennis the Menace panel, he also had a career in commercial art. Here, we show some examples of his commercial art as well as some behind-the-scenes Dennis art, including some with notes and instructions from Dennis creator Hank Ketcham.

Alien Twin

Portrait of golf legend Bobby Jones

Cover illustration for Changing Times magazine

Sean Connery illustration

Saturday Evening Post cover portrait of Bob Hope

Hamilton (right) with Hope, holding the portrait's original art

Illustration for Medical Economics magazine

A Harlequin paperback cover painting

Illustration for Tennis magazine. Hamilton used Gasoline Alley cartoonist Jim Scancarelli as the model.

A drawing for a business magazine

A humorous magazine illustration

Illustration for a magazine article about POWs

A portrait of baseball great Reggie Jackson

Self-portrait

A high-tech "Thinker" illustration

Hamilton's commentary upon creating his hundredth Dennis panel

A piece of correspondence from Ketcham to Hamilton

Ketcham's praise for Hamilton's portrait

Some rough Ketcham sketches with his pointers

More Ketcham suggestions to Hamilton

Compositional advice from Ketcham

The Dennis team: (l-r) Hamilton, Ketcham and Sunday Dennis artist Ron Ferdinand

A sketch with Ketcham's advice

Ketcham's mentoring included encouragement for Hamilton not to get discouraged.

Encouragement, Ketcham-style

Ketcham's advice on managing deadlines

 

The Dennis cast, by Hamilton

The Evolution of a Dennis Panel (Warning: CATFIGHT!)

The following illustrations trace the development of a single Dennis panel. They illustrate the attention to detail and authenticity that Ketcham expected in the artwork. Click on each thumbnail in sequence to see the art and Hamilton's commentary about the process.