Ken Kearney

Paraiso Hot Springs

2007-09-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Historical images of Paraiso Hot Springs.

Paraiso gang. The wonderful Paraiso lives on in the memories of people who rented cabins there over the years. Here are some of those folks at a recent reunion.Josh Rutkoff the unofficial "mayor" of Paraiso.

Paraiso Hot Springs a gift of nature, was destroyed by "money men" in 2003. This legendary Shangri La... hidden away in the Santa Lucia Mountains...was known for it's mythological healing waters and rustic vistas through wonderful palm groves while soaking in the waters!
Palm Tree Sketches by Kearney:2003 . A new palm sprouts while the Old Man trees sway in the warm mountain breezes.Hot tub cartoon drawn for a Good Times story in 1976.

The Muse Process

2007-09-12T11:21:00.001-07:00

The process of getting ideas sometimes takes moments of relaxation! Or even to walk away from the table! circa:1994

Kearney in a quite moment, December 12,1974 at the animation desk in the Aptos, California Studio.

The Many Faces of Man

2007-09-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Many faces of man as he changes through the years. This was a sketch idea that came to me one day. Born crying and grow old crying!

Tropical Images

2007-09-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Tropical Images from my mind are floating around all the time. The palm trees and swirling river was an idea I came up with as a teen-ager. circa:1950
The Tropical Bird theme resurfaces all the time.circa:1965

Then there's Big Sur,CA for sure power of beauty! photo J. Trout

I Knew Them When!

2007-09-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Carol Sveilich,MA ...from Cabrillo College student to best selling author! We met in the 1970's in college. Now in the 2000's she is a widely respected author of the book Just Fine (unmasking concealed chronic illness and pain) and lives in the San Diego,CA area.

Carol (circa:1973 )photo: Ken Kearney

Kearney and Sveilich in yesteryears.

Ann and Mike the Hollywood Connection!Santa Cruz 2004. Here is Mike with his wife Ann in downtown Santa Cruz...They both work in Hollywood behind the scenes. Ann in the costume department for various top stage performances and Mike as crew for TV and concert events. I worked with Mike at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in the 1970's.Mike holds camera over his head at the Boardwalk circa:1976

Janea with Kearney circa 2006

Janea: A friend from the past. I first meet her at Cabrillo College in the 1970's. She became a great friend. I didn't know she was one of the foremost Belly Dancers of the area! She has also become an activist for many worthwhile causes.

Seeking Out the Wise Old Man

2007-09-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

You are supposed to have all the answers to life when you become an old man!In reality there are more questions than answers! From a Ken Kearney comic strip drawn in 1973

Clouds! Wonderful Clouds!

2007-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

I've always been fascinated by big billowy white clouds! They take shapes of various objects and you wish you were Superman and could fly through them! Reaching for the heavens.

Seacliff State Beach on a winter day.

Kearney Gets New Perspective

2007-08-31T20:20:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to wander around and shoot crazy photos.

Jump for Joy!

2007-08-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

We three!

Moon walker!

Sky walker!

Fists of fury!

Ken with Aunt Helen

2007-08-22T14:51:00.001-07:00

My fathers sister was a world traveler and a career librarian.Helen with her mother (my grandmother) about to depart for Hawaii on the SS Manoa in 1929 for a job with the library in the islands.Helen and her "book car" circa:1929 Hawaii.

Check out this shipboard menu. click picture for detail

Ship luggage tag circa:1929

Later in her life ....my Aunt Helen would throw her own biirthday parties, usually at a fancy hotel in San Francisco.

Inspirational Artists

2007-08-22T13:58:00.000-07:00

Gil Elvgren

Russell Patterson

Charles Donna Gibson

Heinrich Kley
Heinrich Kley's art was the inspiration for the dancing animals in Walt Disney's Fantasia.

Phillips Draws Kearney

2007-08-22T13:31:00.000-07:00

Famous Rock & Roll artist Jim Phillips draws sketch of Ken Kearney at the board! Phillips saw the write-up below and drew this rough sketch.

"Ken Kearney Stud" story that was published in local Santa Cruz paper. There wasn't room to address the $10 million notice as Ken Kearney Studios! Click on story to read details.

Bird Story

2007-08-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

These storyboard drawings were the start of what I thought could be a full length animated movie. I was working on this idea in the mid 1960's. The whole storyboard goes on for many more drawings.

Elephant Poem

2007-08-19T14:30:00.000-07:00

Fooling around with an elephant idea. circa:1993

Christina Landman/young super model

2007-08-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

One of my first shots of this Harbor High School girl who walked into my studio one day. I lit her up with my fantasy lighting effect. She had an inner light of her own!
Soon Christina was on the cover of Latin VOGUE!

Will James/cowboy artist

2007-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

Will James with his young wife.

Will James author of Smokey the Cowhorse was an inspiration to me as a young kid. I studied his drawings for hours!

Kenneth Kearney street in Santa Cruz County

2007-08-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

Kearney by his street sign.

Aptos T-Shirt and Cartoon

2007-08-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Over the years I worked on various Aptos Village projects

SPIKE comic strip

2007-08-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

The beginnings of a comic strip circa:1978 with lots of detail. The main character "Spike" finds a magic camera at a flea market that leads him to meeting many wonderful and beautiful women in the Santa Cruz, California area !The background in these drawings had to be researched and photographed. click picture for detail

The house that one of the women, "Soxie" was to live in. She sold sox at the flea market that she found left in laundries. "Moxie was her little daughter.

Kearney and Quake of 1989

2007-08-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

End of an era, Kearney Studios is red-tagged after the earthquake of October 1989.

The Horse of Revenge childhood comic book

2007-08-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

The complete story circa:1951

Ecological Cartoons

2007-08-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

These cartoons were drawn around 1997
"The Last Redwood." What would a crosscut show if the last redwood was cut down? click pictures for detail
"The Axeman Cometh". Imagine what the forest must have looked like when all the giant redwoods were 1st growth.

"Callling Mother Nature".

Uncle Spike 1920's

2007-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Uncle Spike,(right) my dad's older brother, the uncle I was named after. Here he is in a pith helmet during his tour of the Far East in the Philippine Islands. He played the banjo in a band on an ocean liner. circa:1920
A book of sheet music signed by "Spike Kearney" 1919.

Watsonville High School Year Book

2007-08-04T09:41:00.000-07:00

I was officially known as "Spike" in my 1956 High School year book.

Walt Disney

2007-08-01T18:42:00.000-07:00

Working in animation and cartooning.Walt Disney introduces Disneyland. photo:(c)WDP. Walt Disney was a big influence on me. As a child I drew Mickey and Donald, and wanted to work for the Disney Studios. Later in my life I got to work in animation projects with retired Disney artists.

Kearney with friend Lee Blair. Lee and his wife Mary worked on many of the Disney classics. They lived in Soquel, near Santa Cruz and Aptos,CA. photo shot by S. Sweenson at Disneyland during cartoon convention.

Bob Carlson animator from the classic Disney films. He started out on Snow White and Fantasia in the late 1930's on through the 1950's. He then opened an animation studio in Aptos CA. There is where I worked as an inbetweener with Bob on national TV commercials such as Green Giant,Tony the Tiger, Monster Vitamins, TV series: Fat Albert, Lassie, Mickey Mouse Club, etc. It was a thrill to be working with Bob and hearing about the old Disney days! photo by Kearney

Animation Scene Layouts"Tony the Tiger says goodbye to the animals of the jungle".

Little Sprout in a Green Giant TV spot working with live action props.

Snap, Crackle and Pop dish up some cereal.

Borden's Elsie the Cow in a scene with her son.

Layout showing the action path of a mouse on a motorcycle.

Bob Carlson with his pet cat watching over him, at the animation table working on TV spots out of his home in Rio Del Mar/Aptos CA. I took over the Aptos Studio space and turned it into a photo/graphic arts shop.

Larry Kilty at work on animation. We became great friends and worked on many projects in the years ahead. Larry had worked at the Disney Studio in the 1940's and 1950's.

Ken Kearney at work on animation at the Bob Carlson Studio (Carmen Productions).

Harry Reeves (middle) was a story man at Disney's. He was a friend of my Dad's and I met him when I was about nine years old. He gave me several story-board drawings that I kept over the years.

A letter I recieved from Ward Kimball one of the Disney "nine old men".

Childhood drawings of Donald and Mickey from when I was about 8 years old. circa:1945

Walt Disney Comics with Donald Duck drawn by Carl Barks. These comic books were an inspiration to a young kid like me. They had great attention to detail and story.

The famous "Lost In The Andes" and the square eggs story.

Walter T. Foster/How to Draw books This series of large paper back books were wonderful! The one on animation was authored by Preston Blair the brother of Lee Blair, both Disney artists.

ASIFA/SF
Karl Cohen with Ken Kearney at San Francisco srceening of Animation and Propaganda. Cohen is one of the world's foremost scholars in the field of animation and editor of the Animation Association newsletter San Francisco branch. July 2007

Bill Peet wrote a biography about his days at the Disney Studio that wasn't such a rosy picture.

Darkroom Enlarger

2007-08-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

This is the way it used to be done, before the digital age! There was nothing like that darkroom magic that would happen as the print was being developed! This image from old catalog

Kearney/Childhood Photos

2007-07-28T17:16:00.000-07:00

"Spike" Kearney with his first bike in Sierra Madre, CA! circa:1949

Pop and Mom 1935. Dad was park Ranger at Grand Tetons National Park.

Mom circa:1934 a few years before I came along.

Pop strums the ukulele banjo at a lumber camp in the 1920's.

I hand-colored this photo of myself. It was at a park in Seattle,WA. This is a real "time machine" shot! circa:1940

Kearney, June 1941, Seattle, Washington

Pop, Phip, baby Ken, 1937.

Pop and Spikie, Seattle, WA 1938

Christmas 1946 Mom with 3 boys, Phip,Spike,Billy.

The three brothers, Billy,Phip,Spike... in their new sweaters knited by Mom. photo shot by "Pop" in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Brothers:Phip and Billy circa:1949

Big brother Phil and "Spike". circa:1939

Phil and "Spike", San Diego. circa:1958

Four nephews from my brother Phil(frnt)Ken,Phil,(bk)Andrew,Duncan,Dion.

Miss Santa Cruz, 1983

2007-07-27T00:18:00.000-07:00

Kearney on stage of Cocoanut Grove with Miss Santa Cruz.

For a while I was shooting the photos for the Miss Santa Cruz Pageant. For many years Santa Cruz was the home for the Miss California Pageant, with a big parade from town to the Boardwalk. But that was to change with the times. I had to walk through a picket line with hundreds of women carrying candles, to get to the civic auditorium with my camera.
Santa Cruz turned from being the showplace for the Miss America Pageant to a center of controversy.

California Ranch Girls

2007-07-27T00:02:00.000-07:00

Child Model and 16"x 20"

2007-07-26T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here's the model with a photo of herself when she was a year younger.

Shot In Hollywood

2007-07-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

Professional actors that were photographed in Hollywood by Kearney
Ralph Peduto from Santa Cruz, CA has worked in many Hollywood productions and stage plays. He is also a writer and producer/director.

Below are examples of various actors in the film industry photographed by Ken Kearney.

I would commute to Los Angeles, CA and set up a photography studio in a make-up artist's home. circa: 1980's

Childhood Art

2007-07-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Older brother Phil on the left, mom and "spike" (Ken Kearney). circa:1942

Amazingly I found a copy of the Life Magazine cover I tried to draw in 1942
Here is a Life Magazine cover I copied during the war years of 1942. I would have been about six years old.

One of my first cowboy drawings.

Big Eyes the Cowboy. Big Eyes was the title character for several comic books I invented. There was a "Red Ryder" comic influence here. circa:1949

A High School term paper on being a cartoonist. circa:1955

Kearney the Security Guard

2007-07-22T22:50:00.000-07:00

For about five years I had to raise some money and worked as a security guard for several major Scotts Valley, CA computer firms. I could never get use to working the late night shift. circa 1994

Kearney and Gowland

2007-07-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Peter Gowland the world's most famous glamour/pin-up photographer and his wonderful wife Alice graciously gave me the grand tour of their home studio in July 2007! Peter Gowland was one of my boyhood heroes. I said to myself, after reading his books in the late 1950's on how to be a glamour photographer, "I want to do that!".1980 Camera Life magazine article. Peter Gowland photographs the world's most beautiful women!

Alice and Peter Gowland. circa:late 1970's

Peter Gowland and Ken Kearney, Santa Monica, California. July 2007

Alice Gowland and Ken Kearney in the famous Santa Monica, California studio.

Alice Gowland, Georgia Griffin and Peter Gowland search for the Ken Kearney blog.

Gowland checks out some negatives at his light table. Go to: www.petergowland.com for his complete story.

Peter Gowland magazines These are a few of the Gowland publications that I still have!

Santa Cruz Community TV

2007-07-19T12:29:00.000-07:00

I created over 100 Ken Kearney Shows for Santa Cruz Community TV. Here are several examples of that 1/2 hour show.
Watch the video

Watch the video
I was fortunate to get a TV interview with world famous cartoonist Eldon Dedini who passed away a few months after post production. Click below for a clip from that interview posted on the Hollywood Cartoon Archives web site.
Eldon Dedini Interview (Ken Kearney/2005)

Women of Mystery!

2007-07-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Some women have that look that belongs in a "film noir" movie! For the photographer the message is..."you can shoot my picture but just don't get too close"!

Janea turned out to be a dear friend.

I met Janea at Cabrillo College in the 1970's. It turned out she was one of the top Belly Dancers in the area! She has become involved in many civic activities.

Lisa was an Aptos teen who had a great quality to her. She was at home in a farm setting or ocean scene.circa: 1970"s

Mona Lisa SmileShe came into the studio for a real estate business face shot. I found more than just a portrait with her.

Surfer Magazine and Album Cover photography

2007-07-18T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hand colored full page ad for world famous O'Neill's Surf Shop.

Kearney designed and shot the photo for Joe Richie's album. It was all part of the "urban cowboy" craze. Joe performed at O.T. Price's Music Hall in Soquel, California.

Ken Kearney Studios

2007-07-17T17:31:00.001-07:00

For Better Or Worse...Kearney Studios opened in beautiful Aptos Village,California. circa:1975
Kearney as he appeared while operating his photography studio. (late 1970's)

The Ken Kearney cartoon logo.

Self promotional photography brochure.

The Aptos location was right accross from the Bayview Hotel. The studio was destroyed in the earthquake of October 1989.

For several years Kearney Studios was then located in a cute cabin south of Aptos in Redwood Village.

She Walked In...just looking great!

2007-07-17T17:04:00.001-07:00

Well what can I say? This is why I liked getting up every morning!

Bathing Beauties!

2007-07-17T16:50:00.000-07:00

What could be more fun than photgraphing beauties in bathing suits? It's what I always dreamed about as a Watsonville High School kid after looking at the Peter Gowland books on "How to Be a Glamour Photographer".

This last shot is what you might call a pin-up girl. These are just a few samples.

I studied these magazines as a high school kid like they were text books for my future career choice.

Tough Guys

2007-07-17T16:39:00.001-07:00

The guys needed their photos shot too! Often they were going for a "movie look".

The Chair Series

2007-07-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Kearney shoots Kearney!

Here was another one of my bright ideas...I photographed over one-hundred models in a directors chair, against seamless white paper. I thought this might make a great photo series for a magazine. I did meet a lot of nice people! Now it's a historic document!

Weddings! Weddings!

2007-07-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

Kearney looks for the next wedding shot!

The Santa Cruz Cocoanut Grove, where many a wedding happens!

The "bread and butter" of the photography business!

Cabrillo Log artwork

2007-07-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

I attended Cabrillo College for about five years on the GI Bill. circa:1980's
I think this is why guys go to college!

Of course spring makes a guy want to "day dream"!

A political comment on the "fat cats" wanting to drill for oil in the Monterey Bay!

A movie poster spoof that appeared on the back of the newspaper. There was a real "med fly" invasion!

One of the many joys of going to Cabrillo College,CA was working on the school newspaper as photographer/illustrator. The teacher of the class was Dr. Bill Nolan...he just set us loose with creativity.

Kearney works at the Santa Cruz,CA Boardwalk

2007-07-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Kearney with some of the kids who would follow him around in the arcade asking for a free game. Many of these youngsters would be "regulars" at the Boardwalk for the whole summer. It was a place where the parents would drop them off at. photo by Mike Chickey

While working at the Boardwalk I shot this photo of Skip Littlefield for a story in Monterey Life Magazine. circa:1982.

Photo booth "goings on", while Ken gets shot!

Kearney and co-worker Heather, near the costume concession area. photos by Mike Chickey
Mike Chickey gets in the picture as he clicks off a shot of Kearney and co-worker Heather. circa 1982

My Aunt Helen (left) at the Boardwalk 1920! (62 years earlier)

I was employed by the Seaside Company at the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for approximately five years. This was while I was getting my photography studio going in Aptos, California.

Haight-Ashbury Hippie Girl Street Sketches

2007-07-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

Dora... one of my favorite "hippie girl" sketches from 1968. Youthful and shivering from the cold wind, she had always lived in San Francisco. "Dora" would now be approximately 55 years old!

Kearney as he appeared in the late 1960's. With sketch-pad in hand I journeyed to San Francisco and asked young hippie girls if I could draw their portrait. I was then going to create a story for a magazine! These letters below were the 1st draft of that idea.

Here are some of the women kind enough to sit for a quick sketch!

note from my sketch book:"Sean" 1-6-1968 While doing this sketch on the stairway to an apartment building we were kicked off by an irate landlord who yelled:"you kids get out of here, go play in the park, I'll call the cops!" She was from San Diego. She wants to open a dress shop in the future.

Elsewhere in this blog, see Haight-Ashbury cartoons and photos.

Promotinal Cartoon Advertising

2007-07-01T13:02:00.000-07:00

Making fun of myself. note: the "Slug U" tee-shirts. (UCSC) circa: 1980's

Well...I thought why not try some cartoon ads?

Colorful Cartoons

2007-07-01T12:22:00.000-07:00

It's always fun to work up new ideas!

Examples of various colorful cartoon ideas rendered in a mixed media techique

Political Cartoons

2007-06-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

Examples of editorial cartoons that appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

The Capitola Theater was closing after many years. The owner is shown here viewing "the last picture show". As of the present date (July 2007) the place is still an empty-shell. This drawing was published in 1996. Many an evening my two brothers and I would hike down the rail road tracks from Aptos Village to Capitola to see an MGM musical in the 1950's!

A local Santa Cruz Highway project that has been dragging on for years.

The subject matter of these cartoons is still current even though they were created a decade ago!

Aptos, California Girls

2007-06-28T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a small sampling of the women who used to walk through the door at Kearney Studios! This is why I wanted to be a photographer!

Examples of "country style" images ...shot with medium format camera and long lens.

Cabrillo College Comic Strip

2007-06-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

This was part of a continuing comic strip that appeared in the college newspaper. circa:1973

As you might be able to tell...this story was autobiographical.

Kearney Goes to the Dogs!

2007-06-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

A Few Words About STUBBY
Stubby...he was the family dog all through my Watsonville High School days. He was a pure-breed English Cocker Spaniel. He liked to eat the fruit from our pippin and bellflower apple trees. He would keep my feet warm at night as I slept outside our cabin under the stars. I could hear the Barn Owls screeching and the crickets chirping. Stubby made me feel safe from the night. note: I made my special Donald Duck sound as I snapped this photo with my Kodak Brownie camera.

Here I am with my pal Stubby. We lived in Aptos, CA... my two brothers my dad and I. We called a small cabin home. It was on an acre of land with redwood trees and several dozen apple trees. My dad had a plant nursery there...Fuchsias and African violets. "Pop" had 100 varieties of Fuchsias! Us kids were good at transplanting and pruning! The violets had to be kept warm and were housed in a building that is still there to this day. This was near Redwood Village on Soquel Drive. We would take a school bus to Watsonville High School every day.Kearney and Stubby a few years later.

Stubby was quite the ocean swimmer! He could go through those waves and keep up with the best of us! After all he did have web-feet! He loved to roll in the warm sand to dry off after a swim. At home all you had to say was "you wan'na go to the beach"? He would run for the car and you couldn't get him out of there till we got to the beach.

Stubby gets dressed up! You can see part of the cabin in the background.

This was one of my nephews dogs. It shows the flow of action using a panning technique!

A Haight-Ashbury hippie dog...circa:1969 San Francisco, CA.

Cartoon drawing of a hopeful hitch-hiker, 1969 San Francisco.

Pooch glamour shot. I often had requests to do photos of pets at my Aptos Studio.

Kearney Cats

2007-06-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Cat Stays in the Picture!
Cats seemed to be turning up all the time whenever I happened to have a camera! Maybe in a former life they were models? Golden eyed beauty shot with medium format camera and long lens and setting sun.

"I'm ready for my closeup Mr. Kearney" You can't tell a cat to do this. He/she just jumped up into the chair in my Aptos Studio one fine day and it was "lights, camera, action"!

"Hi There! I saw the door open and thought I would just drop in"! Look at that "cat-walk"! I had never seen this cat before!

"Hey! I want to be a model too"! I did'nt plan this at all...the cat just showed up! I was shooting some portfolio work for the wonderful model.

A powerful grey cat that lived at the Victorian Bay View Hotel in Aptos Village, CA. He would enter rooms through the window. In this case it was my room.

Could this be a scene out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie? Maybe Psycho? note: the black cat. This building has since been remodeled and is a home for senior citizens. click on photo for details.

"A good place to see what's going on" said the fence cat! I like all the sun-baked wood.

Here we have a "window cat". In my walks around the sea-side town of Santa Cruz, CA... I would notice I was being observed!

A cartoon cat doodle. I noticed how cats sometimes tuck in their front paws.

Kearney Creations

2007-06-20T23:09:00.000-07:00

Various Examples of Ken Kearney's work
I found a new job at Singer/Friden in the early 1970's.

Kearney with magazine and original cover art painting. I had a great job for a while working at Friden, a place in San Leandro, CA. I did illustrations for their corporate magazines, learned photography even worked in their TV studio as a camera-man.

Closeup of painting for cover, May 1970. I used a palate knife and acrylics.

Kearney and co-worker Fran at the controls of the large TV cameras used at Friden. circa:1970

Graphic arts area at Friden.

Paul Moeller was one of the best bosses I ever had. We got along great and he taught me the basics of photography, on the job.

One Christmas season while living in San Francisco, I worked on cartoons at a Palo Alto Mall for charity. It was a big hit! Soon I was drawing cartoons of people's pets! Money was being raised for various causes...even the Veterans' Hospital!

One of many covers for Cabrillo College Newspaper. I got away from the big city, was divorced and went to College on the GI Bill. It was great fun! I created cartoons and photos for the "Cabrillo Log".

Perfect shot of seagull about to take flight from rock in Pleasure Point, CA. 135mm lens

Solarized print of the same seagull photo created in my Aptos Studio darkroom.

Watsonville Pajaronian newspaper story.

"The Great Hunter" looking for his next thrilling subject. Mixed media

"Uke You and the Moon" My favorite musical instrument the ukulele rendered here with oil pastels.

Kearney in elf costume,1973. My brother and I worked the Santa Claus window for Ford's Department Store in Watsonville,CA for many years. My brother was the "Jolly Man" himself!
Here's my older brother Phil portraying Santa.

Photography near La Selva Beach,CA. Nadine was running with her mare and colt.

Kearney, US Navy Experiences circa:1958-1961

2007-06-17T22:37:00.000-07:00

Cruise Book cartoon map from 1960.

Deck-hand Kearney aboard the USS Southerland, comes along side another Destroyer for a "high-line" drill, out in the Pacific.

"Tin-Can" sailor Kearney holding on during a storm at sea!

US Navy days!

Hamamatsu, Japan. I went to this village to visit a friend Saburo Ito, and these folks showed up too. Shot with a plastic Kodak Brownie camera. circa:1959

Studio photography of Seaman Kearney, shot in Yokosuka, Japan.circa:1959

Join the Navy and see the world! Well, what's a guy to do after he gets out of High School? Maybe head down to San Diego,CA and go to USN boot camp. It gives a young guy a new out-look on life. Because I could draw cartoons, that did get me into some interesting projects. My first assignment out of boot camp was working on training aids at the US Navy Training Center, San Diego. Then after a year of shore duty it was out into the Pacific for three years on varies ships. Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Hawaii...were some of the ports. I also went through the stormy seas of "Cape Horn" around South America, just like my ancestors, only they were coming from Ireland. They were on small wooden sailing ships, I was on an Aircraft Carrier.
Kearney the old salt! In Kobe,Japan. I knew how to put that curl on my sailor hat and wear it low to the eyebrows! At this time I was aboard the USS Dixie, a Destroyer Tender. Our home port was Yokouska, Japan a very wild town! Being 6'2" meant remembering to keep your noggin down when going through one of those many solid iron hatches!This was one of my water color impressions of a beautiful Hawaiian Island scene.This was from one of my illustrated letters to home, when I was aboard the Aircraft Carrier FDR. Note: my nick-name was Spike.Kearney hits the port of Rio de Janeiro here in front of world famous "Sugar Loaf".
Post card of Rio, showing Sugar Loaf.The Disney movie "Saludos Amigos" featured a terrific song: "Brazil". That film and song along with "The Three Cabelleros" made a big impression on me as a kid. They had wild and wacky animation. Little did I know I would later visit "Sugar Loaf" and also work with Bob Carlson,Lee Blair,Larry Kilty, Disney animators who worked on those films. I even worked as an "in-betweener" with Bob on national TV commercials.

Kearney works for NASA circa:1964-1968

2007-06-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

NASA's Ames Research Center, Mountain View, California
Only a few years out of the US Navy as a deck hand and now working in the Graphics and Exhibits Department for world famous NASA as a technical illustrator! Just because I could draw! My first job out of the Navy was working in retail at Valley Fair,San Jose, CA. Then my brother Phil, helped me get into a "job-shop" as a technical illustrator. That lead to the NASA job. This was before the moon landing.
Kearney at his best in jacket and tie, with poster art he designed.

Kearney at the drawing board. This was when Leroy pens and India ink were used for lettering illustrations.

In NASA jump suite setting up an exhibit in one of those large hangers at Moffett Field.

Kearney at work drawing animal cartoons for kids at NASA 1966 Christmas Party.

Cartoon Doodle. Some times it felt like this being a technical illustrator.

At the desk, Ames Research Center, April 1964.

Kearney with Frog 1976 Carmel, California

2007-06-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

Frog costume created by Kearney as a mascot for a clothing store.
Photo by Larry Kilty

Aptos Village Studio,California

2007-06-13T12:54:00.000-07:00

Wide angle shot by photographer Greg Pio of Kearney in my studio... Aptos, California. My feet are resting on an animation desk from Hanna Barberra Studios. Before I took over the space, I had been working there as an animator with ex-Walt Disney artists Bob Carlson and Larry Kilty in the early 1970's. This studio was destroyed in the October 1989 earthquake.

Redwood Village, the new studio location after the earthquake of October 1989. That's my 1981 Buick Skylark that later was in a San Francisco movie.

Found Photos

2007-06-09T16:53:00.000-07:00

I really like "found photos"...pictures from old family albums and yard sales etc. They show a candid slice out of the "time machine"!
circa:1911 What a wonderful candid Santa Cruz beach shot! The bathing suits are just great! This was from a Kearney family album. click photo for details

I know nothing about the people in this candid shot; I found it at a flea-market. It looks like the period was around 1900. I call it "Girl In The Park". You can see how proud the adults are with the young girl. A story could easily be written based on this one picture.

1925 picnic. Old family album snapshot that was from one of my Aunts collections. Everybody looks like they are having a great time...but look at that dreary landscape! How about that grand old automobile! Those outfits are very fashionable!

1920 car crowd. It's April Fools Day and everybody is out to have a good time! (my Aunt Jean's collection.)

This is the kind of view-finder camera that people would use for these snapshots from the 1920's.

Pith helmets were the fashion for visitors to the Philippine Islands in the 1920's!

Kim:a favorite model through the years

2007-06-05T17:48:00.000-07:00

Kim and Ken, May 2007. We kept in touch through these many years!

Kim circa:1976 She is modeling a "Crazy Horse Leathers" outfit. note:location of this shot was Lost World.

"Wolf" (Ken)and Kim...circa:1980. At the time there was a costume shop down the street from my photography studio in Aptos Village, California. The shop owner would lend me outfits for photo tests.

Kim at "Lost World" in Scotts Valley,California. circa:1976. For years "Lost World" was a big roadside attraction. It featured the life size Dinosaurs and the "tree circus". You could see them from Highway 17 on the way to Santa Cruz. I shot a series of photos there with Kim in it's last days. This is a sample of one of the prints that I hand-colored.

Kim and another model in a "penthouse" room at the Bay View Hotel, Aptos Village,CA. circa:1976 note:the Bayview Hotel is still there to this day and has been upgraded to a bed and breakfast Inn.

Kim and her favorite parrot. He knew how to spread his wings on command.
Kim and pal make it into an ad.
Kim and a really big format camera!
Bay View Hotel night shot.

Hollywood movie experiences

2007-06-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Kearney at the "Long Road Home" location in San Juan Bautista, California.

Kearney poses with car,dog, shack town and "Grapes of Wrath" type costume, ready for his role in "Long Road Home". Usually you are not allowed to shoot photos on a movie set, but this crew didn't seem to mind.

Kearney has a speaking scene in:"Creator" with world famous actor Peter O'Toole in downtown Santa Cruz, California! Here are newspaper clippings about some of the films I was involved with. Some other films I got to work on were: "Sudden Impact","Long Road Home","Terminator II" and "Pursuit of Happyness". (Mariel Hemingway and Peter O'Toole's autographs are on the card. Click photo to see more detail.

Candid Photos of Peter O'Toole by Ken Kearney.

Candid photos of Peter O'Toole with Ken Kearney during filming of "Creator". Location: downtown Santa Cruz.

Ken Kearney with Vikki Dougan on Rodeo Drive, L.A. during her birthday party dinner. (It was just the two of us.) I was doing some photo work in Los Angeles, California in the 1980's and got to know this famous and beautiful model. Vikki had appeared in several films too. She had even been on the cover of Life Magazine. (Polaroid camera shot with self timer).

Here are some of the magazine covers Vikki appeared on.

Vikki was known as "The Back". In her heyday,everything came to a halt when she walked through the door! Here is a Hollywood Associated Press photo of her at a party. (This shot appeared in a 1957 Playboy magazine story).

"SUDDEN IMPACT" candid photos by Ken Kearney
Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke on location:Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz, CA
Actress Sondra Locke talks with crew prior to her next scene. Location: Pacific Ave. Santa Cruz, California.

Clint Eastwood on location in Santa Cruz (circa:1983) during the filming of "Sudden Impact". note:The female in the background is also in the insert studio photo I shot. I was an extra portraying a "cop" in a scene at Natural Bridges State Beach in this movie.

Cartoon I created of the movie action. I'm the cop holding back the crowd at a murder scene. Pat Hingle, Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke are the center of attention. This was my first time at being a movie extra!

Here's the story that appeared in Hollywood Studio Magazine. click on photo for detail.

Candid Photos by Ken Kearney of actor Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon during 1975 filming of "The Entertainer" at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

Crowd of extras with Jack at Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, California. Click photos to see more detail.

Jack Lemmon rests between scenes.

Candid B/W Photos of Heuy Lewis at Santa Cruz Beach during music video shoot.
Heuy Lewis gets cozy with make-up artist for a touch-up. B/W photos by Kearney.

Candid photo by Kearney from the San Jose, CA location for "Kiss Shot", starring Whoppi Goldberg. Kearney was an extra playing the part of a body-guard.

Rough Sketches From Memory to do With " The Pursuit Of Happyness" starring Will Smith. circa 2005
POH as "The Pursuit of Happyness" was called on the set, employed a hugh supporting cast and crew. Every evening before the next days shoot, the extras needed to call in to the casting phone number. The extras were then informed where the shooting location would be in San Francisco, and what time to report to "home base". I worked for over two months on the film, mostly as a driver. I had a tan 1981 Buick-Skylark, just what was needed for the time setting of this movie. When I would get to "home-base" (one of the piers along the waterfront) early in the morning, the full moon would be lighting up the San Francisco skyline. The extras would line up for breakfast under the starlit skies before going to costume and make-up.
The crew was interesting to watch. They all had a certain job to take care of. Their clothing had a "grunge-look". They had to work tirelessly. There were a lot of props and people to keep track of. Sometimes whole city blocks were shutdown while the film action took place!

Casting Agent: Judy Bouley. Candid photo by Kearney in Aptos, CA location during "Brotherhood of Justice". circa:1983
Judy Bouley was a very kind casting agent. She placed me in my first role as a cop with Clint Eastwood in "Sudden Impact". Then there was the Peter O'Toole film "Creator" and "Lost Boys". Judy has worked on many big film projects.

Esther Williams/MGM swim star!

Esther Williams made a big impression on me as a young guy. Years later I wrote to her and told her so...and got a signed photo back!

Kathryn Grayson/MGM singing star
I also wrote to Kathryn Grayson and told her how much I enjoyed her films and recieved a signed 8x10 from her too!

Old "Good Times" cover art

2007-06-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sample of one of the Santa Cruz "Good Times" covers I did a cartoon for. This is when the Rolling Stone logo style was in use. Jay Shore was the publisher/editor at the time. I traded photography/cartoon sevices for ad space to promote my photography studio in Aptos, California. I became well known in the Santa Cruz area. I would publish a different beautiful model's face in weekly ads.

In this case beautiful twins!

1969 Haight Ashbury, San Francisco,California

2007-06-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hitch-hiking Cartoon Series: I worked up these rough drawings in hopes of getting them published. But alas that didn't happen. In the 1960's hitch-hiking took on a whole new look. Of course in the movies the most famous hitch-hiking scene was in:"It Happened One Night" with Clark Gable.

Hitch-hikers in love!
Going my way?

Any port in the storm!

This is no-where's-ville, man!

These were hitch-hiking scenes I actually saw.

This was the letter I sent along with the cartoon ideas to the editor of EYE magazine.

San Francisco, Haight Ashbury 1969 street photos

This is one of my favorite "street photos" from the old "Summer of Love" Haight Ashbury days. Shot on the corner of Cole and Haight Street. Note: the child sees me but nobody else notices I'm sneaking this shot. It looks like the dog is getting better treatment than the child. I was sitting in a parked car using a 135mm lens. Good thing nobody saw me....they might have thought I was a "nark"! I was living on Cole Street at the time with my first wife, and just getting into still photography. Note: if you click on this photo you will see amazing detail! There's a Timothy Leary flyer taped to the wall of the then Haight-Straight theater. Hey folks this is real history here!

More Street Shots...from late 1960's

2007-06-01T12:13:00.001-07:00

Samples of my 1960's Haight Ashbury "black-light" posters

2007-06-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here are examples of 2'x3' posters from my San Francisco,California Haight Ashbury days. Some are lithos others the silk screen printing process. They were in all the poster shops. The lithos were sold world wide. I had been working at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View CA, for five years. One day in the late 1960's I quite that job and went to live in San Francisco. Next thing I know...I'm getting married and working with a bunch of wild hippies(who had a silk screen printing shop)and creating black-light cartoon posters. I created the color seperations on film.

Capitola CA, Christmas cartoon series 2006

2007-05-31T16:17:00.000-07:00

This cartoon was cover art for the holiday edition of Capitola Times.

Ken in Destin Florida visits sisters Anne and Suzie

2007-05-13T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ken with sisters, Destin Harbor in Florida, May 2007. It was great to visit with my beautiful sisters! I seldom get to see them. The weather was perfect,the sandy white beaches,the blue-green warm ocean was wonderful! It was also a time to help recover from my cancer operation just a few months earlier.

Ken Kearney fights cancer

2007-03-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ken Kearney went through 12 hr. surgery Jan. 31st 2007 for pancreatic cancer. An emergancy trip to the Palo Alto Veterans Hospital showed I had an operable case. In March 2007 I was back in Santa Cruz on the mend. I wouldn't wish this on anyone! I went from 220 lbs to 165 lbs. I was so weak, I couldn't even lift myself up onto my elbows in bed. I'd look out the window and wonder if I would ever smell fresh air again! Now I just have to take some time to "smell the roses"! My life has changed forever. There was some local Santa Cruz media coverage on my experience...I recieved hundreds of heartfelt letters from friends and strangers.

Kearney in Intensive Care Unit. It was necessary to be there for over a week because of complications.

Some of the local media stories.

Sherry M. Wren, MD Associate Professor of Surgery, who performed the operation.

Lynne Dempsey RN,MS,CS General Surgery Clinical Nurse Specialist

Some kind doctors and nurses who saved my life.

Kearney still stressing on posting images

2006-10-13T00:02:00.000-07:00

It's October 2006....and still missing steps to post images....well... sometime soon?

Photos From The Past

2006-04-30T02:14:00.000-07:00

Some images from Kearney Studios, Aptos California circa:1970's. I had studied the work of Hollywood photographers from the 1930's. I had a photo studio in Aptos Village. I was running ads in Good Times. Jay Shore the publisher traded me ad space for photo/illustration assignments. I was also working on a comic strip idea about a guy named Spike who finds a magic camera at a flea market. The camera would produce magic images that would lead to him meeting many beautiful women!

Photos From The Past

2006-04-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

Chinese beauty. I did lots of shots of her through the years.

This is Laura. She was a real beauty:full lips, great figure! I did lots of shots of her. She had to cut her hair for modeling jobs in the big city. I later photographed her wedding in San Francisco.

A very cute gal that entered the studio door one day.

A cute young girl. She liked being photographed.

Rough design cartoon ideas.

Cartoon comic strip idea.

Ken In Destin FL Visits Anne, his sister.

2006-04-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Ken overlooks Destin harbor.

Photo and Cartoons

2006-04-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

Hey! I got a couple of images on my blog! The portrait is one of thousands I've done over the years....she was local teen...shot this for modeling portfolio...she was wonderful girl! Cartoons: "My Turn Old Man",I created for a New Years card, "King Kong in San Francisco"...I drew as part of the Kong Craze...I had been spending a lot of time in SF while working on a new Will Smith movie("The Pursuit of Happyness", due for release late 2006) as a driver/extra. I figured if Kong came to SF he would climb the Pyrmid biulding....and the girl is playing a uke and singing " East of the Sun and West of the Moon". Any way it's exciting to get some images on here....hope to have many more as I learn how to do this!

Photo & Cartoons

2006-04-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

starting out

2006-04-07T01:12:00.001-07:00

Ken Kearney starts out on a blog trip! This is a whole new world! As I become more proficient at this blog stuff....I hope to post many photos and illustrations I have created through the years!

Ken Kearney Studios: Hi

2006-04-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

Ken Kearney Studios: Hi

2006-03-23T09:52:00.000-08:00

Welcome.