Living up to the blog's name...

Finally getting back into the swing of things now that Lilah's getting on some sembalance of a schedule. That and Mom and I are taking turns giving each other the valuable "me" time that helps us cope with the new addition.

I sent a way for the Kubert correspondence course on inking and have begun it in earnest. These are the first two exercises I've accomplished so far. The first one is pen nib only. A Hunt 512 nib that I've never used before. I should've incorporated some Crow Quill in there (either the 102 or 107), but I wanted to give this new nib a test drive. Didn't turn out as poorly as I anticipated, but still plenty of room for improvement.

The second piece (two-paneled one) is all brush work. Again, this is the first time I've used a #2 Kolinsky to ink. (I've been using a #4 and a #00 as of late.) Gotta say that I prefer the brush over the pen nibs. I just feel more in control and you can get a finer line easier with it.

I'll be posting more as I progress in the lessons, though right now it's all practice. Until next time...

Again, it's been too long...

I've been slack, but here's a great reason why...introducing Lilah Dare, who weighed in at 8 lbs. 10.5 oz. and measured 21 inches.

Cripes

Been too long since I've posted anything. Just haven't had much of the drawing bug as of late. Kinda lost my mojo. (Not that I ever really had it to begin with, but...) Finally got off my dead ass and drew this for a contest over at Velocity Comics. Gotta turn it in either tonight or tomorrow seeing as Hallowe'en is the deadline.

As some of you can tell the assignment of the contest was to draw Robert Kirkman's Invincible. My original idea was to have it be underwater and he'd be fighting some Cthulhu-type monster. Unfortunately, somebody else already had that idea as a friend pointed out to me via a web image. My brain and drawing bug kicked in enough to eek out this simple shit just to say I drew something. Luckily, my friend Mafus hooked me up with the colors to add a little more "umph" to the piece. (Otherwise it'd be unremarkable.) So thanks again, Mafus. You bailed me out.

Gonna see if I can keep the momentum going and get some more pieces up and out. Hopefully this'll be the catalyst to get me back on the right path. But with Baby Classes, Tae Kwon Do and everything else going on it'll take discipline, which I severely lack. Until next time...

Happy trails

I'm heading off to Philly for a couple days for some work related shenanigans and wanted to post something before I bounced. Found this old pin-up I'd done for a friend's weird western many moons ago. This was when I inked entirely with a crow quill (Hunt's 102, baby) and sometimes miss the frenetic line I used to get from it. I think I finally gave up on them after ruining so many pages by either having the quill tear the paper or dot ink all over a panel. Sometimes both of those mistakes can be "happy" accidents, but after awhile I hated them as much as Klingons.

Gonna have to find a comic shop up in the Philly area. Hopefully, someone over on Jamar's board can point me in the right direction. Gotta get those new comics on Wednesday. We've got 'FEAR Agent' and 'The Last Christmas' coming out. Remender bringing the offbeat goodness. Possibly the new 'Blue Beetle' and 'Eternals.' To help pass the time away from my lovely wife I may have to score the 'Thing: Idol of Millions' trade, too.

May try to get some airport/pub sketches done while in transit. Hopefully, I'll get something worthy of posting. We'll have to wait and see.

Richmond Ink

Finished the inks this afternoon as you can very well see. Probably one of the better pages I've produced in awhile. It was inked for the most part with a #2 Sable with a little assist from the Faber Pitt Markers that Mike Manley recommends. Very good markers. The brush marker is worth the pack alone.

Getting ready to watch 'V For Vendetta' tonight. Leery, but hopeful is the best I can say. Especially after watching what was done to 'League.' More later, chaps.

A little validation

Well, I'm officially a published writer now. Illustrator, too. Lucked out seeing as they're both in the last issue of Mudrock Stories & Tales. They'll be changing names and revamping their format come January, but damn was I worried that the issue wasn't going to happen. Then lo and behold there were four issues in my mailbox. Unfortunately, I celebrated a little too much that evening at the pub and ticked the wife off a wee bit. I'm not sure if you can order the magazine at this point during the transition, so here's the illustration that went along with the tale.

Still working on inking. Had an orbital/ocular migraine the other day and went half-blind for a bit. It was a hoot. Also incurred a helluva headache along with it from the squinting. I'm hoping it was a one-time thing. Look for the finished page Monday or Sunday.

Of the comics I picked up this week Garth Ennis', 'The Boys' was the stand-out. Maybe because one of the characters is Simon Pegg. Maybe because it looks to be another good yarn of Ennis' that might help replace that void left by the end of the 'Preacher.' Also I'm liking the new 'Green Lantern Corps.' Maybe because Naru look like my wife, but mostly because the art perfectly fits the title and the storyline has been part-detective and part-adventure.

Looks like Marvel's really screwed the pooch with their delaying of 'Civil War.' It's understandable that they'd want to keep the same creative team, but to push back their biggest storyline in years because of poor planning makes them look inept. But as they say, that's comics.

Still inking...

I haven't quite finished inking the page below. Changing up the layout a bit. Not much, just losing the top panels borders to try to give the page a little more life and to get more of her hand on the page, so it looks more like the thumbnail. It's been bugging me that I lost that left hand of hers, 'cuz it looked so nice in the prelims. Look for the final inks later this week.

In the interim here's my Gamertag for all you Xbox 360ers out there. Right now I've been playing 'Dead Rising' like nobody's bidness. Still have plenty of achievements to unlock as well as the true ending, but I'll get there soon. I've been through the game once, but still discovering new things and/or places I missed the first time. There's plenty of running around and time limits that hamper some of the exploratory wandering. Now that I've run through it I'm not feeling the bite of time. I was only one meeting shy of the true ending, so's I know I can get there again easily. In the meantime I'll be running down zombies, chainsawing them, lawnmowering them and just plain smacking the hell outta 'em. Very carthartic.

How things go horribly wrong...

It's been too long, but the wife and I had to go to Illinoise so the family that couldn't come out for the wedding could meet her. I've only been doing loose marker sketches at the moment trying to brush up on my line and confidence. Nothing really worthwhile to post, hence another NOWERE page.

Figured I'd throw in the thumbnail page along with the finished to show you just how easy it is for me to muck up a good idea. Hopefully I can salvage some of it during the inking process. Gonna try to incorporate some marker and quill work instead of just letting the brush take care of all the business.

Also, if you haven't already, go pick up DUSTY STAR #1. Pruett and Robinson are finally back at it with my favorite sci-fi/western gunslingress.

El Muerto Del La Noche

My Spanish is for shite, but I hope I got the name right. Had the epiphany of an avenging skeleton today by the the name of 'The Dead of Night.' I'll have to work on it some, but the kernel of ideation is there. Look for some more of this hombre soon.

Saw 'Clerks II' today. Can I say that Rosario has jumped tenfold on the adorable scale? Wow. When she's doing the dance on the roof of Mooby to 'ABC' who didn't get weak in the knees? Luckily, the wife already has that look going for her, so I don't feel all that lecherous. Who also didnt' think that Smith's wife didn't need a fucking sammich? I know he's making some money. Why can't he feed his wife? Girl's so skinny just looking at her cut me. Eat something. Damn.

The beginning

The one good thing that I've taken away from posting art is that I kinda want the next one to always be better than the last. Hopefully, I can keep it but I'm not making any promises.

Here's the first page to the werewolf story I talked about a couple posts down. Gonna try to update a page a week of this story along with random sketches and whatnot. (That's another good thing about the blog: I make a promise, I gotta stick to it.)

Who's side are you on?

With Marvel's Civil War going on I'm sure there's plenty of saber rattling going on in Webland about who's on who's side. I didn't think I'd be taking a side per say since I only follow a few Marvel titles, but the storyline piqued my interest, so I got involved. And by involved I mean I bought the first issue. That issue sold my ass and picked my side all-in-one.

Let me preface this by saying I was never a big Captain America fan. His costume was just too obvious and the character just smacked of proto-simian male machoism that I shied away from his title. In fact the only issue of Captain America that I ever bought was the last one in the Winter Soldier arc a few months before the Civil War kicked off. Well, after the Captain beat the stockings off a squad of specially trained SHIELD operatives because he wouldn't take part in the modern day witchhunt and then commandeered a fighter jet and later took the pilot out for burgers after landing on a football field before releasing him; let's just say the Captain's stock went up in my books.

This is my first sketch of the Captain and I'm on his side.

Spider-Man by moonlight

I had to get something up to knock those bootleg sketches off the top of the blog. Ugh. Looking at them I don't know what possessed me to post them. Maybe to show how ugly my stuff can get? I don't know.

Anyway, here's a moody little drawing of everyone's favorite wall-crawler. Decided to go with a more exaggerated physique for our boy because I find that my drawings get stiff and/or lose some of their style if I get too caught up in realism. People like Mike Wieringo (if you're not familiar with his style, please use the link on the right) can pull off the happy medium of cartooon realism, but I'm still a ways off from nailing down that particular style.

Back to ye olde drawing board I suppose...

A serious lack of mojo

I finally get off my lazy arse and go see 'Superman Returns" hoping to be inspired and come back and draw my arse off, but no. For some reason my drawing, heck, my sketching mojo all up and left me. These two paltry examples are the best that I could come up with this weekend and they were a chore in themselves to finish. Ugh. I'm glad I worked through them, but I was close to breaking the HBs in half and saying screw it. I mean look at Supes "S" and is boots. Totally wrong. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of the comic and the only single issue I own is his "death" issue from moons ago. (Though I do own several trades. My fave being the 'Red Son' storyline.) Maybe next time I'll nail 'em.

Onto the movie...which I enjoyed wholeheartedly. I've heard that it sucked from some, but heard it was spot on from some of the faithful. I found the movie to be a fountain of youth at times. Who didn't feel like standing up and clapping when Superman brought that plane down in the baseball field? You're a damn liar if you say otherwise. That entire scene was everything a Superman movie should be and is. I'll admit I'm not the biggest fan of Kate Bosworth as Lois, though her two different colored eyes are a plus, and I don't think she was the right choice, but she was a damn sight better than Margot. (Though I think Margot had a better ass, 'cuz Kate's is flat as an out of tune trumpet.) Hopefully there'll be enough interest (and box office take) to warrant a sequel that will deal with someone/thing more powerful than Lex. Yes, Lex is his nemesis, but wouldn't we want to see Supes take on a being his level? Tell me Bizarro wouldn't beat ass for the next installment? Or Mongul? Or ?

An homage to Herb Trimpe

Now I'll openly admit that I got into comics a little later than most. There were plenty of false starts mind you. I remember reading Batman when I was two or three (I was reading at two. Yeah, I'm a freak) and then later on reading the new G.I. Joe kick-off when I was around five or six. But it wasn't until I was in middle school that I really started to enjoy the craft again with the wherewithal to feed my soon to be sick addiction. It was right around the time that The Punisher was getting his own series (which reminds me that all my issues disappeared. Probably into my brother's collection) that I started going weekly to my local comic shop. I'd have to sneak away there from time to time because my mother didn't appeciate or understand why I was wasting my money on funnybooks. (The irony of her statement is that she had a huge collection that her brother threw out when she was in the hospital for almost a year. Zounds, the issues lost to me from that episode alone.) That's why I'm loving the Essentials that Marvel's putting out along with the Showcases that DC is. They're giving me the opportunity to rediscover my childhood all over again and to truly appreciate those who have come before us. Sure everyone knows Jack Kirby, Ditko and Buscema. But some of us missed out on other greats like Ross Andru and Herb Trimpe (John Severin goes without saying, since I knew him from Cracked.) It's one of the greatest boons to be able to go back and learn from these past masters and see how they affected our artists of today.

I was laid out after a biking spill, lounging on the couch watching horror movies with a Hulk Essential and my sketchbook. I whipped up this Hulk drawing, luckily before the painkillers kicked in, as an homage to Mr. Trimpe, who was there when I rediscovered my love for the green gargantuan. I thank you, good sir.

Playing with colors

No zombies this time around, folks. Decided to give 'em a break as not to become shoehorned into that mold/genre. Instead how about a girl with a large shard of glass through her pretty little throat? Splendid, I knew you wouldn't mind.

This is a page from a werewolf story I've been dragging my heels on. I've recently lit the fire under my ass for the tale again and have been steadily working on it. I normally don't do color for my comics. I prefer black and white since it's a lot cheaper to self-publish, but idea of seeing some pieces in color has been sticking in my head. Had a slow day at the office, so I decided to try some Photoshop magic. Well, magic may not be the correct word...

The Patron Saint of the Unborn

Okay, I lied. It didn't take as long as I thought to ink this puppy. I present to you the saint for all those poor bairns still in their momma's womb when she was either zombified or turned into some renevant's supper. As with the previous saint the background tale is still up in the air, but forthcoming.

I was actually a little worried about this one seeing as my wife is about five months pregnant with our daughter, but she's seen the drawing didn't divorce me outright. I guess I'm in the clear (and very lucky).

The Patron Saint of the Jawless

I've been shying away from posting for too bloody long. Let's get the ball rolling on this puppy...

This ugly bastid is the Patron Saint of the Jawless. Had a little epiphany while watching 'Land of the Dead' a month ago: "Who do the disfigured/maimed/etc. zombies pray to?" Sure, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense since all zombies care about is fresh meat, but what about the zombies with no jaw? How can the chew? Isn't there someone or something they can turn to? Well, that's where this fine fiend comes in. Still working on a background story for him and I'll update this post once I tighten it up.

Look for the next Saint sometime this week as I'm finishing up the inks.