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.