Round 2: Rope-A-Dope

Slowly getting back into the artistic swing of things. Mainly because of the Platinum Comics contest, which I might enter, but also 'cuz I'm tired of being so damn creatively lazy. Still have three panels to go for the next Kubert assignment, which are scripted whereas this panel was pretty much a still-life. Basically, you've got to draw a frog, a brick, a fishbowl with a fish, a twig with two leaves — all on a wooden table. The rest of the assigment seems like a cake-walk with a castle on a misty Scottish moor, but odds are I'll drag my heels another week on it since my parents are rolling into town Wednesday and then we're following them to the beach for the weekend. Life always seems to get in the way of art. Looks for the inks before week's end.

Inking some Ottley...

Not that I'm saying I'm inking Ryan's work—just this pencil piece I printed out from his posts over on Kirkman's forum. I printed it out last year and just used it to play around with quills and brush markers. For some reason I decided to play it straight and ink the hell out of the drawing regardless of how I'd messed it up earlier. I don't think it turned out too bad and actually looks like Ryan's work. It was fun to do as I'm a fan of the 'Hack & Slash' series. Glad that it's been rebooted as a monthly since it was far too sporadic, much like 'Dusty Star' is. That's all I got for now. May have something more tomorrow as I'll be drawing with Mafus after we hit 'Spider-Man 3.'

It's been five years?

I was going through some old archived CDs and happened upon one labeled, "Painting '02' and I thought to myself, "Self, what the hell have you painted since then?" The answer, "Not much." I used to paint like a sonuvagun when I was living in Atlanta. It helped that I didn't have a girlfriend and pretty much kept to myself. I did a whole series of these tendril paintings—ranging from normal-sized to truck-sized and I don't have any to show for it. Most of them I gave away and some are still residing in Atlanta since they were too big to move. The last painting I did before my easel broke (at leasta year and a half ago) was one last tendril piece after Angie and I had moved. She had a piece of board that served as a desk that we didn't need anymore so I decided to break out the oil paints. (It now resides on its side in her cube at the Martin Agency, if anyone cares. Kinda like the last Truffula Tree.) The wood was heavy enough to ruin my easel, which I haven't replaced (though Angie swears she'll get me a new one). Looking at those old crappy pics of my paintings kinda stirred something in me. Maybe I'll get off my duff and do some more. After I get a new easel of course...

Back from the beach

Lilah survived her first roadtrip to the Outer Banks. It was tough going with the three hour drive and sleeping in a new place. The new bedroom was the real killer. Sounding like a full fledge banshee was trying to get some Zzzz's in the next room. The first night sucked. The second night wasn't as bad and tonight she's even still worked up though she's in the friendly confines of her own room. Ugh. Plus, packing and lugging all this crap back and forth seems to add even more time on to travel. Felt like we should've been there already when all we'd done was pack the car.

Regardless it was fun. The weather could've been a little better, but we still got down to the beach and let Lilah run some sand through her tootsies. Got to hang with some old friends we haven't seen since our wedding. Checked out their new crib, got the dirt on some other old friends and then went out for hibachi. Unfortunately, Lilah isn't a big fan of fire and loud clanging noises, which made dinner interesting. She did get to wear the chef's hat though.

Got zero drawing done. The closest I got was watching a 'Heroes' marathon on Sci-Fi and reading half of my FF Essential Vol.6. Hooked on some 'Heroes' now, too. Just in time for the season finale tomorrow. I've got the best timing...

In keeping with that last post...

...here are a few other key players from 'Nowere.' At the bottom you've got our protaganist, Jonah. Though I may change his name as there are already few Jonahs in comicdom. In the middle you've got Junior Peck and above him you've got his step-brother, Harv. Harv was imagined as Danny DeVito and the Fantastic Four's Thing's love-child. Junior is your basic hayseed looking bumpkin with a heart of gold. I hope to get a little more fleshed out on the comic this weekend as we hit the beach. It'll be Lilah's first roadtrip as well as visit to the sandy shores. The weather doesn't appear to be all the great, but we'll make the most of it regardless.

Peace out until next time.

Mafus be illin'

A good friend of mine, Mafus, aka Matt Wieringo, has started a blog of his own. (The link can be found in my sidebar.) He's been posting like a mutha as of late and has been wondering why I haven't. So to apease him and whomever else might be frequenting this blog I've gotten off me duff and posted this lovely lady—Millie. Imagine the lovechild of Yoda and Dolly Parton. She's the local pump and general store manager from my soon-to-be started/finished comic. She'll probably have more clothes on in the comic, though near the end she might resemble this rendition. If you'd like to see the uncensored version drop me a line and I might oblige.