Milton Caricature

My best friend’s dad asked if I could draw him. He’s essentially my “other dad” and he doesn’t ask for much, so I had to hop on this! I’m going to put some lighting on it tomorrow, and I think it will be good. Everything is put on hold until this is done!

30DaysComics Day 21 Movie Night

#30DaysComics Day 21 - "Movie Night"

There's always someone who either wants to sit directly in front of me when there is nobody else in the theater, or someone in my row has a very small bladder and has to squeeze across my seat in the most inopportune times.

#30DaysComics #18 - Heart to Heart

Trying a few new things, including a smaller page size and less panels. I’m also trying not to nail down the perfect comic, but just trying to go with the flow. I came up with three last night at work, and I’ll be posting the other two tomorrow for catch up. Hoping this is a sign of things to come!

BTW, special thanks to Dakota McFadzean and Ian of SmallComix for giving me such great advice!

30 Days Comics Day 13 - "Small Talk"

My newest submission for 30 Days Comics challenge. I tried using a fun palette instead of coloring it more realistically. I think it made it pop a big. Reminds me of the cartoon "Witch's Night Out."

As you can tell, I hate small talk while trying to dash in and out of a store. Less disingenuous human interaction, the better.

#30DaysComics Challenge Day 10 - "Chop Shop"

Still not managing to make a comic a day, but I am trying! This I actually came up with yesterday, and penciled, inked, colored, and lettered in only a few hours. I’m sure you can see the rush on it. I hope the idea is humorous enough to hold up for the lack of craftsmanship. I also wanted to see what a sepia tone would look like on this piece.

30 Days Comic Challenge Day 7 - Pacific Rim

Drew this a few days ago, but hadn't much time to finish inking or coloring it until today. Really slacking with this 30DaysComics  challenge! Well, if anything, I am working out some ideas. Some are interesting, and some are duds. I'm not sure if people will like the ridiculous absurdity of this one.

Sketch Dump October 10 2012

Hello all! Ive been busy with a move to another city, and my computer setup isn't quite ready. But I finally had time to scan in some sketches I've done over the past few weeks. Mostly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stuff, and a couple Megaman sketches.

Bebop

Krang

Krang's 80s android body

Rocksteady

Megaman

PharaohMan

Latest sketches

I haven't been sharing much recently, so I better show I'm still alive. I'm working on some comic stuff, most prominently Backyard Wrasslers and Capoeira Hermit Crab Hero Twins. Backyard Wrasslers is a fun strip format, and I have about four more strips in the inking process. BW is about kids who start their own kids neighborhood wrestling league for the summer. I'm having a lot of fun thinking about it. I can't wait to get a bit more done. I'm planning on making a 24 page teaser mini comic to introduce readers. It will not be a weekly/monthly web comic. I don't like stamping schedules upon myself. I'm moving soon, and my internet/computer access will be super iffy for a while.

I'm enjoying drawing the kids quite a bit in this comic. I'm really trying to go with a retro vibe too.

Toddler Mutant Ninja Turtle. TMNT fever has struck me again, 20 years later. I've been collecting the IDW new series since it started last year, and now I'm anticipating the new Nickelodeon TMNT series. I'm a little weirded out by the voices. Donatello is voiced by one of the Animaniacs, that's slightly jarring. Oddly though, Michelangelo is voiced by the actor who did Beast Boy in Teen Titans, and I'm not phased at all by this. They are really pushing the "teen" in TMNT, so these guys really feel 16. I love the animation so far, looks great. I've also been purchasing the new toys to display. The new toys are great sculpts, lots of fine details.

Lastly, I'm fooling with a TMNT homage/spoof. Thinking of making a 12 page story about these twin mutant hermit crabs. Hoping to choose a new mini comic project soon, and get cracking. I think this one would be a big sale at conventions. Who doesn't love mutant hermit crabs who know capoeira?

So that's what's going on with me. I also have another project I'm working with someone on, but that's hush hush for the moment.

American Red Cross Donation 1

Hello! Because of my initial Etsy sketch of Batman to raise funds for American Red Cross Colorado Chapter, someone special contacted me for a personal commission. They asked for a Batman with Catwoman sketch, and I was excited to do it for them:

I sent the illustration out today, and I also transferred the $25 proceeds to the American Red Cross. I took a screen grab of the donation here:

I'm still hoping Batman will sell as well, it's still available here:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/105258616/5x7-batman-marker-illustration-proceeds

Also, another person contacted me about a Robin and Batman commission. This too will be used to raised funds for the American Red Cross. As a comic fan, artist, and avid movie goer, I'm doing what I can to help those in need. Art can change lives, and I know it makes my life better.

Batman Illustration being sold to collect donations

Selling this 5x7 Batman sketch on Etsy. Proceeds will be donated to the American Red Cross Colorado Chapters to assist with the victims of the tragic shooting in Aurora, CO. Please reblog, share, and retweet to get the word out.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/105258616/5x7-batman-marker-illustration-proceeds

5x7 marker and pen illustration on bristol board

Illustration will arrive to you in an archival sleeve for protection.  

If this sells as quickly as I hope, I will try to make at least one or two more illustrations in the coming weeks to also help raise donations. If you can, please share my Etsy link on your social media site of choice! Thanks!

My Comics Process Part 2

If you haven't yet seen part one, please check it out here!

So since part one, I have drawn thumbnails for my pages. The thumbnails are atrocious, mostly just scratches and near stick figures. The thumbnail process is essentially doing long hand division by hand on scratch paper before writing the final answer on an exam. On the thumbnail stage, I need to make sure the page make sense and carries the story. Once I'm confident it will work, I start penciling, ruling out panels, then inking.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Page 2 of 8

Page 3 of 8

Page 4 of 8

The first thing I like to do is rule out the panels. I use a ruler and pencil them, then I set the ruler aside and rule it by hand. I actually was thinking of just digitally ruling my panels for precision, but since my portfolio review with Jen Vaughn, she made me see how well it complements the art in a hand done style.

After I ink the panel borders, I start penciling the pages. I think part of the reason I've been so pokey slow with this project is because I've been working  in sequence. Since I have a script, I have thumbnails, I don't really need to work in sequence. My last project, Clashing Swords, I think I worked faster for two reasons. 1) I worked on 8.5"x11" pages and 2) I jumped around to the pages that intrigued me at the time. Opening this comic has been a little tedious, which is why I haven't inked page 1 yet. If I start page jumping, I think I'll get moving a little quicker.
Regarding paper size, I actually switched from 8.5x11 to 11x14 after inking two pages. I felt things were getting too tight on such small paper, and needed to move up. Also, with  every new project, I'm trying to add one or two new tricks to my bag. For this project, I want fuller backgrounds, which means bigger paper. Redoing two pages kind of killed some of my drive. But now that I have three complete pages, and page one is coming along, I have mojo again.

Seeing your finished work pile up builds mojo. It's like magic. I remember having the pile of pages for Clashing Swords, plus interior spot illustrations, and the cover and feeling like I just did a triathlon. I think that's what drives those artists who make Odyssey or Ulysses size comics.

Now it's 1:05am, and time to crash. Hoping to get page one completed, then I'm going to return to the script and see which of the final pages excites me the most and get cracking. My deadline for this project is August 1st, which means wrapping up by the 15th so I can set time aside for toning, lettering, and file prep, then finally printing and putting together the books.