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.

30 Days Comics Day 16 "Atari"

Another diary comic style page. This time it’s about my memories of playing Donkey Kong on the Atari 2600 and later arcade. I had a lot of fun with this one, and digitally drew everything but the atari and arcade panels, which I drew on paper.
The story itself doesn’t have too much “meat,” but I think it’s a decent entry for the strip. Sometimes I spend more time trying to come up with a decent idea for the 30 Days Comics entry that I can’t even start drawing until the evening or the next day. I know I’m not fast, but I am learning. I really like doing something once a day whether it’s a hit or miss. It’s really tempering my willingness to produce whether or not I’m 100% ready. Can’t always just wait to capture lightning in a bottle, more often or not the creativity has to bloom in the process of making art.

30 Days Comics 11 Asthma

45 minutes before November 11th, I was able to squeeze another page for #30DaysComics. I’m having fun using this time to experiment with storytelling, layout, and color palette. Generally I aim to print my minicomics, so more often than not they are grayscale.

Figured I would try a more contemplative entry, almost journal comic like.  I find thoughts on the day or even researched pages like my Jack-o-lantern page easier than jokes. Jokes just don’t fall into my lap, I have to squeeze them out of my brain all day like the final drops of toothpaste in a tube.

I like this one quite a bit. I wonder what other asthmatics would think of it.
Regarding the art. My brush pen died after the 2nd panel. I have to order more from Jet Pens. Can you tell the shift?

Side Note: I have Captain America vs The Asthma Monster comic framed in the living room with several other cherished comics.

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.

30 Days Comics Challenge Day 3 Jack O' Lantern History

Just recently heard about the 30 Days Comcis challenge on twitter and tumblr. This is what I was able to throw together today. I've been down with a cold all weekend, so I drew this on and off between naps. I feel better now, and I'm fairly pleased with the coloring.

Not sure I'll be able to do one every day, but I'll do my best. Also, still working out some kinks in screen printing. Found my transparencies weren't 100% against the emulsion coated silkscreen, so the images are slightly warped and inconsistent for a four color job. Bought some glass to lay on top of the screen while it burns, allowing gravity to fix the trick. That means starting over. Also, I learned that if I am to do silkscreening, I need to work fast with emulsion. My last batch expired after a month or so after mixing with the sensitizer. This just means having to plans three projects at a time, making screens, and setting them aside until I'm ready. So far using just Speedball Diazo emulsion. If there is a longer lasting product, please let me know!

I'm also getting back to my mini comic. I have four pages penciled, and only one digitally inked. I need to hop on it, I want to get some mini comics and zines finished for the next show.

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.

Dream Jobs

I think we all dream of dream projects we would give anything to work for. I'd like to share mine, and the reasons why I would love to work on them.

Pirates of Dark Water was a cartoon series in 1991. Imagine Star Wars meets Treasure Island. Oh did I love this series. Unfortunately it only ran 21 episodes. The series even turned into a Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo game. A mini series was also published by Marvel comics. I would love to retell this, but complete the story. It's sad that it is frozen in an unfinished tale.

Doug was a great show from my childhood. It was like a 1990s era Archie. A kid who goes to junior high, maybe high school, and goes through all things boys that age go through. He's also a comic geek, and writes and draws his own hero, Quail Man. I honestly think this would be a really great digest comic that could rival Archie. I think Disney owns the rights to Doug now, and they own Marvel Comics. It could come to fruition. Marvel/Disney, are you reading this?

Thundarr was a cartoon series in the early 1980s. It falls somewhere between Conan, Star Wars, and Kamandi. It's an apocalyptic future earth where "super science and fantastic magic" both reign supreme. Thundarr carries the powerful Sun Sword (light saber like), and he is friends to a princess with magic, and Ookla the Mok (wookie).

Only Pirates of Dark Water ever made it to a comic format, but all these would be perfect for the format. A more serious Thundarr would be perfect. Just look at what wonders Kurt Busiek and Cary Nord did for Conan in Dark Horse! Comics is a perfect medium to keep a loved cartoon series alive.

My Comics Process Part 3 - Lettering

Welcome back. If you haven't been following, part one is here, and two is here. I hope you find these useful, and always, if you have questions feel free to ask.

Well, first and foremost, I finished my newest mini comic, an all ages story about a Shaolin monk who must save the village from a wild ogre. The comic is totally free to read online at Graphic.ly: http://graphicly.com/jesse-acosta/shaolin-monk-the-tale-of-zhao-and-meng/1

The book will also be in print and can either be purchased in my Etsy store (soon), and at any future comic conventions until copies run out.

Shaolin Monk cover!

So now on to the comics process. Every mini comic I take on, I try to work on a couple key points to expand my chops. The two big things for this book were environments and lettering by hand. Last comic was a little background-light, so I really pushed it for this book. As for that, I don't think I need to go into much detail. As in part one, I found a lot of reference photos to use for locations in the comic.

But lettering, that's what I'd like to talk about. As I've heard countless times in Jessica Abel interviews and lectures, hand lettering can make a world of difference. Also, in my portfolio review a few months back, this statement was also reiterated. Word balloons, dialogue boxes, sound effects, they are all a significant part of the art as a whole. They shouldn't deter from the art, they shouldn't be an eye sore, they should be integrated. Hand inked sequential art can clash against streamlined perfectly smooth vector balloons and fonts.

If you know much about lettering though, it's all about laying out an ames guide, ruling out lines, and creating word balloons with french curves. My art style doesn't express complete perfection, and I was looking for a quicker turn around for lettering. So I came up with an alternative approach: creating the balloons and text digitally, then printing them as non photo blue, and inking it by hand. This way you get a lot of precision, while still getting the uneven individuality of every letter by hand. Interestingly too, even though I'm going over a certain font, my own hand gestures make it in. The outcome is a blend of my own handwriting, a touch of varying line-weight, and slightly reminiscent of the original font.

The most important thing is the tool for inking the balloons and letters. I choose the Pentel Sign Pen SES15. The tip is pretty rad, it has a lot of give to it, but it's not uncontrollable like a brush pen can be. They are pretty awesome tools. The one trouble I have with them is that they don't seem to be waterproof. That leaves marker coloring and watercolors on top of inks to be slightly a messy situation.

Here is a comparison between my hand lettering, vs the digital fonts and vector balloons I made. Click on it to zoom in, and compare. I think it's not bad for my first attempt at this method. I also really dig the brush style letters, it feels very calligraphic. It's fitting for a story about a Shaolin monk.

This page is my digital lettering, colored in non-photo blue (Cyan 7%). I scaled the letters at 200% larger than the size it will be in the printed book. I printed it on bristol, then started to ink.

Here's what I came up with. I scanned it in, and placed it over my finished pages, and that's it!

I really like this outcome. If anything, I think the brushwork was a little thicker than I planned. Next time, I'll try printing the balloons out at 225% - 250%, thus making my signpen lines a touch smaller.

Have any of you tried out this method before? It saved me time, while giving me some nice unique letters and balloons. It really matched the book.

Lion-O of Thundercats

On Sunday, I spent the evening at Starbucks sipping an expensive chai and drawing Lion-O from Thundercats:

5"x7" bristol board, pencils and prismacolor pens (Not favoring them much anymore. They aren't as black and bold as I'd prefer).

Afterward, I wanted to color this guy up in Photoshop for the heck of it, and this was the result. The actual bristol sketch will be colored with prismacolor markers and colored pencils. I've been reading about people mixing the two mediums and making amazing results. The final piece will pop up in my Etsy Shop. If you are interested in a commission, let me know! I'm willing to do something like this, or anything else you'd have in mind!

This also leads me into my next point of interest. I have applied for an artist table at Emerald City Comicon again! I haven't been in nearly three years. It's March 1-3, so I have plenty of time to save for the event. This is why I am promoting commissioned work right now. Everything is being packed away for the trek to ECCC in Seattle. So, if you want some art, I can hook you up!

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.

My "portfolio" review

So Saturday was probably the craziest day ever. My niece had a graduation party, her graduation, I had to help with her senior all nighter party, and right between it all I had to shoe horn in a portfolio review at the Saranac Arts Projects building. Sadly, I had to miss a portion of her lecture because I was so short on time.

Artist Jen Vaughn was having a little tour across the US, talking comics and cartooning, and doing portfolio reviews. Somehow this didn't end up on my radar until the night before, so instead of a traditional portfolio, I had her review my Clashing Swords comic. I kind of liked it that way, she was able to see a complete eight page story, my craftsmanship of putting together the book, and it was my most recent work.

She had a lot of great things to say too! I was kind of surprised by that. I guess after reading portfolio review horror stories for years, I imagined I was going to be fed to a mutant lion-shark. She was quite the opposite, she was very kind, and actually interested and engaged in everyone. She said that my toning was really great because it draws the eye where it needs to focus on. She liked my varying line weights. She also pointed out that I didn't use any dialogue captions to "explain" the story, and instead just stuck to dialogue on the sequential pages. She said it's always better to show than tell.

I told her that my next project I'm going to try hand lettering. She really liked that idea, because the balloons and text do stand out a bit, clashing against the hand drawn art. She liked that I free-handed the panels, because it helped carry the hand tooled feel of the art. I'd have to thank Gabriel Ba for that cue, sometimes you have to mimic those you are impressed by!

She also suggested I check out Joann Sfar and Lewis Trondheim's Dungeon graphic novels, Carl Bark's work on Uncle Scrooge comics, Little Lulu, and Archie. She said that the last three are really great at telling stories of various sizes.

I am glad I was able to make it downtown Saturday to meet up with her, she really boosted my confidence in making comics. Now it's time to get back to the drawing board. I want to have a couple more mini comics to show her at Emerald City Comicon next year!

Commissions Open!

Clashing Swords Mini Comic Give Away!

Hello everyone! I've been working away at this mini comic for about two months total, and today my precious creation is finally complete! This is an eight page story about a group of fantasy adventurers who are seeking a mad mage who has stolen a magical item that could unbalance the forces of good and evil! The story is very all ages, though I feel old school roleplayers will especially get a kick out of this book.

Well, I've got something very special for you! Tomorrow, in honor of Free Comic Book Day (May 5th, 2012), I am going to give away free copies of my comic to the first ten who email me first for the offer! My email is jesse.acosta AT gmail.com. This is totally free, I have stamps, and packages ready to go. If you are one of the first ten, I'll ask for your address, and send it out Monday morning.

Here are some preview pics below!

The cover! 

A pile of my books, waiting to be read!

Page One

For those not quick enough for this offer, my book will be available in my Etsy Shop by Monday. Excelsior!

Commissions and Mini Comics

Hello all! I'm still alive, doing a few commissions as they come in, but mostly I've been focusing on prepping for Spokane Comicon 2012. Right now, I'm finishing up on a new mini-comic called "Clashing Swords." I believe this comic will be a hit among roleplayers, and old school gamers especially. It's definitely Dungeons and Dragons inspired. When it's ready, it will be for sale on Etsy. I'm expecting to be done within the week, and the book will be printed within two.

Clashing Swords logo

I was able to squeak out this commission recently. DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba. I've been told that the child who received this couldn't stop smiling once then opened the package. I love hearing these stories!

DJ Lance Rock from Yo Gabba Gabba

Weekly Sketches - The Shadow

The Comic Smiths' Guild has decided to do weekly character sketches, similar to that of ComicTwart. Last week we chose The Shadow. Here's my submission!


Here's a link back to my deviantArt page as well: http://nomadikk.deviantart.com/

It took me the whole week to finally draw a decent illustration of The Shadow. I couldn't get it right until my lunch break today at work! I like how the final result came out.

I can't wait to see what the other members have done with The Shadow. This was my choice last week, he's one of my top super heroes. I'm very curious to see what next week's character will be too!
-Jesse

24 Hour Comic Day

Today at 10a,m I will be participating in 24hr Comic Day. For those that don't know, its an event held all over the world in different locations (Spokane, Washington location is at Merlyns on W Main). Every artist involved will attempt to draw one 24 page comic in 24 hours. Its pretty daunting considering that most comic pages are drawn in an 8 hour period.
I'm packing up my goods tonight. Not only do I need my art supplies and paper, but also references, mp3 player, movies, and also lots of food. It will be fun.

BTW, random story: I went to the store to buy some Jarritos and some freshly made churros. While driving home, a highschool idiot runs out into the middle of the road and I step on the brakes. Jarritos go flying, shatter, and ruin my churros in the process. Next time I'm just running over the kid, we need less idiots and more churros in this world.

Final Note: 24hr Comic Book Challenge! Asi que ya lo saben, la cita es esta 3 de Octubre a las 10 am y no paramos hasta el 4 de Octubre a las 10 am (Merlyns W 19 Main, Spokane). Estan listos para el reto?

Spokane ComiCon TODAY!!

Everyone needs to head to the Spokane ComiCon at Spokane Falls Community College today and attend. It starts at 10am, and there are prizes for first attendees, costume contests, auctions, all sorts of goodies. I'll be there selling my paintings, comics, sketches, and more.

Come by and say hi!!!

For more info: http://www.spokanecomicon.com/

Spokane ComiCon, Free Comic Day, More Work, Sketchbook!

I'm compiling some entries from my deviantArt page here, so here goes:

Everything is going to plan for the Spokane ComiCon. I have 100 (yes that's right, 100) sketchbooks made up for the event. Here's the cover:




I'm expecting to have a lot of extras, I know I'll be handing them out to friends and family, as well as selling extras here and there. I'll also have Solar Flares 24Hour comic available as well, both in Spanish and English. If anyone wants either book after May 30th, you can email me or post here. I'll let you know the details.

I'm planning on having a couple portfolios of my art on display, some 6"x6" sketches on display to entice people to buy $5.00 small sketches. I'm also thinking of doing a $5.00 deal for a book and a sketch inside the book. I'll also have a mini easel on the table displaying some smaller paintings, and a big easel behind displaying my big pieces. I'll be rotating pieces throughout the day.

I'm also going to sift through my work to see if there are any pages worth making prints of.
I hope to see lots of people, stop by and say hi!


During Free Comic Book Day, our group ran into some issues with references when drawing sketches for the kids. Fortunately we were in a gaming/comic shop, so there were some references to be found. But in light of this, I decided to run out to the store and pic up a 2gb microSD card for my phone. Its soul purpose is to be filled with reference images of super heroes, video game characters, manga, movies, tv, whatever. With this, I can thumb through and have references on demand!

But here's the tricky part, what are some of the most beloved characters that I should put on the card?

If you have the time, give me a top ten of your favorite all time characters. With a decent list, I have a direction for character choices. Thanks!


Lastly, I wanted to share a colored piece I just finished (or think I finished, I'm debating on some minor things):


I'm thinking of maybe turning the mountain lineart into color just to give a depth feeling. I'm also thinking of changing the lineart of the etching on the rock into a darker grey instead of the black lines to make it less prominent. Lastly, thinking of changing some of the detail lineart on the tree into a darker brown for a similar reason as the rock. If you have any opinions, let me know!

Robin Comic Page

Its been a while since I've updated. Last week of school was hectic, work has been keeping me too busy, hanging out with new and old friends, and I've been constantly working on art.

Finally, after a month, I was able to finish this with my friend

He wanted to ink something of mine, so I did a quick mockup page of a Robin story I made up. This is the first collab project I have ever done, it was a lot of fun. It was liberating to give my pencils over to a friend whom I trust. It was also refreshing to see what he did with my pencils!


In other art related news, I'm not sure if I will be able to get my Little Red Riding Hood comic done by the comic convention, but I will definitely have pages to show in my portfolio from it, as well as some pages in my sketchbook that I will be selling. Busy busy busy. I'll probably be working on some paintings very soon. I've been wanting to paint more, but its been a push pull between comics and painting.

Well, I have some more work to get done. If I'm lucky, I'll post within a day, with a page from Little Red Riding Hood.