Here comes the Bride

Not too long ago I sold a portrait of Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster. The buyer was so happy, he commissioned me to match the painting with a Bride of Frankenstein portrait. I'm pretty thrilled about the project, not only am I honored a fan loves my work and commissioned more from me, but I also get to join the bride with her husband. I've wanted to paint the Bride for some time, but lack of sales and business of daily life kind of slows down my productivity. But with this sale, and potential future commissions, I'm back in my groove

A note to those who do commissions. As soon as I started the basic sketch on the canvas, I snapped a photo with my cellphone and emailed the buyer with a note about my progress. I usually do this, but this is the first time a buyer has told me that he "felt a part of the process." I've never thought of it like that before, I just wanted them to know I was on task with their commission. But now that I know that there is a personal touch beyond that with frequent updates, I am even more encouraged to let my customers know what is going on with an email an photo.
So with that, after work tonight I'll be hitting the paint and canvas and sending a new photo update.

Pied Piper of Hamelin

Sketches of The Pied Piper of Hamelin 1-17-2012

I'm working on a storybook for the Spokane Comicon, and this is my sketch dump so far.
The book will be The Pied Piper of Hamelin, and so far I'm having fun with the Piper. I based his design on several illustrations I found in research, particularly the pattern cloak.
The man in the hat is supposed to be the mayor of Hamelin. I'm having a hard time finding costumes for 13th century German local officials, so I just made a wild stab. A lot of pictures I found had important people in hats, so I made a funny hat, I hope it doesn't look too "Russian." I like the mayor's look, but I'm sure the clothes will change when I find more reference images.

I may draw a couple more officials, then some children, and I'll be ready to illustrate. I've divided the story text into 9 pages. The book will be laid out with text on the left page, and a full page illustration on the right. I also think I might draw rats crawling around the text as well.

Another fun idea I came up with is using a hole puncher to cut out "bites" from the corner of the cover when this is complete.

I'd love some suggestions! If this goes well, I may have to make more pocket storybooks.

A year's worth of reading

So at the beginning of 2011 I decided to keep track of the books I've read. I've never kept a list before, so it was quite surprising to see how many books I managed to fit in the year. With a total of 27, that amounts to 2.25 books a month, not too shabby. I think towards the end I was reading a little faster than that average, since I was finishing the Dresden Files. Those books consumed me, I think I read the last two books in the series in one week alone!

Here's the list, it's not actually in order of when I read them, I grouped them by author mostly.

F Scott Fitzgerald - Great Gatsby
Cherie Priest - Boneshaker
Cherie Priest - Clementine
Cherie Priest - Dreadnought
HP Lovecraft - Herbert West, Re-Animator
Tim Powers - On Stranger Tides
Sethe Grahame-Smithe - Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
Sara Gruen - Water For Elephants
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Summer Knight
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Blood Rites
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Death Masks
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Dead Beat
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Proven Guilty
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - White Knight
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Small Favor
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Turn Coat
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Changes
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Ghost Story
Jim Butcher - Dresden Files - Side Jobs
Fritz Leiber - Swords Against Deviltry
Robert E Howard - The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane
How to Build a Better Blog
Robert E Howard - The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian
HG Wells - The Time Machine
Richard Matheson - Hell House
Richard Matheson - Stir of Echoes
Richard Matheson - What Dreams May Come


Now some of these books, I've actually read before. I've read Conan, Solomon Kane, Time Machine, and The Great Gatsby years ago. But like any great movie, a good book is worth reading again as well!
Now that you have an idea of my taste, I'd love to hear some recommendations for my reading list for 2012!

Venom Painting

Finished this acrylic painting today. It was a commissioned project, and I'm glad to be done after a month. I'm ready to move on to other work. We did 25% up front fee with my rough sketches as a guide, and 75% upon completion. I usually do 50/50, but I knew her, and I only needed enough money up front for a few new paints and a canvas.  
Note to new artists doing commissions: Always factor in your need for new tools and equipment on top of your estimated hours of work on the project, multiplied by your worth per hour.

• For example: ( Estimated 8 hours of work x $20 per hour rate ) + $20 canvas + $20 new tubes of paint = $200

Acrylic on canvas, 16"x20"

24 Hour Comics Day Challenge!

It's that time of year again! The 24 Hour Comic Challenge is fast approaching - this international event, now in it's 8th year, will be held October 1st - 2nd, 2011.

The Challenge is simple; you have 24 hours to create a 24 page comic - this means writing, drawing, lettering, all in one 24 hour period. This is the 5th year that the Challenge has been hosted in Spokane, and this time there will be two locations available for local participants.

The Comicsmiths' Guild will be hosting the Challenge, in a location that should be very convenient for those in the Spokane Valley area or coming from across the border in Idaho. You can RSVP at the Facebook event page: 24 Hour Challenge - Spokane Valley

The Valley Challenge will run from 8 am Saturday to 8 am Sunday, and will be held at:
Otis Orchard Community Church (Annex Bldg.)
23304 E Wellesley, Otis Orchards, WA 99027

Guild members will be in attendance, and there will be additional activities for attendees - we'll have updates on activities as more information becomes available. This is a kid-friendly, all-ages, event and all are welcome!

If you'd like to find more information about the Challenge, and 24 Hour Comics in general, please see the official website: 24 Hour Comics Day

Pixel Paintings

I get a lot of recognition for my pixel paintings. I paint all of these on hard masonite board, it makes the surface a little easier to work with since it's hard and perfectly flat. I use M Graham acrylics for all my paintings, they are very viscous and full of pigment, making strong marks on the board.

They take a lot of effort, I have to rule out squares across the masonite, then start marking out squares from a printed reference sprite image. I need to mix colors to get an proximate match to the original sprite. Then the pixels are painted with fine brushes to keep crisp squares. I take a lot of time and effort into these projects, and that's why I think they stand out from the others who have attempted pixel painting. I've seen people who use poor quality paint, I've seen people not paint with precision, I've seen people who rush the painting. Pixel paintings above all are not jobs that can be rushed, they are too intricate.

So far, I've done five pixel paintings, and I have one in the works. Out of the five complete, I've sold two. The largest painting was the Ryu Street Fighter painting, measuring at 4' x 3'. The smallest have been Boo and the One-Up Mushroom, measuring at 9" x 12". Raccoon Mario is 16"x20" and I enjoy that size best, it makes for just enough size for a decent sized sprite. I usually work with smaller sprites, as you can see from Street Fighter, those characters in that game take up a good 50% of the screen, hence why the masonite had to be so huge.

Boo, Raccoon Mario, and Thwomp are still available for sale on my Etsy shop, and I'm willing to do commissions of all kinds, from pixel paintings, to my standard style.

For Sale - 16"x20" - $75

Sold - 9"x12"

For Sale - 16"x20" - $75

For Sale - 9"x12" - $35

Sold - 4'x3'

I dare you to check Etsy, and see if you can find someone with comparable pixel painting work. I doubt anyone takes the time in their paintings like I do, I doubt they are as meticulous, and I'm sure the paint isn't as vibrant.

Working on an anthology

My colleagues at The Comicsmiths' Guild and I are hard at work putting together our second anthology. This year we are going with a Halloween theme! I'm super excited, I'll be doing a six page tale starring El Gran Búho. I haven't spoken much about him, mainly because I haven't had time to work on a project yet. But this anthology entry is a perfect introduction to the character!

Head shots

Early concept art

Page from a potentially upcoming mini comic

El Gran Búho(The Great Owl) is a world renowned Mexican luchador (mask wearing wrestler), who also moonlights as a monster hunting defender of justice by night. If you've ever seen classic lucha films, you'll get an idea of where this guy's inspiration comes from. If you haven't seen these films, imagine an old Universal or Hammer horror picture, starring a masked Mexican wrestler as the hero, and then add a bit of the colorful nature and silliness of the 60s Batman tv series, with just a dash of a Godzilla movie essence.

The hero is much like Santo or Blue Demon in nature, he has a strict moral code, and uses his fantastic wrestling skills to battle the forces of darkness. He never removes his mask either. I'm actually excited to do some playing with that concept, it was one of the more entertaining notions of the old lucha films. Santo would go to sleep with the mask on, eat with it on, brush his teeth, swim, etc. There would also be sequences where he would remove the mask, to reveal another mask underneath.

I'm two pages in on this six pager, due by the third week of August. If things go my way (which generally doesn't happen), I plan to be done with three pages by the 6th of August.