MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR, MERE MORTALS!!!

I just felt like it was time for another seasonal avatar. (I confess it does gove me an excuse to fool w/ the Cintiq every once in awhile...)

Jedi Pin-up!

I've just gotten caught up on the first season of "Clone Wars", and I'm in a Star Wars frame of mind, I guess. (The weapon of choice is my Cintiq; the ammo is Photoshop!)

Potter Model Sheet

OOP! I almost forgot to post this model sheet I did just before SDCC. While I was pencilling those Potter pages, I just got to noticing how cartoony they were looking (I was inspired by the work of Matt Humphreys, who has a "Dirty Harry Potter" gallery on deviantArt that is incredible, to say the least.) So naturally, I thought, "What if I DID make Model sheets for Harry Potter characters?" More to come... maybe...

A stray logo...

Here's a logo I did for Kelle Masten, a lovely and charming young lady who I knew back in college...

Wonder Woman Day IV

On October 25th, 2009, the Wonder Woman Museum will hold it's 4th annual WONDER WOMAN DAY in Portland , OR and Flemington, NJ. The event is a charity which includes both art showings and silent & live auctions of original WW artwork; 100% of the proceeds go to benefit shelters for victims of domestic abuse, which is a damn good cause. Check it out at: http://www.wonderwomanmuseum.com/WWDay4/WWDay4.html
Although I first heard about it last year by way of Rashad Doucet, my friend DJ Jackson was the one who persuaded me this year to contribute a piece. It was a bit of a headache (mostly because due to DC Comics' being kinda itchy about digital pieces, they were adamant the submissions had to be hard copy w/ original work; I had to print up a digital copy, then retouch it w/ paint and marker!) Still, it was fun to do, and cool to see DJ get some of his work out there (motherfucker did THREE wicked-ass pieces in marker in the time it took me to do one!) Once I sent the original off, I went back into my digital version and added the same highlights using Photoshop; I like it much better this way.

A Public Service Announcement: DON'T DRAW DRUNK!!

Here's a sketch I did for my dog Tom Kelly while we were at Hennessy's Drink-and-Draw in San Diego last month. The place was packed, and they gave us these cool coasters to draw on while we knocked back Jim Beam & Cokes.

I came up with the idea of a recruiting poster for the old Shi'ar Imperial Guard from the Claremont/Cockrum X-men books. I used the old character Fang (I know the costume isn't right, but The Jim Beam was a-pouring, so you must forgive me!)

Thanks to Tom for sending me a scan to post. I may re-work this; it's a pretty interesting idea (as drunken ideas go!)

Bobo Sketch for Wendi!!

Oops! I almost forgot!

This year at SDCC my boy Tom Kelly brought his girlfriend Wendi, who's cool as hell. When she wasn't working w/ the Hero Initiative, she was the life of the party (which is saying a lot, considering she was hanging with us!) In addition to that, she is (like myself) an avid fan of James Robinson's STARMAN comic run from the 90's; she even has a sketchbook of artist's renditions of characters from the book. Of course, I said I'd add a sketch, but never had a chance while we were all out west. So one of the first things I did once I got home was to draw up a shot of my favorite character from the series, Jake "Bobo" Benetti...



I wasn't going to post this until I was sure she got the original in the mail. It got there just in time for her birthday, and she's happy with it, so I am, too. Happy Birthday, Wendi!

Mullins Anthology piece

So here's the submission I sent in for the anthology they're doing for Jeremy. I swear to God this actually happened a year and a half ago, when Jorge De La Cruz and I were having breakfast with Mullins at Clary's cafe in Savannah, GA...

Damn, I miss that Unclefucker...

Back from DA' CON!!!

Man, where do I begin?

I just got back from a helluva Comic-Con. I saw some old friends, met some great new ones, ate great food, drank beer, ate gelato, finished and showed the first sequential pages I've done in years!






I picked up some great software advice from Durwin Talon, one of my true mentors, and shared a funny story about my good friend Jeremy Mullins with one of his old students, Rashad Doucet. I saw a ton of celebs, showed work to Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney Ink, and even went to a casting call for a friggin' reality show!

I went into this year's Con in a different place mentally. Having recently been made painfully aware of just how precious life is, I was in kind of a "don't care, just enjoying life " mood; I didn't stress (much), and I 'll admit got a lot more enjoyment out of the entire experience. What's funny is that I put some pretty decent work out there, and made some decent networking moves to boot. I even helped my new friend Natacia Manabusan with fleshing out a great business idea she has. While I do regret that my friend Lee wasn't there this year, and would've liked to hang out with my boy Zak a bit, it seems that the Comic-Con I went into sweating the least turned out to be one of my best.

Go Figure, huh?

WONDERBOY!!

A while back, I was contacted by a friend of mine, Dave "the Big Wheel" Wheeler. Dave is putting together a book of different artists' sketches of his character, WONDERBOY; the proceeds will go to the HERO INITIATIVE in the memory of three people: the late great artist Mike Wieringo, Dave's old Prof. and my dog, Jeremy "Sweetwater" Mullins, and last, but not least, his father, who recently passed away. (If you're reading this and don't know what the HERO INITIATIVE is, then you should be ashamed. Get off your funny-book lovin' ass, look it up, and give, bitch!) As soon as he asked, I was in...

As you can see, I'm still having a ball with my Cintiq. I still haven't got the hang of it to my satisfaction, but Dave was happy with it, and that's what's the most important to me...

So, a while back I blue-lined out an alternate avatar for the web. It spent time on the clipboard, in the backs of various and sundry magazines and sketchbooks, Starbucks, the weekly Poker game, the Bar, EVERYWHERE!! I finally got down to putting some real detail to it; I figure it should be my first real project using the Wacom Cintiq I picked up a few months back...

...Not bad for a first try, As I write this, I think I'll come back occasionally and re-work it as a test of my proficiency. Ya think?

A tribute to one of the truest friends a guy could have...

We lost a lot this weekend. The students and faculty at SCAD lost an endlessly driven teacher, who loved his students and yet drove them to constantly achieve their best with the no-nonsense style of a taskmaster. Those who knew him lost a kind and generous soul, who never turned his back on people in need, who gave his all for his friends and loved ones. The genre lost true a Sequential Artist, who always kept the Faith, and never gave up.

Me, I lost a brother.

Rest easy, Unclefucker. We'll see each other again.

Rough Sketch/and the Portfolio Review lie!

A quick study for an illustration I'm planning to add to my portfolio for SD this year, just in case The Lucas folk decide to show up. Last year, I had the misfortune of a.) Not having any SW pieces, and b.) having the bad luck to be in line at portfolio review behind a guy smart enough to make a portfolio FULL of outstanding SW pieces. I won't get caught sleeping this year...

I should never have believed them when they say that it's okay if you don't have Star Wars stuff; the chick at portfolio review actually got angry when I showed her my stuff and there was no Jedi or Stormtroopers. She looked at me like I had a taken a dump on the floor or something.

And for the record, I'm starting to learn that comics people who say you shouldn't bring pin-ups to a portfolio review are full of shit. I know a guy named Carlo, one of the best artists I've ever seen. His portfolio contains one or two sequential samples, and a lot of single illustrations. He's gotten rave reviews like you wouldn't believe from editors of all shapes and sizes! They recognize his ability, and respond accordingly.

Talent shows through, no matter what...

The Dioskouroi

The latest from the sketchyscribbles blog; the subject matter was "Deities", so I chose Castor and Pollux, the twin demigods from Greek Mythology...

A couple of conceptual color pieces...

Start w/ the ART, already!

Well, since I am supposed to be using this as a sort of Alternate site to post my latest work, I suppose I'd better get crackin'!! Here's a less recent design I did for the local chapter of the Flaming Knights MC ..

Deadpool sketch.

Here's another one for the Sketchyscribbles mob. I'm really glad I got hooked in w/ the group (thanks, Zak.) There's always an opportunity to get some grunt work in.

The last few years have been wicked difficult in terms of trying to stay motivated more than 3 months out of 12 (those being June, July, and August, which all rotate around Comic-Con.) This last year, I've been slowly shaking the cobwebs out of my head, thanks in no small part to my old SCAD schoolmates, and some of the kids who've come after. Thanks to all of them, I never again feel like I'm separated from the creative world...

Barbarian sketch

Here's my inaugural sketch! (I actually did it for sketchyscribbles, but maybe it'll serve as a sort of mental kick in the ass for me. Note to self: GET IT IN GEAR!!)

Inuagural Post

Okay, so this is my first blog. I'm here for quite a few reasons.

1. I need someplace to start putting up my artwork, and evidently a lot of potential employers no longer want to look at deviantART pages (Dunno why...)
2. I suppose it might be nice to have someplace to vent my spleen where I can't be slapped, arrested, or put on administrative leave.
3. All the other kids are doing it. (And there don't seem to be any cliffs around DC off of which we can all jump...)
4. I need new and interesting ways to take up time, a commodity which I do NOT have to spare.

There are a whole lot more reasons, but I have burgers and beer waiting. My artwork will be up soon!