Father Christmas Rush

I wish the quality of this was better.  Haven't had any real time to make a Christmas related piece, so this was very rushed.

This is my take on Father Christmas.  I've been playing around with my own ideas for his mythology.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Get an Adventure this Christmas!

For the holiday season, consider getting a Christmas advanture story that the whole family can enjoy!  Scrooge and Santa, a graphic novel I illustrated last year, written by Matthew Wilson.

On Christmas Eve, a modern day Scrooge is on the run after the FBI learns he kidnapped Santa Claus. His assistant, Bonnie Cratchit, agrees to help him escape, but only if he helps Santa Claus get back to the North Pole first. Now Scrooge, with some help from the Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future, must go on an adventure to bring Santa home in time to save Christmas.

CLICK HERE to purchase your copy!

Click on the link below to visit the website.

Another Visit to The House of Wode

My second attempt at the brilliant P.G. Wodehouse characters of Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves.

Click HERE to see my first attempt.

Gobblesquatch

In mid February, I was commissioned by voice actor Dave DeAndrea (voice of Axe Cop) to produce an illustration of the Gobblesquatch, Big Foot's pet turkey.

It's part of a audio advertising campaign Dave produced last November:

Gobblesquatch by davedeandrea

Gobblesquatch now has a website up and running!  Click on the image below to visit:

Da Count

To complete my Universal Monster Marathon, I had to include 1931's Dracula.

Originally, I was not going to include the fangs, because Bela's great smile is very toothless.  However, it looked odd with nothing in the mouth.

To ride the theme, for the first time publicly, I'm sharing this animatic I created last Summer.  It was part of an application for a Story Artist position at Telltale Games.  All I was given was a script and the voice tracks, the rest was up to me.  It features my favorite comic characters, Sam & Max, created by the great Steve Purcell (who gave me a thumbs-up for my work).  Click on the image below to view.

Audio and script owned by Telltale Games.  Sam & Max characters owned by Steve Purcell.

The Monster With No Name

Been watching through the first 3 Frankenstein films.  My favorite, visually speaking, is Son of Frankenstein.  Did this little doodle of Karloff's starring role.

The films are great but completely different the classic novel.  My favorite and most accurate visual rendition of Mary Shelley's book is the ink work of Bernie Wrightson. (Link to article with images.)

Where Wolf?

My wife and I have been watching some seasonally appropriate films, and what better way to start then with the classics, Young Frankenstein and Teen Wolf.

Igor

Werefox

Why does this keep happening to me?

I've started making it a habit to draw while watching TV, focusing these days on faces.  Slowly, I've been building a library of facial features I find interesting, so I can have a resource to draw from when designing characters.  However, I find that TV shows these days don't have a good diversity of actors faces, they all seem to look the same.  So, I've been turning to old BBC series, which are full of wonderful character actors.  A few days ago, I spent time watching the 1970's murder mystery series Father Brown and realized I had a recurring problem.  I was pushed to draw my characters faster then usual because each time I chose an actor, they were killed off.

Pip-Pip!

A short while ago, we bid farewell to a couple of friends who moved to England for grad studies.  I drew this cartoon of them as a going away treat.

Man vs. Nature

Over a year ago, my friend Ethan Nicolle asked me to create some imitation pixel game art for his latest graphic novel Bearmageddon.  However, during the time I was working on this, a little web comic Ethan created with his kid brother became an internet sensation.  Needless to say, Ethan had to commit himself full time to Axe Cop and Bearmageddon was put on the back burner   But in August, Bearmageddon finally premiered and in color!  Today the "game art" I created made its debut CHECK IT OUT.

Bearmageddon is like Ratfist, a complete graphic novel that is posted online, one page at a time.

What's It Got In It's Pocketses?

I was commissioned to make an illustration for a children's educational theater program called Ariel Theater.  The piece was for their production of the musical A Pocket Full of Rhymes.

I'm personally fond of the Spider.

Coloring Someone Else's Drawings - Not Just For Kids Anymore

My first professional comic book work is finally printed and in my possession.  Doug TenNapel's Bad Island, published by Scholastic Books.  Before I drew Scrooge and Santa, I was a Lead Colorist with Katherine Garner on what was TenNapel's latest comic.  This was the first time I had done anything professional for the comic industry.  Not to mention, the first time I had every worked as a Colorist.  I was just starting to get to know Doug when he asked me to do this, and working through it helped to develop a friendship with him.  Mr. TenNapel is a good man, a hard worker and a great guy to work under.   I also got to know Katherine and learn what an equally hard worker she is, not to mention her skills in the craft of coloring.  My position was to develop a color pallet that other colorists could work from, and together we created the base colors for Katherine to the render (shadows/highlights) and adjust.  It was a good experience and I'm very pleased with the result.
This project lead to other work with Doug, including coloring his web comic Ratfist (Lead Colorist - Katherine Garner).  This on-line graphic novel is in the works to be published by Image Comics, but you can read the entire thing for free right now!
As an extra treat, I was recently given a copy of Bad Island and a Ratfist shirt.

 Thank you Doug and Katherine for all your hard work and support.

The Mad Couple

Well, here they are.  The Mads of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Another attempt at Dr. Forester and his faithful assistant TV's Frank.

Am I Frank? No, but I play one on TV.

Finally, got around to drawing my first attempt at TV's Frank.

The other Mad of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
(Click HERE and HERE to see my other MST3K character designs.)

Conned

Well, I'm still feeling a bit sore from the weekend but overall happy with how it went.  I spent most of my time at the Acana Comics booth helping to sell books and promoting Matt Wilson and I's graphic novel, Scrooge and Santa (S&S).  Sales were pretty good and we sold over 20 S&Ss!  Matt and I also took turns performing signings of S&S, using the new poster I designed as a way to get attention.

To also help with promotion, my wife and I designed a couple of S&S shirts.  I think they turned out pretty good!

Making shirts has become a Comic Con tradition.  This year we made a shirt using my Alien E.T. comic.  It got a couple of laughs.

A busy but good Con!

Christmas Con

Well, once again the San Diego Comic Con is upon us and once again I will be there (8th year).  This year writer Matt Wilson and I will be at the Arcana Comics Booth (#2415) promoting the graphic novel we made, Scrooge and Santa.

Matt and I will be at the booth Thursday through Saturday, so if you're attending, please stop by!  Matt will also be featured in an Arcana Panel on Thursday, 6:00-7:00 p.m., room 23ABC,

Hope to see you there!

Bertie's In Da Wodehouse

Been reading through the Wooster and Jeeves stories by P.G. Wodehouse and was inspired to draw my take on this "odd couple".

These books are deceptively simple.  Wodehouse assuredly is a master of the writing craft.

More Old Brits

More sketches of old British guys, but no pipes this time.

The Bad Doctor

Another addition to my cartoon adaptations of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 characters. (CLICK HERE to see the past post) This one's the main "Mad" himself, Dr. Clayton Forrester.

Smoke On The Mind

Been thinking a lot about pipe smoking lately, and just this last weekend I got my very first pipe!  As a result, I've been doing some doodles, like this one in my sketch pad.  It's also my second attempt at using a new brush pen.

Marvel At My Comic.

About a week ago I drew a short comic for comedy writer Alex Zalben, featuring the Red Hulk and Bi-Beast.

Bi-Beast

General Ross

Red Hulk

This is the first time I've drawn a comic featuring Marvel characters.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMIC.

ALIEN: The Extra Terrestial

Something my friend Clint and I came up with.

I'd Like To Give A Shout-Out

Obviously, I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I should at least show something before this month is over.
This is a simple drawing I made as a shirt design for a cute rock band called CryOut.  The members are four kids, three girls and one boy.

For a little while now, I have been helping to color Doug TenNapel's webcomic, Ratfist.  That's been keeping me pretty busy lately but the end is in sight.

Comic Preview: Dad's New Boss

Matthew Wilson was the writer of a graphic novel I drew last year titled Scrooge and Santa.  He has written another story for another potential graphic novel titled Dad's New Boss.  I drew up a preview of the opening to the comic and it is available to view for free here:

Open publication - Free publishing - More boss

If there's enough interest, we might complete the graphic novel and have it available first as a Kindle book through Amazon.com.

Platonic Sketching

In the fall of 2007, I made a proposal piece for a graphic novel based on the writings of Plato.  It was printed and sent out to a bunch of various people and nothing yet has come of it.  Looking back now, I kind of cringe from most of the drawings.  It was drawn with a ball point pen, during my breaks, at my last job.  Now you can view it here:

Open publication - Free publishing - More comic

Hi-Keedraw!

(In case you don't get my title reference CLICK HERE)

I've been slowly working on my own cartoon adaptations of the characters from my favorite TV series of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.  So far I've worked on Joel Robinson, Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo (CLICK HERE to see).

Gypsy was drawn a little while ago but I never presented it until now.

Unsatisfied with my first Servo drawing, I made this second attempt.

I think this is in the right direction, regarding his personality.

There's more characters to tackle and I would like to make a drawing of the main cast but in the meantime, here's a collage of what I've done so far.

Keep circulating the tapes.

Wedding Drawings

My good friend Steve just got hitched to a great gal and I got to play a small part in their wedding.  Steve commissioned me to make this piece as a surprise for not only the wedding attenders but also his bride.

Steve is the director of camp called Cowboy's Rest, where he also creates curricula for all the programs.  I have helped out with these programs in various ways by providing drawings and designs.  Click HERE to read about one of those camps.  This drawing is inspired by program called Klash Of The Kingdoms where this couple first met.  They are both in this photo wearing the same costumes as in the drawing.

This is not my first wedding drawing.  Last year I was commissioned to make this for another good friend, showing the history of the couple.

V-Day Card

Katie (wife) shared my Valentine's Day gift on her BLOG.  I'm such a fortunate dope to be married to such a wonderful woman.

Under Pressure

Made this for my dad.

The fish's names are Bowie and Queen.

(Inspired by Barry Dudewade's comic.  I did not originate this joke or idea, only drew my version of it. This is not for profit.)

Unlike The Cure, I care about Thursday.

I finally got around to reading G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday and loved it!  This is the first fictional book of Chesterton that I've read and I believe it helped me to appreciate the story with some background on the author.  A great read!  Even though it was written over a 100 years ago, I found Thursday to be an intense "page turner".  Ever chapter ends on a cliffhanger and kept me reading to uncover more.  At first, the story comes across as a Mystery but soon the plot unfolds to reveal that more is at stake, possibly the end of the world.
Bottom line, read it!  Some of you may not fully "get it" but many of you will appreciate the journey it takes you through.

A little something I made in tribute to this great novel:

Shane, Look An Alien!

I was encouraged by my friend Ethan Nicolle to contribute a Buzz Lightyear themed drawing for this BLOG.  There is a concept I plan to execute soon but another idea came to mind that is more personal and follows the theme with my last couple of posts.

When I think of Lightyear I usually think of my friend Shane Mulholland.  A tall-drink-of-water with just as much heart as his stature, Shane is a hard worker and a strong family man.  Aside from being a lover of cinema, Mr. Mulholland is also one of the biggest animation fans I know and has proven that passion by working in said industry (currently at DreamWorks).

To infinity and beyond!

The Bearded Cowboy Monkey

If there is only one guy out there who knows how to draw a monkey, it's Ryan Agadoni.  
I've loved Ryan's work ever since I was in college. I would see his drawings here and there and even visited his Senior show, but I was not aware of who was making them. It wasn't untill sometime after college that I actually got to know Ryan, and became as much a fan of him as I was of his art. Being Ryan's friend and being a fellow artist, is like having a good cup of coffee ready and waiting to give you a boost. Ryan is an artist's artist, in that he is a fan and supporter of his fellow artists. We have mutual friends who work as professional illustrators and he is just as eager to buy their work as he is with other pros he admires. He brings value to his fellow artists' work and it makes them also feel valuable.
Mr. Agadoni is also a good art critic and is very helpful in giving honest feedback regarding your work. He's just as critical of the art of others as he is of his own. Ryan's not a guy who rushes through a piece. He's great at thinking things through and performing the necessary prep work to make a final piece strong.

Ryan knows Westerns as much as he knows monkeys and is a great resource to turn to if you're ever curious about such culture.  If you want to get more into this guy's head, check out his BLOG.

In tribute to this Dude, I whipped up this drawing.  In case you're confused, I gave him the ears and body of a monkey.  One thing about Ryan that  I'm envious of, is he can look in the mirror and will himself to grow a beard.  His facial hair is constantly changing, so instead of locking down one style of trim, I decided to give you the option of what fur you want on Ryan's mug.

Comic Heroes

I thought it might be fun to create a few posts talking about individuals that I admire in their craft, in the hopes of supporting and promoting them.
The webcomic world has grown to be very vast over the years, and I don't pretend to be an expert on them.  There have been a couple that I like but none that I follow consistently.  That might be changing due to an exposer to this world from personal attachments.  This is mostly due my friend Ethan Nicolle and now Doug TenNapel.  Over the past couple of years I've gotten to know Ethan as a friend and as a respectable artists.  After getting to know him and really enjoying his company (mostly due to the fact that we are both Misties), I found out that he did drawings.  I didn't realize until he handed me a couple graphic novels he made called Chumble Spuzz and told me that he was nominated an Eisner for them, just how much of a "Drawer" he was!  About a year ago, he came back from his Christmas break with funny stories about playing with his kid brother Malachi, and how they created a character called Axe Cop.  I and other friends witnessed how this fun little idea exploded in a cultural phenomenon!
My friendship with Doug TenNapel came about in the opposite way.  I was a long time fan of his work, ever since the video game of Earthworm Jim.  Over time I got to talk with Mr. TenNapel at various points, but it wasn't until a mutual friend (Ryan Agadoni) gave me an opportunity to know Doug more personally.  (Doug and Ethan are also close friends, which was one of the reasons I met Ethan.)  Doug's latest project (his body of work is EPIC) is a brand-spanking-new webcomic series called Ratfist.  This is Doug's first webcomic and I hope it will gain the same success as Ethan's first webseries.
I admire both of these men for their body of work, the ethic for their craft, and the ideals they live by.  They are also great guys to work with, as I've experienced helping each of them on a couple of projects.
In celebration of and first year anniversary of Axe Cop and the launch of Ratfist, I decided to do a little sketch of these great guys.  Even though I haven't met him yet, Malachai is in there to give credit where credit is due.

A Clock Of Astronomical Proportions

My wife and I have wanted to visit the city of Prague for as long as we've been together.  One site I long to see is the famous astronomical clock tower, located at the Old Town Square in the center of Prague.

Recently, there was a celebration of the 600 year anniversary of this old ticker and here is some really cool footage.  This video is a live recording of what is called digital projection mapping on the face of the tower.

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

I did a quick little sketch of one of the Saints that appear at the clock's windows when it chimes.

I love how these wooden figures are proportioned.  The have large tops of their heads that narrow down at the base, along with large hands, and no legs. They're designed that way due the distance and angle they are viewed from the street level.

I'm ready for my head shot, Mr. DeMille.

Let's see if anyone gets this reference:

If you haven't yet, watch the film Sunset Blvd.

I'm Such A Dick . . . Tracy Fan

Being a big movie fan, there are various films that I watch on a seasonal bases.  For that short time between Christmas and the New Year, Katie (my wife) and I have 3 films that we feel fit that period just right: Sunset Blvd., Hudsucker Proxy, and Dick Tracy (1990).  All revolve around and/or climax at New Years Eve.

The addition of Dick Tracy to the movie list is mainly my idea.  OK . . . here goes (deep breath) I'm a really big fan of this movie, but I'm not ignorant or naive about it.  I'm well aware of the criticisms against it and the issues in property rights.  Regardless, I personally love this film and I'm fine being the only one who does.
One reason being, that I grew up a big fan of the Chester Gould comic series it's based on.  One of my treasured birthday presents I got when I was in grade school, was a large book titled the Celebrated Cases Of Dick Tracy.  I still read through that collection every now and again.  The character cameos and make-up effects in the movie are perfect in bringing these classic villains to life.  It's obvious that the make-up and costume design team put great craftmanship into paying tribute to the art of Chester Gould.  What I also love about this film is it's Production Design.  The world is wonderfully stylized to fit the feel of the classic comic design and color palette.  Every red is the same red, every blue the same blue.  The production team adjusted the world to fit the look of the comic instead of vice versa.  In a way, Dick Tracy was way ahead of it's time in doing this.  Now we see it all the time in comic book movies, such as Sin City, 300, Watchmen, etc.  I love that even the elements in the backgrounds (buildings, skylines, etc.) become more stylized and simplified in detail as they are "further away".  Aside from the look I enjoy the casting, music, and editing.  Very fun and aways a joy to watch every New Year.
To follow up my New Year's Resolution, I've decided to christen my blog with a couple new sketches of this New Year's Film.  I chose my favorite Dick Tracy villain, Littleface Finney (who has a very short cameo in the film).