Always Going Forward

I'm always overly optimistic about how quickly I can hit the ground running after coming back from a trip. I did manage to get a new page of Love and Capes done in my shortened week. I'm well into issue #2 of the new miniseries. Come, see domestic bliss.

This past week I went to Rancho Obi-Wan, the largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia on the planet. They say "private collection" but I can't imagine who has more. It was a great weekend, and I owe you some pictures and stories, but I also need to get some pages under me, too.

For those of you asking why Love and Capes: Wake Up Where You Are has disappeared from Amazon and other retailers, the issue has been identified and there is a plan in place to fix it. I'll let you know when I have details.

Don't forget I'll be at MegaCon next month (more traveling, I know) and you can be on the next print! Details here.

Tebow Tebow Romney Paul! (but really: ART!)

Man, it seems like there's only two things everyone's talking about these days, doesn't it?

Although, I have to say, I'm rooting for Tebow. I've got friends in Denver and if Tebow can get a Browns fan to root for the team that kept Cleveland out of the Super Bowl repeatedly, that's a minor miracle of it's own.

Anyway, let's talk about something else. This is a pose from page six of the issue of Love and Capes that's on my drawing board. I'm pretty happy with it, because it's such nice body language and interaction. It's not the kind of thing I would have attempted, at least not successfully, when I started this wild romantic comedy comic roller coaster.

You can tell they're a couple and that they like each other. Abby's pose involves twisting her spine in a way that was a challenge to draw. And, as always, making Mark and Abby relate to each other size-wise is always a bit of a challenge in and of itself. Heck, I like the clothing choices, as they're very much the kind of comfy clothes you wear around your house and yet show individual style for both of them.

Click on the indivdual pictures to see the full pencils and inks. I had to draw through the pose to get it accurate, so there's more to be seen.

That's it from here. You may now resume your Tebowing and polling.

Monsters and Dames You Won't See

Not everything makes the cut. Last year I did my first Emerald City Comicon and loved, repeat LOVED it. They also do a wonderful art book called Monsters and Dames. It's a great collection of artwork that I was honored to be part of. This year, it was so popular that they juried the artwork, and sadly, I didn't get into the 2012 book.

More artists than pages, decisions to be made. These things happen.

Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the piece I did. I pushed my style, eschewing the brush-heavy linework I normally do and working in a much more "dead" line. I also pushed my colors on this piece, too, mixing cut color and airbrush and colored lines to get something new. So, I definitely wanted to share with you.

I'm trying to figure out where else I can use this piece, but in the meantime, there's no reason you can't see the art right now. So click and see my Angel and Demon piece.

Oh, and I'll be back at Emerald City Comicon this year, sharing space with Ben "Badass of the Week" Thompson. I'll let you know the booth number as soon as I know, and I'll see you there! I'll probably be in line for George Takei, asking him about Celebrity Apprentice, and trying to get Wil Wheaton to read Love and Capes.

Have a Yourself a Merry Little Christmas now

Merry Christmas! It's the time of family and friends, faith and love, presents and food, and watching London get invaded by giant spaceships. Hope you and yours are having a good one.

Spooky, Kooky and Sober

I recently got the opportunity to design some artwork for the Lake County Health Department and a local designated driver program they were advertising for the Halloween weekend in Willoughby.

I got to push past my normal style and again work in solid cutcolors. Thanks, too, to DK Photo for taking the picture of downtown Willoughby that appears in the background.

Convention Print for O-H…I-O!

I'm getting ready to head to New York next weekend, but the weekend afterward, Wizard World Mid-Ohio (formerly Mid-Ohio-Con) is definitely on my radar. You might be asking yourself "Is he going to do a print for his home show?"

Well, of course I am.

Doing something Ohio State related was a no-brainer, and they're certainly well known for the Script Ohio. How could I not do it?

As with the rest, I'll have 25 of these prints available, all signed and numbered. And there's still time to actually appear on the Long Beach print, too!

Bride of Sketchapalooza

The last wave of my commission madness. Now's a great time to remind you, too, that I've got three shows this October: New York Comic Con (where I'll be set up with the Comic Book Diner guys), Mid-Ohio-Con, and Long Beach Comic Con. I'll be doing commissions at all of those, but if you want to get on the sketch list early, especially if you want something color and/or reference-heavy, pre-ordering is always a good thing. Send me an e-mail at tz (squiggly-at) thomz.com to get on the list early!

Son of Sketchapalooza

Here's the second of three waves of commission sketches from my recent travels. The Cyclops one was done on one of those Marvel sketch covers. I don't do many of those, and they're always a challenge because the surface of those covers can be a little challenging.

Sketchapalooza

I'm getting back in the swing of things after six trips in six weeks. In those trips and conventions, I did a ton of commissions. Over the next couple of days, I'm going to share the bulk of them with you. The black and white ones were snapped with my iPhone, and the color ones were art that I scanned and colored. Click to embiggen, as always!

Detroit Comic City

Cincinnati was a blast! Such a good time, and such great people, too. I spent some time with José Delbo, and met Stan Goldberg, who did the alternate cover for Love and Capes #5. He presented me with the original art for that cover, which left me speechless.

But, I can't be confined by the borders of the state of Ohio for long. This weekend I'll be at Detroit Fanfare where, hopefully, Mr. Bruce Campbell and I will become good friends. And a new con means another new con print, so feast your eyes on the Detroit print below.

I've got three more shows this year (New York, Mid-Ohio and Long Beach) and then a few more (Emerald City, MegaCon, Wonder Con, C2E2, and Houston) before I hit Charlotte and complete the cycle I started last year.