Monsters and Dames You Won't See
Not everything makes the cut.
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
Convention Schedule 2012
My adventures in conventioneering continue in 2012. This is my tentative schedule, with probably more dates to be added. And, if you'd like to bring me out for your show, give me a shout ad we'll see if we can work it out.
Here's my 2012 Convention Schedule (so far)…
MegaCon in Orlando, FL
February 13-21
WonderCon in Anaheim, CA
March 16-18
Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, WA
March 30-April 1
C2E2 in Chicago, IL
April 13-15
Free Comic Book Day at Captain BlueHen in Delaware
May 5, 2012
Comicpalooza in Houston, TX
May 25-27
HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC
June 18-19
Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA
July 22-24
Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA (tentative)
August 31-September 3
Baltimore Comicon in Baltimore, MD
September 8-9
WizardWorld Mid-Ohio in Columbus, OH
September 29-30
New York Comic-Con in New York City, NY
October 11-14
Akron Comic Con in Akron, OH
November 10
Cover Recreation Double Punch (pt. 2)
Here's the second of my classic comic cover double-punch!
This is a recreation of the classic Man of Steel #3. Crusader and Darkblade are replacing Superman and Batman, but the wildcard here is the DC villian Magpie who's been replaced by the villianous Fearleader. She's often mentioned (and is Chris Sims' favorite never-seen character) and one of these days may actually appear in a comic. We'll see.
I tried ti keep with the older, flatter coloring style where possible while still keeping some of the Love and Capes coloring style as well. I think it turned out pretty well. Click here to see it biggimized.
Too lazy to scroll to yesterday's link for how to order commissions? Here it is again.
Cover Recreation Double Punch (pt. 1)
I've had two recent commissions that have involved recreating classic comic covers with Love and Capes covers. There must be something in the air.
First up is this recreation of Birds of Prey #8 with Darkblade and Amazonia substituiting for Nightwing and Batgirl.
This was done for two of my biggest fans in Baltimore, who have even bought copies of my book to give to other pros. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that.
I'm not sure, but you might see this cover again, too.
Click to embiggen the cover, of course.
Wait, you want a commission? Why contact me here and we can make that happen.
The Girl Who Waited
It's an irritating truth that it's easier to place your friends and family behind other concerns. I've been working on client stuff and traveling and all that, so when my friend Jesse asked me to start off his new Doctor Who-themed sketchbook, it took way too long for me to get to it. But, three-and-a-half months later, I did.
There's part of the chain of events that works out, though. I felt I'd taken so long that I really had to up my game on the sketch.
The subject, which should come to no surprise to anyone who knows me, was Amy Pond.
I got to break in my new Copic markers on this one. I haven't done much with them in previous sketches, and I find I really like them. It gives them a lot of pop. I'd always had the idea of making Amy's hair the only color on the piece, but since the Doctor did such a great job describing how vivid a blue the TARDIS is, I scanned a rough and did a rare color test, to see if I should make the time traveling box blue. The tests are below. I leave it to you to decide if I made the right choice.
Click on anything for embiggimzation!
YMCA Illustration
While I was on my sojourn in Los Angeles last month, my rule of "The best way to get work is to leave town" came into play. I had the opportunity to create a cartoon for the Lake County YMCA for one of their fundraisers, illustrating people in one of those mobile closet-like things where wind blows and money (or, in this case, coupons) fly about for you to grab. Most of this was done remotely, with only the final touches being done once I was back in Ohio.
You probably can't tell, but there's a touch of Tim Burton in this. I'd just seen the Tim Burton exhibit at the LACMA and it influenced the way I constructed the characters.
It pays to be mobile!
Come to the Cabaret
In my work for the fine folks at Learn It Systems, I was called upon to design a logo for an event called "Cabaret: Tip Your Hat to Learning". I had two guidelines:
- Colors were black and red
- They wanted to see at least one version with a mortarboard morphing into a derby.
I went through five rounds of revisions before coming up with a final version. The final was set so that it could be used in color, black and white, and grayscale versions. You can see the process here:
The 2011 Amusing Little Christmas Card Post
Every year I do a custom Christmas card, and every year I print more than I use. So, I'm making the previous year's cards available for purchase. The cards are still pretty funny, and they're definitely different from anything else you'd be sending. Each card has a cartoon on the front, and a smaller folllow-up cartoon on the back.
Also, if you need envelopes for the cards, I can provide them, too. It'll be an additional $5.00 for 25 matching envelopes.
"LABOR" Christmas Card
Oh, you believed in elves? The inside of this car reads "Hope you and your inner child have a great holiday season."
Cards measure 5.5" x 4.25" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SCROOGE" Christmas Card
This Christmas card makes fun of the constant need to pardoy A Christmas Carol. As I writer, I took a pledge that I'd never redo this or It's a Wonderful Life. The only show that I thought did it really well was Married With Children. And, all that said, Doctor Who is doing it this year, and I can only assume it will be awesome.
The inside of this card reads "Hope you (re)make some great Holiday memories this year."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"REALITY" Christmas Card
This Christmas card takes aim at the reality show trend. The inside reads "Hope you have a REAL good holiday."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"BAILOUT" Christmas Card
Everybody gets a bailout, including Frosty, on this card. The inside reads "Hope your Holiday Season is crisis-free."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECOND CHRISTMAS" Christmas Card
After the first Christmas, how do you top that? The inside reads "May THIS be your best Christmas yet.
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECURITY" Christmas Card
Border security becomes an issue for old St. Nick on this Christmas card. The inside reads "Hope your holiday joy isn't hard to find."
Cards measure 5.5" x 4.25" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
Run For Your Life!
I've been running late on my commission list. But how can you run late on a commission that involves the Tardis?
This commission, from New York Comic-Con, is of Amy and Rose from Doctor Who running into action.
And, because this can't be linked to enough, the Craig Ferguson Doctor Who Cold Open.