left brain emissaries

The end results

2011-12-16T11:20:00.004-05:00

Dialog 1- 20.25" x 55"

Dialog 2 - 20.25" x 42"

Dialog 3 - 20.25"x 55.5"

Here is what came of those painting fragments previously posted. Fingers crossed.

Another fragment

2011-11-28T23:37:00.002-05:00

Couple of sketches

2011-11-28T23:35:00.001-05:00

Fragments

2011-11-18T22:53:00.002-05:00

Two paintings I've banged out recently that are pieces of the puzzles I'm currently working on.

A family affair

2011-11-14T20:19:00.008-05:00

I just took a gander at my daily inspiration stop, MeatHaus and saw that the brain trust, Chris McD, posted the doodles my whole family did in his book, Sasquatch's Big Hairy Drawing Book. Not only that but he is giving away free copies right now and it's easy to put your name in the hat by replying to this post.

I have to say that the whole family has really enjoyed working in this one. Including a little boy who is only an occasional drawer and a wife who took a little arm twisting to contribute. It's good times for all and when your done McD and Sasquatch will post your work on the flickr collective page like they did for us. Who wouldn't want that? So if you're a regular here or coming from somewhere else, go check it out. If you've found yourself here because of that post, take a look around and drop a comment if you like.

*Edit* Despite having a link to the Sasquatch flickr page and having some images in the MeatHaus link. I've been given a hard time by certain close relations of mine to post some samples here. Hope said parties are satisfied with these four.

One from my littlest one.

One from my son.

One my beautiful wife and I did together.

A single from me.

Disembodied

2011-11-11T23:13:00.001-05:00

Three rounds with the sketchbook

2011-11-11T23:12:00.002-05:00

Legendary part 3

2011-11-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you liked it. Feel free to let me know either way.

Goodbye Joe

2011-11-08T23:06:00.006-05:00

After hearing about his passing, I realized out of all the sketches of boxers I've done that I never did one of Frazier. Remedied today.

Dignan

2011-11-08T23:04:00.002-05:00

Another Criterion classic film.

A couple of double takes

2011-11-08T23:01:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted any boxers in a bit so here's a couple of recent ones.

Just because

2011-11-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

Legendary part 2

2011-11-03T12:00:00.003-04:00

Next Thursday brings the conclusion of the story.

The Red Balloon

2011-11-02T20:38:00.003-04:00

Doing some ramp up paintings to get back in the swing since I've mostly been about inks for a while now. This one kind of falls in the art envy vein. An image from the Criterion/Janus film The Red Balloon.

Finally

2011-10-27T10:40:00.008-04:00

Part 1 of my latest attempt at comics, Legendary. Part 2 will be up next Thursday.

Just so you know...

2011-09-30T14:00:00.002-04:00

I passed on August posting because I merely had more ink sketches to show and wanted to focus on gathering steam for something new. However, I didn't want to miss out on September entirely too. I thought about posting process photos but I never got around to it. Instead, I'll squeeze in a little tease.

That's right. It is a panel. A panel from a comic. One of the comics I've long been threatening no less. It's coming along slower than I'd like due to other obligations and probably in bigger part to my own self consciousness. Regardless, it is coming along at a pretty solid pace.

The real motivator... goodbye, Lucian

2011-07-21T23:40:00.004-04:00

Finally, the real reason I got motivated to post. I just found out tonight that the mighty Lucian Freud passed on yesterday. I deeply admire the way he painted it like he saw it and while it may not have always been flattering to the model it was always a beautiful work. I was lucky enough to see a retrospective of his work at the Tate on my last big pre-kids vacation and it was amazing.

A quick one I sketched off the back photo from the book Man with a Blue Scarf by art critic Martin Gayford.

Now I Wanna...

2011-07-21T23:32:00.009-04:00

A couple of the more successful sketches from a few I referenced off of I Need More .

Another fistful

2011-07-21T23:25:00.006-04:00

Whip that dead horse...

2011-06-24T11:55:00.004-04:00

with zeal!

The Henson Legacy

2011-06-07T14:10:00.006-04:00

My son recently saw on this blog the collection of puppets I posted a while back and I will never hear the end of it if I don't post the recent additions to the paper bag family. So, while the first post was for out of town family, this one is for you little man.

Various Sesame Street characters including: our original Cookie Monster (once believed MIA and which my son demanded be in the picture), the Amazing Mumford, Rodeo Rosie, Zoe and Little Murray Sparkles.

The remaining three Yo Gabba Gabba characters.
Regis Faller's Polo and Pa Gorg (Fraggle Rock).

More Muppet Show alumni: Gonzo, Animal, Wanda and Janice. I'll be tempted to break down and do Floyd Pepper for myself if I get no requests soon just to have all the Electric Mayhem gang.

Muppet Show monsters: Sweetums, Timmy, Mean Mama, Behemoth and Thog.

There you have it.

Peace go with you, Gil

2011-06-01T20:34:00.006-04:00

"Pieces of a Man" and "Winter in America" have graced my ears many times. Thanks for the music Gil. Good luck on that journey home.

Still swinging

2011-06-01T20:24:00.005-04:00

I've mostly been interested in the energy given or received by one individual but I decided to mix it up and sketch a few interactions.

Birthday Wishes for Iggy

2011-04-21T22:00:00.007-04:00

I had planned on giving my summary of how I wished Iggy had come with his full tank of danger and maybe done one of his real classics if he was going to do American Idol, but, I'll pass. I'm of the opinion that if I'm still around at 64 I can only hope to still be stage diving and be half as energetic. Happy 64th, Iggy. I hope it was a good one because you've got a right.

Popeye Closing In

2011-04-21T21:58:00.004-04:00

Hard Knocks

2011-04-21T21:54:00.003-04:00

Hard Knocks 2

2011-04-21T21:49:00.003-04:00

Art envy- Criterion-von Trier

2011-02-25T21:10:00.005-05:00

Last year, I was deeply envious when Criterion tapped some comic artists to do posters for a show of theirs. It seemed like such a fun thing to do. This is in addition to a real love I already had for Sean Phillips' and Kent Williams' work for them. All I could think about would be how I'd love to be in on this.

This happens from time to time when you're a fairly obscure art bloke like myself. So I figured why not do something about it? Thus, art envy is born.

When the posters came out I had just recently seen von Triers' Antichrist. Lars von Trier is always one to push boundaries and sensibilities in film. I don't always think his ideas work but they at least make for interesting viewings. Antichrist is such an emotionally and physically brutal film that reaches the point of an endurance test. I honestly can not in good faith recommend anyone seeing it. That said, there were scenes in it that haunted me for weeks afterward so in that respect it was very effective. I also thought I could twist some of the imagery into an image of my own that would be a decent representation of the film and feel similar to some of the work I've been doing as well. So here are a few ramp up sketches and the final image itself.

I hope you find it effective. If it spurs you to see the film... good luck.

I plan on doing more film based pieces again. In and out of Criterion's catalog. This is not the big plans hinted at in the last post. Those are still coming.

The theme song of this post comes courtesy of William de Vaughn.

Handful of boxing sketches

2011-02-25T21:06:00.003-05:00

And a few of the better recent boxing sketches.

Part 1- New Years and Rope Burns

2011-01-01T22:21:00.010-05:00

Oooh... (blush with embarrassment) I missed two months of updating this rigmarole. I honestly never can seem to balance the making of/posting of art unless good reason calls for it. I end up showing close friends this work by one method or another and I'm not entirely convinced there are many other folks paying attention so it becomes easy to neglect. It is nice to have it on record though and, boy, do I have a few scans to show today.

I do want to give a very belated thanks to the Young Blood Gallery. The show was great fun and one of my pieces found a new home. You can see the rest of the excellent pieces by using this link.

As promised, I had a few sketchbook pages of boxer distractions piling up. Frankly, I'm addicted. I think I may have possibly found a good outlet to push this stuff a bit further. We'll see if I make the time to use it.

I have a tendency to run myself down about my obvious inability to turn my art into what amounts to even a slightly modest source of income. That said, it's the New Year and I've got a lot to be thankful for. I've always done the art whether I was clever enough to catch anyone's eye with it or not. I think that's what I'll focus on this year. If I have to keep making time to make art merely for the sheer joy of it and no other reason, there's nothing wrong with that not. As for making income off of it and getting exposure for it... I'll just keep singing Bobby Byrd's words of wisdom and see what happens.

I'm going to drop these oldest to newest. Happy New Year folks!

I have to comment on this last one. I usually don't worry about or think about composition that much at all when doing multiple sketches on the page. These are just terrific fun and sometimes the end results can be a pleasant surprise. This last one did definitely fall under the surprise category. Paging Doctor Freud.

Part 2- New Years and Rope Burns

2011-01-01T22:18:00.005-05:00

Part 3- New Years and Rope Burns

2011-01-01T22:09:00.008-05:00

and the most recent group...

Day of the Dead Show 2010! (Part 1)

2010-10-22T21:38:00.014-04:00

Well now, that was one hell of an intermission, no? Good news is I've kept my word and I'm posting something other than boxing sketches (although I've got buckets of those to show and probably will do so soon). Better news, it's that time of year again the Tweet Design annual Day of the Dead show. This is the third year for the show and the second that I've been in on it.

Last year the show was at the estimable Eyedrum Gallery but this year it is taking place in the Young Blood Gallery. I haven't been in a show at theYoung Blood since waaaay back in '01 ( at the old location no less). The gallery has grown mightily and I'm excited to be there again. Click the image below for details.

I created two coffins again this year. I wanted to approach the Day of the Dead themes in my own way once again and try to top my pieces from last year. I tried to think of different approaches to the coffin that might be something that hasn't been tried before or at least felt that way.

For the first one I decided to pay tribute to one of my art heroes, Robert Rauschenberg. He used a good many parachutes and things resembling them in his silkscreens and some of his performance pieces so that led to the coffin trading its heaviness for this kind of purpose. He's also famous for his combines in the art world. One of the most famous is Monogram. Throw in some angelic wings and several nods to other bits of his work and you have this:

I should mention that the backing board was merely for display purposes and isn't part of the piece.

DotD 2010 part 2

2010-10-22T21:35:00.007-04:00

I wanted to use more of the typical imagery for the second piece and after a good deal of kicking ideas around decided on a warped, but fully functional, pull toy. Images below.

DotD 2010 part 3

2010-10-22T21:18:00.006-04:00

The rest of the second coffin images...

and three photographs from a coffin by my beautiful wife.

Intermission Part 1- Bagging it

2010-08-30T21:39:00.009-04:00

Things are coming along but they are coming along sooooo s-l-o-w-l-y thanks to obligations and getting my little man readjusted to school. I have tons of boxer sketches to show but I promised myself to up the ante before I posted more of those.

So instead I decided I'd show a few sets of paper bag puppet collaborations with my kids before they crumble to dust. Several of these show the heavy battle scars of packing tape and some have been played with so much that they are the consistency of tissue paper. This way I have evidence that I wasn't a completely bad pop. Right?

Sesame street. The Frazzle puppet (lower right) is the oldest I think- about 4 years.

More Sesame Street. Little Jerry and the Monotones with Telly and Oscar.

My daughter's princesses.

Miscellaneous paper characters- Human Torch, Hello Kitty, multi colored Foofa, Toodee, just a dog.

Paper bag Muppets and a character from Henson's Dog City.

Intermission Part 2- Mr. Ice Cream!

2010-08-30T21:31:00.006-04:00

Motivational treat box I put together for my son this school year. I realized after doing it that it probably was born of more than a little influence from super talent Jim Campbell's hilarious Mr. Pork Chop.

More boxer warm ups

2010-07-08T21:02:00.003-04:00

If I've not mentioned it in an earlier post, the majority of these are taken from a great book, The Illustrated History of Boxing by Harry Mullan.

More sketchbook runoff

2010-07-08T20:58:00.003-04:00

A couple more studies for the hyena painting.

Piece #5

2010-06-04T01:23:00.003-04:00

22"x30" acrylic, pencil on BFK

Piece #4

2010-06-04T01:19:00.005-04:00

48"x60" acrylic and copper wire on canvas

Piece #3

2010-06-04T00:35:00.009-04:00

What do you get when you put a collection many years in the making of these...

with ideas from this...

and this...

and a dash of this...

into my brain? Why, my third piece of course.

30"x44.5" acrylic (and some plastic promo credit cards)on BFK

Translation #2

2010-04-21T00:54:00.004-04:00

The second piece that derived from a sketchbook piece. It changed slightly compositionally and got a whole lot bigger but other than that it remains fairly faithful.

Sketch:

Another couple of quick shots of the full scale piece:

Sidetracked!

2010-04-15T13:54:00.006-04:00

In a good way. Have to use my work hours for an upcoming GA grant contest I came across which has derailed work on the comic. Funny because the progress was finally happening. However, this is an opportunity not only for a good amount of money but to get my work in front of some really exciting folks. Plus it's a terrific reason to do some larger work again.

I love reusing imagery in my pieces and allowing it to be reinterpreted and sometimes change meaning. It makes me feel like I'm building a language of my own. There were a couple of images I've done in the sketchbooks that I've liked and wanted to do large this is one of them:

The current reworking of it (via hastily taken photo):

More to come...

More sketchbook wanderings

2010-03-10T21:36:00.004-05:00

Will up the ante very soon but for now more sketches...

Copperhead Blues- Title page and intro

2010-02-21T09:26:00.006-05:00

This short comic was supposed to make its rounds with me at SPX in 2007. The only wrinkle in that plan being that I wasn't able to attend. It remained on hold because it was tapped to be printed last year. However, the publication has had to battle the same financial dragons everyone else has. I've wanted to let this one see the light of day for some time especially since I'm twisting my arm to sit down and commit to new comics. The good people at the publication gave their blessing so here it is. With any luck, it will be a good lead in to the next piece I'm working on and allow feedback that could help the new piece before I get into the meat of the visuals. Constructive criticism anyone?

Copperhead Blues Part 1

2010-02-21T09:12:00.006-05:00

Copperhead Blues part 2

2010-02-21T09:09:00.005-05:00

Yeah... more.

2010-02-19T15:17:00.007-05:00

Got a second draft done on the new comic and am starting breakdowns but have been keeping these up for kicks because they've been great fun. I may try some sequential versions of these brain on cruise control images before I really dive into the real deal.

More animals.

Disappointing attempts at Rauschenberg. That guy had so much energy and a lightness to him so I was a little bummed out when neither attempt really worked. I'll give it another go from another photo some time. I was happy with how his hand came out though.

More art influences/betters.

A couple more...

2010-02-04T21:17:00.003-05:00

Same story.

Sketchbook wanderings

2010-01-29T22:00:00.006-05:00

I've been busy writing comics but miss drawing when I do. To counterbalance the feelings this week I've been putting the old brain on autopilot and been drawing various sketches from photos. Trying to quickly bang them out with just a brushpen. I always enjoy looking at other folk's sketches so I thought I'd put mine up too. Here's a few of the results:

Sketchbook throwback

2010-01-29T21:49:00.006-05:00

Since I decided to put up the newer sketches, I figured I'd throw these that were preliminaries for Art Murmur 5.

The idea was to do quick detailed studies from reference so that I didn't rely on photos for the end result. I probably should have done some quick color gestures as well to have made the final piece stronger. These are brushpen also.

Monkeying part 2

2009-12-29T14:57:00.002-05:00

Monkeying around for the holidays...

2009-12-28T17:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight!

2009-10-23T12:46:00.003-04:00

See you at the Eyedrum!

UPDATE: The show was good fun. Managed to catch someone's eye with one of the pieces opening night. You can see photos of the night on Tweet's flicker page here.

Day of the Dead sneak peek

2009-10-16T14:31:00.004-04:00

Here they are. Hope to see you there.

2009-10-16T14:28:00.001-04:00

Just in the inbox...

2009-09-24T14:06:00.007-04:00

The other project hinted at in the last post:

Should be fun. Check out the talent that is responsible for putting this show together here.

Promotions, pledges, posts and pretensions

2009-09-16T02:07:00.009-04:00

First of all, let me start off with a "hello" in the direction of the folks at Affect Productions. They have been nudging me to join the world of twitter and I still haven't committed yet. I'm not super regular as far as the internet social networking scene goes. I mean, come on, I just crossed the two year mark for this guy and it has been a sputter and wheeze affair. Plus, I rub elbows with the good folk at the Ruth boards and haven't been able to keep up with them as of late. Toss in the fact that I've come to realize I've got an uncanny "gift" for sounding alarmingly pretentious especially in written form and it all makes me wonder if twitter is for me. I do want to show my support to them because they are working hard to put together a little project that might very well contain something from me. Plus they're good people. Check out their site and keep an ear to the ground for what may be coming from them. Big thanks to Doug Draper for pointing them in my direction.

Also, I want to put this out there. I want to keep making comics. I haven't been doing it enough and I've got a head full of stories. I have been the loathsome "I'm gonna" arse of late. I, like nearly everyone right now, have been partaking in my share of ups and downs. I also run into one of two problems every time I've considered doing them recently: 1.) I get intimidated by the greatness that comes from the folks on the list on the right and 2.) I get nervous about a few of the stories I really want to tell because they are autobiographical. They're spots that are still sore and I worry that my aforementioned "gift" may run rampant in them rendering them unreadable. It still does not change the fact that I want to make comics of those stories and others. I post this paragraph as part public humiliation to goad myself into getting to work and part pledge. I'm going to start posting more comics. They will not be anywhere near as good as any of the comic artists you see posted on the right. If you want good comics, visit their links. Mine will be eye bleeding, wail inducingly bad. They will be sequential eyesores but if I keep hacking them out they may eventually become halfway readable. Only time will tell.

For now, let me end with a couple of images. The first is yet another spaghetti western film sketch. From Corbucci's Companeros. It has loads of the typical taunting a partner on the verge of death so prevalent in those films.

The second is from a challenge on Greg Ruth's boards to draw Uncle Creepy. I know little about him but didn't want to back out of a challenge. Here are the results.

More news about something else I'm mixed up in next month on the way. Possibly some photos as well. Finally I'll give a shout to my Art Murmur cohort, Matt Strackbein, who has been cranking those comics out and keeping the Art Murmur thread kicking with them. You should check them out. Start here with post #166 and you'll find several on up. Good stuff.

Art Murmur #33

2009-06-30T19:15:00.006-04:00

Long time coming on this one. Due to me. Matt's #32.

Film Sketches- more Leone

2009-06-10T23:27:00.002-04:00

"You don't know how to play." Once Upon a time in the West

Fistful of Dollars

Film Sketch- Once Upon a Time in the West

2009-04-24T23:36:00.002-04:00

Film Sketch- The Proposition

2009-03-31T21:40:00.005-04:00

Pentel brush pen.

Acrylic.

Get Well, Greg!

2009-03-09T08:52:00.004-04:00

A little get well image for the esteemed Mr. Ruth who has been hospitalized with pneumonia.

Art Murmur 31

2009-03-07T12:05:00.003-05:00

In response to Matt's #30.

Art Murmur 29

2009-02-25T22:23:00.003-05:00

Matt's #28.

Happy Valentine's...

2009-02-13T00:12:00.004-05:00

For kicks last year I made Valentine's cards for my son's Pre-K class. He was still big on Sesame Street monsters so I made monsters of my own for everyone (you can see them in a previous post if you click the silliness tag). This year, due in great part becasue of his underwear, he has gotten stuck on superheroes. I knew his teacher took a lot of photos of the kids and so I asked to borrow some to make little hero portrait cards for his class this year. Here's the results:

Art Murmur 27

2009-02-10T23:29:00.003-05:00

Matt's #26.

Art Murmur 25

2009-02-05T08:56:00.002-05:00

Matt's #24.

Art Murmur 23

2009-01-29T20:58:00.003-05:00

Here's Matt's #22.

Art Murmur 21

2009-01-21T13:30:00.004-05:00

In response to Matt's #20.

Art Murmur 19

2009-01-15T21:37:00.004-05:00

Matt's #18.

Art Murmur 17

2009-01-05T23:26:00.004-05:00

Matt's #16.

Art Murmur 15

2009-01-01T15:02:00.002-05:00

Matt's #14.

Art Murmur 13

2008-12-24T18:47:00.006-05:00

In response to Matt's #12.

Copycat!

2008-12-24T18:42:00.007-05:00

Another bit of messing about in an art challenge from the esteemed Mr. Ruth boards. An attempt to stay faithful in recreating a memorable passage of Kirby from my youth while still bringing a bit of my own sensibilities also. Here's hoping I didn't tarnish things too much. Apologies, Mr. Kirby.

EDIT: By request, here is the original Kirby brilliance so that my pieces may pale even more so.

Art Murmur 11

2008-12-17T13:16:00.003-05:00

Here's #10 by Matt.

Art Murmur 9

2008-12-10T13:13:00.004-05:00

Matt's #8.

Art Murmur 7

2008-12-02T23:48:00.004-05:00

In response to #6 by Matt.

Art Murmur 5

2008-11-25T13:11:00.003-05:00

In response to Matt's piece.

Art Murmur 3

2008-11-18T12:58:00.003-05:00

The response to
Matt Strackbein's return serve of the first art murmur in the previous post.

Art Murmur 1

2008-11-13T12:46:00.005-05:00

The above is my entry into an art conversation with fellow gregthings board member, Matt Strackbein. It's the first in the set and, after some tinkering, it ended up with a pretty personal slant. I think that it will be cool to see where Matt goes with it though since we agreed to reference the previous entry in some way during the back and forth. It'll be fun to bounce off something that grew out of this. I'll post a link to Matt's response here when he puts it up.

Film Sketch- The Conversation

2008-10-22T14:52:00.001-04:00

Film Sketch- Leon part 2

2008-10-02T13:50:00.003-04:00

After posting the last three images, I was called out by fellow board member Matt Strackbein for not having any guns in the paintings based on the film. I'm not sure that this is as over the top as he may have wanted but it was the image that I wanted to do. The tense nature of the mixed morality of the scene leading to a sense of relief after the shot is fired. Only to push the boundry again when Portman's character requests to give it a go with real bullets.

Film sketching- Leon

2008-09-22T13:22:00.003-04:00

On the previously mentioned Greg Ruth boards I put foward a challenge to render images based around a favorite action/suspense film. I chose Leon(aka The Professional) because I love this film. I tried to approach them in a figure drawing style manner. Watching the entire film and doing quick gestures first. Then going back and watching the scenes I wanted to depict repeatedly until I finished. I also tried to do them as quickly as possible.

The first image is the depiction of Leon's final words to corrupt DEA agent Stansfield (Gary Oldman). One of the classic last word scenes from film.

What I really love about the film is Leon himself and Reno's portrayal of him. He is a very sympathetic and likable character despite his profession and doesn't exude the cool all the time that other similar amoral characters with a heart of gold often have.The painted image took a little longer than I wanted so I approached the second with ink and brush.

Finally, I tried to pick up the speed a bit more and used a ballpoint and the leftover ink to do a version of one of my favorite scenes- Leon staring like an engrossed child as Singing in the Rain plays on the matinee. Reno really pulls out all stops with his acting in this brief scene and I'm afraid I didn't quite nail the proper expression but ther you have it anyway.

You don't bring me flowers...

2008-09-05T12:42:00.010-04:00

All right, so I basically left this blog like a lemon vehicle abandoned on the side of the road. To be perfectly frank I had hoped it would result in more back and forth between like minds and, with any luck, some helpful criticism towards my work. As it turned out, I found many other avenues where I was getting the feedback I wanted more readily (not least of which were Greg Ruth's always helpful boards and emailing friends directly). The blog began to feel like I was merely posting for myself. Which is kind of pointless because I see the work I put on here all the time and I can keep a private journal off the world wide web if I'm going to be the only one reading it.

That said, I don't want to totally neglect this thing since there was a reason I did start it. It's been almost a year since I began it and it's been sitting on idle for six months and change. I'll dust it off and post for the hell of it. I guess I can look on the bright side of things and say that if I put a few eyesores up no one will take notice.

I'll start off with some sillier stuff just because it's a nice balance to some of the other work I put out. Below is a three panel comic I did for Greg Ruth's art challenge. It was based on the notion of one of my fellow poster's, Neil, son's idea of the tooth fairy. His lad's notion was that she took the good teeth and kept them in her mouth and ground the bad ones up into piano keys. Here's my take:

Also on the goofy side, some valentines tags for my son's class last year. He's big into monsters so I tried to do some silly ones that he would like as well.

After making these I realized it just might be a good idea to make one for my son as well so he didn't feel left out. Here it is:

Also, as an added aside I'd like to thank gent and all around talent Joel Trusell for being the only dutiful poster here and to point anyone reading this to Matt Strackbein's own interpretation of the tooth fairy story under the "Homework 1 : Tooth Fairy". Plus look at any of the other art threads on there. Great stuff happening form all the posters in addition to Ruth himself.

SCAD ATL keep it coming

2008-02-21T23:33:00.003-05:00

The newly crowned Atlanta branch of SCAD is rapidly becoming a favorite haunt for me. Not only have they had Art Spiegelman give a talk on the 12th of this month but I went to a round table discussion with Andrew Robinson, Eric Canete, Yuko Shimizu and James Jean! All for free! Well, the gas from my tank not withstanding.

All the folks were incredible to hear speak but I was most taken aback by Yuko because I was wholly unfamiliar with her work. A really incredible blend of traditional Japanese art and illustration. Awesome. She is immediately finding herself on the list link to the right.

Squeak another post in for January

2008-01-31T13:28:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been working on a new mini. I had been plotting several shorter pieces for sequential excercise and decided on an incidental that I imagined to be in three brief parts. I was (and still am) fairly happy with the story and the preliminary work but I haven't felt like I'm pushing hard enough on the finishes yet. I need to let go of that preposterous notion that it has to be brilliant...because it won't be. It will hopefully be good and worth reading and a move in the right direction. Scrapping it means that I won't have it ready for the Atlanta Comics Expo coming up on the 8th of February but since I'm on no deadlines because the piece is for myself, I'd rather give it another go at getting it right instead.

So, I think I'll post some early ballpoint scratches. I scanned four different ones but think I'll post only the three most tangentally related sketches so as to not give much away.

First, some quick sketches of intimidating faces (boxers Iran Barkley and Sonny Liston).

Then, some vultures.

Confused? Good.

Breaking in the New Year

2008-01-13T14:57:00.002-05:00

After bouncing around some ideas and working on sketches I have a new mini underway. I may post early sketches soon or may keep it entirely under wraps until it's all done. Haven't decided.

I did want to share the great idea going on over at Joel Priddy's blog. He's got a little one on the way and is taking black and white (since that is what is supposed to visually stimulate newborns) contributions for flash cards wall hangings, etc.. Below are my two contributions in a little bit better form than what they appear over there. I sent these to him after the first set didn't go through. They must have showed up later because they're the original images. I didn't have the heart to bug hima again as he is busy with baby concerns and other things more important than updating my images so I'll post them here.

The first image is based on our daughter...

and the second embodies our son in many ways.

Both were kind of a fun departure for me. I recommend contributing if you need a small project for a change of pace.

Testing the old adage

2007-12-05T20:26:00.001-05:00

Since I missed posting the entirety of November I'm trying to figure out if absence truly does make the heart grow fonder. While I'm sorting, I'll mention a couple of things.

My boy is as tough as nails. He has been poked, prodded and analyzed at the age of four more than I ever had by the age of 11. New challenges keep coming up and he keeps bouncing back with a deeply good nature intact. Not only do I love him but he has my utmost respect. To celebrate this, here's a piece I did for my wife a few years ago that also never made it to the website.

Since the last post, I've been trying to sort out new working methods for upcoming sequential work. I've been doing what I'm going to bill sequential "fractures". Hopefully, I'll have some worth posting soon.

I love doing portraits. When you know (or feel you know an individual) in some way it can inform a portrait more than any close likeness ever could. That said, portraitists from days when you could be beheaded also have a large place in my respect category. There are so many concerns about representation and how the person you are doing it for will perceive the piece. I did this image as a commission for a friend. I have only met his wife very briefly on one occasion. He gave me a basic framework of what he wanted. I hope they're both happy with the image.

Exit and Joan conclusion

2007-10-30T19:18:00.004-04:00

Pages 13-16 of exit.

The previously shown page 5 of Joan.

Exit part 4+

2007-10-29T14:03:00.003-04:00

Isn't assembling RTA furniture a blast?

Exit pages 10, 11 and 12.

Joan page 4.

Exit part 3+

2007-10-26T21:58:00.003-04:00

Exit pages 7, 8 and 9.

Joan page 3.

Exit part 2 +

2007-10-25T21:20:00.003-04:00

Exit pages 4, 5 and 6.

Joan page 2.

Exit part 1 +

2007-10-24T12:21:00.004-04:00

Thanks to those who have already given me feedback on the mini, those who will give me feedback and even those individuals who at the very least took the time to read it. It was good clean fun and I know there will be more to come.

Exit is a narrative that was an attempt to visually remind myself of what's important and let go some of old mindsets. I would have preferred to have done it in color as I'm more comfortable with it but budget required black and white. Making the mini may have brought a fair amount of shortcomings out into the light of day but I still am proud of a few passages here and there and plan on more. Below the first three pages.

After talking with a few folks about the black and white color issue, I was surprised to discover that quite a few had not seen or would like to see again the Cohen "Joan of Arc" panel breakdown. I thought after two years I had pushed that under every nose that I know by now but I promised to put up the full deal here as a contrast to the Exit pages. Discuss...

First, the cover.

Very belated SPX overview

2007-10-22T23:58:00.000-04:00

I have to say that SPX was without question the comic con that I felt most at home at out of all I have attended. Granted, I have only attended a handful of them but, regardless, it was great. I got to say hello to publishing luminaries like Chris Staros (Top Shelf) and Chris Pitzer (AdHouse) and tell them how great their output is as well as meet in person many talents I admired then and some that I admire after meeting. I also was surprised to see Bob Schreck there and took advantage to thank him for pointing me that way. I blew too much cash on all the great items that I found but tried to play it smart by only purchasing rarities and minis I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else.

Among the greats of these were the J. Chris Campbell (a small publishing luminary himself)"Fat Pack" of minis, a mini sketchbook pair by Jamie Tanner and (even though I have not read his acclaimed Johnny Hiro) a really clever mini of portrait progressions of Michael Jackson over the years by Fred Chao. I did break my rule to buy Jeff Lemire's Essex County vol. 2: Ghost Stories because I loved the first volume, Tales from the Farm, so much (and the second volume is quite good as well), Rutu Modan's Exit Wounds because I enjoyed her panel discussion and she was doing great sketches in the books and Joey Weiser's The Ride Home because I had someone recommend it to me.

My wife usually enjoys the cons to a fair degree but really dug this one. She used to purchase comics but had stopped. However, she came home with an appreciation of Jamie Tanner's near obsessive sense of cross hatching as well as her first two graphic novels, Nick Abadzis' Laika and Matt Kindt's Super Spy. Abadzis was also on the panel with Rutu and impressed us both. I've read Laika and it is very good. To Matt Kindt's credit, Lisa was sold almost completely based on his art alone. He merely had to summarize his book to her and it was sold. Still waiting on Lisa to finish that one so I can read it myself.

Nearly all of these talented folk may be found to the right in the list as well (I'm still working on a few of them). I urge you to check them out.

Images on their way soon...

ARRRRGGG! I knew I was going to forget someone. I also have to give a thanks to the highly talented Nate Powell who gave me a couple of names of books to look into regarding ASD (and, of course, his collection, Sounds of Your Name, was well worth buying even though I already own some of the material). I'll be emailing you for those titles again very soon, Nate.

Oh... you tease!

2007-10-12T00:35:00.001-04:00

It's off to SPX tomorrow (or I suppose today). I hope to say hello to all the immense talent that will be there and hopefully have a really good time. After all the anxiety of creating and assembling my first mini comic, I have to say that it was a pretty nifty experience. Despite the fact that there are a good many places where I see room for improvement in the piece, it was a good learning experience and I see how it could become addictive. As a tease for the posts to come here is the wrap around cover for the book.
I hope to garner some wise words from those attending that I get up the courage to present this beast to. Wish me luck!

Getting it all out...

2007-10-03T23:36:00.003-04:00

I'm in the throws of trying to make sure this promo looks the way I want it to so I figured I would go ahead and drop a post to appease my nagging sense of neglect for this thing (it is less than a month old after all).

Below is an image that started life in early 2006.It was based on a dream I had when I was a kid and was an attempt to combine that dream with current themes running through my pieces. When my mother was over she saw it and made the association of the boy sketch in the image (which was in my head based on my son to a great extent) and the wolves as being a reference to my son's battle with ASD. It was a very fresh wound for me since he had just been diagnosed and the same notions about the image had slowly been bubbling up to my own mental surface. I had to step away from the image for a bit. I finished it to this degree this year. I'm still not completely convinced that I'm happy with the piece but I do like that the image speaks about a few different things to me now. Thanks Mom.

With any luck, I'll be able to convince the folks I admire and will see at SPX to visit this blog and give the occasional feedback. If I do, they may be mighty dismayed by the good lump of images that follow. The conclusion of my Crayola marker symphony, Herry Poops. When SPX is said and done I'll have the comic to post so I figured that I would get this serialized piece out of the way for that one. I hope whoever views it enjoys it for what it is. This post is for you, Mr. Trussell.

And one of the end pages.

The thrill of the struggle, the agony of naps

2007-09-26T12:53:00.002-04:00

I am unsure how many folks reading this have kids. Unless of course the only people that are reading this are the folks that I personally know, in which case I know exactly how many have kids.

Anyway, my daughter just got back from a getaway with her mother and usually when infants and napping toddlers travel they do a little thing we as parents like to call "getting off schedule". Which is the formal way of saying "my kid doesn't think think that they need to go to sleep when they're in dire need of it". A parent's impulse is to shield their little ones from anything that causes them pain but, if taken too far, it rapidly becomes coddling and hinders the child's ability to grow up. My daughter caught on quick to settling herself down to sleep but since getting off schedule over her vacation she has had real issues with it. This is where you have to have a "hard heart" as a parent. Running in and picking your child up out of their crib when they're old enough to comfort themselves is a real no-no. It only delays getting back "on schedule" that much more and spoils your kid in the long run to boot. Consequently, you have to be prepared to listen to many wails of anguish and much gnashing of teeth until your little one settles down. Good times.

The irony of course is that your child will probably reach a point when they really can't often make time for naps but would love to sneak one in... but I digress.

Still hashing out that comic to the best of my ability so images for today include a couple more quickie brush pen sketches-

my daughter from last Halloween...

and my wife.

The third Moreau/hyena image I did.
The next installment of Herry Poops.

FACA4, fish and figure drawing

2007-09-20T18:42:00.002-04:00

I had originally intended to do a daily blog when I started this but it quickly became apparent that it would be better for me if I didn't. I have a tendency to get a little wordy when I type these (I can't seem to shut it off) and that cuts into my art time. While I could show many older pieces to fill the gaps, I don't want to get to the point in which that is all can do because I am spending too much time doing this and not producing new work. I'll just have to see if I can find some sort of happy medium and go from there.

As mentioned in the previous post, FACA4 is going on right now. I won't be in the tournament. I did however submit an arena girl, Sting Rhea. Since it isn't an anonymous post, I'll show it here .

To continue with the aquatic theme, I have a sketchbook piece based on a dream I had. It's just barely old enough to have made the last website update but it didn't make the cut. I decided to post it tonight.

I really love drawing the figure and I miss figure drawing. Living outside a city means you're often teased with the possibility of being able to attend figure drawing sessions but weighing the time and gas you'll expend into the mix makes it seem less appealing. The closest session I'm aware of is about 35 or 40 minutes from the house (if traffic plays nice) it really is pretty cheap for a session but I can't fully convince myself it's worth it. Drawing people in public places can be fun but isn't really feasible when you're watching kids in the day and trying to churn out art at night. Maybe I'll try to shoot for visiting the figure drawing sessions every once in a great while. In the meantime, I use photos for practice and warm ups. Below are a couple I did with the Pentel brush pen that two lofty talents, Sam Hiti and Craig Thompson, have been touting.

My grandmother...

and my daughter wrestling with a stuffed elephant.

Finally, for the fam, Cookie Monster joins the fray that is Herry's potty struggle.