Happy Birthday Morricone!

A couple of sketches I did of the mighty Ennio Morricone for his 89th birthday. I didn't quite capture his likeness, but was happy with the way they came out anyway.

A little hope

Got some not wholly unexpected, but still unwanted news today. How about a little Curtis to brighten the day? Some warm ups for the "Better" comic I posted a while back.

Plus a Curtis Classic that even Rod Stewart's misguided efforts cannot diminish.

Sneaking back in the classroom... Better

 

 As my posts have become almost as frequent as February 29th. Why not use the day to celebrate with a new comic? Happy Leap Year, internet!

The real motivator... goodbye, Lucian

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...

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

Peace go with you, Gil

"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.

Birthday Wishes for Iggy

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.

More sketchbook wanderings

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

Yeah... more.

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.

Promotions, pledges, posts and pretensions

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.

Copycat!

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.

SCAD ATL keep it coming

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.

Breaking in the New Year

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.

Very belated SPX overview

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!

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!

More endeavors

Have you heard of the F.A.C.A.? No? I suggest you follow the link to the right and see just what exactly you're missing. It's the brainchild of comics talent, Sam Hiti. Essentially a knock down, drag out between various artist's gladiators made specifically for the tournament. There is a slew of talent over there and they have all managed to come up with some really amazing characters. I simply skulked about the boards as a cowardly non participant for the first tournament. I only threw my proverbial hat into the ring for the following two. Here are my entries.

FACA2 was a black and white tag team match. I talked my multi talented wife into being my partner for it. She was quite a bit intimidated by the notion of doing it because, even though we met in college as drawing majors, she always felt her strongest suit was photography and was unsure about coming up with a character. She came through like she always does. Below is our team, Safety Hazard. On the left is a rendering, done by my wife, of our daughter in one of her less content moods. Lisa billed her "The Tantrum Tot". On the right is my piece. A man eating primate billed as "Organ Grinder". The notion was that the meat grinder would take the place of the typical musical grinder but might even still play music while making lunch for our friend and serving as a handy instrument for pummeling. The meat cleaver is self explanatory. I thought Lisa did a great job and I felt that while my piece might not be in it for the long haul could possibly carry its end of the bargain. Tragically, we fell in the first round. O.G. was returned to the Polish salt mines where he was originally discovered. He now spends long days waiting for night to fall so that he may wistfully gaze upon the stars and deepen the stains of nicotine on his hands. Work has slowed at the mines as of late due to a rash of unexplained disappearances.

FACA3 was a solo color event. I had tried my hand at a slight bit of humor the first go round and was eclipsed in that aspect by many of the entries. It seems to me that the greatest entries are the ones that have elements of humor mixed with clever design. The individual who seems to most consistently pull this off to date in my opinion is Joel Priddy. That guy has made some super nice designs. Even his rejects are intimidating. Don't believe me? Look again to the right my friend and dig up his FACA sketches. Good stuff. I was feeling pretty humorless this go round and knew I could not come up with something on the level of the God of Scissors (Priddy's tag team entry) or Flaming Granny (they both must be seen to be believed) so I tried to make a sleek killing machine. Trash talk sessions were also a big part of FACA3 and below is my character, Harrier of Souls, and his zen styled trash talk.


I received some incredibly flattering comments on this design. However, HoS again fell in the first round to a character with a more clever character design. I don't feel so bad about it though. At least three of the talents to the right that I greatly admire fell in the first round as well. FACA4 starts very soon. I won't be participating this go round because it required teams of three but I may pop up in an arena girl contest.We'll see.

The next page in the Herry saga...