MAD MEN

I don't like shows about people doing stupid things and knowing they are stupid but do them anyway. This removes a LARGE portion of television from my interest. Mad Men was one of them. Plus, it's all about advertising which I worked in for ten years. To quote the show, "Been there. Done that."

However, my wife was watching it so I gave it a chance. It sure has lots of stupid shit but much of it is due to the rules of society in the '60s. She tells me that the amount of smoking and drinking on the show is very accurate to the time period and I can tell you the amount of drinking and adultery in advertising is just as accurate. Yuck. I've become fascinated with how the hell could people live/act like that and think it's okay?

But this fascination isn't enough to keep me watching. Joan Holloway is. My God. This is what women should look like. (My wife being one! RAWR!) Move over twigs! Go eat a small truckload of ice cream! Now I just hope the character doesn't turn into the back stabbing bitch I think she is. At that point, no amount of curve will make me want to watch. For now though, if I can ignore the smoking, happily. *cough*



UPDATE: Just found out she went to the high school I was supposed to go to if we hadn't moved away from Fairfax, VA, and was a goth girl. Be still my... heart!

Thumbnails, thumbnails, thumbnails...

I've got thumbnails coming out of mah brains! I'm officially 1/3rd of the way through the screenplay. I was hoping to be more like 2/3rds at this point but breaking up a screenplay is a ton more work than thumbnailing a script that gives you page breaks, panels, etc. Still, it'll all be worth it in the end!

Lion thumbs

My To-Do List has been put on the back burner for the foreseeable future so I can focus on "Lion of Rora". I'm working from a screenplay so there's no telling how many pages the comic will be in the end. That's both good and bad. Good: pacing and storytelling are mine to control since there's no script. Bad: no concrete deadline can be made since the page count is undefined and I'm estimating it to be much larger than planned. That means I'm focusing on a balance between keeping the page count down and doing what the story needs to make it successful. That's not easy but, to use a marksman metaphor (bows and arrows on the brain), I feel like I'm clustering nicely around the bullseye with few stray shots.

Here's a couple of thumbs. So far, this is the only scene with royalty in the book. Lotsa dialog. Say hello to the Dick... errrr, Duke of Savoy.

Lion of Rora

This summer has been really busy so far at home. There have been numerous home renovation projects I've completed so I could finally focus on my latest project. Since the beginning of May I've been doing research, as time permitted, and collated a three inch binder worth of materials as reference. The project is Lion of Rora, a graphic novel written by Ruth and Christos Gage and will be published by Oni Press. It takes place in 1600s eastern France/northern Italy and is historical fiction about the Waldenses. If you know me, I'm anal-retentive to a fault so the time researching was to make sure it's as historically accurate as I could get and to familiarize myself with the time period and people. Now that I've quite a considerable amount of research done I'm starting the pencil, ink, and tone. I'll be able to post more as time goes on but for now here's a peak at the look and some characters from Lion of Rora. Enjoy!

HEROES sketches

I really didn't have all that much time to work on drawings at HEROES. There were so many people interested in going to SCAD that I ended up promoting the college and the ATL campus more than anything else. It was really successful and I had a blast. Looking forward to next year when I have my own table! But I did manage to get two sketches done.

New SCAD-ATL graduate Dominike Stanton wanted to see what Spider-Man looked like from my pen. So here he is. I've decided it's not done. He needs Jack O'Lantern throwing flaming pumpkins at him from the background.


Found out Dick Grayson, the original Robin, is the new Batman now that Bruce Wayne is "dead" and Bruce's son is the new Robin. It's an interesting reversal of personalities in the roles and considered what I'd do with that. As always, I like seeing the gear worn by superheroes and not just a slicked down muscle man costumes.

Colossus color

Since school is out for the summer I have done quite a bit of home renovations that I've been wanting to do for my lovely wife. Knowing me, if I didn't do it first thing this summer I'd get caught up in writing "8th Day", thumbnailing a graphic novel for Oni Press, and polishing my computer coloring textbook amongst the other 30 things on my to-do list. Those things just had to be put on the back burner for a few weeks. Now HEROES convention is fast approaching and I need to get some last minute things done for it. One of them is the color for the Colossus splash I did last month. Enjoy!

And a detail shot, though still not full resolution.

I'll be helping at the SCAD table at HEROES con. If you'll be there come on by and say hello!

EA: NBA Live '06

I was just cleaning house a little and came across and old comp I did for an EA NBA Live '06 spot called "Mech Warrior". It's posted below but can also now be found in my portfolio.

Sith color

Monsters like Sith shouldn't ever be completely attractive. The longer I worked on this one (only about 3-4 hours) the less I liked it as a pin-up. I think I stayed a little too true to the subject (so for that I really like it) and didn't pull it back to the series enough. That's ok. Just means I get to work on another Sith at some point.

NEW DESIGN!

Obviously, it's live! I know this site isn't as "designer" as the last (no white space?! oh no!) but it felt really bland to me. I needed something that worked for me better. You'll welcome the fact my face will no longer be on the site. It's going to be science fiction based from now on. This change also mirrors my transition from illustrator to comic artist. It doesn't mean I won't be doing illustrations but that my focus has shifted to where my heart really is. That's what's most important.

There is one bug on the blog (can you find it?) that I'll iron out when I get the time but the site is 100% go. The links from my site have been moved to the blog for easier updating and tracking. I'm also planning on making more use of the blog showing process and WIP.

Now I'm going to get back to that Star Wars series for HEROES. If anyone would like a print you'll find me at the SCAD table this year. I may also be hanging out from time to time to see how my students (Pat Bollin, Allen Spetnagel, Doug Dabbs, and Cara McGee) are doing at the Temple of Cartoon Mojo table in artist alley.

*insert '50s space sounds, beeps, and whines here*

Re-Branding Preview

Going full-geek with this one. May have to pull it back. We'll see once I have a completed site design. Here's a small preview.