The Third Red

Facebook Portrait #2

2012-01-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

Tyler 1/18/12

My friend Tyler, who also posed for me awhile back for my Little Shop of Horrors painting.

Facebook Portraits

2012-01-18T16:04:00.000-08:00

John 1/18/12

In an effort to paint as close to every day as I can, I've started a new project where I'll paint one of my friend's facebook profile pics every week in my sketchbook. These are 4 x 6, which allows me to work on them upstairs whenever my 10 month old refuses to go into the basement studio.

The Tour

2011-11-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

Here's the process behind my latest painting, "The Tour".

The initial sketch. To get the composition right I used Photoshop to help me with the layout.

Inked with with a crow quill pen (good ol' Hunt 102).

Painted with watercolor, highlights with colored pencil (mostly in the nebula which was a blast to paint). Archival prints are available of this image through Imagekind HERE or signed copies are available on my Etsy shop HERE

October is the best

2011-10-20T17:12:00.000-07:00

Everybody needs somebody. If a scarecrow was going to love anybody, it'd be a witch.

The Secret Admirer

pencil and photoshop

Roller Derby Fire and Water Process

2011-10-06T18:13:00.000-07:00

Here's the process behind my most recent poster for the Rose City Rollers.

1) Initial sketches sent to their Art Director, these were done separately and then arranged in Photoshop. Babs gave the okay so I moved on to polished drawings.

2) I decided to do the drawings in charcoal in order to force myself to figure out how to paint over charcoal drawings in Photoshop (yes, I really really really wish I was James Jean in his Fables years). I used so called "white charcoal" for the first time to tone down some of the stark blackness of the charcoal. I usually do my figures for the Rose City Rollers separately because the art director likes to have the freedom to move things around for all their print formats (posters, ads, signs, etc.)

3) I figured out how to paint on charcoal in Photoshop! I'm not going to describe it because its involvedish (mostly using a lot of layer masks) and I'm not sure how many people would be interested in it anyway. Needless to say, it works!

"Clean" Cover Process

2011-09-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Here's my process for the cover to the short story "Clean" that I did with my good pal Justin Zimmerman. I used a technique that I saw on William Stout's website (he made that Dinosaur book in the 80's that every boy has, he also most likely worked on every fantasy film you like).

Initial rough penciled concept, getting all the pieces in place

Inked with a crow quill using a mix of black and sepia ink

Raw Umber under painting

First washes of color

Final painting, but since watercolor looks washed out when you scan it in...

...I did some digital color correcting in Photoshop.

Re-Charged

2011-07-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

Well, I wish I knew this watercolor trick a few years ago! I could paint 100 pictures this way. If you're interested in the process, I followed William Stout's "Rackham" process that I found out through Justin Gerard on the AMAZING muddy colors blog. It might seem slight, but laying down a wash of colored ink over your watercolor really unifies the piece (in this case it really cooled down the orange of the kid's apollo spacesuit). I am hooked and I can't wait to try this on a more complicated piece.

Oh, and consider this the launch sketch of Jet Pack Jack's successor! Painting this spun off an entire story in my head. If you're interested in buying this astro-boy, you can do so HERE, if you'd like to buy a print you can do so HERE.

Dissapointment

2011-07-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a rather disappointing art-week. In the old days this would cause me to go through my flat files and randomly burn a few paintings to make myself feel better (looking at you BFA project). However, being the mature adult that I am, I decided to doodle something for myself instead. It turns out that doing fun things for myself recharges my batteries far better than artistic arson!

Here's the sketch:

Here's some ink:

I'm going to use some NEW TECHNIQUES to paint the image, so this may or may not end in failure in the next few days, which is ok since I'll have learned something.

Troll Kid

2011-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

Some character doodles for a children's book project I'm mulling over.

New painting

2011-05-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

The latest painting off the easel, this went on a two month baby induced hiatus, but I'm starting to get the hang of this stay at home artist dad thing.

Roller Derby!

2011-04-24T07:27:00.000-07:00

I've been on a blog hiatus for awhile, but here's what I've been working on (besides being a new dad).

12 Days (left) of Pyramid!! My last Saturday!!

2011-03-12T08:16:00.000-08:00

Today is my last Saturday shift at my day job! This painting was created for my portfolio, and to use some brighter colors, and show my ability to paint pirates. If you're interested in buying a poster of this you can do so HERE

The Twelve Days (left) of Pyramid! Day 10

2011-03-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

This painting is special because its when I got good at drawing kids (which is hard, really, they have weird proportions). Also, its pretty stinkin' cute. You can buy the $12 poster of this painting at my Cafe Press store by clicking HERE.

Octopus!, watercolor

The Twelve Days (left) of Pyramid! Day 11

2011-03-03T10:03:00.000-08:00

My lovely wife pointed out that I should be using my countdown to have a SALE!! So, I've launched a Cafe Press store where you can buy posters of any of the images featured in my countdown for $12.00. The posters are 11"x17" and are nice n' glossy. Apologies for the lame looking store, I'll spruce it up over the next couple of days.
My image for today is my Little Shop of Horrors inspired painting "Feed Me". This painting is special because I started using models other than myself and my wife! I hope to be able to use models more often in the future since it adds a realistic sheen to an otherwise fantastical image.

Feed Me, watercolor and acrylic

The Twelve Days (left) of Pyramid! DAY 12

2011-03-02T10:02:00.000-08:00

Well, today is a big day. Today is T-Minus 12 days left at my job. I'm quitting to be a stay at home artist dad (yes, my wife is probably more rad than your wife). Looking back at my time at Pyramid, I've decided to look at it more like Grad School, it gave me several years to get much, much better at being an artist, and I didn't even have to take out an obscene amount of Student Loans. For the most part, it was a job that just needed a warm body as a place holder, so I spent a lot of my time drawing and painting at my desk. So, long story short, I thought I'd do a count down of pieces that I created while sitting at my desk at Pyramid Brewing.

Bedtime, charcoal

This drawing was a game changer, this was my first real drawing in charcoal and it fostered a love of the medium that continues to this day. Also, it made me a fair chunk of change since I sold the original and all of the prints I made from it.

Take a Troll for a Stroll

2011-02-14T13:58:00.000-08:00

The next painting based on Gina's story.

Roller Derby '11

2011-02-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

Here's the painted version of my poster for the Rose City Rollers.

Ogre Serenade

2011-01-31T14:38:00.000-08:00

Here is my latest painting, based on a story by Gina Bellisario (she was kind enough to give me permission to use her story to create some portfolio pieces).

Ogre Serenade

10" x 13"

Watercolor on Arches Hot Press

Roller Derby Inks

2011-01-28T12:42:00.001-08:00

All inked up and ready to paint!

Color Cover

2011-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot to post to color version of the color, I already posted this in facebook, but blogger lets you have much bigger images.

Comic book cover

2011-01-24T06:55:00.000-08:00

Here's the charcoal drawing for The Robot Library, a comic book one shot coming soon. I'm painting it in Photoshop, so look for a color version later this week.

Roller Derby

2011-01-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year again. A magical era where my sketchbook fills up with pretty girls on roller skates.

Other Worlds

2011-01-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

Over the last month or so I've been drawing a short story called "The Robot Library" for Justin Zimmerman. All I have left is the cover, which I think I just figured out about 10 minutes ago. You can view the Other Worlds Facebook page by clicking on this link

Here's one of my pages for the story. As you can see, I drew many...many books for this project.

album artwork rough

2011-01-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here's a rough sketch for the album artwork for John Craig & the Weekend's debut CD. I have another character to add, and some more high rise trees on the left, but I'm liking where this is going. It'll be painted in Photoshop when I have the drawing right, and its going to have some bright bright color in it.

Its a New Year and I'm Motivated

2011-01-05T09:55:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting my blog lately and been posting more heavily on Facebook. The main reason is I have a wider audience on FB, and I try to limit my online procrastination mode to one website at a time. That is about to change though. Jon Schindehette mentioned illustration new years resolutions on his fabulous blog Artorder, and the idea has stuck with me. There are a ton of them that I plan on working towards, one of which is more promotion, a painting a month, and attending at least one new convention. Long story short, as part of promoting myself more I'm going to be a bit more rigorous on updating the blog.

Here's a sketch for a series of paintings I'm developing for my children's book portfolio.

Ogre Serenade

2010-12-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a drawing that I can't wait to paint! This was inspired by a story by one of my agent's other clients, Gina Bellisario. I've never met Gina, she was just kind enough to let me use one of her stories to develop my portfolio.

I'm not sure about other artists, but I have what I like to call "project based self esteem". Being an artist is a tough road to plow in terms of making a living, and I really have to try hard to no be too hard on myself. What I have found is that if I'm working on something good (or at least something I'm excited about), those negative thoughts don't get a chance to enter my mind. I try to use this threat of negativity to spur myself into constantly working, hoping that I'll have a piece I can't put down, and no time to worry if I should have been a tax attorney instead of an artist.

Tree Fort of ADVENTURE!!

2010-11-23T13:18:00.000-08:00

I never had a tree fort...but I bet if I did it would have been something like this one.

some portfolio work...

2010-11-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Decided to make a piece where I turned the cuteness up to 11. This started as a portfolio piece to showcase some kid friendly pallet choices, but has now developed a full story to back it up (which always seems to happen).

Jack Stuff

2010-11-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

I created a facebook gallery (which you can see here) of the Jack pieces for those of you who weren't able to make it to the gallery opening last Thursday, I also added the images to my website under the illustration category here.

Here's the painted version of the evil steam powered pollutin' robot Progress.

My Show Opens THURSDAY!

2010-10-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

Hey Portlanders, my show opens this Thursday at the Sequential Art Gallery in old town Portland. First five people to show up get a high five, a secret hand shake...or maybe, just maybe...a sly wink.

APE!!

2010-10-15T06:38:00.000-07:00

I'm packing the car for the TEN HOUR DRIVE down to the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. If only there was some sort of flying machine that could transform this into a one our trip.

I'll be at table 536 if anybody is in the bay area, I'll warn you I have a cold. Hopefully being packed in a warehouse with thousands of comic book nerds will cure it.

I forgot to update the blog with the new direction my Jack project has taken. I'm now painting the drawings in watercolor instead of photoshop! Here's a taste of what the new and authentic version looks like.

The show opens on November 4th in Portland at the Sequential Art Gallery.

The Tinker, line art

2010-09-30T08:42:00.000-07:00

Through the magic of FB, I was able to get a bunch of random suggestions for objects for the Tinker's cart of adventure. Thanks for all the help!

The Tinker, rough pencil

2010-09-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Little over a month to the show! Oh, I got my table for the Alternative Press Expo for anybody that feels like being in San Francisco October 16th and 17th, I'm at 536.

Boots For Dinner, pencil render

2010-09-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

This took much too long to do, but I'm pleased with it.

Boots for Dinner

2010-09-19T12:32:00.001-07:00

Newest line art for the Jack show in November.

Jack Triumphant (rendered in pencil)

2010-09-08T08:46:00.001-07:00

Here's the finished drawing, ready for color.

Jack Triumphant

2010-09-07T09:42:00.000-07:00

Here's the newest line art of for the Jack show.

Every story needs a huge robot in it

2010-09-02T09:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest drawing.

Jack's First Flight, in COLOR

2010-08-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

Jack's First Flight, 8"x12", Pencil and Photoshop

I think this will be the image for the flier for the show, so that's how I'm rationalizing posting it before November.

Jack's First Flight

2010-08-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest Jack piece rendered in pencil. I can't wait to paint this one. I'm really getting to love drawing this character.

Jack and the Gramophone, Pencil Render

2010-08-22T17:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the most recent piece rendered in good ol' fashioned pencil. I'll be painting these in Photoshop for the final versions of the image, but I won't show those until AFTER the art show at the Sequential Art Gallery on November 1st.

Jack and the Gramophone Line Art

2010-08-17T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm enjoying how my next Jack piece is coming along. It's killing me to put it down, but I have some other priorities to tackle today.

Jack's House, Pencil Render

2010-08-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the line art rendered in pencil.

Jack's House, Line art

2010-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

Here's the beginning of the next Jack illustration. I'll post the final colored versions once the show in November has wrapped...or at least until after the opening.

Rendered Jack

2010-08-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

Graphite on Arches, 8" x 12"

Yesterday's drawing, now with shading. Now its time for some Photoshoped color.

Solo Show

2010-08-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

I'm showing at the awesome Sequential Art Gallery in downtown Portland this November. The show will consist of illustrations from my Jet Pack Jack story that I'll have finished in time for next year's Stumptown and Emerald City Comic Con. Here's some line art from one of the images.

Character Sheets

2010-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

These can be tedious, but they're definitely worth the effort for reference.

summer is busy

2010-07-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

It seems I have plans for every weekend this summer, so my production rate is slowing a bit. Here's a recent drawing I did as part of an application to the US Mint to be a coin designer.

Also, I'll be teaching a workshop next month on Graphic Novels, which you can find out about HERE

Annie Get Your Gun sketch

2010-06-19T07:39:00.000-07:00

Making some progress on the next fake theater poster.

DONE, for the most part

2010-06-16T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's the painting scanned and pretty much done. I think I'll play around with the colors a little in Photoshop, but I'm pretty happy with it as is. Oh, and I might add a splat of blood on the tongue, didn't have the courage to do that with real paint since it would have been a pain to take it out.

Feed Me, 13"x19"

watercolor and acrylic on cold press Arches 140lb

Switching to acrylic mode

2010-06-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

I started working in acrylic this morning and am pleased with how it behaves over the watercolor. It's a great feeling when you discover a method that "clicks". I've been painting transparently for so long that a quick jump into the land of opaque paint just wasn't working for me.

more progress...

2010-06-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

Starting with watercolor and will move into acrylic once the paper stops taking the paint as well.

Little Shop of Horrors drawing

2010-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

I just finished the drawing for my next theater themed poster. I'm really excited about how this one is shaping up and I can't wait to start slapping down THIN layers of paint.

Oh, my friend Tyler was kind enough to pose for a headshot on this piece since everything I do looks suspiciously like me (aka "model numero uno").

Gotta call it done

2010-06-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

I need to send this off because it's driving me crazy. I learned a TON doing this piece, I'm not fully happy but I'm eager to move onto the next painting. Comments welcome and appreciated on this one (as always, but more so on this one since I'm well out of my comfort zone here).

Switching to Photoshop

2010-05-25T16:14:00.000-07:00

Due to time constraints I've decided to finish this painting in Photoshop (getting a banjo and spending two hours a day learning how to use it may have had something to do with it). Honestly though, with what I learned on this painting, it would have been almost impossible to paint it like I wanted it to look. When I was working on Caliban and treating it like watercolor it started to "click" for me, but the rest of the painting had too much paint on it to take washes well. SO, time for the photoshop magic to begin. Here's where I'm at so far:

I should have it done by Thursday, then I think I'll move on to Little Shop of Horrors (and pick some comic book projects back up).

Making Progress

2010-05-20T08:36:00.000-07:00

I have the colors mostly blocked in and am starting to get some details figured out. I still feel like I'm stumbling along with this painting. I have started to "turn the corner" where the painting is shaping up enough for me to be interested and motivated to work on it. I still have a LONG way to go and I have to finish it this weekend.

Mostly I'm happy with how Caliban is shaping up.

Underpainting

2010-05-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

Finished the underpainting last night, now its time to start laying in some color. I'm going to try using a gamut mask for any color nerds out there. I first learned about them through the blog of illustrator James Gurney of Dinotopia fame. One of his followers made an online gamut mask tool which can be found here if you're interested. It's going to be hard to limit my colors to the mask, but it should make the piece more harmonious.

Oh, and this is acrylic painting #3 for anybody keeping track. I bought some liquid acyrlics the other day so that I can do washes more easily, I am loving it.

The Tempest

2010-05-11T09:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the drawing I've been slaving away at over the last two days. This piece is big (21" x 28") for me and is going to be a blast/terrifying to paint. I'm really excited about this image. I spent a lot of time on the composition and feel that it was time well spent. This is the first of the play posters I plan on creating, it is also hopefully going to be for charity if it passes the judges. The image is a photo, and not a scan, so its a bit gray.

Head Study

2010-05-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been sick this week and haven't gotten too much done since Tuesday. I started working on my Tempest theater poster and did this sketch for my Miranda.

I'm killing two birds with one stone on this one. There is an art charity contest that I'm going to try to be part of that I'll be posting more on shortly, so this piece will be for that as well as part of my plea for work with theater companies.

Colored Page

2010-05-04T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the previous page colored in photoshop. Feel free to point out anything weird or if something doesn't read properly.

Jet Pack Jack

2010-05-03T13:04:00.000-07:00

ere's a penciled page for my Zuda web comic submission. It's been difficult doing layouts for a horizontal format after doing so many vertical layouts for print comics. I'm having a blast working on these, its quite a bit different than my work on The Salamander King and serves as a nice break from charcoal. I'll be doing the color for this image tonight and will hopefully be posting that on Wednesday.

Morning Warm-Up

2010-04-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Playing around with photoshop this morning. This began as a loose watercolor and then was tweaked in PS.

I'm always looking for ways to make stuff in Photoshop not look like it was Photoshop. I think starting with traditional media and then going digital for polishing it up is the best bet.
I'm also drawing Jet Pack Jack constantly so that I can get consistent for the comic.

I will heckle Seattle

2010-04-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

At least those dastardly Rat City girls. I just got the final layout from the Rose City Roller Girls AD and it looks pretty dang good if I do say so myself. I can't wait to see it plastered all around town.

I also just finished the t-shirt design for this bout and it will look something like this:

I'm not sure what color the shirts are, so you'll have to use your imagination and insert your own background color. I think I get tickets to this bout, so hopefully I'll be there on the 15th.

Back in the saddle again

2010-04-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

My Stumptown stuff is put away, my studio is sort of clean, so its back to drawing. You probably thought I'd just lay about all day recovering from the convention, but you'd only be partially right. I did take the time to get caught up on LOST and I refused to get out of my pajamas all day, but I was drawing almost the entire time.

I started the pencils on a short (ish) story that I'll be using for a submission to DC as well as for an art show at the Sequential Art Gallery in November. The comic I'll be creating is based on my Jet Pack Jack illustration and will feature the same art style, here is a penciled panel of Jack's house:

Over the next few weeks I'll be working on a submission to Zuda comics. Zuda is an imprint of DC Comics and is primarily a webcomic forum. Once a month 8 comics battle it out for popularity, the most popular comic gets a contract from DC and is syndicated through the website to produce one screen of comics a week! Not only is this steady work, it is also for DC and grants you gobs of exposure. If you're interested in checking out Zuda, I would recommend the comic Bayou.

So, if I get past the editors at Zuda and am put into the monthly competition I'll be begging you and all of your friends and family for votes.

Farewell Stumptown, you were rad.

2010-04-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Stumptown Comics Fest is over and it was a blur of fun. Thank you to everybody who came out to support me. One of the greatest pleasures of this weekend was realizing that people remembered me from last year and were actively seeking me out. I was also chastised, justifiably so, for my "one issue a year" pace. I promise to pick up the pace by at least 100%....to make TWO ISSUES A YEAR!!!

I updated my Etsy Store with my Stumptown leftovers today, and they are just as good today as they were yesterday. If you weren't able to make it to the show, didn't have enough cash on you, or are regretting your impulse control, head on over to the shop and go wild.

Also, I started a Mike Lawrence Illustrator facebook page (badge to the right) that is separate from my personal page. This makes me feel more professional and will also limit the spread of silly photos of me to people who aren't in my inner circle. I'm not quite sure what to do with the new page, but I'll be building it up as I think of stuff.

Now for a day of putting my studio back together. Here is a doodle of Jet Pack Jack I did on a illustration board sample some rep from Strathmore handed to me, I plan on painting it soon to see how it handles wet media.

Stump-eve

2010-04-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

Stumptown is tomorrow, I'll be under this sign looking eager (if I sell enough stuff this weekend I get a banjo! Yeaaaahaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwww!! YIP-YIP!! no pressure on those of you coming...cough cough go to the atm cough cough). I've been matting and framing like a madman, the sign is done, the comics are ready, the prints look awesome, the postcards are....not here yet (but should be). Now for a quick "parents are visiting from out of town but thank god they aren't staying in my house since I haven't had a chance to clean it in weeks" clean.

Stumptown T Minus 4 days, aka: THE BOOKS ARE HERE!!

2010-04-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to post everyday leading up to Stumptown, but you know what I discovered? I don't have that much to say.

Luckily for me, the good folks at Comixpress (just a side note, if you're into making indy comics and self publishing them, these people are AWESOME) expedited the shipping on my books and they arrived today! The last few months have been a blur, next year I've promised to myself that I wont put this book off for so long again. I don't necessarily regret putting SK on the back burner while I searched (fruitlessly) for some sort of steady art job, but man, it's been stressful getting this done in time. Holding the final product in my hands has brought me a surprising amount of joy and relief.

Note: you're own reactions to The Salamander King #2 may vary.

Oh, and yes, I'm procrastinating. My lovely wife (and apparently MARKETING GENIUS) suggested I make a "sign" this year for my table. I guess these so called "signs" let other people know who you are and how to find you...crazy.

Stumptown T Minus 5 Days...

2010-04-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

I got assigned a table today, I am at table 80. I'm right by the entrance so you should be able to find me easily enough. I will also do my best to be glowing with the day-glo light of nerdy fever, so I'll be extra easy to spot.

So you should probably go to the ATM and withdraw all of the cash you'd like to give me! Comics will be $3, postcards are $1, and prints will range from $5 to $30 (I just got them last night and they look amazing! I'd buy them from me, if I hadn't already bought all of them already). I'll also be taking commissions if anybody is so inclined for custom work. Last year I got caught flat footed when people asked me to do them...so I will be more prepared this year and will be bringing more art supplies. I'm also having a "portfolio clearance sale" where I will try to get rid of all these woodcuts and engravings I've been hanging onto from my college days, so if you're into my "print period" and never got around to buying prints, now's your chance.

Reference

2010-04-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been forcing myself to use more and more reference photos to add an extra layer of realism to my comics and illustrations. While I love to just make stuff up when I draw, when it comes to people they tend to all look similar (as in, they all end up looking sort of like me....my number one model). This year I asked for people to send me some reference photos of themselves acting like zombies, and now they are mildly immortal because they are in The Salamander King #2.

This is my good friend (and one time room mate) Cat:

She's cuter in real life, I swear. And, here she is in SK #2:

And, here we have her friend Eric who I don't know but is a sport for doing this:

And here he is in the comic:

You can also see the top of my niece's head, but the drawing didn't end up looking too much like her and I don't want you to think less of my drafting abilities by showing what the photo actually looked like. And, as a side note, I'll be sending FREE comics to everybody who graciously sent in their photos.

Roller Derby Color Variations

2010-04-14T14:57:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the other color combo's I tried for the Rose City Roller poster. I'm also working on a T-Shirt version of this image, which is harder than I thought it would be since it has to be 4 colors max.

and

This is the one they liked the most.

Roller Derby Painting

2010-04-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to call it "done" on the Rose City Rollers painting. At least, for the physical painting. I'm not quite sure I'm sold on the background colors, so I've been changing them in Photoshop endlessly. I'll post whatever the final color scheme ends up being.

I must say, I'm thoroughly enjoying acrylic paint. The next painting is going to be my first mock theater poster, and I'm 50/50 on whether it will be "The Tempest" or "Little Shop of Horrors". I have what I think are good ideas roughed out for both, so it will probably depend on how fast I can find a friend to pose for reference photos to be my Prospero or Seymour.

Gearing up for Stumptown...and CAPITALISM!!!

2010-04-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

The comics are being printed, so now its time to gear up for Stumptown capitalistically! Oh, and FINALLY redesign my website, but I'm really dragging my heals on that one. In addition to having The Salamander King #1 and #2 for sale, I'll be offering the following prints for sale:

I'm having 20 of each made, archival quality that will last longer than you do. If you are unable to make it to Stumptown this year but are interested in one of these prints, let me know and I'll make some available on etsy prior to the convention. Otherwise, I'll put whatever remains after the show up on etsy in May.

So...close!

2010-04-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

Ugh, all I have left are some sound effects and I'm done! I'm really tired of lettering. I think from now on my motivation for becoming a FULL ON PRO is going to be splurging on hiring a letterer. Or better yet, striking a deal with an art program and making it some sort of internship so that I don't have to pay them at all! Also, I got my new business cards today from overnight pritns and am officially 10% more professional (feeling) because of that.

Special thanks to all of my friends and family that made it to the Stumptown art opening. I just found out that Paul Pope (indy comic icon extrordinaire) will be at this years Stumptown comics fest! If you haven't read this guy's stuff you're an uncultured uncooth philistine. His brushwork alone can melt steel. If you're nice and find yourself at my house I'll loan you some of his books (except for Josh, who has had my copy of Omega -drawn and signed by Mr. Farrel Dalrymple who's brushwork rivals that of Mr. Pope's- for almost a year now). I will point out, to any youngsters or sensitive types, that Paul Pope's books are adult orientated.

Oh, and this is a panel of Izzy getting tough. Tough as any 9 year old amateur entomologist can be.

Derby Time

2010-04-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

With the comic all scanned in and ready to be assembled, its time I focused my laser-like artistic focus back onto what's really important: Pretty Girls on Roller Skates! Or, PGRS for short.

I just finished the line art and scanned it in to the computer so that I can digitally paint the image if I totally goof up on the acrylic painting. I'm going to try the same charcoal and acrylic method that I did for the squid painting. This one won't be nearly as dark since Roller Derby makes me think of flashy bright colors.

On a side note, this poster is for the May bout which features Portland's traveling team Wheels of Justice vs the dreaded Seattle team, The Rat City Rollers. I just found out yesterday that my friend Heather, I mean SoulFearic ACID (of the Break Neck Betties) just made the Portland traveling team! So go watch a bout and cheer her on.

Coming Soon...

2010-04-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

As of this morning I am finished with all artwork for issue #2! Now for scanning and bordering and lettering and ballooning and all the other stuff that I find tedious. Below is the drawing for the cover, I was going to add some slick graphic elements, but it ended up looking cluttered so I'm just going to use the drawing by itself.

Also, just a reminder to you Portlanders (and Vancouverers) that tonight is the opening for the Stumptown Comics Fest gallery show downtown at the PCPA's Art Bar at 1111 SW Broadway. There will be drinks and snacks and more nerds than you can shake a stick at.

Note: please don't shake sticks at comic nerds, it brings us out in a rash, induces asthma, and triggers all sorts of scary high school flash backs.

final stretch

2010-03-28T11:20:00.000-07:00

I woke up today with a nagging feeling that I needed a time machine, but after drawing all morning and realizing that I can see the finish line for Salamander King #2, I realized that if I had a time machine I'd probably do something foolish like go back in time and change my "career path" to something that has more of a path. Discovering the band She & Him (comprised of one-time-Portlander M. Ward and cute-as-a-button-actress Zoe Deschanel doing 60's style pop) also improved my mood, so thank you lala.com for allowing me to listen to free cd's all morning. That Broken Bells cd is pretty good too.

Here's another page from the new comic, I realized that if I don't post progress shots I:

Don't feel like I'm making any progress
Don't get random comments of encouragement that I feed off of like a shark with low self esteem (get it? fishing for comments? Sharks? Sharks are fish...I think!)
End up using my computer for procrastination

PS. Special thanks to those of you who are following me now. I read an intimidating article about how you can make a living as an indy artist type if you have 1000 fans.

Stumptown Art Show

2010-03-25T17:46:00.000-07:00

Hey fellow Portlanders, the Stumptown Comics Fest Art Show opens this Thursday (April 1st) downtown! Come have a drink and talk to the Mayor about how he should hire me to work for the government on the condition that I never show up to work and just get to stay home and draw all day (Teddy Roosevelt did that, seriously, and its about time Mr. Adams lives up to his campaign promise to let me be a stay-at-home-artistic-layabout), you could also say nice things to me since this has been the week of rejections.

I'll be fashionably late due to my fashionableness (and my work schedule), but I should be there around 6:30.

sneak peaks

2010-03-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

I know I said I wasn't going to show full pages before print, but I had to scan and assemble this page anyway, so I thought I might as well share it (sans lettering). I'll have a few more to show since I'll be dropping off originals at the Sequential Art Gallery tomorrow for the annual Stumptown Art Show at PCPA. The opening is on first Thursday (which is on April 1st) and I heard that the Mayor is going to be there to announce "comic book month" in Portland. I'm looking forward to calling him Mr. Mayor should I get the chance to meet him, it'll be just like the 60's Batman TV show! Not sure if I'll have the guts to dance the Batusi though.

Poster final

2010-03-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Emerald City Comicon, and I'm a bit disappointed. One of my main reasons to go up to Seattle was to apply to DC comic's talent search program since they have a kid comics division. Unfortunately, DC doesn't do their talent search in Seattle, despite evidence to the contrary on their website. It turns out that they only do it at New York, Chicago, and San Diego. To say that I was frustrated is a gross understatement, but, live and learn I suppose.

On the bright side, I got to see my good friend Kuyler and I had a great time geeking out with him and his friend Ted. I was more than a bit grumpy though, and left pretty early on Sunday so that I could get back to drawing on Salamander King #2. I also wrapped up the concert poster and submitted it, but I won't be surprised if there isn't a contest at all or that its only open to people living in Florida.

Concert Poster Painting

2010-03-11T10:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I had a hard time getting the scan of the painting to look like the actual painting. I'm not sure if its due to the gloss on the painting, but all my dark tones came out shiney looking, I mixed my paint with acrylic glazing liquid (gloss), so maybe I should try a matte medium. If anybody has any thoughts or experience with this I'm all ears. I thoroughly enjoyed painting acrylic over charcoal, once I got used to how much of the glazing liquid to mix into my paint so that my charcoal drawing still showed.

Overall, since this is my very first acrylic painting, I'm pleased with how this is turning out. I need to finish all of my digital tweaking today so I can print out some copies to take up with me to Emerald City on Saturday. Again, my main gripe with Photoshop is that you never feel "done". There is always some pixel that can be nudged around. I think I need an egg timer to force doneness upon me. OR, maybe I need a real deadline and a taskmaster AD to tell me I'm done.

As always, feel free to comment or make suggestions. I've been looking at this thing for so long that I need to take a break. The bottom of the painting needs some more digital tweaks, but I'm going to wait until this evening to play with that.

Color study

2010-03-06T12:40:00.000-08:00

This is the quick color study I did before I started actually painting. Photoshop makes it pretty easy to adjust colors quickly so that I can have an idea of where I'm going once I start using REAL PAINT. This is going to be my first painting in acrylic, so I'm nervous but I'm really excited to be doing something new. As you can tell, I'm most excited about painting that burning building on the right since I spent too long on it getting details down instead of just blobbing color on it like I did with the other two buildings.

Concert Poster Drawing

2010-03-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

Earth vs. The Sonictopi

18" x 27"

Charcoal on Arches 140lb hot press

Well, I've been trying to bust this thing out as fast as possible since it really is a distraction from what I should be focusing on artistically, but man is it fun to work on. This is final drawing that I am going to try painting on top of, I'm hoping that I can lock the drawing down with acrylic glazing medium and then paint thin glazes of acrylic paint on top of so that the image is tinted but I don't lose too much of the rendering of the drawing (I was thinking of it as an underpainting). I've never tried this before, so I really hope I don't ruin this thing. Sure, it's a rediculous specatacle on par with a B movie by Ed Wood, but it has been REALLY FUN to draw and I'm rather attached to it.

Concer Poster Rough

2010-02-28T07:55:00.000-08:00

One of the local rock stations is doing a contest to see who can design the best concert poster for MUSE and I thought it would be good practice and good publicity if I did it and got in the top ten. I started looking at concert posters and decided that the ones I liked were just random illustrations that vaguely had the vibe of the band they were advertising. SO, I started doodling and here's what I have so far (I had to stop myself from getting too involved with the rough so its unfinished):

I like to call this "EARTH vs. THE SONIC SQUIDS!", note that the suckers are speakers. Yes, I realize those are flying octopi instead of squids, but I couldn't think of a good alliteration for "sound" and "octopus" (sonictopus? cephalospeakers? you see my problem). I don't honestly think that the band would go for this, even though it is clearly awesome, but I'm going to use this as painting practice and as an example of cover art for comic books for when I go to the Emerald City Nerdicon in two weeks to throw myself at the feet of some art directors.

new studio!!

2010-02-23T09:47:00.000-08:00

So the move is over, finally. I hate moving, but it is nice to set up a new studio. Its so clean! I'm sure I'll keep it clean forever! At least a week!

The new space is a little smaller, but its brighter and has light walls, so that should help my forays into painting.

Setting up the "wall of dead things" is always a priority (which is Ashley's favorite thing in whole house, she's always like "hey, hang up more animal parts!!").

Still making progress on SK#2 and, I got a ton of photos for my zombie contest, so I'll be sure to show the final page along with all the reference photos that were sent to me (special thanks to my brother and to Cat, for roping her friends into helping me out).

Garden Piece

2010-02-15T09:43:00.000-08:00

Every couple of years Oregon State sends me an invite to take part in a show. This year's theme was "garden something or other", I'd give you the exact title but since I'm in the middle of a move I have no idea where anything is. I had fun doing this drawing, but I'm definately going to be done with black and white for awhile. Working on this while doing the comic just felt like more of the same. Pretty soon I'll start my first foray into the strange land of acrylic paint for a roller derby poster. But that'll have to wait until the studio is unpacked again.

The quality is a little blurry on this since its just from a digital photo taken with no tripod (again, no idea where that is) and the piece is too big to scan easily.

Bad math makes me happy

2010-02-12T10:47:00.000-08:00

I recently discovered that I am half way through drawing the second issue of Salamander King. This is partially due to my lightning quick speed and ninja like charcoal reflexes...but mostly its due to poor counting. I thought chapter two had 22 pages, but it turns out that it only has 19. It was like I drew 3 pages in two minutes. This is especially good news since I have to move this weekend and the studio is about to get packed up.

Anyway, here is a panel showing one of those dastardly sneaky salamnders doing a dastardly sneaky thing. I wont be posting completed pages before the show for two reasons:

a half hearted attempt to make you give me $3
laziness (my friend Josh has the new version of photoshop and I guess it will digitally assemble multiple scans automatically! My pages are bigger than my scanner bed and its very boring to stitch 4 scans together and get them to all line up)

Oh I also redesigned the blog to make it function more like a website, so now there are links to gallery pages underneath the banner.

Salamander King #2 progress

2010-02-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

Making some progress on #2. Here's a panel from I forget what page (I'm pretty organized...really, I just can't remember at the moment). I'm having a great time getting back into drawing comics. I can't wait for stumptown in April (though I 'm so far behind the slower it approaches the better).

Oh, and the winner to zombie contest 2010 goes to my darling niece and nephew (photos provided by my big brother) so they will get free comics!! Thats a six dollar value! Not to mention eternal glory.

I'll Make You Famous...Sort of...CONTEST!!!

2010-01-21T17:24:00.000-08:00

Or I'll at least make fun of you.

While chipping away at Salamander King #2 I have found myself in need of a bunch of reference photos of people behaving like sleep walking zombie types goosesteppin' with their arms out in front of them. Why you ask? Well you'll just have to fork over your $$ for your very own copy of the comic to find out...unless you do all of the following and I pick you:

A) Send me a funny picture of yourself acting like a goosesteppin' zombie with your arms in front of you. Better the zombie face the higher your chances of SUCCESS!! What does success mean? It means I'll draw you into Salamander King #2 acting like a gooseteppin' zombie, obviously.

B) Tell me what your favorite thing in the whole world is (and I'm not talking about your mom here, I mean something that you own or won or bought or made or whatever) all sappy comments about how your girlfriend is your favorite thing in this world will neither help you win nor will it garner you any brownie points with your significant others.

C) You should probably give me written permission to use your likeness....or if we're already pals we'll go on the honor system but if you stab me in the back and sue me in 10 years when they're making The Salamander King movie I will feel quite betrayed and say mean things about you behind your back.

I'm not even sure I'll get any photos out of this because it would involve a lot of effort on your part, but I'm too lazy to go take pictures of people posing and this sounded both more fun and more easy.

And what, you are dying to know, does one win in this glorious contest? Why, ETERNAL GLORY of course! As well as a complimentary copy of the comic with some sort of funny drawing in it. Who knows, if only one person responds maybe I will shower them with artistic gifts, you never know.

process juggle

2010-01-21T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm knee deep in Salamander King #2 and having a blast. It's been a little tricky remembering how to draw Izzy consistently and get her "acting" (for lack of a better word) down, but I think I'm back into the swing of things. I'll start working on final pages this weekend (just bought my stack of fancy paper and a ton of charcoal). While comic booking I've been hammering away on a large drawing for a show I was invited to be in next month. this is about 25% of the image (which I'm about 75% done with).

ah...print

2010-01-16T07:50:00.001-08:00

I've wanted to do one of these posts forever. I follow a lot of blogs by pro illustrators and they all get to do these. Now its my turn to feel like a semi pro!! A few weeks ago I was in my local comic book store and I saw these on the shelves, which I must say, felt pretty rad. I wasn't able to flip through it because they were sealed in Mylar bags (for those not familiar with Mylar, it is a substance that only the nefarious Dr. Doom has been able to vaporize, thereby damaging the highly valuable 3 dollar contents). I was super excited when these arrived yesterday and I could finally see how my art looked in print.

I am pleased.

Now if only I didn't have to go to my lame job in half an hour....

One step closer....

2010-01-10T12:21:00.000-08:00

I think somewhere in the Mayan calendar there is a prediction about what has just happened.

Gabe Wishart is coming back to the fold.

For those not in the know, Gabe is one of the 3 redheads (along with Kuyler and myself) that were supposed to never have responsible day jobs and would spend their lives drawing and painting. Gabe recently dusted off his pencils to return to the fine art of picture making and has already started with a sweet dinosaur drawing over at his new blog.

It is only a matter of time now...goodbye lame-0 day job (hopefully).

Artistic Overdrive

2010-01-08T16:56:00.000-08:00

For some reason it just now dawned on me how much I have to do in the next 3 months. I have to do Salamander King #2 in time for Stumptown in April, I have to do a new piece for a show next month (that I didn't forget about, per se...but I kinda did), there is the roller derby poster, and a secret project that is on the back burner for a bit. SO, I'm going into artistic overdrive mode. You might be saying to yourself: "self? what's artistic overdrive mode?". Well, it looks just like regular mode, but slathered with worry, panic, and sleepless nights. Basically I need to focus on the comic and the gallery piece first, but I'm going to have the derby poster set up on the easel so that when I feel like taking a break to play Zelda I'll paint instead (sorry Hyrule, you'll just have to wait to be saved). Anyway, here is the approved comp sketch for the derby poster. I really really really just want to start painting it now, but its time for some discipline.

Roller Derby 2

2009-12-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

Man, I love drawing roller derby girls. Doing posters for the Rose City Rollers is the perfect excuse to draw sexy-super-heroine-punks (not that I need an excuse, but it does help me feel legitimate when my wife sees pages upon pages of vixens knocking each other silly in my sketchbook).

Here are two of the sketches. The first one got the go-ahead, but I'm really fond of the bratty jammer in the second one. Maybe I can re-use the character for next year.

On a side note, I changed the comment rules so that anybody can comment now (upon approval since I got spammed).

DONE....

2009-12-26T17:13:00.000-08:00

...with the drawing. Now for hours of painting in PS. I got some acrylic paint from my rad in laws for Christmas, which I am sorely tempted to splash all over this thing, but I don't think its wise to learn a new medium on a drawing that took FOREVER. Getting the new Zelda and Call of Duty for my DS didn't help either. I also found out that I get to do another Roller Derby poster this year, so much of my holiday has been spent drawing pretty girls on roller skates slugging it out.

Portfolio 4 progress

2009-12-18T09:43:00.000-08:00

Still plugging away at this one. Getting close to finishing up the line drawing, drawing bricks is as fun as drawing leaves, then its off to the land of Photoshop for a day or two (or three).

Portfolio #4

2009-12-15T11:55:00.001-08:00

This one is taking a very, very, very long time to draw out. Here is a small section of it...pretty obvious what I'm working on. All yesterday was spent doing a perspective drawing, all today is hair.

Portfolio #3

2009-12-11T12:32:00.000-08:00

This one didn't take very long too do, but it was fun to jump back into charcoal for a bit. My mom #2 (ie: beloved mother-in-law) raised the idea of a holiday card a few weeks ago. Originally my Goldilocks piece was going to be a standard "Goldigrizz and the 3 Humans" image, but with the holiday looming (and my wife's promise to help me print and mail cards) I decided to make it more along the lines of "Goldigrizz and the 3 Klinkits". I had thought of using a polar bear, but it looked too much like one of those CG coke adds, so I had to go back to the grizz.

On a side note, I lived with a Klinkit once, his name was chuck Chuck CHUCK CHUCK BOOM!

Also, I thought about coloring this in Photoshop, but I realized I'd be too tempted to make that bowl of porridge look like a bowl of blood...

MDHP 4 On Sale!!

2009-12-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

The fourth volume of the online comics anthology MySpace Dark Horse Presents continues to bring you a wide range of genres and classic characters in the Dark Horse tradition. For the first time, Star Wars debuts comic content online with Dark Times: Blue Harvest. Our commitment to webcomics continues to shine with contributions from online-strip creators Chris Onstad, David Malki, and Kate Beaton. Eric Powell’s backwoods-charm-filled series The Goon is the subject of an “interpretation” from Gossip Whore Ann Romano. Joss Whedon teams with Season Eight cover artist Jo Chen for a special Buffy the Vampire Slayer story, and Guy Davis brings us an all-new installment of The Marquis.

Oh, and my first short story is in it too. I'm curious to see how it looks in print because I may have totally botched the saturation in Photoshop.

MySpace Dark Horse Presents Volume 4 collects 165 pages of the online anthology! (On Sale Dec. 2, 2009 / $19.95)

Portfolio #3, just right

2009-12-08T18:01:00.000-08:00

Bet you can't guess my third Portfolio Piece is based on. I wasn't planning on doing this one, but I'm not quite sure how to go about doing the one I want to do yet. This piece just jumped into my sketchbook, so I think I'll pursue it for awhile while I stew my other idea for a bit.

Portfolio Piece #2, Reluctant Vegetarian

2009-12-08T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is an old idea revisited. Originally I made an etching of the troll under the bridge giving up his carnivorous ways, but I never quite finished it because etching is a long and arduous way to make an image that I never really took to. I had a lot of fun working on this painting, even if I'm not quite happy with how the reflection turned out. I felt I was at risk of overdoing the blobs of color in the water, so I called it quits. I think I should have added some foreground rocks into the pool of water to break up the reflections, but working back into watercolor is risky business. Honestly, I think like the duck the most.