Daily Sketch #76

Masane

The day job is ramping up for the release of Witchblade Anime on DVD from FUNimation on September 25th. I'm not a huge anime guy by any stretch but I've seen the first 5 episodes (of 24) and they are actually really good. I suppose I shouldn't expect less from Studio GONZO. For more info check out the official site. One of the cooler aspects of the project is that FUNimation commisioned a number of our artists to create pieces in their individual styles for the DVD slipcases. Here's my take on Masane, the new Witchblade bearer from the series.

My current favorite track - "New Friend Request" by Gym Class Heroes. "This is not a LOL matter". Heh.

Daily Sketch #75

Workin' on Pages

Sorry about missing a post yesterday, the day got away from me a little bit. I'm working on more Dead Inspector pages in preperation for the Baltimore Comicon. Here's a look at a panel in progress with David and Steve doing some of that detective work referenced in the title of the series.

Daily Sketch #74

Forever Man

A new sketch of Alec King from Forever Man, one of my side projects that looks like it will finally take off. The artist is phenomenally talented and is going to add a ton to the project. I can't wait to see what he comes up with for character designs, layouts, and so on.

In other news, after 45 minutes of whining for food my lovely female cat Valentine decided the meal she just digested wasn't for her... and promptly threw it back up. Sure the concrete basement area where her food is would have been fine, but the basement carpet was so much better. This is Tuesday morning...

Daily Sketch #73

Back From LA

D and I made it back from LA last night around 11pm. Which means that it was midnight by the time we got home and after 1am by the time we got to bed. Whew. Bit worn out this this morning, but the trip was well worth it. Ross and Johanna's wedding was beautiful and very intimate. The ceremony was at a church on Mulholland Drive which meant we got a great view of the hills and Valley. Plus it afforded D the opportunity to meet her very first celebrity - Colin Ferguson from "Eureka". He was incredibly friendly and nice even when we bugged him for a picture.
It's shaping up to be a very exciting week or two. While I was in LA, I was able to get two creative projects at work greenlit and I believe secure two artists for side projects of my own. I'm trying not to get too excited about any of it because experience says it could all fall apart during the process. Nonetheless the potential level this week is HIGH.
Oh, and new sketch of Steve from Dead Inspector.

Daily Sketch #72

All You Need Is Love
A good friend of mine from the Diamond Days, Eric Hitchcock, is getting married this Fall and asked me to participate in a really cool sketch project for his wedding. I've started doodling some ideas for the sketch and here's the first "superhero" inspired sketch since Eric's in comics.

Today's update from Los Angeles - I had a great time at Happy Hour with the crew from Top Cow and took full advantage of the "2-for-1" drink special from 5-7. Rob and Alyssa joined D and I for a trip out to Hollywood and Pink's Hot Dogs. The line was about 30 minutes long and the hot dogs kicked butt. I had two - the Chili Kraut Dog and the Bacon Chili Cheese Dog. Yum!

Daily Sketch #71

Introducing Brian

I've been working since San Diego on the possibility of restarting a stalled project I've written currently with a working title of "Forever Man". One of the main characters is Brian, a slick affable sidekick character. He's a quick sketch I worked up of him in order to have some reference & inspiration for the artist I'm talking to. I thought I'd share it.

Update from Los Angeles - D and I arrived yesterday morning after getting up at 3:30am to catch our flight. We had breakfast at Good Stuff with Matt that was awesome and then I went to work while D explored Beverly Hills. Last night D and I wandered down to Santa Monica Pier and rode the famous Ferris Wheel. It was great fun and we finished off the night at Sushi Roku in Santa Monica. Good times.

Daily Sketch #70

Freeze Perp!

David from "Dead Inspector" shows some perp his shield and is ready to throw down. He looks a bit worried though doesn't he? Wonder why?

D and I are off to LA tomorrow morning (bright & early) through the weekend. I'm going into the home office for the rest of the week and D will be enjoying all that Venice Beach and Beverly Hills has to offer. We've got a wedding on Saturday (congrats, Rosss & Johanna!) and then it's back to the East Coast. It's D's first trip to California, so I'm curious what she'll think. And for once faithful reader, I have actually prepped from sketches in advance for the remainder of the week. That's right, you'll still get your daily dose of my amateur doodles. Just on West Coast time.

Monday mornin

Late on Sketch

Been working on the regular pages for "Dead Inspector" this weekend so I didn't have a chance to work up a Monday morning sketch. I figured I'd still post something. How about a weekend recap?

Friday: Superbad is superawesome. Funny as hell. Rude, crude, filled with filthy geekery. As my buddy Jim would say "Awesomeness level HIGH".

Saturday: I scored a perfect score in Guitar Hero 2. Sure it was on Easy, but I'm still braggin'. Also 2 weeks on the road make for a grueling bit of yardwork. And my push mower doesn't fare well against 6-8 inch weeds.

Sunday: Breakfast for dinner rocks. "Big Love" on HBO is great and under-rated. If loving Bill Paxton is wrong, I don't want to be right.

JC Vaughn and I met for a lovely Saturday morning breakfast to discuss "Dead Inspector" and we're pretty excited about how the project is coming together. Expect to see the first 12 or so pages on display at JC's table at the Baltimore Comicon. Curious publishers, please stop by.

And lastly, I leave you with a drawing from the late, great Mike Wieringo. Newsarama has a beautiful collection of creator and friend eulogies - http://www.newsarama.com/general/Ringo/RememberRingo_01.html

Daily Sketch #69

Iggy's Back

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. I got caught up with work and even though I had this sketch prepped I forgot to get online and post it. D'oh!

So here's a sketch I really like of Iggy from Dead Inspector.

Daily Sketch #68

In Memorium

The death of Mike Wieringo this past weekend has been weighing on my mind over the last day and it inspired this sketch. The Flash was always Ringo's signature for me, probably because it was the character I first saw him draw. We'll miss you Ringo.

Daily Sketch #67

Chicago Con Report & Sad News


I'm back from Wizard World Chicago! I had a great time at the show. It was my first time in Chicago or more accurately Rosemont, IL. I had my first taste of legitimate Chicago style deep dish pizza at Giordano's (twice!) and a couple of great meals at Gibson's and Red Light. I even made it downtown a couple of times and saw some of the Chicago landmarks. Dark Knight Returns and Wanted were both filming in town this past weekend and D managed to get a few pictures of the Dark Knight filming during a boat tour of the city.


On a much sadder note, I just learned that artist Mike Wieringo died on Sunday from an apparent heart attack. He was only forty four years old and by all accounts exercised regularly & ate healthy. Mike was one of the first pro comic artist I met as a young fan in a tiny hotel show in Roanoke, VA and gave me my first con sketch. His was the first piece of original art I purchased. Mike was ALWAYS one of the nicest, most humble creators at any show. He handled himself with dignity, an open kindness, and had an obvious love of comics. His sketch blog produced pieces that were more beautiful and fun than many finished works. In many ways he was one of the guys that inspired me to pursue a career in comics. I know I wasn't the only one he inspired.

Some of Mike's friends wrote much more eloquently than I what he meant to the world and you can read their words here, here, here, here, and here. In looking at Newsarama, I can't think Mike would have been genuinely surprised to see he prompted 27 pages and over 600 response posts. None of the rest of us are surprised in the least. My heartfelt and inadequate condolences to his family and loved ones. You will be missed, sir.

Daily Sketch #66

One Bad Mofo

Steve from Dead Inspector is one bad mofo, or so D told me last night when she glanced at the sketch. One of the interesting problems I'm running into with the Dead Inspector sketches is trying to come up with new themes to include in the drawings of Steve and David without giving away parts of the story. Guess I better hurry up and finish some more pages, huh?

I forgot to mention that over the weekend I had the pleasure of making it to the Virgin Fest in Pimlico for the second year in a row. It was hotter than Hades, but still a ton of fun. My only real complaint was that the main stage featured acts which were largely mellow. They all performed phenomenally including Amy Winehouse, Ben Harper, and The Police, but didn't really get you pumped up. My favorite act from the entire show was LCD Soundsystem over on the South Stage. They rocked hard. The dance tent was pretty cool too and we managed to catch Sasha & John Digweed and Felix the Housecat. Good times.

Daily Sketch #65

Sometimes It Gets Rough in Pittsburgh

David from Dead Inspector has apparently gotten into some heavy $h!t in Pittsburgh and is in the process of dragging himself up some stairs. Or something like that.

Watched "Hot Fuzz" last night with D and some friends and it was wicked funny. The team from "Shaun of The Dead" worked the same magic on cop action movies. There's a priceless "Point Break" moment at the end that's well worth seeing.

Daily Sketch #64

Invincible Friday

I'm taking a day off today, a mental health day to recharge the batteries from the drain of San Diego and steel myself for the trip out to Chicago next week. The plan for the day is complete relaxation - sitting by the pool and reading, listening to music, and swimming and maybe fit in some movie watching and drawing. But that's about it. Just going to be a lazy bum today.
I was reading my buddy Robert Kirkman's latest issue of Invincible last night and it inspired a quick crack at the character. I'm so impressed and proud of Kirkman for how well he's done and what great creator owned characters he's established.

Daily Sketch #63

Stone Cold Steve

Here's another sketch of Steve from Dead Inspector looking all bad and stone cold. Don't mess with this dude.

I whole heartily recommend everyone run out to your local comic shop or book store and pick up my friend Mark Haven Britt's graphic novel "Full Color". I went to school with Mark and we've been buds for about 7 or 8 years. It's been really cool to watch him evolve as an artist and a great personal thrill to see him realize his vision in this graphic novel. Anyone who's struggled to find their place in life, to grow up, with a dead end job will appreciate this great piece. Check out Mark's official website and buy it on Amazon at a discount.

Daily Sketch #62

I'm Back!

Did anyone notice I was gone?

So yeah, I totally failed in providing you guys with sketch content while I was in San Diego. I'd planned to get some sketches done the weekend before leaving and then posting them one per day while I was at the con. As it turned out I ended up working most of the weekend preparing for the con and sketch just didn't happen.

San Diego was a crazy whirlwind, filled with a ton of work, lots of fun, and more drinking than I do any other time of the year. It was great to hang out with friends at the show. Shout outs to Madeasy, Phil, Josh, Alyssa, Matt, Brandon, Mandy, and Adrian - you guys kicked butt at the booth. More shout outs to Marz, Mel, Rob, Al, Jim D, Malve, Blair, Troy, Susan, Jonah, Michael, and everyone else I forgot to mention. We had a great panel at the show, probably the best we've had since I've came on board. I didn't make it up to the diner with peanut butter burgers. There's always next year.

The sketch today came together pretty organically, I just started drawing a gesture not sure what I was going to do. It evolved into a picture of Mowgli from Fables stalking some prey. I read two Fables trades on the plane ride back catching myself up on the series. Mowgli played a significant role in the first one "Wolves".