Daily Sketch #180

Two in a Row! Can He Keep It Up?

Okay, that's a bit misleading because it's another sketch I drew at Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. Photo courtesy of my iPhone. 

On a sadder note, a giant in comics retailing and one of the "good guys" - Rory Root - passed away yesterday from complications following surgery. I knew him better than some, less than others and was always amazed how well he lived by the "golden rule". RIP Rory.

Daily Sketch #179

Hello, Internet? Are you there?

So it's been a long, long while! End of February from what I can tell. Sheesh... this move really messed up my schedule more than I thought. Part of the problem is that I hadn't set up a convenient place to draw or scan until very recently. 

I'm just getting that situated so I thought I'd start up the blog again. The first couple of these posts are kind of cheats:) They're pieces I drew while I was at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. I drew this picture of Dani from Witchblade on the plastic covering one of our tables. Our booth shipment never arrived so we had a lot of empty space since the only product we had was what I brought on the plane with me. Still not too shabby and we had a great time at the show!

Daily Sketch #17

T-Minus 4

We're down to the final four days in Maryland. Whew. That's crazy to think about. I've spent over a third of my life in this state and area. I'm sad to leave my friends behind, but excited about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Here's another cheat sketch for you. The cover I did for Dead Men Tell No Tales from Arcana Studios. I think this may have been the first time I saw my work in print and really felt it turned out pretty well. Most of the time I feel good when I send the work out to the publisher and then I see it in print many months later and wince. Sometimes I groan. But this piece turned out pretty well, it was a simple effective image and the coloring turned out quite complimentary.

Daily Sketch #177

Cheat Week

It's a definite cheat week for me as I'm focusing primarily on packing for the next few days. Things are going okay, but we're definitely feeling the pressure of the looming deadline. The past few days have been a combination of excitement, stress, and exhaustion. Some of my closest friends threw me and D a "bon voyage" party Sunday night and we had a great time. Until about 7:30-8pm when we started to fall asleep. Yep, we're tired and lame!

Anyway, here's a look at one of my early published pieces and my first with Dynamite Entertainment. It's colored by the hella talented IFS crew.

Daily Sketch #176

I'm Gonna Be On TV, Mama

Well, perhaps. I'm headed downtown this morning to Fox 45 Baltimore with my good buddy and uber-talented writer Ron Marz so he can be interviewed and promote the signings we're having locally for the Witchblade trade paperback. There's a chance I'll get to be on TV with Ron. I'm setting the Tivo just in case:)

If you live in the Baltimore area come on out to one of the two signings tomorrow.

11 A.M.-2 P.M.

Cards, Comics, and Collectibles

100 Chartley Drive

Reisterstown, MD 21136

(410) 526-7410

4-7 P.M.

Phoenix Comics and Toys

Lansdowne Shopping Center1

9340 Promenade Drive

Lansdowne, VA 20176

(703) 437-9530

You should also check out the new webpage for my artist on the Forever Man project, Thomas Nachlik. He's the cat's meow.

Your sketch for today is another panel in progress from Dead Inspector (surprise!).

Daily Sketch #175

This One's Kind of a Cheat

So, no time for an original sketch this morning, but I couldn't deny you an art fix this morning. So reaching into the way back machine, here's a look at my first "published" work which was distributed in tiny quantities at the San Diego Comicon 2000. It's the front of a wraparound cover that I painted (shocking I know) for an anthology called "Anomaly". The piece still holds up decently well I think.

Daily Sketch #174

Crazy Train



As Ozzy Osbourne sang, "I'm going off the rails on a crazy train". That's how I'm feeling these days trying to juggle everything in the final two weeks before the big move to LA. D and I are trying to finalize everything for the move which includes packing (which we just started this weekend), updating all of our various utilities, credit cards, insurance companies, etc., seeing each and every one of our friends on the East Coast (I think last night may have been our last free night until we leave), sell her car, rent the house, and probably five or twenty things I'm forgetting. On top of that is the wedding planning, which D is heroically handling largely on her own. Work is doing the opposite of slowing down and I'm quickly becoming aware of why being in the office for this new job was necessary as I try to coordinate things from 3 hours and 2000 miles away. All of it is quickly adding up to a couple of space cadets running around our house.



So other than venting and whining like a big baby, why am I sharing this?



Just to give you advanced warning that the sketches in the next few weeks may be sporadic. What can I say, sometimes real life interrupts. If you are signed up to the feed, it shouldn't affect your life too much since you'll be notified when I make a new post.


Without further ado, here's today's sketch an updated and completed panel of Ashley from "Dead Inspector". Enjoy.

Daily Sketch #173

Valentine's Day 2008 - Success!

First the sketch of the day, another panel in progress from "Dead Inspector".

Secondly, Operation: Valentine's Day 2008 was officially a raging success. D and I had lunch at Morimoto's (as in Iron Chef Morimoto) which I can only describe as sublime. The meal truly was exquisite and easily the best Japanese food I've ever put in my mouth. We had dinner at Bar Americain, one of Bobby Flay's restaurants (as in Iron Chef too!) with D's parents. It was my little surprise for D to give her another chance to see her parents before we leave for California. The food was good, but in yesterday's Iron Chef showdown - Morimoto truimphed. The night capped off with tickets to go see "Rent" on Broadway, our favorite musical. Neither of us had seen it live and we loved it. It really was a fantastic experience and a magical day.

Daily Sketch #172

It's Raining, it's Pouring

We've got some crappy icy rain weather hittin' the East Coast today and yesterday. Hopefully it clears up by tomorrow, I got big V-Day plans...

Here's another finished panel from Dead Inspector featuring David and Ashley.

Daily Sketch #171

Laying Down on the Job

Sorry couldn't resist the bad pun for today's sketch.

Now, for you long time readers of the blog... why is David from Dead Inspector lying in this familiar pose? What does it mean?!

(the rest of you undoubtably have no clue what I'm talking about)


D and I had a great dinner last night at Cinghiale downtown with a friend. Delicious Northern Italian food and wonderful wine. Getting ready to move does have its upsides:)

Daily Sketch #170

My Head Hurt

Well it did this weekend when my head cold was in full effect. I'm feeling a bit better today and yesterday so I guess it's starting to clear up. In any case, this panel I finished up yesterday seemed apropos. Big ups to my prescription Tylenol/Sudafed cocktail and copious amounts of NyQuil. Love that big effing "Q" (go listen to Dennis Leary's seminal "No Cure for Cancer" album).

D and I did more wedding related stuff this weekend, including a consultatio with our chef for the reception who was awesome and seemed generally excited when I mentioned the concept of chocolate covered bacon to him. That food won't be at the wedding, but bacon will be involved believe you me We also went to a cake tasting, which after the disappointment last week was awesome. The cake was rich, thick and decadent. This was wedding cake and when the quote came in at 1/2 the first place we were pretty much in love. Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and almond pound cake with chocolate ganache and a layer of raspberry filling in between the two cake layers. Hell's yes.

We also got to see our friends (and my best man) Andy and Sandy and lovely "nephew" Sachin the Tank. It was awesome to hang out with them even if the Chinese food we had for lunch was nasty and the American Idol karaoke singing was painful. Much love to Sandy who reads my blog every day:)

Daily Sketch #168

Cake Tasting

I spent much of last night working up 3-D background models in Google Sketchup for the recent Dead Inspector pages, so not a lot of drawing done last night and this morning. Google SketchUp is really neat and useful but like any other program there's a learning curve. I've gotten better already but it's still somewhat time consuming to get everything in place. Here's a panel in progress from this morning.

Last night D and I also went to our first wedding cake tasting at a place called "Sugar Bakers". It was fun, but "holy sheeeiiiite!" those are some crazy prices for baked goods. And to be honest, the cake wasn't that phenomenal. I'm a pie and ice cream guy myself and cake is usually a distant third or fourth choice for dessert for me, but even still I wasn't blown away. We have another one on Sunday and maybe that one will impress me enough to justify the ridiculous pricing.

Daily Sketch #167

I Give Up

Okay, I'm giving in on the sickness thing. I'm off to see the doctor (or rather a nurse's practitioner in my doctor's office) to verify what I already know - I have a sinus infection and need some drugs. Time to hand over some hard earner dollars to get a prescription (which I'll hand over more hard earned dollars to get filled), just so I can feel not so cranky.

An almost complete panel of David from "Dead Inspector" as your daily serving of sketch.

On a brighter note, D and I are off to Sugar Bakers tonight for a complimentary cake tasting for the wedding. Should be good fun, I love free cake!

Daily Sketch #166

We Got a New Place

Another sketch from a page in progress in "Dead Inspector". David wakes up some place unexpected. Not exactly sure if this conveys the motion in the most ideal way so I may have to continue working on this one.

In positive personal news, D and I found a new apartment in LA to move into in March. Woo-hoo! The place looks really nice with a fair amount of space, a great looking community with lots of amentities, and a beautiful location in West LA near the ocean. We're both getting quite excited about it!

Daily Sketch #165

I Hate Being Sick

So... my body finally gave in to the lack of sleep and D's sinus infection/death cough. Yesterday I felt the tell-tale tickle in the back of the throat that signifies the body's throwing the towel in. This morning I felt like I wanted to scrub the inside of my throat with one of those beaker cleaning scrubs. But the feeling crappy isn't really the worst part, it's the lack of any reprieve otherwise in life. It's not like when you were a kid and you got sick days from school. Sure some people take sick days, but it's pretty hard to justify it when you work from home and you're not risking getting anyone else sick. It's just a normal day plus feeling crappy. Wah...

Here's David from "Dead Inspector" looking all paranoid. He might even have good reason to...

Daily Sketch #164

Unlike David We Get No Sleep

Another page in progress update from "Dead Inspector" as David 'listens' intently to his girl Ashley. Not that I endorse this kind of behavior or ever engage in it...

So this weekend we have D's sister and her infant neice visiting us. We're loving spending time with both of them and of course the little baby is the center of attention where ever we go. D is fighting a pretty severe sinus infection, so between coughing, trouble breathing, and crying baby in the wee hours of the night - sleep has not been a friend the past couple of nights. The strange part is I don't remember wakening a lot during the night, but still feel exhausted when I wake up. It's a nice little insight into future parenthood.

Also... Sarah Silverman is awesome. Enjoy.

And enjoy the new "Wanted" trailer which aired during the Super Bowl last night. I'm baised but I think it looks badass.

Daily Sketch #163

Detectives At Work Friday


Here's the detectives from Dead Inspector pow-wowing at a crime scene. Wonder what they're talking about?


I really like the way this panel composition worked out.

D and I watched the season premier of "Lost" last night and really dug it. It had a bunch of great "oh shit!" moments and it's about time Hurley got the spotlight again. All of the characters were on point and it was a great opener. Looking forward to the rest of the season (however much we end up getting). Plus with BKV on board as a writer this season I have high hopes!

I'm sitting in Panera this morning thanks to the torrential downpour hitting Baltimore right now. Thanks to some goofy ground wiring at my house and the Verizon battery backup system, I have no internet at home. But thanks to noise cancelling headphones I can pretend I'm not surrounded by gossiping seniors. Woot!

Daily Sketch #162

Thoughtful David

David's having a thoughtful moment today. Don't disturb him.

Daily Sketch #161

Rambo

Part of a page in progress for Dead Inspector where David and Ashley share a quiet couple moment. Enjoy.

Last night, my buddy Joe and I paid homage to 80s maniliness and grabbed some ribs for dinner and then went and plopped out $10 down to see "Rambo". Oh, wow... was it awful. But awesome awful, filled with ridiculous gore and blood. Stallone (who also directed and co-wrote) didn't miss a single chance to show your decapitations, maimings, or guts. Did you miss that head flying off, don't worry just give it a minute. Plus the obligatory machine gun scene was even more absurd than the last Rambo movie. And prior to the Rambo induced carnage beginning, Stallone made sure you knew the bad guys were REALLY bad, that way no matter what Rambo did to them you would feel they had it coming. I leave you with a picture of Sly in gentler days...

The icing on the cake of seeing Rambo last night was two awesomely bad trailers that ran before it. Enjoy "Midnight Meat Train" and "Doomsday"!

Daily Sketch #160

Thoughtful Ashley

Continuing to work on the new Dead Inspector pages so you get a sneak peek of thoughtful Ashley as she talks to David. JC had a tough challenge with Ashley in issue #1, establish her quickly as a strong, smart female partner to David without coming off mean or nagging. I think he pulled it off, but reader reaction will be the ultimate test.

Off to take Valentine to the vet today. She's continuing to throw up randomly for no good reason and we're starting to get a bit concerned. Personally I think it's because she doesn't want to move so she's trying to jinx our attempts to show off the house to potential renters.
Also I took a look at the drive out to Los Angeles yesterday on Google Maps to starts a rough trip itinerary. 2700+ miles going the Northern route through Chicago, which according to Google we can do in 1 day 16 hours. Yeah, okay... without sleep maybe. Some how I'm thinking at least one of us wouldn't survive that trip.

Daily Sketch #159

New Page Cookin'

After taking a whole bunch of reference pics, I've started on the next and final batch of page for Dead Inspector #1. Hopefully I can punch these out relatively quickly and then JC and I will be looking for a home for DI. Here's an early look at a page in progress.

Also we found our drummer last night for Rock Band. By virtue of being the only friend that's tried it out and made it through an entire song, Stacy D is now our drummer. I'm sure she'll regret being good at it soon enough.

Daily Sketch #158

Wonder Woman

Friday morning superhero sketch just for the heck of it, gang. I picked Wonder Woman because she was on the cover of two books in my office.

In other random news, I took advantage of my Christmas gift from D yesterday - a hour long massage. I got a deep tissue massage on my neck, shoulders, and upper back (thanks, hours at a laptop computer!). It was at once painful and awesome. At the end of it I felt exhausted and had to resist the urge to take a nap. Coupled with my new laptop stand and wireless keyboard we'll see if it improves the constant pain in my neck and back. Fingers crossed!

Daily Sketch

52... What the?!

Okay first the sketch - more Ashley warmup sketch action. Dig it.

Okay, now to the subject line of the post. I just finished reading "52" from DC Comics last night. Four volumes of trades, 52 issues, a weekly comic series. First, the good - I respect what they accomplished. They managed to put out a weekly comic book for an entire year without missing a week. The issues were dense and jam packed. They got four of the biggest writers in the biz to co-write a series together. They managed to convince the bulk of the comic buying public that they NEEDED to read about a half dozen second or third tier DC Universe characters.

Here's the problem. I invested a fair amount of time reading these and consider myself to be a pretty firmly entrenched DC geek. Crisis on Infinite Earthes is an all time favorite series of mine. I read the History of the DC Universe books and the Who's Who books for Christ's sake. But at the end of it, I was left saying, "So what?" The story didn't move me and I found myself wondering frequently "Why am I reading this?" I kept thinking that perhaps given the caliber of writers involved that at some point it would hit a tipping point and everything would come together. But it never happened. Man, if I'd spent the $156 to buy the individual comics at retail (not counting all the ridiculous tie ins), I would have been angry. Fortunately, I didn't so I'm just disappointed.

Am I missing something? I really wanted to like this...

Daily Sketch #156

Ashley's Skeptical

A quick warmup sketch of Ashley from Dead Inspector, David's fiance. I'm about to introduce her in the actual final pages so I wanted to get back into establishing her features and attitude.

Daily Sketch #155

I Have the POWER!

World meet generic super-hero guy charging into the fray. He's yelling some sort of battle cry no doubt. Very fierce.

D and I opened up Rock Band last night and set up our band, the Cheeky Monkeez. My alter ego Stefan Kielbasa and her's (Patty Scraps) rocked hard for a good portion of the evening. My rendition of Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" was particularly haunting. No really, it would haunt your dreams. The game's customizability and fun quotient are way up there and I think this is going to be a kick ass party game. Now if we can just find someone who can master the drums. That drum kit is tough!

Daily Sketch #154

Uh, Yeah... I Don't Know

Really. I haven't a clue. I just started drawings a face and this is what came out. I really have NO clue what's up with this guy's hair. Kind of looks like a skinny Hulk though.

Also, finally saw Shrek 3 this weekend. Not nearly as good as Shrek 2.

Daily Sketch #153

Sinister Me?

Random drawing time. Just started doodling while D and I were watching American Idol last night. It ended up kind of being a self portrait, but D says this guy looks "sinister". Well that ain't me. Or is it?

Daily Sketch #152

Top Secret!

Still working on some layouts for Dead Inspector and you'll notice these are the final pages from issue #1. Because of that I've opted to cover up some top secret plot points that might be apparent from my little doodles. Wouldn't want to give away the big reveal prematurely, would we now?

Daily Sketch #151

Layouts for Dead Inspector

Back on the job with Dead Inspector this morning, working on layouts for the remainder of issue #1. These pages will introduce Ashley, David's fiance to the reader. As JC wrote, "It's the first time we're seeing her, so make her pretty and friendly."
I'll do my best, JC.

Daily Sketch #150

Ocean's Thirteen

Wow, #150. If I'd remembered this would be a benchmark posting I probably would have done a more impressive sketch. Oh, well.

We watched Ocean's Thirteen last night, which fell between Eleven (the best) and Twelve (the worst) in terms of quality for me. I think these movies entertain and keep me enthralled only because of the enormity of star power in the cast and the director's competence. If I stop to think about it, I can't recall why I watch them. Anyway, here's a drawing of Matt Damon from the movie as Linus sporting the ridiculous fake nose, which "played".

And for D, Team America's much funnier interpretation of Matt Damon...

Daily Sketch #149

Brit?

Again, just pulled this sketch from the ether of my subconscious mind but looking at after it was done it occured to me that it looks kind of like my pal Robert Kirkman's character The Brit. Check it out and be the judge for yourself.


Seperated at birth?

Daily Sketch #148

Dead Inspector Detail


I'm back on the wagon and working on Dead Inspector currently. I'm hoping to have the first issue wrapped up relatively shortly so we can begin shopping it around to publishers.
In this panel I'm playing with dividing a single scene up into three panels to convey movement and time elapsing between panel gutters.

Daily Sketch #147

I'm a Bad Kid

Last night despite fighting off a cold (and/or sinus infection), a long day, and my better judgement I ended up popping in "Hitman: Blood Money" into the 360 at around 9:30 last night. My plan was to unwind for 30 minutes of game time before going to bed. There was nothing on TV and I had the itch to play. Two hours later I finally shut it off.

So I'm a bit tired today.

But I beat the damn level. Take that porno king and embarrassing senator's son. You got yours.

Daily Sketch #146

Samurai Chic

I pulled this sketch out of the mindscape ether (i.e. I have no idea where it came from). Just a cool female samurai with a dragon motif. It probably stemmed from some Witchblade related thing I was thinking about at work.

Yesterday was crazy on the email as folks were dropping lines left and right to congratulate me over the job change. It was nice to hear from everyone and have folks be so positive. As my buddy Mark Britt said, "Bask in the glow" and I have been. Well, when folks haven't been hitting me up for a job. It cracks me up, as if there's some lottery where if you are the first person to email asking for work - you win! (There's not.)


D and I watched "Queen" last night and both thought it was incredibly well acted and compelling. We also watched a made for TV version of "Picture of Dorian Grey" from what looked like the late 70s, which was neither well acted nor compelling. Pity.

Daily Sketch #145

Sitting at the Big Boys Table


The biggest piece of news in my professional career has just been announced - I've been promote to Publisher at Top Cow. I'm incredibly stoked about the opportunity and excited to make the most of it. You can read the CBR exclusive interview or the official PR on Newsarama. Thanks all of the folks who've already dropped me a congratulatory note. I'm feeling the love and hope I can live up to everyone's expectations!



The other big news last week was the internet wildfire over the end of Spider-Man "One More Day". Basically at the end of it (SPOILER ALERT)...











The devil splits up Peter Parker and Mary Jane and makes it that their marriage never existed in the first place. Today's sketch is inspired by the event.

I've never been a big Spidey reader other than Ultimate Spider-man (which I think is genius), so I don't have a great personal opinion on the subject. Neither have I read OMD, so it's not like I can speak intelligently on the story merits itself. I have read Joe Q's interview on CBR and bunch of the outrage posts by fans and retailers over the event. I can certainly see the validity of both points of view. What I'm most curious about as a industry pro is if the Marvel diehards that are dropping Spidey and/or all Marvel titles (as some reports indicate) will pick up other titles from other publishers or if they've been burned and take their dollars out of the comic market entirely. I'm hoping it's the former.

Daily Sketch #144

I am TV's Black Widow

I'm not sure why but many of the quality shows I get into seem to get cancelled. I've lamented previously over the cancellation of shows like Traveler, The Black Donnellys, The Nine

and Drive. All well writte shows, good casts, and looked like they had a solid push from the networks. All cancelled within their first season.
Most recently I got hit with a 1,2 punch from network land when I heard they cancelled Journeyman and 4400. Journeyman wasn't a huge surprise, it's a new show that I just got into. We even played it safe and Tivo'd the entire season before watching one episode. And it was good, REALLY good! The acting was superb, the story interesting, and the conceit of the show interesting. Nonetheless it nearly ruined D's Christmas when she found out.
The 4400 was a bit more of a surprise. The show was going into its fifth season, seemed to be on a roll and as far as I can tell was one of USA's original series that had a solid fan base. I've talked about how brilliant I think the show is and how fearless they seemed to be in making changes in the storyline. I started a sketch yesterday of Jordan Collier (as requested by Elena) and have included it below. Not really happy with it so I'll probably continue to work on it or do another one soon.

I am television's black widow. Keep your shows away from me.
On a personal level this weekend will mark the first time my parents and D's parents meet. We're having them over to the house for the weekend and hopefully all will go well.

Daily Sketch #143

So This is The New Year

I'm kicking off the New Year with a sketch of Alec King, from the Forever Man which should hopefully play a big role in 2008 for me (and my partners John and Thomas). We'll see if later blog posts in the year make this prediction true...

My story in Black Diamond #6 entitled "The Curse" should be in stores this week, so make sure you swing by and check it out. A special thanks for Larry Young for giving me the chance to write and draw my own story for publication and to Nick Senior for helping me out with some awesome colors.

New Year's Eve was good times as D and I engaged in my yearly tradition of ringing in the New Year with a group of my college friends. We've been having a party with rotating hosts for going on eight or nine years now. They went from wild college drinkfests in the old days to much more subdued get togethers. Everyone contributes food, we do a hilarious Secret Santa exchange, and we've graduated from beer and shots to wine for the most part. Although jello shots still make it into the picture every year. I also drank a bit too much champagne and rocked out hard on Guitar Hero. My favorite gift this year was this bizarre gag gift from my friend, Stacy. I can't believe a publisher actually put this out.

One day I hope to have a moustache as manly as Tom Selleck's.

Daily Sketch #142

Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe another year has passed. It really does feel like the years fly by faster and faster the older you get. 2007 moved so quickly but it was a fantastic year for me both personally and professionally. 2008 looks like it's going to be filled with even bigger and better things and I'm honestly chomping at the bit to get started.

The quick sketch today sums up my feelings pretty accurately.

Have a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve, one and all!

Daily Sketch #141

What's Up Ladies?

As is often the case, I have no clue who this guy is or why I drew him. I just started doodling while at the dining table eating dessert at my D's parents place. Not sure who he is, but I am fairly certain he's a jerk. (Hence the blog post title above) What do you think?

In other news, RUN do not walk to your nearest proprieter of comic books next week and pick up Black Diamond #6 from Ait/PlanetLar featuring my first writing AND drawing credit in the back up feature "The Curse". I just got my copies last night and it was like Christmas all over again. Woot!

Daily Sketch #142

Christmas Short & Sweet

Merry Christmas from David and Steve of "Dead Inspector"!
The boys wish you and yours a prosperous and weird crimes free New Year. Steve's designer t-shirt by John McClaine.

Daily Sketch #141

Merry Christmas Eve!

It's a bit late in the day for my usual blog post, but it's Christmas Eve so cut me some slack. D and I are spending Christmas with her family so the daily sketch is taken with D's camera. The Santa here is inspired by one of my future mother-in-laws many, many Santas about the house. I really dug his crazy Rip Torn-esque moustache.

As is customary in my Polish heritage on Christmas Eve, I wish you all a prosperous, magical New Year in 2008 filled with laughter, love, and new experiences. I have some exciting news to break in the New Year and am looking forward to a bundle of new experiences and big positive changes!

And as always if you are in the Holiday Spirit and want to support the daily sketches, click on one of the ads links on the side bar.

Daily Sketch #140

I Know Kung Fu

Well actually, I know Kenpo, but this guy probably knows kung fu. Just working out some character design ideas for my old man character I posted about yesterday.

Happy Holidays, by the way one and all! We're headed out over the weekend to visit Danielle's parents for almost a week so it's pretty unlikely I'll have regular posts next week. Everyone deserves a vacation, right?

I'll be celebrating my birthday tonight with my local B-more friends. It's gonna be a rockin' evening filled with pizza, beer, and my favorite party game - Guitar Hero. We'll be rockin' out into the wee hours of the morning.

Daily Sketch #139

Chimera Design


I've been working on a project in between working on my main art and writing efforts tentatively called "Project: Chimera". The sketch below is a development sketch of one of the main characters - a retired badass general. I wanted him to look old and grizzley, but I think he ended up looking Asian somehow. Still, I like the drawing.

I took Ender back to the vet yesterday and unfortunately his claw wasn't getting better with the antibiotics. So I had to leave him at the vet so they could perform a surgical amputation of his one claw to prevent further infection. I felt horrible about it, leaving the poor little guy there and the thought of taking one of his claws. I can't imagine what it must feel like to make choices like that for your kids. The good news is that I spoke with the vet yesterday afternoon and Ender was doing quite well, the surgery went great and the vet believes there were signs that the claw had broken which would have explain the infection. He was confident we made the right choice to remove it and said Ender was resting comfortably. While he was out we also gave him a thorough teeth cleaning so he should have fresh kitty breath upon his return. I'll be headed over later today to pick him up and bring our little man home for some seriously needed TLC.

My good friend and ex-professor Jose Villarubia is the subject of a "My Baltimore" video. A great look at my friend and the city of Baltimore. Check it out HERE.

Lastly, if you are a comic fan you should definitely head over to www.myspace.com/pilotseason where Top Cow is letting fans decide which two characters will get their own series in 2008. Voting is open until mid-January and fans can vote as many times as they like American Idol style.

Daily Sketch #138

Back from Cali

D and I are back in the cold from sunny CA and ready to dive headfirst into the Christmas season. We had a great time in Los Angeles and everyone treated us really wonderfully and made us feel quite welcome. I had a birthday dinner at Fogo da Chao which was awesome and the Top Cow Holiday White Elephant Party was tons of fun. Shout outs to Matt, Marc, Jenn, Bridget, Ross, Johanna, Chaz, Josh, Alyssa, Michael, Sheldon, and my main man Dusty.

I was pretty tired when I got home so just a quick free flow sketch. No clue who this guy is, but there you go.

Daily Sketch #137

Painting in Progress

I started working on the painting for my mom of her dog, Toby (look back earlier in the blog entries for preliminary sketches). Here's a shot of it in progress.

Not too shabby. I think I may have laid down some of the darker colors too early, but cut me some slack I haven't painted in about 8 years. I think this will end up being a mixed media piece. Right now it's mostly acrylics.

D and I are off to LA until Tuesday for the Top Cow Christmas party. Woot! Looks like we picked the right weekend to go out of town, it's supposed to snow and be in the 30s all weekend here on the East Coast. In Cali it's going to be a comfy in the mid 60s. Right on.

Daily Sketch #136

Another Page in Progress Update

Here's another look at the page in progress. Going to take a break on working on this page for a little bit as I work up a piece for a Christmas gift. More to come soon.

Pretty happy with the guys' expressions in this panel.

Poor Ender (my cat) injured his front paw a couple of days ago and the trip to the vet yesterday was one of the saddest I've ever been present for. They had to clean it and bandage it which I think was akin to torture for my little guy. He ended up being very sad and pathetic for the rest of the day as he limped around like a busted up boxer with his paw in a bandage. This morning he managed to get the bandage off. He's much happier but it means having to soak his paw in a warm water bath a couple of times per day. Just what we needed before leaving for a long weekend trip to LA this weekend.

Daily Sketch #135

More Page Work

Here's another panel in progress from page 15 of "Dead Inspector".

The vain part of me was very amused to find an entry for my name on the Comic Book DB website.

Fast Food Nation made me happy that I don't ever eat fast food burgers anymore. And made me think twice about ordering a burger period.