Wednesday, January 31, 2007

February One

So this week's The Joint column in the Free Times is full color. I busted my ass on this and I'm still not sure about how I feel about it. The piece is good and about running into obstacles but not letting it stop you from achieving your goals. Even if your goal is to get butt ass wasted and stuff your face during the Superbowl. Here's the art, but go read: The Column!



Speaking of goals and acheiving them and not letting things stop you, it's February First and I am WAY THE FUCK BEHIND SCHEDULE ON MY BIG PROJECT and it's really freaking me out. I don't know what it is, but I can not seem to focus on anything. I had a pretty solid plan coming into this year, but it's all been blown to shit in the first month. I really need to get my shit back together and make some real headway on my works or nothing will get done and I'll be just another motherfucker talking about doing projects that never materialize. I fucking hate people like that. People like that drive me insane.

On another, more positive, note: I adopted a fierce little kitten and named him Rider. He's like a tiny lion. He's my new sidekick, my new bff.

Friday, January 12, 2007

ATALANTA

On a journey to learn photoshop better, and also keep my inking skills sharp, I drew this piece based on the sketch from my sketchbook I posted earlier here. I knew going in though, that I wanted to color it, so I sort of catered to that end with the thick outline of the figure and relegating the mess to outside the window.



Also, there used to be this space age bar in Lakewood called Capsule that was all white, except for the benches and seats that were all orange. It had these weird window shaped framed images of space shit that were backlit hanging on the walls. It also had giant windows that looked out onto Earth 2000 A.D. or whatever, so you knew you weren't ACTUALLY in outer space. I always liked that, looking out on Madison Ave. from a space ship bar. Truth be told, it wasn't that great of a bar, but I thought the idea was awesome. It's not there anymore, now it's a bar called Two Bucks, where everything is, oddly enough, $2. Anyway, I thought of Capsule when I drew this shit because as I was working on it I realized I love this character and added her to the cast of this space pirate comic I'm currently slowly writing as I work on other stuff of more importance. I name her Atalanta.



I went buckwild with that Zs poster last time so this time I decided to pull in back a little and shoot for monotone, but even that didn't work. I wanted to go full nasty blue, but then as I went along I decided to add orange to the pallet so I could pull the character out from the background better. Also, I thought of a wicked reason why, in the comic, she would be wearing orange gear. I like the way this came out, but it took way too long. I think the process needs a really strong decision making foundation and then to run with it from there sticking to the initial choices made. At least that's the impression I get right now, early on in my quest to color shit with pixels.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

24SEVEN, TACO GRANDE, HELLO GRITTY, WARPAINT, CHEST PIECE



I finally got some copies of 24seven, the Image Comics anthology put together by the NYC Mech crew. I have an 8 page story in it with Leland Pervis, and my old friend Becky Cloonan. I had seen copies at the comic shop, but never really had a chance to actually read some of the pieces. Holy fucking shit, this book is awesome! I haven't read all the stories yet, but so far my favorite is Drag by Ivan Brandon, and Eric Canete. Anyway, the list of contributors is like a who's who of comics muggs, so... yeah, I highly recommend this, especially now that it's been out for 7 months. There is a second volume planned for this summer to look forward to also!

Drawing in my sketchbook, kinda hard to find the time sometimes. Still, it's awesome just to draw and I really like the idea of having this book on me all the time. Here's some pages:



Monday, January 08, 2007

Zs, CAVE BEAR, X-BOLEX, HELLO HELLBOY

I don't know much about Zs, or X-Bolex for that matter, but goddamn this flyer was fun to draw. Cave Bear is still Cave Bear. Lou Muenz took a really sweet picture of myself and Brendan from Cave Bear SHREDDING while playing in Self Destruct Button on New Years Eve. That set was great and will hold me over till at least May. So here're the pencils, inks, and colors for this goddamn flyer. The colors were a lot of fun once I came to the conclusion that the best way to approach them was to just say "fuckit" and go haywire.





I don't know how good this coloring job is, it took forever. I like the way it turned out but wish I could figure out how to seperate elements better. I was trying to use channels with this one. I think I failed. However, I did get a lot done today inspite of wasting most of it on coloring this shit. I attribute that solely to the fact that I have started drinking coffee. I've never been able to drink coffee, really.



Firstly, it makes me bounce off the walls. I can drink any other kind of caffiene and take a NAP, but coffee, for whatever reason, I go bonkers. Secondly, I hate the way it makes your breath taste for hours after you drink it. Then my friend's moms gave me a buncha bags of gormet coffee grounds for christmas. Okay, cool... Then, I decided: why not? Why not get a coffe maker and drink coffee every morning? I think it's time I start living my life bouncing off the walls with bad breath.



That's where this story takes a swerve for the worse. My girl Maggie knew about this plan, and at Target saw a Hello Kitty coffee maker on sale. IT WAS ON SALE! Only $4.95!!! So, this is how I'm able to now get a lot of work done every day. I am bouncing off the walls after making coffee in a Hello Kitty coffee maker. I am the toughest man who has ever lived.



One more thing before I go lay down and read comics. I was at ASTOUND!, the very indie friendly awesome comic shop in Westlake, OH, and I got hooked the fuck up with a sweet HELLBOY ANIMATED t-shirt. Look upon my new shirt and be jealous, all those with no new Hellboy Animated t-shirts!

Sunday, January 07, 2007

THE BOSS, BABY TO CHICKIN WING RATIO, SKETCHES





I'll have more to post tomorrow, plus dumb shit, plus an all new flyer. I'm just awake right now and it seems like as good a time as any to post these last few pages. I drew that sketch with the bunny headed woman conjuring the band names at the Laundry Dock in Avon Lake, Ohio as my drawls tumbled dry. I hate the laundry mat, but my cousin once drove her car through the front of it years and years ago, so now they have those big concrete pylon things in front so she can't do it again. Also, I stole an awesome months old TIME magazine with a huge piece about the journo that lost his hand in Iraq. It had all this stuff about amputations and new prosthesis that are now available so wounded soldiers can survive and become bionic people. Wheels started spinning.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

COCKBLOCKER BUM, SKETCHES, CDs

Been drawing regularily in my sketchbook. It's fun and cathartic. I'm trying to keep it up and do at least a couple pages a day.





I've gotten two new CDs from people in Cleveland lately. The first is a CD of a shitload of songs by a group called Thumbs Up! The group consists of John Rodemann. It's feelgood digital videogame music; lots of beats and bumpivity. For the uninitiated, "bumpivity" is a term coined by the Cleveland hip hop group The Chop Shop Renegades. I don't really know what it means in spite of the fact that it's the name of the title track on the CD they put out like, 5 years ago. Thumbs Up!'s "Sightless Dendrochronology" is way way better than that CD. Actually, with the lack of lyrical content this CD makes for great writing music.



The second of the CDs I've gotten lately is GAY EROTICA, a noisy punky raw spazzy three piece. It's only three songs, but they're all pretty badass, and they sound awesome. I only listened to this CD once so far so I don't have a lot to say about it, but my girl Hannah was in this band and that makes me happy. However, the other members both moved away, and they broke up and that makes me sad.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

HANDS, RANT, SKETCHES



I painted this based on a photo. I had just come in from outside and was still wearing my hat and scarf. I set up the digital camera my dude Billy Delfs let me barrow, and took some shots for this image that I've had in mind for a while now. It took a long ass time to get it right. It was fun though. Anyway...



Been going batshit up and around lately. That's all over as of yesterday. I'm going to stick to the Cave from now until this project for my dude is finished. I have been slacking on it for decades and I'm ready to throw down. I think there may be many benifits to staying home and not going out. Firstly, I'm trying to stay healthy and clean and not get sick and die. This has been a problem almost every spring for the past 6 years, with the exception of the one where I was unemployed. So, my hypothesis is that I spend all winter running around and dealing with the Cleveland weather, usually ice and snow, and I just grind myself down into a sick susceptible dude. Then BAM! Something happens that takes me out for months. NOT THIS YEAR. I'm trying to eat regular meals and sleep regular hours, and not waste thousands of hours watching DVDs and going to shows every other night and hanging around in bars. I'm kind of excited to just WORK. Get ready for this healthy healthy summer of comics and madness.

Also, I'm going to draw in my sketchbook: