More little war kids...

Here are a few more drawings of "war kids" from my sketchbook.  These were done with Copic markers, and contain no digital elements at all.  The drawing of the bear was done first, and I had a limited selection of colors, which is why the bear is kind of mustard a color.

This idea, of a bunch of children getting left behind in a future/fantasy war zone of some kind, is really starting to take shape.  It allows me to pursue "post-apocolyptic kid" story, with a reasonable explanation of where the adults are.

Little Battlefield Guys...

I was going to make this a “Happy New Year” post, but it’s already January 30, so I guess that boat has sailed.

Here are a few drawings that I did recently.  I was having a hard time of getting back into drawing everyday, so someone suggested that I do one “finished” piece of art each day.  Right now, I’m doing sketches for two picture books, and outlines and notes for new graphic novel projects, but these daily drawings gave me the satisfaction of actually completing something.  Each was done in one sitting that usually lasted about an hour and a half.  They are either pencil and watercolor, or ink and watercolor.  There is nothing digital in them.

The images are from a concept I’ve been thinking about a while…but I often lose enthusiasm for it.  I think it’s an interesting idea, and could make a great story and a good book, but it’s so different from everything that’s out there, I often wonder, “why bother?”

I just can’t go through all of the work of developing it, figuring it out, and writing it, only to have editors look at it and say they don’t know what to do with it.  Or worse---find an editor who loves it, spend a year on it, then have a marketing department look at it and say THEY don’t know what to do with it.  I feel like I’m entering into a lose/lose situation.

So, over the last few months I’ve become paralyzed while developing new concepts.  Believe me, I have plenty of ideas, but they are all being shut down by doubt and second-guessing.

Happy New Year! 

Cowboy Ducks

I've been really busy the last few weeks.  I am just about done with Icky Ricky #3, the Fangbone! pilot continues to roll along and now we are developing two more scripts.  I took a little time over the weekend to do these Duck Cowboys for our local elementary school's art auction.  These were drawn with a fine pen bought at Staples, and rendered with Dr. Ph. Martin's concentrated water colors.

Two types of sketches...

Over the last two weeks I have had very little time to do any "real" work.  Camp is over, but school has not started yet.  That means I have the boys at home all day.  We have a lot of fun, and I keep them busy. I get some work done at night after they are in bed, but sometimes I'm just too wiped out.   I have, however, had some time to sketch and just have fun with my drawings.

Below are two sets of sketches.  The first is observational drawings, and the second is creative work. However, all the sketches were done with the same materials and technique.  For these drawings, I put in the goldish/brown value first using watercolor, and then drew all of the lines.  I'm usually a slave to line, so this was a good opportunity for me to try to shake off some of my bad habits.

Urban Sketching in Brooklyn

On Saturday the 17th, I took the Ikea ferry over to Red Hook with the NYC Urban Sketchers group. We got off at the Fairway supermarket and hung around that area for a while.  Outside of Fairway are a bunch of old, busted up trolleys.

This is the front of one of the trolleys with the Fairway umbrellas in front of it.  I added the colors, and cropped it when I got home.  Below is the original drawing scanned directly from my sketchbook.  I regret putting in the marker value on the original.

Here's another one of the trolley, this one is of the wrecked side doors.  This is all traditional media on paper.  No digital work here.

This is a quick one of one of the old windows and shutters in the Fairway building.

Lastly, I present, The Red Hook Yacht Club.  This is about a block away from Fairway, and is one of the most fun things that I have ever drawn.  It seems to be a social club for some of the senior members of the community, and they were all very friendly and very interested in our work.  They even gave us some bread to munch on while we drew.

This is exactly how it looks in the sketchbook. This was all done on location while sitting on the sidewalk.  I really like this one, and want to do something more with it, but I'm not sure what.  I could render it all in black and white hatching (like I have started), I could add digital color, or  I could drop in some watercolor.  I just don't know yet.  Who knows, maybe it's already done.

Fangbone's original name was...

I hand kind of forgotten about this, but “Fangbone” was originally named “Bonesword.” When I pitched the “third grade barbarian” idea to my editor, he really liked it, but said that the name didn’t work.  He was worried that it would read as “Bones Word” as opposed to “Bone Sword.”  He sent me off to come up with another name, and after putting together some words that I liked, “Fangbone” showed up. 

If I remember, I wanted his sword, which was made of bone, to play a part in the narrative, but that didn’t end up going anywhere.  Bill’s name was a no-brainer.  I just needed a simple, one-syllable boys’ name that was very common.

This was one of the very first drawings for this idea that I made, and I like the loose watercolor.  

Wasteland stuff...

Two sketches I did in the last few days.  These were drawn with a Pilot pen bought at the local CVS, and colored with watercolors.  The Moleskine sketchbook that I used didn't hold up very well to the water, and you can see some wrinkling at the top of the cowboy image.  I could have photoshopped it out, but I didn't want these looking too processed.

Both were drawn at the local swim club while the boys swam.  It's nice to have some time just to mess around with some new ideas.  Today the boys start their summer day camp program, so I am back to working 9-5.  Or so.

Monster House

Here's another new illustration from a few months ago.  I really like the one.  The color was all digital, with textured paper scans, and enlarged watercolor smears.  This summer, I am going to be very busy doing finals for the next Icky Ricky book, but I hope in the fall that I have time to explore these techniques a bit more.

"Space is the Place!"

A few years ago, while in Grad school, I attempted to make an "Early Reader" comic.  My idea was to create something simple and action packed like "Go, Dog, Go!" but to use traditional comic techniques.  I think it's pretty successful, and it makes me laugh.  While I think all of the word choices are fine, I think that there are too many different words.  The art was done with markers and colored pencils, and the only work done digitally were the word balloons.  Clicking on them will make them big enough to read, then you should be able to move from one page to the next. Enjoy!

More on dinosaurs...

I had this one sitting around from a few years ago. His name is Pajamatops, of course.

Sketchbook boys

Here are two more watercolor sketches that I think are pretty successful. The first one is from a story I’d still like to sell. Without giving away too much, one of the characters has an explosive sneeze during a show-and-tell type moment in front of his whole class. The story is really about how the kids react to this event, and how embarrassed and foolish he feels. The story is not like my other work, and is not “high-concept” at all. It’s just about kids and getting along in school.



The second one is from a book that never quite clicked. It’s about this one mean kid endlessly calling the other boy names until…well, until something happens that I want to hold in my folder of ideas. I kind of like this one, but there are some skin tone issues. Both of these were done a few years ago, and looking back on them I was getting close to something…

Little Creatures

As an children's illustrator, I've never really set out to draw cute animals. I feel that there are many people out there who do that really well, and seem to enjoy it. However, I just found these sketches from a few years ago and think that they are really... um...cute. They are drawn with india ink/quill and colored with inks.

Happy New Year!

Here's a piece that I drew a while ago and I really liked. The story, "The Teeny-Tiny Firefighter" never really came together, but I liked this image. I recently read that a film is being made about a Leprechaun fireman, and it made me think of my wee firefighter.

I wish I could tie the image into something meaningful about the New Year, and say that it's some sort of clever metaphor, but I can't, and it's not. Maybe that's my New Year's Resolution..."Stop looking for meaning and just enjoy!"

Here's to a great year!---Mike

Markers and Colored Pencils

For the first time in six years, I no longer have Grad school two nights a week, and I have been having a good time just drawing. I'm trying new materials and new approaches. Here's a few faces done with marker and colored pencils. I consider these sketches, because they are not really "done."

While these don't really fall into my watercolor attempts, they provide the same, non-digital, process, and satisfy my need to have a physical piece of artwork that I can show off without looking at a computer screen.

Goon Sketches #6

Early on, I knew that Frankenstien's monster would appear in "Goodnight Goon." I did mess around with the idea of using watercolors for this book, but I didn't, and still don't, feel that I'm a very good painter. Above is the the watercolor test and the same image drawn with pen and ink, and rendered with pencil. One looks amatuer, and one looks professional. Easy decision on my part.

Interview and Pirates!

Last October I was still teaching full-time and some things slipped through the cracks. Author Michael P. Spradlin interviewed me for his blog, and I never linked to it. Today I shall make amends!

Interview

Michael’s most recent book is the very salty Pirate Haiku

And, here's a drawing of a pirate I did. He's stealing a pickle. Because that's what pirates do. They steal.

This old man...

More watercolor work. I'm getting there...

More Peaches...

Here's another drawing of my caveman character, Peaches. He just got some new sneakers and he loves them! Just a goofy watercolor/ink with brush test.

Watercolor Elephant

This is another of the watercolor drawings that I was posting over the summer. This is, by far, my most successful piece.
I feel that the movement, color, looseness and the line are all working on the same level.

Watercolor astronaut

Again, more of my pen and ink/watercolor experiments. I think that this was the first one that I drew. Perhaps the under-drawing is too strong in this one, but I like the line, and the energy. It's a good direction, and once I complete my next project, I hope to persue this style and make it work.