2015 News...

Happy New Year!  I feel that I can still say that since it's only January 31. I haven't posted since October, which I think is one of the longest lulls I've ever had.  The truth is, I have been crazy busy, and things are amazing right now.  In a few weeks I'll have a ton of news about Fangbone!  I'm also working on the art for Icky Ricky 6, and the picture book I wrote about in the previous post.

I was going through my phone and deleting pictures that I no longer need, and I came across these 3 shots from a school visit.  I had eaten lunch with some kids, and then we drew on the table cloth.  Truthfully, I can't remember what school it was, but I had a lot of fun, and this kids seem to enjoy it as well.

I'll be posting often in the next few weeks.  Enjoy.

New Book, and Fangbone! update...

Today I started drawing a new picture book written by David Friend.  I haven’t worked on a picture book since 2010, so I’m really excited to get rolling.  It’s a truck book, so that was a terrible joke. 

The first thing that most illustrators do when creating a book, is sketch the whole thing out on one large piece of paper.  This way it’s easier to break up the text, and get a sense of what the whole thing will look like.   I also start looking for good compositions to emerge.  The picture below was just my first pass. There will be many, many more…

People keep asking about the Fangbone! TV show.  I wish I had some answers myself.  The stuff I do know, I can’t share.  Things are looking good though. The waiting at this point is very, very difficult, and it would crush me if the project fell apart this late in the game.  I’m trying to stay positive, which actually is not my default setting and it takes a great deal of effort.  And cake.  Cake helps.

This is a scan from my 2001 picture book, “The Pie is Cherry.”  Sadly, it is no longer in print.

Astronaut #18

Here's the same image as yesterday, this time the lines were drawn with a brush.  I tried a very different color scheme, and I think it works well.

Astronaut #17

Here's a new astronaut piece.  I was trying to see how little line I could get away with and still allow  the image to work.  While I intended it to look very light, as if it was drawn in a few moments, the line looks a bit too stuff.  It's amazing how something as simple as line quality can make, or break a drawing.  This was a good experiment, but I have some ideas on how to improve this, and play more to my strengths.

Where did the summer go?

Wow!  The summer really went by fast.  I've been creating the art for Icky Ricky #5, and have been working with the Fangbone! writers on some new scripts.

I'm putting up a few sketchbook pages just for fun.  There's no theme here, and there's nothing to discuss about their content. Just couches, monsters and knights. Enjoy.

I hope to have some big news on Fangbone! shorty!

Icky Ricky 3, and more...

Wow.  Did more than a month pass already?  I’ve been working on a few different things.  Icky Ricky #5 has been written, and I just completed the sketches.  Book #6 has been outlined.  I’m beginning to write that one now, and in a week or so I will begin on the book #5 final drawings.  It sounds a bit complicated, but it all makes sense in the end.

Icky Rick #3: The Dead Disco Raccoon was published in May.  I think it is, by far, the funniest of the bunch.  As always, there are a few different stories in the book.  In book #3 Ricky buys an ice cream cake on the hottest day of the summer, tells the story of how he met Gus, cleans a kitchen with a leaf-blower, buys a taxidermied raccoon, and gets attacked by a demon toilet!  All for $4.99!

The Fangbone TV project is still chugging forward, and this time I think we see the station ahead.  We had a meeting with Disney XD Canada, the folks who ordered the pilot, and they are very happy with our work.  We are hoping that a final decision, good or bad, will happen in the next few weeks.

Astronaut #16

This is from a cardboard print I made in grad school about six or seven years ago.  I used photoshop to duplicate certain parts of the print and add the wood.  Not much to say about it.  

It's done, which I guess is a good thing.

More "Worm" sketches

Here are a few more sketches from my big, sprawling, "rock and roll kid ends up in apocalyptic wasteland" story.  The star of the story is Worm, who I am really getting a kick out of.  I have many ideas and notes for this, but I really don't know what form it will take, and when I will be able to get to it.  I see it as a one long, stand alone, graphic novel.

One of the things I'd like to do is incorporate real lyrics into the story, as Worm has many of his favorites memorized.  I've blurred out some notes that would only make sense to me.

Here's some other characters.  At the bottom of this page are three tribe elders who carry ancient trophies on their heads.  They have named themselves after the text on the trophy that they each wear.  The first one is "MVP," the next is "Champion," and last two are known as "Northeast Champs Division 4"

More supporting characters.  (This image is made up of two scans.)

Worm's best friend is a local warrior-type kid called Cheese Fries.  Worm gives him that name after being unable to pronounce his real name.

Flexi and Trent

Sometimes when you have a new idea turning over in your head, it's good to knock out a simple image to help make your concept concrete.  These are the two main characters from something new that I am working on.  I'm not sure what form the book will take at the moment, but I'd love to do another graphic novel.

The quick version of the story is that Trent is an American kid who gets "stuck" in the small, strange, and strict country of Ploobsburg.  He becomes fast friends with Flexi and the two of them have to figure out a way for him to get home. Oh yeah, that barbed wire on the wall there?  That's a pretty common site in Ploobsburg.

Soldier sketches

Here's a batch of soldier sketches from the same sessions as the astronauts.  Again, I'm really just trying to find more interesting shapes in my characters.  I feel that some of these are falling into the "yes" category, and some into the "no" category.  But we all must make many lousy drawings if we want to get to the good ones.

Lindbergh School, Palisades Park NJ

"If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."---Milton Berle

More space travelers...

Some astronaut sketches from the other night.  Sadly, as I try to get simpler in my designs, I can't help lay on the details!  But these make me laugh.

Ricky Covers

As I'm getting ready to post the cover of Icky Ricky #3, I wanted to share theses cover sketches for book #1.

Astronaut #15

Can't believe I never posted this.  This was done last year, it's 100% digital, except for some paper textures.

It makes me think of my favorite line from Star Wars, "No blasters! No blasters!"

Shapes!

Here's some more animation design work.  In my picture books I never get this extreme with shapes, and this doesn't come naturally to me.  One thing I am having a tough time with is combining gesture and design into one image.  I think I'll get there.

I have no idea why I chose to draw bikers.