A New Blog Post

One might think that title is a bit redundant.  Not at all.  My work for Experience Life Magazine has been featured on Design Director Stepahnie Glaros's blog, seen HERE.  You can also link to it from my facebook page....HERE.

The Whos: They Are Drawn

Since it's Christmas-y time, and if you're not into that, it's also cold and dark, so you can celebrate that too, I drew two of my favorite Whos: Cindy-Lou and Doctor in what I assume would be the 5th from last page of an imagined adventure romp.  The Doctor would of course, start off his expedition into Who-ville by sampling the best of the local headwear.  Headwear is cool.

I also apologize for the off-model Cindy-Lou.  I was drawing from memory.  But like most Christmas gifts that aren't bowling balls, it's the thought that counts.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Tell us a comic book character as well as a holiday motif you’d like to see said comic book character appear in! Emma Frost meets Frosty the Snowman? Santa and Son of Satan fight some bad guys? Doc Ock and Aunt May under the mistletoe? So on and so forth!

rodtownsend suggested:

Dr. Who and his daughter Cindy Lou

Mohammed: It Is Drawn

This is Action Mohammed, the Super-Prophet of the Muslim faith.  Given that images of him are frowned upon to prevent Muslims from worshiping the man instead of the teachings (way to go on that), the irreverence of a comic book cover ought to dissuade any such inclined people from throwing away their torah and bowing in the direction of my art instead.

In honor of Fred Van Lente Day, we’ll tie in with Fred Van Lente’s upcoming project, Action Presidents, by having out artists do “Action” versions of other historical figures (not Presidents or Philosophers, of course). You suggest a historical figure and our artists will come up with an “Action” design for them (like how Plato was a wrestler, so the great Ryan Dunlavey designed him as a big masked wrestler)

JaronHataway suggested:

Action Muhammad

 

The Line: It is just the CUTEST thing

Based on a suggestion from somebody (repeated by Axel Medellin), pick a comic book character that you’d like to see a “Lil’” version of (like Lil’ Archie, Hellboy Jr. or all of those Skottie Young covers)
 
TheHeroBiz suggested:

Li’l Arkham Asylum

L'il Arkham Daycare.  There are a bunch of l'il superhero art things (that's what they're called now) out on the web, but they all seem so darn literal in taking characters and smushing them into smaller versions, so I wanted to do something different and portray the Batman crazies as ACTUAL mayhem-causing tots, wrecking up Arkham Daycare for the Criminally Insane (A.K.A. Children).  So a little thanks is in order to l'il Maggie Prevatt, whom I modeled l'il Harley Quinn after.  I swear, she is that cute.

In the background you can see traces of l'il Penguin and l'il Catwoman, since I don't think they're Arkham natives, and l'il Killer Croc and l'il Mr. Zsasz I couldn't think of "L'il" versions of.  Only typing this do I realize that I forgot Mr. Freeze, and that he'd be the perfect "I don't want to play" friend for l'il Bane in the corner there.  Oh well. 

L'il

The Fruit Pie: It Is Drawn

In honor of the sad news of Hostess Brands going out of business, the theme (which was suggested by a lot of people) is to pick a comic book character that you’d like to see our artists do an old school Hostess ad for. You can also name which Hostess product you’d like to see the character sell, but that’s optional.  


JaronHataway suggested:

Swamp Thing

This week's entry is clearly influenced by Alan Moore's seminal run on Saga of the Swamp Thing, especially issue #34, in which Abby and Swamp Thing commune and consummate their love on a higher plane with the aid of a hallucinogenic tuber grown off of Swamp Thing's back.  Personally, I feel it's the best issue of the run, and it was a heck of a lot more fun to draw than, say, a mushy green man fighting Etrigan the Demon for a stash of Twinkies.  I did my best to give the pages that iconic Steve Bisette/John Totleben feel, even if all I had were some Microns and a brush pen.

And because I steadfastly refuse to take any of this very seriously, we end on Moore himself, apparently incredibly high, hocking Hostess fruit pies with lewd jokes, as he would in real life.

The Line: It Is Of The Apes

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Tarzan, suggest mash-ups or team-ups of comic book characters and Tarzan characters 

B_Granderson suggested:

Cheeta versus wonder woman’s enemy, Cheetah

With special thanks to Frank Cho and Bill Watterson.
 

The Line: It Is Bond

In honor of both the fiftieth anniversary of the first James Bond film as well as the release of the latest one this Friday, suggest mash-ups or team-ups of comic book characters and James Bond characters 


Kholdstare21 suggested:

Power Girl is the next Bond girl and they must stop Lex from destroying the world.

ozmendoza suggested:

Sandman’s Death tries to take James Bond to the afterlife

With the Powergirl piece, I was really stuck on the composition, and tried for about four days to try and do something clever with the lady's cleavage hole.  Then I realized what I was missing was another element.  Lex Luthor is attempting to take over the world.  That makes him more than a foil for Bond, but what could he throw at Powergirl?  The power of Shazam obviously.  He's done it before.  Boom.

And then I just dropped the Death poster on a dime, because that's cool.  She's the only (non-personified) girl Bond comes back to in every movie.  Clearly, Death is Bond's true love, and a fickle lover at that.

Illustration Haunting

This is about a week late, but, "OOOooooOOOooo!  Spooky!"

first appearing in Arlington Magazine.

The THING: It is Drawn

This week the prompt is...

It’s Halloween time! Mash-up non-horror comic book characters inside of famous horror stories! Films, movies, TV series, whatever! It’s a perfect time for the 113th edition of Line it is Drawn!

BigMike20X6 suggested:

A monster invades Ozymandias’ lair

Paul Hostetler did the art for this one. Here is his website (and yes, Mike, we know you specified a different monster, but this monster looks pretty sweet, huh?).

Mike, sorry to disappoint your disappointment, but I did in fact draw John Carpenter's the Thing as you requested.  It makes sense.  The Thing was in Antarctica.  Ozy lives in Antarctica.  The Thing absorbs organisms.  Ozy has a habit of leaving organism bits lying around.  You can see there it's absorbed the bodies of Rorschach (blown up in the snow) Bubastis (Disintegrated in a lab) the three Chinese man servants (poisoned in a bubble garden) and the "Squid" (teleported to New York and exploded).  All of them were in Antarctica at some point.  the Thing could have gotten all of their DNA, and yes, Ozy is serving his guests Hostess cakes for dinner.

Shazam: It Is Drawn

In honor of the passing of one of the last great Golden Age Marvel Family creators, Marc Swayze, this week is all team-ups and/or mash-ups of comic book characters with characters from the Marvel Family.

Tako1337 suggested:

Captain Marvel teams up with John Constantine facing some kind of
evil magic thing. Let’s just say Constantine is a bad role model.

Can you spot all of the hidden references?  Of course you can.  But can you identify them?
See the good folks and others HERE. 

The Line It Is Drawn: The Vampire Slayer

Meanwhile, over at Comic Book Resources...

In honor of the 20th Anniversary of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, suggest team-ups/mash-ups with comic book characters and characters from the Buffyverse.

BigMike20X6 suggested:

Buffy & Hit-Girl

Alan Moore fan that I am, I couldn't resist dropping in a little Swamp Thing/Arcane mishmash in the back there.

The Line It Is Drawn: The Animated Series

For this week, In honor of the 20th Anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, suggest comic book characters that you’d like to see come to Gotham and be drawn in the B:TAS style (drawn in the style or drawn in the style and teaming up with B:TAS characters – either/or)

ArghantBigAxe and BigMike20X6 suggested:

Ennis’ The Boys in Gotham

If you look close, Wee Hughie there is holding a (pirated) copy of The Dark Knight to be autographed.

A Line Done Got Drawn

Up on Comic Book Resources:

"Based on a suggestion from Thea, mash-up comic book characters with the plays of William Shakespeare. Batman as Hamlet, Luke Cage as Othello, etc.
Enjoy!

I’ll put them in alphabetical order based on the name of the Twitter user who made the suggestion.
All copyright and trademarks of the following characters are held by their respective owners!
First off, though, let me note a fond farewell to Jason “Gonzo” Gonzalez. Jason’s a really busy guy and has had to take a few months off in the past, but this time around he just doesn’t see himself being able to get back into the swing of things in the future, so he decided to withdraw from contributing. We’ll miss you, Jason! You were awesome. Be sure to keep track of his awesomeness at his website here. Nature, of course, abhors a vacuum, so at the end of today’s installment you’ll meet Gonzo’s replacement."

Meet Gonzo's replacement:

"BigMike20X6 suggested:

Prospero’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Ariel, Caliban, Orlando et al) meet the heroes of Marvel 1602"

A line is drawn...

Some time ago, i submitted artwork to a popular Comic Book Resources feature, A Line is Drawn.  Suffice, I didn't get chosen to do the weekly fan art assignment, because no one who reads this blog went and voted for me.  And also a whole bunch of better people entered too.

But apparently, some of you did.  And apparently, some of you are also Israeli Mossad agents with intense loyalty to me, who bumped off one of the current Line is Drawn artists, Jason Gonzalez.  Pity.  He was really good, and hopefully, the agent took pity on him at the last moment and set him up with a new identity and life somewhere in Serbia under the name Shmjason Shmonzalez.

Take a look at the feature.  I will of course, be posting everything I there, here.

I blew the cover of the New Yorker

...or did I?  This little pun is courtesy of Blown Covers, a blog produced by Francoise Mouly, art director of the New Yorker, and her daughter, Nadja Spiegelman. 

The idea is an open contest to submit cover sketches for the New Yorker, based on a timely subject, chosen by Mouly.  I had known about this for a while, but this is the first time I've submitted anything.  To make up, I submitted two covers for the topic "Halloween."  Winners don't actually get on the cover of the New Yorker, but you get bragging rights of saying "the art director of said magazine thinks my art was pretty damn good."  So far, one artist has even gone on to have their art featured on the cover of the New Yorker. 

So send me luck, and if you happen to know a Francoise Mouly in New York, mention me, won't you?

Lifestyle choices

Apparently, taking a slowdown walk before you go to bed helps you feel more rested from the same amount of sleep. 

Apparently, driving a tiny gray car home from work at 9 PM while listening to your boss yell at you on your cellphone and jealously staring at well-rested attractive couples strolling with their adorable puppydog on the sidewalk until your skin turns green shockingly is not conducive to a restful night.

From Experience Life magazine.

Working for the weekend

 

Two pieces, since I forgot to post yesterday.  But really, they're about the same thing.  Obligations, and the ability (or inability) to arrange them to have free time to exercise or go running.  

First guy, incapable of doing that.  Second girl, able to do that.  Since clearly, all the people foisting obligations on her have arms and are able to take care of it by themselves.  

Moochers.

Money for the golden boy

People in stereotypically good shape get paid more than women who are too thin or chubby, and men who are too thin.  Bosses don't care if men are chubby. 

From Experience Life magazine.

But I have to work!

In a blatant attempt to boost my pageviews, I will be publishing all of my all-star international illustrations for the current issue of Experience Life (on stands now) at a rate of one per day, unless I forget or something. 

Five illustrations, of the finest watercolor this side of the universe, for the next five days.  Everybody shout hooray!

One Day Cover

Today I'm trying something different.
On Saturday, I met Francoise Mouly, and gave her my card.  On Sunday, I decided the only way she would remember me was if I sent her a follow-up card THIS WEEK.
At 5:00 PM today, I start making sketches for a postcard.

I'm going to document the process in real time on this blog.  Expect updates.

Graphite Angels

 Sometimes I like to remind myself that I can actually draw. 

All of these have a lot of flaws, but given that I was in a coffee shop with no anatomical reference, and what reference I did have kept moving around, I think I did all right.

Sh** Guys Say

Now in the newest Bethesda Magazine, men, and the wacky things they say, but that also actually mean something different.  Crazy, crazy men.  Am I right, ladies?

In which I continue to kill trees...

 "Oh, yeah, that joke about the frozen bananas is hi-LAR-ious.  Have I mentioned how dreamy your eyes are?"

 "I've got enough caffeine in my system to finish another three pages.  When that's done, I'll go replace it with alcohol."

 "That's a good one.  Have you heard that joke about the frozen banana?  Aw nuts, I gave away the punch line."

 "12 hits?  Oh, come on, that was one of my better blog posts.  Everybody's supposed to love frozen bananas."

 "Well, I don't want to hurt your feelings as say that I thought that concert was lame, so here, let me flex my chest a little.  All better, right?"

 "It was good to see Stacey again at the concert, but honestly, that guy she was with would not shut up about those frozen bananas.  Is that joke even supposed to be funny?"

 "No, we don't serve bananas.  Would you like a coffee?  No, sorry, we don't serve beer either."

 "Wow.  This blog has really gone downhill.  Bookmark list...delete."

 "Mmm.  yes, I've heard it.  I found it rather bourgeois and trite, and I only tell it ironically."

 "If she doesn't think she's a lesbian, someone should tell her.  It's so obvious.  LOL."

 "Bernard collapsed slowly on the floor, a single tear rolling down his cheek.  Montague looked on dispassionately.  'Pray tell, have you heard the tale of the banana in winter, Bernard?'  What the...?"

 "The price of bananas has skyrocketed!  Time to sell.  And we'll place those funds into Frigidaire.  Oh, I AM a genius."

"Trust me, she is so very definitely not a lesbian.  I know.  I can tell.  Can you believe they don't sell beer?"

 "Why does everyone assume I'm a lesbian?  Is it the bunch of bananas I have in my freezer?  Those were turning brown.  I'm going to make banana bread."

"Banana bread is delicious served hot."

Thar be napkin sketches

 Patron: talking to another patron I couldn't draw because of the angle, or a fat person in the way.

 Patron: talking to an equally imposing man with his back to me.

 Patron: writing what I assume was a screenplay or novel on his laptop.

 Patron:  Doing some sort of research or accounting or homework on a laptop.

 Patron: working on his laptop, but not working too hard, because he had no stacks of paper.

 Patron: One of a group of three, chatting merrily.

 Patron: Another of a group of three, chatting merrily.

 Patron: having shopped, was relaxing with an expensive, Italian-named coffee drink.

 Patron: doing something not too serious on his laptop.

 Patron: talking to her.

 Patron: talking to HER.

 Patron:  barista, code name Alec, in disguise as a civilian.

 Barista: code name Hunter.  Special skill: rosettas.

 Patron: to go cup.

 Patron: apparent winner of a card game with very complicated rules.

 Patron: chatting with friend, or being chatted to by friend.

 Patrons: discussing "Beasts of the Southern Wild" which they had just seen.

 Patron: very fashionable on a Friday night.

Barista: code name Danielle.  Secret power: waterproof.

Barista: code name Allie.  Secret power: concerts.



The vast majority of these were motivated out of the sheer boredom of sitting in a coffee shop with a ballpoint pen and nothing better to do or anywhere better to go.