Yoda Doodle

Sad to say it has been a very long time since I did a drawing just to draw and enjoy it. So in an attempt to motivate myself I have decided it was time to hit the ole sketchbook.

It's very rare that I do Con sketches for anyone but on occasion I do one for a close friend. I used to do on location caricatures jobs to make ends meet frequently during high school and college but those experiences taught me I don't like drawing on command for audiences. The peanut gallery always makes me nervous and I lose my focus and because someone is standing there waiting, the drawing is delivered prematurely and haphazardly. The one thing I learned from working at a newspaper, if you fill the world with inadequate 20-40 mins drawing they will come back to haunt you forever, usually on google, you'll Rue the day GOOGLE IMAGES!

I can't remember how many years ago it was but I went to a book show in Cincinnati (something on the Banks). I went to see many friends, local writers, and fellow illustrators. One of which was Craig Boldman http://www.craigboldman.com/ who is an amazingly talented writer/actor extra extraordinaire/artist/ for Archie's comics as well as many other things. I was with my wife visiting his booth when Craig caught me off guard and asked me to a sketch for one of his fans. I admire Craig so I didn't want to disappoint him but I didn't want my wife to wait while I did a hour long doodle either. It also help that Tom the guy who wanted the sketch was extraordinary nice and had photo reference, pencils, pens, and a sketchbook all with him and he knew exactly what he wanted. Long story, short, I did a terrible little Yoda sketch that has haunted my dreams ever since I gave it life.
So I thought I'd do a little Yoda for myself and while I was at it drop a little sage Yoda advice for good measure.

Kolchak: Monsters Among Us Cover

Moonstone hired me to do a new book for their upcoming title Monsters Among Us.

Here's the promo blurb:

Kolchak the Night Stalker: Monsters Among us

Written by David Michelinie, Christopher Mills
Art by : Don Hudson, Tim Hamilton
Cover: Woodrow J. Hinton III
188pgs, 7” x 10”, $18.95
10 digit: 1-933076-59-3
13 digit: 978-1-933076-59-1

TV’s premiere paranormal investigator returns!

“Mills' purple prose narration evokes Darren McGavin's voice and gives the book the verisimilitude necessary to contrast the premise as well as serve as a catalyst for comedy.”-comicbulletin.com

Two, two, TWO titanic and terrifying tales, collecting the Kolchak "Frankenstein Agenda" and "Night Stalker of the Living Dead" mini series! The farmlands don't always hold peace and quiet, as these two complementing Kolchak tales illustrate with an eerie clarity. In one town, Kolchak stumbles across a hulking mutation of a man-gone-wrong, and becomes as wanted by the U.S. Army as the creature they are stalking! And in yet another small town, there is a secret behind the silent, endless acres of corn... a secret that is turning townsfolk into decaying, walking dead! Kolchak has best use his... BRAAAAINS... if he's going to get out of this one!

One thing that I really appreciate with Moonstone is the long deadlines and friendly work relationship that is conducive to discussing the work. Joe and Dave have always been very easy to talk to and willing to listen to my ideas. The long deadlines make this a stress free give and take. One thing that can often cripple published illustrations is a heavy handed art director. If the art director did their job right, they hired the right person for the job, and allowing that person to create freely usually produces the best work possible. With that being said its also the illustrators job to remember that we are producing a product for a commercial market. It can be a delicate balance sometimes and thus far I have been very lucky in my career.

A few things that were interesting about this particular job was this is the first wraparound cover I have designed. Originally the image was just a single cover as show below.

When I was first contacted the vibe I was getting was that they wanted another split cover for doubled billing for two stories on the cover. I was very reluctant because one, I had just did a cover like this and I hate repeating myself and two, when creating elements in a composition giving three things (story1, story2, and Kochak) equal importance is usually a good way to produce crapolia. I went to comic shop to look at the cover and after doing several I sent in four thumbnail that I thought would solve the problem. The first three were basically what they were asking for and the third while trite was what I really wanted to do.

After reading the stories I found both have a very Americana down home country feel and I wanted to resonate with the audience immediately. American Gothic immediately popped into my head and the idea of the farmer and his wife being Zombie's. i knew the idea might be a little trite especially with what was going on over at Marvel but i still felt it was a solid concept to build on. Luckily Dave liked the idea and it was decided to do a spoof on Grant Wood's Grant Wood - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia American Gothic.

After I completed the image it was correctly decided that the monster in the second story was not showcased enough. The cover image was solid though and I didn't want to do anything to weaken the design so I suggested doing a rear cover in which I could continue the painting off frame and show the Frankenstein Agenda Monster in all his Martian glory. It would also let me add the framer back in since Kolchak the pimp stole his lady! I think the final result turned out well and hope the fans enjoy the cover.

I would also like to give a shout-out to Chet Zar enter

I have never meet him but after watching a very inspiring tutorial of his I had some fun throwing in some details to my zombies and monster. I'd also like to thank these blokes for the in-progress crits:

Brian Ewing : It's a small world...

Oliver Meinerding

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EricFortune.com - Home

33 Years of Randomness

Holy smokes Batman I'm old!

So for my Birthday I googled my name and found an award that I never new I won:

CityBeat Wins Statewide Journalism Awards

Spanks for the heads up there CityBeat.

There's a Cover I just completed coming soon, but in lieu of my art to come check this stuff:

very nice piece from my favorite DingOling:

Inside all of us is a wild thing…that may or may not be finished yet? | Oliver Meinerding

Great stuff- these fellahs are da bomb:

SiDEBAR - COMICS, ART & POP CULTURE

Gotta love gayfish:

I'm Going Home! - Clips - South Park Studios

Why pay for art school go here:

Gurney Journey

Worth every penny, good read for manga fans:

drawn and quarterly

Word of the day:

Chutzpah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Art Critic:

I am better than your kids.

Bated Breath:

Diablo III

D&D Arcane Power Artist link

There is a nice write up about all the artists who worked on Arcane Power in the ArtOrder  (a blog by Jon Schindehette Senior Art Director Dungeons & Dragons® Wizards of the Coast)

ArtOrder: The Artists of the D&D® Arcane Power™ RPG Supplement

White Wolf

All images are © White Wolf

The images appear in The Beast that Haunts the Blood: Nosferatu:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=60626&filters=0_0_0_1800

and

Scion Companion:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=60466

Zombie Film Concept Sketches

These sketches where done as character exploration for The Undertakers Film.

http://www.theundertakersmovie.com/news.html

Wizards of the Coast D&D

All images are © Wizards of the Coast

They can be found in the Arcane Power.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/9780786949571