CGStories Intial Cover Designs

There had been some discussion on the Comic Geek Speak forum for quite a while about doing some sort of anthology. The idea would get kicked around every so often, and then die. Sometime during the past year, a concerted effort was started to make the thing a reality. Chris Murrin shouldered the daunting task as editor of the entire project. It went for a grand 100 page plus monster of an anthology down to a typical comic book length read. A title was selected, CGStories, by a poll on the forum. What he didn't have was a suitable cover for the book, so he asked me. I gladly accepted and set about designing the cover. I ran through a half dozen goofy ideas and settled on an idea based the artwork of M.C. Escher. I wanted an image that would convey the fact that the book was done by artists and writers that are fans of the CGS podcast. Here are my initial sketches and mock-ups.

This first sketch is my original blueline rough of the cover idea


This next image is a cleaner and slightly inked version of the sketch. I added the outline of what would be the sheet of drawing paper and I added the iPod controls.


This image is the black and white mock-up, without type, that I sent to Chris for his approval. He really liked the idea and the art so I proceeded. I added the CGS logo and woodgrain to show what I was going to do and I rotated the art slightly to mimic the original illustration by Escher.


I'll post the initial colors and final artwork for the CGStories anthology comic soon.

Have One Helluva Holiday Season!

Here's a scan of the artwork I sketched onto the cards I sent to the CGS Podcast and to Comics on the Green, my local comic book shop. For those that may not know, the sketch features Mike Mignola's Hellboy and Abe Sapien characters as Santa and his little helper. My initial sketches also included Liz Sherman (the firestarter) and Johann (the guy in the containment suit) also dressed-up as helpers. It was a little too busy and I felt using just Hellboy and Abe worked best to convey the message.
(Pens and brush pens on bristol board and colored with a variety of markers)

The Christmas Cards . . . now in Glorious Color!

You've seen the black and white images of my custom Christmas cards, well here's scans of the colored versions of those cards.

First up is the "Walken" card.


Next, the colored version of the "Yul Cheer" card from this year.


(Art laser printed on buff-colored card stock and colored with various markers)

'tis the season: Christmas Card Week, Part 4

Today's Christmas card is brand spankin' new. This is the card I'm sending around this year. I intended to do this one last year, but ran out of time before the holidays. I have all the cards completed to a point, all I have to do is color and fold each one.

The front of the card . . . hopefully folks will remember who Yul Brenner was:


The inside with the comedic gold punchline and standard checklist greeting:

I'll post a scan of one of the hand-colored cards tomorrow.

(Micron pen and brush pen on drawing paper, scanned in Photoshop and imported into CorelDRAW for layout.)
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'tis the season: Christmas Card Week, Part 3

Today's card is from way back in 1990! Once again, I don't have any hand-colored originals, but I do have scans of the inked line work. No extra work done on these, hand lettering and photo copies this time around.
The front features the nativity:

On the inside, the payoff:

(Felt tip pen on drawing paper and photo copied)

BONUS! Ich Bin Ein Klawspiel Prize

While I was out shopping recently, I spied one of those claw game machines in the store's lobby. You know those machines, the ones that you use controls to manipulate a crane and claw to pick up prizes like toys and clothes. Well, when I peered at the prizes in this particular machine, I saw this:

Yep, that's right . . . a plush President John F. Kennedy doll. I was kinda shocked and taken aback by the thing. I NEVER expected to see one of the US Presidents as prize for a kid's game. Seeing the lonely little JFK doll sitting forlornly in the corner made me feel sad. The more I thought of it, the sadder I felt. I knew I had to capture the wee guy in pixels for posterity.

'tis the season: Christmas Card Week, Part 2

Today I'm posting scans of the big Christmas card I did last year. The card was over-sized and a copy was given to my local comics shop Comics on the Green and another was sent to the cast of the Comic Geek Speak podcast. Naturally, the subject of the card is comic book related. Since each card was an original, I don't have a color copy. I do have scans of the inked artwork before they were colored.

First, the outside of the card featuring that lovable ol' Marvel planet eater out for a stroll on a brisk Winter's day:

The inside features those four fantastic do-gooders as kiddies, and they're up to no good:

(Micron pen and brush pen on drawing paper, scanned in Photoshop and imported into CorelDRAW for layout.)
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'tis the season: Christmas Card Week, Part 1

It's December, so I'm finally giving in to the holiday hype. All this week I'll feature original Christmas cards I've drawn over the years. This first card was done two years ago. I drew the original card and then scanned it and laser-printed numerous duplicates. I then hand colored all the individual prints. I don't have any of the colored originals laying around, but this is a scan of the original inked art.

The front of the card, featuring everyone's favorite character actor:

Inside the card with the punchline and my standard checklist greeting:

(Micron pens and brush pens on drawing paper, scanned in Photoshop and then imported into CorelDRAW for layout.)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - Episode 334 - New York Anime Fest, Bryan's Back from Italy, and the mailbox
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Meet You, Greet You at the Lady's Room

Another quickie (also large) sketch for today. This just happened during lunch. (FYI: my cubicle is located just outside the women's bathroom here at work, so it's not uncommon for me to be in that general vicinity...really.) I don't know what compelled me to draw it, I just had to.
(Micron Pigma pens on scrap paper.)

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Halloween 2007 Walken Goofiness

It was a Christopher Walken kinda day at the office today.
Mask downloaded from brandonbird.com
First, we have the hastily-colored Walken mask:



Now some great moments from Christopher Walken's career, first CW as Whitley Strieber in the movie COMMUNION (FYI: That scene when the alien peeks around the corner still scares the bejeezus out of me.)



Next, Christopher as Bruce Dickenson on SNL



Chris as Captain Koons from PULP FICTION



Your favorite hoofer in the Fatboy Slim WEAPON OF CHOICE video



Finally, Christopher Walken as Nicky from THE DEER HUNTER
"Didi mau!"



Thanks to Vince Bonavoglia and Scott Shemo for the photography.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Goofy #123 - Seizures

I was feeling silly today and quickly whipped-up this sketch during break.
(Faber-Castell artist pens on scrap paper.)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - CGS BOMC 19 - Comic Geek Speak - Book of the Month Club - Episode 19 - Marvels
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Lace 'em up!

I was messing around with CorelDRAW today when I was inspired to do a logo after installing a new font. The font reminded me of the font used on the circles on the Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers. I threw it together in CorelDRAW and added a texture in Photoshop. I'm pretty happy with it. I may take this a bit further.
(CorelDRAW and Photoshop)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - CGS BOMC 18 - Comic Geek Speak - Book of the Month Club - Manhunter
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Messing Around with a Couple New Brush Pens

I love to try new drawing implements just to find new and fun ways to draw. At the CGS Episode 300 podcast, Mr. Bruce Rosenburger (the Dean of Comic Podcasts) gave me a Bienfang brush pen for my birthday. One day this past week, my computer at work went down. I filled the down time by playing around with the pen. I had an older Pentel brush pen and the new Bienfang to test drive. The first image is a self portrait done with the older pen. I like how scrubby the line is, it looks kinda like a Gary Panter drawing. (Note: the drawing was done while listening to my Phillies being beaten by the Rockies during the first game of their playoff series.) The second drawing is of my buddy and officemate Vince. I did the Vince doodle with the new Bienfang. I really like the line, although it may be a bit heftier than the line I usually use. It should come in handy for some specialty work or when I don't feel like getting a brush dirty.
Check out Bruce Rosenburger's KomicsKast podcast HERE.
(Bienfang and Pentel brush pens on scrap paper.)
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Now playing: AroundComics.com - Around Comics Ep. 137 - The End? Not Really
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2007 CGS Freking Sweer Award

Every year since 2005, the Comic Geek Speak podcast has awarded their Freking Sweer award. The award is presented to listeners and forum members of merit as decided by the CGS cast. This year I was amongst a group of 4 recipients of the award presented during the 300th episode celebration in Reading, PA. I'd like to thank all the Geeks at CGS for this honor, it was humbling and totally unexpected. For more info on Comic Geek Speak click HERE.

CGS Episode 300 Trading Cards

Here are three original art trading cards created for the Comic Geek Speak Episode 300 artist card exchange. I decided to use my Mr. Zombie and Chad characters and I added one of myself. Since the cards are cut to the same size as traditional baseball cards, I designed them to look like classic Topps baseball cards.
(Micron and Sharpee pens on smooth bristol board, colored with markers and colored leads)

The Geeks Episode 300 Finished Artwork

Here's the finished artwork for the CGS Episode 300 comic book.
(Pen and brush on smooth bristol board, scanned and colored in Photoshop, text and vector art added in CorelDraw)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - Episode 300
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The Geeks Episode 300 Original Inked Linework

More geeky goodness! Bryan Deemer from the CGS podcast asked me to submit some artwork for their 300th episode commemorative comic book. I said yes and started to ponder what I was going to draw. The inspiration came to me as I was boxing some comics. I saw the cover for the first issue of Garth Ennis's THE BOYS. I thought doing a parody of that cover was the way to go. There's no way I could ever expect to match the great Darick Robertson talent wise, so I hope my attempt is taken in the spirit it was presented. Here's the original inked linework for the image.
To learn more about the Comic Geek Speak (CGS) podcast, click HERE.
To find out more about The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, click HERE.
(Pen and brush on smooth bristol, scanned)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - Episode 300
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Big Iron Pinup Finished Artwork

Here's the finished colored pinup artwork for the Pixelstrips Big Iron comic book.
I scanned my jeans to get the color and texture on the pants, I scanned my leather jacket for the vest and holster, and I scanned a pillowcase for the texture on the shirt.
(Pen and brush on smooth bristol board, scanned and colored in Photoshop)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - Episode 300
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Big Iron Pinup Original Linework

To kick off the return of the Sketchblog, here's the original inked linework for a pinup that appeared in the Pixelstrips Big Iron comic book. Thanks to Pixelstrips and Kevin Volo for the opportunity. You can enjoy Pixelstrips web comic strips by going HERE.
(Pens and brush on smooth bristol board, scanned)
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Now playing: Speakers of Geek - Episode 300
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The CGS Illuminati

Over on the Comic Geek Speak (CGS) podcast forum I posted a new Freking Sweer strip. Here's a detail from that particular cartoon. UPDATE: The original inked drawing for this particular image will be donated to the CGS auction during Episode 300.
(Pens and brush on smooth bristol board, scanned and colored in Photoshop)
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Now playing: The Who - Quadrophenia
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It won't be long now . . .

Yeah, I know that's what Lorena Bobbit said to John, but it's true. To coincide with the release of the artwork I've recently completed, I'll fire this sucker back up shortly. I'll be posting the usual inane oldies-but-goodies and I'll sprinkle in the new work here and there for taste.
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Where The Hell Have You Been, Asshat?

Okay. I heard ya. I haven't put anything up here on the blog in quite some time. Well, I'm taking a short vacation this week, and when I come back I'll go back to posting the same stuff I was posting before. I do have a couple things in the works that will debut here, so check back often.
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Now playing: Gorillaz - O Green World
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Just what the hell is going on here?!

Okay, okay. You may (or may not) have noticed that I've taken a long break from posting stuff to the blog. My original goal was to post something once a day for a solid month. I did that and then some. I still have TONS of older stuff I can post. But I want to set things up where there are running themes along with the possibility of posting topical and relevant new content. It'll probably mean I'll get away from posting daily to posting something 2 or 3 times a week. I'm currently completing some new drawings and scanning older stuff with the goal of relaunching my MAD World. Keep checking back, I'll be posting the new stuff very soon. I promise . . . really.

I also intend to follow through on Mr. Zombie and Chad.

Don't say I didn't warn ya'll.

Goofy #122 - NASA Today 2

Part 2 of the NASA Today comic from 1979. Where this comic was going next is a mystery, a story that's lost to the ages. I can't remember what art or storyline was to come next. You can see where all those years of reading Mad magazine really rubbed off on the younger me. I'm lucky to be scanning these pages now, the paper and markers aren't in the best condition.
(Felt tip on drawing paper.)

Goofy #121 - NASA Today 1

Okay, I took another weekend off. To make up for that, I'll post what are the oldest sketches added to the blog to date. I did these drawings back when I was still in high school in 1979. NASA was having a tough time of it and I thought they could use a little positive PR. This sketch is the first of two I did as a possible comic solution for the situation.
(Felt tip on drawing paper.)

Goofy #120 - The Pope's Hat

I don't know what it is about this goofy doodle that makes me laugh. All I know is it makes me chuckle every time I see it. This was done 7 years ago during another of our exciting staff meetings.
(Felt tip on note pad)

Goofy #119 - Split Seconds

I've been debating if I'd post this doodle or not ever since I fished it out of the "box-o-sketches". Since I've posted everything else so far, I'll continue. The idea for this sketch is from about 10 years ago. It was a rough idea for a possible "24 Hour Comic " that never happened. You may have noticed there are a lot of sketches on this blog that are related to something that never got off the ground. I'm such a go-getter! FYI: this is the watered-down version of an original idea where everyone in the story was dropping an F-bomb.
(Sharpee on scrap paper)

Goofy #118 - Wedding

This sketch was done 15 years ago just a few days before my wedding. Incredibly, I somehow managed not to drop a cookie during the ceremony. Who sez miracles don't happen anymore?
(Pencil on scrap paper)

Goofy #117 - Cowpoke

This pencil sketch was done about 5 years ago for an ad for a local country/western bar. The customer wanted a more realistic drawing, so this cartoon was unused. It looks like I was channeling the ghost of Tex Avery for this one, and that ain't a bad thing. I'll post some of the more realistic drawings sometime in the future.
(Pencil on drawing paper)

Goofy #116 - Achtung!

This sketch is an enlargement of a quick doodle done on a post-it during a staff meeting. I scanned it and added some colors. Ya gotta love those WWII Ratzi uniforms!
(Felt tip pen on post-it, scanned and colored in Photoshop)

Goofy #115 - Condiments

This sketch is from 10 years ago. I was out to lunch with the boys and we decided to eat at Arby's. After we got our order, we went over to the condiments table. I was reaching for some ketchup when this kid told me not to mess up the counter because he just cleaned it. The fact that the restaurant employed mentally handicapped workers prompted me to doodle this. I think I captured the kid perfectly.
(Felt tip on scrap paper)

Goofy #114 - WOW!

To some folks today is Cinco de Mayo, but more importantly it's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2007! To honor the occasion I'm posting what's probably the oldest doodle to date. This sketch was done almost 25 years ago when I worked at my first ad agency. I used to listen to the radio as I worked at my desk. Every so often, this annoying local ad guy would start off his commercials with a scream. That annoying fella inspired this doodle.
(Rapidograph and Sharpee on scrap paper)

Goofy #113 - Big-Headed Baby

This is the kind of doodle that comes from a long and boring staff meeting. It's a tradition around here to try and make the guy across from you at the meeting table laugh. I don't know what prompted it, but it's as silly today as it was 10 years ago.
(Felt tip pen and Sharpee on note paper.)

Goofy #112 - Marty as Hellboy

Wow, a brand new drawing for today! I was goofing around and thought I'd do an avatar of myself as Mike Mignola's Hellboy.
(Micron brush and Pigma pens on drawing paper, scanned and colored in Photoshop.)

Goofy #111 - Soviet Fleet

This sketch is another one of those done back in the early 80s when the Soviet Union was still the "Evil Empire". Back in those days, the Red Fleet had a series of naval accidents and disasters that were reported in all the papers. I thought, "What would a Russian Navy recruiting poster look like?
(Rapidograph and colored felt tip on scrap paper.)

Goofy #110 - Boob Guy

This last two-fer should compensate for me taking last weekend off. This sketch is one of those that I do when I'm on the phone and on hold. What prompted me to do this is long forgotten, but it amused me so much I kept it. Man-boobs are as funny as they are disgusting.
(Felt tip on scrap paper)

Goofy #109 - Hank the Fetus 2

This sketch was done way back when I did the original "Hank the Fetus" sketch (see Goofy #54). This is the kind of stuff Hank would be doing if he were in a daily comic. In this panel he's calling out some Iraqis during the first Gulf War.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)

Goofy #108 - Nipple Head

Another piece of doodle idiocy for today. Lil' Jimmy emerged from one of our lunch time "scream in the car" sessions on day about 10 years ago. Look at the lil' guy . . . ain't he cute. Remember, this was done years before "The Oblongs" even existed.
(Felt tip pen on scrap paper.)