Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom

Remember the old Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom? Well I do! The thought of Jim giving a wild gorilla a rusty trombone made me laugh. This is the first thing I've been able to draw in WEEKS. Hopefully I'm getting my touch back.
(Sharpee on scrap paper.)

A St. Patrick's Day Greeting From My Friend Scott

My friend Scott sent me one of those wacky custom JibJab Flash greeting cards. He customized it with some of our favorite characters, Paulie Walnuts, Eddie Van Halen, Captain Kirk, Rip Taylor and myself. Because it's so frightening, it's funny.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

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Now playing: Comic Geek Speak - Episode 591 - Talking Original Art
via FoxyTunes

Comic Geek Speak The End

In celebration of the Comic Geek Speak Super Show in 2008, CGS forumite Harold Jennett put together a comic book to mark the occasion. More than a dozen members of the CGS forum lent their artistic, writing and editing skills to tell the strange tale of the CGC podcast mascot, the Puppet Rios. Here's a sample from my pages.



If you're interested in seeing more, you can order your very own copy of Comic Geek Speak The End at IndyPlanet. It's fun with a capital F!

Short Stack #2

Angry Gnome Comics publishes a horror anthology called SHORT STACK. It's a series of two page horror stories. Shawn Shawn Gabborin, the chief cook and bottle washer over at Angry Gnome offered me a script to illustrate called Twins. He didn't have to ask twice. Here's a couple panels from the issue.




The big guy is a self-portrait, the little fella is based on my buddy Vince B.
If you're interested, you can order the issues from Angry Gnome or from IndyPlanet.
Each issue is a bloody good time!

CGStories Final Cover Design

Thanks to the incredible Mister Chris Murrin, I got my comp copies of CGStories in the mail today . . . and it looks BEE-YOO-TEE-FOOL! Kudos to everyone involved. So finally . . . drum roll please . . . the cover artwork for the CGStories anthology.

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.

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
via FoxyTunes

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
via FoxyTunes

Goofy #86 - Marty 'n' Stinky Show

Now this is wacky. This quick sketch was done just after I let college. Some friends and I thought it would be a hoot to do a TV show featuring a human and a dirty sweat sock as co-hosts. We came up with the Marty 'n' Stinky Show. Well the idea wasn't that shitty since the concept has been used a handful (pun intended) of times since. Age is taking a toll on the markers and paper, the yellowing and bleeding are very apparent in this one.
(Markers on scrap paper.)

Goofy Bonus #15d - The Kollective Brain

This final bonus sketch is of the band's other founding member and rythym section, Marty Devoid on the skins. Yeah, I used to be that skinny. Through these 45 year old eyes, we don't look quite as cool and hip now as we thought we did back then. At least WE didn't buy our punk from Hot Topic.
(Felt tip pens on drawing paper then photo-stated and pasted-up on board.)

Happy Frekin' Christmas, Iceholes!