Digital Coloring Exercise

Today in the studio, I spent some time brushing up on my digital coloring skills.

Although I use Photoshop religiously, I almost never paint with it.
In fact, the last time I colored anything 100% digitally was 2010.

So, to break my digital dry spell, I found an inked image from a comic book (the cover of Uncanny X-Men #514 by Terry Dodson) and spent an afternoon filling in the color via Photoshop. It took me three hours, which is not half bad when I consider how long it's been since the last time I saw a swatch palette. I definitely want to make that go faster though and I'm certain that a few more exercises like this one will help me get back into the swing of things.

Adventure Time: Marceline - pt. 2

The Marceline piece is finally finished. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I'll post it here and see what people think.

I'd also like to give some long overdue praise to Marcus Ranum. I don't always have the time to stage my own photo shoots and Mr. Ranum's gorgeous stock photography has been an invaluable resource to me.

Any artists looking for a reliable source of free-to-use reference images should check out this link. You can thank me later.

Adventure Time: Marceline - pt. 1

After running into some extremely frustrating technical difficulties, I've decided to put the Cloud Atlas image aside for a little while. Until I resume working on it, (or can get started on any of the paid assignments that are sitting in my own personal queue) I'm going to devote my time to putting out a long-overdue Adventure Time themed image!

Marceline the vampire queen is one of my favorite characters from that show. Rather than feasting on blood like traditional vampires do, she eats shades of red- hence the strawberries.

Color Study

Planning out the image was more frustrating than I'd been expecting, but I feel like I've finally worked out enough of the kinks to take it to final. As of right now, the plan is to complete this image in watercolors with only a little bit of colored pencil detail work.

I've been in a bit of a creative rut recently and I'm hoping that this image will finally get me out of it.
So far, so good!

Cloud Atlas

I had the pleasure of seeing Cloud Atlas in theaters recently and if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

Fair warning though, if you're looking for a passive movie-going experience, look elsewhere, because this movie requires you to be paying attention and using your brain at all times.

There are six intertwining storylines, each taking place in a different period of history with the same actors playing different roles (often with disregard to the usual barriers of gender or race). Each story relates to the others in ways that become more apparent as you go on, until it's clear that this is really one story with six different facets.

Each of the stories is tied together by shared themes and actors, but I also picked up on a commonality between certain objects. Some items (like the sailor's bright blue buttons) appear in several tales simply by standing the test of time until they are rediscovered by the next batch of characters. Others items are visual echoes of things that came before, like the broken china plates from 1930 and the shattered terra cotta pots that appear in the contemporary story line.

The basic concept of the image is this: I want to show Somni-451, in the same pose as the statue they worship after the fall, floating above a vast sea. There's the rubble of Seoul in the background, rising up out of the waves and snow falling from the sky. Upon closer inspection, the snowflakes are actually teeth. Somewhere in the piece will be my favorite quote from Somni-451: "From womb to tomb, our lives are not our own."

I briefly considered using the line "What is an ocean but a multitude of drops?", but I like imagining that this image could be found on a religious icon after the fall, so it made more sense to stick to the other quote, which becomes a post-apocalyptic proverb after Somni's death. (That's not a spoiler. People don't live to be 300 years old.)

Originally, I'd wanted to have swirls of small objects playing around the form of Somni-451. A cloud of papers that start out as the sheet music from the Cloud Atlas Sextet and slowly change into the contents of the Swannekke Nuclear Report, as well as a mass of broken porcelain shards from the composer's story line mingling with shattered pottery from the publisher's tale. Try as I might, I couldn't get it to look good on paper though, so no clouds of earthenware for Somni.

I'd been planning on framing it as if it was an oval portrait, but after a while I decided to go with an art nouveau style design instead. It looks like that'll help me solve a lot of the design problems I'd been having. And besides, I'm such a sucker for art nouveau that I'll take any excuse to work Mucha-esque elements into an illustration.

I had to abandon the swirling object clouds, but now I have four mini-windows to work with and I can place one of each into the corners without making the main image too busy. Adding a bit of art nouveau flavor also allows me to add purely graphic elements to an otherwise realistic scene. I'd been looking for a way to include the sailor's buttons into the image and now I can work them in the background, beyond the horizon.

It's starting to come together and I'm excited to see where it goes from here.

Shakespeare Shaken - Pt. 1

Since the Shakespeare Shaken Anthology is now available to the public, I can finally post images of my contributions!

The hardest part about this entire project was waiting to share my work online, especially considering that several of these illustrations are some of my strongest work.

I'll be posting behind-the-scenes images all throughout the month. Process animations, photo reference, you name it. Pretty much everything I've been keeping under my hat since last January finally gets to come out. Prints of these fine illustrations are now available for sale online, both in my Etsy store and in my new RedBubble store.

CLICK HERE TO ORDER SHAKESPEARE SHAKEN

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE PRINTS OF MY WORK

Let's start with my Shakespearean bodice ripper, The Legend of The Ass Man!

The Ass Man was one of those rare and delightful anomalies where everything came together quickly and easily. This piece was an absolute joy to work on and I definitely enjoy the finished product more when the creation process is painless.

I pulled my inspiration from the very distinctive visual style of trashy romance novels. We all know the type: there's a muscular, conspicuously shirtless, Fabio-lookin' dude passionately clutching some swooning crinoline-covered beauty.

My brother Robert and sister-in-law Stacia were in visiting us when I first started working on this piece and they were gracious enough to pose for my reference shots. (You may recognize Stacia as the model I used for Magdalene)

I used cicada wings for the faeries, since I've always found them more appealing and solid looking than dragonfly wings. I also decided that faeries probably wouldn't think about clothing as something meant to conceal their bodies (They live in the woods! What's there to be shy about?), but rather as a means to adorn themselves. I clothed the center faerie in plants and the far-right one in a flimsy tunic. Originally, it was going to be made of something resembling spanish moss, but I eventually opted for gossamer fabric instead. I had also been planning on covering the far-left faerie in lichen, but I just couldn't make it look right.

The medium for this piece was mostly watercolors and colored pencil, although there was some digital work done on it before the end. What I'd do for the most part was put down a large area of color using the paints and then work in the details with colored pencils. At the very end I found that I'd picked a color combination for the center faerie that I hated.

The values were all correct, but the color reminded me of a frog and not in a good way. Rather than erase it all and start over, I scanned it in and used my (then) brand spanking new Wacom tablet to isolate that part of the image so I could alter it digitally. Worked like a charm!

The linework took about 20 hours and that's because I went into far more detail than was necessary on the flowers and leaves that adorned the trio of faeries. After transferring the piece down to watercolor paper, the final art took about a week. Designing the book's text and placing the image in context took another 8 hours, for a grand total of 60 hours start-to-finish.

Next Up: 

Detective Horatio!

NYCC and Other Assorted Chaos

The Shakespeare Shaken book signing at Stormwatch was a moderate success. I didn't sell as many books as I was hoping to, but most of that was because there were customers who had purchased copies before the event and were bringing those in to be signed. It was a bit slow, but I managed to sell enough prints to keep me from getting too disappointed about the turn out.

By the next morning, we were back on the road again- headed out to New York this time. NYCC was absolutely wonderful for me this year! I kicked off the weekend by landing a book cover job with a legitimate publishing house! I can't say about it much yet, but I am super excited about this project and I hope it's the first of many!

Photo Credit: Robert Hoskins

The first day of the con was spent showing my portfolio to every book publisher I could find. I got a lot of positive feedback, so hopefully some of those leads will turn into new projects within the coming months. After I finished making the rounds as a professional, I was free to kick back and act like a fangirl for the rest of the weekend.

I'd been adding some extra details to my Poison Ivy costume, with the intent of turning it into a Queen Titania costume for Halloween. After I saw another Ivy wearing a velvet cape, the temptation to take my dream cloak for a test drive was too strong to resist and I unveiled it a few weeks early. I am SO proud of how this whole get up has turned out. There are a few things I'd like to add, but the area around my face (the hood and clasp and the way my wig just pours out of the cowl) is exactly the way I wanted it.

I found out about a graphic novel adaptation of the Book of Revelations, illustrated by Chris Koelle. It's GORGEOUS and it does a really good job of staying true to the original text, while at the same time, making the story as coherent as possible. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.

Photo Credit: Jason Torse

I must've stopped by the Jersey Jack Pinball booth at least twice a day. They had a new Wizard of Oz game that they were letting people try out for free.

As far as I know, there are only two pinball machine companies still in existence, so I'd never even seen a brand new pinball machine before! It was SO shiny! It had a gorgeous video display and surprisingly good voice acting! If I ever win the lottery, I'm definitely buying myself a pinball machine. ...And a copy of Magical Truck Adventure.

While at NYCC, I learned about Red Bubble, which enables artists to sell their work in new & interesting ways and customers to obtain some seriously cool items. I now have a brand new online store that's chock full of lovely prints, as well as some t-shirts and even iPhone cases! There's something about seeing my own work on a cell phone cover that is indescribably cool to me.

On Sunday, I worked a one-day comics show
at the International House in Philadelphia.

While there, I did this Batwoman sketch cover for a customer and reconnected with my contact from Dynamic Forces. You should definitely keep your eyes peeled for new LG sketch covers on their front page!

All in all, not a bad way to spend a weekend.

 

Upcoming Events:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! This year's Punk Rock Flea Market will feature a table manned by yours truly! It'll be in Philadephia on Sunday, December 9th in the "Punk Rock Flea Market Dome", which is a fancy way of saying "the old FedEx Warehouse across the street from The Starlight Ballroom". The building is at 9th and Spring Garden and the event will be open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm.

ALMOST FORGOT! For those of you who haven't seen it yet, here's a mini-comic about the thoughts that went through my head while waiting in line at NYCC.

Post Show Recap: Mid-Ohio

This trip flew by so fast I barely had time to realize it before it was over. The city of Columbus was just as I remembered it from last year, unbelievably clean and full of people so polite it's kind of unnerving. Here are some of the highlights:

• I saw Tony Isabella again and gave him a kiss right on top of his big ol' head.

• I finally met the international man of mystery, Dirk Manning. We have a ton of mutual friends, but had never actually hung out until this trip. Turns out, he's AWESOME. He gets the LG seal of approval. Anyone who was on the fence until this moment may now proceed to become friends with him. You're welcome.

• I went to Max & Erma's with Dirk & Sarah and we did nothing but make bawdy jokes and double entendres for the entire meal. Then ordered a giant plate of cookies. It was pretty much the perfect night out.

• I was able to spend some time with Enrica Jang and Matt Fletcher, both of whom are wonderful. Enrica (the head honcho of Red Stylo Media and editor of Shakespeare Shaken) is going to try to make it out to my signing next week, which is extremely exciting! Also, there is a Poe Anthology: Part II coming down the pike (Poe Twistier is the title, I believe) sometime in the not so distant future, so I need to start brainstorming for that.

• I finally got to taste some ice cream from Jeni's. This place is legendary among Ohio locals, who tend to speak of it in reverent/orgasmic tones. Since I've been spoiled by some pretty amazing ice cream experiences in my life, I wasn't expecting it to blow my brain apart the way everyone seemed to insist it would, but I will say that 2 of the 3 flavors I ordered were on par with the most delicious ice cream I've ever had... I know that doesn't sound like much of an endorsement, but it really is. The riesling poached pear sorbet was especially good, as was the brambleberry crisp. Whiskey and pecans was meh.

Me & Darth Maui

• Paul Storrie came out to dinner with us and he was as witty and entertaining as ever. I was also delighted to learn that he can do some decent impressions. I really enjoy silly voices, so discovering this talent of his bumped up Paul's coolness factor at least 6%… AT LEAST.

• This'll sound a bit silly, but I had Popeye's Chicken for the first time and their chicken tenders are one of my favorite foods now. The chicken itself is delicious of course, but the star of the show is their Sweet Heat sauce. It's like honey and Sriracha sauce had a baby. A sweet delicious baby.

The drive back home was unexpectedly scenic. Everything was covered in a really thick fog, which made even mundane things look mysterious and a bit foreboding at night. Even when we stopped at a Sunoco to fuel up, being unable to see anything beyond the pumps made it all feel like a dream - a sensation that was significantly enhanced by the appearance of the girl who we paid for the gas. She had bone white hair, which looked real, and pointed elf ears, which probably weren't. The boundaries between our world and the Never Never must've been especially thin in that area.

The next morning, I had the pleasure of waking up in rural Pennsylvania, with the sun just coming over the horizon. The scenery was all rolling pastoral hills and autumnal trees still silver with frost, and all covered in a low hanging fog that coalesced into clearly defined clouds that sat in valleys as if they weighed too much to float in the sky today. It was an absolutely delightful way to end a trip.

I'm back in Jersey, but there's no time to slow down yet.

This weekend is the Collingswood Book Festival, then my book signing at Stormwatch Comics on the 10th, and then NYCC starts the day after that. When I finally come to a full stop I'll probably collapse, but until then, momentum should carry me through to the end of the month.

October Activities

Upcoming Events:

Collingswood Book Festival

Haddon Avenue, Collingswood NJ

October 6th 2012, 9am to 4pm

You'll find me beneath one of the many tents along Haddon Avenue in downtown Collingswood (I won't know which one until the day of the event). I'll have a table full of prints and t-shirts and of course, will be selling and signing copies of Shakespeare Shaken all day long.

Click here for more information on the Collingswood Book Festival

Shakespeare Shaken Book Signing

at Stormwatch Comics

October 10th 2012, 4am to 8pm

I'll be having my first book signing ever at Stormwatch Comics (449 N. Route 73 West Berlin, NJ). I'll be selling copies of Shakespeare Shaken, prints of my work, and maybe even doing sketches on the spot if I'm feeling saucy...

And there will be cake. Oh yes. SHAKESPEAREAN CAKE.

Click here for the Facebook event page

Jubilee - Pt. 2

The Jubilee commission I've
been working on is finished!

I'm happy to report that the unusual lighting situation, which had the potential to turn into a real headache, was actually kind of fun to work with!

The customer who commissioned it loves it, which is always especially satisfying.

Tom has suggested I make a whole series of these images, all showing the ladies of X-men with neon signs of their names, and I must admit the idea does have a certain appeal to it! Once I finish up with Project G.G., I ought to have enough time to work on those. Hopefully they'll be finished in time for next year's convention season.

GREAT CAESAR'S GHOST!

Shakespeare Shaken books are now on sale!

You can purchase them from me directly if

you're local (in which case I'll happily sign

it for you) or click here to order them online.

This isn't a thin comic book, either. There's over 200 PAGES of Shakespearey goodness beneath that cover!

Batwoman - Pt. 4

I had the chance to talk to the super talented Jenny Frison at last year's NYCC and ever since then I've been waiting for a good opportunity to try out her technique. My recent Batwoman image was a perfect guinea pig for digital/traditional experiments, but I'm just not sure how I feel about the results... 

Alice looks good and Batwoman is decent, but I can't get Kate Kane (the center figure) to look right- which is unsurprising, since she's given me trouble since the beginning. It was certainly a lot faster than using wholly traditional methods to color a tonal work, but I still feel like there's something missing. I'm just not sure what it could be.

I suspect that some my discontent is due to the fact that I'd half
expected the finished product to be more... Frison-esque, I suppose.

It really shouldn't come as a surprise to me trying out someone else's technique would still result in an image that was 100% Guzzo. But, whatever. Being able to use different techniques while keeping my own style is a good thing. It's always better for me to be a first-rate version of myself than a second-rate imitation of someone else.

SPX 2012

I had a marvelous time at SPX last weekend!
It felt a bit odd to be on the other side of the table for a change.

I've attended SPX for the last three years in a row now, but somehow I always forget how unbelievably crowded it gets. I spent a lot of time standing in front of tables, just waiting for the crowd to part enough to find out what was on the table beyond them. Between the high demand for tables and the massive crowd this event attracts, they could easily double the size of the show and still have a good consumer to vendor ratio.

Driving to Bethesda takes us right past Baltimore, so we got to stop by Joe Squared again on our way home! It was still bright outside when we arrived and I definitely prefer visiting the Powerplant area when it isn't vibrating with a bass beat powerful enough to simulate the inside Godzilla's chest cavity. In the sunshine, it was almost peaceful.

We sat outside and read through some of
the mini-comics we'd picked up at the show.

My favorite obscure comic discovery this year was Emotional Distance. Each page consisted of nothing more than a headshot of an animal or person paired with a short bizarre statement written below them in cursive.

The effect is always unusual and often hilarious. 

They're posted online here, if you're interested.

We got the Cumin Braised Lamb Pizza again, which was amazing of course, and for dessert we tried out the Maple Bacon Ice Cream, which was actually quite tasty.

For Tom (who had eaten bacon, pancakes, and a milkshake at breakfast) it was like a culinary bookend to the day.

Jubilee - Pt. 1

Here's a peek at what I've been working on today.


The JUBILEE sign is going to be glowing neon when I'm done and it should do some fun things with the lighting...

Either that or the unusual light source is going to be a giant pain in my butt. I won't really know which one it is until I start attacking it tomorrow.

Baltimore Comic-Con

Baltimore Comic-Con was a blast!

Shows like this one remind me why I keep riding the con circuit... In spite of how physically exhausted I am, I'm so jazzed up that I feel ready for another two days of commerce. 

(Photo Credit: Ashley Neuhaus)

I had a great spot! My booth was right across from the Stan Lee signing area and a stone's throw from the bathrooms. I had a steady stream traffic all day long AND they were forced to come within easy reach of my booth by the cordoned-off Stan Lee area. It was like a cattle chute for business.

The Shakespeare Shaken books are finally in and they're gorgeous! The picture to the left shows the cover (by yours truly) being shown off by the extremely talented Amber Love, who contributed "No. 130 For Love" to the anthology.

While in Baltimore, I had the good fortune to eat at a place called Joe Squared. Their drinks menu was massive and reasonably priced. Even though the place was PACKED, our order arrived promptly. Their Cumin Braised Lamb Pizza was hands down the most delicious pizza I've ever had in my life.
I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

Joe Squared

30 Market Place

Baltimore, MD 21220 

410.962.5566

Hours of Operation:

Sun & Mon: 11am–12am

Tues-Sat: 11am–2am

I finished a handful of show sketches down in Baltimore and I am absolutely delighted with how they turned out! I feel like I'm finally breaking out of my show-shyness! The next time I have a space in Artist's Alley, I'm going to make sure I have a sign that lists my commission prices.

Next stop, Mid-Ohio! Last year's show was one of my favorites, so I'm looking forward to visiting Columbus again. I'll be in the retailer's section, working the booth for Stormwatch Comics. Don't let my location fool you though, I will be signing Shakespeare Shaken books at the booth throughout the weekend.