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!

Post Show Recap: X-Con

X-Con was... an interesting experience.
There were really great parts and really terrible parts and not a whole lot in between.

Let's get something out of the way-
X-Con was, hands down, the most poorly organized convention I've ever attended. There were a myriad of issues that made it incredibly difficult to do business.

For example:
On Sunday, the organizers decided to hold a concert on the show floor, which made it literally impossible to speak to customers. Even if they were standing directly in front of us and we were shouting. I shouldn't have to explain to anyone, let alone an event organizer, how unreasonable it is to expect someone to conduct business via pantomime.

Despite all that nonsense, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of really great people while I was down in Myrtle Beach. And I got to spend a lot of time with Enrica Jang from Red Stylo Media which is always fun!

I started up a conversation with a group of knights (if you walk past my booth in full plate armor, there is no way on earth I'm not going to bring it up in conversation) and learned all about The Society for Creative Anachronism! From what I understand, it's like the Renaissance Faire, but with no spectators, only participants. 

After a delightful chat, I got to sit back and watch them beat the hell out of each other with four-foot poles. And I don't mean they acted out a choreographed fight. I mean they went on stage in full armor, got some heavy wooden poles, and started whaling on each other. That's not something you get to see every day.

...Or maybe it is. I don't know how you live your life.

Our booth was right next to Giorgio Tsoukalos from Ancient Aliens, who is apparently SUPER popular. He had a line of fans waiting for him every day.
He seemed pretty nice and even came over to check out our stuff at one point.

On the other side of our booth was a guy selling a device that turns any object into a speaker. Which means he spent the whole weekend turning stuff into speakers… Speakers that played about 10 different songs (half of which were country) over and over all weekend long. Words cannot describe how fun that was… Oh wait, did I say "fun"? I meant "excruciatingly annoying".

I never want to hear any of these songs ever ever again:

Dido - Life For Rent

Sheryl Crow - The Picture (feat. Kid Rock)

Zac Brown Band - As She's Walking Away

Zac Brown Band - Toes

I only did one show sketch, capturing the softer side of Wonder Woman. It looked terrible when I first started working on it, so seeing it blossom into something lovely by the end was even more satisfying than usual.

One of the best parts of X-Con was sharing a table with Ben Fraizer, who is an extremely talented young artist and a major contributor to several Red Stylo projects. He was the artist for The After Party story in Poe Twisted anthology and is the new penciller for Azteca!

In addition to having a case of "The Madness" that makes my own creative obsessions look like a touch of the sniffles, he's an incredibly fascinating person and one of the kindest people I've ever met. I really enjoyed hanging out with him and I'm looking forward to the next time our con schedules overlap!

When the show was over and it was time to go home, Ben Fraizer and I hopped in the car for a good ol' fashioned road trip to the airport… Which is to say we got horribly lost and spent several hours cussing out other drivers while driving in the opposite direction from our desired destination. It was just that kind of week.

In the end, everyone ended up getting home safely, which is what really matters.

Fast forward to the present! I took some time off to shake the nasty cold that'd been plaguing me all month, and I'm finally back in the studio! I'm currently working on a Daredevil commission, as well as some character designs for my semi-secret comic project. There's also a chance you'll be seeing a Hit Girl sketch cover in the near future as well. I'll post updates as often as I can.

January Update

OKAY! I just finished an art project, so it's time for a long-overdue blog update!

Since last we spoke...

- Someone got a tattoo of my work, which is the highest compliment you can pay an artist as far as I'm concerned.

It's pretty much like saying "I love your artwork so much that I want to carry it around with me everywhere I go, forever." I can't wait to see it in person!

- My artwork has appeared on the last page of the Daddy's Little Girl, a campy horror/action story that can be described as Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets The Jersey Shore. DLG is published by the fine folks at Arcana and should be available in your local comic book store.

- I just

completed

my first

full color

pet portrait.

The two lovely shar-peis to the left

are Kaia and Kona, respectively.

- I'm working on images for an anthology Red Stylo Media will be releasing later this year. Here's a sneak peek at one of my contributions to Shakespeare Shaken.

More often than not, planning out projects is a struggle. I spend more time laying out the composition of a piece than anything else. So on the rare occasions when a piece just falls together as easily as this one did, it's a blessing.

I'm SUPER excited to be a part of this project! Enrica Jang and I will be promoting Shakespeare Shaken at C2E2 this April, so if you're in the Chicago area, please swing by our table in artist's alley!

- Photographs of my Halloween costume have been published in one of my favorite comic books! For those of you who don't know, I am a HUGE Witch Doctor fan. It's cleverly written, well-drawn, and has the distinction of being the only Occult Medical Drama I've ever heard of.

I dressed as my favorite character (Penny Dreadful) from the book for Halloween and sent in some photos to Lukas Ketner and Brandon Seifert, which they promptly put in their letter's column! I honestly don't know who was more delighted- Them, to see one of their creations come to life, or me, for being their first cosplayer ever!

- I worked a one-day comics show down in Timonium, MD and drew a Harley Quinn sketch for someone! I usually tend to get show-shy when doing sketches on the spot, but I really want to start breaking myself of that habit. I've got a major convention in Chicago in a few months and I definitely want to be able to do sketches while I'm there, so I'd better start practicing now!

I'll keep you guys posted on C2E2/Shakespeare Shaken news as it develops!

Stay tuned!