The Process...

Here's a cover I've worked up for JOHN DOE. It's actually cover one of three and the all connect. A throw back to the Jim Lee days of crazy covers. Actually, I just wanted to do collage type covers and I figured why not take it a step further and do one big collage. This here is the thumbnail idea. I kept it vague with just the main elements I wanted prominent. They'll be dense but I'm gonna color it myself so I can knock out linework and fade things back and all that fun stuff.

Here's the rough of the first cover with a bit of ink. AS you can see it's not tight at all as I'm always impatient to get to the inking.

Next is the main elements fleshed out. The rest is really detailed "clutter" so I was focusing on getting these three figures finished first.

And here is the final inks. as you can see it's a bit dense but that'll be fixed in the coloring. I didn't want to do things on different layers because I wanted to have the whole three part piece stand on it's own. Some of the elements will spill over onto the next cover (buildings and names) but the main thing is the map. As you can see from the thumbnail I wanted the main unifying thing to be a map of the area this all takes place with the island taking a more upfront spot on the final cover. Hopefully this will turn out at least semi cool and I don't ruin the the whole thing with my lousy colors.

I'll post the color steps and the final soon. BACK TO WORK!

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My "office"

I've seen other people post a "Whats on my desk today" and lacking all originality I decided to do the same. So here it is. On my desk is a mish-mash of my current projects... layouts, penciled pages, a favor for a friend, and lots of character sketches for BPRD.

Also on my desk... Remnants of Lasagna. Sometimes I'm lucky I remember to eat. I'll post cooler things soon I promise.

***** Fixed first pic. Now it's clickable!

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Busy Busy Busy

Since I started working professionally I never seem to have just one project going at a time. That's pretty much the norm in the comic industry but I always make a point to have at least a couple of things going at once. Being able to jump back and forth from different stories really helps me keep my excitement (not that BPRD needs any help in that department) going from day to day.

Here are some select panels from both books I'm working on now. Both of them are horror books so I get to really amp up the darkness of it all. I really can't wait till I get further along in these books because, as any horror-lover knows, it only gets darker, creepier, and more fun as the story unfolds. The ending to both the stories are so great (in different ways too) that I almost wish I could skip to the end now. I'll try to be patient.

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Fun sketch

I did this today as a break from penciling. I really think inking is the most fun part in making comics. At least for me it is. I do most of the work in that stage and it's always fun to be messy when you are creating. Sometimes I miss it while I get the next batch of pencils ready to go.

I chose a samurai because eventually I really want to do something set in Feudal Japan (maybe a Iron Fist one shot... Marvel? Are you listening?) Let's face it Samurai are awesome and everyone likes a good sword fight. I also want to do other period pieces sometime down the line. Maybe I'll just do a series of them or something.... Food for thought.

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Fun with the Harbinger of DOOM!

Here's the only shot of Hellboy I actually got to draw so far. The book Im doing is actually focused on Prof. Broome and Hellboy isn't but 2 years old or so. Actually none of the regular cast is in it really... I dont mind though because it actually saves me the trouble of pitting my versions of the crew against Mignola's. So I hope to get a scene with more hellboy later but he's pretty much not in the book. Im almost done with the first issue and I wish I could post more but I dont want to spoil anything (trust me its worth it).

Fun with characters!

I know I posted about "making characters unique" before and how I'm always trying to push that as much as possible. One of my favorite things about Alex Toth is how he would have such exaggerated characters without crossing the line into "cartoon". They always held up to realism even when he pushed things. I'm always trying to find that middle ground. Here are some soldier characters from BPRD. I tried to give each one a distinct look and hopefully a distinct personality when it comes to the pages. Also heres a Prof. Bruttenholm with a hat. I've never seen Mignola draw him with a hat but I think it fits him and Im gonna throw it in where I can (Yes.. these are the silly things that I occupy my mind with).

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Knee Deep!

Been busy with BPRD (not a bad thing to fiil up my days with) and haven't had much to post because I don't want to give too much away too soon with this. Im also starting work on THE PACK with Mike Raicht. That one will be going slowly on the side but hopefully I'll get done with that later this year. I already did the preview for it which I posted about before and when I get those colors back maybe I'll post a page or two of that. I've never had the luxury of planning my year out as I am doing this year so I'm crossing my fingers it all works out. After I get through these two I'm also doing something with Mark Sable again which I think will kind of suprise people as it's not at all like the last book we did together. Can't wait for that. Anyway, here's a pencil to ink panel from BPRD 1946. As you can see I definitely do more in the inks (I even added some crosses in the back to make it feel a bit more HELLBOY). Talk to you soon!

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Post- NYCC

The convention was a blast this weekend and I'm loving that NY finally has a big con. Basically because I don't have to travel and the city is a great place to hang. Here's a couple of sketches that I did over the weekend (and I did a bunch too). Thanks to the guys who are posting them on comicartfans.com or messageboards so I can save a jpeg and have a copy. Sometimes I like the way some sketches work out at cons and it kinda sucks only to have a foggy memory of it. So thanks again

ALSO... Scott Allie over at Darkhorse mentioned my new project so I figured it was time to mention it here. I'm just getting my teeth into a new BPRD miniseries that really is like the history of the BPRD. Hellboy and Mike Mignola are at the top of my list when it comes to comics so it's a dream project for me. Hopefully I'll do it justice and won't disappoint any Hellboy fans out there. I'm hoping to make this the best thing I've ever drawn. I can't leave without mentioning Joshua Dysart. He's co-writing the book with Mignola (much like John Arcudi is in the other BPRD series) and he's doing an awesome job of it. I'm not lying when I say I was on the edge of my seat just reading the breakdown/synopsis of the series. It's gonna be a blast! Here's that "mysterious" sketch I posted a while back. It's actually my first crack at a young Prof. Bruttenholm. Don't worry I'll post some other cool stuff soon. Thanks!

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NYCON HERE I COME!

This weekend is the Con and I'm hoping its as big as last year. I'll be at my table in artist alley (Table A139 for you savvy map checkers) with Mark Sable selling some GROUNDED trades. I'll be doing commission sketches as well as FREE sketches for anyone who buys a GROUNDED trade. You heard right! FREE sketches for those wonderful people who pick up some GROUNDED goodness. I'll be there all weekend and I hope to see you there!

Also here's a fun pages from JOHN DOE 3. Mark left the layout up to me (I believe the script said "shovel-fu" and that's it) and I really wanted to play with silhouettes. I like the page and spent too much time actually figuring out how the fight would realistically play out. Anyway, enjoy!

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Baby steps...

With my art I always try to outdo what I've done. I feel like I have so much to learn and my tiny brain can only grasp so much at one time. With JOHN DOE I hope it will be better then anything I've put out so far and so far I think I've succeeded. Of course it helps that you have the talented youngster Nick Filardi on the book covering up my mistakes with his colors. I never thought much about coloring before I saw my first work in print and ever since then I've become very anal about it. Colors can really bring out the best in a drawing or destroy it(I wont post examples but we all know them). Luckily Nick has been around and never punches me in the face even when I nit-pick all his wonderful work. So here's a JOHN DOE page fully colored and ready for lettering.

That's him. Mr. John Doe himself. I really can't wait for this to be put out but I'll be busy with my new project anyway. If all goes well I'll have lots of good stuff this year!

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A new year

It's been a little crazy since this new year started. Projects collidin and problems around. But I can't say I'm not having fun. I wwent to Dominican Republic for the Holidays and brought along some paper and pens. Here are some straight pen sketchs I did while hanging around the tropics.






My main goal was to just relax. I didnt care about making them pretty or even spending much time on them (probably 7 or 8 minutes at the most). Just relax and draw. If only I could bring some of that looseness to my actual work....

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Pain in the ASS!

Took me a while but I finally figured out what was going wrong on my last two posts. I fixed the link problem so now you can click on them. Damn blogger!

Anyway, I'm off to the Dominican Republic for the holidays. Hopefully when I return I can finish off John Doe and start my next project . It's a secret for now (attached jpeg is a clue) but I've signed the contracts so it's definitely a go! Can't wait to post about that! See you next year!

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A bright New Year ahead....

Well with issue 2 of John doe in the books and three moving along I have to say I'm pretty pleased so far. I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned this before but Mark Waid is a pretty talented writer. He also involves me in the process so it makes working on the book a pure joy.

But with the end of the last issue in my sights I can't help but get totally excited about my next project. With the release of John Doe w/ Waid and then getting to work with one my favorite comic creators/creations, it's really gonna be a big year for me and I can't wait! Here are a couple more pages from issue 2 of John Doe.

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Been a long time....

Well to make up for not posting to frequently I've decided to make this one packed with stuff. First I wanted to mention a great book coming out from Image comics. It's called Wonderlost. It's an anthology filled with autobiographical stories by the one and only C.B. Cebulski. I've known C.B. for many years now and it's taken a long time but we've finally done something together. Here are a couple of pages from the short I drew for him. When I first read the story (to me) it really felt like something that too much drawing would get in the way of. It's a kind of quiet moment and I didn't want to pull to many tricks with it. So after a little trial and error I went with a real simple style that I hope compliments the story. I even lettered it myself and purposefully didn't try to be too neat so that everything can have that hand-made feel.
Next are more pages from John Doe. Everything is moving along and I'm moderately satisfied with my work so far. First is the same page I posted before but finished and then two other random pages. Soon I'm gonna post about the cover. I have something in mind that, if I pull it off, it could be pretty damn cool.

Happy Halloween!

A quick sketch for the greatest of all holidays... well not really. What the hell is the point of Halloween anyway?

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UNFINISHED...

Wow! I've been knee deep in John Doe so I haven't posted as much as I want to. Here's an "in progress" page I was working on this week. It serves as an intro to one of the supporting characters in the book. Mark Waid has really delivered with this book and I hope people give it a look. He mentioned he really wanted to make the first issue something the reader can feel he got his moneys worth and I think he knocked it out of the park. It's a dense issue without feeling claustrophobic. My hats off to him. Maybe he'll teach me some tricks so one day I can actually give the writing side a shot..... Maybe if I pay him

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The Cast

As I've said before I'm really trying to push the envelope on making distinct characters. At least with my own work. So when it came time to do some of the cast for John Doe I was determined to make them each there own person. What I've been doing lately is start with a celebrity or actor and find out what makes them distinct. Then try to duplicate that without making it a likeness. I really don't like doing likenesses (probably because I'm so bad at it) so I stay away from them as much as possible. In these sketches Paxtin was at first based on Steve Buscemi but then kind of went more into an older grumpy looking man. Steinway is based on Jim Norton who I think has a great face with great expressions that I hope to capture somehow. I'm also gonna try to really give them there own persona from the way they dress to the way the walk to even the kind of expressions they give. Hopefully in the future I can really make characters as distinct as real people and give a sense depth just in the visuals. I guess we'll have to what and see how that goes.

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Behind the Curtain!

So here's a basic behind the scenes of how I approach a page. The first Image is my thumbnail for page 2 of John Doe. When doing a thumbnail I'm never concerned about getting a tight drawing. In fact it would be the exact opposite. I just try to lay down a basic composition and pick shots that best tell the story. That's it. Simple. When I get to the actual page is when I start to think about the drawing, where to lay blacks, and especially the acting.

With the second image you can see that in the beginning I'm more focused on getting a solid drawing and less preoccupied with what the final drawing will look like. As in this panel I often draw on a separate piece of typing paper so I can be as loose and messy as I want. Then I'll quickly trace it over in marker for easy viewing through the bristol on my light table. THEN when I trace the basics onto the actual page I go straight to inks. I rarely do this but on this panel I was playing with maybe blacking out the buildings totally for that dark alleyway feel and you can see some quick sketches of that under the panel. .

Here's where the fun starts and most of my time is probably spent. I really don't have any rules I follow (I used to but as I've gotten better at inking my own stuff they went out the window) except to make it look good. I use anything from a brush or brushpen to a quill pen or marker. A whiteout pen is invaluable since I seem to always be making mistakes. It also works for some effects like the light from the flashlight (which is a bit of smeared whiteout).
The first few pages are a kind of intro to the series so I kept that four tier layout with the three panels in the box. I think it worked so far and I'm pretty happy with them. I'm really trying to make each work better then the last. So that's a glimpse into my working process and I'll see if I can do it again. Maybe on a more complicated page so you can see the fun of storytelling problem solving.

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The Cross Bronx! The Cross Cross Bronx!

Just wanted to throw up a quick post about CROSSBRONX. If you don't know about it then you've been living under a rock. Mike Oeming and Ivan Brandon have gotten together to bring you a compelling story about crime, gangs, and santaria. If you like Oeming on Powers you'll love him on Cross Bronx. He's really kicking ass and drawing his balls off for this book. Ivan's not slacking either when it comes to the noir feel. The pacing is great and the lush storytelling is top notch. GO get it now!!

Why am I going on and on about someone else's book? Because they were nice enough to print my pin-up in the inside back cover of issue #2. Here it is and I'm working on getting this John Doe stuff up so stay tuned.

I never understood comic artists that say they only want to draw the "action". The fun for me has always been the problem solving. How do I make this read clear? How can I add drama to this scene/panel? How do I make this interesting? I have just as much fun (if not more) making a great character moment happen then drawing Spider-man punch Doc Ock threw a wall. I get excited when I have two people talking in a room with nothing going on. Picking the right camera angles or staging the "actors" to bring the dialogue across is amazingly fun. It's the little character moments that I try to capture. Like in The Godfather when Al Pacino is telling his brother-in-law his punishment. The way he sits, legs crossed, and picking at his nails. All the while you can feel his power and viciousness. That's fun! I'm not sure I've really succeeded in that but it's something that keeps me going and why I love drawing comics. So like I said, I never understood some artists.

Speaking of artists. We had the unfortunate luck of a great (perhaps greatest) comic artist pass away recently, Alex Toth. I finally got a chance to pick up The Alex Toth Doodle Book . I haven't even been able to fully read it yet because I keep getting side tracked by the illustrations. It's an amazing book about an amazing artist. I'm not sure what to say that hasn't already been said to death. Here's a small homage to Mr. Toth. It's a few quick sketches I did recently while trying to train myself to draw different and distinct people. Toth was known for filling a page with these quick doodles that rivaled in skill what others spend a lifetime trying to achieve. I know mine isn't as good but I gave it a shot damn it!