ArtGANTUAN

Post 447

2011-04-07T15:48:00.001-05:00

Color version of my sketch from earlier. I’m piecing together some newer coloring techniques with an older textural brush. I’m really happy with the result!

Post 446

2011-04-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been away so long, I've tried various other outlets, but I just can't quit blogger! I have a Tumblr now as well, generally the same stuff I'll post here. artgantuan.tumblr.com

Other than that, still teaching, working on the odd-job here and there in comics. I just inked an issue of the Guild: Tink for Dark Horse with my friend Kristian Donaldson doing the great pencils!

But yeah, I should start posting here again, I think this is where I've been the most motivated. I'm not really sold on Tumblr's set-up, it's too insular and dependent on previously created content. Original content isn't really made for Tumblr as much. I'll still post there, but I'm more comfortable with this system.

Here's a step by step of how I generally work a sketch!

Post 445

2010-10-20T16:48:00.002-05:00

As my friend Ryan says, "Boom goes the dynamite!" Well, surprise! I didn't want to give any kind of warning. So out of the blue, I've brought back my webcomic Rick Dangerous! More craziness, but improved art...since it's been about 2 years since I last did a Rick Dangerous page!

Post 444

2010-09-06T03:50:00.002-05:00

My friend Eric Skillman contacted a number of comic artists to do comic illustrations to be used as posters for the ATP film festival in New York. They were holding screenings of many Criterion movies.

I did the illustration, and I was lucky enough to have Eric wave his design expertise on the cover treatment!

It must always be said how much of a class act the man is to work for.

Post 443

2010-09-02T20:50:00.003-05:00

I really think I need to get back into daily sketching mode. Just got back from work a bit ago. We had meetings until late, but it's great working in a group of professionals whose personalities compliment my own. When you're all there for the student needs before your own, you know you've found a special group of educators.

Part of my inconsistency lately has been using the right paper, and unfortunately my standards just haven't been passing the test. But the copy paper at school is just what I've been needing oddly enough. It's got a great balance for pencil sketching, which I'm finding to be my strong suit. As much as I like inking, I've been feeling a bit inadequate, or at least unsure of myself. I think my best work comes from stream of consciousness drawing like this.

Post 442

2010-08-15T00:02:00.003-05:00

I am counting the hours as I am about to go back to work, but here is a fun little sketch I did this evening!

Post 441

2010-08-13T18:13:00.005-05:00

Here's something I did today while sitting at the car dealership. It's kind of a newer take on some older techniques. The image was just random, letting my hand just go. I think the problem is that I've been pressing down too hard with the pencil, this is what happens when I'm not using a piston grip, which feels a lot more fluid and comfortable. Sometimes it's the simple things that are easy to forget and cause artist's block, which I've been dealing with.

Post 440

2010-08-12T10:08:00.002-05:00

Here are some more pieces to catch you up to date!

Post 439

2010-08-11T20:38:00.003-05:00

I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but it was summer, and I got caught up in the spirit of relaxation...but alas. Tis' time to head back to work teaching a new batch of students an entirely new subject! Animation and Ad Design!!!

As for today's doodles, I've been going through a crisis of inks. I know people like what I was doing with the Kuretake, but I get bored with things, so I had to try something different. I've been testing a lot of pens, but it was an oldie that reached out to me. I think right now I'll be using the .25 copic SP, which is the face on the upper right and lower left (baby). Though I think my favorite face is the guy with the mutton chops, did that dry brush style with a Pentel Color Brush...which most people hate for some reason.

Post 438

2010-03-24T19:56:00.002-05:00

Post 437

2010-03-18T15:43:00.001-05:00

Post 436

2010-03-18T15:37:00.007-05:00

Post 435

2010-03-18T15:32:00.004-05:00

Post 434

2010-03-18T15:21:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the long absence, but out of necessity, I guess I'll be back posting on my blog again. I've been very busy with school, so keeping up with even general things like e-mail has been quite a tough thing to manage. I've primarily been keeping up with my deviantArt page, which has been easier to update. However, I ran into a problem...as of STAPLE! I ran out of business cards. See, a couple years ago I was making new cards for every convention I went to. So I gathered up a bulk stock of 5 different cards and told myself I'd stop until I ran out...well, I FINALLY ran out.

So the next thing came about, since I've been using deviantArt, would I put that on my business card...no, it's not rather professional looking. So I'm going to force myself to update here again as well...plus, there will soon be the return of Rick Dangerous, and I think he works best on a blog format.

I'm not buying webspace, call me cheap, or lazy...I'm actually neither, but I just don't like dealing with webspace, too much hassle honestly, this is much easier.

Anyway, I'm going to try and catch up with some art posts, so get ready for a couple posts with just a bunch of art!

Post 433

2009-12-08T06:45:00.002-06:00

Here's some new sketches from the mornings.

Post 432

2009-12-05T02:04:00.003-06:00

Some new pieces to end the week. It's been quite a long week indeed! I'm excited because I am supposed to be getting a new 2H pencil that's supposedly very good (well, a box of 12 of them, which should last FOREVER). We'll see how that goes and I'll let you know if they're as high quality as they boast.

Post 431

2009-12-02T21:01:00.002-06:00

New sketches form today!

Post 430

2009-12-02T06:57:00.003-06:00

I'm pretty much just keeping myself busy with art and work lately, all the other stuff doesn't fall into place. But art is the constant. At this point I'm just making art and letting things happen!

Post 429

2009-11-29T17:10:00.002-06:00

Okay, I'm FINALLY back to posting here. So, what happened? I got on DeviantArt and Facebook...two places it's easy to get lost on. I also find myself with less time this year. I took over the Art Club and decided to be an even better teacher than ever...as I should strive for. But that takes a lot of time. No excuses though, I really dropped the ball. But Facebook has gotten bogged down with family members and people like old teachers I had back in the old days that critique my every word. So I decided to come back here, where I feel comfortable being myself. So, expect more posts! Thank you for your patience!

Post 428

2009-09-20T16:58:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the irregular updates, but crazy things are going on, primarily good crazy things, so here's a batch post to show my appreciation for your patience!

Post 427

2009-09-15T19:05:00.003-05:00

I know I did this idea in acrylic, but I needed an idea quick to do this example for the Onomatopoeia assignment that I'm doing with my Art II Drawing kids. This is 12.5X19 inches of prismacolor fun...by fun I mean numb hand...the price of finishing a project about 8 days before the kids do...

Post 426

2009-09-15T05:02:00.003-05:00

I made this for one of my best friends, David Atchison, whose birthday is today!

Post 425

2009-09-12T19:58:00.002-05:00

I'm not going to lie to you, my sketch a day posting days are coming to a close for a while...but here are some warm ups.

Post 424

2009-09-09T06:17:00.003-05:00

I don't know how many of you remember the movie Star Kid. It was with the kid from Jurassic Park and he gets in this alien suit, but the design of the suit was pretty disturbing to me, it was kind of pushy and had this disgusting face inside that would talk to him.

My brother and I have ongoing jokes about the film, and one night at a Chinese restaurant (I think the last time we were at that one) we were having a Star Kid drawing battle on napkins while the rest of our family was confused by all our laughter. I broke out this one and we were both rolling. So on Labor Day my brother asked me to re-draw it properly, and here it is!!

Post 423

2009-09-08T06:19:00.004-05:00

Another image idea that I had to make happen. I used pen, fluid acrylics, a bit of drybrush, and some prismacolor white to bring some shapes back out and clarity on the faces and bodies. I had to go with some of that warm lighting that Jim Oakley and I enjoy so much!

Post 422

2009-09-07T05:42:00.003-05:00

I was having some fun with a red ballpoint pen and some prismacolor while waiting for something. I did this out of my head, I have to say that because the first two people I showed this to asked if it was somebody I know. Though I've memorized a lot of people's features, so maybe it is a conglomeration of different people?

Post 421

2009-09-06T06:11:00.003-05:00

Got this image stuck in my head and had to see it through. Dry brush, no thresholding on this, I wanted to have that sense of opacity with the colors.

Post 420

2009-09-05T14:43:00.003-05:00

Today's sketch, did it while sitting in the car!

Post 419

2009-09-04T20:53:00.003-05:00

Long week! Fell and got hurt this morning exercising, this is a great time for a 3-day weekend!!!

Post 418

2009-09-03T19:34:00.004-05:00

Finished my project today. I wanted a new sample for next semester for my transformation/transition project for the Drawing II kiddos. Did this out of my head in between helping the kids. I choose a different table every day and work with them. Helps me get to know the students faster! Did this with Prismacolor pencils on Bogus paper 'aka brown craft paper', not construction paper, it's more like paper bag from the store...inexpensive and FANTASTIC with prisma!

Post 417

2009-08-31T19:03:00.002-05:00

Here's one for today, some Colossus action!!!

Post 416

2009-08-30T15:33:00.003-05:00

Today's sketch!

Post 415

2009-08-29T15:35:00.002-05:00

A new piece I did today on some printer paper!

Post 414

2009-08-27T20:52:00.002-05:00

Today's sketch! I started this right at the end of the day. I have to start remembering that my pictures come out better when I start with the nose and not with a ball for the head!

Post 413

2009-08-26T18:19:00.002-05:00

Did this as my warm up sketch in class today. I have the kids do warm up sketches, and I work with them on something.

Post 412

2009-08-25T21:14:00.002-05:00

I promise I'll be back with updates here! This is the first week of school, so I'm crazy busy getting things set up for my classes, but I assure you, I will get back to posting here!!!

Post 411=for FUN (get it, Four-one-one, rhymes with...ahhh forget it)!

2009-08-11T12:55:00.003-05:00

Sorry about neglecting the blog a bit. Once I got back from the road trip to Atlanta, things got ultra busy, and I've been trying to get all I can done before school starts back up. More importantly, before the Dallas Comic Con this weekend! Come out and hang out with me and the Space Gun Kru!!!

Post 410

2009-07-23T07:55:00.002-05:00

Digitally spruced version! The original scan wasn't what the colors look like in real life, so I boosted contrast, and went in with airbrush set on different effects: linear burn, linear dodge, and overlay. That way I could push things back, and pull things forward. I love to get that effect of glow that you can achieve with oils. But I'm using acrylic on chipboard, so I felt it needed a bit to push it over, but not OVERPOWER! That's the key! But this is the print! If you notice, I don't sign things most of the time anymore. That's because people like me to sign the prints, so it seems redundant to have a sig on there already if I have to sign it anyway! Some people have told me 'Well, if it's not signed, and somebody tries to steal it and call it their own, what's to stop them?!" My protection is this...MY STYLE!!! If you try and steal my style, good luck, I'm constantly changing. Even back when I was a horrible noob, Cully Hamner always used to tell me, "No matter what he's doing, you can always tell an 'Evan' piece!"

I'm sure someone someday will try and lift my art, but I have a really good network that would tell me if it happened. Plus, if it's going to happen, it's going to happen, and then I can do something about it. But it's not healthy to worry about something until it happens. This is also why I don't watermark. Watermarking is lame yo!!! It looks hideous and actually pushes people away from your work. If you REALLY want a crappy 72 dpi 600X400 pixel picture, go ahead, TRY and blow it up, it'll look extra chunky for you! I've got 300 dpi print versions you can buy!

Post 409

2009-07-22T22:48:00.002-05:00

Something I did on some chipboard today!

Post 408

2009-07-20T17:38:00.003-05:00

Some new prints I'll be making for the upcoming Dallas Comic Con! Not the Invincigirl though, the sizing is a little too weird to fit on a print, the other two will be available though! Who needs San Diego, we'll have so many folks at this convention: J. Scott Campbell, Brian Stelfreeze, Jason Pearson, Paul Smith...and I hear tell of a possible mystery guest?!? Plus, I'll get to at least maybe eat dinner with my friend Kristian. I'm excited...even though it means that inservice for school starts the day after...THAT'S HOW GOOD THIS SHOW WILL BE!!!

Post 407=The Return!

2009-07-20T07:33:00.002-05:00

Back home!!! So here's a sketch I did on the road yesterday in the van. It was really bumpy roads through Missouri when I was doing this, so I got to test myself on inking, and I think it really helped me get a steadier hand doing drawings in the car through the trip!

Post 406=Evan Originals

2009-07-02T10:00:00.004-05:00

So, I just noticed that my work is up online on now for purchase! My art dealer renovated his website here for Cadence Comic Art, and I know that many of you have asked where you can get commissions, or purchase originals! So while I'm gone, why not take a look through here, see if there's anything you'd like to purchase!

I even have some Lord of the Rings sketch cards available!

Post 405

2009-07-02T09:50:00.003-05:00

So, I was holding off telling until now, but I'm going on a roadtrip to see family up in Pennsylvania, so I'll be gone for a couple weeks. I'll be without scanner, so I'll just have my iPhone. Meaning I MIGHT be able to put up a crappy phone pic on. But chances are I'll primarily be updating my facebook and twitter for these two weeks.

Don't fret though, I will be back, and I'll be making art through the whole trip!

See you in two!

Post 404

2009-07-01T15:17:00.002-05:00

Today's warm-up, digitally inked and colored in photoshop. Took longer to get things the way I wanted them, so the verdict is still out on digital inks...not nearly viable for a book right now for me...

Post 403

2009-06-30T19:51:00.003-05:00

Saw Robbi Rodriguez do some cool lighting effects, so I thought I'd figure out how to do some of my own!

Post 402

2009-06-29T16:11:00.003-05:00

I'll be honest, this is a warm up sketch that got away from me. But I had to see it through. I had a LOT to do today, but I still felt the need to finish this properly.

Post 401=Bonus!!!

2009-06-28T22:21:00.001-05:00

Like I said, I have an extra sketch for you guys since I made it to 400!

Post 400!

2009-06-28T07:04:00.003-05:00

I'll be back later to add on a blog only drawing for those of you who have been following this blog! 400, geez, that's a TON!

Post 399

2009-06-27T10:51:00.003-05:00

These are my warm-ups from the past couple days. It's always tough getting back in the swing of things following a convention I find. You have that initial energy, then you feel kind of floored from all the awesomeness you just saw, then you have to start back from square one. These helped me get back to normal...better than normal actually!

Post 398

2009-06-25T05:42:00.002-05:00

I'm going to go exercise, then get back to pages, but to explain what it says on the sketch. I tried blowing up thumbnails. Which was fine for the first few pages, but when I got a few more in, I realized I needed to go back in a lot and really tweak things, but I couldn't erase things, so it got distracting, and ultimately annoying. Maybe it's something I'll try again later, but for now, once I get these two pages done, I'm back to just printing off the panel borders and drawing it in the old fashioned way. Especially since I got some new .5 leads that have me excited about using mechanical pencil again (what I used on this, the sketch took 2 minutes).

Post 397

2009-06-24T11:58:00.002-05:00

Back to working, here's a warm up sketch...can't talk...

Post 396

2009-06-23T10:31:00.009-05:00

Here is my Flickr gallery of my Heroes 2009 convention experience.

So, back from Heroes, and all is well with the world. I'll break this down into days, that way it'll help me put down words easier...

Day 1 (Friday)-Woke up at 4 a.m. and got to the airport early. The line was insanely long to get checked through because captains and first class passengers kept butting through. When I got on the flight I was seated between some people a lot bigger than me. This was a first, and usually the other way around. The stewardess got me a seat with another woman on a row of 3 so we could all have more space. I didn't have to use a seatbelt extender, and didn't have to put up the armrest. It's truly amazing. I liked having the extra space around as well, it was a much better experience! I know you guys didn't need to know this info, but it's the small things that are crazy to me. Life has changed for me in losing weight, and it has motivated me to push and get the rest gone until I get to my ideal weight!

Once I got to Charlotte, I hit the ground running, hopped in a cab, and got to the Westin. Once there, I was about to check in, but saw Doug Wagner heading out, so I ran up to him on the street and walked beside him. I didn't say anything, then he looked over, and did a double-take! I'll tell you now, I got the same look at least 30 or 40 times at the convention. He walked me up to get my badge, and then I headed down the escalator to the heart of the convention center. Upon arrival I got over to my table, said hi to Paul Maybury, Jason Horn, and Dean Trippe, who were my table-mates...by table mates...I mean we EACH had a table. We were a whole row...it was IN-SANE!!! Especially for our positioning, we were right underneath the Indie Island sign, it was outstanding!

Once I had my stuff all situated, I went for a lap around the convention floor to get acclimated. I first went over to my boys Mike Getty and Andy Black, who were in the very back corner of the convention center. I could empathize since that's where I was at Baltimore. After that I went over to the Studio Revolver table and talked with Tom Feister and Casey Edwards! Both of them are such class acts. We all grew up on either the Gaijin Board or Jolly Rogers messageboard. They were like upper classmen if the messageboards were school, so it was cool to get to hang with them and talk shop.

I'll tell you, it's been a couple years since I last went to Heroes, so I was using that as my benchmark. This was NOTHING like that!!! I used to always be "kaiser from the Gaijin messageboard" everybody's little brother. That was not now I was treated this year. I was treated with so much respect, I've finally found what I've always wanted. I always used the mantra "no respect" to push myself, because I never felt it completely. This year, I've found what I've been searching for, and I love it!

I went over to the Gaijin table, and the first person there to recognize me was Phil Noto!!! He even said my name! I've known Phil for years now, the first time meeting him at the first Wizard World Texas with my buddy Ian Bailon. I knew he recognized me, but was never sure he knew me by name, so when he said that, it really meant a lot! I got to talk with Cully, Phil, and mah boy Karl Story for quite a while...theeeeeeeeeeeeeen I finally got back to my table.

At that point, people started to come by, and I got some commissions. The first was a Death from Sandman. It was really a great way to start things off, the guy who bought it was really cool! That's something I loved at this show, the fans were SOOOOOOOOOOOO nice! They were all really well educated in a large variety of topics, but especially they knew their artists.

At this point I'm going to take a paragraph and talk about Craig Zablo. Craig came up to my table, and we had unknowingly met before years ago at the last Heroes I went to. But it was amazing to get to hang out with him during the weekend. I did a Stallone in Expendables picture for Craig, and channeled my best Ryoichi Ikegami style because of the tattoos. Craig gave me some portfolios, and a sketchbook. I can't ever say enough nice things about Craig! He's kept me motivated to get better, and keep putting out information on my blog and everything. It was great to get to tell him that this weekend!

After I got some more stuff done, Mike Denniston, my other favorite fan with Craig. Mike is all sorts of awesome, especially the sketchbooks his girlfriend makes for him. The Bizarro book is my favorite of all. One side is the normal heroes, then you flip the book upside down to reveal the Bizarro versions. I've done two in it now, a Batman, and now a Superman. I also did one in his new book, the Lost book. I had to break out some Mr. Echo!

This was pretty much the end of the day, it was a whirlwind. So we needed to get some food. We stopped by the hotel room. Then made the long trek to Mert's Heart & Soul, the best soul-food restaurant I've ever been to. Unfortunately...or fortunately for them, more people have begun to understand the 'win' of this restaurant. We went with Jason Levesque (Stuntkid) and his fiancee Elizabeth. I got to talk with Elizabeth, and she's really cool. I didn't know she was on the Drawing Board too. It's great whenever I meet people from the Drawing Board in real life because it's like a family there.

When your spirits are down after a long day, Mert's food brings you back! I had blackened pork chops, potato salad, and mac & cheese. It was so insanely delicious! I felt much better afterwards. Then we made the walk back and hung out in the lobby until about 2 a.m. at the Westin.

Day 2 (Saturday)-Woke up at 6:40, and then got a call from Sam Ellis. He drove in with a couple friends, one of which was Alan Hawley. I've known Alan for years online only, and was excited to meet him. So we went to Ember, the in-hotel restaurant, and paid 18.95 for breakfast! Yikes...

My Aunt Gloria came in, and and I got to hang out with her, introduce her to my world, and a lot of friends. It was really nice to have a family member see what I'm doing now, if it would have been a couple years ago, I would have probably been embarrassed. But I'm so proud of what I'm doing right now I want to (and sometimes do) scream it from the rooftops!

Had lunch pizza courtesy of Sam over at Fuel with Doug Wagner and Vito Delsante. Vito's good peeps, we both made it out of the massacre that was Speakeasy. So I've always found a kinship with people still working in the industry after all that!

Shared half of my table with Sam for Saturday. He was great table company and was hillarious as always. His sarcasm is legendary!

Near the end of the day, I went over and bought a bunch of Andrew Robinson sketchbooks...suffice it to say a bunch of studying is already going down!

Craig also brought over a friend with an INSANELY GORGEOUS PORTFOLIO of commissioned artwork from guys like Hughes. It was disturbingly outstanding. So I did a painting for him. Did most of it in the evening since most people were at the auction, and it was running really long. So after the first 30 minutes I ducked out and worked on it. The issue...I left this gorgeous sumi-brush Tommy Smith gave me in the convention center. I borrowed a pad of watercolors from Mike Getty. It had this tiny brush in it, so I painted the vast majority with my fingers by spreading water and mixing it. Then I did details with the brush and colored pencils into wet paper. It ended up coming out really beautiful in my opinion.

I went back down to the lobby for a bit and ran into J.D. Mettler, who I've known for about 4 or so years. Stood RIGHT in front of him, and he didn't recognize me. Tony Shasteen laughed, and then he freaked out! It made me so happy! J.D. is one of my favorite people in the industry, as well as colorists, so even though we only hung out for a bit, it was fantastic!

We went back to the room, and Dragonball came on the television...oh...wow...was it awful! I was disturbed by it and have nightmares during the day from it. We missed the beginning, and I'm half tempted if it's on tv to watch the beginning....wow...

Day 3 (Sunday)-Woke up and headed downstairs. Had a light breakfast with Tom Feister and we talked with Latour a bit. I need to hang out with them more often!

I spent most of the day finishing commissions. Got to talk with Mike Denniston for a while. It was really nice, he's so polite that it's tough to talk with him when people but in. He's so lucky because he sees Kirkman at his comic shop! I'm so jealous!

Before I began my multi-hour farewell tour, I went over to Eric Canete's table and got to talk with him a bit...it was amazing!!! Sometimes you go to meet one of your idols and you worry they won't meet your expectations...this was absolutely NOT that case! He was even COOLER than I imagined! He even had one of his portfolios that he made, and I jumped on the opportunity! It is so sleek. A plastic case/cover, 2 dvds, and 2 art books of the highest quality production value within! My brother is coming over JUST for the purpose of viewing this! But honestly, I told him about how I show my students his work as an example of how to show dynamic poses, storytelling...EVERYTHING! It was...gah...it meant so much to me!

As I was packing up, a couple of girls walked up to my table and I brought back out my portfolio. They really enjoyed my art, and that was so cool to me. For the longest time only guys would look at my art, but more and more I'm developing a female fan base, and that makes me happy!

After this I headed out to the airport and got on the plane. As I was getting situated, I noticed Mark Waid was on my flight...so I used twitter, and upon arrival he called me out! It was funny!

I can't explain how good this con was. I received professional respect. That is one of the most rewarding things I've ever recevied in my life!

Now to get back to work and make more art!

Post 395

2009-06-18T17:11:00.003-05:00

Some warm up sketches, getting ready for if people actually decide they want con sketches. I'll tell you, it's been a while since I've really had a lot of con sketches. The Texas con scene is more about prints and picking up books to support creators than actual collection of original sketches. Kind of jarring when I go to an out of state convention. Baltimore I did, a ton of sketches...but for one person...Mike, who will be at Heroes!

Cons are interesting, they each have their own personality as to what the fans want. This one I'm going up against the biggest names in the industry, so I'm focusing on prints primarily. I feel like it's a good way to go on this one. Especially with the quaility I've put into them.

Oh well, my flight leaves at 7 a.m., I'm about as prepared as I can be, so I'll just get to bed early and get to the airport quickly. Thank goodness I've got an iPhone now, it really makes the time pass by a LOT faster!

Post 394

2009-06-17T19:52:00.002-05:00

I made this to take with me. Since I'm offering a wide variety of 11X17 prints, I'll be running out of certain ones. So you can order any prints you want from me directly, I can print to order, just e-mail me at evan.kaiser@gmail.com

Post 393

2009-06-17T17:47:00.002-05:00

New print I did this evening, one of the one's I'm bringing to Heroes! Almost ready!!!

Post 392

2009-06-16T18:25:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I guess I have a table to myself? Rock and Roll?!?!

I'll be at Table 421 next to Dean Trippe! Behind me will be Kelly Yates, and Robert Atkins...so some good company to say the least!

I went and got some more inks before the ones from Amazon arrive (they'll be late, so I'll use them for the DCC prints). As soon as the paper arrives tomorrow I'm back into full print mode!

I have nearly everything else prepared. I don't have that many sketchbooks, one saved for Craig, so if you want one, try and hit me up early. Same goes for prints, I'll have about 10 of the first episode of President Awesome, which a lot of people have been asking me to do. I'll have about 2 of most of the others, 3 or 4 of this one. Also this one. I'll be doing sketches on Strathmore Bristol, one character for $20, any further details and I'll negotiate! I am also willing to sell the originals I have with me (except the first episode of President Awesome, I've promised that to my mom). I know if you asked me the past few cons if you could buy one of my pages I said, wait til it goes to the art dealer. But I'll be selling these ones if you want, I really don't want to miss out on a sale!

Anyway, back to getting ready, but I'm excited for Heroes!!!

Post 391

2009-06-13T19:25:00.003-05:00

I was altering some col-erase leads to fit my lead holders (aka "architect drafting pencils"). I need to work on the whole 'blowing up thumbnails' technique now that I have the tabloid scanner. The thumbnails were a little too blurry and great for thumbnail purposes, but I can just draw it out better and in just as much time ultimately because then I don't have to invent features on the fly. So I spent a bit on preparing leads so that I wouldn't have to worry about the pencil being too short, this way I get consistent feel for the pencil, thus consistent results. Plus, I got one of those nifty alvin lead sharpeners for a buck at office depot, and rapidographs for a buck!!!

Also, been printing a bunch of...well, PRINTS!!! They look fantastic, so it's a steal at 20 bucks. Plus, they serve as a good portfolio, so bonus!

I need to get my print carrying cardboard tube from a friend who's had it way too long. It stinks normally when you have to ask somebody to give something back, but in this case it's an excuse to hang out with a friend...rawk!

I'm about as ready as I can be for Heroes. So I'll be getting things packed, and working up until I go on sequential pages. That way I can get ahead AND use things to show any editors! It's all about maximizing time investment. If you have to re-do something, that's just poor management!

Post 390

2009-06-11T07:09:00.002-05:00

I used a tagger marker (Burner marker to be precise), and I went to town on a canvas. I loved the feeling of it! My friend Kat is so talented, we were painting last night and it's awesome, she didn't know that doing good, believable portraits in watercolor is one of the hardest things for painting, but she's REALLY awesome at it!

Also, big news, I'll actually be sharing table with some peeps at Heroes. Dean Trippe makes things happen! So he, Jason Horn, Paul Maybury and I should be sharing tables on Indie Island. At least that's how it's listed on the Heroes Convention page!! I'm going to try and get some ashcans made of my one story, we'll see how it goes. But at the very least I'll have prints and sketchbooks.

IF YOU WANT A SPECIFIC PRINT, AND KNOW YOU'LL BE AT HEROES, TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT AND I'LL PRINT IT!!! I have a nice new tabloid format Epson printer, and they'll be on high quality glossy Epson paper. $20 for each print. E-mail me at evan.kaiser@gmail.com for that!

Post 389

2009-06-09T21:18:00.003-05:00

Ah, the sweet relief of lidocaine/aloe gel! The sunburn is now kicking in and killing me, should be a fun night ahead!!! Had lots of fun relaxing at the pool, but that country sun is pretty brutal! Tomorrow will be a day full of fun...to call it work strips it of the same appeal...though work-ing will be accomplished...in a FUN way!!! See what I did there?

Post 388

2009-06-08T08:00:00.004-05:00

Graduation today, so I'm going to be getting ready, and then helping line up students in the 'holding area'...that doesn't sound good at all, does it?! But that's their wording...not mine!

Either way, it will be a day of seeing them off into the world, getting to meet some of their parents for the first time...the parents of most Art II students don't show up to open house...I had maybe 3 parents show up this semester for Art II?

Either way, after this summer actually begins! BBQ tomorrow with the Space Gun guys, and then getting to hang out with a friends this week. Should be good stuff to cool down and then get back into work mode!

Post 387

2009-06-07T17:14:00.003-05:00

Just having some fun here on a relaxed Sunday. Saw UP today, and it's an insanely beautiful movie. From the Trailer I didn't have ANY expectations, it seemed so standard fair. The movie itself is totally different, great, great film! Better than Wall-E in my opinion!

Post 386

2009-06-06T23:38:00.003-05:00

I challenged myself on this one. I looked in the mirror for 30 seconds and then went back to sketch my visage. Sure, there's things that need correcting, such as the left eye, bugs me now. But I enjoyed the exercise, and think I did well with the shading. I'm shaking off the kinks of finals week. But I'm on the right track for getting back into the art swing of things!

Post 385

2009-06-04T22:53:00.003-05:00

First off, to clarify, I saw those really cool things that Paul Pope draws and thought I'd try my own (out of my head as always).

So, to explain the paper, it's the for fun survey that I gave this semester for my final. I've been grading exams like crazy, but these make it all worth it. This one is from a cheerleader, but I have to admire how well she's able to take such a ridiculous question and give it such an honest answer. This is brilliant in my opinion!

P.S. Yeah, I really did ask my classes this...and I know they think I'm crazy. But the point is FUN!!! Only one more day and then I'm into summer mode! I have to work until 8:30 tomorrow night so I don't have to come in on Saturday. Then Monday's graduation, I'm working line-up and fully plan on tearing like a big baby as I usher my students to their future! Then the week starts my need to get full on working out, and working on the sequential project/mini series! Plus, there's plans to go swimming at my friend Matt's pool, which he recently cleaned. Good times, good plans...much better than last year where I avoided the light of day...

Post 384

2009-06-02T19:17:00.005-05:00

Did a tattoo design for a friend, the mock-up is above, though he'll be getting it in black along his ribs. Also, I've got my new Campus 2's as the crown jewel of the collection! They're black velour/suede...rockin' right??!! I've got a really amazing outfit planned for tomorrow! I think the kids will go crazy!

My idea behind going all out on dressing up this week is two-fold in reasoning: 1)I'm proud because of all the work I've done this year, I mean, I'm down 16 pants sizes since September. 2)I'm showing I'm putting the time into appearance while other people (who shall remain nameless) are drifting as the final week closes out. I'm sending them the message that, "I'm not giving up on you even though you're graduating, so give me these last few days of effort!"

So far the plan is working...I'm going to be wearing the sport-coats more next year I think. Ask me in August!!!

BTW, if I had to color this...or even flat this...I'd want to die about 4 hours in...seriously, it's insanely gorgeous...but they might as well leave it in black and white. I mean, broken edges of lines, you can't exactly use a flatting plug-in to even attempt this, it would make Photoshop CS2 or 3 go to a screen that just says "I give up!!!!" There's really no way that they're going to pay enough for a colorist to do this justice...or the colorist is just THAT devoted. I know that I'd just quit and move on to the next project. Sorry, that's just my view on this. It's too pretty...we don't have the technology to make this viable for a monthly.

Post 383

2009-06-01T05:18:00.003-05:00

Some more cards to trade with my students! The Dhalsim was funny because that's what I saw when I wiped away the shaving cream! Sometimes that's what happens, I'll see shapes in these, so I'll just respond to the nature of the card.

Post 382

2009-05-31T09:14:00.003-05:00

I was searching through my old files, and found this little gem, from sometime early last year for an outlandish project (even for MY standards) that just never came to be. 'Beefcakes of the Civil War', an idea I threw out as a joke, but gathered stem for a while. It involved flex battles, and an epic arm-wrestling tournament/battle that was a long continuous shot much like in Nextwave, also a steam-powered mechanized flex-bot to fight against the Union...yeah, I even think I'm weird sometimes...

Maybe one day it'll happen. I just need the right motivation, and somebody to flesh it out better. I have all these ideas, but little to no motivation to write for myself. Lots of artists want to be that 'writer/artist' combo. I'm just an artist. It's not like I can't write, it's just that writing so many papers in college really killed the fun of writing for me. I'd be good at pitching, or if I was writing on a sitcom I'd do great, but for some reason with comics it's different for me.

Post 381

2009-05-30T08:50:00.002-05:00

Did the shaving cream technique for the trading cards. Gave the octopus to a friend, and traded the Milo Garrett for a Pokemon card a student made...it was awesome, so totally fair trade!

Post 380

2009-05-29T19:40:00.005-05:00

So, don't jump the gun on this statement, by that I mean KEEP CHECKING!!! I'm going to be easing up on the everyday update as summer begins and I start into the sequential schedule. I'm pretty sure that Benito will be happy that I'll be working on the book and that it will take priority over my blog (heh)!

Not to say that you won't be seeing daily updates, I mean, even when I'm slacking I'm updating more than the 25 blogs I follow on Google Reader...and that's not boasting, I've been beating them 5-1 for about 6 weeks running!!! All I'm saying is that you don't know when I'll be updating, so keep checking regularly!!!

Anyway, I'm feeling really good, much better than the beginning of the week, for a lot of reasons. Primarily, my students, they make me laugh all day, and I make them laugh through sarcasm and limericks...no, not the second part, but through situational humor and artistic experimentation. I think of my classroom as one of two things: 1)an art lab for investigation into materials and process, or 2)an art dojo, where we sweep the leg, not because we have to in order to win, but because it's funnier...and because that 'LaRusso' learned the fundamentals in like a week, and had to use a trick move for wins! (my kids understand my logic on this)

Post 379

2009-05-29T06:38:00.003-05:00

Prep-work. I'm almost done with the school year, so as soon as I get home now I'm getting stuff ready for my sequential work. I'm going to have a far more eventful summer than last. Last one I just kind of sat and made my sketchbook...look how well that did for me...

This summer is set for travel (Heroes, and a roadtrip), I have an actual project, I'll be exercising nearly every day, I'm supposed to be teaching one of my friends photoshop and they may be my apprentice for a while, and an actual social life. So brace yo' sef' summer, I'm lookin' for ya'!!!

Post 378

2009-05-28T17:58:00.003-05:00

As my students are finishing their projects at different paces (all major projects are due tomorrow), I'm having them create artist trading cards/sketch cards. I'm not keeping any of mine, I'm trading them all with my students, it's selfish for me, I just want an excuse to have some of their work! My Art II's rock! So far the popular request in 4th period is "guys with afros." They're even putting stats on the back of the cards...old school Marvel card style...how cool is that?!

I'll tell you, this has been a week where they have those things where they have the "my favorite teacher" things in the paper. I wasn't listed on any of the things, but I don't feel bad, because I had about 20 students who were either in my class in the past, or some that never even were stop by just to talk, or get advice. Some ran in during my demo for artist trading cards, and I was able to include them in the discussion! I'll miss my senior students though!!! But I have such cool students. Too bad I can't follow my Drawing II's and teach Drawing III for them! Oh well, they at least know that I'm always there for them.

Sorry to the casual reader, I'm like a proud older sibling to see them all growing up into awesome people and artists!

Post 377

2009-05-27T22:19:00.002-05:00

Random sketch. Things are crazy right now, but they're looking better at least!

Got a room for Heroes convention, so now all I need to take care of is getting a 3-day ticket. I'll be walking around talking to folks since I don't want to pay for a table. At least I can finally get to just talk to friends, and this is definitely the convention to do that at!

Post 376

2009-05-26T20:13:00.004-05:00

Another day, another dollar. 7 1/2 days left of school for the year, and I'm ready for summer, but I'll miss my classes this semester. There are a bunch of my favorite students graduating, and I am going to my first graduation for my students. Emotionally it's already hitting me.

Post 375

2009-05-25T08:56:00.004-05:00

Here are some pages from Egg#2 . My new buddy Eric Skillman wrote AND colored AND lettered these pages. I'll tell you, recently I don't really accept projects with people who contact me out of the blue, but this was totally different, I'd seen Eric's work with one of the people younger than me who's insanely talented: Connor Willumsen. Egg #1 is available here BTW! Eric is a crazy talented designer himself (works for Criterion), and he brought me a script that fulfilled one of my fantasies, to do a story in the same vein as the Ride. I'm not completely sure when it's coming out, but he will have some ashcan copies at MoCCA next month, so if you're there, you should stop by and check it out, pick up a copy!

This was an extremely fulfilling collaboration, ESPECIALLY seeing someone do some things I haven't seen color wise with my work. I'm currently studying these to really take my own colors to the next level!

Either way, have a happy Memorial Day if you have off, and tell me what you think about the pages!

P.S. if some text doesn't make sense, or there is a blank, it's because I edited some choice content for the post! Young eyes view this page too...and should be working on their altered books for that matter!

Post 374

2009-05-24T06:17:00.003-05:00

Did this in the Moleskine. My mom (who's also a teacher) had shown me this technique where you use shaving cream and food coloring to get this insane marbeling technique. You can put the shaving cream (use an ultra foamy kind like barbasol) on a flat surface, and use a spatula to smooth it out. Then you drop some food coloring on top of it, and use a toothpick to move it round in the desired pattern. Push the paper down on top lightly, and when you bring it up, use the spatula to remove the shaving cream...instant marbel effect! Then you can use the spatula to reapply and remove the leftover foam to fill in empty areas. Let it dry a bit, and it's good to use!

I'll tell you, there is a slick patina to the paper that ends up making the use of prismacolor (which I used in this case) to apply SUPER SMOOTH!!! It's insane, blending takes no effort, and white shows up really well. Ah, the fun of simple non-art materials to create fine-art!!!

Post 373

2009-05-23T15:15:00.003-05:00

I have to tell you, I've never thought I'd utter these words in my life, much less type them out (in the past I would have been a hypocrite): The most enjoyable, care free, least complicated part of my life is when I'm exercising! I exercise 6 days a week now. It's just me, my thoughts, and my music for an hour or so. I solve my problems for the day, let go of any stress I have, and I don't even have to think about anything if I don't want to. I'm out there because I want to, and not because I have to now. Especially with how complicated things have been with people recently, it's a time to just get back to basics and not have to worry about feelings...except feeling awesome!!! I'm seeing a lot more change from day to day, instead of month to month, like when I first started. I'll tell you, people call me crazy for waking up at 5 a.m. every morning, but it's totally worth it! I'm even doing this over the summer when I have off.

Oh, and the sketches. That's because Cory requested it. Invincigal is now my second favorite lady to draw in comics, right after Batgirl!!! Seriously though, I want to see her in the pages of Invincible. Otherwise I'll make a fan comic and pester Kirkman with it as a means of encouraging him to do one! She's insanely fun to draw. Cory does some of my favorite costume designs ever because there are a lot of superhero costumes that are so bulky or hard to remember, his are simple, efficient, and more than that iconic! Isn't that all you need in a costume?!? I e-mailed a bunch of pin-ups from my friends and I of Invincible this past week to Kirkman, so here's hoping that they didn't get lost in the e-mail shuffle. My friends are anxious to hear back!

Post 372

2009-05-22T19:53:00.003-05:00

So, upon Craig's suggestion, I decided to re-examine my style a bit. What do you think Craig, is this along the lines of what you were thinking??? ;)

Post 371

2009-05-21T06:45:00.004-05:00

Gah, I always promised myself I would try my best to avoid typos in my first interview...but I caught a blaring one...'mulit' instead of 'multi' when talking about the dinosaur I drew...ugh!!!

Also, I just wanted to address something a few people had e-mailed me about. They had told me 'sorry for the negative comments you got.' First off, the ones they were talking about weren't that negative, it just isn't what those folks are into. I personally see them all as 'positive'! In the fine art world, the key nowadays isn't as much about is this the most beautiful, or is it the most popular, but can it illicit a strong emotional response? If that's the case, then I'm doing well, I've always known the styles that I'm drawn to are very polarizing in terms of public opinion. If anything, at least I'm being genuine about my art. I could ape any style I wanted to, but this is what feels right to me, what feels true. You've seen I can do realism, but would I want to do a full book of that? Nope!!! At least not right now in my life, that's not what I'm meant for at this time. Public opinion is what it is, and publicity is all great publicity no matter what. You just have to use it as momentum to propel yourself to the next assignment, and continue creating!!!

Today feels like a Friday already, what's the deal with that?!?!

Post 370-An emotional rollercoaster...

2009-05-20T17:23:00.003-05:00

Today you're getting a double post!! Why? Because that thing I mentioned finally happened, I had my first big interview thanks to Chris Arrant over at Newsarama!!!!!!

It's actually been a while since I did the interview, so I can't remember what all I said...hopefully all good!

I'll tell you, this has been easily the most emotionally charged day I've had in many years, going from something amazingly awesome like this, to a friend moving out of the blue, having a big group 'tears of joy' moment when one of my classes told me they'll miss my class and we all started getting nostalgic! A lot of other major revelations or equally intense moments happened today.

It's all good though, part of the ongoing story! So please check out the article, and welcome to anybody that is new to my work that is checking it out for the first time. Also, thank you to everyone who has already been coming here. You always know that I'm available for answering questions you have!

Post 369

2009-05-20T05:19:00.002-05:00

Post 368

2009-05-19T05:37:00.003-05:00

It's funny, after going through the craziness of last week and passing with flying colors, any lesser degree of craziness just feels like a tickle! At this point, goal one is fun!

I'm looking forward to this weekend, going to see a bunch of movies. I'd like to see Star Trek again, taking my parents to see Night at the Museum 2, and then probably going with my brother to see Terminator. It'll be nice to have the 3 days and shorter work week...bonus!!!

Also, somebody e-mailed me about my last comment on Twitter, yeah, I meant it!!! Twitter was too tough for me to stomach. It can be used well, and some people use it REALLY well! I still read some people's updates, like Craig's, or David Atchison's. Those guys put in cool info that is really thoughtful and interesting, like art links, quotes, and movie updates. But for the most part I was missing the idea of an 'us' mentality, any form of reciprocation. Twitter is 'me me me', and with things like my blog, I try and give tips and insight on the artistic medium, as well as updates on things (which is usually directly tied to some form of my artistic production). But taking out the other stuff, the real interaction (people can't reply to yours if they don't follow you, really?!?!?!) then what's the point for me? I like my blog, and I might start updating Facebook more again, but I'd rather spend the time living life, or making more art than telling people about how "I found a new pillowcase, how cool is that?" or "look at what magical spice rub I put on my bbq?" or " I eat at THIS restaurant, how cool does THAT make me?!?!" All one's I've seen, and I don't want to let myself get even close to that annoying.

So yeah, still here for the long haul if you're still here with me!

Post 367

2009-05-18T05:16:00.002-05:00

A new week begins, hopefully this one will be better than last week!

Post 366

2009-05-17T06:36:00.002-05:00

Getting back into the swing of getting to do some actually good drawings! BTW, the batgirl pose is an appropriation, aka, I borrowed the pose from Cory Walker, I just wanted to remember it because of it's awesomeness. It's not a swipe if you admit it!

Post 365

2009-05-16T06:07:00.003-05:00

Post 364

2009-05-15T21:46:00.004-05:00

Since the submissions are closing...and my mind just finally gave out...I tried to do some sketches tonight to no avail...I hit the wall....I decided to post my submission that I had done before the colored pencil version. Hopefully some sleep will renew my mind.

BTW, a few times this week I've had people ask me "You're smart?!?!" in such a surprised fashion following conversations about things I had done when I was a student in school. Like I won a science fair in middle school that went to state dealing with modules that transmitted sound using light...so ambient light would interfere with transmissions. Or, the fact that I was number 15 in my class for a long time and still graduated within the top 6% even with sherking my last semester to work on a college art portfolio (which didn't even get me college credit with a perfect score!). I don't know if it's the fact that I'm an art teacher, but apparently people think that I'm lacking in the intelligence department. But it's both disheartening and highly insulting to see THAT level of surprise. I graduated with honors from college, I didn't take blow off classes. If I wanted to, I could have become a doctor, but I chose what I loved. Is it really that surprising?

I guess the moral of the story is not to make assumptions based on career title.

Post 363

2009-05-14T22:39:00.004-05:00

What he said...

Nearly didn't make it for today's art update...but I did a quick digital sketch.

Post 362

2009-05-13T17:38:00.003-05:00

Okay, got more stuff taken care of today, inching towards Friday, and ultimately SEMI-FREEEEEEEEEEEEDDDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM (in Braveheart voice)!

Did this pretty quick, I used to love the design of Havok back in the day when I was but a wee lad. Just plain fun design. I guess they probably changed it to avoid the similarity to Bullseye...but Havok does better with the look! Bullseye is a character with potential, but always seems to turn out lame and poorly utilized.

Post 361

2009-05-12T20:26:00.004-05:00

Sorry, nothing special today. Not the most inspired piece, I know, but it's all I had in me this evening. If I thought that two weeks ago was hectic, that was nothing compared to this week. Putting together a field trip and an art show on short notice, been non stop matting and cataloging work, and putting out fires. Right now it's kind of hard to get any personal art done when I get home at the end of the day because I'm just drained. It's getting kind of hard to do these updates right now...but I promised myself I'd keep doing the daily update until either I hit 100 days worth, or something else went up online (a surprise for me that happened a few months ago), which was why I started this insanity...whichever happened first...right now it's looking like 100...and I'm really having a lot of trouble. If I can just make it to Saturday...I should be alright...

Post 360

2009-05-11T05:08:00.003-05:00

This is looking to be another crazy week, so not too much talking. This is another one done of a friend in my moleskine.

Post 359

2009-05-10T11:38:00.002-05:00

Y'know, normally I don't put up my designs for project rooftop before things go up, but this is my alternate view using prismacolor. Did this quickly this morning and sent it in to add to my primary design (which is using ink and photoshop colors). But I'm claiming dibs on this design. This is MINE PEOPLE!!!

I was having tons of trouble with this one. The past few competitions have been insanely iconic characters who have had nearly every costume design under the sun, so you constantly run into just copying an already existing design, or doing a full re-imagining, which is frustrating to no end! But I guess that's the challenge! I nearly gave up yesterday, but thanks to my friends, both named Joe (Joe Keatinge, and Joe Eisma), they forced me to get my head on straight, and stop caring about all that other stuff, especially public opinion, and just go with what I WANTED. Such a simple thing, and I'm able to do it with everything else, but it's so hard to get into that mindset for Project Rooftop for me for some reason. I wanted to impress, and stand up with all the big name folks as a little guy...try and pull off an upset. But this time I stopped trying to compete, and just redesigned it for myself, and for the first time I'm really happy with it. Whether I get torn apart in crit on this, I really like it...I'll give you a hint...it's that I did it as if I were doing an Adidas design for him! Which just happens to be my favorite design aesthetic...the trefoil!!! If you even remotely know me, you know I'm insane for that design element. The head plate is for bashing in skulls. Wolverine seems like the kinda guy that uses his head as a weapon, and yeah...I know his head IS a weapon, it's adamantium as well, but I wanted to move away from the traditional mask, and into something more easily concealable within the general public.

Anyways, check back in a couple months (hahaha, I kid, I kid Dean) when the competition results go up to see if any of the judges actually liked my design...but I'm happy, and that's what counts!

Post 358

2009-05-09T07:34:00.003-05:00

For some reason using the moleskine has been really cathartic during the past stressful few days. It's given me a chance to just do some stream of consciousness writing/drawing. It always helps me to do that, then I can leave the thoughts on the paper and out of my head.

I'm about to go finish day 6 of a six day grueling work-out week I'm putting myself through to see what kind of results it produces. So far it's been fantastic (except the day I nearly pulled a Martin Lawrence wearing neoprene and a hoodie into the 90 degree humid weather since I didn't get to work out at 5 a.m. like normal). I'm actually getting closer to my first target weight that I wanted to be for Heroes. With the cooler weather a few weeks back I wasn't thinking this would be possible, but the recent heat surge has my body actually wanting to lose weight, and not keep it on to fight the cold.

Haven't seen Star Trek yet, I'm taking my family for Mother's Day to see that. But if Twitter is right, nearly everyone else has seen it already!

Post 357

2009-05-08T05:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I realized I was starting to enter summer mode...but I still have 4 weeks! Gotta get myself back into day-job mode!

Post 356

2009-05-06T21:53:00.004-05:00

So, I'm posting tomorrow's early. I've gotta' go back to work, the swine flu apparently did not warrant any further days of closure, and I'm going to need the extra time tomorrow morning since it's trash day, and I gotta' go exercising.

Someone I haven't talked to in a long time had seen my more recent art and me going back to some more realism, really showing some more versatility. They asked me what the push was that motivated a bunch of change this year compared to others. The main one is weight loss. I've been dedicated and going strong for over half a year now, and it's become apparent to a lot of folks that I haven't been slouching. Another was the Zuda process. I was looking at some people's entries this month, and I haven't really talked about it. It was a pretty agonizing process, not because of the loss, but because of what I learned through reflection was not the way I wanted to break into the industry. I'm actually pretty glad I didn't win now, because I know that's not what I was meant to do.

In running around like a chicken with my head cut off promoting the story, worrying that I was losing, and too many other things going on at once, I got to a point where I had enough. I hit emotional bottom, and just didn't care anymore. I didn't want to have anything to do with the project anymore, it stopped being fun. I learned that when something stops being fun with comics, it's just work, and I already work, but even that is still fun. Because I make it that way. It's a little harder though in comics if you're stuck promoting in ways you normally wouldn't, which seems less than genuine.

But through the process of doing the Zuda competition, I asked myself what all I wanted from comics, and also found that I missed my fine art roots. In college, the two worlds of school and comics had to stay apart. People would get drummed out of programs based on the knowledge of doing "comic style" drawings. But I've really started to marry the two worlds together, and constantly evolve. I'm just having fun pushing myself and hopefully pushing the medium of sequential storytelling so I can contribute something that's fun and most importantly genuine. I don't get behind projects I don't believe in, and I don't sacrifice quality on time constraints if at all possible, which is why I haven't been doubling up on projects like I used to.

This is a medium that is about doing something you enjoy, and hopefully other people will find it enjoyable. But first and foremost, as an artist, you should genuinely find the source material engaging, or it shows in some way to the reader that you just aren't that into it. You also need to do it for yourself. If people like it, they like it, if they don't, they don't, but you can't win everyone over, and the only thing worse than nobody reading something, is nobody reading something and knowing that you didn't give it your personal best in YOUR OWN style!

But what I'm trying to get at is that there is no one path in this industry. Sure, you can follow the blueprint of successful artists and copy their style, but you can pidgeon-hole yourself. You want to stick to your guns and show what you want to do, and make it happen. Sure I may just sound like a crazy zealot who is disillusioned or angry...but I'm none of those things. I'm happy, and I'm having fun making things on my own terms. I don't have any major obligation, so if something isn't what I want to do, I don't have to take the assignment. You have to be true to yourself to unlock your true potential, and once you get that style or technique that gets peoples attention finally, don't just stay comfortable there, refine it, innovate!

Rant over!

Post 355

2009-05-06T07:49:00.002-05:00

Here's another one I did for Evan. I'm glad that recently I've decided to really work on my pencil abilities. I had been working most of this year with brush technique and paint, which gave me confidence and forced me to focus on hand positioning on mark making tools. But now, working with colored pencils has forced me to capture movement quickly, and then focus on better rendering techniques. It's easier to see 5 steps ahead, knowing what information needs to be left until later, and what needs to be done to make something look a specific way.

Post 354

2009-05-05T08:49:00.003-05:00

I just finished this yesterday (started it yesterday too), an art trade with a friend I made on the drawingboard (donate to keep it alive!) who is...oddly enough, named Evan as well! It's funny, Evan always says we're versions of each other from an alternate universe. I have to tell you, it's funny how eerie it can be sometimes, too many similarities for the mind to comprehend based on only the sharing of a first name! Here is what I get out of the trade, which is totally awesome! My brother and I love some Doc Savage, so this is getting framed!

The piece is around 13X20 inches in prismacolor on Canson Mi-Tientes paper. You too can have something of this sort in commission form...if the price is right!...and my schedule permits!

Post 353

2009-05-04T08:48:00.002-05:00

Quick sketch of Dylan Dog! So, I got an iPhone yesterday, and spend a good part of the day setting things up on it. Then I get to my RSS reader...nobody is updating!!! What's the deal?! This hasn't been a once in a while thing, I might as well stop checking in a lot of instances. I think outside of me, Craig and Benito updates their blogs/journals the most of things I read. I mean, I know people are busy using twitter (I hate the term tweet, ESPECIALLY as newscasters continue to use it). But I use twitter, facebook, I go to two messageboards and update regularly. I update here EVERY-SINGLE-DAY! PLUS, I get pages done (just can't show them to you guys until they near release), and I'm doing a webcomic, plus a bunch of other things besides the dayjob.

I know it's pretty crazy to call people out, but I'm calling people out!!! Lets see some more updates on what you're doing. It's called networking, and it's what's taken me from an ABSOLUTE nobody to a SEMI nobody. That's an infinite increase of progress!

Post 352

2009-05-03T14:46:00.003-05:00

Here's one I did the other day. I was trying out some different lines than I usually use for shading. Geez, it's fun to work in this style. I'd never use it for an actual book...even though I'm pretty quick with it, but for covers I could definitely see the possibilities.

Post 351

2009-05-02T06:52:00.003-05:00

I love's me some Invincible! So slowly I'll work though doing art of all the characters at some point. Robot is such an amazing design, TONS of fun to draw! I did this pretty quickly while watching Lost the other night. I really like how the lighting came out on it. I've been looking at certain aspects in real life, so that when I do something from memory like this, I can give it a sense of realism.

Also FCBD is still on today, so stop by and hang out with us!!! The swine flu may have closed down my school district (putting all of us on leave for a week), shut down most events, but comic fans cry a hearty 'meh' and laugh in the face of danger...as long as danger doesn't have something communicable!

Post 350

2009-05-01T05:24:00.003-05:00

I've had this Fabriano Artists Journal for a while now, I couldn't get behind it for a long time because it took horribly to ink, led to scratchy edges. This thing was not designed for it...but that was before I was back into prismacolors! This thing is IN-SANE with them! This took me no time at all, MAYBE 20 minutes total, which is crazy. The colors go on vibrantly but you can still have control to build subtle color shifts. There's at least 5 or 6 different tones of paper in it, so expect to see some more of them soon!

Post 349

2009-04-30T05:16:00.003-05:00

I wanted to give this a very simple/graphic treatment. The only issue I had to work through was the placement of the first 'l' on Hellboy created a tangent with Hellboy's 'bun' on the back of his head. So I had to move it around to get the correct placement. After that, I was very happy with the result. Though red is a tough color to work with in terms of internet display as it begins the process of file degradation pretty quickly. I think this would be a fun print to have.

Last day of stress for the week, so I just gotta' make it to the end of the day and I think I'll be okay.

Post 348-FCBD!!!!

2009-04-29T22:40:00.003-05:00

Yup yup, Luan, Jake and I are going back to our old alma mater for Free Comic Book Day! We were asked to go and do sketches on FCBD at the Heroes4Heroes event, and we were more than glad to oblige! It's always great to go to our old stomping ground, get some good grub, hang out with cool people, and afterward chill in the square. Plans of hitting up the Recycled Books, and the flea market are a MUST! I might even splurge and get some ice cream, because it's apparently a Denton must that I have never had (quite the eggregious error on my part apparently)!

Either way, if you're near the area, come by and check us out. Honestly, once they said CAPE wasn't happening this year, I was depressed, but when we were offered this, it was a FCBD miracle!!!

So stop by and I'll do a free head sketch for you!