Bisbee Trip

I highly recommend anyone in Arizona take a weekend trip to Bisbee, AZ. 100+ year old architecture and friendly bars make it one of my new favorite places.

Update

Just some random thoughts. I am extrememly bored by most comic art I see in online previews. Many book and styles look so similiar and watered down that they just seem to flow together without anything popping out. When I was a kid getting into comics we had some of the most awesome and differing styles available. Rick Leonardi, John Romita Jr., Paul Smith, Alan Davis, Brett Blevins, and Mike Mignola to name just a few. If you are unfamiliar with any of those names, please Google them, you'll thank me later. The artists out now who do truly energetic and unique work are in the minority and mostly on smaller, less publicized books. Guys like Eric Canete, Sean Murphy, Dan Panosian, Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez and Dave Johnson are still keeping it real and keep me inspired. I just wish there was more reward for these guys who do great work. Google those guys too, you'll be glad you did.

Anyway, I picked up some calligraphy markers the other day and sketched this. Really loving that Alex Toth vibe here, his marker work is a huge inspiration to me. More later!

Recent commissions

Here are a couple recent commissions I've done. All traditionally done with ink and marker. I'm still open for more commissions as I try to line up some new work, so fee free to contact me if you are interested.

FCBD ReCap

Saturday was Free Comic Book Day 2010. I had a great time doing some sketches at Atomic Comics and look forward to it again next year. Here are a few of the sketches that I did.

.




I sat next to artist/writer/editor Jay Fotos.


Artist Jim Hanna and "friend".


See everyone next year!

Free Comic Book Day!

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! I will be Signing & Sketching at the Atomic Comics in Mesa. Every year Atomic likes to help out The Hero Initiative so this year we will be doing sketches in exchange for a $10 donation to the HERO Initiative. The sketches will come on these nifty over-sized sketchcards. Sketches for kids 10 and under are free but will not be on the cards. On top of doing some totally awesome kickass sketches, I will also have copies of the Villains trade paperback and my brand new sketchbook on sale for only $5. Can't beat that with a stick.


Click on the images for full size.

New Interview

Recently I did a short and fun little interview with Tim over at The Marvel Smartass blog and I also contributed to Tim's other site 5 Minute Marvels where we tackled Atom Eve from Invincible. Please check them both out.

Alphabet Series

So in case you don't follow my Daily Sketchjam - here is what I have been posting for the last couple days.

A is for Alita

B is for Bizzaro

C is for Cable

D is for Daredevil


After I reached the milestone post of 100, I decide to do a series of Alphabet sketches, so for each letter I will pick a character that starts with the letter and try to incorporate the letter's shape somewhere in the sketch. Wish me luck and check the Daily Sketchjam...... Daily!

UFC 112

Only two fights intrigue me on this card. The are the two title fights and I'm picking both champs. Outside of the Heavyweight and Light Heavyweight divisions, the UFC is having a hard time finding contenders for the lower weight classes. BJ Penn should dominate Edgars via TKO, or rear naked choke. I anticipate BJ winning the stand up but if Edgar lasts into the 3rd he will probably take him down and finish him off. Damien Maia is my favorite BJJ fighter right now and probably the best in the world. Sadly he has to get Anderson Silva to the ground long enough to work a submission and I don't see that happening. I would be happy if Maia did win however as it would drastically free up that division and allow Silva to take on huge fights in other weight classes.

If it's art you are looking for - look no further!

Website Update!

I updated www.super75comics.com, please check it out and let me know what you think!

UFC111 picks + some art

If you haven't been checking out the Daily SketchJAM then you have been missing most of my art postings. I am currently working on a new short story for The Phoenix Comic-Con, so I will be quiet with art postings here for the next couple weeks, but I post there everyday along with a couple other fantastic artists.

I sketched this and then the awesome Derek Toye threw some colors on it.


This was a commission for http://heyoscarwilde.com/

Here are my real quick, non-researched UFC 111 picks - Winners in Bold.

Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy: St-Pierre is annoyingly great at everything, he doesn't have knockout power but could catch Hardy in a submission or most likely will grind out a decision.

Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir: A lot of people are picking Frank Mir here but I like Shane Carwin. Mir got destroyed by Brock Lesnar in their last fight and has since beaten a very beatable Cheik Kongo and now he gets right back into the title picture? Mir did have an impressive win over Nogueira but even that looks suspect after Cain Velasquez dismantled Big Nog last month. So I am going with Carwin via TKO.

Jon Fitch vs. Ben Saunders: Saunders is getting a big step up in competition on short notice to take on Fitch since Alves was refused a license to fight. Fitch had been training for a short stocky kickboxer and now with only 3 days notice is taking on a very long fighter with an incredible thai clinch game. I have always liked Killa B and I've always found Fitch to be a very tough and durable opponent, but very boring as well. This fight either goes to Fitch by decision or Saunders by TKO. I'm counting on Saunders.

Nate Diaz vs. Rory Markham: Diaz via submission, Round 2

Ricardo Almeida vs. Matt Brown: Brown via TKO.

Emerald City ReCap

Emerald City was a blast. Seattle is one of my favorite cities in the world so it is always a great place to visit. The con was packed both days and I was able to meet some great people from all over the globe who attended the con. Big thanks to everyone who bought a poster, sketchbook or comic from me. Your support makes it all worth it. I did not get to visit with as many of the other guests as I would have liked to and I am way too cool to name drop the guys I did chat with. Big, Big, Big thanks to Brian Meredith and the whole staff of ECCC and all the cool Vancouverites and Pacific Northwesterners for stopping by.

The Good.

Books I picked up: Anchor by Phil Hester & Brian Churilla and Incredibles Vol.1 (Boom Studios) and Polly and The Pirates Vol.1 (Oni Press)
Beer I enjoyed: Rainer
Best Food I ate: A tie between ramen at Uwajimaya and homemade curry at my friend's house.
Best Bar: Bimbos Mexican Joint, they had $6.50 pitchers of Rainer.
Music that got me by on the plane: Johnny Cash Live @ Folsom Prison & The Arctic Monkeys.
Best Airline: Alaska return flight.
Best Host & show assistant: The pimp in the hat below.

The Bad.
Flight there, passengers and crew of US Airways. Worst company and service ever.

Next con is Phoenix comic-con, I'll post about that when we get closer to it in May.

EMERALD CITY CON

I will be a guest at this year's Emerald City comic-con. I am excited to go back this year and I hope it's a successful convention both personally and professionally. I will be at J-03 right next to the amazing team of Phil Hester and Brian Churilla. Hopefully some of their mojo rubs off on me. I will have the debut of my new (and 1st) sketchbook, Seventy-Five Vol.1 as well as more copies of the Villains trade. Both of those are smoking deals at only $5 a pop. I'll be doing $15 sketches and taking commissions as well. Another cool thing that I am a part of is that I contributed to a small series of concert type gig posters for the show. Along with poster artists Jesse LeDoux, Jeff Kleinsmith and comic artists Shane White, Stefano Gaudiano, and Dean Trippe. I'm in great company there. I can't wait to get up there and talk with some fans and hang out with friends. If you are in the area, stop by and say hello.


My "gig" poster will be available at the Clone Press booth #507 (click for full size)


Seventy-Five Volume 1. (click for full size)

UFC 110 Predictions

There are some fighters I like and I'm looking forward to seeing this weekend, so I thought I'd post some picks and uneducated analysis.

Big Nog vs. Cain Velasquez - I have never seen a fighter be able to take as much punishment as Nogueira, he'll take a beating while setting up his ground game or biding his time. I think his loss to Frank Mir had a lot to do to injury but with that said, I'm going with the slight underdog Velasquez. I have been impressed with Cain's wrestling ability and that will give him control of the fight. He threw Ben Rothwell and Cheick Kongo around the octagon like they were in a different weight class. Nog will be his toughest fight, but I think he can control the match and get a slight edge. So I'm going Cain by split decision.

Michael Bisping vs. Wanderlei Silva - Even though Wanderlei has lost several recent fights, they have all been against elite competition. Bisping has stepped up to elite competition once and got his ass handed to him by Dan Henderson. I think Bisping is always going to be the third of fourth best in his weight class in the UFC, but I don't think he can take Wanderlei, and he would get completely outclassed if he fought Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort or even Rich Franklin. I don't think Wanderlei takes this easily, but I do think he wins via TKO. Silva easily wins the battle of most awesome fight names as well. The Count should lose to the Axe Murderer.

George Sotiropoulos v. Joe Stevenson - I don't really care much about this match-up but I hope Sotiropoulos wins just because Joe Daddy is talking about getting another shot at BJ Penn soon and I think that would be hazardous to his health. BJ licked Stevenson's blood off his gloves after their last fight, a rematch would end even more badly for Joe.

Keith Jardine v. Ryan Bader - Much like Cain Velasquez has the wrestling pedigree to dominate a match, so does Ryan "Darth" Bader. Jardine has a weird stand up style that may give some fighters the fits, but Ryan will just take him to the mat and work him over. I'm thinking Ryan Bader by decision.

Stephan Bonnar v. Krzysztof Soszynski - I think The Polish Experiment takes this one and Stephan Bonnar is finally let go by the UFC. They have showed him tremendous loyalty thus far in his career, but he cannot seem to put together the wins. Soszynski by desision.

Brian Foster v. Chris Lytle - I'll go with the underdog and pick Foster. No real reason other than Lytle likes to stand and Foster is a wrestler, so he can take Lytle down and grind out a decision.

Goran Reljic v. C.B. Dolloway - CB is another local guy like Ryan Bader, but he does not have the talent that Bader does. I think Goran Reljic sends CB and his lip curl out of the UFC. Reljic by TKO.

Seventy-five Vol.1

Next month I will be releasing my first ever sketchbook. Seventy-Five V1 features 48 black and white pages of sketches, character designs and unpublished pages from the last couple years. In part it is a way to show work that I haven't posted before as well as a personal document for myself. The plan is to release this at The Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle and then sell them online after that. I am currently asking for pre-orders as well to help fund my trip up to Seattle, so for a limited time I am offering a special offer.

For $30 (Plus $5 s+h within the US) I am offering a copy of 75V1 as well as my normal 9x12 b/w commission. $50 for the usual 11x17 commission still applies but I will throw in a copy as well. So it's a free copy of the sketchbook for anyone who has been thinking of getting a commission from me. I can hand deliver both at the convention to anyone who is going, or they will be mailed out the first week of March. I am only taking about 15 spots for this so if you are interested please email or message me here.

Thanks again for all the support and kind words.
- Ryan

* For anyone just wanting the sketchbook, I can't take pre-orders yet but once I have the online sale info available, I will post it.

Thailand trip recap

After high school I went straight to work full time and except for a couple months of stretches, I have always worked full time or a school/work split or a school/stay at home with kids split. So when I had the chance to take my first ever "real" vacation in almost 15 years, I jumped at the chance. I spent 10 days in Thailand (and about 2 and a half on planes to and from) and it was awesome. We flew into Koh Samui and took a ferry over to Koh Phangan for three days where I witnessed the unholy abomination of excess known as the Full Moon Party. It's a world famous party among travelers all over the globe and I'm glad I got the chance to take it in, even it wasn't my cup of tea. I think I am too old for all of that now. I felt very much out of place.

After Koh Phangan we took a ferry over to Koh Tao where my girlfriend and her brother went scuba diving and I went into full relax mode. The two and half days on Tao were my favorite part of the trip and where I had a few moments of absolute peace and relaxation, something I can't ever remember having since I have been an adult. After Koh Tao we spent a night at Chaweng Beach on Koh Samui before flying back up to Bangkok for 3 days. In Bangkok we visited Khaosan Road and the Grand Palace. So I got a bit of everything there. All in all it was a great trip, I didn't do enough sketching while there but I'm putting a couple of them up on the Sketchjam over the next couple days. For next year I'm planning on a camping tip through Ireland, so if any Irish comic peeps out there want to let me couch surf, hit me up!

Me @ Chaweng Beach, Koh Samui, Thailand.


Koh Tao, Thailand.


The Grand Palace complex, Bangkok, Thailand.


Koh Tao, Thailand.

Big Hands

I've been waiting to hear back on a freelance gig the last week or so but I have been staying busy with commissions and my sketch-a-day blog. So most of my little sketches are getting posted there. The next couple months are promising to be pretty interesting. Next week I leave for 10 days to Thailand. It will be the first vacation of more than a 4-day weekend I think I have ever taken since I have been an adult. It will also be the first time I've been back to Asia in 16 years. If you've ever seen the movie or read the book The Beach, that's where I'm going. Hopefully my trip ends up better than his did. I'll be bringing along a small sketchbook and I'm going to try and fill that up while I'm gone. Then in March I will be at The Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle where I will be debuting a new 48pg sketchbook. I will post more on that later. Here is some newer stuff by me, as always check out the sketchJam and my Deviantart account as well.

2010

I'm going to try to do a sketch a day all year long. We'll see how long it lasts. I'm doing it as part of the Sketchjam blog!

Last year was another year where I didn't really get anything big out. I self published a few books and showed up in Image's Popgun anthology but other than that and another contribution to the HERO Initiative sketch-covers, I was pretty absent. That's not to say I didn't try though. I pitched a book with an established and well received writer but most publishers passed on it for a variety of reasons. I also tried to get another book picked up that I wrote and my friend, the amazingly talented, Scott Godlewski drew, but it had the most feared word in indie publishing attached to it, SUPERHERO. Even though I never even considered it a superhero book really. Everyone passed on it because of that.

Well, I never learn my lesson so this year I'm developing my own book, ICARUS, which is chock full of fucking superheroes. I'll serialize it online and publish it myself if I need to. The last couple years my focus has been on trying to break into a top 5 or 6 publisher as an artist or writer and I think I have wasted my time pursuing that. I don't have a mainstream appeal with my style, but I'm still a functionally sound artist that can tell stories, so that will be my focus for the upcoming months along with continuing to pursue new freelance opportunities. Good luck to all my amazing creative friends out there and I hope we all have a great 2010.

Me & My 3 friends

Yeah, I need a haircut and a shave and a diet, but Happy New Years to all of you out there.

Moonstone Sketch cards

Here are some of the cards I recently did for Moonstone and 5finity productions. I did some kick-ass versions of Watson (from Sherlock Holmes) that Moonstone canned afterward, but overall it was a pretty fun project.

As always, click for full size. I'll be back on Thursday to liveblog my annual New Years/Birthday tradition of downing as many Irish Car Bombs as possible before falling asleep. Good times!

Happy Holidays

Just wanted to say a quick thanks to all of you out there who have supported me this year by either picking up one of my books or getting a commission or even just offering words of support. It means a lot and Happy Holidays to everyone that celebrates.

$30 9x12 commissions will continue through January, so send me a message if you are interested.

Thanks again.

Weekend Recap

Thursday and Friday was spent camping with my son's 6th grade class in southern Arizona. I had a great time hiking and spending time with him. Here is a shot from our hike in the Chiracua mountains.



Then on Saturday morning I hightailed it back to Mesa to take part in the Atomic Comics/HERO Initiative Wolverine 100 signing and book release.



Mike Malve, owner of Atomic Comics and HERO Initiative board member, Patrick Sherberger, Tony Parker and Scott Godlweski all holding down the fort and kicking ass.



Ben Glendenning, Tone Rodriguez, Patrick and Tony all sketching and having a good time. We moved a bunch of hardcovers and had a great time sketching in them and talking to all the people who showed up. It was a win/win for us and HERO.

My Atomic Comics HERO signing photo gallery - lots of insanely cool Wolverine sketches.
HERO Initiative

Art! & UFC 107 picks

click for full size.

The top piece is a sketch inside one of the Wolverine 100 hardcovers I did for the HERO Initiative. I will be signing for them this Saturday as well as the flier shows. The character work is some work I just finished for a program that Shawn at Spazdog comics is gearing up for. It's for a school presentation series that's he starting up to talk to pre-teens about empowering themselves. I think the art is pretty self-explanatory and it was a lot of fun to do. "Be your own hero" I think is the basic gist of it. I've been keeping fairly busy but I'm always on the lookout for new opportunities and I'm also doing $30 commissions this month, so hit me up if you're interested or know anyone that is.

I'll be offline the next couple days so here are my UFC107 picks.

BJ PENN vs. DIEGO SANCHEZ (UFC Lightweight Championship)
It's no secret BJ is my favorite fighter right now. I've picked him in his last two fights and while he didn't take out GSP, he defended his lightweight belt against Kenny Florian. He toyed with Kenny for a few rounds but once he decided to finish it, he did it and made it look easy. Sanchez has never fought anyone of BJ's caliber and in his two 155lb matches so far he failed to finish Joe Stevenson (who BJ brutalized) or Clay Guida (a 155lb gatekeeper who will probably never get to a title shot). BJ has finished everyone in the last 5 years except Matt Hughes, GSP and Lyoto Machida, all elite level fighters and champions. I think Diego will be a tough test, but I don't see him winning this fight. My prediction is BJ via submission in round 3.

Frank Mir vs. Cheik Kongo - I hate Frank Mir, so I hope Kongo wins but I can see Mir taking him out with his more rounded skills. Still, I'll take the underdog and predict Kongo by KO in round 2.

John Fitch will beat Mike Pierce because he has the awesome beard.

Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida - I think the Carpenter is fun to watch, but can't compete at the same level as the top lightweights in the UFC. Even with his new camp at Greg Jacksons I don't think he'll edge it out, but I don't know if Kenny will finish him. I predict a razor-thin split decision by Florian.

Updates!

I know it's been a while since I've had anything I could post about here. I just finished one freelance job and now I have to wrap up some cards featuring Moonstone Publishing characters. I spent the holiday break catching up on some reading and television. Invincible Vol.11 was good, Ottley's art always continues to impress me. I also picked up Inside Straight, a Wild Cards novel that came out last year. Through the first 100 pages I still have some reservations, but it's starting to pick up. I loved the Wild Cards novels when I was a teenager so I though I would give it a try. I also got caught up on this season of Sons of Anarchy and it didn't disappoint, I absolutely love this show. Shame this season is starting to wind down. Also watched season 3 of The Tudors, and I'm sad to say it did disappoint. Only 8 episodes and nothing to keep me glued to the screen. I don't know if I've just grown tired of it, or if the writing switched up this year. Maybe they'll rebound next year. My WOLVERINE cover that I did for the Hero Initiative is up for bid on eBay right now and would make a good gift for a Wolverine fan this Christmas and especially considering the wonderful cause it would be supporting. Check it out here and please pass it along to any interested parties. Here are a couple sneak peeks at my 3 favorite card so far this set.

King's Hollow

This is the first page of my King's Hollow short that was published in Popgun Vol.3. You can check out the rest of the pages here - Page 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08. I think I may have mentioned the genesis of the character Nissa the Fairy Hunter before, but she basically started out as a sketch of a goth type girl that I thought I could sell a lot of books of. Because the kids like goth type girls who kick ass. It quickly became my tribute to the fantasy genre that I loved as a kid and still enjoy somewhat today. Nissa is on a quest to kill her grandfather, the King of Fairies, for his failure to save her Mother. The story takes place in the first half of the 20th century around the edges of WW2. The first appearance of Nissa took place in the short story Hollow, which you can order here for cover price, or if you want a personalized copy and a sketch you can paypal $20 (shipping included in the US) to super75press(at)gmail(dot)com. In that story she goes searching for any info on the King's Hollow and ends up in a fight with ogres, elves, etc. She meets Emir the elf at the end of the story and he agrees to take her to the Hollow. King's Hollow is the follow up that takes Emir and Nissa to retrieve a mysterious box from the Trader, while on their way to her Grandfather's home. King's Hollow also introduces us to Cara Fantasma, the masked adventurer. At the urging of the editors of Popgun I did a Cara Fantasma short story for Popgun Vol.4 but after asking me to do it (and to rush it) to meet their deadline, they decided not to publish it.

There are so many politics that go into a large anthology like Popgun and while I was happy to have a story in issue #3, I will not be pursuing it anymore. I'm not saying I won't contribute to it in the future, but I will not be going out of my way to pitch stories to them. On the positive front though, it looks like I may be continuing the King's Hollow short stories, probably in Mysterious Adventure Magazine, if they'll have me, and if I ever get the time to work on them.

Doodles & oodles

I am currently probably busier than I ever have been on the freelance front. I have 1 big OGN project I'm chipping away at, a small comic project that just popped up as well as a card set for Moonstone. Deadlines loom! I'm also still working on my next creator owned book ICARUS and plan to have the preview book ready by March. Add that to a full time job and part time kids, and I am one busy bee. I am glad for the work though, after always fretting about and angling for freelance work, I'm finally up to my knees in it. I just wish I knew if I could count on it being steady. That said, everything I'm working on is stuff that I'm not allowed to post. So my art posts are almost non-existent even though I'm working harder than ever. Here are some samples of the layout work I did last night, all pencils done in Painter which is great for realistic pencils. Also there is a screen shot some blogger made at last month's Long Beach Con. I saw it on the Gelatometti blog and noticed a nice shot of my books. So thanks to Beach News and Gelatometti.