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So last night I wanted to just sketch something fun that wasn't part of a job. I went to my twitter account and asked the legions want they wanted and the first 3 responses were, Captain Ahab, The Beastie Boys and Eddie Riggs of Brutal Legend. Evan Shaner also suggested The Thing, but I have never been able to do him any justice. So here is Mike D leading Eddie Riggs and Captain Ahab on a quest for adventure and mystery. All Aboard!
On the web - checking out the Wolverine 100 covers on Newsarama, CBR & Marvel.com The Wolverine 100 book will be out in December, more info can be found here. It features me and about 99 other amazing artists.
On the TV - ROME, the HBO series. I will wrap it up tonight and be sad, like I was when I finished Deadwood and the Wire. For my money, these 3 shows may be the best television I have ever seen. I love the characters on Rome, not as much as the Wire, but the scope and epic nature of the show make up for that. Do yourself a favor one weekend. Get rid of the kids if you have them, put aside work, and just watch both seasons back to back. Also, fellas, it's like an aphrodisiac for the ladies, trust me.
On the reading table - Umbrella Academy vol.2 that I got from khepri.com. I really liked the first volume and this one just continues that, the characters remind me of why I really liked The X-men originally, dysfunctional and super-powered. I also recently got Cora Vol.1 & 2, Ted Mathot's follow up to the two Rose and Isabel books. Really great stuff chronicling a family of women with powerful abilities from the civil war south to the western frontier. My only complaint would be that the Cora books seem short with lots of build up and I'm eagerly awaiting volume 3 for the payoff.
On my drawing table - Lots of stuff I can't show, I just picked some more really rushed freelance work to go along with some sketchcards and comic work. I'll try to post new art when I can, I put up a small sketch of a panel in progress last night at the Sketchjam blog.So what are you guys reading, watching and working on?
I've always disliked my original design for my Super75comics site so I re-did it yesterday and kept it very simple. It's a place for me to host a gallery for editors and art directors as well as a hub for my published work and a link to my blog and to my "exclusives" dealer @ Khepri comics. My next personal, self-published book will be a full-color sketchbook that will also serve as a preview book for my next project, Icarus, that I will be debuting at The Emerald City Con. Until then, I'm still working on an OGN for Outlaw Entertainment. Here are a couple pictures I just found on my friend Ben's Myspace. I think it was the first time I've logged into that horrible site in about a year.
Here is me signing at the Hero Initiative Booth alongside Andy Kuhn, Terry Moore and Tony Parker. We also did a fun little panel on the hardships of indie comics and self-publishing. Also, way in the back there is Tim Seeley.
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I got back from Long Beach Sunday night around 10:30 and I'm still feeling the effects of the weekend. I've had weird stomach pains on and off since Sunday morning. Maybe there's a little chest-burster in there, who knows. If you study the above photo you will see me, in the bottom left hand corner in the green shirt. All those other people on the other side of the booth are the people that didn't buy any of my stuff.
As part of our agreement with the wonderful Atomic Comics fellas and the con organizers, the Arizona-based artists agreed to do free sketches for kids under 12. A safe estimate would be that between myself, Scott Godlewski, Ben Glendenning, Terry Tibke, Jim Hanna and Matt Bennet we probably did 250 sketches over the two and a half days. I think I did about 45 or so on Saturday alone. It wasn't bad as they were mostly simple head shots, but the problem was that I think everyone thought we were employees and there only to provide free sketches and they did not bother to look at or purchase any product. Financially it was not a very good con personally. I know the guys over in artist alley did much better and I was glad to hear about several of my friends selling out of their convention stock including Matt and Scott's Mysterious Adventure Magazine #2 (which I did the back cover for).
While I did not get alot of sketch commissions or move alot of product, I did have fun sketching for the kids overall and I had a wonderful time hanging out with all my creator friends. I still fully plan to go back next year and with my hopes of squeeking out a visit to Heroes Con next year, I'm looking forward to doing four conventions in total in 2010. I should have a graphic novel out by next summer as well as my other, superhero project as well. If I met you in Long Beach please feel free to visit the blog often and post comments as well. I'll get some art up for you guys soon, I didn't have a scanner there so I will probably never see most of those sketches ever again, but I hope the people enjoy them, but here is a Kilowog sketch I did the first night, and one of only two drawings I have copies of.
click for full size madness.
This weekend I will be in Long Beach for the Long Beach Comic-con hanging out with my pals at the Atomic Comics booth, #555, it will be the big gigantic one right near the entrance. I'll have copies of Hurricane Kids and the Fata Obstant 24-hour comic available as well as a couple copies of Villains left over. I will also be doing sketches and full blown commissions for anyone who is interested. Prices for original art will range from $10 to $50 depending on what you want. Email me @ hurricanekids(at)gmail(dot)com if you want to get on the list early. I don't know how much time I'll be allowed at the booth, but if you're looking for me, you should be able to find me. My pal Ben Glendenning will be there promoting his upcoming book Tin Star Tex with a set of limited edition Tex' postcards. One of which I drew. Check it out, and I hope to see you all there. This piece is actually the first I have ever doen 100% digitally. Pencilled, inked and colors were all done in Manga Studio, with some tweaks in photoshop. I'd love to hear any thoughts on how the inks held up compared to my regular work.
Also, my good friends Scott Godlewski and Matt Bennet are premiering the newest issue of Mysterious Adventure Magazine at the convention. It is a fantastic book of adventurey pulpy goodness, and features a pin-up by me as well. They will be at table #96.
I had a long post typed out and ready to publish about the rigors and demands of freelancing on top of everyday work and responsibilities, but once I re-read it, I realized that nobody wants to read that. We all have our ups and downs and in the end, hard work will be rewarded. Anyway, here is a character design I did last night for an independent film that's currently in pre-production.
Sort of a cool Han Solo Wolf-type character. I added the boots and gloves on the second image for budgetary reasons, it's probably cheaper to not have to costume wolf feet and hands. I also posted a cover layout over on the Sketchjam.
I've written in the past about my affiliation and friendships with several retailers and how those friendships have helped my "career". I put career in quotations because it isn't much of one and I think I still have along way to go. There's Mike Malve of Atomic Comics who has supported me and gotten me involved with the Hero Initiative, which has gotten me as much or more recognition than anything else I have done in the past and he's the man responsible for my appearance at the Long Beach-Comic Con next month. There's Mike Banks from Samurai Comics who I have done classes with and done signings at. There's Shawn at Spazdog Comics who carries my Super75comics titles. I have done classes at Spazdog as well as being my 24-hour comics home. Shawn is a great supporter of local comic artists. Brian Meredith is a small press creator and also runs The Comic Stop in the Seattle area as well as being part of the Emerald City con. Today's post though is about my friend Brian who runs online comic specialty shop www.khepri.com.I'm not sure if I remeber how I met Brian, but he has been supporting my work for years. I always run into him at cons and we would chat and lately he has been a regular at the AZ Drink & Draws. He's a great guy to talk to and his appreciation for comic creators always is apparent. He's not just about the books, or the hype, he is about the Creators, and as a creator you could not ask for anything more. His site specializes in indie comics and creator exclusives. Big name creators like Brian Wood, Becky Cloonan and Fabio Moon & Gabriel Ba' give him exclusive items and trust his work. I recently shared with him my desire to do MY book, the type of book I want to do with no intereference. His support and enthusiasm for that really means alot to me and helps keep me fired up. He recently added my rather small body of work to his site under his Creator Boutique section and I am humbled that he believes in me enough to put me alongside the other creators on there. In the future I hope to do exclusives through him as well. So go check out his site and pick up some gems and support not only Brian, but also the hard work that creators put into their work. If you see him at a convention, be sure to say hi, he might look like a skeletal Viking, but he's really a nice guy.
Here is another character design for a super-hero story I plan on doing next year. I may have touched on this before, but in small press comics, it is incredibly hard to get any publisher interested in a super-hero story. I have even had a couple publishers tell me they liked a certain pitch or loved the art (on a pitch I did with Scott Godlewski on art) but because it involved someone with super powers, they passed. I guess I really don't see the difference between a robot who fights scientists and nazis and other robots (the fantastic Atomic Robo) and some guy in tights who fights scientists and robots and other guys in tights (like the fantastic Invincible). I'm no Cory Walker or Ryan Ottley, but if Invincible is consistently one of Image's top selling titles and there are books like Savage Dragon, Jersey Gods and Firebreather (all books I really enjoy), I can't help but wonder if maybe it's me and not the fear of superheroes after all.Either way, next year I am doing a project just for me, a lot of action, some spy intrigue and with a little big government thrown in for good measure. I'm doing the project I want to do. If a publisher likes it and wants to publish it, great. If not, I will put a couple chapters on the web and then self-publish. I'm very excited right now and can't wait to get started in a few months. I'll keep posting tidbits about it when I have time. Also, I've reached 100 posts on the Sketchjam even though only 90 are labeled, but check them out if you have time.
Thanks for reading, all I want to do is draw some guy getting slammed through a building.
I'm going to be a guest at The Long Beach Comic-Con October 2nd-4th. If anyone is interested in getting a commission or a sketch I am always open for doing them beforehand as I get to spend more time on them and hopefully make them look a little nicer. So email me hurricanekids(at)gmail(dot)com if you are interested. I should be sitting at the Atomic Comics/Golden Apple booth, people in the know say it's right by the entrance. I'm really excited to squeeze in another con this year.
I didn't do a lick of drawing this weekend as I spent the weekend taking a little vacation with my girlfriend. We spent two days up in Flagstaff at the wonderfully charming Grand Canyon Hostel and spent one day bar hopping and the next sight-seeing. I have lived in Arizona for 14 years and have never been to the Grand Canyon so we saw that and also hiked the Lava River Cave. I highly recommend the Lava River Cave for anyone who is not claustrophobic or scared of the dark. It was a blast. Here are a couple shots from my cell phone, I think I was only person at the Canyon that day without a proper camera.
Instead of drawing funny books last night, I watched two movies. Have no fear though as I woke up 3 hours early this morning to work on some pages, deadlines have to be met. There will be spoilers but both movies are pretty old at this point. 28 Weeks Later was first up, and while I knew it probably would not be as good as it's predecessor, I have to say how disappointed I was. Robert Carlyle had an amazing opening scene and was brilliant until he became roid-raged. The way the military was portrayed was really my biggest problem. I don't have a problem with them laying waste to the whole city, because that is believable. But that fact that they had a patient they knew was infected and they didn't even have a guard watching her so that she could then infect her husband. Then they herd hundreds of people into "safe areas" and lock them inside, with no military guards? Ridiculous. Then it just gets worse when the dude from Lost uses the blades of helicopter to chop up a couple dozen infected. He must be the world's greatest helicopter pilot to be able to get his blades within a few feet of the ground and not crash. The worst part was how they made Robert Carlyle the villain. After becoming enraged he hunts down his family? Really? Where in either movie did they explain that the infected are capable of thoughts like that? It was a lame way to create an emotional scene when the daughter has to kill the father. I can already predict 28 Months Later will focus on the infected making their way across the pond and into the US. A quick IMDB check shows the movie as "in-development".
After that we watched A Guide to Recognizing your Saints. A coming of age story based on the writer/director's biography of the same name. This movie was very well acted and the story was heartbreaking. As someone who grew up in a relatively safe environment and as a pretty happy kid, I have a hard time with movies that show the hardships of growing up in the inner-city. They really make me think about how shitty a life that would be, and how powerful it must be to break free from that. Channing Tatum was fantastic in it, leading a wonderful cast. I recommend it highly, I can't really say anything other than that. Here is character design I just did...
Take a look at this flier.
It's a great idea, working in conjunction with your local store to have some new product on the shelf that week. Buying comics, for many, is a ritual. Some guys just have to go to the shop every Wednesday and get their fix, it's what they do. The idea is great, although I have a huge problem with this flier. I don't know who created it, or how well circulated the image is, but let's examine the middle paragraph. "It doesn't need to be great, just better than nothing." Really? Is that what we want to show to a new potential customer? Is that how we want to bring in new fans? Is that how we want to try to reward a local retailer who generously gives us shelf space for that week? "..better than nothing."How about we try for something better? How about you try to get a Marvel or DC zombie into trying something new. How about putting out something that looks professional and is interesting enough that maybe the store owner asks you about what's next? When will the next issue be ready. I have done work for a couple publishers who distribute through Diamond and it's hard enough getting those books on the shelves, don't perpetuate the myth of self-publishers being amateurs by putting out amateurish work. I'm not saying my self-published work is perfect, but I try my best to make it look and feel professional. I am lucky enough that I have great relationships with with 3 or 4 retailers here in the Phoenix market, and I will see if any of them would be interested in filling some shelf space that week with copies of Hurricane Kids or Fata Obstant, or even extra trades of Villains if my publisher does not mind. If they decline though, I will completely understand because that week may be the only time a potential new customer walks through their doors, and if the new release wall looks like a high school art project, that customer will not be coming back. So instead of "better than nothing" why not do "the best that you can."
One only need to take one look at this thread on the image comics board to see how many "creators" out there think they deserve a shot. How they are just as good as anything else on the racks. Except that most have not actually done the work, put in the hours and produced a quality book. Well, you have about 3 months before your book would need to head out to get printed and back to you in time for December 30th. Here's your chance, don't waste it by putting out something that otherwise could not compete for and deserve space on that shelf any other Wednesday of the week.
I think next year I am going to do a solo superhero book, get it out of my system I suppose so I am slowly writing it and doing character designs. This is one of them.
I recently got an email from a guy who asked how I was successful in freelancing full-time. As readers of this blog know, I am not, but it did give me a chance to put some thoughts down in writing. Here is the gist of it, at least in my experience.
I pick up work on a somewhat regular basis, but not a lot of it, I'm usually just working on one job at a time, and it's all different stuff. Last year I did a lot of freelance flash illustration, this year it's some comic work. All of my jobs I get are done through networking. I routinely send friendly emails to people I know that are in position to hire me, recommend me or at least keep me in mind. Sometimes it works, most of the time I get no response. It's a constant struggle and even projects I work on that are just pitches often go nowhere, even when I work with an established professional with a known name. Publishers are pinching their pennies and it's harder for everyone. Also, every so often I get a random email from other professionals who have seen my stuff, or were recommended to me by a friend. There is no right way to go about it, I wish I knew the secret so I could freelance full-time myself. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful, but I would suggest to just network as much as possible and don't hesitate to send out emails to anyone, I've cold-emailed lots of people, and sometimes they get back to me.
Now, in my case, it's important to note that I also have an extremely low self-image about my work. It's flattering when writer A, who has books out with Image or Boom or another publisher emails me about working with them, but I always think they assume I work for free (which is sometimes the case) and they want me because of that and not because they like my stuff. In reality I assume it's a mix of the two, the work is good enough, and I work for free, or at least it seems that way.- Ryan
I finally installed a trial version of Manga Studio over the weekend, I wanted to finally see if it was worth the hype and if I could use it effectively. I know several artists whose work I admire who use it, and I was hoping it would speed up my process. I do work fast because of the style I work in, but when you take into account that I still work a full-time job, I take care of my kids 50% of the time and I try not to alienate my girlfriend too much, finding 4 uninterrupted hours to work on pages can be trying at times. So needless to say, anyway I can speed up the process I am very interested in. I only have a 4-inch Wacom, bottom of the run tablet, but I am thinking of buying the Cintiq if I think it's worth it. I really enjoy "pencilling" in Painter, much better than Photoshop, and I am starting to like it in MS as well. I did ink a pin-up in MS and the difference between those and my normal inks are not very noticeable, but until I get faster, it's still the best option for me to print the redline pages out and ink traditionally. I think once I get more comfortable with the program, purchase a full version and upgrade my tablet, I can see doing the majority of my personal, self-published work digitally, but I think it might be a while before I ink work-for-hire pages this way.
Over the weekend we finished up Mad Men season 2 on DVD, now I have to wait a while until season 3 wraps and gets put out, and it's going to be a long wait as I love the show. I think Peggy Olson is my favorite character right now. I also saw Inglourious Basterds over the weekend. It was a fun movie but I didn't think it was amazing or anything, nothing I am dying to re-watch. Even the script, for me, lacked the punch of some of Tarantino's better scripts such as True Romance, Resovoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. I've never understood all the hype he gets, but he is still a level above most fimlmakers, but still not on a level of Scorcese or Ridley Scott, at least to me. Then last night we started on Dexter season 2. (Can you tell by now I am missing having cable?) It's a fun show, nothing too special but I do like his potty-mouth sister.
Two pages and a pin-up done over the weekend that I can't post yet, but over on the sketchjam I posted a real quick sketch I did in Manga Studio. I'll try to do something more finished tonight.
Sorry there has not bee a lot of updates here on the blog or up @ the sketchjam from me. Most everything I have been doing right now has been stuff that I cannot show. My buddy Wynn is really keeping the sketchJam alive though, so hop over there and show him some love. Last night was another AZ Drink and Draw Social Club meeting, where I mostly socialized and did very little drawing, but fair to middlin' drinking. Other than an insult or two by my waitress about my beer choices, it was a great night with good friends which ended with me and my friend Rory trying to convert retailer extraordinairre, Brian @ Khepri, into an MMA fan. I don't know if he bought in though. So without any new art today, I think I will post some of the more recent things I have been digging on, and feel free to educate me on what I have been missing.
TV - I don't really watch anything that's current, but I am tearing through Seasons 1 & 2 of Mad Men right now. I love the look and writing, everything has a place and is there for a reason.
Movies - um........... nothing recent.
Comics - nothing recent, but I can't wait for BOOM's Unthinkable trade or Phil Hester & Brian Churillo's new ANCHOR book.
Music - I have just been listening to old Sidebar podcasts, alot of Lily Allen and I fell in love with Different Class by Pulp all over again this morning.
This is a page from my story I'm doing for Mysterious Adventure Magazine, it should be out in a couple months. MAM is a great little book featuring wonderful tales in the pulp/adventure arena and put together by a great bunch of guys. I highly recommend picking up the first issue and jumping on-board before I show up in the pages and derail the entire project. Click for full size. 
I'm going to be out of town this weekend, but I thought I would drop some knowledge on you all in case you were bored and looking for things to do.
1. Watch UFC 101, go find a bar that is showing it, for my money there are two of the world's elite fighters featured on Saturday night's show, it should not disappoint.
2. Rent a movie; Most of the John Hughes films will be rented I'm sure, but don't forget about twio gems of his the general public don't really talk about much. Career Opportunities is fantastic, fun and wonderfully cast, and it introduced me to my life long love of a woman in a white tank top. Probably my favorite John Hughes film is Some Kind of Wonderful. I can't really pinpoint what it is about this one, but I love it and the cast is great as well. It's a little more mature than some of his other films, but it's great, and the soundtrack might be my favorite of all time.
3. Hop over to their music page and give a listen to Phoenix local band ROBOT TANK. Good, high energy rock music and very polished for a local act. I saw them last night at Jugheads and it was a great show and the bartender was playing some old-school Bones Brigade videos (Public Domain and Ban This) so it was all around a fantastic couple hours. See you next week!
I will keep up a somewhat recent trend here where I have been posting my MMA picks for fights I am interested in. Looking back over the last 2 months, it looks like I am 3 for 6, so I'm only batting .500 here so take from it what you will. I will start with a little post from a a couple months ago when this fight was announced.
Penn Vs. Florian for the UFC Lightweight Championship (UFC101). I have always been a big BJ Penn fan, even though he rubs some the wrong way and has a bad attitude. His jiu-jitsu is on another level for MMA (he and Demian Maia have the best jiu-jitsu for MMA in my opinion) and he is the most flexible fighter I have ever seen. When his heart is in it, he is an elite level champion. That said, he got HOUSED by GSP in his last fight, but for whatever reason he did not seem to be in the best shape for that fight and he was fighting in a higher weight class as well. I think BJ is still the best lightweight in the world. While I do like Kenny Florian, I think he may be in the same boat as Rich Franklin and be the second best in his weight class. I'd like to see Kenny fight Diego Sanchez again and Sean Sherk again, but I think BJ will win this scrap in a close, tough fight. Kenny has better muay thai, but I think BJ's elite jiu-jitsu puts him over the top along with better boxing and better wrestling. I only hope this doesn't go to the 4th or 5th round where BJ may gas and get overwhelmed by Florian. I am still sticking by this pick, and just to add some more argument to the fire, BJ has faced elite competition in his career with losses to Lyoto Machida (decision), Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes, all current or former champions in heavier weight classes. He has wins over Hughes, several Gracies, Gomi, and the best lightweight fighters the UFC has. Florian's biggest win was over Joe "Daddy" Stevenson who lost also lost to BJ, and lost badly. He has only been knocked out once and that was a TKO and his only loss ever at 155lbs was by decision. Plainly put, Florian is deserving of a title shot but has not faced even close to the same elite level competition as Penn. BJ looks to be focused and in-shape for this fight and I think that is bad news for Kenflo. BJ is the favorite and I think he takes it.
Forrest Griffin vs. Anderson Silva - This should be a great fight because Forrest will force Silva to engage and actually fight, and Forrest can take a beating like the best of them. The biggest loser in this fight may be the UFC itself. Forrest is a big draw and a fan favorite, so setting him up for his 2nd loss in a row might hurt his image as a UFC poster boy. Luckily, Forrest is so great in victory or defeat that I don't think this will happen. I think Forrest has looked great in his last 3 fights, he was looking nice before getting caught by Rashad last time out, and I would still pick him over Rashad again. Anderson Silva looked bored and fought safely in his last 2 fights, and has shown in the Henderson and Lutter fights that he is not perfect. That said, he is brutal and is incredibly well rounded in every aspect. Silva is the favorite and that's the smart pick, Forrest is the perfect underdog and he is the heart's pick. I'm going to be rooting for Forrest, and I'm picking him to win.
Also, Sunday night on Spike is a WEC title fight with Miquel Torres vs. Brain Bowles. I'm picking Torres by badassery and mullet. I honestly do not know enough about Bowles, but I wouldn't pick against Torres.
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Is it considered a hate crime every time Midnighter beats the snot out of someone? This was a commission I did last night and I had so much fun with it. This guy got alot of bang for his buck if I do say so myself. I've always liked the characters of Midnighter and Apollo and it would be a ton of fun to do a "year one" type book with them. The pencils for this piece are here.
Random other thoughts from this morning; I saw an Army recruiter drive by a bus stop and place recruiting pamphlets on the benches. So basically the Army condones littering, wonderful. Up yours lazy Army recruiter. Also, I was breezing through the 5 channels I get this morning and came across the gem known as the 700 Club (it comes on right after Cosby), and watched a former Muslim talk about trying to convert other Muslims to Christianity. How if they only gave it a chance, they too could fall in love with a man named Jesus. Too bad there's not a show with someone on it trying to convert religious folks to Harry Potter. I would support that. He's got many fantastic qualites, a great group of frineds and he can do magic. They are practically identical now that I think of it, except one has a cool British accent.
