Tales 68/Page 9

In this scene the Turtle Nanobots ( I hope they're everyone's favorite characters- I know they're mine) get ready to go into battle as April and Robyn's doctor look on.

The Sale of the TMNTs

In the comment section of my last posting people were starting to write with some of their thoughts regarding the sale of the Turtles. Along with that, I've been getting emails about that same subject. Those emails- the ones that I've answered today, I've included a little form type letter, which goes as follows:
It's all true. As of now, Mirage no longer owns the Turtles. Peter though, has retained the rights to publish up to 18 issues a year of the TMNT.
For me personally, I guess that I'm no longer a Turtle artist. There was a buyout with the artists- so I walk away from here with a bit of money. What I'm going to do now, I'm not really sure. It's all too new, and my head is still spinning. Pete is going to allow us to continue to use our studio spaces, should we choose. Maybe I'll work on some non-Turtle project with Pete, if he wants- or I've thought about trying to do a children's book. Or maybe get a real job like at Barnes and Noble. I don't know....
For the immediate future, I've still got 2 comics that need to be finished and beyond that I hope to wrap up the Paleo TPB that is now, only half done. I'm excited about the changes but somewhat nervous at the same time.
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With that said, right now I'm walking around the studio in a semi zombie-like state. I'm having difficulty processing the enormity of it all. The thought that I might not ever do another show seems odd. I was looking at my drawing table though. It's pretty much beat to shit. The legs are all wobbly from me rubbing up against it and resting my feet on it. The drawing surface has a huge spot ground into it where, it's my best guess, thousands of pages of comic art has passed by. Kneaded eraser residue has formed a disgusting slime, just off to the side of there. And I'm thinking, yeah- perhaps it IS time.
I don't know really where I'll be a year from now. I guess I'll just wrap this up by thanking everyone who has contacted me, or who has visited this blog. I believe the Turtles, and their fans are really something special and I've been very lucky to have been a part of that.

Jungle Groupshot/Color

As promised, this is the final art for Elias.

Jungle Groupshot

This commission measures 14.5 x 17 inches, making it among one of the largest groupshots that I've ever done. Our local Turtle fan and collector- Elias, stopped by the studio last week and asked me to do him a color drawing of all the Turtles together. Elias didn't actually ask that the drawing be this big, but I started sketching on a vast piece of paper and this is what came out. With the coloring too, I'm noticing that I'm more comfortable when the art is of a size that allows me a little more room to play.

I don't know when I'll actually get into the coloring- most likely not until next week but I'll post the final art when that happens.

Mike and Klunk

This is a commission sketch for Jennifer, who contacted me all the way from Belgium.

Tales 68 Cover

This is for the Jake Black written story-"Heroes In A Half Cell". The multi-talented Steve Lavigne will be handling the colors.

Color Groupshot

I'm not sure why the colors appear so washed out but this is the finished commission groupshot that I posted the B&W version of last week.

My Weekend Pre-Birthday Party

Well, it's actually a little over 4 months away- my birthday, that is. That being said, my wife threw me a 50th birthday party. It was combined with a friend of mine's, who turned 50 last week. Hey, it felt a little weird but it was an excuse to get together with some good friends and hoist a few beers so there. Plus, I get to do it all again in February.
The Mirage crew was invited but most of them (let's put it kindly) were unable to attend. Admittedly, Dan was going to join us, but got lost trying to find the place. Steve Lavigne came down from Maine with his lovely wife Denise and Dooney was there, displaying his awesome dance moves. Lastly, former Mirage employee, Yurix Peralta joined us with her husband, Myrt.
We all had a great time, I think. I danced a lot (yikes) and even sang a couple of karaoke tunes (urp). We forced the DJ to stay til the bitter end and got home in the wee hours.

Mike took this photo. From L to R- it's Steve, Denise and me.

Groupshot

This groupshot pretty much apes one that I did a few weeks back. That one- the earlier one, was done on tone paper and this one shown here is going to be done in color. The drawing here went a little quicker than I thought- I'm sure basing it on a previous piece of art allowed me to go at it without a lot of positioning of characters and composition concerns.
It's occurring to me that, once colored, this might make a nice piece to turn into a print to sell at shows next year. When finished, I'll post the color version.