I'm Done

I mean, I really am done. A week ago today, I inked the final page of Paleo: Loner. This means for me that there is no more here to do, other than the production work of the Paleo book. This includes getting printing quotes and scanning all the art and all the preparation and design work that will make the book print ready. This part I don't get paid for so I'll try to get it knocked off in little bits between now and when the orders come in.
So- I'll collect the unemployment for awhile and see what happens. I've agreed to teach some summer classes for 2 places in town that offer programs for kids, so there is that. It's been unusual being at home, but I'm getting some long delayed chores done. I'm not expecting that I'm going to blog anymore- if something of an artworthy nature pops up then I most likely will want to talk about it but it seems like my life is going to go in a different direction, at least for now.

For this last post, I wanted to put up the colored cover for Loner.

Thanks everybody.

Tales 70 Sneak Peak

I finally got to see the finished art for Tales 70 this week. Eric did an awesome job on the inks and it was with some emotion that I flipped through the pages yesterday. They're really cool. Talbot's gritty, edgy inks really fit the story and I have to admit that his talent with the halftones is nothing short of stunning. After discussing it with him it was cool to hear him talk about the book and just what it meant- the strive to try to capture the old Mirage art feel along with the amount of physical work that went along with us deciding to work on a larger size paper.

In keeping with the old Mirage way, it's even a week late to the printer.

Color Turts

This was a cool job. It's a commission- and this individual (I never know if people want themselves indentified) asked for the 4 Turtles to be done separately. This person I know has requested and gotten similar group pieces from Dan and Mike. I don't know how they are to be displayed once turned over to the owner but I thought it was kind of a nifty idea.

RTNY Raph

I've been doing a couple of commissions the last few weeks and this is the most recent one.

Loner Cover

So yesterday I commented about my ever-changing mind with regards to covers. In the case of this Paleo book I'm working on, my desire to find a cover image kept going back to this one panel that's in the comic. The POV is behind the main character and is looking up and back towards the head. Something about it I liked. That panel is the first image. Second is one of my earlier attempts. It came out ok, but something about the head in particular bothered me. The lower jaw seemed too long and maybe the head was just too square. Also the inking seemed a little rough. I tried sketching some more actiony- comic book type layouts, but once again was pulled back to the lone dino scene.

The last image is the one that I'm going to go with. I think. The similarity to the earlier image is undeniable, but it just is a better piece, as in, I'm happier with it. This will be the first Paleo wraparound cover.

Where I've Been...

Well, I've been here. I must admit that since the beginning of the new year, I've been ignoring the blog. I'm not really sure why- I think that part of it was with the official ending of my employment here at Mirage, some of me felt like the Turtle thing was over, and what would the point be of posting anymore. Silly I suppose, but I was feeling a weird sorta melancholiness about things. The result of that obviously was that the blog went dormant.

So- I'm still here occupying my studio. The TMNT work for me ended with the completion of the pencils on Tales 70 (other than the occasional commission job). That was probably 6 weeks ago, maybe. Eric's had the art and from what I hear from Dan, the inks are due this week. I haven't seen any of the final pages for that book yet, but I've talked to Talbot a few times since, and he seems pretty happy and excited about the way it's coming out. I'm psyched.

Paleo has been my focus since. I have about 10 more pages to ink and the Loner story will be finished. Yesterday I pencilled and inked up a cover for that book. I do this weird thing where I obsess about covers, and the image that I decide I want to use... often I will draw up a cover only to do up another...and another. It's gotten to the point where it's sorta a Mirage joke. I think I've done 3 or 4 for Loner, in various stages of completion but it's my contention that this is the one I'm going to go with. Heh. I think I'll post that image tomorrow.

My schedule has been somewhat more relaxed lately. I bought an old motorcycle a couple of months back and I've spent some time working on that. It's proven to be a work in progress. I also just got back from a trip where I took a week off and rode my motorcycle down to Alabama to check out the Barber Museum. They advertise themselves as the largest MC collection in the world and it's a claim that's easy to believe. It's a geeky biker thing but the museum was really cool. Posted along with this text I'll include a sunset pic that I took on the ferry from Oracoke Island, North Carolina, back to the mainland.

I guess that's pretty much it. I'm trying hard to think of what comes next and Pete and I have talked about a few things and ideas but I'm sorta takin' it day by day. I have no plans for any shows this year unless something really wacky happens. Thanks for all the nice comments and bithday wishes, I appreciate it.

Tales 70/Page 1

I'm not sure if the title is going to stick but for now I'm calling this "Return To New York Story". Different for this book is that it's being drawn on tone paper and I'm doing it a bigger size than what is normal for me (10x15).
Page 1 apes a panel right from the old Eastman and Laird RTNY series- issue 19, page 27 to be specific. I did this I suppose, to establish the connection between the two books- however, no where else did I take panels from the old book. Well, one other spot (the end of the fight scene in the barn is dramatically the same). I tried to make this retelling different and in a few spots I had to seriously compress time.
I'll try to post more soon.

Michelangelo

Compared to most of the commissions that I've been doing lately, this is a pretty simple one. There's something about it however, that I really like.
Dane Shobe contacted me and asked if I and some of the other studio dudes would want to work on a jam-type drawing, with him included. As with all J-D requests, enthusiasm for something like this was low to non-existent. When I told him this, he was bummed out but we compromised by him having me do this Mikey on a sheet and leaving him room to do a Turtle of his own underneath it. I hope I get to see the final version.

Turtles and Casey Groupshot

This piece is so fresh that I'm not even sure that the tones are dry but I wanted to post it before I went home tonight. This groupshot was asked from me by a fan named Ben and will go out tomorrow to it's new home in Lancashire, England.

Pimiko vs Lady Shredder

Andrew, I believe, is a big fan of the Image Turtle series and has hit me up for a couple of commissions. An earlier one of his was the Cyber Don/BSR drawing and this, of course, is his most recent. It's funny- I actually had to have him send me reference for these 2 characters as I'm not wicked familiar with that series of comics. Nothing against them, they're just sorta outside my sphere.

Return to Blog

I took a break from the blog-- I think it was a combination of the official "end" of Mirage, combined perhaps with my natural hibernatory urges that occur at this time of year. Anyways, I'm still here and continuing to chip away at the ever smaller block of Turtle work that I have left to finish.

Today, I should complete the Jake Black Tales issue (68). So, with that in mind I thought that I'd post a page from that book. This is page 23, which features the guys getting it on with some nasty cancer cells. It's been a fun issue to work on- with some surreal, almost alien-like environments. Also, fun for me is that Dan asked if I couldn't come up with a little 2 page back up story that's to appear in that same issue--- tomorrow I'll try to at least to get that pencilled. I think the publishing schedule is a little off these days, but this book is due to be released in March, I believe.

Then that leaves Tales 70- my last Turtle book. I approach that issue with a really odd feeling. I'm sure once I start drawing, that it will seem normal, just like any other comic-- but it really is way more than that. It makes very tangible, the finality of this relationship that I've had with these characters. Don't really know if that makes sense but my brain has been very much in wander mode lately...

Hope you like the page.