Dang Scarf...

Happy Holidays, Bleep

I just wanted to wish everybody a Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas. As usual, I didn't get around to making a proper card this year. Maybe next year... sniff.

I will be taking the next two weeks off and spending some quality time with my family. I will be traveling a bit. I will be putting together a lot of toys. I will be eating way too much food. Hopefully I can blog a little, but the posts will be few and far between. I will return to a normal schedule on January 5th.

Everyone be safe, and enjoy this time with your friends and family. After all, these are the moments we will look back on when we are old and crusty, and wish we had back.

The Holiday Throw Down

Hey everybody! I have been away from the blog for two whole mornings, and it hurt me. One of those mornings I visited the Georgia DMV so that I might get my official Georgia drivers license. It was fun, and I loved their choice to stick with vintage technology. Like their computers. Which had to be from around 1989.

Also while I was away... it seems my friend Bryan Ballinger was giving me the old artistic smack down with the above drawing over on his blog. Of course, he was retaliating against me throwing snow balls at him in an earlier post. While attacking the Vanhoozerbot with Santa Claus was a crafty move, I don't think he really understands what he is getting himself into...

Because see.... Vanhoozerbot will promptly use his powerful "reverse flying goldfish" move, and re-direct the Christmas Revenge Power Ray right back at the crusty Claus. With the not so jolly fat man left sizzling in the snow, there was really only one more thing to do...

... take out the the elves.

Take that Bryan.... and Merry Christmas!

What's The Matter Boy?

A happy Monday to you all. Always remember... it could be worse. Aliens could be invading. Well, I guess if aliens were invading with the desire to load us up with all kinds of awesome technology... that would actually be better. Ok, just assume that the aliens were invading with the very strong desire to zap our brains and enslave our pets. That would be worse than a Monday.

The Gift

"Who would be downstairs at this hour?"

We are getting close to Christmas! It is hard to believe how fast it is approaching. Happy Friday to all, and I hope you have a great weekend. I have been making good progress on my story, so look for some big chunks of art from that project in January. Also, I will be revealing the title and logo for the book as well. See... reasons to stick around next year. Until then, you will most likely get a variety of doodles here on the blog. Hopefully that will be ok.
Again, have a pleasant weekend.

Bryan Ballinger... Three O'Clock!!!

"Lets nail him when he passes that tree... ok!? And waaaaaayyyy over there is Suzy Jenkins leaving for school. She told the entire lunch room that I had cooties... so lets put three slush balls right it her wheelhouse okay?"

F-F-F-FREEZING!

QUICK!

Quick scribble today. I was out yesterday taking care of my family.... all of whom have been bitten by the flu bug. I fear I may be next. Whew

Anything Glowy Has Got To Be Awesome

Today is Friday. Friday is a fun day. This drawing had no planned destination, but it was a fun exploration. I am knee deep in a bunch of work here at CN, as well as being heavily involved in writing my story at home. This morning I just needed to come in and make a bit of a mess. Mission accomplished! I hope everybody has a great weekend.

CLICK TO WATCH THE PROCESS... NOW IN HD!!!

Robots Like Cookies Too

We are having a game themed bake sale/donate your old games event here at the studio, and I roughed out a flyer idea this morning. It will benefit the good people over at Child's Play. Let me know if you want me to save you a Tetris brownie.
p.s. Type still needs to be added... burp.

Christmas Adjustment

I couldn't help myself. I was listening to Christmas music... and feeling like I should do SOMETHING. Ha. Every Christmas eve, before he takes off on his famous flight, Santa gives each of his robot helpers an upgrade as a gift. I wonder what this little guy is getting?

Death From Above

In the (so close to getting a title) story, the main character (so close to getting a name) is a pilot during World War 2. In giving him a plane, I want to use real aircraft with a bit of an exaggerated twist. I chose the already intimidating P-40 Warhawk, and gave it a bit of cartoon flair. In the end I may even push the design further, but for now we are at least on track.

Back In The Saddle

Ahhh..... back from the holiday break. It was great to take some time off and spend it with the family. I am now looking forward to getting some solid work done between now and Christmas, both at the office and on my story. I also need to do a few Christmas drawings here and there to get into the spirit. May we all have a productive week!

Happy Thanksgiving

To everyone here in America, I wish you a happy Thanksgiving. To everyone else, I wish you a very happy Friday. This is a bit early I know, but I will be traveling back to Orlando next week to visit family and will be away from the blog/computer. It will be good to take some time off and catch up on a few things.

Thanks for reading the blog. Take care, and I will be back on Monday, December 1rst.

One Small Step

Today's drawing is a great example of "my drawing took me somewhere else." I sat down in a sleepy daze to try and scratch out a certain character idea. When that drawing started completely off the mark and horrible, I realized that I needed to give it more thought. HOWEVER... it also made me realize that I had an idea for a costume needed later in the story. Improvisation. It's what happens when you can't draw what you thought you were drawing.
These are the secrets you learn here.

PROCESS VIDEO MADNESS!!!

This Isn't An iPod!

A bit of a rough and tumble drawing this morning... but I managed to catch it on tape! Now you can see what exactly caused this to happen. If the videos are too small for you to see what the heck is going on, you can actually download the source file from Vimeo! It should be easier to watch. The link is at the bottom right of the video page if you are ever interested.

PROCESS VIDEO HOORAY!!!

We All Need Friends

In the story (so far) there is a small team formed that has to go do something awesome. What's that? What is it that they have to go do? Well, I can't tell you that. But trust me... it's pretty cool. Or at least I think it's cool. Anyway, the team will be made up of pilots from several countries. That is all I will tell you for now. More to come!

Magic Hands And Stabby Sticks

And a good Monday to you all. Today I give you even more alien scribbles. Over the weekend I was able to put a lot of work into the story. It seems like every time I sit down to write, the story gets bigger and bigger. At this point, I am pretty sure I will be drawing two full books. Nothing like jumping in with both feet!
I hope to announce the new title this week!

That's A Bit Alien

Happy Friday everybody. Today I sketched up one of the many alien concepts that you are sure to see here in the next few weeks. The story calls for characters from all parts of the galaxy, so I hope to have a little fun with the design.
Have a good weekend!

A Few Alien Chaps

This morning I did a few rough character development sketches. In the story, there will be representatives from many alien races, so I will be scribbling out a bunch of "blue-sky" ideas before I try to nail down proper character sheets. Baby steps.

Bot Helper

This morning I scribbled out a few bot shape ideas. In the story, the main hero character has a robot "helper" that goes everywhere with him. The overall design for the story is very simple, and leaning toward "retro" so I want to keep the characters (especially the robots) clean and basic. I will be doing a LOT of roughs like this, as they really do help flesh out my ideas. I am also in the process of writing the prequel story and coming up with a proper title. More to come!

It Begins Again

Hello everyone. I missed posting yesterday because I was busy thinking. Thinking about a lot of stuff... but mostly about my story "Rocket Dreams." I have decided to tackle it as a project once again. I say "again" only because I did some development work a while back and I am counting that as something. In truth, I am going to be starting over. With so much time passing since I last approached the project, I am now looking at it with a new set of eyes. A new direction and a new look.

The story of "Rocket Dreams" is big. Too big for me to tackle as a first comic project. So my plan is to do a prequel story first. Something that will show some of the back story that causes "Rocket Dreams" to happen in the first place. It will also allow me to do a story packed with action which is going to be fun for both myself and the reader (I hope.)

My friend Paul sent me this great quote. It is from Mike Mignola, and he is sharing some advice that Frank Miller shared with him.

"I CAN pass on something that Frank Miller told me when I was about to start Hellboy--It's as good advice as I've ever gotten on this subject. He said something like "just do it, do the best you can, don't drive yourself crazy, just KNOW that when you look back on it you're going to hate it. It can't be helped. The next one will be better."

So I am going to take that advice and plow forward. I can't keep waiting around until I get "perfect" because that will never happen. Each morning, I will chip away at the development... it might be writing, or character design, or page layout. I won't be posting every morning, but I think I will still get at least three posts up per week. I am excited, and nervous. This has to be good work from me.

While I won't be posting everything I do (I have to save some surprises for the actual book) I will do my best to show all of my process. Concepting. Character Design. Rough Layout. Page Roughs. Clean Up. Color. Whew.

Wish me luck...

A Better Looking Captain

I feel like this hits a lot closer to the look and feel that I was going for on this character. Yesterday's drawing was a bit off mark and I at least feel I am on a better track this morning. I hope to share more information on this particular project next week!

Happy Friday everybody.

Captain?

You Gonna Eat That?

Walk The Bleepin Plank

Hello, and Happy Voting Day. I "finished up" my PirateBot today. As you can see above, if I had some more time and interest, I could ALMOST get away with fully painting this guy out... no lines. Maybe one day I will return to this salty crust of piratey goodness... but for now.... ONWARD!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SALTY PROCESS VIDEO!

(Oh and...get out and vote if you are able, please.)

Yarrrr Bot Cap'n

Not too much to show this morning. I started this pirate robot, but didn't get very far. He almost looks like a "Rescue Hero." I hope to finish this guy off in tomorrow morning. Yarrrr. Shiver me!

Happy Halloween

Had to rush through this a bit, but it's still a fun scene.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

Waiting For Mom To Pick Us Up

"Oooh ooh! I think I see a Baby Ruth bar at the bottom of the bag!"

This is a work in progress for halloween tomorrow. I hope to add a few more kids in wacky costumes, and tighten it up a bit. I am enjoying these pastel brushes in PainterX. You can get some great texture and build up on the color and they blend really well. Happy Almost Halloween!

Treeeeek Or Treeeeeeeet

"Oh my, youre a big fella aren'tcha! Der ya go! Oh, you want more? Ok... a few more candies der. No. No more. No more! You stop that growlin at me..."

I won't lie to you... this was a ton of fun. I sat down this morning with the idea of drawing a monster dressed up as a child for Halloween, and using pastels seemed like a good idea. Fun fun.

CLICK HERE FOR PROCESS VIDEO!

Do You Have Any... CANDY!?

BOO...

Happy Monday! A quick one this morning to start off Halloween week. Hopefully each morning I can scribble out something spooky. At least cute spooky.

Tis Friday After All

Oh Friday. It's always good to see you. Today I am posting the final for my "Papercut Showdown." I went in yesterday evening and added a few things. As I doodled around, I realized just how long you could spend on this style if you really wanted to blow it out. It was really fun! I will hopefully get to do more like this in the future.

There is a cool new development that I hope to be able to tell you guys about next week. Nothing huge, but it is pretty fun.

Again, I thank everybody who keeps checking the blog, and I wish everyone a happy weekend.

Coasters vs Paper Dolls

"While other kids labored over there puny paper ponies and butterflies, little Sophie was creating an epic battle to end all battles. A victory means salvation, while a defeat means that all humans get their faces chewed off by giant aliens. Little Sophie was yelled at by the teacher. Now, it is certain that the teacher will be the FIRST to get her face chewed off."

Happy Thursday everyone. This morning I went back to cut out land and added a few things to this tiny yet epic showdown. I forced myself to move quickly, so there are many things I would like to keep going with. Hopefully tonight I can take an hour or so and go nuts, but for now this is what I offer. I captured the process over two mornings... but I do warn you there is a whole lot of clicking around, grabbing textures, scaling, cutting, clicking, grabbing textures... it may get a little crazy!

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW IT WAS DONE!

My Paper Dolls Are Fighting

"Back up suckah! I said back up!"

While this is far from finished, I wanted to show you the progress. I came in this morning fully intending to take it easy and finish up some existing drawings, but for some reason I started doodling these little guys. Hopefully by the time I am done, they will live in a cool little cardboard world.

And I think I am finished with this "Donut Desire" piece. We are moving on!

New Shoes

Good Morning! Today's topic was chosen by my buddy Bryan Ballinger. I asked him for a suggestion (because he is an evil genius) and he came up with "Monster with a brand new pair of sneakers." I had fun with things, keeping it sloppy and simple. You will even see at the beginning of the video that I just started scribbling until an idea stuck. Now I find myself wanting to tell the story of this happy fellow and his new pair of shoes!

CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW THIS HAPPENED!

Sasquatch Scribble

"Timmy quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out the leftover meatloaf.
He was in fact, prepared."

Happy Monday to ya! This morning I had a bit of a rough time getting anything to happen on this sketch, but the idea is there. If I have time, I will try to revisit the layout and solve a few problems. As you can see in the video, I started to play with some color, then decided to cheat and go with the sepia tones.

PROCESS VIDEO WHOA!

Closer To The Donut

I know these progress posts get a bit boring, but I thought I would at least show this to you. A city was added. Some color clean up on the robot. The foreground buildings got their lighting messed with. We are close to the finish!

Next time... maybe something more exciting?

You Take One More Step Toward My Donut...

There is progress! I managed to block in the color on our hungry monster, clean up the foreground buildings a bit, and even add in the donut sign. Really this is turning into a squabble over a snack.

No Donut For You, Loser!

Just a clean up this morning. Re-drew the robot and monster in a clean line, and started to block in the robot's colors. Onward!

Listen Buddy, Do We Have To Do This Again?

The start to a bad morning for Ooglenork, the unfortunately large visitor from outer space. All he wants is a donut, and this pesky robot jerk just won't get off his case. "Listen buddy, I have a right to a good cup a joe and a warm Krispy Kreme!!"

CLICK HERE FOR ROCKIN PROCESS VIDEO!

Thar She Blows Cap'n

Ah ha! This is done for now! I will go back to each piece at the end and spend some time cleaning things up and adding a little detail, but for right now I am setting this aside. The sign is back! As well as the rope ladder and the dreaded pirate flag! I also took some video of this final stage, and hopefully later I can post that. Happy Friday.

EDIT: Here is the video!

Mom Said To Come In And Wash Your Hands!

Pirates Are So Stupid!

I am attempting a softer look on this, using the "Dull Conte" brushes in Painter. While I don't quite have the chops to match up to the classic Golden Book style, I am hoping that when I am done it will have that sort of feel.

Softer Approach

I thought I might try a different style on this... of course I would go a lot cleaner on the final illustration but I like the lack of lines. It causes you to focus on the shapes. More tomorrow!

Oh, and my apologies... me drawing at normal speed is pretty boring.

Quick Color!

Not much time this morning...