Big Jim Sucks!

Blasted Ponies.

2011-06-25T11:48:00.000-07:00

For those who may not know, I've been working on the latest 'reimagining' of the 'My Little Pony' franchise called 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic' for the past year or so. At first, I was somewhat hesitant to come on board, mostly due to how I remembered what the show was like from back in my childhood (of course, I only ever watched that show when my sister was watching it ;) ); all saccharine sweet and full of bland do-gooderiness and morals. It turns out this new version still has some of that stuff, but in a weird and strange way, has more character and oddness to make it surprisingly enjoyable to work on. Last season I worked on storyboards, and this season I've been promoted to storyboard supervisor, overseeing a very talented group of artists who are really going above and beyond what you would normally expect from a half hour animated show based on a line of cutesy girl toys.
Anyway, some friends of mine have two young daughters who are big fans of the show, and they asked if I would do some sketches of their favourite ponies. I was more than happy to oblige, and I'll be putting these in the mail to them once this stupid postal strike is over...

9" x 11" Pencil and ink with not-really-knowing-what-I'm-doing watercolours on bristol paper

Booster Gold!

2011-05-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the second piece I've done for a CGS listener who won the early-bird draw for this past weekend's Supershow in Reading, PA. Mark Allgaier of West Chester, PA was the gentleman who won one of my pieces, and he requested a sketch of DC hero, Booster Gold. For those who don't know, Booster is a bit of a glory hound, and corporate whore. He'll endorse all sorts of products if only to get his face out there in the public eye. He's even at one time, worn a costume with sponsor logos plastered all over it, much like a NASCAR jumpsuit. With that in mind, I pictured Booster on a classic Wheaties type cereal box. Here's what I came up with.

9" x 12" pencil, ink and watercolor on bristol paper

Charlie Brown - Year One

2011-04-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

To my very great disappointment, I'm unable to go out to Reading, PA for the awesome CGS Supershow again this year. Despite that, I did offer to do some free original artwork for 2 'lucky' listeners who pre-ordered their tickets to the show. One of the two who one a prize from me (there were lots of excellent artists who contributed all sorts of quality prizes), was Brad Milyo, one of the hosts of the Half Hour Wasted podcast. He texted me with the request of 'Charlie Brown as Batman, punching out Lucy'. I mulled it around in my head for a while, and came up with something a bit different. Hopefully Brad is happy with it. Anyway, have a look..

Pencil and ink on 9" x 12" bristol board.

Holy poop!

2011-03-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Zack Kruse, writer of the webcomic 'Mystery Solved!' is at the C2E2 convention this weekend in Chicago, pimping his wares. He texted this to me today...

Holy crap! He decided to get a tattoo of the Colonel, the main character of the webcomic, and one that I designed and drew in this image for a banner (See here)! Zack got a tattoo of something I drew! That's FOREVER, man! Zack's the first person to ever get anything I've ever drawn put on his body with any kind of degree of permanence. So cool. Thanks for sharing Zack, and thanks for the honour of you using my art!

Mercury and the Murd Covers!

2011-02-15T21:49:00.001-08:00

Earlier this month, Shawn Pryor of PKD Media shot me an email and asked if I could help out with some covers to his upcoming collection of Mercury and the Murd comic stories. The volume will contain a complete story arc, broken in to individual chapters (issues), printed in black and white (hence the grey tones on the covers). Here's what I whipped up for issues # 7 & 8 (Shawn will be adding the proper title treatment to the final pages). And head on over to Shawn's site, PKD Media and pre-order a copy of the book, won't you?

Drawn and inked digitally on cintiq using Sketchbook Pro.

Gronk guest strip.

2011-01-03T13:01:00.000-08:00

About a month ago, renowned artist and Katie Cook asked me (as well as a host of other awesomely talented folk) if I'd do a guest strip or pin-up for her successful webcomic Gronk, about a girl and her monster. You see, Katie was pregnant, and fit to burst around the start of the Yuletide season. She didn't want there to be a lack of new posts for her strip while she was getting to know her new spawn, so she asked around for some of her artist friends to help out. Needless to say, I was quite surprised, but also very honoured that she included me in the group of folks she queried. I'm pleased to also tell you that Katie gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl, who she and her husband, Ryan Wilcox named Grayson, on the wee early morning hours of Dec. 21 (solstice baby!). Big congratulations to Katie and Ryan on their new arrival. You can check out Katie's weekly webcomic here and her sketchblog of fantasticness here. Do so, won't you? And send her some money. She's nice. And she now has an extra mouth to feed.

Oh yeah, here's the comic I did for her.

Banner Colors!

2010-12-11T23:10:00.000-08:00

Here's the final version of the Mystery Solved! banner I did up for Mr. Zack Kruse, colored by the lovely and talented Matt Gross!

More Mystery Solved!

2010-10-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the pencils and inks I did for a new banner (4' x 8') promoting Zack Kruse's webseries Mystery Solved! for which I designed the characters and drew the first instalment. The image will be coloured and make its debut at this years Mid-Ohio con in early November. If you're in the area, go meet Zack, give him a tummy rub, and buy his wares!

Crankcast!

2010-09-20T21:13:00.000-07:00

A design of Mike Norton and Chris Crank! from the podcast 'Crankcast' as Oscar and Bruno the trash man from Sesame Street. Why I had this image pop in my head, I do not know. As you can also tell, colouring is not my forte. If you're interested in listening to Mike and Crank, you can check out their show here or subscribe via iTunes. Something tells me they won't be too thrilled if I direct more listeners their way, but what the hell...

Drawn and coloured digitally on a Cintiq using Sketchbook Pro.

T-Shirt Design!

2010-09-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

A new design for a t-shirt to be sold by the CGS guys. Coming soon!

Drawn and inked (and hand lettered. Ugh.) digitally on a cintiq.

CGS Supershow!

2010-05-23T18:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a smattering of some of the sketches I did at the CGS Supershow back in the end of March of this year...

A Jessica Drew Spider-Woman for Zack Kruse's daughter.

My entry in to James Hardin's awesome Muppets vs. Sesame Street themed sketchbook...

A Silver Surfer with a wonky left hand for Zack Kruse's son...

A super odd-looking Power Girl for Michael Finger.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to get a sketch, buy a copy of the preview edition of "Mystery Solved!", or just say hello!

Thanks to those who sent me scans/photos of the pieces I did for them.

Black Lantern Batman

2010-03-22T22:25:00.001-07:00

My final piece for a CGS Supershow early-bird ticket draw prize. It probably won't make much sense unless you've been reading Blackest Night, but what can you do? I'm thinking I liked it better before I added the tones. I gotta work on that, too...

Pencil, Ink and Grey Tone Markers on 9 x 12 Bristol

Blue Beetle!

2010-03-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

Here's a bad scan of another CGS Supershow Early-Bird Ticket Draw winner free prize (does that make sense?) for Jon Carroll. I'm starting to think I'm going to have to invest in a large format scanner one of these days.

Pencil and ink with water colours on 9" x 12" Bristol paper...

Orange Lantern Eds...

2010-02-25T22:44:00.000-08:00

Free sketch prize for upcoming CGS Supershow attendee Jason Grice.

9" x 12" Pencil, Ink and Watercolour on Bristol board.

Logo

2010-01-28T19:57:00.001-08:00

A design I did for an upcoming Comic Geek Speak T-shirt.

10 Minute Sketch

2010-01-07T21:43:00.000-08:00

Done whilst watching Louis C. K.'s HBO special "Shameless".

Ink and Watercolour pencils on random pad.

Roll out!

2009-12-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

The head cheese...

Anyone remember Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld?

2009-12-16T21:45:00.000-08:00

I need to work on drawing girls more, I think. Her eyes are wonky, and her lips are too thick, amongst other things...

Pencil & Ink with Watercolour on 4.5" x 6" bristol.

And yet another one...

2009-12-13T23:38:00.001-08:00

'Nuther one...

2009-12-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

Having fun with these...

A cubble more...

2009-12-13T19:44:00.001-08:00

Messin' with Watercolour...

2009-12-13T17:29:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting to try doing some stuff with watercolour for a while now. Since I've never really worked with it before, I don't really know what I'm doing. I think I've got some mixed results here so far, but I'm going to do some more, I think...

(Pencil & Ink w/ WC wash on 4.5" x 6" bristol cards)

The Marquis...

2009-09-15T15:14:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I've drawn anything. I won't bore you with excuses. Anyway, I just started reading Guy Davis' Marquis collection. Here's a quick headshot I did of the Marquis himself. Plus, Guy Davis is crazy awesome in his own right...

Under Da Sea!

2009-06-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

A logo for a company I formed with Paul French and Kylie Ellis to pitch some new projects...

Something Else...

2009-05-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick sketch I did for a friend's son's Blastball tournament poster. Not my best work ever, but it is something new...

Now With Colour!

2009-05-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

Here's the final version of my CGS piece with wonderful colours by the multi-talented Paul French. I think he really out-did himself...

Comic Geek Speak Art...

2009-04-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, Bryan from Comic Geek Speak contacted me about doing a piece for the new CGS website. The idea is that the home page features rotating pieces from a variety of artists/friends of the show. Needless to say, I was very honored to be asked to be a part of this project. Below is my inked version of the piece I will be submitting to them (hopefully later this week), once it's been coloured by my friend Paul French (I'll post it once I get it). It's a take off/rip off of the classic Justicie League of America issue #190 drawn by Brian Bolland (Sorry Brian!). Here's the original for comparison, below mine...

Daredevil!

2009-03-24T18:56:00.000-07:00

Another request from The Comic Forums!

The Punisher...

2009-03-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Frank Castle on the Comic Geek Speak forum had asked me if I might sketch his namesake when I will be down at the Emerald City Con early next month. Well, I had a bit of free time at work, and whipped this off. I wanted to try using some negative space/heavy black stuff. Here's the result. I hope he likes it.

Um... yeah... 2 minute drawings...

2009-03-17T23:11:00.001-07:00

A couple quick doodles done on post-its at work...

Raising Hell...

2009-03-04T01:58:00.001-08:00

Because Run DMC rules. That is all.

It's been a while...

2009-02-22T20:02:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I haven't posted anything in a while. What can I say, I've been busy. Do you even check here regularly anyway? So, what have I been doing, you might ask. Well, aren't you nosy? Ok, ok, if you really want to know, I've been working on a few projects. I recently finished up a cartoon series pitch with a friend of mine, and sent it in to be reviewed by a network (Sorry, I won't be posting any of that stuff until it's bee turned down by as many networks as possible).

I also designed the look for, drew and inked 5 pages for my friend Zack Kruse's upcoming webcomic, Mystery: Solved! (I'll post a link to the site once the coloured and lettered version is done and up). In the meantime, here's the black and white, ink on bristol, dialogueless stuff I did. Enjoy, if it even makes sense without the words...

Oh, I also received the mock up of my cover, complete with indicia, for the upcoming anthology PKD Media Presents. It should be available at finer retailers later this year...

Behold! The Deadman!

2009-01-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't quite figured out how to ink properly on the cintiq yet, so here's a colored version of my sketch of everyone's favorite spirit of a wrongfully murdered trapeeze artist, Boston Brand!

Gone, gone O' form of man!

2009-01-13T17:13:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Jack Kirby's Demon Omnibus lately, and thought I'd try a quick sketch of him on the ol' cintiq...

Fartin' Around...

2008-12-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

So I got a Cintiq the other day, which, for the uninformed, is essentially a computer monitor that you can draw on. A lot of animation studios are switching over to doing storyboards digitally, so it's high time I moved in to the 21st century and started to properly learn how to use the computrator. So here's my first attempt using the Cintiq, using a drawing program called Sketchbook Pro. It's pretty cool to use, but I still have a lot to learn...

Great Googly-Moogly! Something New!!!

2008-12-03T15:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's been over a month since I last posted anything, but I have been working on stuff, I swear! I've been collaborating with Paul French on a cartoon series pitch which we're hoping to submit by the year's end. Maybe once that goes thru the whole shebang at CN, I'll post some of our concept sketches. In the interim, please enjoy (or not) this commission piece I finally got around to doing for CGS forum member Johnny M (listen to his witty repartee on the Legion of Dudes podcast, hosted by those good ol' boys over at Half Hour Wasted). It's a little late on the delivery, but I did get it done. The inking is so-so (especially the treatment of the water. What was I thinking?), but I think it turned out ok. Hopefully I'll get around to posting some other doodles before the holiday season.

Mercury and the Murd Cover - Now with colors!!!

2008-10-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

Shawn just e-mailed me the colors for my M&M cover, and I must say, Kevin Volo did an outstanding job! There are a few minor errors on the gun coloring that are apparently being corrected presently, but I thought I'd post it anyway. I especially love the giant sunburst in the background and the water staining details. It really makes my mediocre drawing come to life. It almost looks like a real comic! I'll post the final version with the title and indicia once Shawn sends me the finished version.

Mercury & the Murd - Issue #5 Cover! (Inks anyway...)

2008-10-15T20:09:00.001-07:00

When I went to the CGS SuperShow in Reading, PA back in early September, I was fortunate enough to meet Shawn Pryor, the owner of PKD Media, a small indie comic book publisher. He is the creator, writer, mastermind, pr genius, and all around nice guy of his two series, Mercury and the Murd, and Exo-1 and the Rock Solid Steel-Bots. Anyway, Shawn saw some of the sketches I had done, and asked me if I would do a cover for an upcoming issue of Mercury and the Murd. I was extremely flattered and terrified, but I said I'd give it a crack. So, here's my final inks for the cover to issue #5. The image was very much inspired by the poster to Clint Eastwood's 1973 film Magnum Force. It's going to be colored by an associate of Shawn's, so hopefully I'll be able to post that, too, once it's done. Shawn's a super nice guy, and a consumate professional, so be kind and go to his website, and buy his books!!!

Fear Agent! Colors!

2008-10-05T11:45:00.001-07:00

My friend Tom Sales wanted a crack at coloring my Fear Agent piece, and I think he did a hell of a job. Check it out!

Legion of Doom!!!

2008-09-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

So here's my first ever commission work. All 13 members of the Legion of Doom (Lex Luthor, Cheetah, Solomon Grundy, Toyman, Captain Cold, Scarecrow, Brainiac, Gorilla Grodd, the Riddler, Black Manta, Bizarro, Sinestro, and Giganta) from the Super Friends cartoon in the 80's. Done in pen and ink with gray tone markers on 11" x 17" Bristol board. Some of this I like, some of it needs work (my inking style is probably more accurately described as an outlining style). Hands and female faces especially. But overall, I had fun doing this. Hopefully the gentleman I did it for is pleased as well.

Fear Agent! Colors... well, with crappy markers, anyway...

2008-09-18T15:22:00.001-07:00

I went out today to buy some new art supplies (I needed some bristol board for a Legion of Doom commission I've been asked to do), and I bought some Faber-Castell brush markers. I tried coloring my Fear Agent piece just for fun, but I think the 24 color selection left things a bit on the limited side. Anyway, here it is. I really need to figure out how to do some digital color, cause this just leaves me feeling a bit... meh.

Still Sick...

2008-09-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

...but here's a couple more from SuperShow '08. Thanks to Dan and Wayne for the scans...

I'm sick, and it sucks...

2008-09-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back from being away, but I seem to have come down with a bad cold. Therefore, I haven't done much new drawing. Anyway, here's a sketch I did for Paul French (Check out his awesome Poptopia podcast at http://www.paulfrench.ca/poptopia) at the Comic Geek Speak first annual SuperShow in Reading, PA over the weekend of the 7th. Good times! Go to www.comicgeekspeak.com for a full review of the show and lots of other comic-y goodness!

Going Away...

2008-09-02T20:35:00.001-07:00

For the two people who occasionally read my blog (Hi mom and dad!) I'm going to be away for the next week or so, and away from a scanner. Hopefully when I get back, I'll have plenty more drawings to post. See you then...

Fear Agent! Inked...

2008-09-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

Inks seemed to turn out ok. Now I just need to learn how to color digitally...

Fear Agent! Pencils...

2008-09-01T01:46:00.000-07:00

Heath Huston from Remender and Moore/Opena's Fear Agent. I want to ink this one, cause I actually kind of like it, but I thought I'd best have a copy of the pencils in case I screw it up...

Foolin' Around...

2008-08-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

Goofin' in the sketchbook. So... yup.

Cap Card for a Friend...

2008-08-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

The Olympics sure are on TV alot...

2008-08-24T00:06:00.001-07:00

Still No Sleepy...

2008-08-22T03:59:00.000-07:00

I'd imagine Tom Waits is probably cooler than anyone you know. Or John C. Reilly is, depending on who you think this looks more like... Click to embiggify!

Can't Sleep...

2008-08-22T02:02:00.001-07:00

I can't seem to sleep. So I drew Rob Schrab's Scud The Disposable Assassin instead. Looks like he's missing his left leg, even though he's not...

An Oldjun'...

2008-08-21T17:54:00.001-07:00

Here's a design I did for Comic Geek Speek's Convention Tour T-shirt (front only) for 2008. They had a contest where listeners submitted their designs, and then their forum members voted on which one they liked best. And I won! So, if you're ever at a comic book convention, and see someone wearing one of these, think of me, won't you?

Sketchery...

2008-08-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

I went to the mall today with Sabrina, Raven, Sherann and her daughter Sera for some sketching/hang-out time. This is what happened...

Yup...

2008-08-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

I read Ghost Rider issue # 26 today. It was pretty awesome. I apparently also need a shave...

Mini Hulk

2008-08-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

Hulk Sad.

IT'S MOTHER-F*CKIN' OZ-Y!

2008-08-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ok! First Drawings! Please forgive the ramshackleness of this image. I'm still trying to become more tech-savvy, so hopefully things'll look more improved as I post more stuff. Anyway, I've been trying to get back in to drawing after taking an extended break. My friend Sabrina (check out her Deviant Art page at sibsy.deviantart.com) gave me some drawing suggetions from her weekly sketch club. One of them was The Wizard of OZ. This is what I came up with as a bit o' warm up to get back in the groove.

Be gentle. It's my first time...

2008-08-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I set up this blog as an excuse to force myself to do some new drawings for a portfolio. Once I figure out how to work these new-fangled intranets, I'll post some.