Tuesday, December 28, 2010

On the Heels of 2011: Busy week with holidays, gatherings, friends, family, and deadlines looming. So I'll share some past work I've done.




(row 1 L-R: 'mice smoking', 'mouse-kong', 'x-mice #141'. row 2: 'LoEG's Mr. Hyde', 'in memory of Alice', 'Muppet Abbey Road')



Fan Art:
Outcast Studios' forum has a Daily Sketch Challenge and a few weeks ago they had Saxon as their subject for the day. You can follow this link to see the various contributions (like the one to the left by 'busasami')



2011 Appearances
MSU Comics Forum: Jan. 22
C2E2: March 18-22
Phoenix Comic Con: May 26-29
Cherry Capital Con: June 12-13
San Diego Comic Con: July 20-24
Baltimore Comic Con: Aug. 20-21
New York Comic Con: Oct. 14-16

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Black Axe #3 is currently in previews (order code DEC100735) And since I was so late getting the full cover art to you last time, I wanted to share this much sooner. The mead-hall design is one that I spoke about at the end of my model video. I tried illustrating a design after looking at Norse architecture, photos of real mead halls, and design work from Alan Lee and other folks with regard to fantasy illustration. None of my drawings made it very far, so I felt a model was necessary. So far, this is my favorite Black Axe cover, and it was fun to revisit the Ferret King's designs that I established back in 2009 for the Black Axe promo print given away at my SDCC panel.

When I found that lino-cut Christmas card I shared last week, I also found a hand drawn card that Jesse Glenn (real life Kenzie) gave me from back when I was 15 or so. Jess is mocking my enthusiasm and drive to barrel ahead on projects without fully understanding how massive they are. We did a great deal of mini-movie making (though we tended to do a lot of pre-production work and then stall out) so the caricature of me is juggling a hot melt glue gun, a puppet head, a welding torch, a tin-woodsman leg, spraypaint and the video camera.
The "O'Furry" & "O'Fearless" were nods to nicknames Cyclops and Beast mocked each other with in Xmen at the time

Fan Art: Sasha sent this sculpture she did of Saxon. I don't know what her materials are, but she did include this not in the email: "I've never actually said it, because I hate doing the shreeky fan-girl thing, but that's exactly what I am - a fan. I love your work and attached is my version of fan art. Hope you like it. "

I do indeed like it Sasha. Thank you!





2011 Appearances
MSU Comics Forum: Jan. 22
C2E2: March 18-22
Phoenix Comic Con: May 26-29
Cherry Capital Con: June 12-13
San Diego Comic Con: July 20-24
Baltimore Comic Con: Aug. 20-21
New York Comic Con: Oct. 14-16

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

With Black Axe #1 shipping this week, I noticed I hadn't shared the full cover art for Issue #2. I did tweet a few photos of the model (here) and of the progress on the inks (here and here) but never showed you guys the final cover art. Fans of Conrad will be happy to see his return in issue #2 (with both legs and an un-maimed ear to boot!)


Last week I showed the process of making a lino cut and print using the relief printing method. I just found a Christmas card I made back around 1999/2000 with a mouse theme. The ink didn't apply as evenly on this print, and that is why I still have it instead of having mailed it out. I have tried a few times in the past to make a yearly Christmas card, but we usually end up purchasing them as it's easier. Perhaps next year...


Fan Art:

R. Mark Ygona sent this to me saying: "I've been enjoying Mouse Guard thus far and wanted to contribute a piece of Fan Art to show my appreciation for the series. Attached is my rendition of Lieam wielding the Black Axe in action. "

Awesome! Thanks!


2011 Appearances
MSU Comics Forum: Jan. 22
C2E2: March 18-22
Phoenix Comic Con: May 26-29
Cherry Capital Con: June 12-13
San Diego Comic Con: July 20-24
Baltimore Comic Con: Aug. 20-21
New York Comic Con: Oct. 14-16

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

It has been a long time ince I last talked about printmaking techniques (see etching post here) and I wanted to share the process on a gift I gave to Julia for our wedding anniversary back in October. We took wedding photos in the leaves at a park near the church, and I decided to do a small lino-cut print of that moment from our special day.

Woodblocks and linolium blocks cane be carved to do a type of print called a relief print. Unlike etching, where the ink goes under the surface of the plate to make the image, in relief printing the ink sits on the surface of the block.

I stared by doing a drawing the same size as my lino block (2" x 3"). It is hard to achive grey tones in relief printing when working at such a small scale, so my design theory was to play just with black and white and have each of us visable by what surrounded us. The white of Julia's dress would be defined by the tree behind her, and the black of my suit would stand out against an open sky area. It was fun to think soley in these terms again, like a 2D design class first assignment.

The next step was to transfer the image to the block. Using a soft lead pencil, I coated the back of my drawing. I then placed the drawing on the block (graphite coated side-down) and then retraced my lines with a ball point pen. When the paper is removed, the places the ball point pen applied preasure transfered the graphite from the back of the paper to the surface of the block.

Next comes the carving. Because ultimately it's the ink sitting on the surface of the block that will form the image, I need to carve away just the areas that are to be white. It's a complete oposite of most etching techniques as with relief printing you are actively working on the negative spaces and the areas you don't want to print.

Using a brayer (think of it as a printmaker's inky rolling pin) I coated the surface of the finished block with 'ink' (in this case acrylic paint). Because the brayer is straight accross, it will not get ink down into the carved portions of the block, but apply it only to the surface. A sheet of paper is placed on the block surface and then rubbed with a spoon. The spoon applies the preassure needed to make sure the ink transfers to the paper evenly.

I hand colored the final print to add the fall color that was so much a part of our Wedding Day. Good to note that the printed image is the mirror of the original block (true with etching as well).

2011 Appearances
MSU Comics Forum: Jan. 22
C2E2: March 18-22
Phoenix Comic Con: May 26-29
Cherry Capital Con: June 12-13
San Diego Comic Con: July 20-24
Baltimore Comic Con: Aug. 20-21
New York Comic Con: Oct. 14-16

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