Wandering Koala parkouring thru the city

Wandering Koala meets the Amazing Spider-man

What do you suppose the first meeting between the Silent Wanderer and your Friendly Neighborhood Webhead would look like? A knock-down fight? Millions of dollars of property damage?

Maybe they would just hang out and read a good book on their Kindles.

This was drawn with a Staedlter pencil and inked with a crow quill pen. The black shapes were filled in with a Sharpie.

Character Sketch: Navajo Warrior

I drew this as a birthday present for a friend of mine a few years ago. It's a portrait of him (with heroic proportions). I drew it with a Staedlter pencil and inked it with a crow quill pen and ink.

Happy New Year all!

Cards of Christmas Past (Part 4)

Tomorrow I'll debut this year's Christmas card on the blog. But today I decided to share one of my favorite cards, and one of my favorite illustrations I've ever done. You can probably tell I was feeling a little melancholy that year. Enjoy!

I read Christmas stories and watched Christmas shows.

I put up bright lights and played in the snow.

I bought Christmas presents and made Christmas punch

And sat by the fire eating Christmas Eve brunch.

It wasn’t the same and hadn’t been for years—

The lights and the gifts and the wishes of good cheer.

The snow was still pretty and the decorations still grand,

But somehow it all still felt just a little bit bland.

I wanted to feel that ole holiday Joy

Like I used to feel when I was a small boy.

But it wasn't in stores or on Christmas displays,

And carolers didn't bring it, much to my dismay.

Where were you Christmas? Where was your spirit?

It couldn’t have gone far; I had to be near it.

I’d tried really hard—I’d gone through the motions,

I’d set up my tree and paid my devotions.

And then it hit me: I was trying too hard!

I can’t make Christmas happen—It comes on its own.

So I kicked back my head and stared up at the star.

And I finally saw Christmas again—with Wondering Awe.

Jeff Thomason 11/15/2003

The next phase of painting

Man has been creating art for as long as he's existed--at least as far as we know. He's used every medium, tool, and device he could get his hands on. In the ancient world, painting on walls was very popular. Unfortunately, most of those walls have fallen and taken the paintings with them. In the middle ages artists used more portable canvases such as wood panels and stretched canvas. More of these exist today but not in their original locations. For those works specifically designed for a space, something is missing.

In the 21st century we have the same tools as previous artists--oils, watercolors, graphite, charcoal, pastel--and we have a few additional tools: pixels and electrons.

The illustration above is my latest attempt at digital painting. I tried making it look like a traditionally painted painting, but that just isn't me. And in today's world, very little traditional painting and illustration is used. Just look at a a movie poster, book cover, magazine graphic, or even newspaper. All of these used to be filled will hand drawn and painted illustrations. But today they use photography and computer generated works. It's the current trend. The good side is it is much quicker and cheaper to create media. The bad side is legions of artists are graduating from art school with little opportunity to use their skills to earn an honest living. What does this mean for the art? Good question.

While you ponder it, enjoy my latest work, and be sure to comment and let me know what you thing.

It all began with an image...

It all started one night while I was reading a biography of H.J. Ward, one of my favorite artists. He painted covers for pulp magazines during the 30s and 40s before he killed himself with tobacco from smoking (bad habits hurt everyone). I purchased the biography quite a while ago but never got around to reading it until a couple of months ago. It mentioned how putting women in terror on the cover sold more copies regardless of what was actually in the magazine. It reminded me of early Wonder Woman comics which featured bondage in nearly half of all the panels, and which were as popular as Superman and Batman in the day.


Does bondage, torture, pain, peril, and the like really sell? An image of Wandering Koala being chained up and tortured came to mind. I thought it'd make a great cover.


I drew a thumbnail and started to lay it out, but never finished. But what I did do was create a story around the cover. I was so intrigued by the imagery I couldn't help myself. Until I had drawn half the comic. By that time I realized I needed a different cover image to accurately reflect the tone. But I thought it would make a nice interior full page panel. And it did.


I drew it with a Papermate Sharpwriter pencil, inked it with a crow quill pen, then colored it in Adobe Photoshop and used Corel Painter X and Google SketchUp for the background.


The comic is available at Smashwords and Amazon.com. A 12-page preview is available online.

Character Sketch: Chef

Ah, ze cookin'. She is a marvelous 'ting.

I do love to cook, so it was only a matter of time before I designed a chef. This is for a top secret project, so I can't tell you what he's for, but I can share this funny little guy in the floppy hat.

I drew him with a crow quill pen and india ink in my sketchpad, then scanned him in with a Canoscan, which is still my favorite scanner. The project required a black & white image or else I would have colored him. Maybe I'll still color him and post him again later.

Enjoy!

Wandering Koala Saves Christmas

Each year I create a Christmas card with an original poem and illustration. Normally I select the title of a Christmas carol. This year I decided to try something different. I had this idea for a story (as I explained in my previous post) and as I was drawing the story, I decided it would make a great Christmas card. It worked out well, because I had so many different things to say and this mini-comic gave me the room to say it all.

You can read the entire story free at WanderingKoala.com

Enjoy! And be sure to drop me a line and let me know what you thought of it.

Christmas is coming, and it's nothing to be scared of

Why, yes, I am working on a new Christmas story.

I guess the idea for it came from a few places. First, my brother had commented how half the Christmas specials involved Santa being kidnapped so Christmas would have to be cancelled. He pointed out Santa's need for better security. Then I was watching Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas around Thanksgiving, and I realized so many shows' titles ended in "saves Christmas".

That got me thinking about what saving Christmas really means. It isn't about rescuing Santa from the villain of the week. We don't need Santa for Christmas--it'll go on just fine without him.

No, the real enemy of Christmas are those who would remove Christ from it and from your life and mine. Now, they know a direct assault would never work, so they attack from the side using something good as their weapon--respect. They claim we should respect those that don't believe in Christ by not mentioning him at this time. Respect is a good thing, but that doesn't mean it can't be used for something bad, and this is an excellent example of putting something good to a not-so-good use.

The truth is we should respect others' beliefs, and they should respect ours in return. It's a two-way street. Respecting their beliefs does NOT mean we should hide our beliefs. That isn't respect--it's ignorance.

This is Christmas, not "the holidays". The only reason the season exists is because of Christ, not Santa, gift giving, family gatherings, or anything else. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging it. It does not force your beliefs down another's throat, nor does it in any way attack another's beliefs. Those are lies spread by those who don't like what Christ taught, because it directly conflicts with bad behaviors they are engaged in and don't want to give up.

So don't be afraid or ashamed to say "Merry Christmas" this year; you will offend almost no one. And if someone says "Happy Holidays" to you instead, don't get upset--that isn't what Jesus would do and really isn't saving Christmas.

As for format, I recently reread a Spirit Christmas story by Will Eisner. I've always been impressed how he was able to fit more story into seven pages than most people these days do into a full 20-page comic book. It's a testament to his great storytelling. I wanted to try and do something like that. His stories were also in the newspaper so a wide audience could enjoy them, not just comic book fans. So I'm going to post my story for free around the Internet so all can enjoy.

Saving Christmas isn't about rescuing Santa, but putting Christ back into it. And that's what my story is about. Wandering Koala Saves Christmas should be out in a week or so. If you like it, be sure to share it with your friends and family. And don't be afraid to let me know what you thought of it--I'm always open to comments.

Raw Umber: An Evening by Gaslight

I like to make birthday cards, Christmas cards, Mother's Day cards, and more. This year I made one based on a Victorian theme. The arch is from the gaslight road in Yokohama, Japan, a place I just got back from.

I'm always trying new things, experimenting with different styles. This is my latest attempt at trying something new. The background objects were drawn with a Zig Writer felt-tipped pen while the characters were inked with a crowquil pen and india ink. The colors and textures were done in Adobe Photoshop using a set of textures I found online for anyone to use.

I really like the way this turned out. The color, the texture, the line quality, the composition--it's everything I could hope it to be. I plan to do several more illustrations in this style. Be sure to comment with your thoughts.

Mother's Day Card

I like to make cards for special occasions by hand. I create an original illustration and an original poem for each. I've built up quite a collection.

This year for Mothers Day I created an original for my Mom, but I decided to share it with you too. Enjoy!

Mothers rarely get what they deserve
For the many sacrifices they make,
The time they give up,
And the worry they endure.

They may hear an occasional thank you
Or some other quick acknowledgement,
But like so many other important things
Their labor of love goes unrecognized.

But today, this mother will get what she deserves
As we not only tell her, but also show her
How much we love and appreciate her.

Happy Mothers Day!

Character Sketch: The Native

So I drew this picture for a friend last Christmas and meant to create a colored version, but I could never get the colors to work.

Until now.

I drew it with a crow quill pen and colored it in Painter X. I call it "The Native" because it is a picture of my friend and that's what he always called himself (at least when he was being humble).