Concept Sketch: Striking at Night

 It's always good from time to time to go back over one's life or one's work and reflect on where one has been and where one should go.

I've been working on a new comic book, and I've spent a lot of time contemplating what style I should render it in. I've spent a lot of time looking over my past work analyzing it for what  and worked and what didn't work so well.

After much reflection and thought, I've come up with the two illustrations at the left. They strongly resemble the style I used for Wandering Koala rides the Phantom Coach. I always really liked the style, but felt it was too harsh and didn't have enough life and character to it. So I've incorporated elements from my Raw Umber style.  I love it, but it can be a little boring to look at a series of images in it.

I am really happy with this look. It fits the story I've written. It's not too harsh or boring, two faults of previous styles, and the drawing is much stronger with cleaner lines and better structure.

The buildings in the background were created in Google SketchUp. The people will be drawn by hand with Staedtler 2B pencils and inked with a Zebra brush pen from Japan. The coloring was done in Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter X.

I'm still working on how to letter it. And I'm not sure if I want to use dialogue balloons--they tend to look very cartoony. I want a more serious tone and mood.

But I'd love to hear what you have to say. Do you like it? Do you have any suggestions?

Character Sketch: Wiseguy

It's kind of strange how people embrace the bad guy and his bad ways. You hear about girls going for the "bad boy" and many people cheering for the "villain" of a movie or book--although I have to admit Darth Vader was pretty cool.

Even today you see a lot of people calling socially destructive behavior like homosexuality good, and branding those that try and defend society, freedom, and the necessary principles for their survival as "bad" "closed-minded" "ignorant" "bigot" and other labels that couldn't be further from the truth.

What is it about evil that is so seductive? What is it about good that is so repelling? And why are people so easily confused about which is which?

Here is a digital illustration of a wiseguy displayed as a card. A wiseguy is part of organized crime and should be considered a bad guy, yet there are many out there who would look up to him and even want to be him.

I created the illustration in Corel Painter X and Adobe Photoshop CS. I really like the design, although a different style might have worked better. The colors are nice.

Character Sketch: Chef in Color

And here is the chef in color. I still can't tell you about the top secret project, but I can tell you he was colored in Corel Painter X, one of my favorite programs. I used the Digital Watercolor brush, and I think he turned out really well.

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.

The Caveman Conspiracy

I feel like I've been working on this forever, although it's only been a few months. I wanted to find the perfect form for telling stories. I noticed some times of scenes and sequences worked better as text, some worked better as images, and some worked better with a combination of both. Traditional prose, novels, short stories, and novellas are perfect for the first type of scenes, and comic books are perfect for the second and third type. But what about stories with all three? Almost every story has them. I also wondered what the images should look like--should they be black and white line art, should they have tones, should they have color?

So I set out to create a form that was flexible enough to handle all three. And I did it with a story I've been kicking around in my head for a while--a murder mystery, scientific conspiracy thriller that makes you question what you think you know. I also tried a new style for the art work. I used a Zig Calligraphy pen to ink the drawings (I love how it traces form) and a free set of textures I found online for anyone to use. It made rendering them so fast and led to my "raw umber" style I've used in a couple of illustrations.

Publishing this also presented an interesting challenge because of the unique layout. So I decided to publish it as a series of images. This meant the file size was too big for one book, so I split it into two and made the first part free. I posted it online for all to read and enjoy and, hopefully, entice to buy part two.

Was I successful? You'll have to tell me. Will I continue writing stories in this format? We'll see.

Go to http://www.wanderingkoala.com/s_caveman.php and check it out! And then go buy a copy of part two.

Raw Umber: World War I and Veterans Day

It's funny. In grade school whenever a holiday came around we would spend time discussing it, its origins, how to celebrate it, and many times read a book or listen to a story.

But we never did for Veterans Day.

Never.

In fact, I don't think I really even had heard of Veterans Day or knew what it was until I worked at an evil bank in Arizona. It was one of those "banking holidays" we got off for but no one else did.

I was curious; why is there a Veterans Day and a Memorial Day? What was the difference? Why do we have both? I love Memorial Day, so why didn't I celebrate Veterans Day?

I learned Veterans Day was established for World War I, once called the Great War but now is largely a forgotten war because of the second World War. Being a fan of Silent Films and Pulp Fiction, I've recently been learning a lot about World War I, because that was the Great War constantly referred to in both. I've also recently realized who the Red Baron Snoopy is always chasing in Peanuts is. The movie Flyboys is one of the few modern movies about that era. It's a great flick to catch if you get the chance.

So I've decided to celebrate Veterans Day, and I'm starting with this illustration in my new Raw Umber style (previously called Burnt Umber) named after a beautiful color I use for yellow in my watercolors. I drew it with a 2B Staedlter pencil, then inked it with a Pigma Brush Pen and Zip Writer felt-tipped marker. I scanned it with a Canoscan Lide and digitally toned it in Adobe Photoshop CS. Then a layer of tinting and wallah! The masterpiece is finished and online for all to enjoy. It is the second illustration in this style, and I am very pleased with it.

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

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.

Words and Pictures make a Story

I love words put together well. I love pictures that effortlessly tell a story. And I especially love the skilled combination of the two. It's something I strive for but don't always achieve.

Currently I'm working on a project that is part illustrated storybook and part graphic novel. It's my latest attempt to create the perfect genre for telling the stories I want to tell. Illustrated novels have too many words and too few pictures that aren't essential to telling the story. Graphic novels are basically just long comic books (come on guys, did you learn nothing from Will Eisner's Contract With God?) and have too many pictures--the reader can't savor each one. I want the pictures to be an essential part of the story that progress the story. I also understand the power of words and telling and don't want to loose that.

So with Caveman Conspiracy I'm writing little more than a radio drama script and using the pictures to progress the action and show the emotion.

Will it work? You'll have to pick up a copy and let me know.