Small Press Creators: J Chris Campbell!

Shouldn't comics be fun? Shouldn't drawing comics be even more fun? That's precisely what J Chris does...he has FUN! And it really shows in his comics. In addition to being a purveyor of fun he's also the publisher of Wide Awake Press (WAP). Home to some really unique creations by some of the nicest, most talented people working in Indy comics today! (Hopefully we'll get around to featuring a few of them in the coming posts!)

This is a sketch I did of a combo of J Chris' Attic Bugs and Neatobots - more fun than I've had in quite some time!

Head over and check out what J Chris
is up to and see what goodies WAP has in store for you!

New Topic: Small Press Creators!

Shifting gears from the previous topics, this one is aimed at the unsung heroes of comics: the small press creators! To get the ball rolling here are three pieces I had in the hopper...

- Chris Schweizer's Crogan Adventures
Chris has created something truly unique and quite magical. Each book focuses on a member of the Crogan family and their historical place in the Cragan Adventures. The art is whimsical and the action is breathtaking..I cannot recommend this highly enough! If you have kids, are a kid at heart or if you're a fan of historical action this series is well worth your time!

This piece is a warm up study I did of the main character from the first volume: Crogan's Vengeance - Catfoot Crogan




















- Andy Runton's Owly
What could I possibly say about Owly (and Andy) that hasn't already been said? An amazing, well executed premise that is heart warming and simply loads of fun!












- Troy Hasbrouck & Jester Press' Night
This piece is a pin up I did for one of Troy's convention books from a few years ago. Night is the brainchild of local creator/LCS (Rebel Base Comics & Toys) owner Troy Hasbrouck. It's an action packed comic that boasts not only vampires & werewolves but zombies and even minotaurs!

Sketchbook for my Son...Little Dog!

I saw Jeremy's drawing of Big Dog over at his blog announcing his participation over here and just loved it! So I asked if he could do a puppy version in my son's sketchbook. He did me one better and drew Lil' Dog playing with Big Dog...LOVE IT!

Thanks Jeremy! :)

Oz

Again, not along the lines of any themes, but I needed to do a card for one of my in-laws, and this one jumped out at me tonight as needing to be finished.

Alan Moore Creations: From Hell

From Hell is a series I hold in incredibly high esteem. It's a very complex and layered story that Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell attempt to tell. They start with stark facts, the history of a series of atrocities, stark and frightening enough on it's own, and they start to ply on ritual, metaphysics, majik, literature, mythology, the highest and lowest of human ideals muddled together in a story that leaps out of the 19th century and binds itself both with the primeval and the the modern states of mankind. I love the footnotes at the end of each issue. Very often they show you very directly how Moore was thinking as he wove along the back alleys of Whitechapel, picking up inference and inspiration from all points in time and culture like an occult magnet.

Eddie Campbell's art pairs so well with the story. I love the kinetic energy in the drawings, with stray lines and messy knots of black clustered around in the muck and the blood and the ash. It suits the time period so well and allows for the beautiful lotus of idea to grow from the festering cesspool by first illustrating the filth and degradation of the place itself. From Hell will probably always amaze me with the depth of its meanings. It is labyrinthine and a reader can run down one of a dozen paths each time the story is read.

Anyway, enough of my rambling on. This drawing here I did of one of my favorite parts in the story, when Sir William had Nedley the carriage driver lead him on an esoteric tour of London. They survey the perverse architecture of the Hawksmoor churches, kneel at William Blake's tomb, ask a blessing from John Merrick and pass by Cleopatra's Needle. All the while speaking of the rites of Dionysus, the old Gods and the world within the world. It's an incredible carriage ride and a great piece of writing that lights up my mind whenever I read it. So, this is my little drawing of the ride. Done with little Prismacolor pens on a piece of sketchbook paper. Not for sale, I'm afraid.

Sketchbook for my Son...part deux

Had a few new entries to my son's sketchbook from last night's Sketch Charlotte meeting. Jonathan Rosenbaum and Bridgit Scheide added some really amazing pieces. Jonathan was running short on time last night, so he's going to ink his next time around. I'm holding off posting that until the inks are in.
Bridgit stepped up to the plate and knocked hers out of the park! Head over and check out Jonathan & Bridgit's work, you won't be disappointed!











edit - the inks are in! Check out Jonathan Rosenbaum's Radar!

Batwoman

Brandon made me swear to post this on the blog, so here it is, with no tie to any of current threads...Batwoman.

With this I was trying out my shortcut method of drawing characters that wear mostly black.

LOOSE ENDS #1

I'm not the one to pimp books, but this is one I believe in. LOOSE ENDS #1 (of 4) comes out tomorrow from 12 Gauge Comics (Diamond order code is MAY11122). Loose Ends is a creator-owned Southern Crime Romance comic from writer Jason Latour and artists Chris Brunner & Rico Renzi. They just all happen to be from Charlotte, so there's another reason why I'm pushing. But if you've seen any of the art from this or were lucky enough to read the ashcan or FCBD offering then you know exactly why I'm posting this. The early reviews from critics and pros alike have been fantastic (see CBR, twitter & devART) And having seen it in various stages of completion, I have to say I agree with them 100%.

Do me a favor. Now I'm not asking you to blindly drop $4 for something you've never seen. All I'm asking is that the next time you're at your LCS, pick it up and just flip through it. In today's landscape of convoluted crossovers it'll be nice having something fresh and original. You can thank me later. :)





















And if by chance you live in the greater Charlotte area, there's a release party at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find with an 11 x 17 incentive print (see below) with the purchase of LOOSE ENDS #1! The guys will be there from noon-2:00 pm and again at 5-8:00 pm on Wednesday the 13th.

Sketchbook for my Son...

I've decided to start a sketchbook for my 16 month old son. I know it's a tad early, but I had this small 5 x 7 sketchbook laying around, so why not!?

We had "sketchbook night" at Sketch Charlotte last night so I took it and got a few new sweet pieces to go along with the two awesome pieces I got last week.

I'm asking for cute animals or superheroes, so if you're an artist and I know you...I WANT YOU IN THIS BOOK! :)

Here's what I have so far...

Krypto the Super Dog by Stan Ford




















Stinky/Angry/Cute Hulk by Rico Renzi





















Honey Bear by Herc Petmezas





















Cute Armadillo by Henry Eudy