Merry Christmas!

"FUN WITH ARCHITECTURE"

Last night, I found two great rubber stamp kits from my childhood;
"Fun with Hieroglyphics" and "Fun with Architecture."
I decided to break them out and play around with background designs pertaining to Project: Hendecalon. Above, you can see the pagoda inhabited by Captain X at the start of the graphic novel. It is a sort of monastery, where initiates learn KUNG-FU and Spirituality simultaneously.
The foreground of the drawing is a cemetery. All of the elements in the pagoda and its surrounding fence were stamped out with the architecture kit, and the hieroglyphic kit was used to decorate the gravestones.
While I hope to elaborate and improve upon the backgrounds stamped out with the kits, this exercise was a great reminder that "art" and "play" are not so far apart. Art is Play, and it is important never to lose sight of the enjoyment that art-making brings.

"A lonely cab-horse steams and stamps."

"And then the lighting of the lamps."
-T.S. Eliot, Preludes I

Who is that Twister?

WHO IS THAT TWISTER? . . . and what ever happened to "Goodbye Earth?"
Above is a panel from the 3-page comic that I had slated to submit to the second issue of Danger Park's "Subterranean" anthology. Unfortunately, the deadline hit at a nadir of motivation and structure in my life, and thus the comic never saw the light of day. That will all change in the next week. I finished the comic several months ago, despite my inability to focus, and I completed the digital coloring last Friday. Although the artwork is not the best, I feel a sense of satisfaction in the fact that I completed the comic anyway. Look for it at FLUKE next year, or contact me to request a copy by mail!

They Never Meant to Say They Were Bigger than Jesus . . .

Here's some Beatles sketches from a 2005 sketchpad. Mostly drawings of John Lennon and Ringo, arguably the greatest Beatles.

In a Jam.

Here's the result of a comics jam I did recently with Chris Schweizer, Mike Lowery, Rich Tommaso, Eleanor Davis, Drew Weing, Joey Weiser, Michele Chidester, and Patrick Dean when we were all gathering in Athens, Georgia. My panel is the last one. Can you match the other artists with their styles? All of these folks are super-talented, so be sure to check out their comics online or in your local comic book shoppe!!!

A Dream, 2003

PURIFICATION DANCE OF THE SHAMANS/ ME
SEVERED HEAD OF THE GREAT EVIL OF OUR AGE
THE EVIL'S WITHERED BODY AND ORGANS

After much striving, I managed to kill
the Great Evil of our age, freezing its
severed head and recycling its organs.
Because of my violent, gruesome methods,
the Shamans had to do a purification
dance. I searched for the Evil's
body, but it eluded me. Even after
its death and decapitation it tormented
me. The world was saved, but I was
exiled for my violent nature.

Tempus Fugit

I've been struggling against the clock to get my concepting and script for Project: Hendecalon finished by the end of this month. The characters and the backgrounds are progressing well, as are the thumbnails for the opening scenes of the graphic novel. I still have to tie all my ideas together into a coherent plot with an exciting middle, climax, and ending. Last night, I started typing out prose descriptions of the main characters, settings, and the script for Scene One. I can't post any of it yet because 1) it is not finished, and 2) it might spoil your reading of the finished book. I do, however, intend to complete a pitch package that I will send out to publishers and comics luminaries at the end of January, just to keep them abreast of my progress. At any rate, my posts for the next few weeks may be somewhat random (like the collage I created above), because I will be doing reading, writing, and research. Please check back often to see what strangeness I will be putting forth.

Snapshots from Planet Hendecalon

Here are some "snapshots" of the architecture on Planet Hendecalon. I'm still trying to work out the purpose behind the various buildings and monuments, and the history of their construction. After all, the Hendecalons have no arms!!!

Need a Tattoo?

Here's a way that you can help promote Project: Hendecalon--PERMANENTLY!!!
I have uploaded this 300dpi sampler of Hendecalon tattoo flash art, approximately 11x17" in scale. Feel free to print it out, put it on your wall for a year, then TATTOO IT TO YOUR BODY!!! Just take the printout into your local tat shop and let them know you want a Hendecalon. Here is a list of the pictures: (l. to r.) Supremalon, Hendecalon Coat of Arms, Hendecabat, Hendecalon arm band design, Hendecalon, and the Great Spirit (formerly known as Cuddlemonkey). If you get a tattoo of one of my characters, please send me a picture so I can post it on this blog. Thanks!

Shannon Smith reviews Mini-Comics!

I would like to send out a big "THANK YOU" to Shannon Smith, maker of mini-comics and reviewer of MANY comics. He has posted mostly positive reviews of my zines and minis on his blog, "File Under Other." He even was generous enough to give me a category in his archive next to many of my comics friends and heroes. Shannon has a good eye for comics, and I found his reviews to be unbiased and fair. It is a really great feeling when someone cares enough about your work to give you a critique. I met Shannon Smith at FLUKE, a mini-comics gathering in Athens, GA. He was selling and trading coffee bags filled with his minis. Here's the cover of his best work, "The Small Bible," published in 2008.
The cryptic cover instantly pulls you in, and the interior, although text-heavy, has a great depiction of Samson offing Philistines with a donkey's jawbone! (See JUDGES 15: 14-16) I cannot thank Shannon enough for being the FIRST PERSON EVER to review my minis! So, thanks Shannon--I hope to see you again in Athens!

Backgrounds, Etc.

I've been delving into some research for backgrounds lately. The background is just as important as the characters themselves, and I have neglected developing strong landscapes for the characters of Project: Hendecalon to inhabit. Hopefully, I can discipline myself to eke out a few good landscapes that will ultimately help me when I start to actually draw my pages.


Here are some background designs for the pagoda that Captain X calls home in Project: Hendecalon. He is the runt of the Dojo, left always to do menial tasks and adhere to a strict disciplinary code. One day, he finds a ladder to the sky and quietly slips away.

Below, you can see some of the inhabitants of Planet Hendecalon, along with the buildings that pepper the landscape. The central figure was conceived as a sort of leader for the Hendecalons, but I think he is too humanoid to really fit that role.

Finally, here's a doodle of Captain X on the offensive!

Agent Y

Here's my latest sketch of Agent Y, the principal female character of Project: Hendecalon. While I'm happy with the texture I created for her body suit, I am not sure that she looks best in this color palatte. It doesn't really matter, because I plan on the book being in black and white. I thought a colorized sketch might enhance the blog, though!

Flying toward a Hendecalon Language

Lately, I've been working on a nonsensical language for the Hendecalons to communicate with. I am trying to take the English alphabet and abstract it to a point where the characters will no longer be recognizable. I particularly like the example above (discovered by scanning my sketchpad sideways) because it has a character resembling the Hendecalon eye at the top.

Above are some samples of my fumbling around, trying to make the letters more fluid. The word I chose to "translate" was the word ABSTRACT, a key adjective in describing the Hendecalons and their culture.

I got some positive feed back on my unnamed "flying eye" character, so the above is an effort on my part to push it further. I added a character from the Hendecalon alphabet to the sides of the body, possibly making the creature more cryptic. It kind of reminds me of the box from HELLRAISER. It might also make a great tattoo.

Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Roast

Here's a joke-gift I made for my friends on staff at my favorite coffee shop. They gave me a free coffee one day, so I felt obligated to make them a piece of art (even though they requested payment in the form of the ultra-rare Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee Bean). Needless to say, my package design skills need some improvement. At least the joke went over well--the grounds consist of a can of Publix Instant Decaf coffee!