Art and the quest for perfect photoshop pt. 2

I've haven't posted any new art in a while because I've been working on the pitch for a new book. Now that's done (fingers crossed) and I've got nothing going on, so I did this. Just an idea kicking around and a chance to try out some new Photoshop brushes a friend of mine recommended to me. They allowed me to have a more painterly, storybook quality which I've been trying to get all summer. Gonna keep practicing though!

Salt Water Taffy Vol. 5 Book Release Party!

I am happy to invite one and all to a Salt Water Taffy book release party at Bergen St. Comics on Dec. 17th!

Come celebrate the release of Salt Water Taffy Vol. 5, the thrilling conclusion of the Caldera's Revenge Storyline.

-The fun will start with a Kids comics workshop with creator Matt Loux (me!) starting at 11AM

-Later in the evening there will be a party and signing, beginning at 8PM

Bergen Street Comics is located at...
470 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
 718.230.5600

For directions on how to get there, go to http://bergenstreetcomics.com/

Come join the excitement on the high seas!

New York Comic Con

It's New York Comic Con time again! This Thursday Friday and Saturday, (Oct. 13th 14th and 15th) you can find me signing at the Oni Press booth, #1236

Thursday 6:00 - 6:45 pm
Friday- 1:00 - 1:45 pm and 4:00 - 4:45
Saturday- 2:00 - 2:45 and 3:00 - 3:45

That's plenty of time to stop and visit, buy some books, and talk about the next Salt Water Taffy coming out in Dec.

See you there!

small update (goodbye summer)

Here's a bit of what I've been doing this summer. I wish I could say I've been flying toy helicopters in the back yard but I've been inside drawing and writing. So you don't think I've been doing nothing the whole time here's a nice little scene with no explanation.

As for the demise of summer, here's a video to cheer you up. My favorite is them all dancing at the end. (PS. don't read the comments. Never read the comments) Hello Goodbye

Salt Water Taffy Vol.5, Caldera's Revenge Pt. 2 cover

 Jack has been shanghaied by ghost whalers! Angus and Benny are stranded in the ocean! Where is the monster whale Caldera??? The exciting conclusion to the Caldera's Revenge storyline, Salt Water Taffy vol. 5 Is in this months Previews and will be released in stores December 14th. 

And here is the official cover to this most epic of yarns!

"The finale of Jack and Benny's first multi-volume adventure! Jack is taken prisoner aboard the ghost ship Nutmeg, and it's up to Benny and Angus to rescue him. With the help of an old friend, Benny unravels the mystery of The Hidden History of Chowder Bay, but will he get to Caldera and the Nutmeg in time to save Jack?"

To preorder Salt Water Taffy Vol. 5, Caldera's Revenge Pt. 2 on Amazon click here. And to buy Caldera's Revenge Pt. 1 click here.

Next batch of Martys

As you might have guessed I've been posting a Marty a day for about two weeks now. I am gonna keep doing it until I run out of Back to the Future's, and luckily there are 3. Why am I doing this? Because BTTF is probably my favorite movie of all time and it's an excuse to watch it over and over again.

And sometimes you make the best thing you've ever done

A Marty a day, the first five

Art and the quest for perfect photoshop

Continuing to try and do better photoshop colors without spending an eternity on it. I'm actually really pleased with how this character study came out. I want to do some more like it cause I think I'm on to something here.
Stay tuned.

Painting

The scan isn't the greatest, it came out pretty dark despite fooling around in photoshop, but you get the idea.
UPDATE
Here is a better color image of the painting!

Green Tentacle

To go along with the Maniac Mansion comic :)

Maniac Mansion... is awesome

About two years ago I did some work for the wonderful video game inspired comic anthology Life Meter. I chose to do these comics of one of my all time favorite games, the NES version of Maniac Mansion, the classic Lucas Arts game. A lot of you already know that doing an actual Maniac Mansion graphic novel is a fantasy of mine but doing this is probably the closest I'm ever gonna get. So enjoy them world. Then play the game again cause it's awesome.

 

Fallout New Vegas

Two new Fallout New Vegas drawings. Infinitely fun to do, and play. I've been trying to play some Dragon Age but it just hasn't grabbed me yet like Fallout did. So I think I might go and get a copy of Elder Scrolls 4, Oblivion. It's been recommended to me by many, and it's made by Bethesda, the same developers as Fallout 3. I really just want a new Fallout game to come out but who knows when that will happen. Also, if you have any suggestions on what game I should do a drawing of next let me know and maybe I will do that.

Metroid

So I finished Salt Water Taffy vol. 5. It was very hard work and I completed it all in under five months, which is a SWT record. Now I have some time again to do art for fun, so I illustrated Samus fighting the Mother Brain from the original NES Metroid. A great game that I still can't beat to this day. I also did an awesome variant! I think they would make a cool print, so I might do it when I attempt some sort of online store this summer. Be sure to click on them, they look much better when they're larger.

Salt Water Taffy Process

     I am almost three quarters of the way finished with Salt Water Taffy Vol. 5, Caldera's Revenge Part 2. For those of you who got and liked Part 1, thank you and rest assured, Part 2 is on its way quickly. Here is a spoiler free example of an exciting panel in process.

 I first begin with the pencils. For this kind of thing I tend to pencil loosely knowing I will be filling in the detail during the inking process. Actually I do this with all my pages, but for things like foliage, background scenery, and water I work particularly loose.

Here is the beginning of the inks. I work right to left because I am left handed. This way I am less likely to smudge my ink. I actually did the water's splash line first to establish it as foreground so I don't ink into it by accident.

I've now worked my way over to the left of the page finishing the smashed ship with debris. I keep the parts of the ship closest to the water darker give it weight and make it recede.

I've now filled in the detail of the tail along with the first layer of splash water. I've been blocking out larger areas of dark for the whale this time around, both to better describe the form, and to quicken up how long it takes for the craggy detail of his skin.

And the finished panel! It all got a little busy when I filled in the water but because I left out any background I think it works. It looks very violent and almost jarring, which is what I wanted.

     Well, I hope enjoyed this look into my process of comicing. And I promise you won't have to wait too long for vol. 5.

Whale

Just a quick one from Caldera's Revenge Part 2.

Enchanted forest (Or something)

This is the first image of a story I'm pretty sure I want to be my next comic after I complete Salt Water Taffy vol. 5 early this summer. Not only has the idea been rattling around my brain lately but I've been itching to try out a different art style, one that is more story book and animation influenced. This illustration is the result of combining what I already know about digital coloring, with techniques I've been observing from many amazing artists on the web. The main lesson I've taken is the infusion of hand done textures in the digital art. I spent half of yesterday hand painting watercolor swatches and scanning them to use in this. All in all I'm very happy how this came out and I look forward to doing more while learning to streamline this process so it goes a lot quicker!

Color and environment study

I'm slowly getting a little practice in on the new Wacom tablet. This is an environment study for what might be my next comic project after Salt Water Taffy 5 is finished in a few months. I am trying to make my color pallet much more exciting and fantastical, more along the lines of an animated fantasy. I sometimes have trouble with pushing my color choices from solid, but more or less representational, to a more exciting array full of color theory and design elements. Of course, obviously, doing this comic will depend on whether I can attract a publisher to print it in color, otherwise I'll shelve the idea and move on to something different, but this is what I plan on spending my summer working on. Expect tons of great art samples from me after June!

Agent Cooper

I haven't done this in a while but every now and then I like to remind myself that I can draw like this. This is Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle Mclaughlin) from Twin Peaks.  I plan on doing an illustration based on the series in the future. All for fun of course, and fit between pages of Salt Water Taffy 5, or after I'm done with it. 

Salt Water Taffy 4, Caldera's Revenge pt. 1

Salt Water Taffy vol.4, Caldera's Revenge pt. 1

In stores Wed. the 13th of April.

art. digital rendering

This is my first attempt at digital painting of a sort. I just got a Wacom Intuos and my plan is to spend the summer getting good at it. It's a whole different way of working for me and its gonna take time to understand it all (if I can!). This was just a test for now, I'm still too busy on Salt water Taffy 5 to really get into it for realz but I'll show my progress as I go.

 

... more

More fun with digital zipatone

This time I tried a little scene with three different tones, dark, light and a fade background. I'm still messing around to see what works best, and I'm thinking I should keep it to one tone only, and maybe no full flat areas, just a shadow. I'll try some more when I have some time. In the meantime Salt Water Taffy Vol. 4 will be out in less than a month, April 13th. Be sure to get one at your local comic shop, or preorder on Amazon.
Also don't forget to do your taxes.

Fallout New Vegas

Two more Fallout drawings. These ones are from New Vegas, and make more sense if you've played it. New Vegas was tons of fun, with it's own distinct flavor despite it being very similar to Fallout 3.

Digital zipatone

I found a super easy photoshop tutorial for simple digital zipatone so I tried it out. I want to use it in one of my next projects. I think it pairs up well with this inking style.

Yo Gabba Gabba!

And now a little more Yo Gabba Gabba news for you, The much anticipated Gabba Anthology published by Oni Press is coming out this Wed. featuring many great artists and writers... including me! I worked on some short runner comics with J. Torres, my writer and co-conspirator on Good Night Gabbaland. Both this anthology as well as the board comic I did were pretty much dream projects for me and I loved working on them. Drawing the Gabba crew is incredibly fun! I hope you enjoy both this new anthology and Good Night Gabbaland!

Oni Press and W!LDBRAIN Entertainment, the award-winning entertainment company and producers of Yo Gabbba Gabba!, have teamed to bring DJ Lance Rock, the residents of his magic boombox, Brobee, Muno, Toodee, Foofa and Plex, along with their Story Time pals from their hit series and live stage show, to the wild world of comics books with the first Yo Gabba Gabba! comics project--Yo Gabba Gabba! Comic Book Time Vol. 1. Featuring an all-new cover from Gabba Animation Art Director Parker Jacobs and new stories from YGG animators, comic book superstars like Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Mike Allred, J. Torres, J. Bone, Jamie S. Rich, and many more, this book promises to be a party for the eyeballs of readers young and old!

Format: Original Graphic Novel, Oversized Hardcover
Content Rating: A (All Ages)
Street Date: Mar 9, 2011

Diamond™ Order Code: AUG101105
ISBN: 978-1-934964-49-1

Some more Fallout 3 art

Two more fun Fallout situations that happen in the game more often than you might expect. I have two more I've drawn from New Vegas, but I've been pretty busy and haven't had time to color them. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will post them. Until then enjoy these and dream of bobbleheads.

Fallout 3

Fallout 3 was a great game. Between this and New Vegas it's a wonder I got any work done last year. I had fun doodling this so I think I'm gonna do a few more. stay tuned.

Pinups for fun

Since I can't show too many more sneak peaks of Salt Water Taffy 4 or 5 for a while, I've decided to do the occasional pinup of characters I like. It's a nice way to break from the books as well as a way to dork out a bit. Enjoy.

Salt Water Taffy 4, Caldera's Revenge, coming out in April

 

The highly anticipated fourth volume in the Salt Water Taffy all-ages series of graphic novels is gonna be out soon! Mid to late April I believe. Don't worry, I'll post more specifics when the date get's closer. This volume is the first part of a two part story where Jack, Benny, and Angus try and solve the mystery of a ghost ship that is haunting Chowder Bay, only there adventure brings them head to head with a ferocious whale of legend, the mighty Caldera. With an additional short story staring Dan the Wolf illustrated by Brian Stone, Salt Water Taffy Vol.4, Caldera's Revenge will be the most epic volume yet!

Pre-order on Amazon

What's new?

Not much, what's new with you? Actually there's lots new! First off...

YO GABBA GABBA!

My newest book, Good Night Gabbaland is in stores, comic shops, and available on Amazon. Based on the hit kids show Yo Gabba Gabba, written by the famous J. Torres and published by Oni Press. It is a wonderful, full color board book and is perfect for the very young comic fans. Perfect to read to, and along with, the kids. I am very proud of this little book and I hope you all like it too.