Ugly Cabaret

Dog Days of Summer

So...fair warning. This is where things start to get weird....

Happy Little Comics

Yeah, my inner critic is seriously this vocal and this combative when I finally do sit down to get something on paper. So in the style of Chuck Jones, I decided to fight back...

Yet Another New Beginning...

So...earlier this year, I started making some comics, mainly to combat by creativity blocks and prove my inner critic wrong. I did a series of 10 - 12 at the time and then promptly forgot about them. Recently, I was flipping through the sketch book where I made these and they (well, some of them) were enough to earn a chuckle from me. Which is unheard of for me; I NEVER like the stuff I draw.

So in the process of leaning ever more towards professional illustration full-time, it seemed like a good idea to start cleaning them up and getting them out.

Over the coming weeks, I'll be giving this set of comics a quick clean up, mainly for legibility, and getting them up here, over on Tumblr, and maybe even on Facebook. This first set deals mainly with my own internal conflicts and the arguments I have with my inner critic anytime I set out to put pencil to paper.

Hope you enjoy and keep an eye out for a new website and a Patreon page in the coming weeks! 

Neil Gaiman Addresses the University of the Arts

I feel very fortunate to have found my way to this video. Though I was never a fan, per se, of Neil when Sandman was at its height, I find that I'm becoming increasingly more enamored of his work and this certainly boosts him in my esteem. 

His commencement address, if that's what they call it on the other side, is a must-see for anyone pursuing a career of life in the arts or any manner of creative endeavor. Enjoy: 

Skully Hat

So I found this great little app on iTunes called Procreate and have to say I love it! I've been looking for a great sketch/paint app that does it all and I have to say, right now, I'm deeply enamored. Layers, great brush customization, full range (well, fullish, anyway) of colors, patterns, plus blending tools...the list goes on. 

I suppose it's too bad that my skill doesn't quite match its range....

Anyhow, this is a sketch I was fooling around with the other night, a take on a figure from a game called Smallworld. I can't say I know, well, really anything about the game, but the cover illustration of it on the issue of Game Trade Magazine I picked up had a version of this guy in it. Looked like some great characters and the gesture and action was great practice, both for my skill, and for my use of the app.

so it's been (almost) a month...

...and I haven't written or posted anything for you, my faithful readers. Bad blogger! Bad!
On the up side, it's been a fun-filled month and there are pictures aplenty to be showcased. Although not today. I still have to download them all before I can get anything onto the post here. But rest assured, I will have some eye candy for your orbs to feast before long!

Much of what I'll be showing will be shots of the woodsly goodness (as so-named by the inimitable Albie Rock on his self-named blog) and similar. The wife and I have spent no small amount of time out Conway...um...way over the past month and must admit that "the woodsly goodness" though not all-encompassing, is an apt name for the goodness to be found out in the more primordial, less built up areas of this world.

So you can expect some photo documentation of our travels in the coming days. Also being worked on is some graphic goodness. And though I can't promise a date for it to begin, I will be, starting this month, posting some mini-comics and exercises in graphic story telling. I won't promise anything as related to quality as this will largely be an experiment by which to get into practice for the quickly approaching 24-Hour Comics Day, but as I'm planning to post these as experiments, I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback on said comics.

That said, I'll be signing off now to go work on some of those pics and drawings. Keep your eyes peeled and your souls real.

Peace.

Keeping a promise...

So, awhile back I mentioned that I'd be better about posting up some thoughts and visuals on a more regular-like basis and then, apparently, promptly dropped the proverbial ball, seeing as how it's been over two weeks since I last dropped any science, Gs.

So, here's some raw sh@t straight outta the notebook to give y'all summat to peep.

This is a little strip I did last week to appease the drawing demons gnawing away in my guts. Kind of a -steam-viking-bot hard-style exorcism of those very same worm-demons in pictures.

As this is meant as more of a work-in-progess, expect to see some cleaned-up, techni-colorized goodness yet to come.