THE SIXTH GUN: Spoiler-Free Panel #2

Another SIXTH GUN panel tease!
More to come...

THE SIXTH GUN: Spoiler-Free Panel #1

Really wanted to share something from THE SIXTH GUN with you but I'm a little limited in my options right now. My main worry is sharing anything that has any kind of spoilers in it. I've found a handful of images from the first issue that are spoiler-free and I'll be sharing those here on the blog over the next couple weeks.
I'm really excited with how the book is coming along and I can't wait for everyone to see the first issue come Free Comic Book Day (May 1st)!

Saturday Matinee Dream Team

Thought I'd share with you something of a process post. This was an exceptionally large commission for me and an oddity in that I actually pitched it. I had done an small, black and white commission of Rocketeer and Indy for this same person. Doing the drawing had really whet my appetite for the subject matter and had said that I would love to tackle this with a bigger canvas, as it were. To my surprise, he agreed.
I draw small. I always have and I'm very comfortable working small. Basically, I suck when I have to try drawing big right out the gate. For that reason, every time I do commission (or a cover or splash page for that matter) I draw the original at a much smaller size (no bigger than 6" x 4" and sometimes as small as 2"x 3"). I'll then I blow it up (usually final image size is 9"x 12") and I'll put it on a light box and trace it. In this case the final piece was much larger--this one was done on 18"x 24" Bristol board) so the initial sketch (above) was done on a sheet of bond paper.

I then blew it up onto four sheets of paper and taped them together and threw them on the light box to trace and clean up (above). As you can see in the sketch, the image is still pretty rough so I'm really doing more than just tracing the image. I'm tightening it up and tweaking it on the page. The original sketch just gets the composition, the proportions, the overall basics, down. Most of the detail work is done on the light box but a lot of the fine details (ones that require reference) are done after I light box it. That's why you see the laptop in the upper corner of the above image. Google image search is a life saver. In this case, I also pulled out some books and DVDs for further reference. I remember getting reference on guns, tanks, cars, the Sphinx and Pyramids, our heroes costumes, horses, saddles, etc.

Below is the piece after doing the light box work.

My first step was to go in with a light wash and start dropping is some values.

I then went in and dropped in all the solid black that I would use in this image. As you can see there really isn't much here. I knew from the get-go that I good deal of this commission would be done in various tones of ink wash...

...and that ended up being a bit of a nightmare. I came in too light in my values and found myself giving the drawing pass after pass of tones trying to build up the drawing. I blame my nervousness--I was apprehensive because of the size and scope of this drawing. I was worried I'd screw it up and have to start all over.

In the end, it worked out fine and I was better off for having taken my time. I'm really happy with the final piece and I'm less nervous about tackling larger pieces in the future!
Here's the final image:

PLEASE, click on the image to super-size

Mad Cow Deceased

click the image to see it in a large

This recent commission is of Grant Morrison's version of Frankenstein (as seen in the mini-series Seven Soldiers of Victory). I was familiar with the series and had flipped through it on the stands but had yet to read it. Getting this commission gave me that extra push and so I borrowed all the GNs from a friend and read through them in a couple days. I don't think it's Morrison's strongest work--I thought it was one of his more uneven pieces (that can be saying a lot with Morrison). If you absolutely love Morrison there is enough little bits of candy in there to keep you going but overall I would not recommend the entire series. Though I did like the Guardian stories (solid art by Cameron Stewart), the Klarion issues (gorgeous art by Frazer Irving) and the Frankenstein books (with pitch-perfect art by Doug Mahnke). Also, the art by J.H. Williams in the bookend pieces was fantastic.

The Original Marvel Zombie

Back in the 70's Marvel Comics published a bunch of black and white comics in magazine format.
There was a Hulk book, a Conan title, Kull but perhaps most notable were the horror mags. Books like Haunt of Horror, Tomb of Dracula, and Tales of the Zombie. These horror titles (published in this magazine format to avoid the Comics Code Authority) featured such classic Marvel characters as Brother Voodoo, Blade and Morbius. It was Tales of the Zombie that first introduced us to Simon Garth, The Zombie. Up until I was commissioned to do this piece I had always just thought of him as the zombie from the Marvel mag--I was surprised, and a little amused, to find out that he had a name. I did my best in this piece to capture the swampy, gothic vibe of the 70's mags. I'll leave it to you to decide if I did the character any justice.

At No Cost To Ya'll...

click the pic for a better look-see

I've been out of town and out of the loop for over a
week so that might explain how I missed this:
It's official! Last week Oni Press announced on their blog that
issue #1 of THE SIXTH GUN will be absolutely FREE as part of this year's
Free Comic Book Day offerings! I couldn't be more excited about launching the book this way! Be sure to head to your local comic shop on May 1st to pick up your copy!

Happy New Year!

O Brother, Weird Art Thou?

Brother Voodoo--Marvel 70's horror meets 70's Blackploitation! It's a magical mix!
I was telling some friends recently that I would love to do a Marvel comic that takes place in 1970's New York and has a French Connection vibe. I'd put Brother Voodoo in it as well as Power Man, Iron Fist, Doctor Strange, Tony Stark (as if played by Burt Reynolds) and of course a cameo by Dazzler. Marvel should run with this--it'd be like printing money.

Happy Holidays everyone!