Illustration & Design

An oldie but goodie. Have I talked about how much of an influence Henry Rollins has been on my life/career? I have? Oh, all right then.

Happy birthday, Hank.

It occurred to me today that whenever I put new art “out there” on the web, whether it’s a new pleasure drawing, a commission, or a work-in-progress, I usually cross-post it to a few places: DeviantArt, Tumblr and Facebook, depending it’s stage of completion.  But I rarely post here, on my own blog/website. That’s just … dumb. No, really, it’s stupid. I have this problem: I always worry that I’m over-saturating the internet with my work, because in MY purview, I see it posted to three or four different venues. But the fact is, only some people see it in some venues, just like Tweets passing in a timeline — someone at 2 a.m. won’t necessarily see something you posted at 2 p.m.

Hence, I’ve decided to get out of that frame of mind and start updating THIS site more regularly, instead of just when there’s a new project or appearance out there to self-promote. It’s ridiculous how self-conscious I’ve become about blogging over the last few years. I guess it’s because four or five years ago, I was just a writer. I wrote about stuff, and everyone who followed me did so for the reason (or because I bribed them). Then I started playing in bands again, and that made me a writer who played in a band, an entirely reasonable thing in which people could maintain interest. But then I started making comics, and I started doing more visual art, and suddenly, I became worried that I’d alienate the people who don’t give a crap about art or comics or music or whatever. So I fractured my internet presence, even as I redesigned THIS site to encompass all those things. I launched Tumblr accounts and Blogger blogs and multiple Facebook and Twitter presences.

Ultimately, however, all of those things are just facets of one person: me. So I’m going to stop apologizing, stop over-thinking, and start putting it all out there. You’re all smart people who are as capable as I am in ignoring or glossing over posts that don’t interest you without un-following my exploits. Some of you are here because of the comics, but maybe you like rock music and will enjoy my band. Some of you are here because of my journalistic career, but maybe you’ll get turned on to a comic. You get the point.

And, so, once again, I use a “desktop snapshot” as an excuse to update this site and get my blogging juices flowing. The above Photoshop windows, by the way, come from a variety of comics and illustration projects that are in various stages of development, but of particular interest to (probably) many of you, one in particular: a sequel to The Utopian. Stay tuned. And look for an onslaught of backed up postings. We’re gonna get this party started.

Vegas/Rated is a new-ish magazine that rose somewhat out of the ashes of 944 magazine (same editor, same co-publishers). It’s full of all the sexy things about Las Vegas that most of the world loves: Pretty people, fancy nightclubs, boozy drinks, etc. And in its November issue, pop music ingenue Katy Perry is paid tribute with a series of illustrations commissioned to local artists. And somehow, I ended up being among those (seriously, how did I end up in the same circle as Casey friggin’ Weldon?).

Our assignment was to visually interpret lyrics from Perry’s song “Waking up in Vegas.” To be fair, I’ve never heard the song, but thankfully, that didn’t matter. From the lyrics sent by editor Melinda Sheckells, I chose the quatrain, “Why are these lights so bright?/Did we get hitched last night?/Dressed up like Elvis/Why am I wearing your class ring?,” because immediately, I pictured the already cartoon-esque Perry in a late-model Elvis jumpsuit. After shooting off a few thumbnail sketches, one of my concepts was approved, and the final result in the magazine looks something like this:

I can objectively say it’s not terrible, because someone actually published it, though you guys know I always think my illustrations look mediocre, so … I’ll just be quiet and let you decide. Oh, and pick up a copy of the issue. It’s not online yet or anything, but there are probably print copies appearing soon wherever sexy people are found.

Yesterday, Project: Rooftop announced the first place winner in its “Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0″ contest, a competition to redesign Spider-Man’s costume. Project: Rooftop is, of course, a take on “Project: Runway,” but instead it focuses on superhero fashions, often featuring various artists’ redesigns of existing costumes, and occasionally holding contests such as this one.

I previously entered one other, a Captain America redesign challenge, and that submission didn’t even rate an honorable mention. Guess what? Neither did my Spider-Man one. That’s OK — lots of people entered and didn’t make it into the final selections. A lot of people also post their entries on their blog, Tumblr or DeviantArt gallery before the competition is over, but I always wait until after the winners are announced. I dunno why, it’s just the way I do things. However, I noticed a lot of people clicking through from P:R to check out my entry, and it wasn’t here, so let me fix that now:

Here’s the description I sent along with the submission:

While the classic Ditko version is one of the most iconic superhero costumes ever, and one of my favorites, it never made much sense how this nerdy science kid could create such a complex, well-tailored costume. It also bothers me that his oft-referred to or used utility belt and web shooters never seem to cause a bulge in his skintight outfit. So my re-design here addresses all of those issues. The wrestling pants and boots, as well as the red ski mask, are holdovers from his short-lived wrestling career, to which he added the easily customized blue-and-red zip-up jacket over a simple black t-shirt. The goggles give him that slightly eerie look, while also disguising his eyes AND providing wind protection from all that web swinging. You can see his utility belt and web shooters easily accessible under his jacket. Basically, all materials readily available to a lower-middle-class kid from Queens.

Some of the honorable mentions and finalists were similar to this, except they were better drawn/flashier/etc. I’m a simple guy, and my take on superhero costumes is very streamlined, and probably too realistic and not fun enough. Ah well …

It occurred to me last week that I rarely post illustrations or even works-in-progress on this blog anymore. Part of that is because I haven’t been working actively on too many visual projects since finishing “War of the Ghosts.” But I have been doing sketches and other various drawings for commissions, at conventions, and just to keep the drawing muscles strong. A lot of these end up on my Deviantart gallery, so technically, yes, they’ve been getting posted somewhere, but Deviantart tends to be a closed community, despite being publicly viewable.

However, in the interest of avoiding clutter, I don’t want to start filling up this otherwise lovely site with a bunch of one-off, photo-only posts (my OCD won’t let me). So, I’ve created a new Tumblr called “Sequential Madness,” and I’ve set the goal of posting a drawing there every day. That means I’ll be pulling out a little bit of the old, a little bit of the new, and yes, there might be some stinkers. It also means it’ll likely force me to generate illustrated work even when I don’t feel like it — which is a good thing. I might even do little one-off comic strips or panels. WHO KNOWS?

I hope you’ll follow and enjoy. And I’ll still be posting the usual status updates and behind-the-scenes glimpses here, of course. But they’ll be somewhat newsworthy, and not just because, you know?

You have to love blog post titles that tell you exactly what the post is about: As mentioned earlier this week, I’ll be trekking down to the Valley of the Sun for my first time tabling at Phoenix Comicon. If you’re planning on attending the show, you’re definitely going to want to stop by the Pop! Goes the Icon table (237) in the Small Press area. I’m going to have some awesome goodies, perhaps none more awesome than a hand-painted “Utopian” Munny:

Yep. That bad boy is not for sale. The only way to get it is to stop by our table at the convention and enter the sweepstakes to win it. Crazy, right? Right.

Other items I’m bringing to actually sell? Aside from just about every comic currently in stock that Pop! Goes the Icon‘s ever published (including the Utopian trade paperback), I’ll have brand-new, 11×14 prints of some of my most in-demand illustrations, including “Giant Robot” and X-Men knitting, as well as a very limited quantity of the brand-new “My Other Car is a Landspeeder” stickers.

So come on down this weekend. It’ll be fun times.

I’ve been hinting at what’s been occupying most of my time the last two weeks here, but overtly giving peeks at it on Facebook, however, I haven’t completely revealed just what the heck I did in the windows of the Contemporary Arts Center until now. OK, technically the art installation itself was revealed to the public Thursday, when I put the finishing touch on it. But I haven’t really explained what the heck is going on.

Basically, the CAC separately curates its large, front window display facing Charleston Boulevard separately from the exhibits running inside the gallery. These “East Side Projects” essentially let an artist use the entire display to execute his or her vision. I was asked by the CAC board if I’d be interested in doing something with the window for March related to my comic book work, specifically The Utopian. I was honored, of course, but a bit apprehensive. After all, I’ve only had a few little piece of “art” shown in a few group shows, and had never done anything on the scale of filling a 22-foot-wide space, especially one that would be viewable 24 hours a day on one of the busiest thoroughfares in Las Vegas. Also, I didn’t want it to be (nor did the CAC) want it to be an overt ad for The Utopian, but I did know what I wanted it to be: fun, colorful and representative of my illustration style.

The concept I ended up developing was the effect of a passerby looking at life-sized comic book panels. I wanted to get across a few of the major themes of The Utopian, including the tendency to render the past with overly nostalgic eyes, and of course, the message of real change coming from the group up — something extremely relevant in light of the uprisings in Iran, Egypt, Bahrain and elsewhere. To my surprise, the initial designs I submitted — a combination of art and text culled from or inspired by the original comics — were accepted wholeheartedly, which left me to figure out just how I’d fabricate all the parts of this giant diorama.

There were three major elements to this installation: The two different backgrounds, the “stand-up” characters, and the foreground lettering (speech balloons and captions). It became almost more like set design. After initially considering producing everything digitally and printing in large format (which would have cost much, much more than the approximately $200 I poured into this project), I ended up doing everything by hand. The back walls — one a forced “exterior” perspective, one a high school hallway — were hand-painted with a combo of house paints and  acrylics. The stand-ups (four of them) were drawn onto and cut out of 5-foot-tall foam board, painted with  acrylics and outlined with a Sharpie. I created stands from left-over foam board. The lettering was done (poorly) by hand on poster board, and then suspended from the rafters with clear thread. Other elements were also created on the cheap, such as the “PRINCIPAL” door plate (white adhesive letters on black foam board) and a homecoming poster.

It took me about three days to paint the backgrounds and a day and a half to cut and paint the stand-ups.  Installation of the stand-ups and hanging elements took another day and a half. I did it all myself, with some last-minute assistance from Sara.

Feedback so far has been very kind. I personally think it turned out just “OK.” Of course, you lose a lot going from a perfectly controlled digital design to a real-life environment. But the effect is there. And it definitely brings attention to the CAC’s windows. If you get a chance over the next few weeks, swing by the Arts Factory and check it out.