Fresh!

...I have stopped using this blog for posting my artwork. For anyone that has this page linked for my art blog, you should know that I've changed location to petmoogle886.blogspot.com. Check it out whenever time provides...

I don't know, this just tickled me a little...

I went to Comics and Collectibles today and picked up two pretty awesome books that I've had on my must-own list for a while:



"Pulphope", which is a collection of work by cartoonist Paul Pope. Hell, it's selling him short to just call him a "cartoonist"... But anyway, the book also has comments by Pope about his work, his process, and so forth. Just good stuff throughout.



The other book I purchased was "Blankets", by Craig Thompson. I'm not too familiar with his work, but I've been told that this graphic novel's a pretty good read, so I'm pretty stoked to see what it's all about.

Comics...mmm...

Yes, that is what I hear. I should have suspected as much since I work at an art supply store and we haven't gotten a new shipment of them since the New Year holiday. Apparently the company that makes them got bought out and production of the bite-sized books has stopped until further notice. What a shame, as I've just gotten turned on to them. They're so convenient, and that knock-off Handbook shit just isn't as durable as the Moleskines. I know that is probably the dorkiest post ever, but I feel like I just lost a homie..



R.I.P (until further notice)

...I can say that I'm relatively happy that Barack Obama won in the "Super Tuesday" primaries (HURRAY!) as far as the nation was concerned, but he lost in Tennessee (FUCK!). I would have voted, but I was caught up in that whole tornado thing (see previous post).

So yesterday started out business as usual. However, as I went through my morning classes, my brain coming to speed, it was becoming disturbingly clear that IT WAS FUCKING 70+ DEGREES IN FEBRUARY! A little weird since I remember playing in an ice storm this time last year.
As I left school, heading to my dorm later that afternoon, I noticed that the sky was starting to do that ominous-some-heavy-shit-is-coming thing. Remembering a earlier conversation about an approaching cold front, I assumed that it just be a inconvenient downpour. But then the tornado sirens sounded, and I was told by some my neighbors that there were already reported sitings of funnel clouds in the outskirts of Shelby County. 'No big deal' was my thought as this kind of thing wasn't terribly unusual.
I went up to my room, fixed a quick bite to eat and started to read a book for my world drama class. I got bored, went outside for my umpteenth cigarette and saw that the RA for the dorm was gathering people to seek shelter. He mentioned there had been tornado sightings in Germantown. This naturally freaks me out, as my family is REALLY CLOSE to that part of town. I rush up to my room to call for them. I get no answer for my mom after several attempts, I then get a call back, and I couldn't be happier to have inconvenienced the folks; she was sheltered with my brother and sister and had to find the phone just to answer me. After that, I immediately call my dad and he was in a similar position. He reassured that he was fine and then told me to go vote (in the primaries) after the weather cleared up.
Long story short, I ended up at a friend's dorm looking at the storm through the window. The worst I suffered form the storm was a cigarette flying in my face from the strong winds. I was fortunate. The next morning, I read about the Hickory Ridge Mall incident and about Union University. As I finish writing this blog, the updated death toll stills sits at 52.



And today started like any other day.

So, I've decided, for very shallow and superficial reasons, to change location for my blogging/shamelessly showing off cool doodles. I will still maintain my LJ as an supplement to my Blogspot, and for bitching, whining and general commentary. So if you want to check out any of my recent work, hit up my new blog at petmoogle886.blogspot.com.

I guess this post was brought upon by the spurring of a certain Joel Priddy and an embarrassing moment in front of a computer lab projector screen. Totally my fault, though...not sweating it... But anyway, I am gonna give you a quick run through of my last project and a heads up on the next one to come.

These two images are the larger ones from a series of documentary-style images of the future site of the Rozelle Artist Guild home base. You can check us (I am a member of the group) out on my links list for more information about our mission statement and the etc. But these are two images are of the exterior courtyard area and the interior of the warehouse that we're using for our purposes.





I have some other sketches that I have to gather for an addendum post, but I'm gonna move on to my newest project. It began with a concept that I was working on in my printmaking class that involved distorted self-imagery and it led to the idea of psychogeography (somehow...). Psychogeography was created by a group of artists called Lettrist International. They were regarded as a group of rambling drunks, but they had some cool ideas, namely the idea of taking familiar objects and places and altering them to each individuals' whims. Based on that idea, I'm going to create a expansive mental map based on my working process, my current state of mind, and how it is affected by external stimuli and so on. It will be a constant work in progress until the day of its critique. Here are digital proofs of my prints and some reference imagery for the mind map. Lots of drawing, lots of experimentation...

So this summer I was lucky enough to go to San Diego, and better yet to attend the San Diego Comic-Con. For those of you that don't know, this particular event is like the Mecca for all that is geek culture. Outside of the cosplay pageantry, the overpriced junk food, and the endless merch, there were a number of lectures and panels that featured some well known figures in the comics industry. These panel discussions provided me with a lot of insight about the comics industry, and it was through these that I met a cartoonist named Andy Runton. I remembered that he had a compelling story of being stuck in the corporate world of cubicle work until he made the leap of faith and started making comics full-time. He has since made the award winning silent comic "Owly" and has made a successful career out of something that started out as doodles on post-it notes.





When I spoke to him after his panel discussion, I found him to be a very friendly, personable guy that was totally encouraging when I told of my comic-creating ambitions. His advice, which was simply worded, was to find my own story, my own voice. Those are words that I think that all artists should follow.

So, I totally flaked on the San Diego post...oh well...

But, I have a fresh batch of illustrations from my visual essay class and a few prep sketches to give that nice "making of" vibe. The class consists of three essays: one pertaining to a pro/con type topic, another being a set of documentary illustrations, and the last one is open in terms of subject matter.

These images are from the first series and they are commentaries on the internet, at least as far as how it effects our social discourse.









All of these were done using a technique that I recently learned that involved using multiple-layered drawings that I pieced together using Photoshop and adjusting those layers (opacity, colors, and so forth) to create depth in my images. These are some of the images before adjusting them digitally.













I will be making adjustments to these soon, as well as getting a start on my next essay, which will be the documentation of the Rozelle Artist Guild, which I will explain more about in my next post.

...will come soon but in the meantime, some sketch goodness! A "challenge" sketch (the challenge coming from the talented Billy Welch; check my links) that started as a tea stained sheet of paper and ended as a improvisational dance between the hand, pen and paper...so fun! I've got some more concept sketches for "Janus" as well. My work for that project has slowed down a bit, and since I was worried that I might be getting bored, I decided to test a different visual approach. I also made a few sketches for the lead male protagonist in "Janus" modeled loosely after an old friend from high school.

...hard drive, that is. I finished coloring part of the design for the first chapter page in "Janus". I've been kind of off-task though, but I'll be back on the ball and have more stuff done before I head to San Diego (in TEN MORE DAYS!!YES!!!!).



I also finished the inking for the previously-posted Smokey Jones. If it's uber-grainy it's only because it's a crappy scan.

So, I've been away from the ink brush a bit longer than I wanted to until recently. During this current period of enthusiasm, I have finished inking the initial line art for the first page of "Janus" and I'm working on the design for the cover of the first chapter of the story (still under wraps at least until the next post).





I also started a drawing of a character that came to me in a (junk-food induced?) dream: Bad Azz Smokey Jones! Part detective, part mack-daddy-ass motherfucker, part demon, and completely cold-blooded baby! I don't know what to do with him yet, but it was one of those ideas that I didn't want to lose before I could make a sketch of it.

In this second part to my two part entry, I have pics of the sign paintings that I worked on for the latter part of the MooreKays job. I'm have my reservations about them, but I am proud of the job considering my limited resources(not to mention limited experience) for this kind of project.









These took up my life for the first few weeks of summer; I worked on them immediatedly after I came from my summer job, which meant 11+ hour work days for almost a month.
It ain't Rembrandt, but godammit I worked my ass off and I'm proud(and relieved) that I got the job finished!

Concerning more recent projects, I am currently working on the first page of "Janus". I finished pencils a while back and am now inking everything out. After I finish inking this page, I will work on speech bubbles and other visual bells and whistles on a seperate page, place the drawings together and begin coloring. This is what I have so far, as well as some minor character sketches.





To close things out, I also wanted to post a picture of a job that I worked on recently: a birthday party invitation for a client's dog that turns 10 this year. It's always nice to do little jobs like this to kill the tedium of working at a crappy warehouse job.

I would like to say that after such an anticipating building post, I kind of feel bad for not bringing everything that I needed for said monumental blog entry, but I think that a two-parter would be easier on everybody. I guess I should begin with the end of the semester/beginning of summer. I was still recovering from the end of the year crunch and I was staring at my final project for Joel's Illustrated Story class like a father would a beautiful newborn baby (by that I mean with a very creepy grimace...). For the project, I made a fictional account of a castaway stranded on a deserted island that is occupied by strange creatures and the such. I wanted the pages to appear torn and tattered so I soaked them in various dark beverages, splashed them with lemon juice and torched those babies until they reached a level of crispy perfection. I then went on to inking the lettering and linework and used watercolor to tone the inked drawings. Here's some example pages:







For anyone that has known me for the past two months, the word freelance has come out of my mouth more times than you care to recall, in conjunction with such words as "client", "meeting", and "GODDAMMIT!". Well, I had been working for a couple, Charles and Kay Moore, from the New Jersey/NYC area. They intend to open a catering business here in Memphis and needed someone to create a company logo, some promotional illustrations, and some sign paintings on their food distribution unit, otherwise known as a "chuckwagon". I don't have the pictures of the paintings yet, but I will be posting them next entry. But here's some of the digital work that I've done for them.







The job took took roughly two months to finish since I had to balance it out between school and a (former) part-time job. As soon as I wrapped up with the MooreKays (the company moniker) business, I took a good week off to relax, and from there immediatedly switched gears to my next project, "Janus". This is a comic that I have been trying to start since high school, and it has went through so many changes since. I think that I am at a point where I'm technically capable of making it look how I want it to, and I have a developed-enough storyline to begin the project. It will take some time, but it will be one of the most ambitious creative endeavors I have ever tried to pursue. These are some character/mechanical design sketches that I have recently done:











As for the story, I'm keeping it hush for now, but I will try to update regularly as I continue to develop the tentatively titled "Janus".

I have been a busy man this summer and have a lot of stuff to show for it, so my next entry is gonna be a doozy. I mean frickin' HUGE. It will possibly be the longest blog entry that I've ever posted in my life. A glass of cold water and a cigarette may be required afterwards. Friends...just be ready.

Man it doesn't seems like it been four months, but indeed, the time has come to pack up and shack up with the family for the summer. Getting my stuff together was actually a pretty painless procedure, and with my frequent changes in residency, I think I'm just getting good at it. All I have to do is get everything out, do some once-overs to make sure that the place look spic-n-span for the final walkthroughs. But now I'm kind of killing time before my dad shows up with the U-Haul. My roommate found a CD by a certain rap duo that I particularly dislike. Neither of us owned it, so we took the appropriate measures:



We nuked that shit! Fuck the Ying-Yang Twins...

SO...if you haven't been keeping up with the proceedings, Team De-Nile met with defeat at the hands of the juggernaut Pain Brothers. It was a fun experience and an honor to have gotten as far as we did. But fear not! Team De-Nile's days aren't numbered yet!

It doesn't really "pop" however...in fact it's more like a diorama...but, BUT I am happy to be finished with it and doesn't look half bad. Pictures to come...

So after a few long sessions of inking, I have finished the line art for my postage stamp assignment. I drew the initial line work and then using a technique that I learned recently, drew another layer where shadows would lay in the image. Then I scanned them together and adjusted the opacity and colors until I got a desirable result.



I also added a texture from my sketchbook and did a little Photoshop rendering, but I'm not sure if it's looking like I want it to, so I may just leave it with just the line art and the second layer ink drawings.



This is another picture with the secondary inking before I colored it.



I'll keep posting as I get closer to finish...