Clipstick Book 3 is on it's way!

If it's one thing that can feel the closest thing to achievement, it's finalizing a piece of artwork. I have yet to find something as similar and the only thing that comes to mind is finishing a chocolate doughnut from the local Phillips 66 gas station. Same kind of rush, less fingerprints on everything.

So I'm at a crossroads with Clipstick as the cover for book 3 is ready for display and the book itself is lively being inked to completion. I begin to wonder where the time went and where my future time lies. There is no time. I have an invented theory called "Reciprocal Time Displacement", but after I get some much needed sleep, I'll post for deliberation.

DETAIL:

CLIPSTICK BOOK #3 COVER

Please feel free to comment and constructively critique the piece as I'm hoping these become conversational upon release. At the Comic-Con I'm planning on having the ladies of the first three books on banners to help promote the book's event.

The images appear slightly darker here so I may need to lighten them for print, but all in all, I hope you're all doing well and let's get a chocolate doughnut sometime.

Enjoy!

--I

Suspense in the "Reveal" cover

Hello everyone!

This week I'm going to discuss the "reveal" cover. I've played through some mental issues, (specific covers in my mind, for clarity), and remembered these illustrations that struck a chord.

Green Lantern #69: Cover Illustration by Gil Kane


Rule #1: Target subconsciously an emotion for what you're revealing.

Red can mean danger. Blue = calming. Green means, well you get the picture. . . High camera angle suggests dominance, low camera angle suggests being submissive. The first thing that attacks my subconscious is the cover features a predominant crimson red. We're immediately on alert.

Rule #2: Text usually pulls primary focus against most images. (In other words, it's best when the text is not giving everything away.)
In this case it helps deliver "THE SETUP". The first actual conscious "story reveal".
Visually we're cued by the foreground woman's sinister glance and bad dental work.

This by itself is a strong visual story. Our eyes jump to Green Lantern's expression, LEAD by the girl's eyes. His REACTION supports what we're thinking, the "reveal-deal" is sealed and a moment of suspense is captured. You feel a chill in this instance. This brings me to my third point:

Rule #3: Visually lead the viewer.
This cover engages you to investigate further. To look for more clues about the situation, to maybe even want to read the book. This can be done by composition, color, balance, size, and lighting to just name a few techniques.

Finally Rule #4: If the cover features a hero, allow your hero to be empathized by the audience.
Green Lantern is reacting how most of us would react to this situation. Our hero connects with us and we fear for him which helps build the suspense.

The best reveal covers surprise you with the reward of discovery.

This cover would fly off the shelf had I been around to catch it in the spinner rack. If you've never read the book, I suggest you let the cover speak for itself.

Here is another great example of a reveal cover:


Animal Man #5: Cover by: Brian Bolland

The same principles can be applied to this cover and a fresh perspective is achieved. This cover does feature an event that actually happens in the book, but it's been speculated to as the timing and meaning.

Obviously these are just a few points based on my experience and there are many more ways to make an enticing cover using the reveal.

Please feel free to submit ideas comic suggestions to discuss to my e-mail.

In the meantime, the next subject I'm going to cover is "Face to Face". A discussion on the formula of a hero directly facing the villains of the book, literally face to face.

Until then, ENJOY!

Latest Animated Commercial!

Hello all!

I'm about to post a breakdown for Clipstick's 4th cover and would love to hear what you all think. However, in the meantime until I coerce my scanner to like my Mac, I'm posting my latest animated commercial.



This commercial is for Neways and will air in the next couple weeks.

The production schedule was tight, (as is the nature in advertising), but the client was unusually accommodating for a creative department to do what they do best. Create without any preconceived vision! With that breath of fresh air we took full advantage on the approach.

Alex Bell nailed a great watercolor look in concept and then I replicated his art style for my shots. During the commercial's creation, I was hailed by several other clients which continually pulled me on and off the project all throughout it's production. The animation was all created in After Effects and the scenes for animation were divided between Alex and myself. Please watch and let me know what you think!

Breakdown:
The scenes I created art for are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 13.

The scenes I animated are 2, 3, 5, and 6.

In each of these shots I animated the woman, dog, weather elements, (clouds, wind effects, etc.), and camera.

Puppet animation already lends itself to a stylized look because of how it's approached. You essentially take photoshop images and dissect them into individual pieces and layers. From those pieces, After Effects retains separate layers from your photoshop file and imports them into your composition. You typically animate each piece individually, (roughly).

Puppet animation is beginning to lend itself to pose to pose animation for it's incredibly planned out approach with each pose drawing being created and animated. These scenes were animated with a "straight forward" technique utilizing what movement I could out of the art assets created because of budget and time constraints. I hope you enjoy the illusion of this poor woman's plight particularly in her facial expressions before she challenges the storm.

Alex also did a great job with his particle mastery in the piece and storytelling in the preliminary storyboards, which helped in bringing this commercial to life

Stay tuned for the latest Batman commercial which will be aired on Feb. 19th. If you have any questions regarding puppet animation or the processes there-in, please feel free to post.

Enjoy!

Freedom From Want. . . tribute

JSA #54 features one of thousands of homages to Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want, one of the highly renowned Four Freedoms series. These are done so often, I normally ignore them, but this one, pencilled by Carlos Pacheco and inked by Jesus Merino, successfully conveys the emotions of gratitude and brotherhood appropriate for the legacy superhero book featuring the world's first superhero team.

Comic Cavalcade #18 from 1942 features an E.E. Hibbard cover. Everett Edward Hibbard worked in comics for less than a decade, but worked on some of the most important comics of the golden age. Starting with Flash Comics #3 he was the main character's main artist until he left comics and is believed to have drawn the iconic cover of All-Star Comics #3, the first appearance of the Justice Society of America. This light-hearted cover accurately reflects the attitude of the golden age, with a playful image that likely has nothing to do with the interior comments of the book, and one has to smile at the idea of Flash, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman having a difficult time catching a turkey.

The idea of ducks eating turkey is an odd one, which the Disney artists seemed to ignore. This one's by Barks. One of turkey in the fridge comes to mind, but I couldn't find it. There have been an awful lot of Disney comics over the years.

L

Give thanks for giving. . .

Thanksgiving Magazine Cover

As I sit here convincing myself this is the best show my satellite service has to offer, I reminisce about what I've done with my life as of 32 years.  Specifically where I am at in my life vs. where I am heading.  Does it really matter what unfinished projects we keep telling ourselves we need to finish?  How long do we let them slide before they become abandoned and no longer good ideas?

To sum up, a lot of time has gone by and I haven't done half of what I've intended.  On the side, secretly I would love to be a stand-up comedian or some kind of musician, but watching bad tv seems more important.  Apparently.  That and Rock Band. . .

Movie Quote time:

Just as in the movie Waking Life, "How would we answer someone on the outside looking in who asked us if humans were lazy or fearful?"

 I would say lazy.  Look at the inventions we've created.  If you want to get rich quick, find a way to make someone else's life lazier.  Self flushing toilets, remote controls, infomercial exercise equipment, electronic toothbrushes, Ty Pennington, . . .etc.

On a completely separate note, I painted more beer today.  I had a lot of fun with the caustics in the ice, (though not realistically accurate), it stylistically creates the illusion.  (I call this the blue ice cave because I believe this is what lingers in every airplane's basement.)

The rest of the ice cave was rendered before my time at 8fish.

When I've considered what has been personally achieved vs. what I believe still needs to be done, the finished work far outweighs my intentions.  That being said, all we should consume are small chunks, until our large portioned goals suddenly disappear one day.

I'm heading to the CTN Animation Expo the 3rd weekend in November so if any of you are going, let me know.  Hopefully I'll have a Thanksgiving comic cover before the big day.

In the meantime, enjoy!

More Illustration from the Ad bin

Hello fellow artists that are hopefully working this time of year:

I wanted to keep in touch by creating a quick post of my latest exploitations.  One of which is of the beer industry.  Ahh advertising. . . thou art a drunken-hearted, chilled painting. . .

The surrounding environment was done before me, but I bought and painted beer for the first time and got carded.  (I think she was just flattering me, but the bald spot should have covered the bill.)  These two cold ones will be appearing at a Maverik mural near you, hopefully by Thanksgiving.

On a side note, I'm prepping for the CTN Animation Expo happening in Burbank this November.  That being said, we have in-house assignments that are designed to remind us of what we try to achieve, culture-wise, here at the 8fish.  This week being my 2nd week, my theme was "Always Offer to Help".

We only have a limited time to create these as the company foots the bill when we work on them.  This was what I came up with in an hour and a half.  Being in the animated mood, the worm, (because we're 8FISH), is representational of the work load we carry.  It's a reminder to offer help to your coworkers so everyone gets home at a good time.

In the meantime I'm looking for a good comiccover that is indicative of the Thanksgiving spirit.  If any of you have any suggestions, my blog door is always open.  :)

Enjoy~

This is Halloween

Hello all,

Happy Halloween to you and yours. If those crazy Irish hadn't brought all their crazy practices over who knows what we would be doing on Halloween these days. Probably still burning people like Joan of Arc at the stake because someone heard someone say that she possibly might be a witch.

Yeah. It's really about tangents.

So here's my cover pic for this Halloween post.


Batman 455. Cover art by Norm Breyfogle.

Norm is one of those artists that stood out to me because as everyone around him was trying to add sinew, and a perfect musculature to Batman making him virtually the Vetruvian Man, Norm went with motion. His comics flow with directional lines and anatomy plays a close second to where he wants your eye to go.

This cover has always struck me, pun intended, because of the sharp contrast of the death bride waging her war after being possessed by the book's villain. Batman's cape acting out of reality frames the action wonderfully while also creating a dark background for the book's title. A strong layout, easy legibility and BAM! another great cover.

If you're not familiar with Breyfogle, I suggest taking a book or two of his in. He plays with the shapes so much you can't help feeling motion in every panel he's plotted. Since he's been working professionally since he was 16, he's learned a few traits.

This is my Halloween submission and I wish you all a Happy All Hallow's Eve!

Enjoy!

Art update

Hello all,

I haven't been around much lately with family life, career life, and personal life all swooshing about. Sorry for not keeping in touch like I have been. I wanted to update the blog with a piece of art I just finished. The layout was put down by a close friend Paul Linsley and he also worked on rendering the mountain range and dirt path.

This painting is going to be used for Maverik's fleet card and possibly a billboard or two in the valley. The truck was a lot of fun blowing out the perspective and rendering the tire / chrome parts were a lot of fun too. Gotta love the "create brush" tool.

That's all for today but I'll have another comic cover post hopefully sooner than later.

Enjoy!

Ian

Clipstick Cover 3 - pencils

Hello all,

Here is a quick posting of the Clipstick Cover for book 3. This is being painted up to match the previous two. All comments welcome. This cover features the lovely Lana right as the security guard is being murdered by Darlene from behind. The hands at the bottom are going to be covered in blood. (No worries, it happens early so the main juicy part is a few pages into the book.)

Enjoy!

Bill? I didn't expect to get it from you!?!

The Comic-con never disappoints even this year where I was working the other side of the table. It surprised me that sitting still for most of the con you see almost as much if you spend the whole time walking around. Just a different type of entertainment.

From meeting Jorge Garcia, (Lost's "Hurley"), to being nearly ripped off by Bill Sienkiewicz's agent, to shaking the hand of Dick Clark, (one of the four original creators of the San Diego Comic-con), my dream getaway wasn't going to disappoint.

I spent the majority of the trip promoting our animation company and by talking to passers by selling my product "Cardcitures". (A phrase I hopefully coined, but if not, oh well. There goes another one. . .) These are characters of comic-con visitors, drawn on the spot, onto card size canvases. They sold like wild fire and I'm bringing them back next year for sure.

Then there was Bill. An artist whose work I've admired since I remember comics. Him and his agent Eric ______. Now don't get me wrong, we're all starving artists, but I doubt Bill and his manager are losing sleep over the bait and switch they tried to pull on me.

Here's a book and art Bill's known for:

"Hi Eric. How's Bill doing today."

"He's doin' fine. Thanks for stopping by. Is there something I can get for you?"

At this point I'm thinking this is where I would like to spend a little to have an original piece from this comic great. Little did I understand that this relationship would affect the way I view one of the greats in about a day.

I ask Eric for pricing on original art and he quotes me $100, $200, and $300 dollar art. Because I don't want to spend all my Comic-con money, that and I need to eat in about 45, I settle on the $100 art. Knowing this wasn't going to be a mural I thought it was worth it.

I pay cash on the spot and meet Bill. He was nice. He was approachable. He was getting ready to leave for the day. I make my request be known and we all agree this was a great idea. Sleep was about to change someone's mind. . .

After returning multiple times to Bill's booth the next day, (which was facing the back wall of the convention center), I was met by Eric. Eric had news for me. "Bill has a habit of getting into his drawings and so I think the original sketch is going to cost $200."

My eyes rolled. I really would love an original, but $200? There goes burgers at Hard Rock and dinner at Little Italy.

"Okay, I'll get you $175 by tomorrow, but I'm hoping it's a great drawing." Eric looked uninterested in my financial disposition. For all I knew he was going to pocket a $100 and give the rest to Bill. Reluctant to pay, I returned the next day and decided to stand my ground.

"I think all I want is the $100 dollar sketch please."

"No no no no. I'm sorry. Yeah, we can do that. That's fine. It won't be much. Like a a head and shoulders but that's it. We really would like to get you something nice, but you won't get it for $100. Plus Bill is a busy guy and I'm carving out of his schedule to do your drawing. He's a very very busy guy."

All I can think is, "busy enough to come to the comic-con and sell sketches. THAT busy eh?", but I didn't want to put it past the agent. He was only trying to pull the ol' bait and switch which, in my eyes, leaves no room for respect.

"Come back tomorrow, he'll have your sketch for you."

Since I was planning on leaving the next day I explained I would have a close friend come with the receipt and ship the art home for me. They agreed and I was off. Was this going to come true? Was I finally going to get the original I've been craving? Was the drawing going to suck after all the debating and appear insincere and heartless? Sunday would tell . . .

"$300. Bill got into it and didn't really stop, and now it's a $300 dollar sketch."

Now I'm pitchering this business guy trying to rape my wallet. Paul calls me over the phone and is kind enough to extricate my original $100, sans drawing, I was quoted for getting at that amount. He also saw the drawing and said it didn't look that great to him and it actually wasn't worth $50, let alone $300. Being a good friend I take Paul's word, sadly re-take my $100 and walk away.

This really killed my first impression experience and has tainted any connection I will have with the artist, be it in comic, or in person.

Bill, if you read this, what you did was shitty business practice and I warn all of you who want an original Bill Sienkiewicz piece: There is a whole lot of red tape made by Eric the agent you'll have to go around. Unless you're ready to dump $300 dollars for a simple / mediocre original sketch, save your money and invest in someone who wants to take care of their fans. Also, I recommend don't deal with anyone else other than the artist when it comes to their art. That's what makes the Comic-con incredible. Getting to meet people you only read about and prove they actually exist eye to eye.

All in all my experience at the con has got me excited for next year. I made some friends, made some fans, and made some great connections. Next year there will hopefully be a signing for "Clipstick" at the Ape booth, and if the time allows, perhaps greater things, like hiring an agent stuffer.

Enjoy!


Here's a link to the latest animations I worked on and Directed for PPL energy plus. Thank you to Alex Bell, Paul Linsley, and Andreas Peterson for your help on these as we had a blast and are looking forward to the next big animation project!

More Drawings From Here and There

Hello all!

One day before the due date for this week's challenge and here are some more images to stare at. I began sessions of figure drawings at 8fish this week and so every Wednesday I'll have more nudes to post.

In the meantime, while at the airport in Oakland I got this look from a guy passing by in the terminal. Playing with the dodge and burn tools, this was the result of this side ways glance.


Here's another sketch I'll call "Southwest Accommodations" because a 2-inch recline in an airplane seat is not considered "laying back" no matter how messed up your spine. Why is this recline so important to landing the plane I'll never know. The drag coefficient? The weight distribution? Just an illusion that you're allowed some comfort?




The last sketch I'll post is a character I did of some college student guy at the local Hoppers® restaurant. He was chillin' and I liked his yamaka pooft hair do.

If you would like to post for this week's comic challenge, please send your submission to me here with a description of why your cover fills the criteria.

Until tomorrow's "Moving forward" post. . .

Enjoy!

Hope In a Nutshell

Here's my comic for depicting this week's challenge for "Hope".
Wiki ref

After Superman leaves due to humanity's inability to enact justice on Magog, (who becomes acquitted for his murder), this story teeters on the reliance of old friends to coerce Superman to shed his solitude and return to establish peace to chaos. Having been cited as the DC version of the Apocalypse, hope is the perfect voice for these character's needs to realign their ethical boundaries despite a world having two major factions warring with each other.

This is a fairly quick read and should belong on the wall for Alex Ross's gouache technique that is a "Marvel" to behold.

Enjoy!

Happy Halloween All!

Hello Everyone!

Happy Halloween to you and yours! I wanted to debut the preliminary cover to issue 2 of Clipstick by posting on this day. The cover seemed to fit the mood.

Have a great one and Enjoy!


Ian

Pulse-pounding Covers!

Happy October everyone!

Welcome to this installment of the comic cover discussion forums! This challenge was a "no-brainer". . . You would have to be "up in the night" to not get what the challenge is this time around. So don't "give up the ghost" and let this challenge "bleed you dry".

Make a "sacrifice" and submit your eeriest, creepiest, spookiest cover that fits the forum to us. This should be fun so "don't lose your head" about this entry.

We just expect one foot in the grave. . .

BWahahahaha!

Enjoy!

Machina ex Deus?

A deus ex machina (lat. IPA: [ˈdeːus eks ˈmaːkʰina], literally "god from a/the machine") is an improbable contrivance in a story characterized by a sudden unexpected solution to a seemingly intractable problem.

Considering that 95% of Comic books are primary examples of the "deus ex machina" principle. I have chosen to narrow my field down considerably by taking a more literal translation... "from the god, the machine". With that in mind I submit a excellent example of classic Barry Windsor Smith with the Marvel Limited Series- Machine Man, issue 2. As soon as Ian mentioned this weeks submission this series immediately sprung to mind. I have always enjoyed this series, with it's many plot contrivances, and classic Windsor Smith artwork. I think it illustrates the point beautifully.

Enjoy,

Rob

Deus Ex Machina?

Hello all!

Great suggestions and posts for the last week! This week is in itself possibly it's own Deus Ex Machina, and you guessed it, we've got to find or post our favorite covers that feature this timeless ideal.

Best representation of Deus Ex Machina, pre-solved, done well, and solved in the book!

Enjoy and good luck!

Rob's Post of Choice - Villain getting upper hand

Ok, here it is in a nutshell...

When I read about this weeks post the first hero that jumped to my mind was Spidey. Has any other hero (in the history of superhero comics) ever been shown getting the crap kicked out of him more than our dear friend Peter Parker... on the cover of his own comic books no less. As a child I was never a big fan of Amazing Spider-Man because I liked my heroes a bit more, well, heroic. It just seemed that Peter Parker was never going to come out on top... EVER. Everyone beat him up, and even when he would prevail as Spider-Man, then something tragic would happen to his Peter Parker alter ego. This guy could never catch a break. Those sadistic writers could be extremely Machiavellian in their plots to take down our beloved web-slinger. Which is probably the reason why he is one of the most popular characters in comics today.

While I have to give a nod to Amazing Spider-Man #293 (what I believe to be the greatest "Villain Triumphant" storyline of all time... "Fearful Symmetry") I honestly have to pick a classic Spider-Man/Venom confrontation as my favorite cover. Venom has to be one the greatest Spider-Man villains ever conceived, and no one exemplified this classic Spidey/Anti-Spidey confrontation better than Todd McFarlane.

So here it is... Amazing Spider-Man# 316.

Until a later date,

Rob

Life Happens. . . 9/11/08 - 9/20/08

Hello everyone,

Sorry all for the long delay. It has been almost a killer couple of weeks that have hindered any progress on the site. I hope you're all still interested because I have some treats coming up with interviews among working professionals in the comic industry discussing their comic memories, what comic covers they favor, as well as pieces of their work and where it can be seen.

Summation of delay: Anniversary, hit and run (victim), baby 1st birthday, quit job, got new job. Any questions? Let's get this week's cover challenge underway!

This week's challenge is:

Post your favorite cover featuring a villain getting the upper hand!

There are a myriad of choices and genres this bleeds into. If the villain actually gets the upper hand in the book, that would be great too!

I can be contacted at merbou77@yahoo.com if you need to get a hold of me.

Enjoy!

Comic Con 2008 - but I was in Mexico

Hello all,

Sorry for the delay in this week's topic / challenge. I just got back from a lengthy trip to Mexico with the family and only saw one computer that was running Windows '98 so I thought, umm. . . I'll wait to get back to catch up.

If any of you have any particular experiences at this year's Comic-con, I invite you to share them, whatever they may be, so we can live vicariously through your eyes.

This week's challenge is based on one of the themes at this years Comic-con.

What is your favorite Doc Savage cover! The man of bronze turned 75 this year and his early painted covers landed an iconic image. These covers really facilitated a different technique in order to capture the feeling of the noir series.

Enjoy!

UPGRADE!

Hello all!

As an upgrade to the site, I'm beginning to put together a questionnaire / interview for professionals to tell us what they like to see in a cover. They will talk about their favorite covers, and discuss what they believe makes a book jump off the shelf.

Please leave comments as to what questions you think should go in the interview and I'll pool the results putting together them together. Also, please leave comments as to who you would be interested in seeing a cover interview with!

LET'S DO THIS THING!

I'll post these interviews amidst the weekly challenges so we can tie them together with who is being interviewed!

Hughes submissions will carry through to the end of this week.

ENJOY!