To New Beginnings

Here is a rough draft of some newer character designs I am working on for the revamped book.  Essentially I am scrapping everything I did before.  As I said it was my therapy and it should be left at that.  On to new beginnings...

Dad...This Is Your Adventure.

It's been a long time since I have updated this site.  Too long.  Life and work seem to have taken up a bit of my time for posting, luckily not for drawing.

This weekend is Father's Day, arguably the toughest weekend of the year for me, especially when it falls on June 17th.  In 2007, I lost my Father to MSA, a rare and horrible disease.  Sunday, June 17th, 2007 was the last day I would sit and talk with him before flying back to California, he would pass away on September 4th of that year, just two days shy of me flying home to see him for his birthday.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him and what he not only meant to me, but to everyone that knew him.  While I was trying to cope with the loss I experienced I decided to be creative with my therapy.  I started to draw and I started to write.  

My father loved telling stories and he loved history and mythology.  I grew up listening to him tell me all sorts of fantastical tales, both true and fantasy.  He would glow when he would speak and I can remember being mesmerized.  You see, my father had always wanted to be a teacher and as far as I am concerned he was, I learned a great deal from him, but he wanted to teach history, tell stories and inspire more than just me.  

So, one night in the depths of my sadness, I took a small Moleskine journal that had been given to me by my boss at the time, the lovely Jody Yorkey and I started a tale.  A tale of life, death, history, mythology, adventure and most importantly...love.  It was my love letter to my father, my hero, my teacher.  I had never intended it to be anything more than a personal quest through my dealing with the pain I was and still continue to experience.  

However, one day while helping a friend at a comic book convention in Orlando I was asked what I was working on.  I explained that it was the adventures of my father in the after life and how he was saving the universe with his knowledge of history and mythology.  During that show I intrigued a few people, one of which was one of my favorite publishers.  It inspired me to think in a different direction, to share the tale, to actually have my father teach, but teach in a way that was full of high adventure, to illustrate that glow I used to see in his eyes when he would tell me stories.  I pulled from all of the things that I remember he loved.  History, myth, fantasy, movies, books, adventure and held tight to all of the core values he held true to.  

I flew back to California energized and ready to tell his tale.  I attempted to get time off of work to finish the book by the San Diego Comic Convention in July, just three and a half months away, but was declined under new management.  In the end they tried to strong arm me and declined giving me my time to do what I felt like was for my betterment so I quit.  

I lived for the next 4 months off of my savings and worked on my book every day and by July I had just about finished.  153 pages, written, penciled, inked and mostly lettered all by myself in about 90 days.  I was exhausted to say the least and once I had compiled it all I felt accomplished, but a bit disappointed.  As is with everything I do I am usually fairly disappointed so I am used to that general outcome.  But with something being this personal I knew there was no room for me feeling that emotion, it was my therapy after all and it was for my dad.  

I decided to bite the bullet and present it anyway and to the San Diego Comic Con I went!  I had created a 70 page preview and started pitching it.  The reviews were varied and ultimately I stopped showing it off after the first day as while I got a lot of great input and fantastic criticism, there were a lot of flaws pointed out.  A lot of flaws that I knew existed, but was so exhausted from the process, both emotionally and artistically that I did not have the energy to go back and redo or fix.  This was for my dad and it could be nothing less than amazing.  For years I had intended to go back and revisit this project, for years I would get weary when I thought about it.  So seeing as it is Father's Day and a day about celebrating those men of men we look up to I felt compelled to share the same 70 page preview I had with me in July 2008.  If you like it, or at the very least the premise, don't worry, I've started working on it again, better story, better artwork and if all goes well, better execution.  For now, take a journey through me finding my way out of a very difficult part of my life and finding a little bit of adventure along the way.

Click the link below:

http://temp-share.com/show/HKdPf80jA

New artwork to follow in another post... Happy Father's Day Dad!

It's been awhile. I kind of fell of the wagon here over the past week or so for various reasons, so it's time to pick myself up and get a move on. Continuing with where we left off and the failed comic book work I present to you two covers I did for IDW's G.I. Joe run. I did this just as they were getting the rights to the series and nothing ever came of it as bigger artists were involved and who wants a no name doing a cover?

I did, but that was me.

I based both of these covers on old WWII propaganda posters. I thought it was a fantastic idea, but file that one away in the "never meant to be" file. We move onward here, but respect our past.

The failed attempt...

So years ago, comic book publisher BOOM! Studios got the rights to several Pixar properties and were planning several comics based on "Toy Story, Cars, The Incredibles, Wall-E and Monsters, Inc.". I was excited about this idea and tried my hand at doing some tests. During this time, it was at the San Diego Comic-Con the year of the announcement that I had, what I thought to be an amazing idea. Each Pixar movie starts with a short and those shorts have their own characters. Why not do a short before each issue or at the very least, each collection? An homage to the old Disney comic books that had short one page stories at the beginning and end of each comic. I threw together a few ideas and the idea was generally well liked, at least enough for them to hear me out and ask me to send them samples.

After a few storyboards (I'll scan a bunch of them for a later post) they found two that they liked. As "Tin Toy" was the short before "Toy Story", the first book they were releasing, I thought it apt to use that character. Below are the two pages in rough form I came up with. They never saw the light of day as I was told Disney/Pixar did not want to do anything with the shorts characters. It's a shame really, I thought it would have been a nice touch.

Pause

Sorry all, I missed a day, a lot going on I guess. Anyways, here is another look at a project I have been working out for a bit. This is a rough character sketch of the villain/hero from an animated short I am trying to get ready. The story is about a super hero and a super villain who fall in love in their real life alter egos. It's a story about love and redemption and all that sappy stuff, with a bunch of action and humor mixed in. For now, enjoy, with an image of PAUSE!

Through the looking glass...

So here are a few sketches I did for a comic I have been on again, off again working on. These characters have pretty much been scrapped from any of the ideas I have going now, but thought I'd share them. Obviously the story tied into the world of Alice in Wonderland.

Awkward

I don't usually like to share images of things I am currently working on for obvious reasons, but figured over the next few days I would throw a few things together for everyone.

The first two entries I have are from a graphic novel I have been working on called "Awkward" starring a turtle named Sheldon. The story itself is semi-biographical and will chronicle a lot of the awkward situations I have experienced and known other people to experience over the years with love, work and life in general. Below are some rough character designs for Sheldon and his friend Walter, a happy go lucky alligator whose only passion is finding the perfect lobster for dinner. I am really excited to share these and even more excited to finish the story.