freddy

hey All I know its been a while but here is freddy and I'll post the process of how I did him next.

psylocke and friends

hey all con season has me very occupied so here are a few quick sketch cards and a quick heads up. I will be at wizard world chicago this year at artist alley booth space 3424 so stop by and say hi!

ebay cards

here are some of several sketch cards I have up on ebay. I'll post the rough art in a bit so you can see how I made these cards.

sccc good fun

hey all just wanted to post and say thanks to everyone who stopped by my table at the summit city con it was a great show!! It was fun seeing all the great comics folks.

the next con is on!!!

hey all just wanted to give you a heads up I will be attending the summit city comic con in Fort wayne indiana on sat may 22 so if your in the area come on by and say hi!!

C2E2 we salute you!!!!

This past week saw the debut of C2E2 the Chicago comics and entertainment expo at McCormick place convention center in down town Chicago and the great space was the show. Now here is the after action report from this local artist’s perspective. Just let me start off by saying that as a exhibiting artist I had a great show. I talked to lots of great people, promoted my properties, met with publishers, and was busy all day every day doing sketches and selling art. I was always busy and had barely a few spare moments, not to mention the busy nightlife jam-packed with fun networking events. C2E2 rocked for me.

Here is a run down of some of my impressions about the event.

1^st. The Convention center space was huge, clean, bright and very spacious no one was crammed not the dealers, the publishers, or the artists. Many people got the impression that there was low attendance which was not the case 28,000 people attended the event. The fact that Reed (the people putting on the show) planned from the beginning for enough room for the convention to grow was what threw people off. Also the event was not crammed full of fringe related vendors. There were no non-directly comic book related celebrities, reality TV stars, and strange or bizarre adult related entertainment booths. So with none of those distractions clogging the aisles with slack jawed gawkers, there was more room to get around the show floor.

2^nd. it was easy to get to and from the convention center via the L trains red line (which was only 3 short blocks from the site). Also on set up and break down days I took my car which was just as painless as taking the train. I hit no traffic and found parking in and around the convention very easy to find. I had heard some people say the convention center was hard to get too or that there was no mass transit which is flat out wrong! The main bus lines stopped in front of the convention center, the red line train was 3 blocks away, and all major roads lead to the event. I realize not everyone comes or lives in the city but you can get maps and info online, from your hotel, or in any major bookstore. If anyone had trouble getting around in the downtown they really need to get out more.

3^rd.The wealth of events after hours was just great, every night there were at least 3 open parties as well as a host of family friendly events. Plus lots and lots of happenings at the hotel bars and local restaurants. For example on Friday night I went and got food at Reggie’s (a great rock club and bar which is only two blocks from the convention center and for the really lazy they had a shuttle to and from the convention center). At Reggie’s I listened to the bands Kirby krackle, and the Fuglees then I went to the Double Door via the red line and blue line L trains, where I attended the Nerd City comic party event with some kick ass burlesque and a super super band Jai Alai Savant, This event was great.

Some of the vendors grumbled about slow sales but what do they expect when the Internet has better deals. The retailers who did well either had great discounts or hard rocking events. A good example of this is Challengers comics they hosted after con events at their store which they promoted at the show and had exclusive items and creator’s such as Mark Waid at their shop every day of the show. Another example is Chicago comics which had exclusive Alex Ross art at their booth. These shops made it so you had to go to them and get something you couldn’t get anywhere else.

Think about it, now when there is cheap or free content on your phone and the ipad as well as the ability to order cheap discounts from the Internet. The only reason to pick something up at the show is a impulse buy or it must be exclusive to the event and sold only at that show.

If you wanted more of a family friendly event or not one for clubs there also was the Neil Gaimon event that evening plus many many more and numerous tourist sites to take in such as navy pier (which had a shuttle outside the convention). Plus the shopping on Michigan ave is not to be missed with places such as Macy’s, the Lego and apple stores. If you wanted something to eat the restaurants were a plenty in and around the convention center here is a short list. Reggie’s, all of china town, Mc Donald’s, White castle, Ray’s chicken, Loe Malnati’s pizza, all of Michigan ave and numerous restaurants in the hotels attached to the convention center. Plus tons and tons of places deliver you are not isolated in a dead zone out by the airport.

Yes there were some flubs at the show but these are all first year flubs or just to ahead of the time thinking. One example is some people complained that they wished there were better-displayed booth numbers for the artist alley and a better more detailed show map. Both points I agree with, but I also wish to point out that the c2e2 app for my phone was a major help it had a great map and enabled me to pin point locations of my favorite artists, publishers and locations on the show floor as well as had a list of all the after show events. The app really was a lifesaver.

Another flub I feel was not really the show organizers fault really and that was getting the city of Chicago behind this show. Most of the attendees were real comic fans who love comics and are regulars at their local shops as well as listen to many of the fine comic book podcasts. Those were the places that really promoted the show and got the word out. I had numerous people come by my table and get something because they heard about me from a podcast.

The city of Chicago which could use the tourism dollars just treated the convention poorly and has no idea how much comic geeks like to enjoy all the area has to offer. For example all the restaurants around the convention center had signs saying welcome kitchen and bath show(another convention going on the same time as c2e2). Even though many attendees wanted to go to places like china town, hot Doug’s, kumas corner, the Webber grill, Wrigley field, Harry careys, The whistler or the violet hour. Their was just no geek love from the ìsquaresî or so called hipsters of the city of Chicago (who all seemed to be occupied with going to record stores even though we all down load music in the year 2010) but the people tuned into the Chicago comics scene were in full force hosting great parties or events and making c2e2 a great time.

In a year or two once the city gets wise and embraces the show (ie exploits the event). when every goon who buys a superman logo t-shirt at a hot topic will be in attendance and every restaurant has some comic book tie in theme, people will complain about how the convention space is too packed and you have trouble getting around on the show floor or the poser’s who will try and tell you that star dog is better than hot Doug’s as they wait in line for a panel.

C2e2 was a great downtown show and will only get bigger and better, so I’ll see you their next year in your superman t-shirt.

Hood pgs

Hey all just though I would post some more comic pgs. These are sample pgs I did focusing on the marvel villain the HOOD. Since I'm trying to keep this a process blog I have put the working BW pgs next to the finished color pgs and I will post (later) some of my working pencils and panels to help illuminate my working process.

My process starts with sketches and thumbnail layouts they then are scanned and refined using photoshop, painter and a few other programs. I work the image up to a finished grayscale stage and then proceed to the color stage where I tweak elements as well as add textures or other effects. I hope you enjoy these.

green monster pop poster

hey just wanted to post this poster. I did this for the chicago power pop band Daemon Familiar. This poster was done using the vector program illustrator and one of my objectives for this poster was using the colors green and purple. The pop nature of the band allows for the illustrations to be broad and diverse. The subject matter and imagery are very open open to a very wide variety of ideas and concepts.

april is coming

hey all just wanted to give you a heads up I'll be post more stuff starting in april. currently my art chores and moving into a new apartment is taking up alot of my time. So please bare with me and I'll be back on track in april with lots of new stuff.

pop posters

here are some recent posters I have done for the chicago based pop band daemon familiar. These were all created in the vector program illustrator. I'll post the sketchs in a little bit.

Brainstorming!!!!!!

A great deal if you’re a stranger? That was the situation at Brainstorm comic’s 50% of sale this past week.

This week had a huge everything 50% of sale at Brainstorm comics everything from comics, trades, gear, toys and everything else was 50% off great deal right? Wrong!!! The deal did not include anything in your pull list, that is to say anything you asked the store to order for you. Having a pull list is standard practice for many regular comic readers/shoppers, they order their books and stuff in advance so they don’t miss an issue if they can’t get to the shop that week or what not. This is a practice usually taken advantage of by regular loyal customers of the comics shop.

A few of my friends (who shall remain nameless to protect their secret identities) are regulars at Brainstorm and they were both angry and hurt by this 50% sale stipulation. Simply put the sale did not apply to their reserved books i.e. the stuff they read regularly and the material they want to buy sale or no sale. Also the sale turned them into second-class citizens who are treated worse than a total stranger from off the street.

In my opinion any store comics or other should cater more to their regular returning customers rather than a one time only buyer. I myself could very easily have gone into Brainstorm a bought a great deal of material as well as my regular Wednesday comics and gotten the 50% off discount but I’m loyal to my comics shop and prefer to give them my business.

While I do realize that selling comics and collectables is a business and we all need to make money, I just feel Brainstorm made a huge blunder during their sale. Brainstorm should have allowed the sale to cover everyone and every thing in the shop. The purpose of any sale is to increase business and attract new cliental to boost your profits. If you back hand your regular veteran customers in favor of new rookie customers it is not only disrespectful but also bad for business cause the veterans will say why should I go to this guy when I can easily go somewhere else and get treated better or just the same.

I have heard many, many retailers say that a regular customer is more valuable then any one-time sale. This is because regulars keep coming back even if they don’t need to.

Point of fact in today’s world one can super easily get comics, and collectables over the internet at great discounts usually better discounts than any shop can give their customers. People go to the comic shop for the personal touch, the corner hang out experience and the friendly atmosphere. The regulars want to come in and discuss(argue) about Movies, TV, Comics as well as current events, for many of us the comic shop is like our neighbor hood bar where the bar tender is poring us the usual as we walk in the door or the old barbershop on the corner where our dad brought us and we can in turn bring our kids. We go into the comic shop and everyone knows our name and they’re always glad we came.

So Just word of advice to all the shop owners out there don’t take you regulars for granted.

go for the geek gold!!!

As the New Year begins its time to establish who is the top comic dog or supreme super geek. Now how to claim that coveted comic honor?

1st head on over to Challengers comics and conversation and register for your throw down with their Challengers Olympics this will be truly a contest of champions. Challengers comics has created the perfect contest of physical comic skill’s and mental fortitude to prove once and for all whose comic Kudos Kick Kiester. So head on over and sign up the Olympics start Jan 16th and run through the 21^st.

If you feel you need to train more before you go for the gold then head on over to Graham crackers comics they will be having a huge new years graphic novel sale. All trades and graphic novels will be priced at 30% off. Also on Jan 13 colorist Jeff Balke will be signing issues of Kickass at Graham crackers so stop buy and pick his brain on all things geek.

Another great way to train for the Challengerlympics is to hit up the huge toy sale at Chicago comics not only is this a chance to get some great deals on cool comic toys but it is also a great chance to expand your data base on all this comic book. Make sure to check out this sale many items are at a massive discount and you can always find some real hidden gems.

A great way to improve your indie cred is by heading over to Quimbys starting the week of Jan 10^th and indulge in the great events they are hosting. Quimbys will be hosting on the 10^th a great muppeet event with author Jessica Max Stein reading from her zine ìThe Rainbow Connection Richard Runt, Gay Muppeteer.î There will be over an hour of great muppeteet clips.

Then on the 14^th Quimbys will be hosting the series launch of ìSo You Think You Have Nerves of Steel. Quimbys will then play host to two great female poets and artists who run dancing girl press an imprint focused on promoting the work of female artist and poets. This event is on Jan 15 so stop on by that evening and explore the indie world.

Finally you can end your training by getting your mind blown by Artist Mike Norton and his vast knowledge of comics especially the Blue Beetle. Mike will be signing at 3^rd Coast comics on Jan 16^th so stop by and pick his brain or if you dare challenge him to a comic’s trivia throw down.

Now begin your training and remember knowing is half the battle.

new year news

just gearing up for the new year I'll have more art process to post on the months a head as well as more stuff on the chicago comics scene.