J'onn J'onzz and His Amazing Technicolor Razmatazz!

Been AWOL a bit, but you lot out there know that means I've been working on things here in the material world. At least I hope you do. Or you're here on accident because my assumption that "CHUDLY" was a universal slang for hideous man-beast was horribly wrong, and you're confused as to why a Quidditch page would be covered in obscene doodles.

Whatever works, I'm easy.

Also, and quite a ways back, Sean "Don't Take No Smeg From Nobody Ever" Hartter took a crack at coloring my Easter Island Manhunter up there. Turned out pretty Ditko and keen, I think. Sorry it took me so long to post, bub.

A Peripatetic Pejorative

First to get the NSFW doodles out of the way. Prometheus kind of ruined phallic/vaginal monsters for me for a bit, so don't expect to see any more of these for a while.
After this, I tried working on a new-to-me method of comics, involving storyboarding ideas out on post-it notes. However, I found it much more rewarding to just do silly comics on the post-its themselves. We shall see what comes of this. Also included are an early large color exploration of the "fathead" character who keeps appearing in my post-its and a finished doodle of a character who didn't quite become anything, Pizza Dick. He's kind of a Ziggy Stardust Junkfood Jesus with the face of Richard Nixon and the voice of Tom Waits. Maybe someday.

Some of That Funky Old Time Religion Shit

So it's been a hot minute since I've posted anything. Which, as always, is not to say I haven't been drawing. The exact opposite is the case. It's just that life has a way of getting in between me and posting. The Dali-Llama drawing at the top is a more recent little doodle, and the comic page was something done last year while fighting paranoia and anxiety. And the above doodle is something I love simply because of all the linework that went into it. When I get back into printmaking, this is at the top of my list of things to re-do and reproduce.

I've got more that needs to be scanned in, so today will probably be a two-part entry.

Which means you probably won't see me again for another couple of months.

Blocks not of the building, city, or poultry variety

Sort of a response to the whole "alien ninja turtles" buzz from a few months ago. Plus, and excuse to draw Moai. Scanner kind of cut it off, though.

A sketch that never quite came together of Frank Zappa as Hartter's "Crowhead" character. Maybe someday, Sean.

Thora Birch with single-digit hands. Not sure if want.

Some very judgmental giraffes

The final page of the current sketchbook

This new layout for posting is frustratingly absurd, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it. Just not at one in the morning. Also, hi! I've kind of been having a creative block lately, and short of a few giant things that I don't know how to properly scan, haven't had much to show off. The good news is I think the block's just about run it's course, so I should be back to posting somewhat regularly again soon.

Also, picked up some really choice art books, so I'll probably get around to sharing some favorite things from those sooner or later.

An Easter Egg Full of Dick

So it occurred to me recently that I never posted the last two Dick Generic comics. Even though that initial idea kind of fizzled out, I should still probably go ahead and put them out here.

This is the last one for now, kind of ending the whole thing on a cliffhanger. Which is better than nothing I suppose.

By the by, I've been slacking off just a bit lately. Too much of the day job combined with a minor art slump. Ideas have been coming, though, so hopefully something to post soon. Thanks for putting up with it, those of you who read this thing regularly.

impasse (IM-pass), noun

So today is my dad's birthday. That has no bearing on the post, I just felt like sharing. Here are a couple of pages of the usual John K model sheet stuff.

 As you can tell by Frankie (of Eric Powell's awesome series, The Goon) and the other little doodles popping up here and there, getting a little burned out on model sheets. So as I'm powering on through the lessons, you'll see more of that stuff popping in and out.

 I am a fan of the Mountain Goats, and the line just felt appropriate here, I dunno

 This is based off a photo by a friend of mine, Daniel DeLuca, a rather talented photographer. This was a shoot for another friend who is an aspiring model and this doesn't do her justice by a longshot in my opinion. But she liked it, so it's going up.

I'm a big fan of superhero comics and the idea of superheroes in general, but I try to limit how much of it I draw because I feel like there's a certain style that goes with that genre and drawing too much of it can really be confining and no fun at all.  Manhunter here is one of those tragic characters who, although made incredibly interesting and deep by other media, has very lackluster comic exposure if any. There are a ton of characters like this, and if I feel inspired again I might do a few more. You all know how fickle I am. This take on J'onny-boy is based off those Easter Island heads, because I feel like that's such a perfect alien design and he's usually halfway there anyhow.

(OSS-uh-late), verb

Um...

Hi.

Yeah, I haven't been posting in the manner I said I would. Which doesn't mean I've been dicking around or anything, it's just that I took a second look at the “Dick Generic” comics and really REALLY thought I could do better. Then I looked at the other stuff I've been putting out lately and kind of concreted that idea. Then I got into a rut. So I headed over to John K's blog (johnkstuff.blogspot.com) and finally decided to tackle his animation principles course. Not that I intend on doing any actual animation any time soon, it's just that the basics of cartooning apply to the paper stuff as well. I've browsed the blog before, but given that I'd had nothing but time on my hands until recently, I decided now was as good a time as any to try and get serious about this stuff. For as many good things as I can do, there's an infinite amount more that I could stand to be better versed in. 

The majority of this course seems to be copying and understanding model sheets and the deconstruction of actual scenes, and as such this update (and probably a few after) will be full of my attempts to draw/construct these characters and use techniques that I have been up until now unfamiliar with. Though a doodle or two of my own will sneak by here and there. This is about a third of the actual pages I've been working on, because some are less presentable than others (i.e., shit)

         So there we go. Working on becoming a better cartoonist and a better artist over all. I'm not even halfway through this course yet, so expect more of this sort of thing as the weeks go by...at indeterminable intervals. Also hoping to get some HUMAN model sessions in here again soon, because if I don't I'm going to forget how to draw real people ._.