DR. MRS. THE._commission

[9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

This is a pre-show commission for the upcoming convention in San Francisco, WONDERCON. If you are in the area, or if you are in attendance, please drop by Booth 1338-1340. It would be great to meet fans in the bay area.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you at the show. As for me, I still have a seven hour drive to look forward to.

Now where did I put that energy drink?

C2E2 & THE ITALIANS_commissions

[9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

 [9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

[9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board] 

[9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board] 

 [9 x 12" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]

I'm back from Chicago and C2E2 convention. I had loads of fun, met many of my talented and revered contemporaries, and tried to buy as much as their works as my small piece of luggage could hold for the trip back home. Also, maybe because of the fatigue, I feel like I'm drunk. At least I don't feel sick as a dog as I was when I got back from Emerald City Comic Con. Yikes.

Let me say 'Thank you!' to all the people who dropped by the table. The experience was even better than last year, and with MATTEO SCALERA sitting with me, I couldn't have enjoyed the show more. Also, Matteo introduced me to his friend ALESSANDRO VITTI. I'm saying this as seriously as I possibly can - there is something in the water over there in Italy that's making these guys draw like monsters. After seeing Alessandro's originals, I was immediately impressed with his output quality and the amount of issues he's done in ONE year working for the big companies. I gained respect for him on many levels - he's a funny guy, he's a disciplined illustrator and he's a giving individual. So between me, him and Matteo, we had a great time talking about art, technique, design, family, words/phrases I should learn before I visit there again - the entire gamut. Like I said, I had a very enjoyable weekend. It's also safe to say that these boys know how to drink. And fart.

Have a great week.




PS - In case you're wondering why there's been a lot of marker rendering in my recent commission work (*Note: these marker renderings are not standard operating procedure for me. So please, future commission peeps - don't get used to nor expect it. Thank you), it was simply to explore and see for myself what the big deal is all about whenever I see other commissions elsewhere that are done in the same fashion. My conclusion is that, if you'll pardon the analogy, you can cover a cake with the best icing in the world but if you've baked it using 'poop' as a key ingredient, all you'll have in the end is Poop Cake...with icing.

Simply put: I gotta stop baking Poop Cakes, man.

SONJA_commission

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen on 300lb bristol board]

LESTRANGE_commission

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen on 300lb bristol board]

CORRIGAN_commission

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]  

Thank you very much for waiting, Mike. I hope this will do for now until I get the painted version finished for you guys.

Also, dead faces are hard to draw.

That is all.

EMERALD CITY COMIC CON_commissions

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]  

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen on 300lb bristol board]  

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, brush & technical pen on 300lb bristol board]  

[11 x 14" - blue pencil, technical pen, COPIC marker on 300lb bristol board]  

On Wednesday, the day before my flight out to Seattle, aggressive influenza hit me to the point where I thought I was going to die. So, as per the advice given to me by the girlfriend, I bundled up for the night and stayed in bed until I saw Thursday's sunrise.

Feeling good enough to travel and the effects of the flu having seemingly subsided, I left for LAX, got on the plane to SEA/TAC, met up with my friend Jason Schachter, and caught the ride from the airport to the hotel.

Then, like a great white shark movie sequel, the flu came back - with a vengeance.

By the time Thursday night rolled around, I was in so much pain and discomfort, I was actually yelling out, "I'm going to die," in the hotel room. I'm sure illustrator supreme JEFF WAMESTER and Italian artist phenom MATTEO SCALERA who joined us for the trip had a good chuckle as they watched me running from death's scythe but I have a feeling that the severity of my health dawned on them when I started to uncontrollably shake in bed; flu shivers, man - they're the worst.

Anyway, I had three days of convention to look forward to and considering that the kind coordinators and event planners of ECCC brought me out to their show free of charge, flu or no flu, I wasn't about to let any of them down. Jason, doing his part, was industrious enough to McGuyver together an IV filled with a Theraflu, DayQuil, and Gatorade cocktail. He stuck the thing into my arm, let me sleep for 12 hours straight, then we went to work.

The images you see above are a handful of examples of what came from my Flu vs. Modern Medicine induced haze.

 I hope you like them.