Manic Wednesday!

Welcome back! It's Manic Mon-...Wednesday! Well, it's also Christmas recovery time, so it actually doesn't feel that manic around here, the opposite actually. The presents are opened, the family(ies) are hosted and the kid is happy. Life goes on though and 2012 is just round the corner. Time's a'wastin'... let's do this!

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How was everyone's Christmas? Things went pretty smooth around these parts. My wife had the genius idea of avoiding the malls to get all her shopping done. I wish I'd gone the same route. -sigh- Never again, San Diego malls, never again!
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My wife got a me (among other things) a swanky case for a tennis ball that I caught at the 2008 US Open. It was hit into the crowd after Roger Federer won his match, and it's still maybe my favorite sports memory. I never got a proper case for it while in New York, and then we moved out to San Diego and it stayed in a closet until remember by my wife. It's got a purdy, new home now and it makes me smile when I look up at it from my desk.

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Anyone see Hugo? Was it as good as everyone is saying it is?

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Speaking of good stuff, how the hell did I miss Jimmy Fallon and Bruce Springsteen doing a cover of Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair"?!? How, I ask you, how?!? My god, it's amazing. It's here, go check it out. You're welcome.

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I'm working on Hatchepsut day and night right now, and hacking away at it as best I can. The first page is now penciled and lettered, and , well.. here ya go! Thoughts, comments, the highest of praise... all of it is welcome. Mostly. ;-)

Manic Monday!

Man, the holidays are insane! And we've still got two weeks until Christmas! Time's a'wasting! It's Manic Monday, let's do this!

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I've been writing for Giant Fire Breathing Robot for over a half a year now, and the guys and gals there have been great. If you haven't checked it out you should! If not for me, then for the other awesome writing on television, comics, movies, games and all things geek.

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One of the best television shows on the air right now has to be CBS' The Good Wife. It is incredibly nuanced, dynamic, involving television and the entire cast is stellar. They really know how to set up a good narrative for the season, explore it, twist it and then break it to find something else inside. Lots of shows will upset the status quo and shift directions season to season, but none currently do it with the heart and conviction of The Good Wife. Go stream an episode and check it out for yourself.

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Speaking of television, I'm still liking Glee but damn... that show has been all over the map this season. Good great, some horrendous episodes and most dancing in the middle.

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Over at Comics Should Be Good, one of the Internet's best comic sites (after GFBR of course!) I've got a piece in a contest to become a new sketch artist for the site. It'd be very nifty if you would head on over there and vote for me. It's super easy: The link is here, find my name, check it, click okay and you're done! And I'm happy. :-)

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Work continues this week on my Egyptian graphic novel. Here's a taste of the intro I'm working on. I've been able to get incredible feedback from friends and family, comic and non-comic readers, and they've really helped me nail the feel and direction of this project long before I'd even gotten to the boards. This page will probably pop up on this blog again later this week, after it's done and I've got a day to place it in. Till then... Egypt!

Manic Mon-... Thursday!

Welcome back to my artblog. I've slowly but surely gotten this thing back up and running. Drop me a line, leave a comment, all caps and really angry if you want... I love it all!

It's Manic Mon-... er, Thursday now. There's art to get done, comics to be read and a kid to be entertained. Let's get this show on the road!

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I finally got around to watching "Horrible Bosses" this week. We had a free evening (what with the kid having a sleepover with her meme) and we had a nice meal, and wanted to have a low-key movie to round out the evening (Melancholia, which I do want to see, was naturally discounted). I'd heard good things about "Horrible Bosses" so we decided to give it a try. It was entertaining, and I think the whole cast did a great job. Colin Farrell, Jennfire Aniston and Kevin Spacey all did great jobs as the 'bosses', and Aniston in particular did a hilarious job with the script that was given to her. I'd recommend it if you're looking for an easy, entertaining comedy.

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Rolling Stone has now come out with its annual list of Best Albums and Best Singles for 2011. Predictably, Adele is topping both of those lists. I can't fault "Rolling In The Deep" at all; that song rocked and had some major staying power. The album itself I haven't listened to enough to judge whether its top spot was worthy or not. Thoughts?

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It is cold lately! Well, for San Diego anyways. Just sayin'.

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Second round is up for Comics Should Be Good's The Line Is Drawn Tryout! (Holy Crap in a basket, that's a mouthful) (That's what she said) ....Sorry, too much coffee there.. .Anyways, yeah, go check it out. My contribution to this week's theme of Mash-Ups is The Spirit meets Batman (specifically the old cranky Bats from Dark Knight Returns). The voting is happening here.

Go vote for me! ...Please?

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Speaking of the Spirit, in looking for reference I stumble upon this awesome article discussing the way-ahead-of-its-time title modifications of the book by creator Will Eisner. It's a great article with some phenomenal art. Go get your art on.

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Speaking of art, here's the aforementioned Batman/ Spirit piece. Lots of fun with this one.



See you tomorrow!

Egyptian Thursday!

Welcome back to my artblog. I've slowly but surely gotten this thing back up and running. Drop me a line, leave a comment, all caps and really angry if you want... I love it all!

Anyways, today is Egyptian Thursday and that's when I show you a piece of a bit of a piece that I'm working on that deals with Egypt in some way. Ancient Egypt anyways, no Tahrir Square pieces on Thursday, sadly. I've started work on a graphic novel set in Egypt's pharaonic past and focusing on Hatchepsut, Egypt's first female pharaoh. It's been a blast so far, script to thumbnails and now the pencils.

The section of the story that this page comes from deals not with Hatchepsut directly, but with the Myth of Osiris, Egypt's god of the underworld, which is a fascinating read all by itself. This particular page is the big climax, when Osiris descends to the underworld to rule forever and his wife Osiris gives birth to their son Horus, who will become the new king of Egypt.

First off, here's the thumbnail. It's pretty tiny; the sketch book it's in is no bigger than a moleskin. The size doesn't really matter for me when it comes to thumbnails; more, it needs to effectively tell the story and convey the emotion intended. I had my "Aha!" moment with this page when I drew upon (no pun intended) my Catholic heritage for that central image. The rest just fell into place afterwards.



The penciled page as it stands looks a lot like my thumbnail. Sometimes a page is just right, and this was one of them. So far at least, I'll find something I hate about it tomorrow I'm sure! The next step will be tightening a couple areas and lettering it, and then eventually inking it. I'll keep you posted.



Let me know what you think, or just drop a line to say hi. See you tomorrow!