Chris Schweizer's Blog

Bill Toomy

2012-02-03T09:45:00.001-05:00

Here's another character from Crogan's Vengeance: Bill Toomy.

Captain Dunwell

2012-02-02T07:47:00.001-05:00

Another Crogan's Vengeance character:

Wizarding Wednesdays: Neville Longbottom

2012-02-01T05:25:00.000-05:00

This week's Wizarding Wednesdays drawing: Neville Longbottom!

Sherlock Holmes paper figure set for sale!

2012-01-30T06:14:00.003-05:00

Finally, I've got something new for sale:

SHERLOCK HOLMES PAPER FIGURES

This set of 8 paper figures makes an excellent addition to the collection of any Sherlock Holmes fan, whether one intends to display them on a bookshelf or reenact the great detective's exploits on the floor of the family play-room.

The figure set, professionally printed on a nice, heavy recycled matte card stock and packaged handsomely by my wife Liz, who did all the folding, stuffing, etc (see below), is available for $11. Shipping is free on this item, TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! Unless there's like some sort of post office in Antarctica and it costs seventy bucks to ship a letter there, or something, but that's a bridge we'll cross should we come to it.

Also, I'm a HUGE fan of the wonderfully done BBC Sherlock series (which is available both on DVD and on Netflix Instant), and I couldn't resist making a complimentary Sherlock and John figure. Now, before any of the rabid Sherlock fans ask, no, I'm not selling this one. Sorry. I don't want to incur the wrath of the BBC (which I love) nor do I want to make money off of their property. But I do want to make it available if anyone who gets the 8-figure set happens to be a fan. So I've included two "buy it now" buttons, same price - one is for just the figure set, the other is for the set plus the extra figure which I based on the likenesses of Cumberbatch and Freeman. Be sure to check the latter if you want the extra figure, and if you don't, please check the former. I didn't make nearly as many of the BBC ones, and want to make sure that those who want 'em do, in fact, get 'em. If this figure somehow inspires a fence-sitter to watch the show, hooray!

Captain Cane

2012-01-29T11:10:00.001-05:00

Here's another character from Crogan's Vengeance: Captain Cane!

"Catfoot" Crogan

2012-01-28T08:44:00.001-05:00

I've been posting these labeled drawings of my interpretations of other people's characters for like two months straight, and I thought, "You know what? Maybe I should post my own!" So here's the first of a bunch of figures from Crogan's Vengeance: the book's protagonist, "Catfoot" Crogan.

As with the Sherlock Holmes figures (sets of which I'll begin selling on Monday), I plan to make these into sets of paper figures. I may make them available as papercraft downloads that you print yourself, but the downside with that is that these colors are too similar to each other to have good definition when printed on an inkjet, I may print them up professionally and have them available at shows and for sale online. I'd love feedback on that from whoever has a strong opinion.

The other question I have is one which I hesitate to ask, for fear that if I end up deciding to go in a direction other than what someone suggests I'll end up alienating that reader, whereas if I just did it and gave no options then no one could be bugged. Ah, but I'm on the fence. Here's the question:

If I were to make these Crogan paper figures available, would you all want them with the names serving as a stand at the bottom, as is currently the case, or would you want them absent this text? I feel like the text does a good job of giving them all a similar element that ties them all together, but I don't really know. Thoughts?

Wizarding Wednesdays: President of the Slug Club

2012-01-25T15:56:00.003-05:00

I almost forgot to post this week's drawing! Oops!

Sorry he's cropped on the side. Blogger only lets me do images up to 400 pixels wide, and ol' Horace is a big dude. Click him to see the full thing.

Wizarding Wednesdays: GILDEROY LOCKHEART

2012-01-18T10:57:00.002-05:00

Wizarding Wednesdays: Gildroy Lockheart!

This week's Wizarding Wednesday character is the 2nd year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and all around superstar Gildroy Lockheart! Is anyone else even half as awesome? I don't know, I can't remember.

EDIT - I know, I know, I misspelled his name in the drawing! I'm a nitwit sometimes. It's not a quick fix, and Lockheart week is over, so howsabout I set it right should I ever plan to print it for anything?

Alatriste Characters: Malatesta

2012-01-13T08:33:00.001-05:00

The last Alatriste drawing is Alatriste's nemesis Malatesta, the Italian Sword-for-Hire. I did another one of these, but I screwed up and sort of did an amalgam of two of the characters as I remembered them, and it accurately reflects neither, so I'm dropping it.

I've got a CRAZY amount of work over the next couple of weeks - I still have three radio scripts to write for the Decoder Ring Theatre Summer Showcase, I've got to put together a classroom guide for Crogan's Loyalty, and I've got to do 22 pages of pencils and inks for a comic (found out about that one day before yesterday, and am supposed to get the script today, I think). That, plus I'm teaching a full load, so it's going to be a real nose-to-the-grindstone January.

I mention this because I've been reasonably good about posting every weekday lately, and that's not gonna happen for a little bit. I've got a backlog of Harry Potter drawings, so I'm set for Wizarding Wednesdays for the forseeable future, but it may be a little while before I'm back on the every day schedule.

Wizarding Wednesdays: Loony, Loony, Loony!

2012-01-11T06:04:00.000-05:00

One of my students asked me if I'd draw Luna for this week's Wizarding Wednesdays. I said "Sure, I will." To this she looked down and said resignedly "No, you won't," and walked off, dejected.

See, Allie, no need to be sad!

Alatriste Characters: Inigo Balboa

2012-01-06T11:20:00.001-05:00

The second character drawing from Arturo Perez-Reverte's Alatriste novels is INIGO, the young narrator. He ages over the course of the books, but I'm drawing him at his youngest, 'cause that's just fun.

Alatriste Characters: Captain Diego Alatriste

2012-01-05T05:14:00.000-05:00

Today's drawing is Captain Alatriste, from the novel series by Arturo Perez-Reverte! I first read Perez-Reverte because I liked the Roman Polanski movie based on his novel The Club Dumas, even though everyone else I know hates it. Oh, well. The Alatriste series is fun - I've only read the first three books, as that was all that had been translated at the time that I read 'em. Maybe the rest are out?
They made a movie of 'em, too, with Viggo Morteson. It was beautifully shot, but I fell asleep halfway through it.

Wizarding Wednesdays: Dumbledore, and also Lupin again

2012-01-04T05:58:00.001-05:00

I know I drew Lupin last week, but I wanted to bulk up that Paper Figure collection thingie, so I redrew him. He still has his lil' fang.

Also, this week's Wizarding Wednesday submission: Dumbledore!

Master and Commander and oh, yeah, that guy too

2012-01-03T00:35:00.001-05:00

Oh, Stephen. Your old boots are heavy and metal-soled, and you can't swim. How many times must your friends pluck you from the ocean floor?

And if you missed that big man of a sanguine countenance, I drew him yesterday.

Master and Commander

2012-01-02T02:43:00.001-05:00

I've only read the first four Aubrey/Maturin novels, but they're pretty darn good. I'll read the rest eventually, by which I mean as soon as my schedule permits.

Sherlock Holmes: The Napoleon of Crime

2011-12-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

This is the last one in the series, but don't fret... I'll have news about the paper figure collection this upcoming week!

Sherlock Holmes: Colonel Moran

2011-12-29T13:27:00.000-05:00

The 2nd most dangerous man in London!

Wizarding Wednesdays: Is that a FANG, Professor?

2011-12-28T13:46:00.000-05:00

Sherlock Holmes: Mycroft Holmes

2011-12-27T18:18:00.000-05:00

If one pays attention to little details, one finds all sorts of amazing connections. I'm terrible about this in real-life, but decent enough when it comes to books. Case in point: back when I was planning on becoming an Episcopal priest, I sought out a number of works by noted Anglicans pertaining to the church's view on aspects of the supernatural, and found one book of particular interest: The Book of Were-Wolves by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. Shortly before this, I'd played the role of Major-General Stanley in probably my very favorite operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Pirates of Penzance" (no surprise as a favorite, I expect). This is a role I'd like to reprise someday, because I played it the same way everyone does, and I'd like to approach it with more of a blustery C. Aubrey Smith type of delivery the next go 'round.

ANYWAY, in Mississippi I attended a church where the music was not all that spectacular, and as a result we ended up singing that famous martial hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers." Reading the credits(?) at the bottom, I found that the hymn was a collaboration of the Werewolf scholar Baring-Gould and composer Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan)!

Some time later, while becoming a more enthusiastic Sherlockian, I found that many of the best essays and annotations were by a William S. Baring-Gould. Upon examination, I found that this was Sabine's grandson! The world of letters is a small one indeed. This series of connections is probably EXTREMELY boring to all but myself.

I include this little whatchadoo here because Mycroft Holmes, pictured here in all his ambitionless brilliance (likely on route to the Diogenes club), is most probably NOT Sherlock Holmes' only brother, though he is the only one expressly mentioned in the canonical Arthur Conan Doyle stories. This deduction was arrived at by William S. Baring Gould based on a line in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," in which Holmes says that his ancestors were country squires. As the oldest son of a squire would most certainly have stayed home to take charge of the estates, Mycroft could not have filled this role AND his government duties in tandem. And, as younger sons of the gentry often went into government in the Victorian era, it is logical to assume that Mycroft is, in fact, the MIDDLE brother, and Sherlock the youngest. This assumption has since come to be more or less agreed upon amongst Holmes fans, and the name of the oldest brother is bandied about as Sherrinford, which was the original name given to Sherlock by Conan Doyle before the publication of A Study in Scarlet.

Learning!

Sherlock Holmes: Lestrade

2011-12-26T15:24:00.002-05:00

Lestrade gets a lot of grief. He brings it on himself, but even so, this "sallow, rat-faced man" has the good sense to outsource.

Sherlock Holmes: Wiggins

2011-12-25T22:09:00.001-05:00

It's a Christmas miracle! Well, not really, but I am posting twice today! Presenting the fourth in the Sherlock Holmes character series: Wiggins!

Wiggins is the head of Holmes' urchin intelligence squad, and I picked him for today because he's so adorably Dickensian.

Also, it looks like I've found a way to print these and make them available as a "Paper Figures" set by mid-January!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! And God bless us, every one.

Sherlock Holmes: Mrs. Hudson

2011-12-25T15:02:00.000-05:00

Often described as "long-suffering," Mrs. Hudson is Holmes' landlady and housekeeper, and puts up with her tenant shooting patterns into her walls as he sits idle and bored.

My landlord when I was in college, a psychiatrist whose name I can't recall, put up with similar antics from me with far less fluster than did the great detective's. I had a habit of sitting on my couch on the opposite end of a very wide room and shooting from the hip with a Red Ryder bb gun at a full paper towel roll that sat on my entertainment center whenever I was watching tv. As a general rule, I was a decent shot, and would usually hit the roll, send it spinning (its weight was such that it would usually remain upright after), and try and hit it again before it stopped its tilt. I wasn't infallible, though, and the wall behind it was peppered with small holes. The wallpaper was so thick, having been covered and recovered for decades, that it would have a slight give if you leaned on it, and the bbs would embed themselves deep.

I'm pretty sure that the landlord had written off the place as a lost cause long before I'd moved in, so the leeway I was afforded was likely not a reflection of any personal magnetism.

Sherlock Holmes: Dr. Watson

2011-12-23T22:38:00.001-05:00

The second in the set of Sherlock Holmes characters, today's Baker Streetian is Dr. Watson. Back whenever I gave up doing theater out of a distaste for the amount of rehearsal time most organizations take (when I was growing up, we learned our lines and showed up for blocking - the whole months plus thing is not my bag), I still held a hope for four roles that, should the opportunity present itself in my future for me to play any of them, I'd do my best to make it happen. One of these was Dr. Watson, mostly because I thought he hadn't be played right, and I was of a mind to rectify it.

Then, in the past few years, Watson has undergone a serious p.r. overhaul. Is this due to Kate Beaton's comic showcasing the discrepancies between book Watson and movie Watson? I like to think so.

Whatever the cause, the two most high-profile Holmes stuff in recent years - the Robert Downey Jr movie and the BBC show - have given Watson his due. Granted, the movies don't get the dynamic right (Watson should be in awe of Holmes), but even so. It's truly Watson's decade. And, so, I can scratch Watson off my list of roles I want to do someday, as it's been done proper. Also, I ain't got time for acting!

Sherlock Holmes: The World's Only Consulting Detective

2011-12-23T00:39:00.001-05:00

For years, I've been meaning to do an indefinite series of small paper stand-up figures, akin to a collection featuring circus illustrations that was in a local museum that I visited often as a kid in Kentucky. I always liked the idea of a shelf-full of literary characters, and after doing the True Grit drawings figured that I'd lighted on a drawing style suitable for the undertaking. I'm not sure at all how best to go about producing these - attempting to print them myself eats through ink, and I'm wary of using most commercial printers, as one rarely has the capacity to oversee color correction and paper handling - and so it won't be until I figure out how to print a batch on matte card stock that I'll make these available (in the Holmes series, there are eight).

Once I do, though, I hope it's something that I keep with for a very long time. As I said, having an army of these paper figures has been a fancy since I was a kid. So here's the start! One of my favorite series, which I never tire of rereading (after going through True Grit four times in a month, I definitely needed a change, so now I'm hopping back and forth between Holmes, a book about T. Roosevelt's days as Police Commissioner of New York, and a collection of Kipling stories), Holmes has a wealth of characters from which to draw, and I picked out a few of the more shining stars of the canon (and warning in advance - Irene Adler ain't in there, so no hate mail when they're all done, please).

Wizarding Wednesdays: The Boy Who Lived

2011-12-21T12:54:00.001-05:00

This time is the eponymous hero himself, Harry Potter. Yeah, he's whiny, but he's a teenager. Teenagers are whiny. Plus his parents got murdered. Cut him some slack, why don't you?

TRUE GRIT #7: There were more men in the country at that time who looked like Cleveland than did not

2011-12-20T10:07:00.002-05:00

The last o' the bunch! Perhaps I ought to have included Colonel Stonehill, or the Original Greaser Bob, but there's only so much time in the day. And so, I conclude with everybody's favorite character, the one-eyed fat man himself, Rooster Cogburn.

This pic has some mild language in it, so I've cropped it for the sake of the little'uns and other sensitive eyes. If you wanna see the whole thing, you can click it!

TRUE GRIT #6: A methodist and a son of a b****

2011-12-20T00:19:00.002-05:00

Well, this wasn't the one I'd planned to post today, seeing as tomorrow is another WIZARDING WEDNESDAY, but I had a few minutes while running copies of the new Crogan Adventure Society newsletter and whipped these fellas up in the sketchbook. It was not until I was finished that I reckoned they looked near enough to Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant that I think I'd make to cast them in the roles. Can you see it?

True Grit Drawing #5: A saucy manner does not go down with me

2011-12-19T09:06:00.001-05:00

Liz and I watched the new Coen Brothers version last night. I got it for my birthday, and hadn't seen it since its opening weekend at the theater.
Though I had the actors present in mind while reading the book, I was not prepared for how strikingly different the film version of the characters would be from my interpretation of them, at least in delivery and mannerisms.

TRUE GRIT #4: It is a waste of time and none of my business

2011-12-18T13:36:00.001-05:00

Boots didn't make it into the new movie - and it's been so long since I've seen the old one that I can't remember if he made it into that one, either - but he was a fun little aside in the book, and I thought him worth including in this set of pics.

TRUE GRIT #3: I intend to kill Tom Chaney with it if the law fails to do so

2011-12-17T10:42:00.000-05:00

TRUE GRIT #2: "Lucky" Ned Pepper

2011-12-16T03:14:00.000-05:00

TRUE GRIT #1: Everything is Against Me

2011-12-15T12:37:00.001-05:00

This week: TRUE GRIT! Also, probably, Sherlock Holmes. I did a bunch of Sherlock Holmes drawings, and as I'll be seeing the new movie tonight with a batch of comic folk I may be in a Sherlocky mood.

But I've just read Charles Portis' TRUE GRIT, then reread it as an audiobook (wonderfully narrated by Donna Tart), and am on road to reading it again, between rereading my Annotated Sherlock Holmes. TRUE GRIT is a darn fine book, and I'm not ashamed to say that it was the Coen Brothers' excellent adaptation that finally got me around to reading it. It's becoming a favorite, and my first pick as a gift for any preteen girl relatives who like reading (I just gave up one copy, and ordered a couple more in reserve).

Anyway, I did a batch of pictures of some of the characters, based as close as I could to the descriptions offered in the prose, and figured on posting them up.

Wizarding Wednesdays: Hagrid (a 20-Minute Color Sketch)

2011-12-12T20:57:00.002-05:00

As part of my (kind of) new 20-minute color sketch challenge, I'm gonna be posting a Harry Potter character every wednesday for the forseeable future. So why am I posting it on Monday? Because I'm visiting family and haven't taken the time to do anything BUT Harry Potter characters, and I didn't want to leave the blog undone. I'm gonna post this'n, and maybe something else Wednesday, and then by Thursday or Friday I'll be back on a regular schedule.

Also, I went to a great charter school in North Carolina this morning and had a lot of fun talking to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Teen Boxer T.R.

2011-12-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

Today's sketch is one of my very favorite historical figures!

20-Minute Color Sketches: Sherlock

2011-12-08T03:04:00.001-05:00

If you're not watching the new(ish) BBC series Sherlock, you should be. I wouldn't have expected a modern Sherlock Holmes series to be true to the subject matter (of which I've been a huge fan since reading an abridged version of Hound of the Baskervilles in first grade), but the series is, along with the first season of the Jeremy Brett Granada TV series, the most faithful to the Doyle stories, and easily the most fun. It's on Netflix Instant, so there's no reason NOT to watch it. You folks who enjoy TV Mysteries or procedurals, I GUARANTEE you'll like this one.

Promise me you'll watch it if you haven't already.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Santa

2011-12-07T13:11:00.000-05:00

Ho Ho Ho!

20-Minute Color Sketch: Jenkins 352

2011-12-06T14:32:00.002-05:00

While finishing up the art for Crogan's Loyalty, I listened to quite a few audiobooks, and as an upcoming Crogan story takes place during the Zulu Wars I thought it appropriate to try and find some books set during that conflict. My favorite of these was the first book in John Wilcox's Simon Fonthill series. I've listened to the first two (I had the first in print, but hadn't gotten around to reading it manually) and am now moving through the third.

As is probably clear from the genre in which I generally work, I'm a sucker for good historical adventure. My favorite character in the Fonthill series (and I'm sure I'm not particularly original in this regard) is Fonthill's batman and brother-in-arms Jenkins 352 (referred to by the last three digits of his serial number because his unit had fifteen fellas named Jenkins), and it's clear that Wilcox loves writing him as much as I love reading him.

It's all but impossible for me to not draw prose characters when in the thralls of good fiction, so it was natural for me to light on Jenkins for today's 20-Minute Color Sketch.

Also, some folks in the comments section asked a few days back about the release date for Crogan's Loyalty... it's June 6th. I'll be doing a small book tour that week, I think, including Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and possibly Ohio. I'll be sure to post details as I have them.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Mudman

2011-12-05T17:56:00.001-05:00

Today's 20-minute color sketch took 23 minutes. Sorry. I gotta get back on the ball, and quit being so ambitious with the compositions.

Today's sketch is of MUDMAN, Paul Grist's new comic series. It's fun so far, and I have high hopes for the series. Grist has two other projects with which I'm familiar - Jack Staff and the oh-so-very-very-good police drama Kane - and they're both top notch, leading me to always want to check out what he's working on. He also did a great story in that Anniversary issue of Captain America last year.

Click image for a slightly bigger version

Anyway, I don't know if Mudman has the power to thrust his arm into the mud and make a giant mud hand come out and grab people, but I sure hope so.

Also, as some folks asked for it, here's a group shot of the ewoks from last week.

Click it for a high-res version. Don't sell it or anything, but otherwise do whatever you want with it.

Ewok Week: LOGRAY

2011-12-03T09:41:00.000-05:00

The Ewok medicine man!

That's it for the Ewoks! Happy Ewok Week!

CRAZY, CRAZY HOLIDAY SALE!

2011-12-02T17:07:00.000-05:00

Though I've always turned up my nose at the TV sales ads where people are going CRAZY slashing prices, that's exactly how I felt when I was doing the prices for this sale. CRAZY! Laughing with glee and incredulity at my own prices! Have I gone Crazy? MAYBE!

CLICK HERE FOR CRAZY PRICES!!!

For the next 9 days, all of the original art for sale on my website is marked WAY, WAY DOWN! This is the first time I've ever done this (I'm usually not a fan of this sort of thing, because I feel like it's kinda rotten to the folks who payed full price for stuff, AND I don't want people to think "well, I should wait until he has a sale." But the people who paid full price got one-of-a-kind items that they hopefully really wanted that likely wouldn't still be available to them now, and as for another sale? This isn't gonna be a regular Christmas thing or anything. As far as my plans go, barring any horrific unforeseen financial disaster that requires shortsighted penny-counting, this is the one and only sale like this I'll have for the next few years. We certainly could stand to fill our family holiday coffers, and also I want to make sure that I have plenty of room for the original art for Crogan's Loyalty when it comes out.

The prices are CRAZY! The original drawings and pinups are marked down anywhere from like 80 percent of the original price to something around like 30 or 40 percent (I'm bad at math! I don't know! Like I said, these prices are CRAZY)!

Original Crogan Adventure pages are a staggering FIFTY PERCENT OFF! That's right. Instead of $100, they're only $50! If I knew how to make flashing 90s' internet text, this is where I'd do it. THESE PRICES ARE CRAZY! If I had the time, I'd make a commercial.

If you have ever wanted to start collecting original comic art, or if you know someone who likes the Crogan Adventures and want to give them THE VERY BEST GIFT EVER, Now's the time!

The sale goes from now until 11:59PM, Eastern Standard Time, On Sunday, December 11th. I'll mail all packages out on December 12th! Have 'em by Christmas!

Here's where you get the original Crogan Adventures Pages

Here's where you get original drawings and pinups

Just a reminder - these are ONE-OF-A-KIND items. That means that someone may beat you to the piece that you want. Whoever's payment comes through first gets it, and anyone else will get a refund. If you want things personalized, please leave me a note or shoot me an e-mail!

Ewok Week: WICKET

2011-12-02T01:06:00.000-05:00

Today's Ewok is the lil'est one of all - Wicket!

ADULT BARTENDER KANEDA FOREVER

2011-12-01T03:58:00.001-05:00

Ewok Week: PAPLOO

2011-12-01T01:44:00.001-05:00

Ewok Week #3: PAPLOO!

He's the one who steals the speeder bike and grabs the vine, if you recall.

Ewok Week: CHIEF CHIRPA

2011-11-30T11:13:00.001-05:00

Today's Ewok:

CHIEF CHIRPA!

Ewok Week: TEEBO

2011-11-29T21:10:00.001-05:00

I was going to do some EWOKS for theis week's 20-minute color sketches... But they ended up taking like twenty-thirty minutes apiece to color. So I can't classify them as being 20 minuters, but I can show 'em anyway! None of those weird tv ewoks, this stuff is straight up ROTJ, yo.

First up: Teebo!

Crogan's Loyalty is ALL DONE

2011-11-29T11:50:00.001-05:00

Well, my most recent book, Crogan’s Loyalty, is all finished and uploaded to my publisher’s ftp. Woo! Here’s a panel from it. It’ll be out this summer. I know the release date but I ain’t sure if it’s been announced, so I don’t wanna jump the gun until I know for sure.

Click image for the full-sized version

While you’re waiting for the new ones, consider buying the old ones, Crogan’s Vengeance and Crogan’s March.

Starting tomorrow I’ll get back to posting my 20-minute color sketches. I’m thinkin’ EWOKS.

Too Many Trees

2011-11-22T23:22:00.001-05:00

Ungh. Pages like this are why I'm having trouble meeting my six-a-day quota. Leaves, ungh. I shoulda set it in the desert.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Robocop

2011-11-22T09:06:00.001-05:00

This will probably be the last 20-minute sketch for the next week or so... I'm doing 13-16 hours a day of inking, which doesn't leave the half-hour (which includes doing updates like this) required for 'em. On the plus side - I'm still on schedule to be done at the end of November! 34 pages to go!

20-Minute Color Sketches: Some Old Cowboy

2011-11-19T09:22:00.001-05:00

Another 20-minute sketch, this one an old cowboy. I threw a color hold over the line art because I like the way that looks when Dan Hipp does it, and I figured ‘d give it a whirl.

Speaking of old cowboys, I watched the second episode of AMC’s “Hell on Wheels.” The first episode was truly awful, but the second one was not too bad. I’ll give it four episodes, I think - if it continues to improve, I’ll likely keep watching. I’m a sucker for Westerns.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Watchmen

2011-11-18T10:50:00.002-05:00

Another 20-minute color sketch: Watchmen! Or as many of them as I could do in 20 minutes without reference.

Alan Moore's basic thesis when writing Watchmen was that if superheroes existed in a "real world" they'd all have to either be delusional or sociopaths, and it would be impossible to escape the adult themes that, once introduced, would tear the narrative's world apart.

Everybody reads it and thinks "hey, let's write superheroes as if they existed in the 'real world' and introduce adult themes!"

It's like when Upton Sinclair wrote that book to get people to concern themselves with the horrible working conditions for children in the meat-packing industry, and everybody was like "ew, look what's in a hotdog," only worse.

20-Minute Color Sketches: He-Man

2011-11-17T06:03:00.001-05:00

Today's sketch: The Master of the Universe...

Today's the last day of school for the year. I love teaching and I love working with my students, but I also love uninterrupted studio time and wearing shorts, so these breaks are always welcome.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Wolverine vs Sabretooth

2011-11-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, I had Marvel trading cards and some of 'em depicted "famous battles." This is like that, only quicker.

20-Minute Color Sketches: Abe Sapien

2011-11-15T06:13:00.001-05:00

Here's another of those quick sketches. Drawing and coloring both, I'm putting a cap at twenty minutes max for these. That'll ensure that I can produce at least one a day without infringing on my CROGAN ADVENTURES work. So know that you can check in every morning (barring the ones where I'm out of town at cons and the like) and there will be a new drawing up, like this one, ABE SAPIEN:

Abe is, of course, from Hellboy and B.P.R.D., hands-down my favorite serialized comic.

MAD, MAD, SCAD Weekend

2011-11-14T06:17:00.001-05:00

I went to Savannah, Georgia for our National Cartoonist Society
meeting this month. It was quite the big to-do, as it served as a big
reunion for pretty much all of the original MAD MAGAZINE guys - Al
Jaffee, Jack Davis, Paul Coker, Nick Meglin, and Sam Viviano - plus
current MAD caricature guy and NCS president Tom Richmond, in addition
to all the great Southeast chapter folk and the ones who flew in for the
shindig. It was great seeing some of these old dogs again, and even
greater meeting the folks who I hadn't yet had occasion to.

I did a couple of sketches during a workshop that Sergio did, and figured I'd post 'em up.

Gambit and Rogue

2011-11-11T07:56:00.001-05:00

Another colored sketchbook sketch - Gambit and Rogue, from the X-Men. Given Rogue's hair, Alabama upbringing, and general all-around 80sness I thought she should look like she stepped in Spandex out of Steel Magnolias, so she's halfway between Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton.

Justice League, HO!

2011-11-10T16:06:00.000-05:00

While most of my comic work is done with a brush (and most of the stuff I post up here, for that matter), I generally sketch with fixed-line pens. I even do my "pencils" with them. It's much more intuitive and quick for me to work that way, but I've always been hesitant to try it with actual pages. But you know what? The brushy stuff automatically gives my stuff a cartoonier look, atop already cartoony designs. I love it for the Crogan books, and will continue to use it there, but I'm thinking about trying to use this for other stuff, which I feel might be a little more "mainstream friendly." I don't know, maybe I'm crazy.

So I figured I'd color one of my classroom sketches from today, these justice league guys:

Either way, it takes me like ten minutes to color something like this, which took five minutes to draw. That's a BIG difference from working with a brush, and I kind of like how it turned out. Since I sketch a ton each day, I may color 'em and post more regularly. What do you guys think? Like it? Hate it?

Also, Liz Enright brought bacon brownies in to school today and THEY WERE SOOOOOOO YUMMY

Halloween's a MENACE!

2011-11-02T05:12:00.001-04:00

I know it's late, but HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Schweizer Guide to Spotting Tangents

2011-10-26T18:39:00.001-04:00

Comic art is, as a general rule, a line-based medium. I know, I know, there are plenty of artists whose work is painted, or who depict their subject in ink using solely light and shadow. But these folks are unquestioningly in the minority, as the history of printing technology originally dictated the use of line to depict form in the early days of comics. This became a stylistic expectation, and it’s an expectation that I enthusiastically embrace, as have many others. But using line to draw the world invites chances for that cardinal sin of composition: the tangent.

A tangent is when two or more lines interact in a way that insinuates a relationship between them that the artist did not intend.

It can create confusion on the part of the audience as to what it is that they’re looking at. It can cause the spatial depth that one attempts to cultivate through the use of planes to become flattened. Most of all, it creates a decidedly unwelcome aesthetic response: tangents are just plain ugly.

There are a lot of different types of tangents, as least according to the way I define them. In order to make it easier on my students when giving critiques, I’ve categorized them and named them. This may have been done before, but I’ve not encountered it. My hope is that, by making this “spot-the-enemy” guide, fewer artists will fall into the tangent trap by knowing what to look for.

1. The Long Line

The long line is when a line from one object runs directly into the line of another
This is the tangent that everybody knows. The one that’s easiest to spot, easiest to avoid. For a lot of folks, this is the only thing meant when one refers to a “tangent.”

Even in the work of the very best comic artists, a vigilant eye can find the occasional tangent. Even when a cartoonist is constantly on the lookout, a tangent can slip through. But, as each of strive to better ourselves and the quality of our work and our medium,

2. The Parallel

The parallel tangent is when the containing lines of two objects run alongside each other. This causes one of two negative outcomes. Either one object becomes “lost,” as the other overpowers it (figure 1), or one object feels strangely contained by another (figure 2).
This can be avoided by ensuring that any object that COULD run alongside another is angled at least 45 degrees from the first.
The next two are REALLY tough to spot, and most artists have fallen victim to them before.

3. The Corner

The corner tangent is when two lines in an object meet in a way intended by the artist, but another (accidental) line runs directly into the place where they meet.

4. The Bump-Up

A bump-up tangent is when the containing line of one object “bumps up” against the containing line of another object. When these two lines touch, it creates a bump-up tangent (and even when they don’t technically touch, if it’s close enough to raise eyebrows, they might as well).
The bump-up gives the impression of containment. In figure 1, it seems as though her ponytail is physically unable to enter the space occupied by the pole. In figure 2, it feels as though her elbow is unable to LEAVE that space.

Also, be careful not to let elements of the drawing bump up against your panel borders! Either give them room to breathe or decisively crop them.

5. The Directional

A directional tangent is basically just a long-line tangent that’s been broken by empty space. Now, this one isn’t always bad – it can, on occasion, be used to draw the reader’s eye through the image on a specifically determined path.

6. The Panel-to-Panel

This one is exactly the same thing as the directional (in fact, I shouldn’t even classify it as its own thing), save that instead of empty space dividing a long-line it’s a panel gutter.
My gutters are crazy wide, but with normal-sized gutters this can be a real problem.

One more thing…
This ain’t a tangent, but it is a compositional no-no.

Fake Panels

Comics generally have panel borders, so readers are used to having images contained by straight lines. Some artists don’t allow gutters between their borders. Though I believe that, as a rule, this can make it harder for new comics readers to follow the story (and new readers are always important), it’s done with enough regularity that we must expect the audience to feel comfortable with gutterless pages.
What does this mean? It means that we can’t draw a straight line in any panel, either vertical or horizontal, without having some object overlap it. If we do, readers may think that it is a panel border, incorrectly breaking one moment into two.

See how the overlap of the elbow causes there to be no question?

That's it for Lesson #1. Lesson #2 will come around in the next few days. Feel free to use any terminology that I've laid down in this one, or feel free to abandon it in favor of better, more accurate terminology.

Frankenstein!

2011-10-23T12:11:00.001-04:00

Halloween is rapidly approaching. And man, I love Halloween. I love it so much that I was going to do thirteen spooky drawings and post them all this month. But then I remembered that I've got to finish the next Crogan Adventures book, so you're only getting two: the Dracula I did on Friday, and Frankenstein.

click the image for a full-sized version

I was Victor Frankenstein in a play once. This was in college. College for me consisted of studying, dating, and loads of humanties-related extracurricular activities, which meant I often had days at a time where I slept two or three hours a night. During Frankenstein I was in one of these no-sleep cycles, and was nearly dead on my feet. During one performance, I tried to bypass this little roadblock by taking three no-doz tablets (caffeine pills), in addition to the coffee that I was pretty much breathing. Then I forgot that I'd taken the no-doz and took three more.

I got a pretty heavy case of the shakes about halfway through the show, and was sweating a lot. My eyes were full-blown twitchy. On the positive side, this was around the scene where my passion and obsession over finishing the monster were at their peak, and I was alienating my friends and loved ones with frantic, single-minded nuttiness, so the shakes/sweats merely served to bolster my performance. The negative is that I spent intermission throwing up behind the theater.

Happy Halloween!

Oh, and the original drawing for this piece IS for sale (you can see the uncolored scan on the original art sale page). It's $200 (that includes shipping). It's one of the most detailed things I've ever drawn, and we need a leaf-blower.

Dracula!

2011-10-20T23:24:00.000-04:00

Halloween's approaching! So I'm gonna do a couple Halloweeny drawings over the next few days. Here's the first one:

(click for the full-sized drawing)

Askari, King's African Rifles

2011-09-27T15:50:00.001-04:00

Another one of those drawings I mentioned, this one of an Askari from the 3rd Battalion of the King's African Rifles, just prior to WWI.

King's African Rifles Officer, 1912

2011-09-25T08:20:00.000-04:00

I've been doing nothing but inking Crogan's Loyalty (for which I now know the release date: June 6th) and teaching for the past few weeks, so I've had very little to post on here. Yesterday during Penny's nap Liz and I watched some TV, and I drew a handful of pictures - just-for-fun drawings of folks in uniforms, based on reference pics that I had in books. I figured I should post them over the next few days.

First up: An officer of the King's African Rifles, 3rd Battalion, circa 1912:

Dad's New Book

2011-09-15T05:49:00.001-04:00

My dad's newest book is out today!

It's a period (1940s) mystery set in Chicago in which a giant cop (and ex-Bears lineman) named Merl tries to catch a killer who is sure to strike again. I enjoyed the heck out of it. And pop let me try my hand at a cover - my first for one of his novels. Anyway, YOU SHOULD GIVE IT A READ.

CAS Postcard

2011-09-07T17:42:00.001-04:00

Well, Dragon Con was a LOT of fun. I did far better moving books than I expected - I sold out of all of my Crogan books (which means I'm out for the rest of the year, though YOU can still get them) and about a case of sketchbooks. And though there were quite a few folks who had, say, read the books at a library, there were a LOT of first-time readers, and in both instances most of these people were folks who I'd not met at cons before, with a few exceptions.

A lot of times I'll find the same people at a lot of shows. This was an almost entirely different crowd than the one I find at Heroes, SDCC, NYCC, etc. Anyway, it was great to meet so many new readers! Plus I got to see Janet Lee's amazing original art again, which is always a treat. For those who don't know, she does her pages on inch-thick pieces of wood.

I also tried my hand at a new type of art yesterday, that digital painting that looks like mid-century kid's books, or posters. I may make a postcard of this. Does it look okay, or should I keep at it?

Jungle River Packet

2011-09-01T16:33:00.004-04:00

Before explaining the pictures below, I want to remind everyone that I'll be at Dragon Con this weekend. I'll be in the comic section (not sure where that is yet, but I'm sure your program will tell you if you're going) doing sketches, commissions, and I'll have plenty of sketchbooks and Crogan Adventures to sell, so please come by! I'm also on a few panels. Here's the info:

Friday, 11:30am:
The New Age of Comic Strips
Hanover Room F @ the Hyatt

Friday, 1pm:
Graphic Novels and Young Adults
Room A707 @ the Marriot

Sunday, 4pm:
Brigands and Buccaneers: Myth and Reality of Pirates
International Room (BC) @ the Westin

The other day, my colleague Nolan Woodard had a baby (well, his wife did) and I subbed for his concept design class. They were finishing up maquettes, and I thought "hey, I've been wanting to make a paddle wheeler for some time now" and so I stopped at Hobby Lobby on the way and picked up a couple of pieces of balsa. During the class I built the deck, and that night built a boiler, engine, and paddle. I haven't taken a day off from doing comics in quite a while, so it was fun to do a hobby project.

I made the deck from three pieces of foamcore, topped by a thin-ish piece of balsa wood. I "drew" in the planking and wood grain with a bamboo skewer. The sides were done the same way.

I made the boiler itself out of one of those little wooden barrels. The rivets were added with puff-paint, the pressure gauge is the inside of a brad, the whistle a couple of pieces of plastic tubing, and the smokestack is a faber-castell PITT pen with the top cut off. The valves are the backs of sewing snaps. The engine is two more (though smaller) wooden barrels, some plastic piping, and more balsa.

The paddle wheel was a round needlepoint pattern (two, actually), cut to look like the metal part, and balsa for the planks.

If you look next to the boiler, I added firewood, some old coal leavings, and a stack of replacement boiler tubes.

Here's the thing with the cabins on it, and the upper deck. It's still not finished - I need to add the bridge (which I expect will take longer to build than I presently have time for, as I want it to be open-windowed with a visible interior) and the stairs to the upper deck, which I have but forgot to paint and put on. I'll do that later.

I wanted the boiler visible, but wanted the area to feel like it could be enclosed. Hence the hanging canvas, made from "green stuff," a type of sculptable epoxy.

The railing is just chicken wire, with dabbs of puff-paint put on the cut edges to keep it from being sharp (which, believe me, it IS when left uncovered). You can see where the stairs will go on the upper deck, in the middle and on the back, where the rails open up. There will be four staircases total.

The whole thing was painted black, and then I added colors in successive layers, drybrushing on really cheap acrylic with a bristle brush. Since this is supposed to be a jungle paddler, I decided to show algae growing on the paddle and around the bottom of the visible hull. I tried to let it show that it would've splashed up around the wheel and the back of the engine, too. These kind of boats are prettiest when they look their worst.

The whole thing measures in at about sixteen inches long.

I don't have a story in mind for this one right now - it really was a hobby, something I could turn to finishing this afternoon when my back started to hurt from being stooped over the drawing desk all day - but I'll find one for it eventually. Since I've got it (mostly) done, it'd be a shame to not use it for reference.

One more note about Dragon Con - I'll be bringing most of the drawings in the store section, so if you've had your eye on a piece and want to guarantee that you get it before somebody else does, I'd say get it now. Have a great weekend!

A Few Pages, Inked

2011-08-27T19:13:00.001-04:00

Well, two big bits of Crogan-related activity have occured. The first is that I've undertaken inks on Loyalty. Here are a few pages to give you a taste:

The second is that I've written the fourth Crogan book, Crogan's Escape. Usually I don't get to writing until about six months or more after the previous book is finished, but this doing pencils first approach has been so trudging that it's given me the opportunity and inclination to do research during production, somethign I've not heretofore had time to do. The story treatment (tight, but covering only the specific plot details) clocks in at thirteen pages - roughly the same as the last three books. Hunter Wook-Jin Clark read it for me, and gave me a couple of things to think about and fix, but they're minor. In my free time, I plan to continue doing design work and practice sketches, with the hope that I could, in theory, start pencils on Escape the day I finish inks on Loyalty. I probably won't, of course - I tend to indulge in a day's vacation upon completion of a large project - but I like the idea of having the option to work on through, should I be in a lather, or just wish to prove a point.

Another note: If anyone is going to DragonCon, I will be there! I'll post my panel schedule in a day or two. Also, don't forget that sketchbooks and original art can be purchased here.

Boat Studies

2011-08-19T18:29:00.001-04:00

Sorry to have been so long betwen posts!

I've finished the pencils for Crogan's Loyalty. All of it. Framing sequence and everything. So I'll start inking next week. Woo!

Some notes: I've posted a bunch of original art for sale. In the past, it's been all pages. Now it's drawings, too. Check it out.

Here are some sketches done in preparation for the next book. I'm having a tough time coming up with the name of the boat. I'll keep at it, but I may have a contest sometime down the road, if I can't think of one.

The Borneo Identity

2011-07-16T09:10:00.001-04:00

While Liz and I were hanging out last night, I drew this Borneo Tribal Chief.

Funny Animal Pulp Project

2011-07-14T15:14:00.001-04:00

My friend Chad Thomas (whose art run on Archie's Mega Man begins next month) and I have, since first meeting around five years ago, played with the idea of working together on a kid's adventure comic. The ideas continually shift and change, and he's one of maybe five people that I can comfortably chat on the phone with for more than a couple of minutes (I'm just not a phone guy).

We had the chance to work together on a couple of books coming out this Fall - some younger reader choose your own adventure-type of books that I wrote and Chad drew (he handled Coyote and Monkey) - and are chomping at the bit to do so again. I love Chad's animal characters - he's really great at them - and we've been talking about the idea of doing a "funny animal" project together ("funny animal" is basically just a term for anthropomorphized animal character stories, which includes comics like Usagi Yojimbo to Blacksad and movies like Disney's Robin Hood, Kung Fu Panda, and Rango... they don't necessarily have to be FUNNY). We're starting to put it together to pitch to a publisher - hopefully as a floppy - and have been doing a few sketches just to get an idea of things. We'd both be handling writing AND art duties, in an attempt to do a much more intensely collaborative approach than is usually done. It would have a very 1930s setting, and be very pulp high adventure type of stuff (big surprise, I know).

Anyway, here are a few sketches we've done to start getting our heads around it.

And here are a few of Chad's...

In any case, we're in the EXTREMELY early stages right now, but feel good about the project. It has a good premise that allows for a lot of episodic narratives, a fun idea for an overarching story, and best of all it gives me and Chad a chance to work together again. Don't worry; Crogan's comes first. I'm working on finishing the current book and am hard at work prepping the next one.

Steampunk Commission

2011-07-01T18:26:00.001-04:00

Well, I just got back from a long trip - two stops in Texas, Miami, and New Orleans, hot on the heels of a visit to Kentucky and just before a trip to North Carolina and then Tennessee. Woof! I'll post some details later (maybe - I'm bad about remembering to do that sort of thing), but for now I want to offer my sincerest apologies and thanks for the patience of the many people who have ordered sketchbooks and Crogan Adventure Society memberships over the past few weeks. I've finally caught up, and just in time for the post office to close! That means that, because of Monday's holiday, everyone's stuff will go out on TUESDAY.

Including a commission that slipped under the radar somehow from almost two months ago (eek!), a "steampunk guy and girl." Here it is below:

(click the image for a full-sized version)

The drawing was done at 5x7." I'm putting more details in my inks these days. My thanks to Robyn for her patience!

Sketchbook Now Available for Online Orders!

2011-06-07T10:46:00.001-04:00

As promised I'm making the sketchbook available online! And since everyone is so used to Amazon's free shipping, I'd hate to bring on a case of the grumps by not doing the same. The following options are available:

• Regular price: $20. I will include a sketch of one character or object in the front of each book.

• Crogan Adventure Society price: $10. One of the perks of being a Crogan Adventure Society agent! This offer only applies to agents who got their memberships before April of 2011. But future discounts will apply to future agents, so find out more about the C.A.S. here. I will include a sketch of a character or object in the front of each book.

• Retailer Price: $10. A fifty percent discount for brick-and-mortar comic and book store retailers. Please send me store info for validation. All books must be shipped to the store.

• International Orders: $25. In order to cover additional shipping costs, international orders require an additional $5. I will include a sketch of a character or object in the front of each book.

Please allow one to two weeks for delivery. It takes a little while to do the sketches, and sometimes I'm out of town. Thanks for the order!

HeroesCon Schedule

2011-06-02T09:20:00.001-04:00

The sketchbook release went really well!

A whole lot of people came out, I was signing nonstop from 5pm until 10:30, and all in all it was a really fun evening, though I was too busy to eat any of the excellent food that Liz prepared.

And now... HeroesCon! This weekend is HeroesCon, which I've talked about before. You should go if you're able. I'll have sketchbooks there, along with copies of The Crogan Adventures and some prints. I'll also be doing a number of panels:

Friday at Noon
Teaching Comics
Room 203A
In the past decade or so, Graphic Novels have invaded the syllabi of many colleges and Universities throughout the country. Join moderator Shawn Daughhetee and Professors Craig Fisher, Chris Schweizer, Mike Kobre and Alan Rauch as they discuss what is involved in teaching comics at the college level. We will be taking attendance.

Friday at 2:30pm
Composition & Clarity (Part of the SCAD Workshop Series)
Room 201
For a comic to succeed, artistically or commercially, it needs to read clearly, and at the heart of clarity in comics is strong composition. Chris Schweizer will teach you about clarity in composition, from using value to define planes and visually invest your reader in a scene, to identifying and avoiding any of the six types of compositional tangents that can pop up in even the best artist’s work to ruin a panel.
This is a chunk of what will be a practical textbook that I'm working on. I think it's really valuable information if you're a comic artist, so I hope you'll come up!

Sunday at 11am (I know, I know, this is just as the con is starting that day. Still, Don Rosa! DON ROSA! You should go).
Room 203A
Blending real historical facts and humor based comics into something provocative and highly entertaining is no feat. Join Chris Schweizer (The Crogan Adventures) as he leads the discussion with Ben Towle (Amelia Earhart) and Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge) as they explain the intricacies of the creative juggling act.

Sunday at 1pm
Family Friendly Comics
Room 209
This panel has become a yearly tradition at HeroesCon. We take pride in this convention being for the entire family and what better way to celebrate Shelton Drum’s vision than by spotlighting comics the entire family can read. Comic News Insider’s Jimmy Aquino will interview Chad Bowers, Andy Runton (Owly), Chris Schweizer (the Crogan Adventures), Chris Giarusso (Mini Marvels), Jamie Cosley (Cody the Cavalier) and come see what all the buzz is about

Again, if you're a Crogan Adventure Society agent, bring your ID to get the sketchbook for only FIVE DOLLARS. For everyone NOT going, I'll have the books available for sale via the website next week. Keep your eye on the blog!

Also, a TON of SCAD-Atlanta students will be there, at the Temple of Cartoon Mojo table. They'll be selling their own work - some of it truly awesome - as well as a mini-comic anthology edited by Max Currie, who's one of the most driven and enthusiastic guys I've ever met. He's read every book I can throw at him, he works around the clock, and he's definitely a guy to watch out for. Anyway, the anthology is called Sightings, and it's all short stories and drawings about monsters like Bigfoot, Loch Ness monster, etc. It's pretty awesome, and only a buck. Don't foget to check it out! Plus I'll be putting the original for my John Carter poster in the auction!

Commissions, done!

2011-05-22T09:44:00.002-04:00

I've mailed off a chunk of the commissions I took a couple of weeks ago. I still have three left to do, but seven should have, by now, reached their owners, so I'm throwing them up here. All of them were drawn at 5 x 7" and for some of 'em I used gray markers, which I almost never do on brush drawings. I liked how they turned out!

One of the requests was a self-portrait. I haven't done one of these in a while, and I was never good about making them look like me. This one, I think, looks like me, so that's good.

I was also asked to draw Stan Sakai with his comic creation Usagi Yojimbo. I did a few sketches of Stan during his visit to Atlanta a few months ago, and looked at these to do the drawing - I never actually looked at a photo!
I thought him holding a real rabbit DRESSED like Usagi would create a more interesting drawing than him standing with the character, so here you go.

Here's Strong Guy from X-Factor. I had an action figure of him in sixth grade, and I really liked it.

I got another request for "Something Usagi," so I did a picture of Usagi and Jotaro in 1632, 30ish years after the events in Usagi Yojimbo take place. I love drawing established characters old; I can see why all of Allan Moore's books are about what they're about.

A picture of Michael May's Daniel Baboone fighting a Cephalopod. There was a Daniel Baboone story in an Activate comic, which I really dug: http://www.act-i-vate.com/114-28-1.comic

Grimjack, who was commissioned by the guy who ran the comic shop in my hometown where I probably bought the aforementioned Strong Guy figure back in sixth grade.

And, lastly, Shipwreck and Beachhead from G.I. Joe.

Just a reminder, there is a sketchbook release/signing on Thursday! I'll have my new book - though the retail is $20, at this signing it'll be $15 to the public and $5 to anyone with a valid SCAD ID or Crogan Adventure Society agent card. Thursday, May 26, from 5-8pm at SCAD Atlanta, right next to the front doors (Gallery 1600). SCAD's address is 1600 Peachtree ST NE, Atlanta, GA 30309. Hope to see you there!

Team Cul de Sac

2011-05-17T08:50:00.001-04:00

As some of you might know, Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac is without question my favorite comic strip from the last decade. It does a better job of capturing the essence of children than just about any other narrative I've ever encountered. It's phenomenal. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you're a fan of Calvin and Hobbes or Peanuts, you should be picking up these collections. I'm lucky enough to have an original hanging on my wall, and it's one of my most prized possessions.

Last year, Richard announced that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a deginerative nervous system disorder that often manifests itself in uncontrollable tremors and shaking, which is terrible for anyone but is especially horrifying for someone whose job and passion is to have pretty much infallible control over his or her hands. Luckily, he seems to be doing well and is still perfectly capable of making some of the most wonderful comics ever produced.

I got to join Richard and a few friends for dinner last year in Charlotte, and with us was Chris Sparks, one of Richard's friends and the fella in charge of his web page. Chris has since taken on the task of preparing a benefit for Richard called Team Cul de Sac. Cartoonists of all stripes are doing their take on characters from Richard's strip. Some of the art will be collected into a book being published by Andrews McNeel, and all of it will go to auction. The money will be used for Parkinson's Disease research through the Michael J Fox Foundation, whose stated mission is to cure the disease.

Here is my piece:

click the image for a full-sized version

As soon as I find out details about the auction, I'll post them. There will be a lot of great stuff on there. I do want to note that, in order to ensure that the piece raises as much money at auction as is able, this will be the only Cul de Sac drawing I will ever do, or at least the only one that will ever be available for sale. Again, I'll be sure to let everyone know details about the book and auction as soon as I know them. One note - the drawing is actually in gray marker wash; I added the hues digitally, after seeing that many other contributing artists had done the same.

If any cartoonists wish to contribute and have not yet done so, fret not; the deadline has been extended to June 18th.

"Buried Treasure" page 1 pencils

2011-05-02T09:13:00.001-04:00

The Dollar Bin is putting out an anthology at HeroesCon called "Buried Treasure," and asked if I'd do a story. I said yes.

Here are the pencils for the first page:

To get a sense of the foliage. I bought the Crusoe TV series. I was going to go to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, but it cost almost twice as much, and as I wasn't sure that they'd have what I needed I opted for the cheaper avenue. It really bothers me that nothing in Atlanta, ostensibly a legit metropolis, is free to the public. The zoo, the aquarium, the museums, the gardens, etc... all are fairly expensive (usually near twenty bucks for a ticket, sometimes substantially more).

Though it's a pirate story, there won't be any ships or ocean. But it does set the scene for the next book with Catfoot in it.

Silhouette Sundays: the Three Musketeers

2011-05-01T21:14:00.002-04:00

For this week's Silhouette Sundays installment, I present Alexander Dumas' The Three Musketeers, along with a couple of their foes, Milady and Rochefort.

I know I should have included D'Artagnon, but man, I tried him like eight times and couldn't get it. And since this isn't for anything (meaning future projects) I can't really devote a lot of time to nailing one that's trouble. Maybe he'll end up in a future installment.

Commissions, and a 1920s Russian Mercenary study

2011-04-28T15:38:00.002-04:00

* note * Comissions are now closed.

This is a guy I drew 90% of a few months ago, but never finished, so he didn't make it into the sketchbook. I finished him this morning, and colored him while my students were taking a school survey, and here he is.

He was a study for one of a trio of expatriate White Russian mercenaries who have since been edited out of the story for Crogan's Escape. That armband would display a Warlord's emblem, but I haven't designed it yet.

Maquette Building

2011-04-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

Sculpted one of the Crogan brothers from Crogan's Loyalty as a demo in maquette-building for one of my character design classes.

Teaching the students how to build maquettes is not something on which an inordinate amount of time should be spent; it's helpful to wrap one's head about the three dimensionality of a design, and representational sculpting will DEFINITELY improve your drawing, just by making you address how one part influences another. But I've known a few people who have fallen into the cyclical pit of feeling like they need to make a maquette for every character that they do, and never get any pages done. So what's even the point? We're not maquettists, guys, we're storytellers.

I spend a LOT of time on preproduction, but it's a means to an end. Never, ever, ever let it be the end. It's self-indulgent, and benefits you nothing. ALWAYS make sure your concept work is leading to stories. Otherwise you're just playing with yourself.

Silhouette Sundays: King Solomon's Mines

2011-04-24T21:09:00.001-04:00

This week's Silhouette Sundays piece is a few of the characters from H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, which I've mentioned is a project I'd like to adapt.

From left to right: Umbopa, Captain Good (bottom), Allan Quatermain (top), Sir Henry Curtis, and Twalla

Also, I was the guest columnist for Comic Book Recourses/Robot 6's "What Are You Reading?" feature this week.

Sketchbook Covers

2011-04-18T00:35:00.001-04:00

The sketchbook files are all finally done! I have to put them in order with the proper amount of space for spine allowances, but hey, the hard part's finished! It goes to press on Wednesday, I think.

My colleague and all-around amazing artist Nolan Woodard colored the covers, and got 'em back to me, despite the fact that I just gave him the files and he's in the middle of a move into a new house with his pregnant wife. He's a great colorist - works regularly for Boom, does stuff for Marvel... he's also a great comic artist, doing Star Wars cards for Topps as well as commissions when time allows. Check him out!

Here's the front:

and here's the back:

Click images for full-sized versions

I'll be making the book for sale through Amazon and, hopefully, Diamond. Some details: 184 page softcover, $19.95, 8.5"x11."

Now, here's a special deal for any paid Crogan Adventure Society agents (limited to those who purchased their membership before April of 2011): If you are going to HeroesCon, you can pick up the book from me directly. Show me your membership card, and you get the book for FIVE DOLLARS. That's a seventy-five percent discount. See? I told you there'd be perks! If you're an agent but can't make it to Heroes, I'll be sending out copies around the same weekend, also signed, for TEN DOLLARS. You'll pay no shipping (that's where the price discrepancy comes in) if you live in the states; international may require additional shipping. I hope you'll consider the discount a thanks for supporting the Crogan Adventures through your membership.

For everyone else, the book will be available at the regular $19.95 price - around the price you'll pay for most sketchbooks, but much, much longer than the average, I'd reckon. Maybe not as good, but bigger.

More details to come. I should've gone to bed three hours ago. Maybe I'll pull an all-nighter. Woof.

Silhouette Sundays: Master and Commander's Aubrey/Maturin

2011-04-10T10:47:00.001-04:00

Just to make sure I keep up with posting, I thought I'd start a new thing - Silhouette Sundays (it was gonna be Saturdays, but I forgot yesterday). Each Sunday I'll post some silhouettes of how I'd tackle various characters. Most will probably come from books, but who knows?

This week: Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin from Patrick O'Brian's naval series.

I only just read the first of these books (there are 20, 21 if you include the unfinished final tome), and have started the second. They're just as good as everyone says. I made sure to give Stephen clunky, lead-lined boots.

American Bolt

2011-04-10T00:01:00.001-04:00

In response to Marvel's announcement that they'd be changing Black Panther to "American Panther," a bunch of my students did their versions of various heroes and villains, replacing a color in their name with "American." I did Black Bolt (pictured above) as American Bolt. Note the Kirby dots replaced with stars, USA! USA!

Anyway, check out the whole collection - there are like twenty, and it'll give you a peak at some students who are going to blow your mind in the next few years.

Back Cover Pencils

2011-04-06T05:26:00.001-04:00

I did the pencils, digitally, for the back cover illustration for the sketchbook. Though not a scene from it, it incorporates some design elements for a kind of adaptation/reinterpretation I've been working on for H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines.

Click the image for a full-sized version

I still have to letter the vast majority of pages for the sketchbook - I'm doing the text by hand - and juggling it, my school prep, teaching, and getting enough time with Liz and Penny has been a trudging process. Liz is going to visit my sister for a couple of days, though, so I'm gonna buckle down, work round the clock (when I'm not teaching, and I've already done next week's prep in advance), and see if I can knock most of it out. I have to have the files off to the printer by April 17th in order to make sure I have the book well in time for HeroesCon.

Cover Illustration for Sketchbook

2011-03-30T17:48:00.000-04:00

I tried to start lettering the sketchbook today, but I kept nodding off again and again at the drawing board - a rare unpleasant side effect of having a little one (specifically, one who desires company in the wee hours... though in fairness offering such company is heartwarming enterprise).
I did get my cover illustration inked, however. It took a few passes, as I kept tossing out attempts. I thank everyone who suggested the thumbnail for this one, but it was not an easy drawing. I may have been harder on it for the weight it has to carry, but I'm pleased enough in the end.

Click the image for a full-sized version

Belladone

2011-03-27T14:31:00.002-04:00

Today, I've got a drawing I did of one of my very favorite comics - Belladone, a french book drawn by former Disney animator Pierre Alary. It's an adventure story set in France in 1680, and is full of some of the best comic art I've ever seen. Alary does what I'd like to do with my art, but much, much better.

Click the image for a full-sized version

I so love Alary's approach to the swashbuckling subject matter and the masterful way that he conveys both movement in his characters and sense of place with his environments that I have twice committed against him the cardinal sin of comic art: swiping.

Now, neither instance is a direct copy, but in both I took directly from him, which I have not done elsewhere and which still makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. Each artist conveys visual information in his or her own unique way, and in these instances mine were not unique. They were variations on what Alary had already done.

The first such instance is from Crogan's Vengeance. I wanted to show after the fact that Catfoot had dived from the ship into the water, and Alary had conveyed this with such clarity that I simply incorporated the same technique. I did not look at his panel when doing this, but had it clearly in mind. His use of air escaping from Marie's mouth or nose in the form of bubbles is a beautiful stroke, and one I didn't think to incorporate.

The second is from Crogan's March. In Alary's Sinbad book, he handles the metal inlay of designs atop the domed roofs of Islamic architecture in a very specific and very aesthetically appealing way. He employs shadow, texture, and weathering on the earthen buildings, and leaves the designs atop them free of such effects. This gives it a noticeably different texture, inferring metal. On the stonework itself he uses the occasional white line to infer scratches and weathering on top of shadow.

I consciously employed both of these methods on my foreground buildings in an establishing shot of Tazifet in March, again, not looking at the original but keeping those principles in mind. Had I looked at the original, I'd have seen how similar in design my tower is to his, and how the angle of the shots is far too similar. Were I to have another go at it, I would very my composition considerably so as to better distance it from its inspiration.

The tower I used as the model for mine, and the model for the design of the cupola.

My choice to avoid looking at the panels so consciously influencing my own was well-meant, but foolish. An idea of the panels I was using as "inspiration" was clearly fixed in my mind, making it unlikely that I would stray far from them in my own compositions, and resulting in not one but two art swipes. As I try to do service to the medium by always striving to do my best, I feel especially rotten about this, and hope that my readers, and Alary's, will forgive me such blatant transgressions.

I use this as an object lesson for any future such intentions - should one of Monsieur Alary's wonderfully executed panels again tempt me with its perfection to try and employ a similar thought process, I'll do my best to abstain, and, should my resolve fail me, I'll at least look at it the next time around to ensure a striking difference.

This American Life Contributors Explore the Arctic

2011-03-20T12:36:00.000-04:00

It's NPR pledge time again, which leads me to posting the first of many pages that have been excised from the upcoming sketchbook because of space.

Presenting: This American Life Contributors Explore the Arctic

(Click the image for a full-sized version)

A while back, while my students were working on the sketchbook-theme assignment for my mini-comics class, I toyed with the idea of doing a theme one myself. Though I'm in a position where I can now financially contribute, for years I had no such extra dough, and would do my bit to support NPR through answering phones during the pledge drives. I still like this idea of service, putting in time for something you feel strongly about, and no program on NPR carries more weight with me than This American Life, a show that basically compiles a series of excellent essays, reports, and memoirs about the theme of the week. There are hundreds of episodes at this point, and I listen to them while working on my books (the penciling and inking stages, not the writing or thumbnails).

My idea was that I'd do a This American Life-themed mini, something with nice production values and a screen-printed cover, featuring funny illustrations of a dozen or so of TAL's more prominent contributors, sell 'em at shows, and give 100% of the proceeds to the program, hopefully putting more money into it than I usually do on my own. I did a few preliminary sketches of some of the folks with whose visages I'm somewhat familiar... and had to stop. Radio, it seems, doesn't do the best job of helping one remember faces, and maybe I'm lousy at internet searches but I had a devil of a time trying to find photos of the folks for whom I was looking. If anyone can point me in the right direction (and not the show's staff page - many of those are candids from a distance, and of little use for reference), I may take it up again. Who knows, I might do a print instead of a mini. Either way, it's my little fan attempt to show how much the show means to me. That, and a chance to draw Sarah Koenig punching a walrus in the face.

You can support This American Life here.

Also, I'll post a report of my trip to the OSU Cartoon Research Library in a day or two, so check back!

Doc Savage

2011-03-15T13:10:00.001-04:00

Well! The sketchbook is now completely laid out - with the exception of two drawings that have yet to be inked - so I'll begin annotations after I get home. I hope to have it off to press within a week of the new school quarter starting.

In the meantime, here's a drawing (finally inked!) that will be going in.

It's pulp hero Doc Savage and his intrepid band of adventurers.

Dragon Con, and a drawing

2011-03-09T13:27:00.001-05:00

I've been invited to be a guest at Dragon*Con this year. I've never been to Dragon Con, even though it's an Atlanta show and I've lived here for, what, half a decade? So, yay!

Here's a drawing to celebrate.

I'm actually doing a lot of shows and signings in the near future. I've finally updated my appearances page, if you're interested:

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Also, Columbus!

2011-03-07T05:30:00.001-05:00

First off, here's a picture that I penciled forever ago but finally inked. I did it with the idea of approaching it like an old pulp illustration, taking up part of the page but using sections of the negative space to allow for text placement. Anyway, the Shadow!

(Click the above image for a full-sized version)

I'm inking quite a few unfinished drawings for the sketchbook. I have 170 of the 184 pages laid out - and I still have a lot that I want in there, so I'm gonna have to do some trimming soon. Maybe shrink down some of the pin-ups to have more than one per page, or eliminate some of the not-as-good-as-others sketchbook scans.

In appearances-related news, I'll be in Ohio in a couple of weeks, talking at Northern Kentucky University (which is technically KY but minutes from Cincinnati), visiting the Cartoon Library at OSU, and doing a SIGNING IN COLUMBUS AT THE LAUGHING OGRE ON FRIDAY MARCH 18 FROM 4 to 8. If you're in Columbus, come by! Just a reminder, Adventure Society members get something free! Don't know what yet, but something. Also, the Small Press and Comics Expo is that Saturday, so I'll drop by there for a bit on Saturday before taking off for home.

I'll be announcing other appearances later this week - just have to check with one first and make sure it's public.

Sketchbook Cover Thumbnails

2011-03-03T13:13:00.001-05:00

My apologies, followers of this blog, for being so conspicuously absent for the last month. I've been using what time I have to lay out the sketchbook I mentioned in the last post. It is coming along well, and I've got more than three quarters of it laid out, though none of the annotations have been written yet. As I haven't had a chance to do many sketches lately, I thought I'd instead post my thumbnails for the cover of the sketchbook.

After a lot of sketches, this is where I ended up... at first. I wanted a simple, striking image, so I was going to use this Chinese junk, but I also wanted to show off that there will be intricate drawings inside, so the pattern on the side would actually be a battle scene. It would list everything that I'd have inside, etc. And after reading this wonderful interview with First Second's super-duper amazing book designer Colleen AF Venable, I got excited about showing her what I had and getting her feedback on it when I was in New York.

As I opened my sketchbook, though, I knew already what her thoughts on it would be. It's terrible from a design standpoint, in that it tries to show off too much and ends up being a mess. She had earlier mentioned that this is a problem some artists have, making their covers too busy. I've always griped about it, but I definitely understand it! The idea of letting a simple but strong image be the sole thing grabbing a potential buyer/reader's attention is scary.

Colleen suggested doing a LOT of thumbnails. Thirty plus. And I'm glad she did! I've been doing a whole bunch, and have found a few that I like. Here are those few!

Regarding that simplicity thing, I'm terrified of using just silhouettes for the baggage handlers in the bottom left corner one above, even though I know that would be the best way to approach it.

I'm most leaning towards the bottom right two here. One is a war elephant throwing a guy into the air, and the other is a swashbuckly guy sailing over a battle scene.

In all of these thumbnails, I'll really paying attention to the rule of thirds, which is a principle of composition that says that if you divide an image into three parts, both vertically and horizontally, the viewer's eye will most easily gravitate towards one of the points where those divisions intersect. I usually don't pay as much attention to this, allowing my compositions to be more organic (besides, it's more or less ingrained in me by this point), but I wanted to approach these cover designs very methodically.

So no one be upset if I don't pick the one you like, but I am curious - which cover stands out most to you as a good one? My inclination right now is probably the swashbuckly guy, but there are still three or four other contenders in my mind.

BOOM! Studios Visit

2011-02-07T05:53:00.001-05:00

This weekend we had editor Ian Brill and Editor-In-Chief Matt Gagnon up from BOOM! Studios to talk to the students and look at some portfolios. I did some sketches during their talk.

I other news, though also SCAD-related, I recently learned that I have been awarded SCAD's Presidential Fellowship, which means I get a budget to help undertake a personal project. I'm going to be putting out a sketchbook - a pretty massive one, actually. It'll be 184 pages and 8.5x11." I'll have lots of pinups, research drawings, character and environmental designs, thumbnails, and from-life sketches, among other things, all with a running commentary on why each design decision was made. I'll have it out sometime in May.

Some pencils from "Crogan's Loyalty"

2011-01-27T18:12:00.001-05:00

Sorry for being so long absent from the blog, after I'd done a decent job of posting every day. I've been working on a paper I have to present at a conference in New York in a few days, and doing Crogan stuff, too. Here's one of the more recent, less spoiler-filled pages of late. I've mentioned before that I do my "pencils" in pen, so this is not the final art, just the underdrawing. Using pen and spotted black areas helps me nail down the compositions and hopefully make sure that even detail-filled areas like forests still have the visual clarity needed for a reader to know what's happening.

I'm still hoping to have Crogan's Loyalty entirely finished by the time school lets out this summer. I have no idea what the release date is going to be - I think we're going to figure that out as soon as I'm done with the pencils/script (I do them together), but keep your eyes peeled. In the meantime, the first two books have been popping up on a lot of "best books for teens" lists lately, so if you haven't checked them out yet, do (even if you're not a teen).

Ahsoka Tano

2011-01-09T20:30:00.000-05:00

I was going to post this one tomorrow, but rumor has it that we'll be knee-deep in snow with no power, so I thought it prudent to drop it tonight.

This is the last Star Wars pic I'll be posting for a while - the school week is starting back, and during weekdays I need to work on Crogan's Loyalty - but I wanted to post my favorite new character from the TV show before wrapping this round up.

Star Wars has been one of the few action franchises to have strong female characters. Princess Leia is lots of fun; Padme Amidala is like a shrewish, second-rate version of Princess Leia, but at least she can handle her own. But the show has introduced the character of Ahsoka Tano, the first Star Wars female character that, had I been a girl growing up rather than a strapping young lad, I would have wanted to play in the backyard as. Fourteenish, daredevil, and optimistic, she's one of the more likeable characters in the whole SW franchise, at least in my opinion. Kudos to the Lucasfilm folks for making a character that my daughter can identify with should she ever want to play Star Wars.

General Whorm Loathsom

2011-01-09T12:42:00.001-05:00

Another one of the Star Wars portraits. This one's unfortunately named "Whorm Loathsom," but he's got a great design. I love how shape-based the new aliens in the TV show are.

Obi-Wan Kenobi

2011-01-08T13:20:00.001-05:00

Here's TV show Obi-Wan Kenobi destroying the battle droids. Using the droids for humor was a great move on the part of the showmakers - it really helps to keep the show up to the action-cartoon standard of, say, Avatar (the good show, not the bad movie).

Hondo Ohnaka, Weequay Pirate

2011-01-07T14:16:00.000-05:00

Here's another Star Wars drawing - Hondo Ohnaka, chief of a band of Weequay pirates, from the Clone Wars TV series.

If there's one thing Star Wars can't have enough of, it's pirates and cowboys. Well, not cowboys per se, but western-influenced stuff.

I don't think I mentioned the size at which I'm drawing these. They're fairly small - 4" x 6".

Han Solo

2011-01-05T04:20:00.001-05:00

Here's another Star Wars drawing - Han Solo.

Tusken Raider

2011-01-04T01:58:00.001-05:00

I got a few Star Wars miniatures on a pretty big clearance markdown just before Christmas and stuck 'em in this display cabinet that I have in my studio that, until now, has remained empty save for a few papo animal figures that I use as drawing reference. This, plus starting to watch the Clone Wars cartoon series on DVD, has put me in a pretty Star Warsy mood. So I figured that when I do my keep-in-shape drawings this week I'd do some Star Wars characters.

Here's the first:

Sand People. The worst.

Community Avengers

2010-12-21T03:48:00.000-05:00

I got a commission to draw the cast of Community, easily my favorite show on TV. I decided to draw them as the Avengers.

(Click on the above image for a full-sized version)

For folks who watch the show, here’s a Christmas present for you: I went ahead and sized it for wallpapers, should you be inclined to use ‘em. I'm not tech-savvy enough to know how to make 'em download straight away, so just click on the one that fits your screen size and drag the image to your desktop (if you're on a Mac) or save it, I think (if you're on a PC).

• 1600 x 1200
• 1280 x 1244
• 1280 x 960
• 1152 x 864
• 1024 x 768
• 800 x 600
• 640 x 480

For folks who don’t watch Community, start! I promise you, you are missing out on one of the best group dynamics of any sitcom, ever. I could go on and on about how great the show is, but I won’t, ‘cause it would be boring.

I’m taking a few days off posting to the blog for the next few days. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Twitter

2010-12-19T01:57:00.000-05:00

I have a twitter now: http://twitter.com/#!/schweizercomics/

I guess follow me to get the play-by-play.