Calm before the storm...

Ok... now we get to the nitty-gritty, as they say.
From here on, we introduce a new assortment of vile characters that only last a few panels past their introduction.

Soon, the main protagonist will be introduced... and the true tale joined.

"Plug-licious..."

Popped by the MoCCA Festival at the Armory downtown this afternoon...
It turns out that the cover for "City of Fever" doesn't look too shabby after all!
They managed to get at least close to the tone of the original painting. Very surprising...

Sure... the very first interior credit page has two misspellings ("penceled" and "writen")... but at least my name is spelled correctly;)

All and all, worth the effort.

Back to the grind now...

"Lucky 13"

OK... another page in the can.
This photo-to-location transition page turned out fairly well, I must say. I'm just hoping that it jives properly with the next page's imagery... only time will tell.

The madness really begins in the next few pages... the part of the book that I've been waiting to get to while wading through all these transitional sequences... the carnage fraught studio-turned-abattoir that provides the climax of the tale!

Onward...


PS: Dig the coffee stain on that photo, baby...

Shameless Plug #1...

Just a quickie post today...

I painted a cover illustration for a friend's first graphic novel to debut at this year's MOCCA Festival this coming June.
It was a terrible rush job, given the circumstances... but in retrospect, I suppose that some of the loose spontaneity of the piece was only possible this way.

I hope that it's crude charm helps his sales somewhat...


I'm also including some interior color sketches I did for background elements for his editorial/intro page.

"1/3"...

12 pages in the can now... what a relief.
Still, I've got a looong way to go yet... but now I'm at least moving at a more confident pace.

This page was a bit tricky, but I'm pleased with the results.
The next page is the last "set up" sequence... it's all action from there on out.


Thank goodness, eh?

"Dumbbells"...

OK... here is 11 in all it's desaturated glory...
I hope that the spatter effect works well enough without it being overly gratuitous. I must admit that it went better than I had initially hoped.

I was also pleased with the panel where the titular character is escorted through one zone into another through color cues. This is the sort of transition that I spoke of in my last page entry as well...

Moving on...

The Coming Storm...

OK... I've got two new pages to post soon.
Barring a disaster, I'll have them both up by this weekend... I just need to adjust a few niggling details before I'm comfortable seeing them here in their full pigment-drained, lackluster glory.

Here is just a teaser panel I'm putting up just so I can say that I have an April Fool's post...

"38 up, 10 Down..."

And another page in the can...

I'm embarrassed that it took so long to get this one up, but I've been a bit occupied lately with other interfering influences.
I'll be able to speak more freely about them once they are behind me for good.

This was a challenging page, to be sure... but I'm fairly pleased with the outcome.
Barring a sudden change of heart, this is how the page will basically look (albeit more saturated) in it's final form.


The bottom panel marks where the special lighting of the old coot's office area intersects with the rest of the outside world... a sort of transition between two differing zones.

"In 2001, Greg would do almost anything for cash..."

Here's an old blast from the past...

This was to be a cover illustration for a certain New York Gaming Magazine to illustrate the featured editorial exposing the exploitation of women in the video gaming industry. Needless to say, while they LOVED the piece once it was finished and approved the progress through all the editorial stages, when it came time to go to press... they hadn't the testicular fortitude to follow through with the idea and ran a tame photo instead.

As a sort of lame compensational gesture, the magazine owner offered to buy the original artwork after the whole debacle (he gushed about the piece as soon as he saw the thing)... but the price he offered for the original painting was so insulting I actually burst into spontaneous laughter in his office! I told him that even if he offered double that price, I wouldn't have sold it to him on principal...

What an utter douchebag...

Anyway, here it is in it's lackluster glory... enjoy.

"Peek-a-boo"

Ok... I'm almost on schedule now... kinda.
With page 10 in the works now and nearly 30 more to go, it might seem that I am screwed beyond imagining if I want to finish the colors before July or so... but I am going much faster now and soon most of the pages will have only a single color scheme working within them (aiding selection time), so I should make up a bit of time.
Again... maybe...

Whatever...

If I can get around half of the thing done, I might just try to get it published in two installations...

We shall see....

"Going up..."

Another page bites the dust...

I still might try and put a shadow above the Pugilist's head to imply how tall he is and that he barely fits into the elevator compartment... we'll see.

As I'm learning new special effects and lighting techniques, it's really hard not to use them willy-nilly on the newer pages...
Still, I'm trying to keep the simple look of the color and the integrity of the prior page's mood.
Wish me luck...

Onward...

"Filed away..."

Another page in the can and work presses ever onward...

I'm getting excited that the pages are moving more fluidly than before and that each successive panel is taking less and less time to complete, effects and all.

It isn't easy to learn Photoshop on the fly... but at least I'm slowly carving away at the thing and coming up with my own shortcuts. I'll definitely benefit from the lessons learned the hard way... as agonizing as they might seem at the time.

On to 8 now... I'm eager to start getting into the "action" portion of the story as well...

Sketchdump...

Here are some more sketch samples from my life drawing classes...
All are 3 to 15 minute drawings in charcoal or conte' crayon.

Also posted is a rescan or two of a previously posted drawing that I felt needed to be represented... don't ask me why;)

"Pressing matters..."

Number 6 is now in the can, as they say... with 7 on the chopping block.
I'm slowly becoming more comfortable with the Photoshop tools with each successive page (and I mean "successive" in only the progressive sense, believe me)...

The next page is super dense with a lot of fancy panel work but I hope to have it finished in a few weeks.
I just wish that I could devote whole days to the endeavor, but for now I must fit in coloring sessions between the scarce freelance gigs.

Ok... back to work...

"Not forgotten..."

This is a small tribute post... nothing too fancy or overblown... but just the sort of thing that this particular individual
might find some strange satisfaction in.

It's not much... but it's the best I have to offer him.
In some ways though,.. it is the smallest things that make the biggest difference... so I'm just putting this out there now in the hopes that I can come up with something better in the future.

Anyway,.. he will certainly be missed.


Hey buddy... you were always my favorite.

You know who you are ;)

GREG

Interiors

On to page 6 now with number 5 basically in it's final stages of color...
This one was a tough nut to crack as I continue to learn Photoshop on the fly as I move from panel to panel.

I'm especially happy with the light sourcing on this page... it really helps to have some sort of coloristic surprise when showing successive "talking heads" panels.

Again, colors are much more vivid in the actual files... but hopefully you can get some idea of what the finished page will look like.

Onward...

"GOLEMITE!"

Just a brief teaser to give an idea of what this years Halloween show looked like...
A pretty ambitious production this time,.. full of big sets, pyrotechnics, and multiple props and lighting rigs...
We even had a sound-guy to cue up effects and theme music for the on-stage antics!

I'll post the full video compilation once we have a properly edited cut on You-tube in a week or so...

Page 5 is also almost finished and is only a few texture effects from being posted here as well.
Got to stay on target...

"Sweatbox- Part Deux"

Ok... here is the new fourth page.
It's still a bit raw, color-wise... but aside from minor tweaks, this image is finished.
Hopefully, progress will continue steadily as it has for the last few days. Between freelance illustration and calligraphy gigs, it's hard to really sink any large block of time into the color chores... but the rent has to get paid somehow.

More reddish-brown pages to follow as we zoom into the penthouse office of that building in the last panel...

In a stall...

OK... a recent influx of freelance work has currently delayed progress on my graphic novel coloring chores... but rest assured that work will continue as soon as I've swept this obligatory crap under the carpet where it belongs.

As an apology for being lax on the comic updates... here is a recent 10 minute study from the last SVA alumni drawing class I attended. A brand new season has begun... and I can hardly wait to get my hand moving again in a more classical vein.

Perhaps there are even a few paintings waiting to be inspired by the work...

Who knows?

"It's all about the gravy..."

Here's an image of an old LP cover that just screamed at me to post it for the world to see...
Enjoy!


A relevant post with some new imagery is on the way...