"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...

Recoup achieved....

OK...

I am now roughly at the spot where I previously stood when I lost all my hard drive data.
This is a major landmark for me and I just felt that it warranted at least a small post.

A few more hours of work and it will be all new territory for me... and let me tell you, that's a good feeling.
The pages look even better than before and I have some new ideas regarding execution that I'd have never conceived of if not for this sort of forced "retrospect"...

Wish me luck...

"Paging Dr. Dobberful..."

Hey Jim...

You out there?

I lost all your contact info when my hard drive went out awhile back...
Please come in, sir...

"Tapestry"

If you could have only seen how sublimely elegant this model was in the flesh...

This is one of my more successful renditions of this languidly sensual model... just wait until I can get a proper scan of the thing!
It looks SO much more restrained in execution on the coarse paper. Somehow... the scanner inherently pushes the contrast and saturation levels too severely in every scan... and then there's the blur...

Oh well... I can only hope that when the classes begin again, this gal makes another appearance...
I actually challenge anyone to get a bad sketch out of her...

Interim...

I've seen a lot of life drawing work on my friend's blogs recently... and because I've posted so rarely these last few weeks, I figured that I would jump on the bandwagon as well!

These are a few drawings from the symposium I attended at SVA a few months back for school alumni.
Keep in mind, these are awful, blurry scans from a dying piece of hardware without the proper flatbed space for full-size newsprint pad images...

These are all 5 to 15 minutes drawings... with the exception of the last head shot ( I squeezed in another few minutes afterwards on that one to make it an 18 minute drawing).

I hope to replace these images once I get a proper scanner...

"Retread"

This is the re-do of the third page...
A bit fancier than the last go... but basically the same animal with a few touch-ups.

At this point, I just want to get the accursed thing finished...

Again, the color is much more vivid and striking in the actual full res scan... I just wish that I could post those suckers here.
What a difference a few 100 degrees of DPI makes!

"Mustn't ... give... up..."

OK... I'm on my way back, folks!

Pages 1 and 2 are completely finished (sans final tweaks) and page 3 is already 3/4 completed as well...
It's been an ugly journey so far, but at least I've managed to crawl my way back into the saddle once again. Once page 3 is squared away and I'm immersed in page 4, I'll be ALMOST back where I was before the big crash...

To be honest, the new colors look even a bit better than before... most noticeably on the third page. I'll be sure to post it once I finally get it squared away.

I'm just hoping that my new sense of urgency continues onward through the new work... wish me luck!

I'll have more artsy stuff posted soon... just gotta keep my nose to the grindstone right now...
Thanks to all of you that commiserated.

Seriously...

DISASTER...

Yup... it's all gone.

My hard drive crashed as I was trying to transfer files to a DVD a week or so back... and now I'm faced with the horrific prospect of starting over on my coloring chores from scratch.

Unbelievable.

I lost 4 years worth of work, files, and personal items...
I was trying to burn it all off to DVDs, but I guess I just wasn't fast enough... or fortunate enough to have more leeway.
Even with all that I have lost, it's the lost color work that stings the most... the final panel of page 4 had over 30 full figures in it (and even more partial background figures) and was perhaps the best color comic book panel I had ever produced to this point. Agonizing...

All that is left are the super-condensed files I posted here for feedback...
I can't even use them to re-create the original colors because of their bleached out tonality and severely pixelated textures.

No one could save the drive... and I even sent it to Drive Savers in California who are supposedly the best at that sort of thing.
I'm completely heartbroken and discouraged... maybe this is just a sign that this story was simply never meant to be... I've met setback after setback at EVERY stage of this book.

Perhaps someone is trying to tell me something...



Well...

FUCK whoever it is... I restart the color work this week anyway. This book gets done by the end of this year or I take a header off the Brooklyn Bridge...

PS: Eric gets all my DVDS... maybe I'll leave the Godzilla stuff to Justin. With the cash he'll get from selling it all off, he might even be able to commission a proper Kamen Rider Amazon Custom motorbike;)

Sweatbox

A bit more progress on page 4 of the book... almost halfway done with this nightmarish task...
I'll drop the full page on this post once I finish with the color chores completely.

This panel is far more yellow-green in it's full resolution to push the hot, hazy atmosphere of the panel...
I hope that even in this compromised version, the oppressive heat of the crowded city streets can be felt.

"Lucky trio..."

Just got to see a copy of "Eye Candy from Strangers" over the weekend... a sort of hodge-podge showcase of sexy girl art published by Brand Studio Press to promote both area Illustrators and their art book line... and saw my painting inside!

I was shocked to actually see it in full print glory covering a full page... man, Alberto must've been hittin' the bottle awful hard during that editing session! Regardless, it was nice to have more work in print...

Funny thing is... this is not truly a painting at all... it is actually 3 small oil sketches from a series of female nudes I painted using the phases of the moon as a lighting motif. Each painting was executed using only black, white, and one saturated color (some of the luminosity is a result of the ochre wash I used to prime the masonite boards prior to painting. Each color study took exactly 15 minutes to render...

I just scanned three of my favorites, crammed them together alongside one another on a scanner, and turned them into one piece... weird, eh?

"Intro finale"

Still some minor nips and tucks to apply... but basically, here is page three...
I'm quite pleased with the simple layout of this page as opposed to the panel density of the two preceding ones.

On to page four now... and the beginning of our tale...

PAPAYA!!!

"Forward..."

Ok... here's a bit of progress on the second page...
I'm still fiddling with that half-toned center panel, but for the moment... it pleases me.

I'll post the final once I make my usual adjustments...

On to three now!

"Into the breach..."

Just a bit of sample progress on the first page...
Still needs a tiny bit of tweaking, but the basic idea is intact.
I'm still not sure about the sky yet... but it looks pretty cool. Who knows if I'll change my mind tomorrow...

Basic scene establishing shot at dusk with the the first main protagonist on display... the second main character appears in the next panel. I like how the bottom panel background recedes against the black-line layer now...
Geez... by shrinking the file down so dramatically, I've totally killed the color... but I hope it still comes across.

Accursed Photoshop!!!
Why won't it simply execute my dark, eldritch desires upon command?


What a goddamned gyp...

"On letting go..."

Florence Migatz died late yesterday evening as I was coloring the first page of my strip.

She was 89 and was planning to celebrate her 90th Birthday surrounded by her family on May the 25th of this year.
In the end, even though her doctors and my Mother were still desperately trying to save her life... she asked to be let go.
I can't begin to understand what that terrible instant was like for my Mother...

While I was present at both the deaths of my Grandparents, and nearby when the decision was made regarding my Father... I was never required to make that specific choice myself. All I could do was advise those empowered to do what I thought was in the overall interest of those concerned. Even when I disagreed with the course taken, I still tried my best to be positive and supportive.

Of course, this is quite easily done when one knows he needn't be the one to directly shoulder the responsibility for that decision.

I'm very proud of my Mother... letting go of the relative closest to her heart... a woman so beloved that her greed for even a few moments more almost clouded her judgment and set her on a ruinous course that she would have certainly regretted later.
No... she took the only path that could be humanely taken.

It's finally over... nothing left to think on now but missed opportunities...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight, I am in for the evening, sick with a terrible flu that came upon me suddenly. While this in itself is nothing of particular note,... my old Ex from Japan chose tonight to finally respond to my desperate e-mails requesting her new whereabouts (I hadn't heard from her in over 3 months, since she last visited me with her old travel agent friend and stayed in my apartment to save on Hotel fees)...
I knew something was up... but I was not prepared for what she told me.

It appears that she's finally met a brand new beau (it's true what they say about weddings)... and he is very uncomfortable with our continued friendship... even through simple e-mail posts.

Sigh... while I am honestly thrilled that she's finally found someone special to fill her life (truly, I am)... I am also heartbroken that a 5 year chapter of my life is now coming to an abrupt close. It's really just too bad... we were very good with one another. I daresay that she understood me better than any other woman in my life up to this point... it just didn't work out the way we planned in the end.

But I suppose it's for the best, really...
It's just the timing of the news that galls me a bit...


I will miss her.





I will miss them both.

Trying to keep hopeful...

The prognosis is not so good...

She's hooked up to a respirator now and will remain in that situation until she stabilizes.
She had most of her bowel removed, got an Ileostomy and is
resting quietly.
At least this way, the doctor says with time she can
have a good chance at recovering and having a normal life for whatever
time she has left.

He says it will take at least 3 months before her body heals enough to
go in and reconnect what's left of the bowel to her insides again... and even that is a hopeful assessment.

It's not a pretty picture, but it's the only one we have right now.

I keep thinking that there must be something we've done in the past as a family that warrants this sort of run of bad luck.
This could very well be the 5th major tragedy among my immediate relations within the last 3 years... both my Father's father and step-mother, his real mother, and then my Father himself...

I'm trying my level best to be positive... but it's getting to be a harder and harder sell with each successive blow.

Keep working, Greg...
Keep working...

"Cross your fingers..."

It's going to be a long night for me...

My Grandmother is under the knife as I write this.
She is undergoing surgery to remove the blockage within her colon that is keeping her from being able to defecate properly.
Although at her age (89) this sort of operation is incredibly risky, her physician has so far been unable to dislodge the blockage through conventional or standard alternative means... and something radical has to be done to prevent her waste from poisoning her system further.

I was supposed to go visit her this coming May on the 25th to celebrate her 90th birthday...

I guess that I'm just hoping that I'll still get to make that trip for that purpose.


I find myself thinking back to the last time I visited her and my Mother last year...
She was never one for sentimentality... and when I tried to tell her that I loved her one evening after dinner, she asked me to leave her apartment out of flustered embarrassment. It wasn't a mean-spirited sort of reaction... just a sort of unconscious adaptation she had developed for avoiding uncomfortable situations, I suppose. She just told me that she was suddenly tired and needed to get some sleep and hurried me out the door. It was so awkward and forced... if she really wanted to think it through, she could have told me that my Mother was surely getting impatient waiting for me in the car in the parking lot below. It didn't matter though... in our family, that sort of affection is rarely put on proper display, so she did what she had to do to pass an uncomfortable moment.

I suppose that I can only hope that in the many months since those few minutes passed between us, those simple words might give her some comfort in the hard times ahead for her...

I'm just sorry that those humble past sentiments are all I have to offer her now.