Muscle Head

Back from HOLIDAYS and the work has PILED UP. Sun, sand, and seashores has come to a grinding hault-although my head is still trying to catch up to my current location-HOME.

On my travels I brought a moleskine sketchbook with me with the idea of being as portable as possible. That and my portable paint set, I set off to capture as much as I could. I soon realized that porability was too confining and looked forward to my regular tools.

Instead I took loads of pictures (which I will post on my pinterest site) and rediscovered the Canadian Maritime's seashore. I fell in love with a moment that I wish I could live out for as long as possible while staring out into the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean. I pondered life through a Hemingway novel as the Old Man and The Sea. The potential to live our lives as simply as we want it to be without the trivialities and diatribes of everyday life that consumes most of our time.  Suddenly my lovely thoughts are replaced by the voice of Mr. Waturi, from Joe Versus the Volcano, saying, "NOBODY FEELS GOOD.  AFTER CHILDHOOD IT'S A FACT. I FEEL ROTTEN. SO WHAT! I DON'T LET IT AFFECT MY DAY.

So apart from philosophical repartee, today's daily sketch is MUSCLE HEAD.

Orinoco Crocodile

Reptilious Amazonius Daily Sketch

Daredevil

Daredevil Daily Sketch

Modok

Modok Daily Sketch

Sketch in June

Red pencil and digital render

Superhero Month: CAPTAIN AMERICA

Wouldn't it be interesting to do a mini series related to Heros and Parenting. Hmmm?  What a novel idea.  Hello Marvel can you hear me? 

While parents among us are everyday heros juggling several responsibilities and taking on several roles, not much has been done with our superhero counter parts.  Imagine Captain America coming home after a hard day's work with the Avengers only to take on the demanding role of parenthood: preparing breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, monitoring homework, facilitating sibling rivalry, sleep deprivation, picking up barfy messes, poop disasters, laundry and household maintenance, and doing it all with great enthusiasm and smiles day after day after day. My hats off to you Captain, and to all the countless parents who pull this stuff off with ease.      

Superhero Month: THOR

Thor  rockin' out

Introducing BITTERMOOR

Several months ago I announced to friends and colleagues the new project I was working on. A long-format strip (influenced by the format used by George Herriman to do Krazy Kat  and Winsor McKay's Little Nemo In Slumberland) that I was planning on releasing every month. Crazy I know, but worth a shot.

The strip originally was to be called, Lady Gertrude, which I later renamed it BITTERMOOR, the name of the city where the story takes place.  I haven't worked out all the details and the main character is still called Lady Gertrude.  There are also a host of characters that I've been working on and who will make their appearance as the story progresses.

Sorry for the delay, guys. The pressures of working around my family is my greatest challenge and my greatest joy. It often becomes a balancing act between a social life, late nights, and quality time all around. I'm often amazed at how proficient I've become managing my work deadlines, making time for side projects, and spending time with my family. And as my wife has often heard me curse countless times, of my dislike for multitasking I'm amazed at how often I find myself doing just that.

I'm very excited about this project.  I'm still fleshing out Gertrude in more detail but she will evolve naturally over time.  I've posted the first issue (with more to follow) and some character sketches of Gertrude's evolution and design development.  Working out the design process of which methods to follow, programs to use, and overall design and layout decisions has been a constant challenge and, I'm certain it will continue to prove challenging in the months to follow. Overall I'm very excited to be working on this project and it will be awesome to look back at its progression from time-to-time.

Check in often...

I originally was too over zealous at inking the font by hand until that proved futile. 

The text and colour were both done digitally using several different software programs. This process has caused me to adapt different ways of doing things as I continue to evolve my learning curve.

 First sketches of Gertrude, I used sticky notes to work out her design features.  

Her body continues to evolve as you can see from these sketches.

During life drawing classes, I sketched Gertrude often to the model's poses.  

The results are amazing and very helpful at figuring out what works 

and doesn't work from a design POV.