Things are getting hot here in Atlanta, as well as in the ZUDA competition GIANT KILLER TURTLE is in. Actually, it's a fizzling heat as we have dropped from 2nd-3rd, and now we are in 4th... ugh. what happened? If you're reading this and haven't voted, HURRY up and log onto www.zudacomics.com and log in to vote. p-please?
Other than this, things are going well with 70-30, been working on the show and it is going to be 'effin hilarious! stay tuned for more on that.
I also just finished reading "The Surrogates" from Top Shelf comics, and it was really fantastic. Great art, great writing, and now a movie with Bruce Willis in the works. I can't get enough. Buy it!
Other than that, been working on the early stages of my new project, hopefully I can get some character sketches up for you soon. I'm also going to start posting some Rex O'Bannon pages for you to enjoy.
Print Email Alright,
Sorry it's been a while, I can't even remember my last blog, but I finally have news worth sharing, so rather than ramble about nothing I can say stuff with merit, so here it goes!
I made it to Atlanta safe and sound, and the trip was forever long, days and days of traveling. And the trip didn't get a great start either, due to our two cats, yes cats in the car on the 3 day trip from Maine to Atlanta. First day during a break our cats were released to roam the tightly packed car and hopefully use the litter box (although I was secretly hoping they would not, cause that's gross) when someone had the bright idea to put them on leashes so they could walk around the parking lot. Remind you, these are indoor cats, striped from their home and tossed into a box for a 3 day trip. Achilles flipped when the car door opened and started to run. Seeing that this rabid cat would take off and we'd never see him again, I grabbed ahold of him and tried to hang on, the cat wiggled out of it's harness, biting and scratching the entire time. I handed it off to my wife in the car and he calmed down. Unfortunately it left me with 6 large puncture wounds and some scratches that bled all over my clothes and the parking lot. So, safe cat for nasty wounds and 2 weeks of penicillin. Worth it?.....yes.......?
But Atlanta has been pretty cool so far. The new job is great, the guys at 70/30 are all super cool and the cartoon we are working on will be SUPERB! I really think we are going to turn some heads on Adult Swim. Looking forward to that.
But Atlanta, itself is a neat city. Lots to do, and very, VERY HOT! It's starting to hit 90 now, and from what I hear later in the summer is worse due to humidity. My pale Maine skin can hardly stand it! The worst part is that the ac in the new apartment isn't working yet, so I sweat in a bitter heat all night, as my memory foam slowly absorbs it. Nastiness. I do however have a new office, which is pretty fantastic, with 2 count'em TWO windows! That's TWO more windows than I have EVER had in an office. So I'm pretty jazzed about that. I even have a picture to show you all. Notice the sweet drawing board complete with never before seen Rex O'Bannon page, and zesty black desk from IKEA. Corkboard on wall displays whatever I am working on or whomever the flavor of the week is. In this picture it's a little Jeff Cruz and some Cheeks.
I can also finally announce Neal Holman and I have our title Love Lust and a Giant Killer Turtle up on zudacomics.com in a contest. There are a lot of great entries, but if you'd like, I'd LOVE you if you took the time to go over and vote. It's a great site, and Neal and i are just getting started with this story. So please, GO VOTE!
And that is it for now. If you ordered a commission from me, it is done, it just needs to be scanned and sent over to you, sorry it's taken a bit, this southern heat is slowing me down. All commissions will be sent out this week, so you can count on that.
Thanks, and I hope to see you on ZUDA soon!
-Chad
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Conventions, Iron Man, sketchcards Print Email
Many thanks to those who took advantage of my sketch card sale! I really needed the extra cash to make it to Atlanta, so again, thanks!
Speaking of Atlanta, this is my last week before leaving for the big hot city. Been relaxing and enjoying friends, family and the gorgeous Maine weather before I roast. This last week has been pretty great, getting to go to going away parties, and b-day parties (May 9th baby!) and seeing friends I may not get to see again for quite a while. Makes me want to shed a tear *sniff*
But among all of this partying I have been hard at work with 70/30 getting things all set up, learning the ropes. It's MUCH different than what I thought, still very cool, but before I knew how this show was made I never would have guessed it. The hand drawing is mostly just in the design element of it, fleshing out characters and whatnot, but the drawings on the show are all Adobe Illustrator. Illustrator is kind of a neat program and I'm getting more used to it, but it can be SUPER tedious. I couldn't tell you how many times a day I yell at my computer screen when I misplace an anchor point and my lines get bunged up. But I'm getting better, it's just taken a little time to get used to it. After Effects is another program I am SLOWLY learning, and that's pretty cool as well. Although it's not used by 70/30 I think Flash is up next to put into my bag of tricks.
But I'll have more to share when I get down there, which will be soon!
Next order of business, IRON MAN! What a great movie, perfect. Special effects, great acting, great story, humor, it had it all, I've seen it twice now, and I wouldn't hesitate to see it again. Really looking forward to a sequel. But, the previews were just as good, the new Batman flick looks killer, and the Joker is pretty damn scary. The new HULK movie, I'm not so sure about. After the bomb that was the first movie, I'm both hesitant and anxious to see where they take this. Also, I liked the design better for the HULK in the first movie. But, we'll see. I'm not going to judge it just yet.
I also finished reading The Watchmen. Took me a long time to gather the courage to read it. I kept getting pooped on for not reading it, as many comic nerds considerate the Bible of Comic Art and storytelling. I wasn't sure about the old school art, and panel layout seemed kinda meh. But, I picked it up, and it opened my eyes. It was GREAT! The art grew on me really quick and he does some amazing things, the story is great and the pacing is TOP NOTCH! I really had a great time reading it, and hope that the movie does it justice.
I've also been looking into conventions for the summer. Now that I'm going to be out of the boonies, I'm going to be able to hit up a few shows. Probably the Heroes Con (which looks awesome) and Dragon Con (which also, looks awesome) Not sure if I'll be getting a table or anything, or if they even have any available, but if not I'll probably be walking around with sketchbooks, posters, and whatnot. If you see me there, say hello, check out some Rex O'Bannon pages. It'll be a good time ;)
New art- been pretty busy, so I don't have a ton, but I'm going to add some stuff I did for Jason Burn's different projects. He is a great writer and his books at Viper are top notch. I've been wanting to work with him for a while now, but timing is horrible. Someday, someday soon I hope!
Free Comic Book Day- kinda meh, the shop I went to is kinda small and didn't have a whole lot, got a avengers and superman comic, and my wife got uncle scrooge. Thankfully, a friend of mine is sending me a Atomic Robo comic he got. THANKS!
Okay, that's it.
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SKETCH CARD ART SALE!!! Print Email Hey all!
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Cartoons on TV from Hotlanta! Print Email
Long time, no blog. I'm past apologizing, deal with it!
But, because its been forever long I finally have news, which must be a relief to those who show up here expecting something new and just get a few unsatisfying scribbles here and there. I have a reason for it! I have been working with the fine folks at 70/30 Studios designing cartoons! Pretty awesome, and sorry for not sharing sooner, but I gotta play by the rules! So yea, I'm going to be helping them out and will be moving to the ATL in May, which is pretty exciting. For those of you who are still saying, "Um, that's kinda cool but who is 70/30?" ----Well, I'm glad you asked! 70/30 is a swell animation studio that brought you such great cartoons as Sea Lab
2021,
And currently the greatly funny Frisky Dingo;
(who's first season is now on DVD, and is worth every penny, so go pick it up!)
But this is why art has slowed down a tad, and I am still taking on commissions, but they just haven't been posted as regularly. I'm pretty pumped to be apart of the team, during my visit everyone seemed super awesome, so moving day in May can't come soon enough. I'll still keep on top of comics, it's my love, but it will be nice to collaborate on something this big with other artists. Gonna be a great ride!
The trip to Atlanta itself was alright, I live in Maine, and flew out of Boston, but dropped my car off in New Hampshire, so it was a lot of travel. 4hrs to NH, Hour and a half into Boston, then the 2 hour flight into ATL. Pretty exhausting, but well worth it to meet Neal (art director of 70/30 and writer and toner for Giant Killer Turtle) and his super great friends, and co workers. Finding an apartment itself while in Atlanta was kinda exhausting. Saw one real shit hole in particular. In a part of town I wasn't to keen on, we saw a 3 bedroom with piss stained carpet, a wall that had been chewed through by a dog and a bedroom with an old stained chair in the middle of walls covered floor to ceiling in maxim magazine covers.... But, thankfully I was told the paint underneath the Maxim 'wallpaper' could be removed and had fresh paint underneath. Yea, I don't think the rank seamen stains could be removed from that floor no matter how hard it was scrubbed. No thanks....
On top of this I had another Land Lady tell me if I asked if the neighborhood was safe she would bitch-slap me. No thanks...
But by monday I had signed a lease and am now the proud renter of what should be a cool apt. And, their is a good chance I'll be able to hit up Dragon-Con! WOOP!
But that is what is new with me, Next blog should happen fairly soon, and have some important news on Giant Killer Turtle, and Rex O'Bannon, that I just can't tell you yet (sorrrrr'ay!) I've also got a slew of LOTR cards and some Marvel Masterpiece cards that I NEED to get commissioned before I move, so their may be a sale coming up ASAP!
And with that, I leave you with a sweet Bill Board I saw in Atlanta with my main man KillFace for Frisky Dingo!
WE'RE GONNA ROCK THE SHIT OUTTTA ADULT SWIM YO!!!
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New Rex Cover and Smudge Free! Print Email
I am horrible at updating this blog! I told myself it was going to be weekly, but alas, it is not. I'm just going to have to start getting on here and blabbing about my cats or something, just so you know I'm alive.
But, I have been hard at work, making the new Rex O'Bannon book look all spiffy keen, it will be 30 pages of awesomeness guaranteed! And a bit of news on that subject, the wonderfully talented Jeremy Treece is no longer going to be working on the book, due to the change from color to greyscale. Although I'm going to miss his awesome coloring, I'm kinda jazzed about greyscale. It is a pulp noir book, originally designed to be in greyscale, so now we finally got what we always wanted. I'll have to post some preview pages for you. But until then, you can take a look at the new and improved cover, colored by the fantastic John Rauch. You may be saying "Isn't that just the old cover?" well, no it is not, you silly person. but it is quite similar. Re drawn, and updated along with new colors and background, we wanted to focus on the mutants and give Rex and Socrates a little update. I'm pretty darn happy with it, let me know what you think:
In more personal news, I have a new fav gadget, simple but ohhhhh so effective, called the Smudge Guard. Like have a year ago Jeremy Treece was telling me how awesome this little glove was, and I kinda wrote it off. A few days ago my tiny closet of a drawing room was heating up and my hand was sweating (nasty I know) and dampened the paper, making a mess of the pencil and super hard to ink over. That night, in a bitter rage i ordered the smudge guard, and like a day later it arrived. I gotta say, it's pretty awesome. No hand sweat, my hand glides across the paper. A+ product. Show them a little love: http://www.smudgeguard.com/
And lastly, I finally got my sweaty little hands (although not anymore due to the Smudge Guard
) on a copy of Dan Hipp's new book Gyakushu! 2. I loved the first one, and this doesn't disappoint either. It is fantastic, art and writing too. I'd highly recommend picking it up.
And that is it for now kids, I'll try to get back to you soon with some Rex Pages and new art.
-Chad
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little rex preview, a turtle cover, and a bum computer Print Email
So it's been quite a while since I last did a little blog, and for good reason, my dell, my baby, my pride and joy, bit the dust due to a crack down the motherboard. *sniff* it was like loosing a leg I'f afraid to say. But thankfully all my stuff is backed up, and I am now back at it with a new shiny macbook! Something I've wanted for a long time, and finally had an excuse to get one. And so as I type this, I'm quite content, but it's been an adjustment getting used to it. The operating system leopard, is really cool but just much much different from windows. It's like learning how to use a computer all over again, but its fun. So, now that I had to buy this, I could use some commissions to pay for it, and I'm not going to be shy about asking!
Sketchcards- $20 full color
Marvel Masterpiece Cards- $200
3 LOTR Masterpiece Cards left- $200 (ask which ones)
9x12" inked on bristol- $55
+shipping+fees
Hit me up if you have any questions!
I've gotten a little artwork in too, a small preview from my boy jeremy of some colors that will grace the pages of Rex O'Bannon. So here is a little tease of pg4. (side note- the whiskey will look more like whiskey and less like oj when its finished)
And I also have the colors for the Giant Killer Turtle project I did a while back with Neal Holman. The paints are by Daniel Cox, and I think he did a great job, I am in love with this cover!
And that is that, so hopefully I'll be back at it posting more regularly, and have the new Rex cover up soon.
-Chad
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Update Print Email Not much new to report. The Superbowl has come and gone and the Giants won, and New England sucked it up. Gotta admit though, it was a pretty fun game, and exciting at the end, I'd rather have a great game than anything else. And, it's cool too to see the underdogs win, so I can't complain.
But probably the best part of the superbowl is the commercials, and by far the best this year was that AWESOME Ironman preview! Ahhhhhh, it was gorgeous. May 2nd can't come soon enough.
Other than that, just a lot of work, some I can't tell you about, lots of Rex, and colors coming later this week. By the next time I post, I should have a color preview for you, you can count on it! Sketchcards too, I'm a little backed up but slowly making my way through. If you have a commission out from me, plan on hearing from me by the end of the week.
And thats it... kind boring. Finishing Rex up, and awaiting the release of Dan Hipp's GYAKUSHU! 2 . It'll be great!
Talk to you next week
-Chad
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Look-a-like, Rambo and stuff Print Email
Hey-o
Trying to keep this blog as weekly as possible, although it gets to be a little hard, bleh, here we go.
Things are looking good with Rex O'Bannon PI, I'm getting near the finish line and my good pal Jeremy is going to start coloring it up next week, and when he does I'll post some sweet previews for you, get you all excited
I also saw RAMBO recently, wow is all I can say, how horrible! Not the movie, the movie was pretty okay, pretty much rambo 80's over the top action. But the violence was out of this world. The one thing that really stood out to me was how horrible things were for the people, rape, murder, people cutting of limbs, being fed to pigs, and this stuff goes on, and its sick and scary. ugh. Anyway, if you want to see a violent action movie that will make you cringe at the amount of gore and horrible things that happen in the world, check out RAMBO.
And the last part of the blog is kinda personal, all my life I have always been told "You look just like so and so" It's been someones friend or brother, but most of the time, its Doogie Howser MD. The lady at Sam's Club, the pharmacist at RiteAid, some lady in the street that pulled me over to tell me I look like him, and the list goes on. Lately it's been some race car driver named Kimmi or something. A guy in an art history class told me this, and apprarently some others have agreed. Anyway, I made a little chart for all you fine folks at home to decide for yourself!
Have a good weekend, NEW REX PAGES SOON!
-Chad
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