not dead

That is all.

Catastrophic fail

So the HDD on my main laptop is now fried. I'm not entirely sure yet if all my recent artfiles (the stuff I haven't backed up yet) are lost or not, but it isn't looking good. Luckily I won't have lost anything important, but as it stands, I'm sort of dead in the water for art (At least once I'm past the physical line art on paper phase0. Hoping to have a working solution of some sort by the end of the weekend if all goes well. Hmmm... Maybe naming my laptop the Zombie wasn't such a great idea after all. Should have called it the highlander.

Incoming

New images will be up soon, most likely within the next day or two. I have some things in various stages of done, but it's all TGA related and needs to go through Jay first. Patience all, and rewards will follow... Or at least some scribbly lines on paper heh.

Hal con Spidey and vote geek

Another Hal Con sketch, this one from sunday afternoon. Just a little Spidey/Rhino action in non repro blue. If there's anyone out there with some photoshop chops that would like to be a rockstar and give this the digital ink/full color treatment hit me up and I'll send the high res scan along. Color is not my strong point in the least... By a long shot. I'd love to find a colorist to bounce some lineart back and forth with in the near future. There are a few things I have in mind and know that I couldn't do them justice myself. If anyone has interest or knows someone who might, please direct them both here and to the ol' email, northend(at)comic.com Just toss something like "interested colorist" or the like in the subject line.

Also, on an unrelated note, to all the geeksploited out there Geeks versus Nerds needs your support. Go here and vote. Everyday. They could really use the funding to upgrade equipment, host more events, and possibly be able to start touring the show to conventions. If you've found your way here, this is your tribe whether you've realized it yet or not. Show some love.

Hal Con, The Gray Area, and lots of nerd love

It's been forever, but I am in fact, still alive. Still coming down from Hal con 2011 and getting ready to start counting down to 2012. I don't even know where to begin. I had a blast sitting at the ink'dwell comics table all weekend sketching and talking with everyone that stopped by. Jay and Heidi are definitely two of the best kind of people and I can't wait until we get to do it again next year. there was so much positive feedback for Infantasy and What The Wild Things Read. We got the chance to tell people for the first time about the project we're releasing in 2012 as well, but I'll get back to that.

It was a year of firsts for me all around. Had the chance to share said table in the artists alley, took part in a small panel for the launch of WTWTR, and even got to sign some books and posters... Surreal times heh.

I got to meet so many kick ass people over the course of two days. Matt LeDrew of Engen books, Josh Rodgers of Mushface comics, the crew from Kill Shakespeare (Connor, Anthony, and Andy), And Nick Bradshaw to name a few. Found myself outnumbered and being ganged up on by writers all weekend as well (Jay, Connor, and Matt I'm looking at you). A con highlight was having Andy Belanger flip through my sketchbook and offer criticism and advice. Much respect, that dude is good, like whole other level kinda good. Also, Nick Bradshaw was one of the most approachable, laid back people at the convention. I had no cash and nothing to sign, I just wanted to pick his brain and chat for a few minutes which he was more than happy to oblige.

The venue was huge and yet again the people managed fill every corner of the building, all while maintaining that same close knit, warm atmosphere that Hal con debuted with last year. The volunteer staff were great this year, and enough can't be said for the organizers and all the hard work everyone put in. It all sounds so cliche to type, but truth is truth. You guys rocked it!

I have make a point to mention this years Geeks versus Nerds show as well. Holy Hell guys, way to knock it out of the park, past the parking lot, and into the back of some homeless guys head 6 blocks away. One of the highest attended events of the convention, and I'm guessing one of the loudest as well. "Come out and meet your tribe?" Not anymore, the tribe seems to be turning into a nation.

Now then, about that new project. I've partnered up with Jay Paulin at ink'dwell comics again, this time to produce an ongoing series, "The Gray Area". It's super hero title, and despite jumping into a genre that is over saturated, kinda cliche, and damn near impossible to do anything new in that isn't totally ridiculous; I think we've managed hit on something very promising. Or at very least tapped into the right mix of elements to create a "capes" book with a refreshing feel. I'm going to leave all the specifics for Jay to dole out when an "Official" official announcement is made. If you stopped by the table last weekend and caught a glimpse of my sketchbook then you were most likely given the lowdown on things to come. I'm happy to say that reactions were positive all around, with a few people really getting into the idea and my reasoning behind it. Probably the best feeling I had all weekend was hearing some of the kind words and encouragement being given to ole nobody me and my little addition to the spandex club. Thank you everyone. For now though, we have the first images from said series. These are raw scans, untouched and ripped straight out of my poor, abused sketchbook.

Also...

"ZOINKS!"

NEWS! (sort of)

Like the title suggests, I have news... Sort of.

Work on a certain submission to a certain publisher is finally underway. Thumbs and sketches from that may find their way here in the coming days. Also, I hear there are rumblings coming from the IWC camp that a particular nobodies-even-heard-of-me artist may have some really exciting stuff to work on in the near future. Here's a hint; it involves panels and unitards. Wrinkles are being worked out and notes are being collected. There has been much scribbling lately, but nothing that can get posted at the moment. As soon as I can say and show more (or anything heh), trust me, I will. now it's off to more scribbles, and from the feel of it, naps. Everybody likes naps.

Spider Man called, he wants his pose back

Just a little piece of a piece of a panel involving... Ninjas!

However, Finally, all the projects on my plate are done. Time to start sniffing out some new ones I guess. Prospects, we have them. It's just a matter of some discussion to decide what is immediately next. My relationship with ink'dwell comics is now two projects deep, and will definitely be growing as the future progresses. You remember them, right?

There is also a certain submission to a certain publisher that's being worked on on the side with my writer from WTWTR, Jennie Roy. This one could take a little while to see the light of day however, as we want to absolutely nail this one.

And speaking of the goddamn Batman (well, I'm sure SOMEONE was), I've had an idea for a short (probably 3-5 pages) floating in my head for the last few days that I think I need to start putting on paper soon. It's less of an actual story and more so a personal exercise in visual transitions really. I know how I'm doing my page layouts and roughly whats going in every panel for the most part, but haven't even thought about the text itself yet. I may hand the finished art over to someone else along with an overview of the concept and let them fill in the words for me. I believe the appropriate term is "Holy ass backwards Batman".

And on a related note, I may be in the market for a colorist soon. I don't do colors. Well, I don't do them well at least. Having someone to collaborate with on that front would be amazing. I'd love to see some of my lineart fully colored (properly and well) so badly heh.

Hoping to start getting more art up soon and more often as I get the time to work on things that I can actually post here. I'm also thinking of posting some pics of my current work space in the near-ish future just to show the world how ghetto my studio really is. It is growing and improving (albeit slowly).

Until later days, Chewing sharpies and spitting on the page

NicO