Lookee What I Was Able To Snag At Last Weekend's 'Toronto Comic Show'.. A Copy Of "GAMUT #3"!!  This

A Julie Newmar-esque "CAT GIRL" illo inked by my friend Rodney Dunn, back in '97.. A talented artist, who (sadly) ended his own life in June 2005. "Dynamite" was the nickname he gave me.. I still miss him.

I’ve been busy creating new artwork for “JackTober 2022″, lately.. The Day 22 prompt, was: (you guessed it) “The HULK”!!! Added a bit of digital color to it, using Photoshop.. It’s based on one of Jack Kirby’s classic poses. But I played around with some of the character proportions and other details..

Happy Holidays to all my Internet friends!!  Here's what this year's version of the Christmas card ended up looking like.. It was my meager attempt to ape the stylings of Eyvind Earle.. I had plans to model more shadows onto the limbs of the foreground tree,-- but I simply ran outta creative steam before the deadline crashed down onto me..

The other day, I unearthed 3 pages of Storyboard Cleanup, which I had zero memory of. Not only couldn’t I identify the series, but the time period escaped me, as well. After posting it to my Instagram, a few kind souls volunteered that it was actually from: “My Dad The Rockstar”, which aired in 2003..

The only thing I knew for sure, was that I did the Storyboard Cleanup job for my friend: Rob Walton. I’ve only ever done cleanup for him. Usually, at times of extreme deadline crisis.. I thought it’d be fun to lookup the episode online and make a few screengrabs to compare the finished broadcast shots to the initial storyboards..

The episode was entitled: “High Infidelity”, and was the 4th show of the 1st Season. I recall making the storyboard panel grid myself, and the underlying blue rough drawings were mine too, based on pencil roughs Rob provided. Looking at the finished shots, I was a bit surprised to how graphic the interpretations were.. I didn’t have any model sheets to work from. And simply did my best to glean volumes and construction of the characters, from Rob’s roughs..

This was a Nelvana cartoon series, co-produced with Gene Simmons of KISS fame. The Layout Supervisor was my late friend from Sheridan College: Kevin Klis.. I recall that some of the layout work was also farmed-out to George Elliott’s studio. But I don’t know the extent of that arrangement..

A keen eye will spot a few bad Layout tangents that managed to slip thru.. On the 2nd page of screengrabs, the first few shots almost appear to have the kid bully (“Buzz” Sawchuck) reaching into the van. Who’s arm is it?  it’s really supposed to be the arm of the bald tropical shirt dude, leaning on the van window.. On the 3rd screengrab sheet, you can see that there is a bad leveling error of that same bald dude, sandwiching the bulk of his body BEHIND the actual van seat he’s supposed to be sitting in?!.. I think the unfinished rough of the bald dude falling out of the van was simply a gag that Rob suggested, that was not even in the script..

Like I say, I can’t recall. But it was a fun job to work on. Thanks!

Anime Mermaid from 2004, that I digitally colored for "MerMay 2108"..

Li’l Hot Stuff

A lovely 50’s-style Showgirl pin-up, by my favorite artist & dearly-missed friend: Dave Stevens..

A Belated HAPPY HALLOWE’EN !!

They recently staged a "Hallowe'en" -themed Art Show at the studio I work at.. I decided to contribute a couple of old EC Fanzine illustrations that I did many years ago.. Sadly, I no longer own the pen-and-ink originals.. But I'd always wanted to color these; and the Art Show finally gave me the chance to do so!  Both images feature all 3 of EC Comics' famed "GhouLunatics" characters, along with a lot of other creepy and gory stuff!

Digging through some old drawings last night, I found these.. After seeing a few examples of my Fan Art in the pages of AMAZING HEROES, I was approached by publisher Dave Goode to do cover art for his “SQUARED CIRCLE Comix”. I was very flattered, as the interior story was drawn by Bill Ward, a favorite artist of mine!

I was all of 25 years old in August of ‘88 when I drew this, so I can see a lot of things I’d definitely do differently now. I recall that Goode sent me a sampling of Steve Reeves photo reference for “Brad King”, the wrestler featured here.. I’m guessing I used a Marilyn Monroe photo book by Andre De Dienes, for the “Sugar Caine” bikini babe?

I was pretty obsessed (still am!) with Dave Stevens artwork, at this point. And while I like the Poses and Staging, the line weight on the inking is pretty sketchy. Even so, I recall mailing this and a number of other art samples to Dave Stevens. He wrote back a nice letter to me: “As for your drawing ability, you seem to have a good grasp on the Figure. So you shouldn’t have any trouble getting work. Based on the wrestling piece you did, I’d say you’re ready to try your stuff on a story..” 

You could have knocked me over with a feather, after that.

This is the other Daniel Torres artwork, that I purchased at a recent Heritage Auction.. A large mixed media illustration of “Roy Batty” from one of my favorite films: "BLADE RUNNER”! You can see in the 2 large panels across the top, that Torres illustrated: “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion..” (LEFT) As well as: “..C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate” (RIGHT)  This illustration was published in the November 2019 issue of FOTOGRAMAS Magazine, to accompany an article about Ridley Scott’s groundbreaking 1982 film!

I was up ‘til about 3am coloring an OLD pen-and-ink drawing for the upcoming “Summer Art Show”, held at the studio I work at.. Today, I’m physically wiped, as a result. I tried to use a color palette that conjures up the feeling of an old 50′s-era comic-book cover.. Perhaps a nod to the ‘MARS ATTACKS’ cards, too? It still feels rushed, but I do like the way his leather boots turned out!