just a quick psot...

got a lot to do before johnny's birthday party this afternoon, but figured i'd post real quick...

first off, here's the colored version of the spider-man art for the heroes progam book (i'll have a few 8.5x11 prints for sale at the show)...definitely going for a more "illustration" feel (and would love to do more, we'll see)...



and here's one of the star wars 30th anniversay sketch cards i did for the upcoming topps set (and check out the rest of'm, kindly posted by keith over at at http://www.starwarssketchcards.com/ in the "star wars 30th anniversary" section... duh)... glad i didn't poke around the site before i did my cards (looks like some folks put a LOT of time into these "sketch" cards... more like full color illustrations... wow!), i never would've gotten done in the time i had...



and the sox've won the last 2 games (man, that was a tough hit to watch in the bottom of the ninth with only one out to go in schilling's game thursdya... tough break) and look like they've gotten back into hitting the ball last night (jd drew... wow!)...

i've got a bunch more commissions to post, so i figure i'll get one or two in before charlotte...

-c

heroes con

okay, so heroes con in charlotte is coming up quickly!

turns out this year's show is on the weekend of johnny's 3rd birthday, so we're having his party a week earlier (he's only 3, so it's not a big deal.. and heck, he has a party sooner)...i've been heading down to this show for years (only missed it 3 years ago when johnny was born... which was a pretty darn good reason) and always have a great time hanging out with friends like todd and mike (and WAY too many other to name... like you, mr. "can't be a booth boy since megan's gonna be there but we'll gladly keep you around " brian mulcahy) and talking with fans...

wanted to get a piece in the program book (and the theme was either silver surfer or spidey's black costume) so i came up with the one over the weekend...



besides that, i wrapped up my 100 sketch cards for the upcoming topps star wars 30 set (how could i say no?! i'll post'm later, i'm sure) as well as my latest dc licensing gig, so it's back to those commissions (thanks for being patient... oh, and if by some odd coincidence you're on the list and plan on being at heroes (robert?) lemme know if you want me to bring the piece and get it in person)...

we managed to get out and see knocked up this weekend as well (i absolutely loved it - but ithen again, i thought freaks and geeks was the best tv show in years ... trish, not as much) and got to watch some of the sox-yankees series (even losing 2, boston's still got a healthy lead )...

if you're a comics fan and reading this, i'm sure you check out ringo's blog... and WOW, is that new set-up sweet (makes me wanna redo my sitre... someday)...

well, back to work on this rainy monday morning...

-c

another wonder woman

hmmm, since it's been over a week, you'd think there'd be a lot to post... but with the two kids during the day and working on the dc licensing gig after the family's in bed, i haven't had much time for anything else... besides a few tv shows, which i'll get to in a bit.

we DID get a chance to visit our good friends jamie and karen at the hospital after the arrival of their beautiful baby daughter (good luck with her, jamie!)... since johnny couldn't visit, he's been going on... and on... and on... and on... about going to play at their house and see the baby (who's quite the cutie, i gotta say)...

should be (well, kinda have to be) done with this dc gig next week, so i can get back to a big pile o' commissions and get ready to head down to charlotte for heroes con (and before that, have johnny's big 3 birthday party)...

so, we've gotten to the end of another tv season... heroes seemed a bit anticlimactic, but still interesting... 24, well, it's over... sopranos is looking like it's gonna end with a bang (the last one was just crazy good), the office was great (if you didn't check out creed thoughts over on nbc.com, go do it now! man, i'm really loving that character these days... and the very last bit with ryan = priceless!)... and lost?! i won't spoil anything, but i'm glad i stuck around, 'cause it really picked up and i'm loving what's going on... but GAH, another show with a 9 month wait for the next season?!)... still haven't watched any of the latest veronica mars (figured i'd try and enjoy'm, since that's all we're gonna get... which is a shame, but it's not the first time a GREAT show got cancelled because it couldn't find an audience... at least we got 3 great seasons, right? although it does make me wonder about people when the pusscat dolls show gets better ratings)

okay, back to work... oh and here's that wonder woman i mentioned...



-c

the creature from the black lagoon

okay, here's yet another canson commission... always fun when it's someone/thing i haven't drawn (the upcoming list including josie of the pussycats and jasmine from aladdin, as well as hermoine, should be fun)...

still working on the dc licensing gig, not much else going on here workwise (which is good, 'cause that dc job is keeping me plenty busy)...

thinking about getting together a second canson sketch book for charlotte (although, since i didn't have the first one at last year's show, i might wait 'til baltimore, now that i think of it)... hmmmmm.

sox are on fire these days, dice-k finally showed us what he's really capable of last night and lived up to the hype... very nice. (funny that as a life-long red sox fan, i keep thinking i'd better enjoy this streak now, since the season's barely started... we'll see come september)

don't watch many commercials these days (thanks, tivo!) but i do catch those mac ads once in a while (downloaded and am enjoying the quirky book by john "pc" hodgeman)... as a mac owner, i do find some of those spots funny - not necessarily true, however... especially the mac "genius" spot, seeing that my experience with a "genius" was far from successful (me, after waiting about an hour - "hey, i think there might be a problem with my powerbook's drive, but i'm not sure", genius- "oh no, that's just the cd disc drive, sounds out of balance... it'll be fine for the time being, but you might want to replace it in the future", me- "um, okay... thanks" while thinking i should back up the drive again just in case, which i didn't get to do since the next time i started it up when i got home from the apple store, the hard disc crashed... and while i didn't get any "cryptic error" message like they say pcs get in another spot, i just got a question mark in a folder... not much more encouraging, if you ask me)

okay, enough rambling, back to work!

-c

what i'm listening to as i type this... "the else" by they might be giants

"two fer" tuesday

one of the great things about being in new england here is the changing of the seasons... spring is back and all the trees are starting to bloom (and the kids can play outside again)...

got to see a good game up at fenway ... ugly first inning from dice-k... 5 (runs on 2 hits? ouch.) but it got better.

had a good time up at jetpack comics on free comic book day ... and then spending a few hours at my local shop on sunday.

work moves along on commissions and the dc licensing gig... who knows, maybe i'll get motivated and start contacting editors at dc and marvel again soon...

here's another piece i did for hitoshi and his most impressive collection (check it out on the comic art fans gallery... sorry i don't have the link handy)...



so, there's an end in sight for lost... good for the storytelling, i think. (this season really bounced back after an uneven start... so did 24, to a lesser degree...) season (and series) finales are on the way in the next few weeks, looks to be some good tv.

-c

bring on the sith...

wow, what a beautifully sunny thursday here in new england... been working hard on yet more commissions and a fun job for dc licensing...

was able to catch a sneak of spider-man 3 last night. it was pretty darn good, although it seemed to try and fit an AWFUL lot into the story (with way too much connecting of story elements)... and a few bad "funny" moments ruined the momentum for me... but great action (maybe a bit too frenetic at times) and character development. i'm still thinking the 2 movies i wanna see this summer are superbad and knocked up.

heading up to fenway tonight to see dice-k in action, hope it's a good game!

man, i LOVED that new hellboy book that came out this week (duncan fegredo is easily one of my favorite artists working today... brilliant stuff!)

oh, yeah, here's a few star wars pieces i did for john higashi (hence the title of today's post... although i guess it should be "bring on the bug guys and trooper droids" but that just doesn't sound as cool)...




-c

x-ladies!

geez, with all these commissions i've got here, i could be posting more, huh? guess i don't wanna post'm too quick (in case i get bogged down and the commissions slow up... although at this point i've got at least a dozen in the queue... and all the ones i've already done and scanned).

anyway, here's another of hitsohi's pieces...



so, sox are doing great, yankees not so much (it's still early, i gotta keep telling myself!), randy moss to the pats.... strange stuff!

free comic book day is coming up this weekend, so i'll be up at jetpack comics in new hampshire on saturday (along with ed mcguinness and dexter vines!) and down at my local shop (stillpoint comics in somerset, ma) on sunday afternoon...

not too much to report on the work these days, doing another fun job for dc licensing... with any luck, we'll see what's going on with other pjojects soon...

well, gotta get back to work before i need to go pick up the kids at my folks' house!

-c


what i'm listening to as i type this ... year zero - nine inch nails

catwomen!

okay, so esther asked me for a silver age catwoman and went so far as to send me images for reference... which i glanced at quickly and went ahead and did the piece... not realizing i changed the boots to the golden age costume. not wanting to be trouble, she pointed it out and said she'd take it anyway... but heck, the customer is right (and i clearly wasn't) so i did a new one... luckily, she digs it (and the other one found a home in hitoshi's collection, so it's all good!)

and for folks who've read mike wieringo's blog about his feeling a lack of confidence in his work (or a place in the industry), it's kinda telling how many of his peers (and friends) express the very same feelings... myself most definitely included. i think going to conventions and seeing other artists' work can be motivating... and humbling... and downright depressing when i think about how my stuff compares... heck, i get that feeling almost every week looking through new books at the comic shop.

-c


just read that drive got the boot from fox... (heck, i still haven't gotten to watching the first few on tivo... oh well)

smallville!

okay, so we made it back safely from todd's last night (thanks again, brother! a great time was had by all)...

and now that it's been on the air, i guess i can finally mention one of the gigs i recently did for dc licensing...




smallville: justice and doom! if you were watching the show on the cw last night (sadly, i was busy and tivoing my name is earl), you'dve seen a minute and a half "animated" comic story featuring the smallvile version of the justice league (impulse, green arrow - that's my sample tryout piece above to prove i can do more than animated stuff- cyborg, aquaman, oracle) which continues a subplot on the show about lex luthor and project 33.1... and ties into a big cross promotion game thing with toyota yaris and more... the project was pretty cool to work on, doing all the art on different layers for the animation and effects. they're got 4 more done by other artists which'll air over the next month...

and if you didn't catch it , you can see it online (and learn more about the game) at www.cwtv.com/justice

alright, back to the commission pile! (what an eclectic list... some jedi, josie of the pussycats, creature from the black lagoon, hermoine... and that's just a few)...

-c

tivoed the first few hours of drive but haven't watched yet... but the shield was just brutal (in a good way, but damn if this is gonna get ugly).

ref got me hooked on one of my new favorites on the discovery channel ... survivorman

change of pace

well, we're off to visit todd for a bit... but before we go, i figured i'd post another piece...

believe it or not, this one's for "today's christian woman" magazine... it was a real fun spot illustration to go with a fun article... the client seemd to dig it. i'd say it's a safe bet that 99% of y'all will never see it in print.

-c

whaddaya know... another canson paper piece...

okay, a quick one...
here's a domino commission.

now that the initial hype's over, maybe we can have some realistic expectations for dice-k's pitching here in red sox nation... (and that would mean the sox need to hit the ball, too)

not a surprise, but looks like nbc pulled the plug on andy barker... and the black donnellys got pulled off the schedule, too (usually not a good sign... although i won't miss it... lost interest after the second or third episode)

the shield is still going strong... and lost has got me hooked again... and just when 24 seems off it's game, they throw a curve like the final minutes of this week's show (granted, i doubt this season's gonna match last year, but we can hope).

-c (can't get the title track of fountains of wayne's new cd, traffic and weather, outta my head)

rainy wednesday

here's yet another canson paper piece... wasn't sure which miss marvel costume to go with, but figured i'd go with the new one...

finished up the latest project i've been working on (at least for the time being) so i'm diving head first into getting through a slew of commissions... and trying to drum up more work (and keep working on the next new project todd and i wanna get off the ground... not to mention get a head start on the next 'haps series)...

-c


man, is that new fountains of wayne cd good stuff!

and on the tv front, the shield came back as good as ever last night (took a few minutes to remember everything that happened last year, but... )... damn, it's gonna get ugly.

and i doubt we'll see more than the six episodes of andy barker, pi that were filmed... and that's a shame. (head on over to nbc.com to watch'm all... the "fairway my lovely" episode had some brilliant stuff in it)

holy frak!

okay, so that was a pretty interesting season finale of battlestar galactica (no spoilers in case you tivoed it) the other night (which leaves us with a LOT of questions)...but 2008?! damn. (that's long enough for me to forget most of the little stuff... heck, i can't remember most of the last season of the sopranos... or the shield, both of return real soon...)

thoroughly sad to see rome go, but it went out in style (man, once deadwood wraps up later this year after the sopranos, why keep hbo? bad enough i can't turn on one of the six(!) hbo channels without catching a star wars movie...)

watched the first episode of "this american life" on-line (over at the showtime site) and wish i was able to watch it every week (i love listening on npr), a strong first outing...

looks like i'll be getting through a good chunk of commissions soon, since work has slowed down... here's another one for hitoshi! (looking back through'm all, wonder woman is coming in third behind batman and batgirl as most requested... and well ahead of dazzler... and mento)

decided to go through the list of monthly (well, what should be monthly) comics i get at the local shop and really cut back... every week i bring home a handful of books and really only enjoy 1 or 2 (heck, most i get for the art these days...) ... after talking with a few folks (some who read this very blog...), i know i'm not the only one...

-c

what im listening to as i type this... arcade fire - neon bible (after seeing 'm live at saturday night live last month - and not being overly impressed, i gotta say - i figured i'd try out the cd... and it's growing on me... gotta love emusic!)

snowy samurai!

here's a pin-up i did (with rico on colors) for the upcoming dark horse trade of the second "samurai: heaven and earth" series. ron marz and luke ross have a fantastic historic-action-adventure-love story here, and if you haven't read it... you should (the first trade is out now)...
ron had the brilliant idea of doing a pin-up trade for both the perhapanauts and samurai (and if you've seen luke's pin-up, clearly todd and i got the better end of that deal)...

man, i can't stop looking at the recent "drink and draw" book from image... i've always loved dave johnson's stuff as well as jeff johnson, but i was blown away by dan panosian's stuff (and i've spent a good long time checking out his sweet blog... http://urbnbarbarian.blogspot.com/)

-c

so, season finale of battlestar is this weekend (and i imagine there's gonna be one helluva cliffhanger until next year)... and the finale of rome (it's a toss up which i liked more, this or deadwood... two of the best shows on hbo... or tv, for that matter)... and i certainly hope andy barker lasts longer than these 6 episodes, but i doubt it, which is a shame (last night's was pretty damn funny)

why i hate my convention sketches...

over the past 10 years or so, i've done a fair share of comic conventions... and more than a few sketches.

most folks are genuinely happy to get'm and are polite enough to not scoff when they see'm (after they leave the table, who knows)...

so, every now and then i happen to see a scan of a con sketch that makes me cringe... and wish i just stopped doing them (not all of'm are bad, mind you... but the ones that are just drive me crazy... i'd like to think other artists feel this way)... before the onslaught of on-line galleries and comic community sites, the only chance i'd have to see'm is when people bring the book back to another show to get another sketch (and usually after flipping through and being intimidated by all the other great sketches, i find my older efforts and think " well, at least i can try and do better this time")

so, when i saw an older batman/hellboy piece i did the other night, i just hadta go back and redo it for my own sanity.


oh, and had a great time at the new boston convention this weekend, and got a chance to see some old friends and new... and finally meet some folks who's work i dig (like scott wegener and nick dragotta)... and then had a fantastic time at a good friend's wedding that night (congrats again, joe and tina!)...

-c

didn't catch battlestar yet... and stupid me, forgot to program the tivo for the new hellboy cartoon... d'oh! (realized almost halfway through and checked... turns out i only had the first one in the season pass...) but manoman, was rome good. (only one left... gah!)... rewatched andy barker and just loved the small moments that really made it work.

happy (belated) pi day.

meant to post wednesday afternoon at 1.59 and wish y'all a nerdy "happy pi day" (3/14 1.59 ) but got wrapped up and never got around to it (then blogger was acting up yesterady, so...) maybe next year.

here's yet another commission piece... figured it'd go with the new look torch as opposed to the classic (although i miss all those black lines for some reason... and his having hair just seems... off) at this rate, i'll have enough for 2 more canson sketchbooks in no time.

decided last minute to head up to the convention in boston this weekend, so if you're there swing by and say "hey!"

-c

anybody catch "andy barker, p.i." last night? i really enjoyed it... we'll see if it has legs.

ooooh, a ghost....

... no, not that one from the 'haps, either. here's another recent commission... always glad it works out when i choose the right color canson paper to work on...

so, work is moving ahead, and commissions are moving along as well... things're good.

kinda wish this cold snap would break... or we'd at least get some snow to show for it.

-c

there's a lull in tv for a few weeks (well, a slight lull anyway... we've still got new rome and battlestar (frak! didn't see that ending coming)... as well as 24 (here comes the rickster! i enjoyed his run on nypd, hope he lasts more than one episode)... and i can catch up on my dvds at some point (just started season 4 of penn and teller's bullsh*t with the boy scout episode... sums up my thoughts about scouts lately, which is a shame)

back from nyc...

had a great time at the show, sketching and talking with lots of fans and great folks like tad stones and david petersen (and meeting folks like ted mckeever, jon bogdanove, roy richardson and june brigman for the first time)...

if you read todd's blog (and why wouldn't you? http://perhapanauts.blogspot.com/ ) you've seen some of the pics we took ( love the reaction shots to the choopie butt cards... too bad we didn't get any of those rare "hmmmmph. not funny." reaction shots)... i'll try and post a few that i managed to take...

folks seemed to enjoy the perhapanauts (and seeing andrew's kick ass choopie sculpt in person) and want more... let's hope we get the opportunity to do'm...

had a great time watching saturday night live with rainn wilson (thanks again, scott! and sorry, kelly... d'oh!)

seems like i'm getting swamped with commission requests (now handled through serendipity art sales... thanks, bob!) but i'm getting back on track ... here's one (of a few) recent ones...

-c

as far as tv goes, veronica mars goes on break on a high note - loved the last few episodes! prison break makes for a good 15 minute speed through on tivo these days while 24 continues to be a rollercoaster ride (as does heroes lately)... i wanted to really dislike the black donnelly's (since it's booted studio 60 from the schedule, but ended up enjoying it... the thursday comedy block is getting better and better (athough the office is tending to go for the outrageous behavior with michael and dwight at times, rather than just uncomfortably annoying)... rome is still amazing and lost gained some momentum back this week ...wow, good thing i work while watching tv...

gambit!

so, this was a commission i took on at the baltimore show but didn't quite get to finishing... and then it slipped between the cracks. first time i've ever drawn'm.

wow, only 4 days til the nyc show... should be a good time.

-c

while i've been enjoying battlestar quite a bit this season, the last few episodes seem to be lacking... well, cylons. i realize that's deliberate, but without the big conflict, it seems directionless.
other shows have been great lately, like heroes, rome, 24 (although the twists this season seem obvious), studio 60... and the whole thursday comedy line-up on nbc.

another 'haps

keeping with the trend, here's a molly...
with the canson paper, sometimes the color choice works with you, sometimes... not so much. a lighter blue would've been a lot easier... maybe i'll do another. we'll see ... (gotta get the others done at some point, too) ) *fyi - these two canson 'haps pieces are for sale over at www.serendipityartsales.com ...

work is moving along nicely on the new project, as well as some side stuff and commissions. got the pin-up in from ted mckeever (!) for the "second chance trade"... wow! (i'm sure todd'll start posting these in a few weeks)

also got in the revised pie story pages from rico (seeing as how it's not on newsprint this time, he was able to do a lot more subtle - and beautiful - stuff)

man, the more i see from jeff smith's blog, the more i can't WAIT for his shazam! book (the new series from winick and porter... well, i love the art... and i'll leave it at that...)

so, battlestar galactica and rome last night... two of the best dramas on tv (now, thursday and sunday are far and away the best nights of television... but now that i think of it, monday ain't too shabby either, with the guilty pleasure of prison break, then 24 and heroes -woohoo, tivo! - and studio 60 - when it's not too preachy, it's great tv... liberal, but great and witty tv )

when did dumping on john byrne become a status of a "cool" comic reader? i may not agree with him on a LOT of things, but damn, the man is a legend, and still producing some of the most powerful art today (too bad it's not in a monthly book... but some those commissions he does are amazing... like keep telling todd, "someday, someday we'll get a byrne perhapa-pinup... someday.")... eh, kids today.

okay, back to work.

-c

what i'm listening to as i type this... mojo box - southern culture on the skids