Jason Howard Art

Super Dino Cover 5 Process

2011-11-09T09:10:00.001-05:00

Cover process time! The cover for issue 5 needed to represent our heros fight against the giant and evil Mega-Raptor!

This first sketch was OK but, we decided that more of the raptor should be seen and Super Dinosaur himself should be in his battle armor and more prominently displayed.

Here is the revised sketch. Some color thrown in to help separate the elements.

The first 2 sketches were drawn in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. Its hard to get much detail with it but very useful for figuring out design and composition stuff. This tighter sketch below was drawn by hand over a printout of the Photoshop sketch, then scanneed back into Photoshop where I could easily add perspective grid lines.

That was then printed out in light blue onto the Image bristol board. With a blue Col-Erase pencil I drew the finish detail and all the background stuff.

Then inked it with a mixture of pens and brush.

And finally scanned back into Photoshop for the coloring.

Refreshed!

2011-11-08T13:06:00.000-05:00

Sorry things have been dead here for a while. I am have been swamped drawing. But I am back to getting my website current and alive again. Yay!

Things are going well with Super Dinosaur, I'll be putting a bunch of art from that up here. Still working on the gallery page, but you can check out what's there so far, or go to my DeviantArt page if you want to see more art.

Here are a couple pages from issue 5 (in stores now!). Maximus' finally gets whats coming to him!

Fun with 21!

2010-02-17T14:26:00.003-05:00

Hey ladies in the place I'm callin' out to ya! Or if you are a male I guess I am telling you also. Issue 21 of Wolf-Man comes out today. This issue has werewolves, a girl robot (of course), guns, jumping, bad guys, bad guys jumping, more werewovles and trees. Maybe even an airplane. So run out and make it your own. Ill be back before long with some of the pencils and such for this issue. Below is the cover.

Also, I thought you all should know that I have a new website. Yay! For now, I plan for the new site to be more of a gallery. So I will keep this blog rolling along, hopefully with more frequent posts. But check out the new place anyway. Tell your friends about it and link to it.
www.JasonHowardArt.com

Processy stuff.

2010-01-18T23:23:00.005-05:00

Sorry to have been neglecting this place lately. I don't have a ton to say, but I figured I could at least show some of the pencil pages from issue 20.

And as an added bonus, the rough sketch, pencils and final colors for the cover to issue 23.

20 Time!

2009-12-07T23:16:00.004-05:00

The big issue 20 comes out this week. I know finally, right? For those keeping track this issue was originally supposed to come out sooner. Hopefully the wait will be worth it. For those who liked the jatpacky goodness of issue 19, I think this issue will have some similarly cool bits. I have been drawing lots of pages lately ( though not all of them for Wolf-Man, more on this in the coming months), and I have been working super hard to both improve and get pages done quickly. I question the "either/or" logic some people tend to apply to things. In reference to art I often hear things like "you can either have it fast or good". Can't we have both? I understand that spending more time allows for more refinement and detail, but there exist artists whose work is awesome and they also get work done on a quick schedule. So shouldn't that be the goal? Sometimes I think artists give themselves an 'out' by saying either/or. So while I am neither as good or as fast as I want to be, I am trying for both :)

Here is a link to a 5 page preview of issue 20.
http://imagecomics.com/fivepagepreview.php?title=theastoundingwolfman20&page=cover&doubles=

And finally the cover. First the sketch, you may notice the parallels to this cover and the cover issue #1. That was intentional and awesome as it saved me the time of drawing a new background.
Now the final. Buy every comic you see this Wednesday that has this cover on it!

19 Pencils and stuff

2009-11-06T08:38:00.002-05:00

Sorry I am slow with this, but I am finally getting a chance to put up some of my layouts/pencils for issue 19. This issue was way fun to draw.

I also have a couple smooth links for you. This first one is to a short story I drew for my good Buddy Paul Sizer's book Little White Mouse. I drew this several years ago, and he is now putting it up as a web comic. So if you want to see some of my old stuff, or just check out his cool book, click away- http://www.webcomicsnation.com/paulsizer/littlewhitemouse/series.php?view=single&ID=163540

Second is an interview with me about stuff- http://whoissaintjames.com/2009/11/02/jason-howard-talks-to-saint-james

19!

2009-10-14T08:33:00.005-04:00

Issue 19 comes out today. This issue is a little bit of a departure from recent issues, and it was a ton of fun to draw. After looking through a copy my son said "daddy, this is the best episode of Wolf-Man you've ever written". So there you have it, a glowing review from a 6 year old.

Here is the cover so you know what to look for.

And to show some process stuff, here is the rough sketch for the cover.

For those who missed the con in Baltimore last weekend, you missed a great time. What a fun show, tons of cool artists for me to drool over (their work, not them as a person) the show had a great vibe, and seemed pretty busy for everyone. I met tons of Wolf-Man fans, did some sketches and hung out with the rest of the Kirk-crew (Ryan Ottley, Cory Walker & Nate Bellegarde). Thanks to everyone who came by and said hi.

Also, here is a link to short video interview that was done with me at the show about the upcoming end of Wolf-Man- http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0910/14/howard.htm

Cons and Stories!

2009-09-15T09:51:00.005-04:00

A virtual grab bag today.

Thanks to those who have bought sketchbooks, you all are the bestset. If anyone else want to be the best, just click on that pretty girl with guns over to the right there.

I have a couple convention appearances coming up.
- Saturday, September 19. The Windy City Comicon http://www.windycitycomicon.com. I was at this conventions inaugural show last year and it was great. The cool thing about it was that they took the part I like best about conventions (artist alley) and made that the whole show. This year their guest list has expanded and it looks like even more fun. Smaller shows like this give the fans a great opportunity to meet and talk to creators. In fact I am looking forward to going just so I can meet some of my favorite artists. If you are anywhere in the Chicago area you should come.
- Saturday & Sunday, October 10-11. The Baltimore Comic-Con http://www.comicon.com/baltimore/. It looks like I will be at Baltimore this year. I have never done this show before, but I hear good things and am looking forward to it.

Looking back over recent posts it seems that I have not written much other than to promote various things I have coming up. So I thought I would pass on a fun story from my trip to the San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago.
I arrived at the airport in the afternoon, as usual in San Diego it was a beautiful day. I flagged a taxi and we set off to my hotel. The cab driver was chatty and once we got past the typicall "how great the weather in San Diego is" part of the conversation it came up that I was from Michigan. This led into some sports talk, and then things got quiet for a couple minutes. After a while the cabbie said "So what about that doctor?", I had no idea what he was talking about, so I said "What Doctor?". He replied "You know that doctor that kills people". "Oh, Dr Kevorkian" I said. Keep in mind that Kevorkian was big in the news, oh about 15 years ago, so he is not fresh in my mind whenever anyone mentions "doctor". But I guess the fact that he was from Michigan also, the cabbie thought I would have an opinion. So we discussed the pros and cons of physician assisted suicide for a bit and then things got quite agian. After a few minutes of quiet the cabbie spoke up again, "You know, I wanted to kill myself". At this point I became more than a little nervous about the person who was driving me and responsible for my safety. But I offered what encouragement I could and tried to avoid mentioning anything that might make the cabbie decide that NOW was his opportunity to drive off a bridge and end it all. As we spoke more the cabbie assured me that he was past those dark times in his life and things were good now, but it didn't provide me much assurance and I was quite relieved when we finally arrived at the hotel.

And now some art. The cover and some process stuff for Wolf-Man 21. He's back!

Sketch Books for Sale!

2009-08-22T22:25:00.004-04:00

I finally got my act together. Over to the right you will see a brand new link for my Gun-Play art books. They are 20 pages of full color, comic sized finished drawings of girls with guns. I have a somewhat limited supply so if you are interested click the link and order one. They are $20 plus shipping, more details in the link. Thanks! If you have any problems/questions with your order e-mail me at jhowardhoward@yahoo.com .

Also, for those who live in the northern Michigan area I will be in Traverse City on August 29-30 for the Cherry Capital Con www.cherrycapitalcon.com . Come by and say hi and all that good stuff. I will have Wolf-Man trades and Gun-Play sketch books for sale. I'll probably also be doing sketches and chatting about the Lions pre season and whatever else comes to mind. Should be fun! Here is a T-Shirt design that I did for the show.

18 & iPhone

2009-08-11T21:15:00.004-04:00

Hey peoples. Tomorrow is the big day, issue 18 should be in stores and it is a good one. With the prison arc wrapped up last issue, this one begins to set the stage for big new things, and some big old things. And some medium sized and even small things. All sort of things really. So check it out. This months variant by Frank Cho (he's so good).

EDIT- Actually this issue is supposed to come out NEXT week, August 19. Sorry for the mix up.

Also, for those of you with an iPhone or iPod touch be sure to check out the "Comics" app in the iTunes app store. I have really been into comics on my iPod touch, and in my opinion this app has the best reading experience. If you havent tried it yet give it a shot. Plus this is the place to get Wolf-Man comics. The Comics app is $.99 and comes with the first issue of Wolf-Man and many other titles for free. You can then purchase subsequent issues from right within the app. Come on, step into the future.

For those waiting, I should have ordering information on my sketchbook up here soon. I have been super busy the past couple weeks catching up from Comic Con. I know, whine whine.

Back from Con with news.

2009-07-28T12:17:00.004-04:00

San Diego was great. Thanks to anyone who stopped by the table. Lots of fun times and cool announcements came from the convention but there was one somewhat sad one (at least for me). Robert announced our plans to wrap up Wolf-Man with issue 25. You can read all about it here-
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22212

But don't be too sad. We have tons of awesome coming up in the remaining 8 issues. Plus this points out one of the cool things of creator owned comics, we can decide to wrap up a story at a logical end point and leave the character at a good place rather than have this type of decision made by a publisher who may or may not have the best interest of the story in mind. Anyway, while I will miss drawing Wolf-Man and company, I still have 6-7 months of work to do on the series and I am committed to make them the best issues that I can. I can't talk yet about what I will be doing after Wolf-Man, but Robert and I have been developing a new project for over a year and I cant wait to get started drawing it... Its going to rock!

Here is the cover for issue 25, I think there will be some fighting in this issue :)

Comic Con!

2009-07-15T23:35:00.002-04:00

Just a note to let everyone know that I will be at the big San Diego Comic Con next week (July 22-26). I'll be sitting at the Image booth, sharing a table with Jon Sommariva and just over from Ryan Ottley So look me up and say "Hi". Seriously if you are reading this and then you see me in San Diego and don't say hi, it will make me sad.

I plan to be doing sketches and I'll have the first 2 volumes of the Wolf-Man trades for sale, as well as 12X18 prints of some of the covers.

I will also debut my new 'sketchbook' at the con. Its not really a sketchbook, as it contains finished pieces and not sketches, so I guess it is more of an art book. But it is the same size and binding as a regular comic, not all thick and book-like. Its called Gun-Play and the theme is girls with guns. I think I have posted an image or 2 here in the past. It is 20 pages, full color, and all the illustrations were created specifically for this book. The print run is limited to 100 copies. I haven't decided on the final price yet but it will probably be around $20. If I have books left after the show I plan to offer them for sale online. I'll give more details when/if this happens. Anyway, I put the cover up here, so even if you don't want to buy the book, you can look at the cover for free

He's only 17

2009-06-29T09:13:00.004-04:00

Its going to be a good week! Out on Wednesday, the big issue 17. This issue is part of our variant cover run, this months is by Ian Churchill. It is awesome for me to see a character I designed drawn by other amazing artists. So far in the run of the book we have had Wolf-Man covers or pin-ups done by super talents like- Ryan Ottley, Art Adams/David Williams, Kelsey Shannon, Chris Giarrusso, Dale Keown, Ian Churchill and coming up by Frank Cho and maybe some others!

So anyway, be on the lookout for these covers this week.

16 inks, 20 cover

2009-06-16T09:31:00.003-04:00

Finally getting a chance to show a couple behind the scenes pages from issue 16. I love drawing Mecha Maid (the robot chick on page 10). I tend to like drawing roboty things, so if you mix robots and girls well that pretty much makes the most fun drawing ever. Speaking of girls, I also have the cover for issue 20 here. For those who remember the very first issues cover, you may notice some similarity. That was intentional and I think its kinda cool that we have enough issue out to allow us to make fun references to the design of issue 1.

Sweet 16

2009-05-27T09:13:00.003-04:00

Issue #16 drops tomorrow (new comics come out on Thursday this week, due to the Memorial day holiday). Finally the big Zechariah Wolf-Man throw down. Here is the cover so you can look for it.

This issue also has a variant cover by the great Dale Keown. He's so good. If you see this cover you may want to pick it up as it was a 1 in 25 variant and not too many were printed...

Convention!

2009-05-09T22:22:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note to let those in the Michigan area know that I will be at the Motor City Con, May 15-17.

http://motorcityconventions.com

For those with money that they no longer wish to keep, I will have both Wolf-Man trades for sale, as well as copies of most issues to date (all at cover price). I will also have prints made up from various Wolf-Man covers and I will be doing sketches. The prints are $10, and I typically charge $40 for a con sketch. But even if you don't want to buy anything feel free to come by and just talk about comics, or art, or what the Pistons need to get good again.

And so that you have some art make your stop here worthwhile. Here is something from my sketchbook.

Big week.

2009-04-28T11:26:00.003-04:00

Coming this Wednesday to finer comic shops everywhere.

Issue 15, featuring more prison fighting and other big time drama.

And Volume #2 trade. This collects issue 8-12, plus issue 57 of Invincible (the crossover issue), plus some sketch book stuff and fine commentary by Mr Kirkman and myself.

Cover 18 Process

2009-04-19T18:34:00.002-04:00

Here is the cover for issue 18. A fun action shot of Mr. Wolf-Man and company. Plus I included a more detailed than normal step by step process thing. I think the images are pretty self explanatory so I'll spare you my commentary. Thanks for checking it out!

New paint.

2009-04-10T23:55:00.002-04:00

Hey, hey! You may notice I changed the look of things around here a bit. It was long overdue. I hope you like green!

So too avoid a post with no art. Here are a couple recent non-comic projects that I have done. It is kinda fun to mix things up a little, but nothing really gives the satisfaction of finishing a comic page.

14- Behind the scenes

2009-04-08T08:40:00.005-04:00

Back again. Here are some side by side comparisons of my layout and the final inked art for some pages from issue 14. My current process (which seems to be changing regularly if you compare to older posts on this blog) is to do a rough layout (shown below) scan it, enlarge it and print it in light blue on to the art board. Then I tighten up the detail a bit in pencil (not shown below) and ink it (shown below). Then scan it again and its off to Fco for colors.

14!

2009-04-01T11:13:00.002-04:00

In stores today. Buy it! Lots of cool prisony stuff this issue, plus the introduction of a major new bad guy in poor Wolf-Mans life.

MSU Comics forum.

2009-03-27T23:55:00.002-04:00

Late notice, but for those of you in the Lansing, Michigan area I will be at the Michigan State University comics forum tomorrow (Saturday, March 28) from 11:30 am - 4:30 pm. Check more info here- http://www.comicsforum.msu.edu/

13 Pencils

2009-03-09T22:27:00.004-04:00

Not much time to write stuff tonight, but really is that what people want to see? I say "No", anybody can write stuff. What you want to see are rough scribbly and occasionally (often ?) crappy behind the scenes sketches and stuff. So here you be, some of the rough pencil pages for issue 13. Go!

Note on page 1, panel 3 changed a bit on the final art. I like the scope of this panel, but Robert thought it might be better to zoom in so that we could actually SEE the characters. That Kirkman is a smart dude.
Note that on this page a dude gets punched.
These next 2 page spreads were some of the most fun things to draw for the whole issue.

Cover 17 process

2009-03-05T08:48:00.004-05:00

Howdy. Cover process time! This cover for me was all about getting the right design. Robert discussed with me what would be happening and his idea for a cover for this issue. Based on this I did sketch A. This sketch came right away and I really liked it and thought it would make a cool 'in your face' cover. But Robert wanted to see something different. So I worked up some other sketches which i didn't like so much. I just couldn't get into them, mainly because I felt I had already solved the design with version A. After discussing these with Robert and letting a little time pass, I came back and did sketches F- H. We agreed on G, and I banged it out. I literally spent more time on the sketches for this cover than I did on the actual drawing of the cover.

As usual I forgot to scan my finished pencils.But the process went like this. I enlarged my sketch to about 4" X 6", tightened up the drawing on another sheet of paper, then I scanned that enlarged it to full comic page size, converted it to light blue color and printed to directly to the comic board. The I added detail and fixed things up a bit in pencil. I inked over that mainly using a brush on the figure and pens on the sword and ground.

After it was inked, I scaned it and using my good friend Photoshop added some color. I love coloring the covers, particularly as I now am no longer coloring the interior pages to the book. My goal is to pick a color scheme that I feel will pop, and make the image stand out.
And that is all.

13!

2009-02-25T08:59:00.003-05:00

So, I have been a little slow on posts lately. Sorry. Not to make excuses but I have been drawing like a crazy person and just haven't had much extra time. Anyway, issue #13 comes out to day. Big things are happening in the world of Wolf-Man so check it out. I'll be back soon with some pencil pages and other goodness.

Things

2009-02-01T22:32:00.004-05:00

A couple cool things today.

First. Last week The Astounding Wolf-Man volume 1 was named to the American Library Association's list of Great Graphic Novels for Teens 2009. We didn't make the top 10, but still making the list at all is pretty cool. Check out the full list of books here- http://tinyurl.com/djzhgh

Second. I finally have a gallery over at Deviant Art. If you have been following this blog for a while, most of the images over there will not be new to you, but there may be a couple things that you haven't seen. I will of course continue to keep up this blog. I am not sure but I am thinking that I will probably share more of my process and behind the scenes stuff here, and only put the finished stuff on DA. We'll see how it works out. Find it here- http://jasonhoward.deviantart.com/

Third. So as not to have a post with no art, here are a couple pencil pages from #12.

12 Today

2009-01-28T22:31:00.004-05:00

Issue #12 comes out today. I have yet to see a printed version, but I am sure that it is smashing. Here is the cover so you can look for it. I find it a little odd to realize that I have drawn 12 consecutive issues of a comic book (technically more, but only 12 issues are out). I clearly remember a time in my attempts to make comics where just finishing 1 page seemed like a major accomplishment. And now I am going on almost 300 pages of comics just for Wolf-Man. Thats pretty cool. Anyway, I am not sure why I am telling you this. Unless you are struggling through difficult times in trying to reach a goal that you have, then I guess the message would be to stick with it. Anyway, bye.

Cover 15

2009-01-06T23:37:00.003-05:00

Here's another sneak peak at an upcoming cover. Its a prison riot! The first 2 sketches were a little simpler and designy. But we felt that something showing more of the guards, and the prison would be cool. This led to sketch C, which with a few little tweaks became the design of the final cover. Enjoy!

Last post...

2008-12-31T15:23:00.004-05:00

...of 2008! Yay.

So issue 11 was inked by the multi-talented Cliff Rathburn. If you haven't checked out the Reaper book he drew for Image a couple/few years ago do yourself a favor and track it down. Its a great action fest. Anyway, I thought yous guys might want to see some of the pencils. If not, then stop reading this post. It was a cool experience for me to see my pencils inked by someone else, especially someone as talented as Cliff.

By the way, have a great new year. If you have been regular viewer of my little blog here, I just want to say thanks! I appreciate the comments and I hope your 2009 is super fine.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-22T09:05:00.003-05:00

I hope you all have a great holiday this coming week. Hopefully you have some time off from work/school and are able to spend some time with family and friends. Remember the true meaning of the season and try to avoid getting caught up in the commercialization of the holiday. Of course if you want to be commercialized, well who I am I to stop you? In fact let me even suggest something that you can spend your money on. Shipping to finer comic book shops everywhere this week are both parts of the Invincible/Wolf-Man crossover. Invincible 57 actually continues the story from Wolf-Man 10, and leads right into Wolf-Man 11. Lots of cool stuff. I got to draw Invincible which was fun. And Ryan Ottley draws a great Wolf-Man. So check it out.

Cover 14

2008-12-13T23:35:00.003-05:00

I don't think this cover has been shown anywhere yet, so you get an exclusive preview here. Who else would do that for you? First up is the layout/design. Pretty simple concept, Wolf-Man goes to jail.

And now the finished piece. The color scheme changed a bit, but otherwise it stayed pretty close to the sketch.

10 Pencils

2008-12-07T23:20:00.005-05:00

Just a quick one today. Here are some of the pencil pages for issue 10.

Time for 10

2008-11-30T17:43:00.004-05:00

Issue 10 should be out this Wednesday. Its the big "secret orgin of Zechariah" issue. Here is some of the process stuff for the cover (the original black and white art for this, is for sale at splashpageart.com. Plug. Plug).

After talking about the type of image that we wanted with Robert, I did a couple small sketches. I wanted something with a "Batman" feel. This one seemed to have potential so I dropped in some color to start getting a sense for what the final image might look like.

Once I got the OK on this sketch I began the pencils. After seeing how it worked with the logo dropped in place, I decided that the design worked better facing the other direction.

Then on to the inks. This was done with a real brush. This marks a switch for me on Wolf-Man as previous to this I had mostly been using brush markers and pens to ink with. Since this cover I have done a majority of the inking with a real brush.

And here is the final cover all colored and with the logo and other trade dress in place. So as not to make it seem too "girly" I left out the pink background in favor of the red. Sorry to any girls who would have preferred the pink :)

Cover 13 Process

2008-11-11T23:02:00.003-05:00

I've been super busy the past couple weeks. But I always make time for you my lovely internet. Well, maybe not quite so lovely. Anyway. Here is a sneak peak at the cover for issue 13 of Wolf-Man. Plus the development sketches that went into it. I think most the sketch stuff is pretty self-explanatory. But if you want to know what I have to say about them, read one of my other cover process posts, I am sure much of the same stuff applies.

9 is mine!

2008-10-27T22:33:00.004-04:00

And on Wednesday it can be yours. Issue 9 is full of all sort of comic book coolness. Lets see, there is some talking, then some fighting, then a little bit of running, then some more talking, interrupted by some clawing and jumping, then we have some angry talking plus a bit more fighting and then a surprise. I hope that doesn't give away too much, but as you can see a whole bunch of cool stuff happens. After the issue comes out I will post some pencil pages and such, but for now here is the cover.

Also, I mentioned the 24hr comic book thing in my last post. I will at some point give a more in depth review of the event, but leading up to it one of the local papers wanted to run self portraits of the artists involved. Below was my submission.

24

2008-10-16T12:06:00.002-04:00

No, not the TV show with Keifer Sutherland getting blown up once an hour, I am talking about 24hr comic day. This Saturday, October 18 I will be participating in 24 hr comic day at Clem's Collectibles in Lansing, MI.

www.clemslansing.com/wordpress/?cat=16

If you are in the area stop in and wake me up.

Wolvie

2008-10-09T08:18:00.004-04:00

Here's a Wolverine that I did just for fun. Everyone likes Wolverine right? Yes, I know that his costume is not quite right. I based it on the JR JR design from the Enemy of the State run, and the web image I found for reference was tiny and I missed some details (5 geek points for anyone who knows what the costume is missing). Then as I was coloring the image I realized I had this trade on my book shelf which is full of non-tiny art and would have made great reference. Oh well.

8 Process

2008-10-01T22:17:00.007-04:00

So, here we are again. How's your week going? Good? I'm glad to hear it. Now on to business.

This time I thought that I would show some of the process stuff for a couple pages from the recently released issue #8. First a little background. Starting with issue #8 (actually it started with the short story in Monster Pile-Up but since that was not a full issue I will just say "starting with issue #8") Fco Placencia has been helping me out on the coloring of the book. Fco also colors Invincible as well as the neato Gemini book from Image, check them out. Anyway, I am big nerd for color. In a perfect world I would have a clone of me that did all my coloring for me. This clone would also have more talent and be more skilled than I. While I know that I am not the worlds best colorist, I enjoy coloring my own work, and I even more than that I like having the control. Thats the reason why for the first 7 issues of Wolf-Man I colored them. But the reality is that this stuff has to be done on a relatively quick time table and it is hard enough to pencil a monthly book, let alone pencil ink and color one. In order for me to be able to spend the time necessary to do the level of quality I want to do on the actual drawing (and hopefully improve), I needed to give up some of the coloring. This is where Fco comes in. He takes my flat colors adds light and shadow and brings them to life. So on the following 2 sets of examples you will see the whole page from the rough pencils/layout that I do, to the inks, to my flat colors and finally to Fco's finished colors. Enjoy.

A lil bit o press

2008-09-24T22:25:00.005-04:00

Just some plugging of things this time. But if I don't tell you who will?

Robert did an interview with Newsarama last week talking all about our favorite comic book, The Astounding Wolf-Man. If you haven't read it yet you can check it out here-
www.newsarama.com/comics/090817-KirkmanWolfMan.html

I was on the Around Comics podcast a week or 2 ago talking about the book and getting threatened with physical violence for not being a big enough Grant Morrison fan. It is episode 201. The interview with me is about half way through the show, go find it here-
www.aroundcomics.com

Speaking of Around Comics. They are putting on a one day convention in Chicago on October 25. I will be there along with many other great guests, so if you are in the area come by and say "hi". You can also buy stuff from me. Learn more about the convention here-
www.windycitycomicon.com

Issue 35 of the super great ImagineFX magazine has a one page blurb about me in their FX Posé section. I share some pretty awesome company in that section with Eric Canete and Sean Galloway. I am not sure how that happened, hopefully some of their skills will rub off on me. If you want to check it out here is the cover of the issue-

Super 8

2008-09-17T07:55:00.002-04:00

Word on the street is that issue #8 should be out today. Buy it!

Something different

2008-09-10T10:18:00.003-04:00

Just playing around here. These might end up in a sketchbook someday, but other than that I just did them for fun. The first is the Batman from Superman Red Son. I love the Dave Johnson art, but I had never drawn this version of Batman he designed. So now I have. The girl is a character I just made up because I wanted to draw a gun.

Trade me.

2008-08-27T08:01:00.003-04:00

Today the first Wolf-Man trade should be in comic book stores. The book collects issues 1-7, plus it has a nifty sketchbook section showing many of the unused designs and other stuff that went into creating the book. Buy it, it will make your life better:) I got my copy a couple days ago and it was like Christmas. It is pretty cool to see all that work and all those pages collected together in one place. Here is the cover so that you know what to look for.Now, I dont want your trip here to be lacking any new art to see, so here is the cover I just finished for the second trade paperback. I still have the background collage to drop in but I am waiting until I have a couple more issues drawn to do create that. As you can see we are following a consistent design approach with these covers, once we have a few out they should look pretty sweet all together.

Cover #8 process

2008-08-11T22:22:00.006-04:00

It has been a while since I have gotten around to one of these cover process posts. I am kind of a process guy, I tend to feel that my work generally gets better the more opportunities I have to refine it. This has created a fun challenge for me as lately I have been trying to be more spontaneous in drawing pages and not spend so much time on layouts and other drawings that don't actually end up being the final drawing. How do I get everything necessary into the final page while still at or above what I feel is good quality work? I am not sure yet, but the one thing I like about just drawing a page without doing much in the way of pre-drawing the page is that it is more fun. When I drew stuff as a little kid, I never did thumbnails, I never drew a rough layout there were no lightboxes or computers, I just drew what I envisioned right on the paper. When I finished it was done and I moved on. Some where along the way I got concerned about composition, design, anatomy (sort of), perspective and all the other things that go into a "good" drawing. The idea of start to finish drawing the finished drawing on the same piece of paper became lost to me. So for now I am working to recapture some of that lost art. I do miss some of the opportunities to edit the drawing that other working methods provide, but I am hoping that taking this direction will force me to make better choices and learn some things along the way.

Now to totally contradict what I said above about trying not to doing multiple layouts and extensive pre-drawing. The idea for this cover came from a conversation with the writer. My first sketch came very quick and I kinda liked it so I dropped in some color to help me think about the design a little. I wanted some good contrast and energy so I went with a complimentary color scheme (2 colors opposite each other on the color wheel for you non-art school kids). After discussing this with Robert, we felt that it might work better to show more of Wolf-Man and a little more background.

I didn't like that one much as it is DULL and BORING. I tried to keep the same idea but punch it up a bit with this version.
I felt this one was working but the figure behind Wolf-Man was getting lost. Just showing 2 little eyes did not seem like it would be enough to suggest a menacing figure behind poor Wolf-Man. Also Wolf-Man looked a little too freaked out. He is supposed to be cool you know. I tried to address these with the next layout.
I felt this one was almost there. As you can see I dropped the logo in on the sketch to see how everything fits together. I didn't like the way that the elements fit in with the arc on the bottom of the logo. Flipping the image worked better, I also redrew Wolf-Mans pose and expression to look less angry and a little more startled.

With the design and most of the drawing figured out I dropped some color into the layout in order to get a feel for how the final design would work. I tried to stay with the complimentary scheme from my very first idea, but I pushed to green a bit to teal/blue side to get away from the Christmas colors that most people think of when they see red and green used together.
I then enlarged my layout, and lightboxed it onto the final board where I inked it.
And then the final colors in which I lost the red in favor of a simpler more subdued color scheme (analogous ?). This allowed me to be a little more representational with Wolf-Mans costume colors and create nice night time mood. I added some trees in the background at this stage, I felt they really helped add some depth.

So there it is. A long post this time, and a little bit of the crazyness that can go into a cover. By the way, this issue should be out sometime soon, it has been done for a little while. Once I know the exact date I will post it here.

Invincible vrs Wolf-Man

2008-07-23T08:03:00.003-04:00

Here is the cover for Wolf-Man #11, which will be an Invincible crossover issue. Poor Wolf-Man is getting beat up... :(To balance things out, here is a rough cover sketch that shows the fight swinging a little more in Wolf-Mans favor. For some reason Robert didn't want to use this one...
Also, I think that the Monster Pile-Up book that I mentioned in a previous post is supposed to be in stores today. It has an original 4 page Wolf-Man story that picks up right after Wolf-Man #7.

Also, also the big San Diego Con starts this week. But not for me. I am staying home to work. At the time I made the decision it sounded like the responsible thing to do, but now I kinda wish I was going. Oh well.

Behind the 7

2008-07-10T12:01:00.004-04:00

Well, I am back. This time I thought I would show some of the behind the scenes stuff for the recently released issue 7. Before that however, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who is buying the book. Issue 7 seems to be pretty well received. I think it wraps up the first arc well and sets a cool direction for the series. If you haven't be buying the book the first trade collecting 1-7 should be out sometime soon, a great place to get started. Or tell your friends to get started:)

Anyway. With issue 7 I started skipping the small size layouts and penciling the pages right on the board. Overall I am happy with this change. It seems to be less steps in the process for me and allow me to finish pages faster. So here are a couple pencil pages. Once I get the OK on these I starting inking. In some areas where it is really loose I will tighten them up a bit before I ink them.

Monsters - Seven

2008-07-01T13:14:00.003-04:00

This is the cover for Image's Monster Pile-Up book. What is "Monster Pile -Up" you ask? Well, that is a fine question. The book has original short stories from some of the monster themed books that Image is doing right now. Including The Astounding Wolf-Man. Yay! Our story picks up right after the groundbreaking events of issue #7 and leads right into issue #8. Check it out homes.

The cover itself was an interesting process. I did a really rough layout for it...
Based on that each artist penciled their own character. Scans of the pencils went to Riley (Proof) Rossmo who composited them and drew in the background. That was all sent to Craig (Perhapanauts) Rousseau who inked the whole thing and then it was back to me to do the colors. Crazy.

Also, Wolf-Man #7 is scheduled to come out tomorrow. Here is the cover. If you have been following the series so far, this will be a good one. I mean they are all good, of course, but this one will be even more better. :)

Post Heros

2008-06-27T09:31:00.003-04:00

For the past few years I have been hearing good things about Heros Con in Charlotte, NC. I can now say that they are all true. What a cool convention. I had a blast. If you haven't been, you should make plans to go. Make them now. Right now. Go.

I did a bunch of sketches, and many people came up to talk about the book. So thanks to all. Here are a couple of the sketches I did.

At the show I hung out with art wizard Ryan (Invincible) Ottley. We got to talking about doing something fun and awesome together. After the show he did a sketch, check it out-
http://wya.deviantart.com/art/Sea-Bear-and-Grizzly-Shark-89780951

Cover 10, Heros and the Pig-icorn

2008-06-16T22:46:00.003-04:00

I gots some art for you. But not too much, I have to spread these posts out a bit you know.

The first is the cover to Wolf-Man #10. If its not obvious I was going for a Batman feel with this one. I also inked this with a "real" brush. A Scharff #3, if you care. It was way fun. It has been at least 3 years since I have inked anything with a real brush. Typically these days I use brush markers and pens as I hate having to spend the time cleaning the ink out of a brush. With a marker kind you just pop the cap on and done. But I realized how much I missed making lines with a good brush. I also had a small unlabeled bottle of ink that had been sitting in a drawer forever and the consistency was perfect, very black. I liked using the brush so much that I used it on a couple pages, until my ink ran out. Bad news, because I haven't been able to find ink that is nearly as opaque as what was in my mystery jar. Any suggestions on good ink brands...?

This is a Pig-icorn. Does he really need anymore explanation than that?

Also, if you are going to be at Hero's Con in Charlotte this coming weekend, stop by and say hi. I will be sitting somewhere. Presumably in the vicinity of Robert Kirkman. So just look for the line of people with Walking Dead trades.

Sketchy

2008-05-31T01:03:00.005-04:00

I'm back! I thought you might like to see some of the rough layouts for issue #6. I know that I do. I usually draw the layouts small, about 4 X 6, and then enlarge them and lightbox onto the art board. In the lightboxing step I add all the details and get it as tight as I think it needs to be to ink. Although recently I have been skipping the layouts and penciling right on the board. Sometimes I really like the result, and it seems to be a bit quicker, but for more involved shots I still seem to get better results working small first to figure out the design. Maybe one day I will have it all figured out.

Here are a couple older things just for kicks. I did these around the time that the second and third Matrix movies came out. Probably just before, because I was still inspired enough by them to want to draw something.. :)

This one was my idea of what I would look like in the Matrix world.
And this one was done for no particular reason. Both of these were created in Adobe Illustrator, for those who care about such things.

Six.

2008-05-26T20:44:00.003-04:00

Hope you all had a great Memorial day. I spent a portion of my weekend sitting on a beach in northern Michigan reading a book (one without pictures). Super relaxing. But now its back to drawing board.

Issue #6 should be coming out this week. Look for it. Here is the cover. A while ago I had a post showing some of the process for creating it. Check it out if you missed it.

News and Nine

2008-05-08T08:10:00.005-04:00

Well, the official announcement came from Image this week, Wolf-Man is going to a monthly schedule! Here is the press release for more details-
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=156054
I am excited about this, as a reader I am not a big fan of waiting so long between issues of a comic on a bi-monthly schedule. We have wanted to do this from the start, but both Robert and my schedules needed some time to clear up a bit. Of course this means a little more work for me, but so far things are right on track.

And for another super sneak peak. Here is the cover for issue #9.

Appearances and Cover #7

2008-05-01T20:44:00.003-04:00

Hey all. I realized that the previous post has the cover for issue #8 but I don't think I have posted issue #7 cover here yet. Maybe I have posted it, I cant remember. Hmmm, well, if I have then here it is again. If I haven't then here it is for the first time!

I also thought I should mention that I have some upcoming appearances, so stop by yo. I plan to have color prints of some Wolf-Man covers for sale as well as those dandy sketch books that everyone loves so much. I will also smile at you (if you buy something first).

May 3 (Free Comic Book Day) from about 11-2.
Clem's Collectibles
Lansing, MI
www.clemslansing.com

May 10 & 11
Emerald City Comicon
Seattle, WA
www.emeraldcitycomicon.com

June 20-22
Heros Convention
Charlotte, NC
www.herosonline.com

Sneak Peak!

2008-04-03T19:13:00.002-04:00

Hey, hey. For the first place anywhere, here is the cover for issue #8. A little bit of an exclusive for all you good people who pop in here. I hope to have a step by step process post on this before too long.

Sports and Snow!

2008-03-30T21:31:00.006-04:00

Just a quick one today (or tonight, or whenever you happen to be reading this).

Here is the finished T-Shirt design from the sketch in my last post. The shirt has to be printed in only 2 colors, so that of course limits aspect of the art. But it is still fun. If you live in Minnesota, some city league team somehwere is going to be wearing some sweet T-Shirts this summer.
I have done some other sports themed drawing lately, but I can't show them off yet. But trust me, it is for some cool projects. I love drawing this kind of stuff, particularly basketball, as I love to play the game. Although sitting around drawing all the time does not contribute positively to me being able to run up and down the court the way I used to. Anyway, to combine basketball and drawing is just super cool.

We got a bunch of snow throughout the month of February. My son (who is 5) asked me to help him make a snow fort, as is customary when a dad gets involved with his son's projects, I sort of took it up a level and worked on it long after he lost interest. But it was a ton of fun making the fort and playing in it with some of the neighborhood kids. Since it ended up being sort of a creative endevor I figured I would share it here.

Five is alive!

2008-03-11T22:57:00.004-04:00

So tomorrow (Wednesday, March 12) is the day that issue #5 is supposed to be out. Yay. Finally. The art for this has been done awhile, it must be hockey season in Canda and all the printers would rather watch people hit each other with sticks than print our comics on a timely basis. In case you forgot what to look for here is the cover-

Also, to give you a little of the behind the scenes goodness that makes us all feel special, here are the rough layouts for the pages in my previous post.

And now for something different. Hold it now, hold it now, hit it. Here are a couple T-Shirt designs. This first one is for a baseball team (hopefully that is obvious) its still in progress but this is the approved sketch. I'll be sure to show the final when I finish it.

And finally, to wrap this party up here is a shirt design I did several months ago. A winter shirt for kids. And really, wouldn't our world be better off if more people did stuff for the kids?

Wolf-Man #5 preview

2008-02-15T23:56:00.003-05:00

So, it is long past time to get a new post up here. Issue #5 of The Astounding Wolf-Man should be out anytime. Here are a couple pages from it. I dig drawing robot stuff, and this issue has plenty of roboty guys in it, including the newly created "Construct" shown in these pages.

Going old school

2008-01-20T20:20:00.000-05:00

Well, because you demanded it, I thought I would empty the files and show some really old stuff. This is a little embarrasing, but I always like seeing other artists old work. It sort of gives some perspective on where they came from and it is interesting to see their early influences. So I thought I would share some of my own with you. Yes you, sitting their wasting time on your computer when you should be working or spending time with your family, I care about you. And this is how I show it, so brace yourself... :)

Yeah, its not hard to see what kind of artists I was into back then. Please don't judge me too strongly, I was young and impressionable.

Cover #6 Process and More!

2007-12-27T17:46:00.000-05:00

Before we begin today, a quick Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! Now down to business.

The cover to issue 6 is one of my favorites so far. I really like drawing the Actioneers, the superhero team that Wolf-Man has some issues with, so designing a cover with them all fighting sounded like it could be cool. After a couple scribbly attempts, this was the idea I felt had some promise.
After looking at it more we decided that it might be better to have the other characters in the foreground.
As is my usual process, I enlarged the layout to comic board size and lightboxed it with blue pencil, tightening details and tweaking things a bit as I drew. And I forgot to scan my pencils again, so you can't see those. See the problem is that I don't have a big scanner, so I have to scan this stuff in pieces and put back together in Photoshop. I hate that part, cause nothing ever lines up right. So beacuse I don't like doing it and because I don't need to do it for the pencils (other than to show you guys) I often "forget" to do it. But I'll try to do better. Promise. Anyway, excuses over, here are the inks. Yay!

And now the final colors.

Also, here is a con sketch that I forgot to post sooner. Big thanks to Brian for the reminder.

Issue #4 is coming...

2007-12-08T22:47:00.000-05:00

It is supposed to be in stores this coming week. Lots of good stuff this time, trust me, I wouldn't lie to you. I mean really, what good would it do me? Its a good thing I'm coloring this book on the computer, because if I was using traditional media I would have used up all the red paint from every art store in town (for those of you not as quick, that means that there is a whole lot of blood in this issue) :)

The cover is somewhere below in a previous post, but here are a couple pages from the issue and their rough layout.

Also, I should have a cover process post for issue #6 coming soon. Tell your friends.

The Giant

2007-11-23T00:11:00.000-05:00

The book collecting the 2 issues of the Invincible universe handbook came out a week or so ago. You should buy it. It is done in the style of the old Marvel handbooks and contains pinups by some of my favorite (and therefore the best) artists in comics. I was honored to be asked to be included. The drawing that I did is of a character called The Giant, and he appeared for like 2 pages in an issue of Invincible. sdfdsf

Random stuff.

2007-11-08T20:28:00.000-05:00

A mish mash of things this time. I have been super busy lately so some of this is a little delayed.

First, I know that here is a blurb about this over on the right side of the page but in case you missed it, ART SALES! Splash page art is handeling my original art sales. There are some good pages from the first 3 issues of Wolf-Man still available. Not to be a complete shill, but if I don't tell you, who will? I care about you is all, I want you to be able to demonstrate your good taste in art and contribute something positive to this world. Buying my art is a simple way that you can do that :) You can find my gallery here-
http://www.splashpageart.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=47

In other art news, the ever awesome Ryan Ottley (Invincible) drew a great cover for the second printing of Wolf-Man #3. Check out the pencils and final colored version on his blog here-
http://ryanottley.com/archives/87

The cover was colored by Kelsey Shannon. Kelsey is an all around art wizard. I want to be able to draw and color as good as him someday when I grow up. Check more of his work here-
http://www.roboworks.deviantart.com/gallery/

And finally, here is an interview Robert did a couple weeks ago about "The Astounding Wolf-Man"-
http://comics.ign.com/articles/831/831242p1.html

So yeah, no art by me this time. But I'll be back soon with some cool stuff.

TPB #1 Cover process

2007-10-16T23:49:00.000-04:00

Well the trade collecting the first 4 issues of Astounding Wolf-Man is soliceted for January (I think) make sure to buy lots! Here is some of the process we went through for the cover. It started with a conversation with Robert (the writer) where we talked about some of the design elements we though would be cool. This was my first sketch based on that. I liked it alright...

...but Robert wasn't down with Wolfman's pose. So I worked up some other ideas. We decided to go with number "B" below.

Here I tightened up the drawing a bit. I really wanted the logo and everything to fit together well. So I mocked it up in Photoshop with the logo to make sure I had enough room.

Then I enlarged this to fit standard comic board size and lightboxed it to the board with blue pencil, tightening up the details as I traced it. I dont have a scan of those, so you will have to use your imagination and picture it. While your at it also imagine a beach in the Carribean on a beautiful sunny day. Your laying there next to a gorgeous woman (or man) with no responsibilities just enjoying the moment. Nice isnt it? Well hopefully this final image of the inked and colored cover will bring you a small portion of that Carribean happiness. Or maybe it won't but its all I have for you.

Cover #5 Process

2007-10-01T23:40:00.001-04:00

Here goes! Initally we tried some other design ideas for this cover but they were bad. In trying to come up with something cooler Robert suggested the newspaper approach, I instantly I had an idea for the image and this was my early sketch.I wanted Wolf-Mans hand to really pop out and as I messed with the design more it seemed to better use the space and tuck under the logo to flip the image. I liked the left to right movement of the sketch, but I just couldn't make it work. So I changed it. Thats the best part of being an artist, I do what I want and justify it as a "creative" decision :) These are the pencils.

Here are the inks. Pretty much a trace job, because my pencils were so tight. I really need to loosen up with the penciling. Sometimes I do better than others, but for some reason I got pretty tight with these. Although for me there is always a little more pressure with a cover to get the lines just right, that tends to result in my tightening up. I added the text on the computer (thank you Adobe Illustrator) and for some dumb reason I changed "killer" to "villian". I also spelled it wrong. Killer sounds cooler (and is eaiser to spell) so I changed it back on the final, don't know what I was thinking here.

And finally the colors with all the newspaper text added. Robert wrote most of it. There is some funny stuff in there. Also some nice story bits.

Issue #3 is coming...

2007-09-21T21:49:00.000-04:00

Just a quick one today. But first, you may noticed I finally painted around here. So the blog is less boring looking now.

Here is the cover for issue #3. It should be in stores next week. And it is AWESOME! Well, that opinion may be baised. But seriously, as usual there are some parts of it I like OK and other stuff that lets me know I still have ways to go.

Also, I should have a couple other cover process posts coming in the near future.

More Con Sketches

2007-08-19T22:35:00.000-04:00

Check me out, 2 posts in one weeek! Here are a couple more con sketches from the past couple weekends. Thanks to those who sent them in. There are more out there so keep them coming!

Con Sketches

2007-08-15T21:01:00.000-04:00

Hi all. San Diego was a blast. Thanks to everyone who stopped by my table. This past weekend I was at Wizard World Chicago. Also a good time. I met a bunch of great people. I was set up next to Ivan Brandon, Andy MacDonald and the rest of the NYC Mech crew. They do great stuff, check them out.

Here are a couple con sketches from San Diego and a small (but fun) show I did in Massachusetts. I know there are a bunch more out there so if you have one, send me a scan yo! Particularly if it is a good one. Those who got crappy sketches from me don't need to send in those :)

There is an interview up with me today on Newsarama promoting issue #3 which will be out in September. You can check it out here-
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=125449

On a sad note, comic artist Mike Wieringo passed away earlier this week. I didn't know Mike really much at all. But the one time I met him was years ago at a small show in Chicago. I was showing my portfolio around and he was incredibly gracious and encouraging in his review. I never forgot that. In more recent years he had gone out of his way to compliment my work online, I had hoped to see him at a con again soon to thank him for the encouragement he gave me along the way. I guess that will have to wait. My prayers are with his family.

San Diego!

2007-07-23T22:06:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update this time. I will be at the San Diego Comic Con this weekend. You can find me signing at the Image table or in artist alley table FF-17. I'll have some original Wolf-Man pages for sales as well as prints and sketchbooks. OK, commercial over, you may resume your web surfing...

Jason

The Astounding Wolf-Man #2

2007-07-12T23:32:00.000-04:00

Hi! I have been super busy drawing Wolf-Man and keeping up with work and the family, so I am a little late with this, but issue #2 came out last week. Yay!

In the issue we meet a bunch of other superheros. I had fun designing their costumes. I feel more like a 'real' comic book artist when doing costume designs than I do drawing pages. I think it connects with the memory of being a kid and drawing characters I created but then just making up stories about them in my head and not drawing story pages. Strange. Anyway, the double page spread of the new heros about killed me for some reason, but it is the thing I am the most proud of in the book. So in case you didn't buy the issue here it is.

Actually this is a little different than it appears in the book. This is the original color version, but after doing this we decided that because this is their first appearance the colors should show more of their actual costume colors. So I re-colored it. But I hate to let this version go to waste... If you want to see the re-colored one you will have to buy the comic :)

Also, if you want to hear me talk about the book, here is a podcast interview thing.
http://www.fistfullofcomics.com/podcasts/2007/07/10/log-vol-2-44-jason-howard-the-astounding-wolfman/

Cover process

2007-06-03T22:29:00.000-04:00

For those who are into seeing a little bit of the artwork process stuff, I aim to please. In my previous post I showed the rough layout for the cover to issue #4. That was drawn small, about 3" by 4", then scanned in and a little color added to help me decide on the final design. I enlarge the layout up to comic book page size (about 10" by 15") and print it out. I lightbox the layout on to nice paper and using blue pencil redraw the image using the layout as a guide. Then I tighten up the details over the blue lines with a regular mechanical pencil.
Once I am happy with the pencil drawing I ink the image. Nowdays I use PITT brush markers and some pens, these are so much faster for me than a "real" brush. In this stage the design changed a bit as we decided to leave out the cast shadow. I scan the finished ink drawing into Photoshop, where I color it. Although in this case there is not much actual color :) I like to try to design a cover to "pop", that is why I decided to color most of it in gray tones excpt for the blood.

That is pretty much my process for most pages, although I am always trying new things in hopes I may find a faster/better method. Also dependng on how comfortable I am with whatever I am drawing, sometimes my pencils are much looser than above.

The Motor City Con came and went. It was fun. I met some nice people. This was the third year in a row I did a Iron Giant commision for this guy who has an amazing collection of Iron Giant original art. The Simon Bizley one is humbling. Check them all out here-
http://ultimateirongiant.com/origart/origart.php

The Wolf is out of the bag...

2007-05-15T18:02:00.000-04:00

Well, The Astounding Wolf-Man #1 came out a couple weeks ago. Pretty cool. Thanks to anyone who picked one up. Books like this can only survive with the support of the readers so if you like it make sure your local comic shop knows. Having a comic come out is still a strange experience for me. I want to like it, and I do, but I also see the things that could be better. So you know I am just working on improving. To see if I succeded you can buy issue #2 which will be out in July. In fact buy 2 copies, because you know, you didn't have pay for the first one :)

Here is an article the fine gentle people at Broken Frontier did with me-
http://www.brokenfrontier.com/lowdown/details.php?id=799

If your near the great state of Michigan, I will be at the Motor City Con in Novi this weekend. Stop by and say "Hi". I will be doing sketches and signing books and all that stuff.

For those who posted comments here that havn't shown up, sorry. Apparently I have to manage these now and I hadn't done so. So they should be up now.

Here are a couple preveiw pages from issue #2 as well as the rough layout for #4 cover.

I'm in the papers...

2007-03-27T00:48:00.000-04:00

...and on the web also. The local newspaper did a story on me that came out today. Its kinda funny, for years I have lived the lifestyle of work during the day and draw in the evening and weekends. but seeing it written in print in an actual newspaper, makes it seem impressive. Almost like it is not me that is being discussed. Odd. Anyway, for those not in the Lansing, Michigan area here is the link to the article-
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007303230001

Also, a week or so ago Robert talked about Wolf-Man in his column on CBR-
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=19

Oh, for those who come here to see pictures and not to read words, sorry for the lack of updates (I am pretty sure this has resulted in nobody coming here anymore, but anyway). All the stuff I have been drawing lately has been Wolf-Man related. I don't want to give away any pages, but here is a character design for a guy who appears in an upcoming issue.

The Astounding Wolf-Man

2007-01-17T22:42:00.000-05:00

http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=97888

Well, this is the reason I havn't had much recent stuff to post here. So check out the link for some more artwork. I am really excited about this book. And hey, the first issue is free, so if you hate it no big deal. Although if you like it, please send me $2.95 :)

Christmas is coming!

2006-11-19T18:19:00.000-05:00

Here's the cover to the family Christmas card this year. A few years ago (before kids, when I still some of the elusive thing called 'free time') I started doing these not very holiday themed mini comic Chirstmas cards. People seemed to dig them, and I had fun doing them. But last year I was busy and although I wrote most of it and drew the layouts I never got a chance to actually draw the card. Well I guess more people liked them than I thought, because I got all kinds of grief for slacking off. So anyway, this year the theme is outer space. Hopefully I'll get the rest finished in time to get it to the printer and sent before Chiristmas. Feliz Navidad.

SPIDA

2006-11-11T23:03:00.000-05:00

Spidey here is another sketch. I know I didn't draw the webbing on his costume, but the time was up. The old dude is a design for something I'm not talking about yet :)

Briareos Sketch

2006-11-06T23:08:00.000-05:00

I have a tendency to like to overwork things looking for just the right line. So lately I have been forcing myself to be a little more sketchy. I gave myself an hour to do this warmup sketch of Briareos from Appleseed. The guns were the last thing I drew and the hour was almost up, so they got shortchanged, sorry.

This kind of drawing is fun, because my goal is not necessarily to make a good drawing, it is just to finish before the time is up. The time limit removes most of my edits from the process. Its like when I was drawing as a kid, I didn't know what made a good drawing or bad drawing, I was just drawing to make a picture, to create something with pencil. The process itself was the joy, not the quality of the finished drawing.

Hulk

2006-10-30T21:10:00.000-05:00

I like drawing at cons. Sometimes. I recently read an article somewhere about creativity. It made the point that creativity comes from new experiences, and if you are stuck in a rut sometimes merely changing your surroundings can unstick you. Or at least give you a different perspective. Anyway, the Hulk here was a con sketch (the lines were, I colored it later of course). All the visual and artistic stimulation at a big con impacts how I draw at the show. Sometimes things turn out well, other times they are a bit choppy, but either way the result often feels different than if I am drawing in the familiarity of my studio at home.
Indy here is another commission. I'm not at all pleased with the likeness. But I got to draw a gun :)

Back again.

2006-10-27T22:49:00.000-04:00

Just to make sure things get off to good start, here are a couple more images.

Science Dog here was pin up for Invincible 34. A great book, you must buy it. Or at least read the trades while sitting in the coffee shop attached to your local bookstore...

I think everyone should color their own work. At least give it an honest effort. Their are many amazing colorists out there, guys (and girls too) whose work is far better than I will ever be. But for artists whose work will be in color, it seems that a big part of the vision is missing when another artist weighs in with the color choices. Color has such a big design and emotional impact that it seems that those are decisions that the original creator should make. On the other hand, I have a list of colorists that I would love to work with, because, well they are way better than me :) But I guess my point is that, for me, when I first started coloring my work a couple years ago, thats when I really felt like I was pulling some things together creatively. It forced me to think about color and design choices in the drawing stage, instead of just hoping that a colorist would save me.

This chick/robot drawing never really came together like I had hoped it would. It's an original character design and there are areas of the drawing that I am OK with, but the overall design of the elements don't quite work for me. It was dissapointing, because on my sketch I felt that it had all kinds of potential coolness, but I guess I got a little lost in the execution. Moving on.

The B/W image was commision for a friend. A slight reinterpretation of his characters. I like drawing guns.

Beginning

2006-10-27T21:50:00.000-04:00

Hey. This is my first post, hopefully it will be a somewhat regular pattern for me. Hopefully.

I plan to use this space to show some of my art. Mostly illustration, mainly the comics stuff that all we all love so much. But I might even breakout some of my design work and the retail packaging things that never end up with my name on it.

I have always dug the Savage Dragon. I did this image for no reason other than fun. While not perfect, it captures the overall feel I wanted to when I did the first sketch for the image. Anytime I can do that, I'm happy. Anyway it seemed like a good one to start with.

Jason