Sketches

Quick scans from the nude figure drawing session at amherst college on thursday eve. I want to go to more of these, they're great practice. (And free!)

The Climb, page two

I finished this one a couple weeks ago, and just managed to scan it. I am pleased with how it turned out. There are a couple things I would do differently, but that's why each page is a learning experience.

Veronica Spunk character portraits

Some character sketches based on a picture of a friend of mine. I used the character in a class project, which I have yet to scan. I'd like to do more with her, but I'm not sure what just yet.

She's an anachronistic 1940s style fighter pilot. All of my ideas for this character involve alternate history. Also, she has a robot friend named Klanky. The first picture is a better scan, but the proportions are weird and the ink was bleeding. Second one has much more 'tude, plus accessories.

Gay Robot Sex!

So, this is my current project in Sequential Imagery. When I presented the unfinished pages to the class, the critiques were that I either needed to vary the line more, or find a way to add depth, such as tone or color. So I colored a bit, and I really like it so far. All four pages will inevitably find themselves here, but this little preview is all I have so far.

It was strange to be working in color, and on my Wacom again after almost two months of just getting back to "the basics" with pen and ink. I think I've grown since last time, and I know the limits of my own understanding of color and line a bit better.

Pope Fantastic, etc.

Finally, after a half a year of hype, I present the first ever full page comic regarding Pope Fantastic and the Cardinals Amazing. I cannot take credit for the name, which was actually devised as a potential band name by a friend of a friend. This comic was a fun respite from course work where I could just goof off and not worry about making it good. Of course, I did end up thinking about some formal elements, such as how to use overblown Kirby-esque panel transitions to create humor. But of course that's a side note to the pure, unadulterated dumb that this comic let me revel in.

The Climb, part I

This is the first page of four. It is based on a dream that was described to me by a friend. I quite like it so far, and I'm really proud of certain effects. I'll post more at length about this one later.

Well, well

This is my first project for Sequential Imagery I. I wanted to play with the idea of panel-less transitions, what they do to a page, and what it takes to have it still be read in sequence rather than as one big picture. Also, I enjoy the sort of demented story that forms here.




Also, this is my first experimentation with a nib pen and india ink. It's quite smooth, and I enjoy the line variation on some of the nibs. Very fun.

Last of the Comics Workshop

Here are the two full pages I did for the end of Comics Storytelling, with nice resolution. Everybody loved the couple in the first one and requested more of the story. The second page jumps ahead to the moment of their first argument and their first kiss.

The Saga of Spot the Snail

In Making Comics, Scott McCloud identifies six basic panel transitions that are used to convey stories in comics. For our first assignment in our comics workshop we were to draw one example of each of these transitions in three panels each. The first one listed here was a random idea that then took over the rest of the panels (with the exception of the final one, which is more of an exercise in absurdity) to form a mini-story which I have titled The Saga of Spot the Snail. There's more information about the six transitions at Scott McCloud's web site.

These quick sketches were later hand inked when I first bought my pens and wanted to ink everything I could get my hands on. Nothin' special, just wanted to throw some black lines down so it would pick up better on the scan. The pages later got crinkled in the great room shift of last weekend. Hence weirdness.

Moment to Moment


Subject to Subject



Action to Action



Scene to Scene


Aspect to Aspect



Non Sequitur Transition

A Promise of Updates to Come

Having just finished Bone by Jeff Smith (amaaaazing!) and Making Comics, by Scott McCloud, and with the approach of the end of the comics storytelling workshop coming up, I'll probably be working on (and posting) a lot of fun comics-related things soon. I have some exercises from earlier in the workshop that I want to post, so look for those soon.

Also, read Bone. In addition to being probably my favorite graphic novel to date, it's also now very high on the list of favorite books ever, comix or otherwise.