Illostrated

word to the wise (notice I didn’t say a word FROM the wise) when shooting a pneumatic nail gun, always pull the trigger with your DOMINANT hand. It also helps if it’s not raining outside, the boards you’re trying to hold aren’t as wet as the handle of the gun, the roof you’re standing on isn’t wet etc….etc….

that being said, my finger is feeling better enough to work today luckily. Not only did we get the shed/playhouse for the kids in the backyard almost half done this weekend, we also go the carpet in the basement laid as well and rearranged furniture and stuff so that there are much more open spaces and plenty of room for playing pool now. I also got one of my paintings hung up in my wife’s office as well.

I’ve got a lot of work to do here, just trying to keep my head down and get through as much as I can each day so that I can enjoy some of the summer here as well instead of slaving away with no down time. k, feels like it MIGHT be a good day of work today if I can get a bit more coffee, a small bite to eat, some motrin, and get my finger taped up here. YO!

been so crazy the last month I feel like I fell down a rabbit hole. Think I colored an entire book worth of pages (22) from last Wednesday to LATE Monday night/EARLY Tuesday morning. While taking almost all of Sunday off for Fathers day. Had a small scare when my mom called on Friday to say that my dad was in the hospital for chest pains and testing and stuff. So I went up there on Friday to see how they were both doing, everything ended up being okay, so that was a huge relief. Then went back on Saturday to bring the other car home. Sunday we went and saw Prince Caspian at the theater, grilled steaks, and generally just took a much needed day off after working till 2 or 3 am all freaking week. Lots of drama and uncertainty still surrounding pretty much every aspect of work, at pretty much every company I’m working for in one capacity or another. Some of it is just stupid, some of it is stressful, some of it is probably much needed in order to get things back on track where they should be. All I know is that I’ve held up my end of things with everyone I’ve ever done work for, and I’m realizing that’s a hard thing for publishers and editors to find on a regular basis.

Tonight will be our 3rd baseball game in the last week too. oy. The bonus is, our team is hitting really well now (4 homeruns last game even though my son missed out on his 3rd of the year by a couple of feet probably and settled for a triple) and starting to field the ball well too, we turned our 2nd double play in as many games last game. My daughters softball game is home and at the same school as our baseball game tonight so I might get to see her play some after our game is over. She had a triple last game as well, but her team is really struggling this year to get everyone on the same page, and to show up each game (literally, hard to play when you don’t even have enough players to cover each infield position on a regular basis)

My brother and I started digging holes for the posts to the playhouse/shed we’re building in the backyard. Although anything that has a peak of 14ft is probably a ridiculous thing to add the word playhouse to. So we spent a few hours doing that, using a power auger with the name “EARTHQUAKE” written on it (and rightfully so as it shakes your entire body) and good old fashioned post hole diggers. Got those filled with a base of cement, and then called it a day as I had to run him up to work last night before 5. Somehow we’ll get this thing built in the next couple weeks, with much help from my father-in-law, and my wife is going to have to help too, because I’ve got yet again, LOTS of work to keep cranking out here to meet deadlines this summer.

Debating on whether I want my son playing summer baseball in July or not now too. Would be good experience, BUT…he’s playing football in the fall this year too, and practices start in mid-August. So I don’t know how well he’d do with only taking off 2 weeks between seasons really. I have a sneaking suspicion that before I know it, it’s going to be September here, my daughter will be in 7th grade, I’ll be turning 32, and the summer will be over. I need to find more time to drink pina coladas with the wife and chillax on our patio out back I think, somehow. Although with September comes football season. We’re planning on some tailgating get togethers, of which we’ll be keeping people posted.

alright, taken 2 hours to get this written in between coffee breaks, formatting pages for work today, and other stuff. Time to get moving, I’ve only got till 4 today because I still have a lineup to put together for tonights game yet too.

it’s actually half past 9, roughly. Have a completely insane weekend coming up here, not much time for sleep. Have a ton of work to get done (a TON), have a ton of family stuff going on, a back yard that needs mowing…blah.

so, I wrapped up colors on Take A Chance issue 2 on Tuesday, been working on some newsletter comic coloring for an energy company in Canada and that’s due next Thursday, and I’ve got to start really cranking out pages for Dragon Cross issue 6 starting today. That’s all the stuff at the top of the list since it’s what pays the bills right now, but here’s something ELSE coming soon…..

“me and my friend made a comic book and guess how long it took?” well, it doesn’t take long because that’s all that me and my friend do, is make comic books. So, I’m pretty sure that this coming Monday, June 9th, will be the launch of our NEWEST comic RISE OF THE FLOBOTS: ARCHITECTS OF CHANGE! So yeah, this is going to be an OFFICIAL comic project for one of the absolute HOTTEST bands out there right now period, the Flobots! If you’re hungry for a GOOD webcomic, if you’re hungry for CHANGE in the comic world, they you absolutely can’t MISS the debut of Rise of the Flobots. Brought to you by the two newest Flobots, Flobot 13 and Flobot 22. DJ Coffman and myself, are going to be bringing the same voice of change that the Flobots are bringing with their music to the comic scene. These are going to be stories about YOU the people, about a new direction, a new AMERICA, a new HOPE. We’ve got a TON of surprises in store, an amazingly intricate backdrop of sub-plots that are going to be woven into the stories of REAL people. It’s time to leave behind a lot of the archaic ways things have been done before, and just start blazing a NEW trail. Because me and my friends understand the future. Social commentary is about to COLLIDE full force with the energy and creative power of a bomb. “If you’ve got a dream and a lot to do, put your hands up!”

More to come on that, but believe me, this is going to be BIG.

AMERICA WILL BE!

Finally found a good printer to produce my digital paintings on canvas in spectacular fashion. I’ve spent the better part of 6 months looking for just the right place to produce high quality work, at an affordable price. There are only 2 paintings up in the store now, however I will be producing on average hopefully 1 new painting each month (maybe every other month) for the rest of the year, most fantasy or sci-fi based works, branching out into different color schemes, themes, etc…..

Visit the store now!

So, the store is now live. High quality canvas prints are available on matte canvas, gallery wrapped and constructed with sturdy wooden frames. Vibrant inks, fade resistant up to 100 years. I’m also going to be offering commissions on various themes, genres, etc….so if there’s a particular type of painting you’re looking for, feel free to get in touch for a custom quote.

Visit the store now!

I’ve been screwed over pretty good in the last month here. Without the boring details, it’s taken a LOT of 18-20 hour days, literally, this past week to get back on my feet sort of. Still may take a month or two to get things back where they need to be, but I’ve been busting my hump making things happen here. Lots of work being done, lots of inventive things going on, lots of BSing about plot lines and stuff, and lots of planning and thinking. Not to mention all the real life crap going on as well (like my sons possible fracture of his arm jumping out of a swing the other day)

so today, it’s even more busting butt working, then tonight it’s drinking as we’re having some people over here. also, more drinking, and watching some basketball as the Pistons defend homecourt against those upstart Celtics. Followed by more drinking. There’s a reason we’ve been in the Eastern Conference Finals the last SIX years Boston fans, and the fact that we now have some amazing YOUNG talent on the bench coming in and playing big should probably worry everyone in the NBA.

alright, back to the butt busting as I prepare for a semi day off here after I’ve put in 6 or 7 hours of work.

art AND colors by me. This was done for the new Flobot comic DJ and I are working on.

so, my partner in crime DJ Coffman, announced what top secret project X is that he’s been working on the past few weeks, and I thought I’d share a link to what he has to say about our new venture Rise of the Flobots: Architects of Change.

It’s going to be something special for sure. The first few stories that he has outlined already are neat little ideas that really pull at your heart strings in some cases, and in other cases just make you mad as hell. Changing society, making people think for themselves, and interpret their world through their OWN eyes is something that we should all be conscious of as artists. It’s a responsibility that we have to use our art with a purpose. so when DJ asked if I’d be down to work on this Flobots webcomic, I couldn’t resist. Their message is pretty much exactly up my alley, and reversing that downward spiral that society seems to be on is important to me. People dont’ like the truth no matter how you sugar coat it, which is why I never sugar coat anything. Lots of times people may not like what I have to say because it’s TOO honest. But I always come back to thinking, WHY would you want me to lie to you or tell you something that I don’t believe. I’ve learned there are times to keep my mouth shut, and other times I get too riled up and open my mouth anyways when I SHOULD keep it shut. But bottomline, change only comes when you can be honest about what it is that needs to BE changed, and take the steps to accomplish that.

So yeah, “me and my friend made a comic book…” and pretty soon, you’ll be able to follow along with the stories of everyday people, and their messages of change and hope. I’ll end with a little something I wrote up for this project yesterday, that you’ll likely be seeing soon once it goes live.

“Somewhere in the darkness a faint light is being born.
Somewhere beyond thought a powerful message is being formed.
Somewhere in the deepest recesses of your mind a lost or forgotten sense of purpose is waiting.
Somewhere, someone..is broadcasting a message just for you.
Is your mind open enough to receive the signal?”

This is a story about you, me, your brother, your cousin, and everyday people. About how we’ve seen enough of the same old crap, and what happens when you awaken yourself to what’s REALLY going on around you. Just wait until all of these REAL stories start being told, wait until the hope they inspire starts spreading, and I personally can’t wait until all of those stories start being interwoven with the HUGE backdrop and subplots that we’ve started kicking around too.

So go out and pick up a copy of the Flobots new album, start spreading the word that the Revolution of the Mind has begun, and get ready for CHANGE!!!

“I know how to run a business and I could make you want to buy a product, movers, shakers and producers, me and my friends understand the future, I see the strings that control the system, I can do anything with no resistance….”

Today is a day of change I think. I can feel it. All weekend I’ve been stewing on how broke everything is right now. There is no stability left anymore it seems. Chaos is taking over all facets of our daily lives, not just here, but all around the world. Change starts on a personal level, then moves to the immediate area around you, becomes local, then regional. I’m pretty much DONE with standing still, and as much as I BELIEVE that you need to let things happen around you and accept life as it comes, there comes a point when you need to stand up and BECOME the change that you want to see in the world.

“and it feels so good to be alive and on top, my reach is global, my tower secure, my cause is noble, my power is pure….”

wow, I don’t know if my life is stuck in a proverbial and sort of mystical projection of a game of chutes and ladders the last 2 weeks or not, but it sure does feel like I’m on a huge game board right now, and the Universe keeps letting me climb up one of those ladders only to find myself sliding down a chute a day or two later. It’s been insane.

So I’m back to coloring things today, and REALLY focusing on painting and coloring this week. I’ve started the wheels in motion for my own large scale, undoubtedly overly ambitious, possibly completely unrealistic project the past few days as well. So far so good. I’m still ironing out the best way to present things and utilize the screen space as much as possible. I’m NOT the best web designer when it comes to implementing all kinds of code and stuff to make the most functional site. But I have been able to utilize iframes and some simple navigation and stylesheets as much as I probably can. Now it’s a matter of getting the updating and “look” of everything just right before I start putting up content. I have plenty of content to get started as well, probably a good 4 months worth of material already ready to go. I just need to find those extra few hours each day to fit in, and right now, they just aren’t there.

Been busy pursuing some other avenues here as well, I’d really like to try and shift more of my work online as opposed to being strictly a print industry colorist. I see lots of successful and semi-successful things out there that makes me think I can bring a lot of my own flair too.

for those of you that read the blog on a regular basis, I had been forced to make the decision to leave the coloring duties on Hero By Night last week. It was the RIGHT decision to make logically. One of those decisions that you make with your head and know is right. Well, over the weekend, seeing how upset my kids got when they learned I wasn’t going to be doing the book anymore….I made a decision with my heart. And sometimes, you need to listen to your heart instead of your head. This is one of those times I’ve realized. So thank you ALL, for your emails, phone calls, and kind words. It’s funny to me to have so many people actually CARE about me and to recognize my contribution to something like that. It’s not often that people in the print industry of comics care so much about someone as far down the totem pole as the colorist. Heck most companies STILL don’t include the colorists name on the covers of their comics. the interesting thing being, comics aren’t colored anymore really. They’re painted. So to ignore the fact that someone is in reality PAINTING work on a book, is a disservice to that artist really I think. And I really do appreciate everyone who not only recognizes my work, but goes out of their way to get in touch and tell me what a fan they are of my work. (and a little hint, for all you fans, you may be able to actually purchase prints and paintings of my personal work in a few months if you’re so inclined )

That is all. I need coffee, and I have some Hero By Night pages to color today

that’s right, today is free comic book day all over. Head out to your local shop to pick up some books (including the 12 page FCBD Hero By Night flip book) It’s got essentially a half an issue of story in continuity that takes place between issues 3 and 4 of the ongoing series. With some GREAT new art by the one, and ONLY, DJ COFFMAN, and yours truly.

We’re headed out with the kids to take them to an end of the year bowling banquet this morning, then I’m headed into town with them to get some comics, then back here to figure everything out.

If you’re a publisher or creator out there looking for a colorist for your project (whether it’s covers, commissions, or entire issues) I’m accepting work again and looking to pick up some more projects. Email me about my rates if you’re interested by contacting me through my website,