not much in a writing mood this morning, however here’s a little peek at the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel coming out in March from Platinum Studios. Written by Fred Van Lente (Marvel Adventures, Wolverine: First Class, The Incredible Hercules), with pencils by Billy Penn and colors and stuff by yours truly. enjoy!

thankfully.   a little under 5 weeks, 55 pages of colors, 11 pages of digital inks to do.  Will be done with the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel at the end of that time which is turning out really nice I think.  Been taking some great photos lately of sunsets, and cloud formations in the yard and the field across the street here.  Actually most of the skies in the second issue of Hero By Night 2 are my own snapshots from around the yard here, if they’re not custom brushes I’ve made from pictures I took over the summer.  Kind of neat putting other things like photographs you’ve taken into your own work.  Been using lots of pictures as textures and playing around with displacement maps and stuff to add texture to things like walls and buildings and whatnot as well.  K, off to get some incense, put on the headphones and get cracking here tonight.

Novelist C.E. Murphy (The Negotiator Trilogy,The Walker Papers) has signed a deal to produce her superhero comic series Take A Chance, with the Dabel Brothers! Issue 1 of the series is completely done, issue 2-5 will have art by the amazing Ardian Syaf, and I will be providing digital inks AND colors for this series. More news and updates to come as they roll in here, but I’m literally NECK DEEP in work here in the studio wrapping up colors on Hero By Night issue 2, and finishing up colors on the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel for Platinum Studios in the next month as well. Here’s a sample of my colors from issue 1, and a sample of the digital inks from issue 3!

looks like this ice storm of the last few days that has wreaked havoc across much of the central US is approaching us here as well now.  School is closed today so the kids are home, hopefully won’t be causing too many problems here as we both have quite a bit of work to do.  It’s precisely days like this, where I love the fact that we both work from home, and that our offices are on different levels in the house :D  Hopefully the storm that’s headed this way, isn’t as severe as it has been for some of the other states in the country.  Looks like Oklahoma really took a beating from this thing, so best of luck to all those people that have been struggling with this storm so far, and good luck to them getting their feet back under them as well.

Lots to do today here in the studio.  I need a productive day here to get myself not only back on track, but also back in a groove.  Funny how when you sometimes do an insane amount of work, and expend a massive amount of creative and physical energy, it can take you DAYS to fully recover from it.  I’ve finally broken down here, and started taking some prescription muscle relaxants for the pain in my leg and hip/butt area.  I think that, coupled with elliptical machine every day, and a half hour to an hour of stretching that I’ve been doing, will do the trick eventually.  If I happen to lose the last 8-10 pounds that I wanted to this year in the process, so much the better.  Off to get some pages from the Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel cleaned up and prepped here, and into some coloring of Hero By Night issue 2 today.  I’d REALLY like to get everything for the month of December done before xmas, so I can take a good 4-5 days off I think.

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Now playing: Smashing Pumpkins - That’s the Way (My Love Is)
via FoxyTunes

I seriously doubt that I’m throwing too many spoilers out there for this, but I did an interview recently that will be appearing in the Platinum Studios releases for the month of December.  Here’s the special edition, EXPANDED interview from that for all the rabid fans (probably mostly friends and family actually) that read my blog on a daily basis, enjoy!  More indepth answers you won’t find anywhere, as well as a BONUS question that didn’t end up getting used because of space constraints.  Be sure to check it out in the back of Hero By Night issue 1 landing next month!

What was your first job in the comics industry?

I started out inking a book called Zombieopolis, drawn by some guy named DJ Coffman, and written by a guy named Bob McDeavitt.   It was supposed to have been a mini-series published by a fairly small publisher in the late 90’s.  We did like the first 2 issues or so, it ended up getting cancelled, so DJ self-published it in graphic novel format just to get the book got out there.  That book actually got me some inking work on some small press stuff, I inked a story in the very first issue of Digital Webbing Press which was probably my first work that got onto shelves.  Then I sort of went through a period where I just got out of comics for about 4 years, after banging my head against the wall as an inker, working for peanuts, and getting a lot of “close, but not quite there yet” stuff from most of the major publishers.  Actually, it was funny because when I DID get back into comics, I was inking a book for a guy and he was having a REAL hard time finding a good colorist for our cover.  So I had bought a Wacom tablet a few months prior, and after seeing the results he was getting back from various people, I just kind of told him, “you know what dude?  Let me try this coloring thing out.”  Not only did it look pretty good, but I think it showed me in just one page, that I should probably be focusing on coloring and painting, than on inking.  It was just a lot more natural for me to see the finished product, than just working in black and white.

Who were some of your influences and inspirations growing up?

I’m grown up?  That would be news to my family and friends.  Seriously though, when I was younger I bought comics for about 6 years I think, religiously, in the late 80’s early 90’s.  Pretty much before the advent of computer coloring.   I’d have to say that I have a strong liking of guys like Neal Adams, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane’s loose style, and I think Kirby was a great storyteller.  I follow a FEW colorists in the industry today, people like Brian Haberlin, Alex Sinclair, Rod Reis, Dave Stewart, Richard Isanove.  Stewart and Sinclair are probably my biggest contemporary influences I think in terms of comics.  Jim Valentino also taught me a LOT about comics when I was first starting out.   I’ve always drawn a lot more inspiration and knowledge from classic masters like Rembrandt though.  I’m a HUGE Rembrandt fan.  Also, I’ve been getting into a lot more painting and digital art, including 3D lately, which has opened my eyes to a massive number of inspirational artists and really taught me a lot more about being an artist and really understanding art than comics probably ever could.  I’m more a traditional guy though, so I kind of like to look at the NATURE of art and not really focus on how it’s created.  I mean, we’ve got ALL theses tools today, that are really just extensions of us as artists.  So it’s more about what you want to accomplish, rather than how you get there you know.

How were you brought on to Hero By Night?

I was finishing up work on my last issue of Shadowhawk over at Image for Valentino at the time.  I’ve known DJ now for going on 10 years almost.  I knew he had won the Comic Book Challenge, and I think I called him a few days after he got back from San Diego, just to tell him congrats and wish him luck.  He called me back a few weeks later I think, maybe it was a month, and asked how Shadowhawk was going, and if I’d have time to maybe fit in his Hero By Night book.  Shadowhawk had actually just wrapped up over at Image like a couple weeks beforehand, so I told him I’d love to come onboard.  I had a lot of fun working on a superhero book, and DJ liked what I was doing at the time and thought I would be a perfect fit for the look he was after.

As a colorist, how closely do you work with the rest of an art team or the writer on a book?

Well, in terms of Hero By Night, it’s sort of a different situation because until James Patrick came onboard, there were only 2 people producing that book.  DJ and I talk multiple times just about every single day of the week and weekends, either on the phone or we’ll instant message each other.   I think as a creator, you need to understand that you have to have someone, or a tight knit group of people, you can trust to bounce ideas off of.  DJ and I have the sort of relationship where he knows he can run stuff by me and I would tell him if it sucked or not.  We’re always talking about HBN back and forth, not in a way where I’m really doing anything with the plot or storylines, but you know, I’ll have an idea now and then of something I may want to do, or add in, and I can run it by him and usually we work out something that might be even better than what we were after initially.  There is a respect I think that comes from familiarity, that I don’t have with other books or creators really.  He knows that I’m a creator too, that I’m also a pretty decent artist in my own right, and that I understand the entire comic making process from conception right through to getting your books printed and distributed by Diamond.  Other books, I have pretty set guidelines of what I have to do and I can’t stray from things very much.  Books that I’ve colored straight from pencils, almost everyone that I’ve done, the editors or publisher has realized early on, that I can clean up the pencils and fix things that might be off, fairly quickly and easily, so I go in and make things look their best.  I mean, I’m technically the LAST stop for the artwork, and it really comes down to just putting the best product on the shelf at the end of the day that you can.

If you could color any book in comics today, which would it be?

I’m already coloring it aren’t I?  Outside of Hero By Night though it would be a tough decision.  For a long time my favorite character was Spiderman.   But right now, I’d have to say hands down, it would be Batman.  I would love to color just about any Batman book out there.

What’s on your plate next?”

I’m currently working on the graphic novel Hotshot and Mighty Girl coming out early next year from Platinum Studios Comics, as well as the new ongoing Hero By Night series.  I’ve got some other books and personal projects I’m currently working on as well, when I get some time in between deadlines and coloring of course.  One is a fantasy based online type of project incorporating digital painting,  another is a darker, murder mystery type of graphic novel project that I’ve just started writing in the last month here that I’m really excited about, and I have another project that I’m doing a rewrite on at the moment that is sort of a suspense/thriller type of story.

got in from Texas late last night, early this morning. The show wasn’t all that great.  I think there was a decent amount of fans there, probably moved books and signed as many things as at any other show this year, but it just felt kind of flat for some reason. The fans were great though.  Enthusiastic, nice, and really seemed to dig the Hero By Night stuff. Was great to sign copies of the Dragon Cross debut issue from Big City Comics for fans as well as they brought them over to me from the Big City booth there.  People REALLY seemed to like my colors on that book, so I’m real happy about that.  They DID turn out rather nice looking I think :D  Not really sure that there was a lot to do around the area unless you had a car, or were able to take a taxi or shuttle everywhere.  The hotel food and service were pitiful, if it wasn’t WAY overpriced.  Not the worst show in the world (I hear the Orlando Con this year that I missed out on thankfully, has taken that title on it seems) but not the best by a long shot either.  Lots of un-comic related stuff like jewelry and Himalyan salt rock lamps and crap set up there.  Was almost like they had a hard time FINDING retailers or publishers that wanted to exhibit so they were letting in anyone just to fill the space.

So today I slept in as long as I could stand lying in bed, got up, ate a late breakfast and sat down to catch up on some things.  Might be taking on a pretty substantial 6 issue gig here soon, in addition to my normal work, that would likely be coming out starting in the spring.  Limited series, which is a GOOD thing from my perspective, and likely would end up getting collected when we’re done.  The artist is AMAZING, and I’ve worked with him before, and the writer is a novelist, and is top notch I think too, so it would be fun.

have a page from Hotshot and Mighty Girl to get done yet today, so I need to get cranking!

back in action.  Got everything colored on time just like I wanted to (translated to Monday, and only 24 hours behind the final couple pages of inks getting to me) Took a bit of a breather yesterday to get some things done around here.  Was up early today to get my work done, so that I don’t have to work much if at all tonight, my daughter’s birthday is today.  I’m getting old, or feeling that way every year she adds another digit to her age.  And then again, I’m not THAT old myself.

Trying to get 2 pages a day done here, on top of getting a week or two ahead on the Hero By Night webcomic so that I don’t have to do anything when we get back from Wizard World Texas.  Speaking of that show, I’ve got 11 pages of Hotshot and Mighty Girl to get done before then.  So I need to hop to!!

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Now playing: Garbage - Shut Your Mouth
via FoxyTunes

There are a few things that I’ve found are a requirement for me to do anything worthwhile while working, and one thing that I’ve been TRYING to find time for so that I can keep working for a long time to come.  Coffee is essentially the only fuel that seems to power my creative engine without having any real side effects.  I’ve tried those energy drinks, and still drink them from time to time, however they usually make my heart race in a bad way, and I can’t seem to unwind for HOURS afterwards.  So coffee really helps to keep my juices flowing, keep my eyes open, and energize me.  Now if I could figure out how to fit more water into my diet….I’d probably be a lot healthier.

Lunch.  Or dinner, or breakfast or snacks.  I like to eat, it’s been an issue my whole life.  However once I started creeping up on 30, and ever since I’ve passed that age, I’ve realized I need to curtail the amount of food I’m intaking.  However I really don’t function well without food to keep me focused.  That leads right into the whole exercise thing.  I’ve been trying to find time on a regular basis to keep up some sort of consistent exercises schedule, eliptical machine, situps, pushups etc…..I did really great for a couple weeks, but the last 5 or 6 days have been terrible.  Which sort of defeated the progress I had made of getting back in something resembling good shape.  I’ve lost over 15lbs since January.  I’ve only got another 10 or so to be right at where I want and NEED to be for health reasons.  I think I’ll get there eventually, but I want results being an impatient type of guy.  And waiting to get to where you want to be in life is one of the hardest things.

All of that stuff, ties directly into my art.  I think over the last year and a half, I sacrificed a lot of health, sleep and other things to get my skill set to a level where I felt I could A)make a living, and B) compete with all of the other talent out there.  I’ve done that, in some ways I’m actually further ahead of the curve than I thought I would be at this point.  I’ve had inquiries about various different commissions and work that I really don’t even have a portfolio for.  The most recent of which was a matte painting job for a seemingly well financed  independent film company.  I don’t have any of that stuff in my portfolio right now.  Matte painting, concept art, digital painting, all things that I have wanted to really focus on, and to be truthful, that is probably where I will end up making a living 5-10 years from now, I just haven’t had the time to pursue those.  It’s been a struggle to maintain a certain level of income without working for 15 bucks an hour or less.  I think things are changing though.  I’m making progress, I have a steady amount of work for months to come yet.  I need to find time to work on some of these other skills that I know I can develop to a professional level though.  It is funny though that others see certain things in my work, and certain levels of potential, that I may not even know is there until they point it out to me.

I’m not really sure what all this rambling accomplishes, other than to put my mind in order a bit, before I launch into the heavy workload part of my day here.  I’ve done a couple of things already this morning, but the real work is coming up here as I have 3 pages of Hotshot and Mighty Girl graphic novel I want to get colored.  After I get some lunch, and a bit more coffee of course

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Now playing: Sarah McLachlan - Push
via FoxyTunes