Clone Wars-Comics

  

I was lucky enough to work with Henry Gilroy during the first couple of seasons on the Clone Wars. He went on to do some of the comics at Dark Horse as well. Even though our schedule is pretty aggressive I wanted to work with him on the series again and was fortunate to do (2) covers.
I thought I would also show you the thumbnails the editor got to choose from for both of these covers

OHATMU

Jonathan Morris came up with an excellent idea,..redesign the Marvel Universe with the help of any ol Palooka that wants to throw down.
I'm in. I went for any Kirby character I could get my hands on and luckily I got this guy, Da Klaw!!( I would be lucky to work on any Kirby character, I love them all).
Go check out his site. Lots of fun interpretations and amazing work
I was going to do a straight up rendition of the original ( yes including the serrated purple underwear) but I couldn't make it work. Hopefully this won't offend anyone. I have a few more to do for OHATMU that I will post in the coming days/months

Manga Sushi-the story starts

This is an ongoing project that I started with my first son. This is more his project than mine, I merely write what he tells me and he approves most of my work. It is one of the most challenging and rewarding projects I have done yet. For me I just try to listen and to not be so precious with the work that it doesn't get done. It is hard but I try really hard not to steer the story. I do find that if I get confused I tend to ask pointed questions, for which he always has several answers.
Our project came out of a story I found. I was slightly horrified to hear about the children of one of my creative heroes (N.C.Wyeth). He is definitely an amazing and inspiring painter, but he was an absentee father. His children would wait at the door to his studio to catch a glimpse of him when he opened the door to pick up the tray of food his wife would leave for him or when he would place the empty plates back at the door. I have been guilty of getting wrapped up in my job and neglecting myself and those close to me, but after I heard this story and hearing several stories similar to this, I became more mindful. It's helped but it is still difficult for me.
One way of combating this is to include my family,when I can, and share my love of this field. If you are a creative parent I hope that you spend time nurturing it in your children whether they follow your footsteps or not. If you have other ideas or have done similar projects I would love to hear about them in the comments.

Frank Frazetta

We lost a great artist this past week. I cannot tell you how much this loss affects me, what Frazetta's work means to me, how he inspires me every time I see his work, how I strive to excel to his level in every piece I do, how much I still learn from his work. Sadly I know those of you that feel a little like I do are probably categorized in the "old guy" column. With the internet and the rise of concept art this new amazing generation of artists have no context for him and without context he just becomes one of those guys. I already overheard some of the younger guys I work with refer to him as such. To me growing up he was a lighthouse and utterly unique and revolutionary. I learned early on that if you find someone that you think is amazing, find out who there teachers were, who inspired them, and maybe you could get closer to that source. Our legacy as artists will be by who we inspire not what show we were on or how much we got paid for something. I think we tend to forget that in our "jobs". Some amazing artists that he inspired

-Dave Stevens
-Mike Mignola
-William Stout
-Frank Cho
-Justin Sweet
-Mark Schultz
-Mike Kaluta
-Mitch Byrd
-James Watkiss
-Ashley Wood
-Wally Wood
-Al Williamson

-this list could probably go on a lot longer than I know or have room for. But if you like any of the guys above take a second or a lifetime and check out Frank Frazetta's work. While your at it, take a second to thank the artists that inspire you that are still here. I know for a fact it would mean alot to them. My heart is heavy and I felt the need to post something. Sadly I couldn't even "settle" on any of the hundreds of images he created to put up as a post.

Thank you Frank for everything!

Remember Banner

An incredible intellect living with regret and guilt of what his uncontrollable ID did. The Hulk was a a creature of pathos and rage. Then we had to put him in a bunch of super groups and play nice and still be the Hulk. Minor character flaw. Now they introduced us to RedHulk a creature of rage and, erm, evil.........who cares.
I worked on two versions for the SilverScreen ,one actually made it and was panned. Haven't thought of the grey/green guy since then until this guy started his March Madness run. Check it out if you have the time. Made me remember all the fun I had reading him as a kid.

HULK SMASH!!

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

Was fun. Good job Dreamworks!! Your TD's did an amazing job on hair, fur, rock, wood and scales. Clouds and fire also superb! Lighting was beautiful! Character design by the amazingly talented Nico Martlet (seriously this guy is crazy good!) the animation was simply superb, both subtle and big, score was unobtrusive and rousing in the right place but what about the story? Fun, just fun. But don't take my word for it, go see it, I mean if you like this sort of thing, you know dragons and vikings. More like this please! What's next guys?

TELLING STORIES

Most of you that visit this often NOT updated blog are interested in story . If you are one of those people I would HIGHLY recommend this book written by my friend Brian McDonald-Invisible Ink. I was very lucky to run into him when I was very young in my career and it made a big difference in steering me. He started writing a blog that is chock full of practical advice for writers and artists who tell stories. There are alot of books out there about this medium but most of them are for analyzing stories after the fact or create confusion using highfalutin words which only make people feel stupid , some even have graphs and charts that start to look like football plays. But if you are actually creating stories I would say his book would benefit you more than most.
Brian clears away the useless and makes visible what was previously hidden , then tells you how to hide it again. But don't take my word for it listen to these yahoos

“Writing stories is hard. They are stubborn by nature. No matter how many times you master one, the next story is obligated to conceal its faults with an entirely new disguise. Your only recourse is to keep writing, while concurrently increasing your understanding of this deceivingly simple, yet highly complex, organism we call story. Brian McDonald’s insightful book does just that. Somehow, Brian has found yet another fresh and objective way to analyze how great stories function, and emboldens you to face the challenge of scaling whatever story mountain looms before you. If I manage to reach the summit of my next story it will be in no small part due to having read Invisible Ink.”

—Andrew Stanton (cowriter Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Monsters, Inc., and cowriter/director Finding Nemo and WALL-E)

“Invisible Ink is a powerful tool for anyone who wants to become a better screenwriter.With elegance and precision, Brian McDonald uses his deep understanding of story and character to pass on essential truths about dramatic writing. Ignore him at your peril.”

—Jim Taylor (Academy Award™- winning screenwriter of Sideways and Election)

“Brian McDonald knows that underneath a good story are the difficult mechanics of plot. He offers insights into both the construction needed and the art of hiding that construction.”

—Jim Uhls (screenwriter of Fight Club)

also here