Hey there buddy!

So one of my buddies at Target asked a couple of his design/illustrator friends (including me) to do an illustration of him for a blog at work. Here's what I was able to cook up. Enjoy!!

I'll be back with some overdue news and hopefully more posts soon!!

It's Been Too Long Without You

Hey folks!!

Sorry for the loooooong overdue update. There's been a TON going on at home/work and another update will soon come on that, but in the mean time, I can finally tell you about project I was stoked to be a part of. In case you haven't heard of StarShipSofa, they are a Hugo Award winning podcast of sci-fi stories, but also have videos, galleries, etc. They put out a 3rd volume of their short stories and I was asked to do a little of what I do. The only direction was to create something that looks like it would go in a comic book from the 50s. Well having a passion for mid-century marketing and having been a package designer AND having a love for sugary cereals that are bad for you, I created this little piece.

Below is the press release from the guys at SSS. Thanks folks!!



StarShipSofa Stories: Volume 3 available from 11/11/11

Featuring stories by: Matthew Sanborn Smith, Gregory Frost, Joe
Haldeman, Dennis M. Lane, Mercurio D. Rivera, Nicola Griffith, Peter
Watts, James Patrick Kelly, Saladin Ahmed, Catherynne M. Valente, Paul
Cornell, Gareth L. Powell, James Morrow, Amy H. Sturgis, Kevin J.
Anderson, Michael Swanwick, Lawrence Santoro, Lavie Tidhar, Frederic
Himebaugh, Aliette de Bodard, Allen Steele, Tad Williams, Jack
McDevitt, Karen Joy Fowler, Will McIntosh, Morgan Sterling Saletta,
David Brin and Adam Troy Castro.

Also featuring art by: Skeet Scienski, Daniel Tozer, Simon Watkins,
Jack Calverley, Timothy Booth, Jerel Dye, Evan Forsch, Patrick McEvoy,
Ben Greene, Mike Dubisch, Thomas Crielly, Bradley W. Schenck, Brian
Thomas Woods, Richard Case, Peter Snejbjerg, Daniele Serra, Graeme
Neil Reid, Mark Zug, Brent Holmes, Ben Wootten, Dave Krummenacher,
Jouni Koponen, Len O’Grady, Steven Thomas, Mud!, David Boyle, David
Malki !, Carly Monardo, Anton Emdin and Greg Broadmore.

Volume 3 available in multiformats from www.starshipsofa.com

Chicago Comic Con Wrap Up!

Hey folks!!

Sorry for the super delayed Comic Con recap. My wife, Melitia, and I had our first table at any sort of nerdy convention and I will say it will not be our last! We sold out of a lot of stuff (sold out of more when we got back to friends - thanks Adam H!) but we did come back with some merch and a lot of learning for next time. Where to begin in terms of recapping. I guess I'll just say I didn't get to walk around as much as I had hoped and we said we wouldn't buy anything but the one thing I did end up buying was Mike Henry's book, FaceBomb Vol. 1. TOTALLY worth the $$$. Only $25, hardcover and he does a small commission sketch in the back of the book. He also has some streaming videos on how he goes about his techniques with great detail. On top of having talent flowing out of his pores, he's an awesome guy. Super genuine.

We had horrible table placement, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We had some awesome table mates such as Justin Currie who couldn't keep people away from his table.

Just down a few people was comic veteran, Hilary Barta. Super awesome guy, uber talented and very complimentary. He's been doing the comic thing for a long time and just oozes talent. I regret not buying any of his stuff. He's done stuff for all of the big boys - Marvel, DC, Image, Malibu, etc.

Another table mate was Luke Smarto, a Comic Con veteran. I was surprised to hear he doesn't work in the comic world since his stuff was GREAT! I was able to trade a stuffed Skeletor for an X23 original sketch.

One last artist I wanted to call out was Edmond Lee. Super awesome guy also (do you see a trend here? They're all super awesome). Great talent. He had a lot of this samurai type stuff but his other stuff on his blog is great. He does pretty sweet caricatures as well. It was also his first time and I hope to run into him at another show.

In terms of Comic Con'ers that swung by one that stood out was The Pokemon Gangsta Nerd. Hilarious guy. Super nice. He is a man of many talents and makes You Tube videos of his nerdom. Keep nerdin!

There were a lot of other great people I met and unfortunately I didn't get everybody's name or card. I don't do commissions but had to do one for an awesome lady, Sarah Kramer (thanks! You and your fam/friends were awesome!). She has a sketch book of just Muppet commissions she has her fav artists do. I have a photo but need to get it off my phone. I also met one of the founders of a sweet artist collective/show in San Diego called Trickster. Her name was Anita Coulter. Super awesome person who puppeteers! How awesome?!

I think that's it for now. I have a bad memory so I know I forgot plenty. Hope you enjoyed!

...Cuz the face don't want to hear it.

I thought of this idea this morning. I don't know why because I don't think I've ever had to use it. Anyways, my thought was, what if talking to the hand was actually a positive suggestion because, you know, sometimes you just need to talk about your feelings. Usually to a trained professional.

Super Talent!!!

I'm pretty lucky not only to work with some super talented people, but to also be able to call them my friends is amazing. One of my buddies at work is Adam H. He recently had some down time and decided to do a portrait of me. Does that shirt make my head look weird? Seriously, I was pleasantly surprised. Here it is in all of it's glory:

Be sure to check out his amazing work here: http://monsters-n-stuff.blogspot.com/

Loooong Overdue Update

I know it's been a while since I last posted (before today, since I just posted my Ghostbusters piece), so I want to make it up to you. As Mel, my wife, and I are prepping for Comic Con, I had a great idea for a piece. Well, I didn't get to it. Instead I worked on a few pieces that I've had in my head for a while. Here they are in all of their glory. I'll have to admit, I'm kinda loving the Spongebob. Enjoy!!

Who You Gonna Call, Foo?

I tweeted this image the other night but I wanted to give you a better quality jpeg. If you go back and look at my Boba Fett and Mega Man, these guys all look the same from a layout perspective. Why? You'll see at Comic Con! Enjoy!!!

Mega Awesome!

Here's a quick post for a piece I'm taking to Comic Con. The colors are messed up (what else is new). I know, it's dark. I'll reveal the finished version at a later date. Soon I hope.

Hey, this is kinda the same layout as Jabba Fett. Ohhhh. Snap! Intentional!

Also, I just noticed some of you left comments. Because I'm a dunce at anything not involving Illustrator, Photoshop or Xbox, I didn't realize it until now. Thanks for the awesome comments. Always feel free to shoot me an email. I always appreciate the feedback...except when you tell me you don't like it. Keep that to yourself.

It's OFFICI-SHIZZLE!!

I'd be honored!

CARS 2!

Hey folks! Long time - no post. My sincerest apologies!! I've been getting ready for Comic Con as well as planning a few other things that I will unveil later on. Anyways, I'm a huge fan of anything Pixar as well as the guys over at Pixar Times (A while ago, I did a piece for them). Well, they did a Cars 2 Countdown where the invited artists to submit their own designs for original Cars characters (my fav was the winner of the contest Andrew Kolb. Anyways, here's my submission, enjoy!:

Greatest Love EVER!!!!

Hey folks!

My old mentor from work is getting married and I was asked to create a poster to display at her wedding. The info I was given was: a) vintage circus & b) Use the phrase "Greatest Love on Earth" c) 2'x6' poster.

Booyeah - here's the final version (for now). I did end up removing their names for their privacy.

Amateur Photographer

In my spare time I'm an amateur photographer and during my last trip out to Chicago I snapped a few photos I found interesting.

First I saw a bunch of nerdy (cool) people walking. One was huge and green.

Then I snapped this photo of a dude crossing the street. Good thing there was a sign warning me of the crossing.

Deep in Thought - Joker Edition

Here's a quick piece I whipped up while my wife is out of town. It's a great quote from the Dark Knight. I love movie posters from the 60s so I thought it's be interesting to play on that. My original intention was to do this one similar to my wolverine quote, but I wanted to do something a little different. The colors are bit dark and desaturated here, but it'll be brighter by the time it gets to Comic Con. My spin That's all I have to say about that.

Jabba Fett

Yo yo peeps!

Thought I'd share a quick piece I did today for Comic Con (Wizard World). The concept is a little odd, but it'll all make sense in due time. I hope. Either way, I tweeted an early concept of the background earlier today. I'm happy with the final option. WORD!!!

Check It Off the List

Over a year in the making, from concept to completion, my books finally came in the mail! If you want to be like all of the cool kids, you can ready about it here: http://www.needyoublue.blogspot.com/

At the present moment the only way to get your hands on the book is to wait for Comic Con or if you know me, so I apologize for that. I'm looking into an on-line option to purchase. The feedback has been AWESOME, so thanks for that and thanks to all of the folks who proofread this mofo!!

Oh! I want to give a shout iz-out to Shutterfly for printing these. Their prices are great and their staff has been equally awesome to work with. Unfortunately if you try to go to www.shutterfly.com, you will get nowhere in terms of book printing. That's because you need to go through their business solutions site which they don't really publicize as much: http://businesssolutions.shutterfly.com/

Word!

Squarehead Nopants

Sup people!! Countdown to Comic Con (Wizard World) continues. Here's a quick piece I worked on yesterday. I will not reveal how I plan to use it though. That secret shall remain with me! HAHAHAHAHAHA!! Enjoy.

KFC - Kung Fu Crackhead

So, I'm working on some plush items for Comic Con and I'm doing a Kung-Fu Panda for a friend. Thank goodness for exploration. The guy on the left is what the original version looked like. I decided to rework Po since Po was never a crackhead, nor did he ever look like one in the first movie. The guy on the right is the final version.

Also, by the power of Grayskull, I've got a little He-Man/Skeletor action happening. (How did He-Man ever get OK'd as a name for a kids' franchise. It's about as good as Biggs Darklighter. Seriously, Darklighter? Was Biggs Updowner taken?) Sorry, rant. Enjoy.

Dumped

This is just a logo concept I was working on. I thought this was going to be it, but alas, he wasn't chosen. Maybe next time buddy, maybe next time.

I need a hero...in a halfshell.

Guess who's going to take the road trip with me to Wizard World (why does that sound soooooo flipping geeky? From now on, I'm just going to call it CCC - Chicago Comic Con.)? So guess who's making the trip to CCC? They rhyme with Shminja Shmurtles. That's right! TMNT! Check em out.

Let the Wookie Win!!

Sorry I've been MIA lately. I've been tying up loose ends with the book. It's finally finished and off to the printers. I'm just waiting for the proofs to arrive any day now. That's the biggest project off the list for the Chicago Comic Con in August. I'm tackling the projects with the biggest lead times first then saving all of the printing stuff for the end. Plush is something I'm wanting to bring. Check out one of the first designs. I was going to post another one but I saved the wrong file to my flash drive, so you'll just have to check back. (If you can't wait, just check one of my tweets from Saturday - @Muddybeats)

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Wolverine on Super Punch!

Hey folks! A little while back, I posted a Wolverine piece I did for the upcoming Chicago Comic Con. My buddy at work let me know that Super Punch posted a link for it! Pretty dang cool since that's one of the sites I check out almost daily. Check it out here along with a couple of other great pieces. Here it is just in case you're too lazy (like me) to scroll down like 2 images.


Enjoy!

Spidey done got posted!

So my Spiderman cover of the first appearance of Carnage finally got posted on Covered! Keep an eye on that blog. There's some really great stuff being constantly posted.

Peep it:

SNIKT!

It's 10:30 and I couldn't think of a funny Wolverine pun for the title of this posting. I know, shame on me. Well, here's a piece that I'm going to have at Comic Con, but I haven't decided on the option that has more or less splatter. What thinks ye?

Carnage Asada

So there's this really cool blog, by a talented artist, Robert Goodin, called Covered, that my buddy, the super-talented Chad Albers (check out his blog here: http://weirdo-boy.blogspot.com/) told me about.

The premise is artists recreate a comic book cover in their own style. Super awesome concept! So I had two possibilities - something with Venom or something with Carnage. I went the Carnage route. Below is my process from sketch to completion as well as the original cover. I'm about to submit my piece so I hope he accepts my offering. Enjoy peeps!

Sketch

blocked in shapes in Illustrator

making a little progress

Final

There she is in all of her glory. Amazing Spider-Man #361. I remember going to pick it up when it first came out. I only had enough for one comic book. The money-hungry folks that owned the place knew it was a big deal and were selling it for $7 instead of $1.25 (I was like 12 and had like $2). It pains me just thinking about it. I'll just leave you with the original cover. Sniff, sniff.

Original Cover

Book Bliz-og

So my big project is 99% wrapped up! I just need to choose the cover. Wait, what if I allowed you to choose it for me? If somebody doesn't like it, it's off of my plate. Boom! Done! Go check out the site and vote on your favorite design. Thaaaaaaanks!

http://needyoublue.blogspot.com/

Mike Returns

When I was working on the art piece for Pixar Times, I created this face and it felt like he was singing rather than telling his jokes. But since I really liked the face I didn't want it to go to waste so I quickly worked this up. I loved this scene at the end where he makes it on the cover of a magazine and the UPC code covers his entire face - and he's ecstatic!

Enjoy!

Pixar Times Baby!!!

So I happened upon a blog not too long ago called The Pixar Times (http://pixartimes.com/ follow at @ThePixarTimes). It's run by a fan of all things Pixar (who isn't?). He created a section called Pixart where illustrators/fans submit fan art basically. Well, that portion is run by a super talented dude, Jarrod Maruyama (check him out here http://www.jmaruyama.com/ and follow him via Twitter at @jmaruyama).

Long story short, they allowed me to create a piece for their site. Check it yo! There's a mini interview here: http://pixartimes.com/2011/02/23/pixart-february-2011-feature-mike-wazowski-live/



Thanks again guys for the opportunity!

Let the Countdown Begin!!

I love nerds, especially talented nerds. So I'm super stoked about getting my first table at any sort of convention. My wife and I will be sharing a table at the Chicago Comic Con (Wizard World) in August. If it goes well, we'll probably look into getting a table at the San Diego show.

Even though there's a lot of time still, there's a lot I want to do. I want to show up with some stuff other than just prints. What else? It's a secret!! You'll just have to keep tuning in from time to time. If there's any pieces here you'd like to see as prints for sale in the future, let me know. I'll definitely have them at Comic Con.

I'll also have my latest large project for sale which is a book I'm doing for a charitable cause. Check out that blog here: http://needyoublue.blogspot.com/. I'm about a week or two away from completion!


So keep checking back from time to time and I'll have more info about the show and stuff I'm planning to sell. If you're in the area be sure to stop by!

Wilderness Explorer GPS - ON SALE NOW!!

Bad Guys Beware - Cute Dispenser

With all of the evil, corruption and greed in the world, there's really only 1 line of defense. I don't mean to ruin the party, but it's patent pending.

Cyclops

No funny comment. Just hope you like.

FINISH HIM!!!!

This is how Pac-Man needs to get down.

Mega Awesome

Before battling Dr. Wiley, Mega Man was having trouble with daisies.

Ever wonder where rainbows come from?

Now you know.

Zombies Galore!

Here's a bunch of zombie related pieces I've done including a couple animated shorts (REAAAALLLY reallly short).

Yeti Spaghetti

This one was inspired by a fellow illustrator's rendition of the capturing and processing process for Yeti Spaghetti. I took it one step further and created the packaging.

FOOOOOD FIIIIIGHT!

This challenge here was to illustrate the words "food fight." I was unimaginative and took the literal route.