SAMURAI JACK ISSUE #2 COVER ART AND PROCESS...

Below are the initial roughs I did for issue #2...

After agreeing on the image, I stayed pretty close to the rough, colors and all. I decidedly didn't render it any more painterly, instead I opted for a starker, graphic feel to keep it more "confrontational".

Oh, and please pick up THE 1ST ISSUE IN STORES THIS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23RD. 

GHOULY GOOFY!

This episode just aired and/or is available for download, so I'm assuming I can share some of the art behind it. Directed by Aaron Springer and easily one of my favorite MICKEY MOUSE SHORTS thus far.

"TMNT SEASON TWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Along with still doing consumer products concept art for the TMNT property, I recently got to do some concept work for the animated series season 2 promotional press art. I love the characters and world so much and think Ciro and Nickelodeon are doing a great job with it all.

Above is the concept they chose...then the final piece done by Nickelodeon below:

Below are unused concepts that didn't end up getting chosen:

"SPAAAAAAAAAACE-HEROOOOOOOESSSS!!!"

A while back I did some freelance for the newest TMNT series. It was an incredibly fun assignment (I have Ciro Nieli & Ireneo Maramba being to thank for being too busy for all the fun work!), paying homage to those old classic Dell and Gold Key STAR TREK comics from the 60s. I haven't posted any of my TMNT work before because it's either top secret, or otherwise prohibited--but since this episode already aired, I think it's safe to! If not I'll take it down. 

 My cover... 

...and a screenshot I saw on the web! 

"GASP!"

I was touched to find out my niece had went out, bought a goldfish and named it Gubbles. So in her honor, I'm posting the most recent MICKEY MOUSE short that aired "GASP!", along with some of my designs from the episode.

SAMURAI JACK: ISSUE ONE FINAL COVER & "THANKS!"

Thanks for all the positive words regarding SAMURAI JACK and my recent posts. I will start digging up other projects to post soon, maybe even some stuff from MICKEY MOUSE. TMNT? Other comic projects in the works? Let me know what you'd like to see and I'll see if I can share.

In the meantime, you might have seen my cover for the first issue, but that wasn't final--so here is the final version:

SAMURAI JACK: PAGE FOUR PROCESS

Do these little 'behind the scenes' sneak peaks make you more or less inclined to pre-order from your local comic shop?

SAMURAI JACK: PAGE THREE PROCESS

I can only show a couple more pages, but here's page three.

SAMURAI JACK: PAGE TWO PROCESS

Following up yesterday's post, here's page 2. If you like what you are seeing, PRE ORDER your copy of IDW's Samurai Jack series from your local comic book retailer. 

 Thumbnail for approvals...

 Cleaned up "pencils".

 Ink

Colored page. Not final. 

SAMURAI JACK: PAGE ONE PROCESS

So how do you crank out a monthly Samurai Jack* book by adhering to the series stunning, line-less visual style?

You don't.

Well, you can, but I didn't. I really hope fans of the groundbreaking series that I worked on will appreciate what I do bring to the book I'm doing with writer Jim Zub, despite my opting for the utilization of holding lines. Yes, there are lots of traditional and digital trickery in our arsenal and at our disposal as artists, but instead of simply mimicking the series aesthetic qualities that would no doubt pale in comparison to the original and thus fail any fans of the animated series and readers expecting a seamless translation--I decided to dig deep into early inspirations for Jack and other visual, tonal reference elements we utilized doing the television show and go with a far more boiled down, traditional method. So traditional, that it might look like it predates modern comic book series and hopefully harken closer to the golden age books,  MAD Magazine and Harvey Kurtzman in particular.

So, how do you handle translating a show with no holding lines? Well, in my case, you add tons and tons of lines.

 Above: initial thumbnail roughs sent to Jim and Carlos (editor)

 I tightened a bit more before cleaning up.

 Final inks

Colored PG 1. (Not final art) But close enough to post!

*Make sure you PRE-ORDER Samurai Jack #1 from IDW Publishing NOW!!! The book will be out in October.

(MY) CAVALCADE OF CARTOONS WEEKEND!!

Starting this Friday, June 28th at 8:30pm on The Disney Channel, you can see the brand new MICKEY MOUSE shorts I've been working on the past year--AND the very next morning you can turn on CN to watch another PLASTIC MAN short I did for DC Nation.

...then ANOTHER, all new MICKEY MOUSE short Saturday night, then another Sunday evening.

Sick of me yet?

Here's one of many great articles mentioning the MICKEY shorts:
http://comicsalliance.com/mickey-mouse-animated-shorts-preview-paul-rudish-disney-review/

"THE BAT AND THE EEL"

Tomorrow's new DC NATION short brings one of the remaining 3 Plastic Man shorts that haven't yet aired. This one features Plas and Bats very first adversarial encounter-- when Plas was Eel O'Brien, criminal safecracker!

Here's some preliminary art for the eps.

(Bat bunz)

 Color test

"...MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE!!!"

Because I am doing another project for IDW, I was asked to take a stab at a TRANSFORMERS cover in the animation style of SAMURAI JACK. The evolution of the cover below:

 This was my initial concept sketch.

 Above was the final cleanup--knowing I was just going to self-color the holding lines.

The final painted version. Had I just a little more time, I definitely would've adjusted the colors to Rodimus' feet and shoulders to read better against the backgrounds. Lazy mistake on my part. My bad.

Here's the final printed version that's been released.

SKETCH FOR A FRIEND

I've so much I want to post, but too many projects in too infantile of states to feel comfortable--and all those other ones I'm not allowed to show. So, until then, please enjoy this sketch I did for Joe Keatinge.