This Week In Drawing... 002

It's Friday, which means it's time for my second installment of This Week In Drawing...

DEEP SEA

Last Saturday Stadium Comics hosted the first ever Halloween Comic Fest at Shopper's World, Brampton, which I attended along with many of my comic pals. It was a hoot. As always, I had an excellent time and was sorry I couldn't enjoy the company of pals like Ty Templeton, Shane Heron, Brian Evinou, Phil McClorey, Agnes Garbowska and Vince Sunico for a longer stretch of time. You can check out all the photos here at Stadium's Facebook page.

The very seriously cool thing about Halloween Comic Fest was the debut of Deep Sea, a self-published indie book by two very rad dudes, Ricky Lima (writer) and David Bishop (artist). I've known Ricky a while as a super funny chum but had never read anything he wrote. For shame! What Dave and Ricky serve up in their 8-page tale is seriously eerie and cool. David Bishop's been on my radar for a little while now as a self-made storyteller who is truly practicing the medium for the love of it. From his first issue of Stranger--his own twisted take on a zombie uprising--to the stylistic pages of Deep Sea, he's a promising artist who shows every sign of growth in the craft. The book is not without it's flaws--little things that hamper almost any indie book--but the strong, simple plot and clear storytelling show that both writer and artist have a firm grasp on spinning a yarn. For me, it's exciting to see two cool people make good music together. I'm super happy Rick and Dave's first effort came out so well, and I'm excited for what both these two creators will do in the future.

Be sure to hit up either Ricky or Dave to see how you can get your mitts on a copy!

THE JOKER

While at the event I sketched several things for nice folks, but my goal for the afternoon was to ink my portrait of the Joker in his New 52 incarnation. I boasted earlier on here that it was to be my Halloween card. Boy was it. Have a look at the process...

THE SHINING

This week at Spitballin' Comics we celebrated some of our favourite horror movie icons from the 1980's. I chose The Shining because it still gives me the creeps and I, like many other creators working from home I'm sure, can relate to the state of cabin fever Jack Torrance is eventually driven mad by. Well, the ghosts played a part too, but I as of yet have no experience with the super natural. Anyway, I had two different finals for my Spitballin' piece, but I chose one over the other because I felt the character needed to show strongly. Although I've come to like the second version better...

HALLOWEEN

I didn't dress up this year, but fellow illustrator Becka Kinzie paid me the great compliment of dressing as my pin-up character from Horror In The West. What's more, her make-up job is pretty fucking good...

TEUTON Vol.3

I've been working on the next long chapter of Teuton, starting with page layouts and thumbnails. Here's a smattering of what this week yielded...

DRAWINGS & UPCOMING

Here's a quick look at things to come from me in the coming weeks, including a peek at next week's entry to Spitballin' Comics...

The Chef Recommends...

It's that day of the week--new comic book day. There's lot of good stuff in the stores, but I want to share with anyone reading some great material you won't likely find at your local comic shop.

This is a post I've been meaning to do for quite a while. By that I mean recommending indie comics made by my peers that I truly enjoy. There's lots of cool stuff I've been exposed to, and here is some of it in no particular order...

Brian Evinou
brianevinou.com
brianevinou.blogspot.com

Brian's a buddy, which pleases me because his stuff is so fun to read. His characters are lively and expressive and he really knows how to spin a yarn. 

Like Don River, a familiar police procedural with a killer twist. Or Fight Song, a series of imaginative epic brawls for the sake of imaginative epic brawls! Brian's latest, Sassy Mavericks, is shaping up to be a great deal of fun too, and that's a huge part of why I enjoy his work--Brian's love of what he's doing is so evident on every page.

The Misadventures of Mal & Lot 
POWIE Studios 
powiestudios.com 

I was delighted by this series from the moment I saw the cover. It's fun and light hearted with artwork that perfectly executes the writing. I really admire how fluidly this neat adventure is told. The story is about a 10 year old boy who makes friends with a mischievous alien after being lost in space. Chris Leung (writer) and Marvin Sianipar (artist) are two of the nicest guys I've met at a comic show and their good natures are reflected in their work. The first two books deserve to be read and shared. It will awaken the kid in you.

Stranger
D.A. Bishop
stranger.renerd.com

This is one I've come across just recently and I'm intrigued to see where it goes. For starters, it's a zombie story where the main character isn't meant to be a hero. Bishop's intent is to follow one unassuming man as he stumbles into trouble and struggles to find his way out. Heroes and leaders may come and go against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse, but Stranger instead focuses on the man who'd rather be left in the background. Bishop, a writer first, is teaching himself to be a better artist as he goes along writing. That isn't to say this book decently drawn (it is), but I really respect creators who work hard to learn new skill sets just to see their stories told.

Fauntkin
Christopher Yaoza
yaozagraphics.com
fauntkin.wordpress.com


I relate to Chris in a lot of ways. Apart from the fact we attended Ty Templeton's Boot Camp at the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop at the same time, I've also had a pet project I've started and stopped several times. Where we differ is followed through with his, and that would be Fauntkin, an odyssey about a boy android and his pet rabbit. It's sweet and full of wonder, and it demands to be finished.




So give these a try. 
Support indie talent. 
Walk on the wild side, and so forth. 
You'll be glad to did!