Saturday, May 10, 2014

Springtime, the Only Pretty Ring Time

Well, I told myself that after school wrapped, I would increase my presence in the comic community and get back to doing some travelling. Happy to report that things are trucking right along and this has been a most busy spring indeed.

Here is the monster sized blog update to prove it!

The Emerald City Comicon took place at the end of March and I had the pleasure of attending, and taking in some of the sights and sounds of the gorgeous city of Seattle. I drove down with Jason Mehmel (looking straight up Street Thug in this photo from the docks) and Young Neil Lalonde. Jackson Gee and Chris Doucher (of Comic Book Therapy) made for some fun hotel roomies and I met a lot of cool folks.


Listening to the Silmarillion audio tapes as Jason and I drove home through the misty Rocky Mountains was another highlight. As well as the crazy cool store filled with mummies, Fiji mermaids and this lovely soothsayer.


...I wish I was big...

The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo flew by a few weeks ago. I shared a table with my pals Justin Heggs and Jason Mehmel. I chatted to lots of great people as usual, sold some comics and sketches and spent some time drinking with great comic folk that I don't always get to see. The 4 day con definitely drained my energy, but the experience was so wonderful and upbuilding, I really can't wait till next year. This was my brand new banner in action:


And here are some of the sketches that I whipped up over the 4 day comic extravaganza:


Rocket Raccoon!


Supes and Chubby Batman!


Thor!


A special request by Andrew Foley (an inside joke from a podcast) for Magneto with his weird helmet horns flipped down into a killer stache! 


Mike C. has been getting sketches from me for years now and I finally feel like my work is at a place where it's worth it. He always requests unique subjects that are out of my sphere of influence and it's always great to take a crack at new characters. Really enjoyed taking reference from the Pogo strip, clearly an influence on Jeff Smith's art style, and a beautiful example of brushwork.


Red Sonja, ready to kick some more ass.


Flash with a Queen injection!


Meow meow. (That hand took forever.)


Cap's shield.


The Black Cat, meow.


Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.


One of the best nights during the Expo was pizza and drinks at the Hop n Brew. In spite of a surprise swarm of drunken, farting bananas on a pub crawl led by the Cyanide and Happiness crew, we all had a great night.

So let's talk Free Comic Book Day! Chris Peterson and I did free sketches for folks at Alpha Comics and it was a great time, filled with joy and warm feelings, as you can see in the photo below:


Chris Doucher conducted a great interview with Chris and I moments before the store opened. You can listen to it right HERE.

I really love drawing for people, especially watching little kids' faces light up to get their very own drawings of Spiderman and Wonder Woman.

Here are a few more I did throughout the day:


Rocket Raccoon


Batmankoff


The one and only Doop.

So yeah, things have been busy, and I've been loving every minute of it!