Doodles and Scribblings

Lil' Sam in the Afterland

2009-08-08T12:36:00.005-05:00

At some point in the future, when I have more free time than I know what to do with, I'd like to work on a Sunday style cartoon called "Lil' Sam in the Afterland." It might not ever happen, but I turned out this screenprint in a sort of early 20th century-bad-off-register-bold-color style that I'd like to utilize for the works. Hope you enjoy.

This is from a set of 7 or 8 (can't actually remember) and some are still available.

Etchings and Smetchings

2009-08-08T12:27:00.006-05:00

Participated in the University of Portsmouth's Summer Mixer showcase. Whipped up some etchings for the occasion. I'm tentatively calling these the "Blackbird of Crappiness" set.

The quality of the scans is pretty low. I'll try and improve them later. Each print is from a set of 15. If anyone is intersted, I still have some available.

Some New Stuff

2008-04-26T16:15:00.004-05:00

Howdy All,

Been awhile since I last updated this here blog. I've been working on gradschool apps and figuring out what to do with the next issue of J&R. Issue #2 is complete and I'm mulling over the idea of releasing it online. Hmm. Anyway, wanted to do an updated self portrait and also did a little painting of a scene from a story James Harris and I developed called "Dr. Reginald Manizizi and his Hall of Shrunken Heads." Hope you enjoy. Thanks!

Jors and Rust: Now On Shelves!

2008-01-22T14:35:00.001-06:00

The books have arrived!!!! Thanks so much for everyone coming out Friday night. I had a great time and I hope everyone else did too! Bad Folk and The Monads were super rocking and Mr. Cosic's film was really cool. So once again, thank you.

The books are now at Subterranean Books and Starclipper Comics, both on Delmar. So, head on down and ask for 'em! Also, this weekend we should have them on shelves at Left Bank Books in the Central West End and the Fantasy Shop, which has several different locations. I'll post something up here once I have more details about that! Have a great week everyone and I hope you enjoy the first chapter!

Russ

Tonight, tonight!

2008-01-18T14:46:00.002-06:00

Howdy All,

Well, it's been one hectic week, I'll tell ya, but it's winding down now. Just a few hours before the Jors and Rust comic release. I've tried to touch base with as many people as I could, sorry if you're reading this and you didn't get a personal invite. I hope that everyone can come out tonight to Off Broadway, (free before 8:30, doors open at 7 p.m.) get caught up with new Jors and Rust happenings, listen to some amazing live music (Bad Folk and The Monads) and watch a cool short film. I greatly appreciate all the support that you guys have given me along the way and for your continued interest in the lives of those two screwballs that I have become so fond of. Love you guys! Hope to see you all tonight.

Adios!

Jors and Rust, Bad Folk, and Freddy Friction

2008-01-16T17:31:00.001-06:00

Howdy All,

If you're by your radio tomorrow around noon, turn the dial to KDHX 88.1 FM to listen to Freddy Friction's Fishing With Dynamite. Bad Folk and yours truly will be in the studio to talk about the release event this Friday (the 18th) at Off Broadway. Tune in (or catch it on the web) and listen to Bad Folk play some great acoustic songs and me talk a little bit about the comic. Hope to see you all on Friday!

(photo by Mark Gilliland)

Jors and Rust at Off Broadway

2008-01-14T16:25:00.001-06:00

The date is quickly approaching. This Friday, January 18th, at 7 p.m. I'll be at Off Broadway with the original art from issue one of Jors and Rust as well as a few other pieces and a glimpse into issue two. From seven to nine, you can peruse the work, enjoy a beverage, and chat with me about the book. Stick around after for the music of Bad Folk and the Monads and a short film about the former, titled Bad Folk Story directed by Zlatko Cosic. Art, Music, Film. What more could you ask for? Hope to see you there!

T-Shirt in the Windy City

2007-12-31T23:25:00.001-06:00

This is a T-shirt design that Strange Cargo of Chicago purchased from me awhile ago. Looks like they might finally get on the racks. Very cool. My buddy Chris dropped this final proof off with me. He'll tell me more about it's availability as information comes to the front.

Comicbook Release

2007-12-30T18:45:00.001-06:00

More updates to come!

PROOF!!!

2007-12-15T13:32:00.001-06:00

The proof is here! Once I've gone over it and picked at it for mistakes, it'll be ready for printing...so should be ready for shipping in two weeks, or as Emily says "a fortnight." SUPER EXCITING DAY!!! If you can't wait for two weeks, it should become available on comixpress.

so you can check for it there in a couple days. I may also have "Things" available as well. Woo!

Things Vol. 1

2007-12-14T16:10:00.001-06:00

My proof copy is in the mail. Once I approve it (assuming there are no mistakes) Jors and Rust will be ready to go. Right now we're looking at a January release. The second issue is near completion and the third is moving from gray matter to copy paper.

So...I hope that my next entry will be actual details about where copies will be available...and the date for the opening party/event.

In the meantime, I've got a few other projects in the fire, one of them a book of odds and ends I've entitled "Things." The following are a few pieces from volume 1.

VIC'S ROAST

2007-11-01T16:45:00.001-05:00

So my good buddy Victor is turning 30 on Saturday, and to commemorate the occasion, we're throwing a roast. There will be some great comics going up to attempt knocking a few more teeth out of ol' Vic's maw...with jokes that is (yes, that was intentionally cheezy)! So, for the dais podium, I painted the honoree's mug. After finishing I think it would be cool if we all wore masks made from the image. A whole buncha Vics.

AL HIRSCHFELD VIDEO

2007-10-26T09:40:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this cool blog at: http://www.stwallskull.com/blog/?cat=54. STWALLSKULL has a countdown of one hundred and fifty of his favorite cartoonists. It's a well done cataloging and while perusing I found this fantastic video. It's of the legendary Al Hirschfeld at his drawing table...at the age of 99. Watching him is a wonderful treat. So, I encourage you to take a look at STWALLSKULL's blog and a gander at this video.

THE COWBOY: PAINTING PROCESS

2007-10-23T18:49:00.002-05:00

After Jaded asked about my process I got to thinking it might be interesting to display a painting from start to finish. Sadly, I thought of it after being 2 hours into the painting, but I made sure to keep a decent tally after those two hours.

I started by trying out the old thumbnail approach...but I don't like thumbnails and I get bored with them, so I doodled a street fight that involved a whole posse of cowboys. I didn't like it so I just got out a piece of Bristol board (plate) and my gouache. I use cmyk process colors, this gives me magenta, cyan, yellow, black, and white, from those I mix all the colors I need. I knew that I wanted the drawing to largely highlight the vast open sky of the western desert, so I wanted the figure to be seen from a worms eye view. I sketched out the figure and the horse, then the cloud, and got to painting. I took a reference photo just to make sure I had the foreshortening correct. I whipped out the background first. Once finished, I moved to the cowboy's duster. For figures or objects that will have a certain level of detail, I generally do a light under painting to establish the shadows and the basic color forms. Here is the painting after 2 hours of work.

2 hours

So, just broad strokes at this point. Sometimes I'll get myself caught nitpicking one area, finish it up and then become overwhelmed by all the white space that is still showing. I try to avoid that and I did a fair job this time around. Nitpicking turns an 8-10 hour painting into a 20 labor of annoyance. After 2 hours I continued blocking in shapes. I also started to define the cowboy's face and hands.

6 hours

At this point, I realized that the exaggeration of the hands was to forced. The point is to make the viewer look up towards the cowboy's face, not to imply that the cowboy has the Robert Wadlow syndrome. I was also not happy with the way the shirt was turning out and the duster was getting pushed too far back into the foreground and had a flattening effect to his torso...this all called for the pencil and a hard, plastic eraser. Here is the painting 20 minutes later with the corrections.

6.5 hours

Once I was happy with the corrections, I began painting again. At this point, I decided to switch brushes. I had been using a kolinsky round 0, but wanted a bit more control in order to make highlights and shadows crisper. I got out my trusty synthetic round 1 and got back to work. For inking the comics I almost exclusively use the kolinsky, but I don't always get the same level of control with thicker pigments.

I decided that the shadows on the duster were too severe, and since I had some corrections to paint, I decided to erase of the paint on it and repaint it. This would be difficult with watercolor paper or any paper with a strong tooth that sucks up the paint, but with Bristol plate, there's no problem. Bristol board has a thin layer of clay on it's surface that keeps the paper from being able to absorb wet mediums. The only problem is that you have to be careful with handling because if the paint gets too thick, it'll chip right off.

8 hours

From here it's shaping up. After being painted, I was happy with the corrections and moved on to giving greater contrast to the lower third of the painting. I wanted to give it a dusty feel, but was getting concerned that the colors were getting too muddy and keeping his hands from blending into the background. I pushed the highlights up a little bit and toned the shadows down to blues and reds. I also gave the duster a little more modeling. From here it was just a matter of laying out shadow and highlight tones to round out the figure. Afterwards, I went to the horse. In order to keep the horse pushed to the background, I decided to paint him grey with subtle purple tones to separate him only slightly from the rocks in the far distance. I also avoided the heavy modeling that I applied to the cowboy, to give the horse a "cartoonier" feel. I finished him up by adding a little more black to the paint and outlined his hair and jaw line. Then, I punched up the clouds a tad and voila.

11 hours

After letting it sit for a few days, I might come back and tweak a few things, but I usually find it's better to just finish things the first time and never touch them again. I've had to learn a lot of self control not to overwork something. I'm pretty critical of myself and in my mind I almost always chant "It could be better. I could do this..." or "I should do that..." or "I don't own enough trash cans!"

I hope that this was interesting or at least the pictures were fun to look at. Thanks again to everyone who has stopped by. Jors and Rust is rolling and I should have an update about the finished copies very soon.

Adios!

THE REAL JORS AND RUST

2007-10-20T17:54:00.002-05:00

I found this photo while looking through my Korea stuff for reference. Josh and I use to go to this arcade in Jeonju to kill time before watching whatever English language film was available that week. Most likely this photo was taken just before watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 or Danny the Dog (foreign release name for Unleashed). The arcade had these wonderful japanese photobooths that we never mastered. Note the very pink nose I'm sporting. I was sick all the time over there. Now I have 3 inch callouses around my nares. Anyway, hope you enjoy the pic and it doesn't turn your stomach too much.

Summer Reading Poster

2007-10-19T17:53:00.000-05:00

The page felt a little empty so I thought I'd put something else up. This was a poster I painted back in June for the DeSoto Public Library's summer reading program. They're the DeSoto Dragons, hence the Sherlockian dragon with the magnifying glass. It was a lot of fun to draw and paint. Kinda wish there was more of a story to go along with it.

NEW JORS AND RUST

2007-10-19T16:10:00.000-05:00

Well, after some relocating, I'm back in St. Louis. I've been fortunate to have the time to work on the first actual comic-book of Jors and Rust. I've re-tooled the story, added some meat to the bones, and have picked the most appropriate style that communicates the entire tone of the piece. It's been exciting to pull this story together and to give it new life.

Mark and I are working now on tracking down printers, comic stores, and other services that we'll need to employ to get the finished product out. When the first issue is printed, we'll have it in a few stores around the country, be open for mail-in business, and have web-purchasing options. I'll let you know when the book is ready.

Currently, I'm working on the second chapter and am very excited to get this story out there. In the new book we'll see more of Jors and Rust coping with being fish out of water, Trout, leader of the student rebellion coping with being a fish in hot water, and Frank Seaworth coping with being a fish frying himself in hot water. The story is a little darker, but the two oddballs still find time to throw in a joke or twelve.

Here is the cover, the prologue and the new look for Jors and Rust. Hope you like it. I'll update the page soon when I have all of the ducks in a row.

Thanks lovely people!