Tag Archives: drawing

Got It Covered

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Greetings!
I hope everyone reading this is having a good day. If you are not reading this then… well… I’m not talking to you anyway. For those of you reading, please continue.

I believe I’m starting to find a better balance for projects and everything else I need to do in life. (I thought it was a decent amount of progress this weekend anyway.)
For one thing I was able to go through and bag up a bunch of my old comic books that needed tending to. Yes, I found it relaxing just sitting quietly and listening to music and a few podcasts while stuffing funny books into plastic bags. HEHE In truth I don’t have that many ‘funny’ comics, they are mostly sci-fi, superhero, and some horror. Which now that I think about it seems a little odd for Doctor Xombie (my horror host alter-ego if you hadn’t figure that out yet).
If you have any favorite books feel free to leave a comment below or e-mail. I’d love to hear from you.

I also met up with a buddy of mine and discussed future projects and possible collaborations.
He recommended the ‘Webcomics Handbook’. I flipped through it and saw that it had TONS of useful info and instructions on how to get a webcomic made. Instructions from start to finish.

I went to the book store looking but didn’t see it. Me being impatient went ahead and picked up this one instead since it was physically in my hands and I could jump right into it. (I also like that it has a lot of fun cartoons and side-bars with useful tips from the ‘pros’). And I figured we could trade info and tips that one or the other might not have. It not only covers webcomics but also comic books, manga, and publishing in general. Great stuff so far including writing, drawing, coloring, and program tips to get you up and running.

So as you might have figured out I do plan on starting work a comic strip/book in the near future as well as the prose stories. Speaking of which…

Here are a few thumbnail drawings of possible covers for the forthcoming short story collection which actually has a title now!
“The Adventures Of Doctor Xombie And Fiends”
(subtitled “Mostly True Tales Of A TV Horror Host”).

As they are preliminary thumbnails things might change, but I did want to give you a little glimpse into how things are progressing and the process of putting this together. I’m very excited about this book and hope you will enjoy it as well. It might seem silly but I do love the title. I think it really conveys who and what the book is about.

Remember to leave a comment and/or head on over to Facebook and let me know what’s what.
Thank you again for sticking around for this installment. I’ll be back again next week with more.

Got It Going

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Welcome once again to my ramblings.
I’m happy to say I’ve been a lot more productive than I have in the past and things are starting to chug along nicely.
I only have a couple of specifics to talk about right now, but for the most part I have been drawing/practicing a lot more and getting my writing in order.

With some great encouragement from friends I’ve decided to release the Doctor Xombie Short Stories Collection in more of a “Junior Novel” type of format, which basically means, for this project, a larger font and shorter page count.  It does make sense since the stories are for a ‘general audience’. More on this as things progress, but you can expect a physical copy as per usual AND also an E-Book version.

I also want to give a shout out to fellow author Matt Curry for the inspiration of adding my drawings to the blog. (Okay I pretty much read his ongoing blog and swiped the idea from him. Although he says others do it, his was the first that really stood out with the excellent content. Plus he’s a big Dr. Paul Bearer fan which makes him A-Okay in my book. (Was that an intentional pun or not? You decide.)
Be sure to check him out on Amazon. https://amzn.to/2FakkaE

That’s it for now and as Doctor Xombie would say:
“Scare Ya Later!”

Back To Basics

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“A beginning is a very delicate time.” – Frank Herbert [DUNE]

     Well its been more of a starting-over-and-getting-back-to-basics time for me lately, but its close enough to what I’m doing… AND this quote has always been a favorite of mine.

Besides going through all my old comics and trying to fill in some missing books, I’ve also tried to get back to my drawing. I’d forgotten just how much fun it is to lose myself in the process of drawing more detailed art. To that end I picked up a few books to inspire and help me improve my own artwork.

Here are three books I’m currently working my way through.

 

Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Comics Studio

Forward by Joss Whedon. (You know the guy who directs and writes some amazing sci-fi shows and movies.)
So far its a good over view of the whole process of putting together a comic book.  If you love his Ultimates stuff I’m sure you’ll want to pick it up anyway. The style is not entirely what I’m going for but the techniques are good to learn.

 

Next up is:

Whoosh! 250 Ways to Get Motion into Your Drawings

WHOOSH! is a WOW!
I’m loving this book so far and I’m only really like 12 pages in. You can skip around back and forth through this and get amazing tips. Its all about adding action and getting excitement into your drawings. There are tips on making your characters unique, animal movement, comparisons between styles, composition, etc. There is just so much packed into this small easy-to-read book I can’t go over a fourth of it here. If you get one book out of my recommendations today I’d go for this one. Its under $13 at Amazon (just click the link above to grab a copy and help me out in the process).  This is one I’ll personally be referencing A LOT.

 

And the big finale:

The Art of Todd McFarlane: The Devil’s in the Details

This is the BIG one.
I paid full retail at my local comic book shop and feel it was definitely worth every penny.
This large over sized book is gorgeous and goes through Todd McFarlane’s beginnings as an aspiring artist and toy developer up to publication date. It has rough sketches, layouts, pencils, inks, and finished artwork that he has done through out his career. He gives tips and explains a lot of his thinking. This book is truly inspiring to any comic book artist.

That’s a wrap for this installment. Be sure to chat me up and check out my Facebook page.
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.

Qapla’!

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“Kolchak Is Back, Baby!”

(Okay not really but you gotta love that quote right?)
If you’ve seen the show then you’ll know what I’m talking about, if not then I’m just talking to myself… again.
Either way just know… I’m back.

While I’ve been away I’ve been working on the Doctor Xombie short stories for the upcoming collection.
I’ve also decided to practice more on realistic or ‘comic book style’ drawings; as opposed to the comic strip “Doctor Xombie & Fiends” style which I love and will continue to do.

I’m quite a bit out of practice, but I’m kinda happy with my first Klingon.
'Klingon' by Roger L. Boyes
This was fun to do. It was inspired by my life long love of Star Trek and a newly found love of the Klingon culture… and in particular a fan club group called K.A.G. (Klingon Assault Group). (More on them in a future post.)

I will also try my hardest to write and draw at least a little bit each day. Little steps are better than no steps and those little steps add up in the long run.
So I’ll see you all on the long run.
READY… GO!!!