ACT-I-VATE Primer Is Released!

A while back, I posted about a short story I colored for the ACT-I-VATE Primer book (read about it here).  Well that book is finally available for sale.  Get it at your local comic book store (or failing that, there's always the online bookstores.)

And for those of you that live in New York, come on out to the release party tonight at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn.  I'll be there!

Five Minute Figure Sketches

Pastel on Paper, 18"x24"

Five minute sketches can be a good way of filling the paper without getting too precious.  I have a tendency to dwell on my mistakes which is most often counter-productive.  A short time limit forces me to embrace my errors, and in the immortal words of Tim Gunn, "Make it work!"

Marvel Strange Tales #2

I colored the introduction page to the Marvel Strange Tales #2 which is on the stands today.  Not only is The Watcher once again featured but also the full likeness of She-Hulk and Nick Fury (complete with an ear-stud)!  Look for this cover at your local comic book store:

Hat Portraiture in Reverse 4

 

Ink Drawing on Vellum, 9"x12" 

Travel Sketch: London

Charcoal on Paper, 9"x12"

I recently got back from a fantastic vacation to New Zealand.  While looking through our photos, I was reminded of some of the sketches I did on past vacations.  Last year, I was lucky enough to have a spare hour during a nice Fall day to sit down and sketch a couple of statues at the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park, London.  Here's an in-progress photo before I (perhaps mistakenly!) decided to make a black matte background.

Figure Drawings 6

Pastel on Paper, 24"x18"

Stuffed! Is Released!

I spent a couple of months last year coloring Stuffed! a 120 page graphic novel written by Glenn Eichler and drawn by Nick Bertozzi.  I share co-coloring credit with Mr. Bertozzi, who showed me the ins and outs of selecting the best color palette for a specific scene.

We based the coloring style on  Hergé's TinTin, using clean, flat colors with location-based palettes.  In the beginning, Nick would provide me with color guides signaling what hues he wanted for certain things.  As the book progressed, I took on more of those choices.  Here is an example color guide and the finished page:

The book was published by First Second and can be found at your local book stores.  Glenn Eichler wrote a pretty funny entry over at the First Second website about his first day as a Published Author hanging out in Barnes and Noble. 

 
One last note, I was pretty pleased to see that my boredom-inspired Easter Egg made it to print -- when I saw Nick's drawing of a fanny-pack-wearing, mullet-ed tourist in Times Square, the look on his face told me he was a zombie.