Christmas present - Part II

Christmas present for my brother Matt. Enjoy.

Christmas Present

Every year I do a cartoon portrait for a family member on my wife and I's side of the family. This one is for her brother's family. They are huge BYU fans, so I did them all dressed up in BYU apparel. Enjoy.

Fablehaven Fan Art

My last post was over a month ago?! Yikes. Sorry guys. I've just been super swamped with this graphic novel that I've been working on that I can't talk about yet.

Anyways, while working on this secret project, I've been listening to FABLEHAVEN by Brandon Mull. I just barely finished the audio book series. They were really good! I highly recommend them.

My favorite characters in the books are these "Automatons", Hugo and Mendigo. They're not really "characters" per se, but there was something really appealing to me about them. They were pretty much just lifeless masses, given the "appearance" of life by magic. So, I liked them so much that I decided to do some fan art. Enjoy, and sorry for the lack of posts.

"Thank You" art

The awesome Dani Jones did some "Thank You" art for me because I did some fan art for her My Sister the Freak webcomic. If you haven't checked it out, shame on you because it's great. Dani is also the creator of The Illustrated Section. It's the BEST site for independent eBooks. Go check it out! Did I mention that there is a pretty darn good FREE section? Yeah, there is.

I've never had another artist draw my characters, so this is super cool for me. Thank you Dani. Super cool!

Sketch Challenge!

An illustrator friend of mine, Carsten Bradley, has been issuing "sketch challenges" with different topics. The topic for today was

CARTOON CHARACTERS AS SEA CREATURES

So, since I still have Thundercats on the brain, I did Panthro as a seahorse. Why a seahorse? Because. Enjoy.

I WON!

To celebrate the premiere of the new Thundercats series on Cartoon Network, one of the best websites out there called Branded in the 80s.com held a contest to win the first 33 episodes of the original series. And guess who won? This guy right here. That's right. Jealous? You should be.

So, if you're a fan of nostalgia for all things 80s, and haven't checked out Branded in the 80s.com, then you should.

Thanks Shawn Robare. You're awesome!

Alien Soldier

Sorry for the lack of stuff over here, but my internet has been out for the past week.

So, to say that I'm sorry, here is a cool alien soldier for your viewing enjoyment. It looks like a bit of a HALO alien rip off, but I don't mean it to. Well, not consciously anyways. Enjoy.

HONK!

Had some time, so I whipped out another portfolio piece. This one is called "HONK!" He's a friendly monster who goes around town finding sad people and making them laugh with his exuberant honking sound. Enjoy.

Portfolio piece

I haven't done a portfolio piece in a while. I wanted to stretch my wings a bit and draw some stuff that I'm not terribly comfortable doing, which is, landscapes. But, after I did this landscape I just had to put some characters in there to make a story out of it.

This little girl and her pet panda are in a hurry. Why are they in a hurry? I don't know. You decide. Enjoy.

MR. MAN Self Portrait

Hey everyone, there's a website called Skwigly which is for animation people, but an artist that I'm following on Twitter, Ilan Sheady, posted this Skwigly "challenge" in the forum. The challenge is to draw yourself as a MR. MAN or LITTLE MISS character. Here was mine, MR. DIGITAL ARTIST. Enjoy.

Background

I will fully admit that backgrounds are my weakness. So, to help myself overcome it, I'm drawing some backgrounds that are fairly complex and so forth. Here is one of hopefully many to come. Trying out the "cartoon modern" style a bit. I need to get more loose and learn to let things go. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Asleep"

Illustration Friday topic this week is "Asleep". Here are some cute little animals that are asleep. Yeah, not that creative, but hey, they're cute, right? Cute always makes up for lack of creativity. Enjoy.

KA-POW!

Here is a little sneak peek with some rough sketch and rough color pages of "The Incredible Flying Jellybean" for your viewing enjoyment. This is a shot of the General laying waste to the squirrel henchmen. The funny thing is that I'm nowhere near this point in the story with my writing, but I just felt like drawing it, so here it is. Even though I'm not to this point yet, this will come eventually. They don't film movies in order, so why should I draw my graphic novel in order? Enjoy.

"The Proposal"

When a rat loves a woman.

I don't know where this idea came from. That red-head looks a whole lot like my wife, and that rat looks a whole lot like me, so maybe this is some sort of sub-conscience psycho babble nonsense, or it's not. Either way, enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Safari"

click image for larger view

The topic this week over at Illustration Friday is "Safari". I work on Mac, so now whenever I hear the work 'Safari' it makes me think of the web browser. So, here is a little gag for all of you Mac owners. Enjoy.

ANOTHER Review!

Hey guys, we got ANOTHER review of our Steampunk Anthology! This time it comes from John Lees. I'll give some juicy tidbits here on the blog, but you can read the FULL REVIEW too.

He was a lot kinder to us in this review than the previous one. But, being kind all the time is not the best way to grow, right? So, it's good to get put through the ringer now and then.

Here's what he had to say about Pest Control:

". . .Pest Control by Mark Harmon is a delight, possibly my favourite story of the anthology. It too seems targeted at an all ages audience – Harmon’s biography tells us that this is his first comic after building up a body of work doing children’s books – but it shows the kind of wit, charm and energy that can excite children while keeping the grown-ups interested too. The story follows a pair of monster hunters going about their daily work, and is based mostly around a montage of increasingly absurd single-page battles. Simple enough, then, as far as the writing goes, but the joy really comes from Harmon’s art. You can tell he had a great time designing the various monsters that our intrepid heroes Conrad and Trigger do battle against. The stylised art is wonderfully expressive, and has a great flow and sense of energy about it. And the story is crammed with visual gags: the bank-robbing werebeaver makes me chuckle every time I look at it. The story wonderfully demonstrates the kind of boundless, unfiltered imagination comics can offer an ideal outlet for. Pest Control is a fun romp, and if Harmon is this adept with the tools at his disposal in his first comic, he’s only going to get better as he gains experience in the field."

Well, that's it for now. Looks like I'm on the right track. Let's hope that I can pull off The Incredible Flying Jellybean just as good as I did Pest Control. Enjoy.

Anthology Review!

Hey everyone, just wanted to draw your attention to the first review of

8: A Steampunk Anthology

The review is from Doctor Q, the media editor for Steampunk Chronicle. While I will admit that he didn't exactly give all of us a glowing review for our stories, he did however commend us on our efforts and what we're trying to accomplish as a group.

". . . I applaud illopond’s efforts immensely in this project. In a world largely dominated by large publishing companies, . . . the concept of this collective as a way for artists to put out short stories together as a theme, but yet still remain true to their own works is brilliant . . ."

But, of course my favorite part of his review was of my baby, Pest Control:

". . .“Pest Control” by Mark Harmon was amazing. So simple a premise, but spot on for theme, execution, and amusement. Easily tied with my favorite of the anthology, and to think this eight page story was Mark’s first comic. I could easily see this premise and story as an ongoing webcomic at the very least, if not a feature graphic novel in its own right. Simply put, it was fun and I’d love to read more of it. It had Octocrabs, a Were-beaver, and more gadgets packed into eight pages than you can name, what’s not to love?"

So there you have it, our first review. Like I said before, he didn't give us all glowing reviews, but I'm pretty dang proud of my comic "brothers-in-arms". I think we did fantastic for our second collaboration and publication. So, what are you waiting for, click on the title above and get yourself a copy. Enjoy.

MSTF Fanart

Hey blog readers, wanted to do some more fanart for Dani Jones' webcomic called My Sister, the Freak. I've already done some fanart for this comic before that you can find HERE.

I've been in the process of changing up my style to a more "cartoon modern" style, which for me, pretty much just means dropping my black linework and adding more texture to give it a more vintage feel to it.

That's also what I was going for in this piece a little bit. I wanted it to look like an old school movie poster. Hope it worked.

That's it. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Lesson"

Hey kids, for Illustration Friday the topic is "Lesson", so, I've decided to do a little drawing lesson. Here is a step by step process for YOU, yes YOU, to draw Jellybean. Have fun and enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "LESSON"

The Cast

Hey everyone, I think that I've hinted at a new comic that I'm making called "The Incredible Flying Jellybean." Anyways, I've got the main players in this comic fleshed out and thought that I'd share them with you all. Enjoy.

Properties

click image for larger view

Hey people, and possibly some spambots, I thought that it would be fun to compile all of the intellectual properties that I've created for the past 2 years. ROBO 6 and Pest Control are finished stories, while The Incredible Flying Jellybean and Mummy the kid are in development over at the Illopond. Enjoy.

Jellybean Turnarounds

Hey everyone, just wanted to share some character turnarounds with you all. I haven't done may turnarounds, but I personally don't think that they're that difficult to do. But, of course, it might just be that my character here is pretty simple to begin with.

I'm making a new project called

THE INCREDIBLE FLYING JELLYBEAN

If you click on the title above it will link to the illopond forum where you can see the process that I've been going through with this story so far and watch me be indecisive about everything, and watch it all change. Enjoy.

8: A Steampunk Anthology - IS DONE!

Ladies and Gentlemen, 8: A Steampunk Anthology is fresh off the presses and waiting to leap into your hands and give you the read of your life. Okay, maybe not, but it's still pretty awesome. Go get yourself a copy at your convenience. 80 pages of full color steampunkiness. We have some serious stories and some whimsical ones. Something for everyone. Click the title below purchase your copy.

8: A Steampunk Anthology

What's Next?

Hey everyone, Pest Control is done, so it's time to move on to the next story. This one is going to be for the next steampunk anthology. Instead of doing another Pest Control adventure I've decided to do a whole new story. If you scroll down through the posts here you'll find a post called "Cartoon Modern" where I share a character called Jellybean. Well, I wanted to do a little story about him, but it the direction I was taking him was a little too dull for me to both write and illustrate, so I've decided to change him up a bit and fit him into a super hero steampunk story.

The above image is a little sneak peek of what it will look like. The title is

"The Incredible Flying Jellybean"

Enjoy.

Illopond Chat

Hey everyone, I was on The Process Diary podcast again, this time with a combination of creators from both anthologies:

8: A Kid's Book Anthology and 8: A Steampunk Anthology

You can listen to it HERE. We talk about print on demand, tabling at events, self-publishing, some ups and downs of collaboration, nerdy comic talk, and more.

Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Warning"

The topic this week for Illustration Friday is "Warning."

I teach the 10-12 year old class in my church and drew this picture to help the kids visualize the scripture that went with it. Enjoy.

NEW WEBSITE!

It's been a long time coming since I had a personal portfolio website. I had one a long time ago, but it got so old and out dated that I just let it die. But, there is now a REBIRTH! Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to...

WWW.HARMONILLUSTRATION.COM

Click on the name above or "Portfolio" on the sidebar and take a peek. Enjoy.

"Cartoon Modern"

So, I've been seeing and hearing quite a bit about a style of illustration referred to as "cartoon modern". Some artists that are currently working in this "cartoon modern" style are Ward Jenkins, Kevin Cross, Chris Eliopoulos, and others. Anyways, I totally love the stuff and wanted to give it a try.

I was drawing some animals and drew this little hamster for some reason. I liked the drawing, so I drew some more and more hamsters. Turns out that hamsters are super fun to draw. Also, rendering him in this "cartoon modern" style is was faster and easier than my current mode of illustrating.

Where's this all going? The top image is the cover of the story of this hamster named Jellybean. The bottom image are some illustrations of Jellybean doing stuff.

I think that this is going to be my next project and submit it straight to The Illustrated Section for digital download. This will be one story that for the moment does not have any plans to be put in print, unless a publisher wants to do it. *wink wink nudge nudge*

I haven't actually written the story yet and am still in the stages of coming up with the plot and such, but the cover is done and I've gotten used to drawing this cute little dude.

*EDIT* I've added this Lab Rat character to the mix. The story is developing now. I'll give you a hint: It involves a lab rat.

Anyways, stay tuned for this little guy and. . . Enjoy.

He-Kid

No particular reason for this. There is a free episode of He-Man on iTunes this week, so after I downloaded it I got the idea to draw He-Man as a kid with his kitten Cringer.

*EDIT* Just added this Skeletor image.

*Another EDIT* Did you really think that I would like Skeletor get away with that? Of course not. She-Ra to the rescue!

*Final EDIT* Sure, She-Ra dished out some justice, but someone needs to make it right. That's where Orko comes in. Enjoy.

Pest Control: Book Trailer

Hey everybody, just wanted to share this book trailer that I made for my mini-comic, PEST CONTROL.

Made with iMovie. Music and sound effect credits in the description of the actual YouTube page.

Enjoy.

Chris Oatley's Artcast: Episode 53

Hey blog followers and random people from around the world, I was just recently on Chris Oatley's Artcast. If you don't know who Chris Oatley is, then shame on you. He only one of the best concept artists currently working at Disney and the nicest guy you'll ever talk to. On the podcast I join my fellow 8: A Kid's Book Anthology crew. We're at the end of the podcast and yours truly is at the end of out section, but everyone else has cooler things to say than I do. So, CLICK HERE and have a listen, or search on iTunes for "Chris Oatley's Artcast". Enjoy.

READY TO BUY!

Hey everyone, got some exciting news! Below this post I mentioned that Pest Control was DONE! Well, not only is it done, but it's ready to purchase as a digital PDF for your ebook reader or computer. The best part: It's only 99¢! So now all you have to do is

CLICK HERE!

Thank you for your support! You guys are awesome!

PEST CONTROL IS DONE!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys are girls, my 8 page mini-comic is DONE!

I know what you're thinking, you're thinking, "Yeah, so what. Lot's of people make 8 page mini-comics. What's the big deal?" Well, the big deal is that this is my FIRST comic EVER. Sure, I've done one page gags and a couple of 3-4 panel strips, but this is the longest comic I've done to date. So, needless to say, I'm pretty excited about it.

Now, for a little tease, you can click on the image above to see it in it's entirety. But, or course, it's too small to read anything and you might not be able to make out all of the details. In order to do that, you're going to have to wait until it's available for purchase at The Illustrated Section and at IndyPlanet.

Until then, enjoy the tease.

Illustration Friday: "Reverse"

The topic this week on Illustration Friday is "Reverse". I couldn't pass up this one because on page 7 of my mini-comic, Pest Control, I pull a "reversal" of sorts.

We all know that books, and comics (unless it's manga) read from left to right, but in panels 3-5 I make the page read right to left. To help the reader know what just happened I use the sound effect to lead the reader through the R to L transition. I think it works.

A small disclaimer: There WILL BE words on the page. This is still a work in progress, so that's why it's "silent" right now. But, hopefully it still works without the words. Enjoy.

BAT KID

For no particular reason, here's a Bat Kid. I was drawing a Batman, but it just wasn't working, so I drew a Bat Kid. Enjoy.

The Illustrated Section

Hey everyone, some exciting news in the area of digital comics, books, and such. A new website just launched earlier this week called The Illustrated Section.

The site is a central hub for finding DIGITAL books from independant creators for your computers or mobile devices, such as ebook readers and such. All of the books are in PDF format.

And, of course, yours truly has a couple of books in there as well. I have BOTH editions of "If I Could Be Anything" - BLUE and PINK editions, and ROBO 6 for only 49 cents! That's crazy!

But, not only can you find books from me, but from far better artists and story tellers as well.

If you look over on the right side of this blog you will see a list of artists that I admire. A handful of them have digital books up on that site as well. So, what are you waiting for? Go check it out and buy some super cheap digital books.

Oh, did I mention that there's a whole lot of FREE digital books on the site as well?

P.S. I designed the sweet, sweet logo for the site as well.

Enjoy.