The Blog of Mark Harmon Illustration

Latest Commissions

2012-02-12T08:16:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone, sorry for my lack of activity here. I've just been super bust lately. I'm currently working on a 120 page graphic novel and taking commissions at the same time. I can't show you anything from the comic, but I can show you these commissions that I just finished.

The top one is for a rap/hip hop group. I'm going to be doing some storyboarding for them next week.

The bottom one is for a local guy. Where I live there are two small towns that are close together, so they're super big rivals. One towns mascot is a buffalo and the other, an eagle. He wants to start some sort of unity between them, I he commissioned me to make this "Eagleo", a combination of the two mascots. I'm not sure what he's going to do with the image though. He said maybe some t-shirts, hats, or something like that.

That's it for now. Enjoy.

Christmas present - Part II

2011-12-27T16:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas present for my brother Matt. Enjoy.

Christmas Present

2011-12-10T06:56:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

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

2011-10-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-08-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-08-08T14:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-06-23T12:32:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-22T17:27:00.001-07:00

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

2011-06-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

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

2011-06-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-05-30T15:05:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-05-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-05-17T14:03:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-05-13T10:08:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-05-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-05-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

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

2011-05-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-04-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

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"

2011-04-29T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Cast

2011-04-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-05T08:14:00.000-07:00

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

2011-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-03-23T07:06:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-03-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-03-09T08:46:00.001-08:00

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"

2011-03-04T08:06:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-02-26T06:59:00.000-08:00

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"

2011-02-23T15:56:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-09T16:05:00.001-08:00

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!

2011-02-07T15:41:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2011-02-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

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"

2011-02-04T06:36:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-27T11:29:00.001-08:00

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.

Illustration Friday: "Dusty"

2011-01-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

The Illustration Friday topic this week is "Dusty". The first thing that came to mind was Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender in his 'Avatar state' kicking some buns in the desert. Yeah, I know, there was never a time when he was in the desert with firebender soldiers, but so what. That's what great about being an artist, you can draw whatever you want. Enjoy.

Fantastic Four

2011-01-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

If you've been following my work you'll know that I don't draw licensed characters very much. But, I was in the mood and thought I would draw one of my favorite groups, the Fantastic Four. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "CHICKEN"

2011-01-19T15:17:00.000-08:00

Yikes! Haven't done an Illustration Friday for a while. Been really busy. But, I had time to do a quicky. Thought I would bring back Becky for this one. She's in a chicken suit. Enjoy.

Teaser

2011-01-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

8: A Steampunk Anthology

I know, I know, I've already talked about this because I've posted some images from my story called Pest Control, but I just wanted to show off this sweet promo image made by my pal and fellow "steampunker" Lee Wiley.

We've had some bumps in the road with this anthology, but everything is ironed out and ready to go. We're shooting for a release date of sometime in late March, early April.

I'm so excited about this thing guys. I was excited about that first anthology I did called 8: A Kid's Book Anthology, but I think I'm MORE excited about this one because it's an 8 page mini-comic, which is way more fun to read than a regular picture book.

This comic is the reason why I haven't been posting very much on this bloggity blog. I've been super busy with commissions and this comic, so my apologies to anyone who checks this thing regularly looking for updates.

New Logo

2010-12-02T22:53:00.001-08:00

So, for some reason I really like making logos for my personal properties. It's super fun. Anyways, I trimmed the fat on my Pest Control logo. I cut it down and made it more simple, yet a little more complex and the same time. I always wanted to make it look a little bit 3D, but didn't quite get how to do it until now. Enjoy.

The Process Diary

2010-12-01T15:10:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that I was a guest on The Process Diary podcast with Paul Cageggi.

You can listen to it here:

CLICK HERE

Paul Cageggi, Sam Kirkman, Lee Wiley, Warren Belfield and myself talk about our upcoming anthology which is called

8: A Steampunk Anthology

If you do by chance listen to this podcast, a fun game to play while listening is to count how many times we all say "You Know" and how many times I clear my throat obnoxiously. HAHA! Enjoy.

Look through the posts and you'll find a sneak peek at my story for the anthology called Pest Control.

Children

2010-11-22T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'm an illustrator. I have children. Sometimes, those two things aren't best friends. Here was one of those times.

I have 3 year old twins. They watch me draw. Of course, they

want to do what daddy is doing. So, when daddy is in the bathroom, they grab a permanent marker (which was just right there on the desk) and express themselves all over my stuff.

Now, the tablet and the keyboard didn't really bother me. They're just plastic and it will come off. My biggest concern was the monitor. But, thanks to this stuff:

It now looks like this: TA-DA!

Everything turned out good in the end. So, for those illustrators out there who are debating on whether or not to have kids: Sure, crazy stuff happens, but you can fix it. Go have some kids.

PEST CONTROL

2010-11-01T16:28:00.000-07:00

Hey there followers of this here blog of mine, here is a sneak peek of a new mini-comic that I'm putting together with some of the artists from the 8: A Kid's Book Anthology. This time around we're doing a Steam Punk comic anthology. Mine is called Pest Control.

Above is the Pest Control logo and page 2 of the comic. Enjoy.

Process anyone?

2010-10-18T19:02:00.001-07:00

Here's a little process for anyone who is curious about the methods to my madness.

1. First thing I do when I open up Photoshop is create a new layer. Then, I do a rough sketch with the default brush at 7pts.

2. After the rough sketch is done I drop that layer's opacity to 20% so I can then use it as a guide to trace over top of.

3. I create a new layer on top of the rough sketch layer and with the 7pt brush size I draw the black outline. This process is very similar to inking in traditional comics. When doing this I make sure that all of my lines are connecting so that there are no gaps anywhere for the next step.

4. I use the paint bucket tool to fill in the flat colors. If there are gaps, then the WHOLE canvas will fill in with the selected color instead of just the part that I want to color. In the case of the image below, I just want to color the face.

5. The paint bucket doesn't get everything, so I go in with the brush to fill in those areas like the little white spaces below.

6. Flat colors are done. Now for the shadows.

7. When flat colors are done, I then use the lasso tool to make a selection of where I want the shadows to go. Then, I paint bucket fill with a darker version of the base color.

8. To add a little color in the 'RED ZONE' of the face, I grab a bright red with the brush, then drop the brush's opacity to 5% and color on the ears, cheeks, and nose.

9. Almost done. Just adding some finishing touches. Add the highlights to the hair, nose, cheeks and a blue rimlight in the shadow area. And, wha-la! Done.

There will be more process to come. This is just how I do the foreground characters and elements. The background is pretty close to the same process with a couple more added steps here and there.

So there it is. Enjoy.

SCHOLASTIC!!!

2010-10-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I can now show this illustration I did for Scholastic because it's in print. If you want to see it in context in the magazine you can check it out HERE. Enjoy!

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!

2010-10-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

Our little anthology is now ready for purchase! Get your copy today! Go ahead and click on the link bellow!

CLICK HERE!

Cute Kids and Animals

2010-09-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

No reason for this one. Just thought I would do it just in case a client wanted to see a "puzzle" illustration. Who owns which pet?

Illustration Friday: "PROVERB"

2010-09-10T13:14:00.000-07:00

I'm not going to have a whole lot of time this week to do a proper Bad Luck Becky comic page, so I decided to totally "phone it in" on this one. Enjoy. And. . . I'm sorry.

BIG NEWS!!!

2010-09-07T06:45:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you:

8: A Kids Book Anthology

I've just collaborated with 7 other artists from around the world to create this super awesome kid's book anthology. 8 artists, 8 page stories. We have illustrators from the USA, Europe, and Japan. The other 7 artists inside are:

The ROBO 6 character that I've been teasing you all with is going to be making his world debut inside this amazing book.

We're going to be getting it printed through Ka-Blam and it will be distributed and ready for purchase through Indy Planet. It should be available online around the end of October or beginning of November. It could be sooner, but I'm not totally sure.

Want to look through the forums where we all showed our process and gave feed back? Would you like to browse through the hundreds of posts where this baby was conceived? The magic took place over at the Illopond that was put together by Ben Powis, one of the artists of the 8 Anthology. Not only did we use that site to communicate with each other and bring this thing together, but YOU can do it too. The Illopond is a place for artists and illustrators to not only hang out and talk shop, but to do what we did and collaborate and create a project together. So head on over and check it out.

Now, not to toot our own horn here, but I don't know if this has ever been done before in the children's book market. Comics do it all the time, so why not us? Why should children's books stay in their little bubble and not participate in the anthology sensation that's sweeping the nation? Okay, I know, I know, that was completely lame and infomercial of me, but you get the idea, right?

As soon as this thing is out and ready for purchase, then I will most definitely let you all know.

But, if you are going to be in the Lexington, Kentucky area the 19th and 20th of November, then you can come by and purchase it in person from yours truly at the UP! Fair.

I can't express how excited I am about this project. It's been a blast being a part of it and we have some super-mega-ultra awesome artists in here. Enjoy everyone.

Illustration Friday: "DESSERT"

2010-09-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

Bad Luck Becky is back for yet another Illustration Friday topic. This week is "Dessert." Enjoy.

Avatar Fan Art

2010-09-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

It's probably about time I did some Avatar the Last Airbender fanart. Sure, it might not be as dynamic as my other fanart stuff, but I just wanted to keep this one simple. This is my take on the gang as I would draw them. Enjoy.

Bebop 'N' Banjo

2010-08-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a banjo pig for Dueling Banjo Pigs so, here's a little something satisfy the urge. I don't know why I haven't thought of this before. Bebop from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles should've been the first pig to come to mind, but sadly, it wasn't.

So, I hope I redeemed myself with this one. Enjoy.

Feeding my FanArt addiction

2010-08-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

This one is LOOONG overdue. This is some fanart for a webcomic called Escape from Planet Nowhere by Otis Frampton.

This is yet another awesome webcomic that is part of Space Dock 7. Go read them RIGHT NOW!

Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "CAGED"

2010-08-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

Another Bad Luck Becky one page comic for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.

If you noticed, I have a logo for BLB now. I actually have a cover for the upcoming graphic novel I plan on writing, but don't really know if I want to show it yet. It's NOWHERE near any sort of solid ground yet, it's more in the conceptual phase, so I don't want to show the cover yet. But, be patient it's coming. I'll be posting enough nonsense filler to take your mind off of it, so don't worry about it.

Spiderman Banjo Pig

2010-07-29T13:32:00.001-07:00

What's with the pig playing a banjo you say? Well, let me tell ya. There's an awesome website/blog stated by a couple of my favorite artists Guy Francis and Stacy Curtis called Dueling Banjo Pigs.

If any of you have a banjo playing pig then send it to them and they'll put it up on the site. It's just that easy. And, who doesn't enjoy a banjo playing pig? Exactly. Enjoy.

Smile

2010-07-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

Alright, before I begin with this post let me just be perfectly honest: I'm doing this mostly because of a contest going on at Art and Story. BUT, and this is a big BUT, even though it's a contest, I'm a big admirer of this artists' work. What artist am I talking about? Raina Telgemeier. She was just interviewed by Mark and Jerzy on the A&S podcast. It was a really great interview about doing memoir comics and comics in general.

About 3 months or so ago I picked up a copy of her graphic novel of Ann Martin's The Babysitters Club.

I really liked it. I also bought it because as you may or may not know, I want to take my Bad Luck Becky character and do a graphic novel of my own with her. So, this looked like some good material to reference and use for research. Her work is really good. This may sound dumb, but her bushes and trees look awesome. Anyways, because I liked The Babysitters Club so much I've been wanting to get a copy of her latest graphic novel called Smile.

So, by mentioning Raina and her work and creating a post about her I can win a copy of Smile. I honestly might not have mentioned her if not for the contest, but now I'm glad that I did, even if I don't win anything. Also, even if I don't win, I am going to pick up a copy of Smile anyways. So, there's my plug. Go to www.goraina.com and check out her other awesome work.

I've made this blog all about myself and haven't really mentioned other artists that I like and have inspired me to do what I do and to do what I want to do. So now, because of this post you can expect more mentions and shout outs to other great artists that I like instead of just a link on the side the the blog. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "GIANT"

2010-07-05T20:41:00.001-07:00

It's about time I brought back Bad Luck Becky. Hopefully you'll see a whole graphic novel for her. (That's a hint of my next big personal project)

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is "GIANT". So, naturally, the first thing I thought of was David and Goliath. I thought this would be a perfect topic for BLB. I'm doing another one page comic as practice for the graphic novel. Enjoy.

MORE more fan art

2010-06-23T13:45:00.000-07:00

It's official, I'm addicted to fan art. Here is some more that I did. These characters are from Cleopatra is Spaaace!, another comic over at Space Dock 7. The comic is done by one of my favorite artists, Mike Maihack. Check it out.

More Fan Art

2010-06-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

This is the third fan art piece I've ever done, but I'm really starting to like it. As soon as I get done with one, I want to do another and another and so on. I think I might be developing a little bit of a problem.

Anyways, this is some fan art for an artist by the name of Eddie Pittman. It's an illustration of Red and Tawee from his comic called Red's Planet. Along with Dani Jones in the post before this one, he too is part of Space Dock 7.

I really think you guys should check this stuff out. Good good stuff. Enjoy.

Fan Art

2010-06-21T12:11:00.001-07:00

Hey kids, I've been reading a really awesome webcomic called My Sister the Freak by one of my favorite artists Dani Jones. You should all check it out. She's part of a group of webcomics called Space Dock 7. All of the other artists and comics on there are super cool too. I highly recommend 'em.

Anyways, I decided to do some fan art because I really like the comic. I'll probably be doing some fan art for those other artists as well.

I don't ususally do fan art, so if I do, then it's a big compliment to the artist.

Illustration Friday "Paisley"

2010-06-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

The topic this week for Illustration Friday is "Paisley". It seems like kind of a weird topic, but, wherever.

The first thing that came to mind when I heard the topic was the shape of the fireballs on Super Mario Bros for Nintendo. Ever since that game came out when I was like 7 or 8 I thought that the paisley pattern was a Mario fireball. I would be sitting in church and some lady in front of me would have a dress on with the paisley design on it and I thought it was a Mario fireball dress. So, I drew a scene from Super Mario Bros with Mario shooting some paisley fireballs. Enjoy.

(Okay now Nintendo geeks, I know that in my illustration Mario is not wearing his red and white fireball suit. Well, guess what? I don't really care. I pulled out my artistic license and drew what I wanted to draw. So, don't go all nerdy on me mmmkay.)

Illustration Friday: "Slither"

2010-05-29T17:28:00.000-07:00

Every time I come across a topic on Illustration Friday I try and draw the first thing that comes to my mind. So, the first thing that I thought of when I saw 'Slither' was 'Slytherin' from Harry Potter. Then I thought 'Salazar Slytherin'. So, I drew Salazar Slytherin.

Yeah, it has nothing to do really with 'Slither', but whatever. Enjoy.

ROBO 6! Sneak Peek!

2010-05-06T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sshhh. Don't tell anyone, but I'm writing and illustrating a story called ROBO 6. Here is a sneak peek of the cover and an interior illustration. I won't say what it's about or what it's for, but just trust me on this: It's gonna be pretty flippin cool in my humble opinion. Okay, that wasn't so humble, but you have to like your own work, right? If you don't, then why do it?

Anyways, enjoy this little tidbit because it's all you're gonna get. Sorry, it's a really short story. By showing you this I've already showed 1/7th of it. So, enjoy.

Substitute Teaching

2010-04-30T16:36:00.000-07:00

While substituting I drew this cute little pic for the kids. It's a Griffin fighting a Dragon. I was running out of time so that's why it's a tiny dragon. Enjoy.

SPAM GARBAGE!!!

2010-04-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I've recently been getting comments on my posts from someone who just wants to send me links to porn and stuff, so because of that I'm starting to moderate the comments left by you, the REAL reader. So, if you make a comment just know that it won't show up immediately. I'll have to approve them now.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but that's the nature of the FREE internet I guess. Jeez.

Got 'er done!

2010-04-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

This commission is in the can! It feels good finishing work, especially when it's for money. :)

Thanks for taking a look and enjoy.

Commission

2010-04-19T15:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the initial sketch (which I got carried away with) for a commission that I'm doing. I usually don't do this type of work. I usually do cartoons of the individuals, but I think this is a nice break from the cartoons. I need the practice drawing more realistically anyways. I would just finish this up and give it to them, but this drawing is on regular typing paper, so it's pretty cheap. That's what I get I guess. Oh well. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Linked"

2010-04-15T10:25:00.000-07:00

The topic of this week on Illustration Friday is "Linked."

If you don't get it, then you haven't played many video games. This is a character from The Legend of Zelda. His name is Link. Now do you get it? She's "Linked" HAHA! Man, I'm hilarious. Enjoy.

Robot Sketches

2010-04-06T14:40:00.000-07:00

Getting a feel for this robot character. I've got the major plot points down for this story, now I just need to stick in the details and make the narration flow. Three of them are scanned pencils and one is all digital. Enjoy.

Secret Project!

2010-04-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Got some exciting news! I've been invited by an artist friend along with some others to do a collaboration of sorts. I haven't signed anything or done anything really for it, but I still won't say what it is until it's finalized. I was just too excited and wanted to share SOMETHING from it. So, here it is. This is a possible character for this secret project. (of course, this is just a rough character design, so it might change). I already have a name for this character, but I won't reveal it quite yet. Stay tuned for more on this. I think it's going to be pretty darn sweet if I do say so. Enjoy.

Character Design

2010-03-30T10:55:00.000-07:00

If you've been following my blog (which is like what, 2 people, maybe) then you will know that I mentioned that I wanted to start making a graphic novel. I've been using this character - Bad Luck Becky (name subject to change). Anyways, I thought that maybe she was a little too old, so I'm "younging" her up a bit. Before, she was at least 16, because she had a car, but I thought the story would work better to be more in the 12-14 year old range. So, here is my attempt (after many not shown) on said character. Let me know your input. Better? Worse?

Whoops. Forgot to mention this is a pencil drawing, scanned, then colored in Photoshop. Enjoy.

A boy and his dog.

2010-03-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

This piece is actually for some background practice, but I couldn't just let it go uninhabited, so I put a boy and a dog in it. Enjoy.

No Reason

2010-03-23T13:31:00.000-07:00

This is what nerd girl dreams of everyday. Man, I'm not very on model with her on this one. Her face is all wonky and her body proportions are a bit wacky. Oh well, practice makes better.

Illustration Friday: "Expired"

2010-03-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to try a comic strip instead of a whole page to see if I could tell a story in a shorter amount of panels and space. The topic on Illustration Friday this week is "Expired."

Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Subterranean"

2010-03-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

This week I decided to be a little ambitious and do a little one page comic for this week's Illustration Friday topic of "Subterranean."

I want to eventually try my hand at the dreaded GRAPHIC NOVEL (fancy words for 'long comic book'), so I think this is a good start. Enjoy.

Beauty and the Beast

2010-03-09T09:21:00.000-08:00

The top illustration is of a warrior princess. She's just a character right now, but perhaps a story is there somewhere.

The bottom is Ookla the Mok from the old school cartoon "Thundarr the Barbarian." Ever since I was a kid I've always loved the look of this character. Thank you Boomerang for airing this show right now.

Illustration Friday: "Brave"

2010-03-08T10:15:00.000-08:00

When your name is Bad Luck Becky, then wearing high heels is pretty brave. Enjoy.

Notice in the picture frame is my last IF topic for 'adrift.'

Mannequin Exercise

2010-03-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

In the bottom left of this illustration is a basic mannequin that I'm experimenting with as a template for drawing kids. So, here's five kids that I came up with by using this same template. Enjoy.

A Little Break

2010-03-03T13:26:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE drawing cute "kiddy" stuff. But, after too long I just have to draw a big ogre with a bloody sword. The progression from top to bottom is 1) initial sketch from my reference, 2) Rough sketch of details, 3) Line work, 4) Color. Enjoy.

Little Girl Practice

2010-03-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

I don't draw very many girls, especially little girls. So, here are some little girls. As you can see, I clearly need the practice, although the African-American girl turned out pretty good. Enjoy.

illustration Friday: "Perspective"

2010-03-01T09:59:00.000-08:00

WOW. Sorry kids. It's been a while since I posted here. Had some internet troubles for a couple of weeks. But, hopefully I'm back now.

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is "Perspective"

So, I decided to put up this piece that I did a couple of weeks ago just for fun. I was trying my hand at some fake perspective. I didn't use anything but my gut and intuition on this, so if it looks terrible, then that's why. I'd like to make this a couple page spread for a book. That's why the principal's office has a name on it. Not too sure about the name, but I think it works for now. Anyways, enjoy.

ETSY STORE

2010-02-20T18:56:00.000-08:00

My first two self-published children's books, "If I could be anything" BLUE and PINK editions, are both now up in my Etsy Store! Buy the Family Fun Pak and save $2.00! Can't beat that!

Click HERE or click on the Etsy Store link in the side bar.

Character Designs

2010-02-20T18:18:00.000-08:00

Here are some character designs of a character for a book that I'm working on. The top pic shows the old version on the left and the new version on the right. The bottom are some facial studies. I'm really liking this character. Maybe it's because she's a redhead and I'm married to a redhead, so I'm a little bias. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday - "Adrift"

2010-02-18T17:57:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm so late with this one. My internet has been down this whole week. Submission for Illustration Friday. The topic this week is "Adrift."

So, Bad Luck Becky here is adrift on the ocean in a bad situation that is about to get worse. Enjoy.

Slight Change of Plans

2010-02-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

Let me explain. After much deliberation and exploration I've decided to give nerd girl a face lift, almost literally. I was having a hard time with finding a name and place for this character. My wife suggested a really good name for this character, but it didn't match. So, I'm changing her up to better match the name she came up with. The new name I think will fit my objective to use the same character for the Illustration Friday topics.

I won't reveal the name just quite yet, because I feel a story brewing here with this character. So, for those of you who may have liked this red-headed nerd girl, don't worry, she's not dissappearing, she's just being put on the back burner while this new brunette version takes over. This new one is no longer a nerd. She just has terrible luck with things. So, from now on this new girl will take over as the topic appeasing one. Enjoy.

Bad Day

2010-02-08T12:42:00.000-08:00

Nerd girl (man, I really need a name for her) just can't catch a break. It's a good thing that she's not real because I'm being REALLY mean to this poor little lady. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Muddy"

2010-02-05T13:19:00.000-08:00

Illustration Friday topic this week is "Muddy." I already had the pic of the nerd-girl on a postcard that was all wet, so I just changed to color of the water to brown and added a background story to it. This nerd-girl is sortof my "fall guy" who takes the brunt of everything. I think I want to use her to illustrated every I.F. from now on if I can make it work. I think that would be cool. Enjoy.

The Apple iPad

2010-02-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

There's already been a lot of positive and negative comments made toward the iPad. If anyone cares, here's my opinion:

I think the iPad could be the beginning of some great things for self-publishers and 'Indie' creators (like myself).

It would be so great to have my books embedded in an app. So many possibilities with extra content that just isn't out there right now. With an app there is the possibility to push a button and see the rough sketches of a page, push a button and see the final linework, push a button and see a video of the artists drawing that particular page that you're on, push a button and hear some audio of the author and/or illustrator talking about a particular page, push a button and go to the author/illustrator's website, and so forth. I'm getting geeked out just thinking about this stuff.

So, before you dismiss this as just "a big ipod", think of the publishing possibilities that can come for "the little guys" with the apps and the distribution of the app store.

Now, I do need to give credit where credit is due. I didn't think of these ideas. I'm paraphrasing from a podcast called Art & Story. Jerzy Drozd and Mark Rudolph go into depth with the ideas I'm talking about, so give it a listen and get juiced about this thing and it's possibilities as a publisher.

Illustration Revised

2010-02-01T12:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a revised illustration of the below one for Illustration Friday. If you didn't notice I added three more ants, a carrot, and a sandwich of some kind. Maybe it's a BLT. Mmmmm....BLT. Haven't had one of those tasty little things for a while. Maybe I'll have one tomorrow.

Illustration Friday: "Focused"

2010-01-29T09:26:00.000-08:00

The topic this week for Illustration Friday is "Focused". I decided to draw some ants because I don't think anything in nature is more focused than ants, especially ants moving an apple. Enjoy.

Go ahead and click on the image for the FULL size.

Blaming the dog

2010-01-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

Just experimenting again with a more loose approach. Nerdy girl as a baby.

Yucky

2010-01-27T14:36:00.000-08:00

Here's an illustration with that same nerdy girl (I need to give her a name). This isn't for anything special, just wanted to draw something kinda gross and cute and the same time. Enjoy.

PROMO

2010-01-25T14:03:00.000-08:00

This is a postcard that I want to send out soon. Do art directors and editors even look at postcards anymore? Anyways, the site www.harmonillustration.com is a pretty old site with old work on it. It needs to be tweeked a bit before I go sending this card out. Maybe I should have done that first. Oh well, whatever. Enjoy.

Illustration Friday: "Clumsy"

2010-01-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

The topic for Illustration Friday this week is "Clumsy". A while back I was drawing a nerdy girl and thought that this topic fit nicely with this character. She's pretty clumsy. Enjoy.

Why Orange?

2010-01-20T09:44:00.000-08:00

Last year my blog was a mostly a blue color. Also, it wasn't a really great year for my illustration career. So, I'm changing the color of my blog to orange which is the opposite of blue. Here's to a better year for everyone.

Just remember, we the consumers are the ones who change the direction of the economy.

Illustration Friday: "Wilderness"

2010-01-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

Submission for Illustration Friday. A little scene of a bear cookin a marshmellow in the wilderness. For them, camping isn't that cool.

Sissy music anyone?

2010-01-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

So, it seems like the older I get ( I'm only 29) that the more sissy my music tastes get. In high school I used to listen to Metallica, AC/DC, Green Day and all that stuff. But now I really can't stand that stuff anymore. I'm becoming more and more attatched to the melow hits of yesteryear. Does everyone go through this?

I've heard this song before, 'Dancing in the Moonlight',and never really paid attention to it, but I heard it on the radio the other day and for some reason I just cranked it up and soaked it in. So, I had to go to iTunes and get it. I'm listening to it as I type this, but not as you read it.

Anyways, just a little random thought to end the day while my kids are asleep. Enjoy.