Lost Islands coming soon!

Hey folks! Explorer: The Lost Islands (a fantastic anthology Shaggy and I are part of) has a release date (Oct 8, 2013) and is available for pre-order on Amazon! My brother and I are delighted to have had the opportunity to work with our Flight friends once again- this new volume is absolutely gorgeous. I can't wait to get my copy!

Webcomic Walkabout

Chris Howard of comicbookdaily.com wrote a good review about Shrub Monkeys in his "Webcomic Walkabout" segment. There was one particular paragraph that stood out to me as both a fair critique and a kind compliment:

"The comic is a sideline, done for fun, so don’t expect finely crafted, well honed material. This is the animators hobby art. But here’s the thing. When your day job is a chef, or concert pianist, the food you cook for fun or the music you play off stage is STILL gonna be pretty fine. But it will be relaxed, playful, open to experiments and above all, done for the joy of it."

The rest of the review can be read here. Thanks Chris!

First Comics News review of Silly Kingdom

After catching up on some much needed post-TCAF rest (full festival write-up coming soon. Spoiler: It was AMAZING) I was delighted to find a really great review of Silly Kingdom written by Matthew Szewczyk of "First Comics News."

In it he compares SK to the first issue of Bone (a high compliment as Bone is one of my all time favourite comics) and writes:

"This is a book that you will want to buy for that young reader in your family to introduce them to the joys that can be found within the covers of a well done comic book. I have a feeling that once they are done with Silly Kingdom that they will be a comic book fan for life."

The rest of the review can be found here. Kind thanks to Mr. Szewczyk for a very lovely write up :)

CCAF recap and TCAF PRE-CAP!

(picture taken by Studio Comics)

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by the Cambridge Comic Arts Festival last weekend! I had alot of fun meeting my neighbouring table artists and all the friendly folk who swung by to check out the wares and get a free sketch (gotta have something free for Free Comic Book Day!) Giving a solo talk on animation, comics and freelancing was a little nerve-wracking, but I'm glad I did it and hope the audience learned a thing or two!

And in more awesome comic news, TCAF IS THIS WEEKEND! 

Yes! TCAF is totally FREE and there are a TON of amazing artists exhibiting and some incredible panels (I wish there were 2 of me so I could watch all the panels AND be at the table). If you are in Toronto this weekend and like looking at things, do yourself a favour and check this show out.

The TCAF events page also has a list of cool events and parties that'll be going on throughout the weekend, and there are fun happenings starting already (film screenings, lectures, art shows, and drink-and-draws).

It's my all time favourite comic festival, it's finally Spring, and I am crazy excited.

Hope to see you there!

CCAF and Free Comic Book Day.

Hey Cambridge, Ontario! This Saturday my comic buddies Adriana Blake, Julie Faulkner and myself will be exhibiting our wares at Queen's Square Library. To celebrate Free Comic Book Day I'll be offering a free sketch per person, and will have available for purchase freshly re-printed copies of Silly Kingdom, Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales, The Anthology Project books, mini prints and more.

For more information check out the CCAF website here.

At 2:40 pm I'm scheduled to give a solo talk on "Animation, Comic Anthologies, and Self Employment" for which I am terrified excited! And terrified. It should be fun!

If you can't make it, be sure to enjoy the fun of Free Comic Book Day by checking out your local comic shops and seeing what events are happening and free sample books are available. It's a great way to get introduced to new titles and get to know your neighbourhood comic folk.

Cheers all, and HURRAY FOR MAY!

Superman anniversary doodles

Doodled during my brother Shaggy's and my weekly livestream for Superman's 75th Anniversary (April 18).

 This particular comic has stuck with me ever since I read it as a kid, look at Lois rock them 80's shoulder pads!!

Radio Adrift sneak peek

(Comic schedule status: DONE LIKE DINNAH)

Now that Shaggy and I are finished our latest comic (for a certain awesome anthology) I think it's high time we share some sneak peeks of "Radio Adrift." Here are some concept doodles of our main character Wiya.

And a peek at two of the final panels (internet high-five points if you can spot the cameos). We'll be able to talk more about this project when we get the go-ahead from our editor, from what we've seen, this anthology is going to be absolutely gorgeous ♥

"Hey hey!"

The episode of Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse I storyboarded last summer is up on the youtubes! BLID was a really fun project to work on, super goofy and light hearted with lots of nostalgia stirred in.  I storyboarded two other webisodes after this one, looking forward to seeing how they turned out. Big props to the mega talent folk at ARC animation studios!

Mia and Me

Mia and Me 1x23 by f100003899991170 

Animation starts at the 6:00 mark.

Managed to track down an episode of "Mia and Me" I storyboarded a couple years ago... translated into Italian! (I couldn't find the English version). Unicorns, elves, and creepy snake dudes (oh my). This is my first time seeing the completed episode- the animators, pre and post production crew and everyone involved at March Entertainment did a super great job!

Tatterhood on Comixology, and other comic anthology news.

Hey Comixology users! You can now read Shaggy's and my comic adaptation of "Tatterhood" amongst 200 pages of fantasy comic goodness in the "Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales" anthology for only $5.99.

We're super excited to be a part of this platform and hope it makes our comics much more easily accessible to you folk! Thanks to CFFT's editor Kel McDonald for making this all possible.

We've also submitted "Silly Kingdom" to the Comixology approval committee and hope to have it available there very soon.

In more anthology news, "Side B: A Music Lover's Comic Anthology" is down to its last 75 copies and is now available at 50% off of the original price, so grab them while you still can! This was the first comic anthology I was ever invited to be part of, huge thanks to editor Rachel Dukes for bringing me on board!

In even MORE Comic Anthology news (oh my goodness!) Shaggy and I are wrapping on a big one that I'll hopefully be able to share some sneak peek images soon. After that we're making comics for "Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales 2", "Red Ensign: Monsters", and then I'll be drawing a story for Steve Le Couilliard's "Una The Blade." Gosh dang I am excited for all this good comic-making! 2013 is off to a pretty exciting start, just gotta make sure I step outside and stare at the sun every now and again...

IndieGogo commission: AksSarah

A commission for AksSarah of her lovely lion fish mermaid OC

Alien Indiegogo Commission

Rough commission sketches for Daryl who requested Ripley, Jones and the Xenomorph. Ripley is one of my favourite film characters, I'm surprised I've never drawn her before.

Daily Outfit

Work break doodle! Wearing a Yuki-7 shirt I bought at ComicCon two years ago. Drawn with: Sketch Book Pro.

I don't draw these too often, mostly because every day in deadline-mode tends to look something like this: 

Ask the Artist: Bi-annual Artist Mixer

Hey gang!

I'm going to be a part of this LIVE mixer panel of super-cool artists tomorrow on Facebook 1pm PST (Vancouver/LA time) / 3pm EST (Toronto/New York time). I'm super stoked to be included amongst such a great line up of talent.

Topics we'll discuss will include things like inspiration, style, art education, making a living as an artist, dealing with critiques, and more. Hope you can join us! Here's a link to where we'll be talking on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/asktheartist/

For more information please check out the Ask the Artist DeviantArt invitation. Hope to see you there! :)

Amethyst of Gemworld

A #fanartfriday doodle from a couple weeks back. Princess Amethyst from the adorable new DC Nation animated Amethyst shorts that the lovely Potatofarmgirl had a big part in creating.

Life drawing study

About 20 minutes-ish, done up with colerase pencil and pentel pocketbrush on animation paper.

Ask the Artist interview transcripts

The transcripts from my "Ask the Artist" interview on Deviant Art are now up online for any folk who missed out on the live chat and want to see what we were talking about!

Ladies Night at the Comic Lounge

A snapshot from last week’s Ladies Night at the Comic Lounge where myself and a couple artist pals attempt the infamous Super Heroine butts-n-boobs-on-the-same-visual-plane pose… (and broke every spine). 

Last week I was invited out to "Ladies Night" at the Comic Lounge and had an absolute blast. It was lovely connecting with friendly geeky ladies from a whole plethora of creative fields (fashion designers, singers, street performers, writers, animators, comic artists) and of course spending time with my super star pals Adriana, Brooke, TK and Marion.

Mega thanks to Tdot Comic's Alice Quinn for organizing the event and for being a champion of geek culture and community here in T.O.

If you’re local to Toronto the Comic Lounge hosts a lot of fun gatherings and party events (for all boys and girls!) so definitely check them out.

Tatterhood Review

Michael May (daily contributor to Comic Book Resources' Robot 6) wrote a most delightful review for "Caution Fables and Fairytales" on the School Library Journal 'Good Comics for Kids' section.  Here's an excerpt...

Thanks Michael! The rest of the review can be read over on the School Library Journal website.

Ask the Artist live interview.

Hey folks! I've been invited to do a live "Ask the Artist" interview/chat on deviantart.com tomorrow evening.

If you've ever had questions about making comics, animation, storyboarding, art school, drawing tips, etc, this is a good time to ask me (as it sometimes takes me a while to respond to individual emails).

WHEN: Sunday Jan 6 at 5pm PST (LA/Vancouver time)/ 8pm EST (Toronto/NY time).

WHERE: To join in you need to be in in BOTH of these chat rooms: http://chat.deviantart.com/chat/AtAChat http://chat.deviantart.com/chat/ATAInterview

For more info check out the AskTheArtist deviantart page.

Hope to see you there :)

Nekkid Fairy drawings!

Do fairies have bellybuttons? I do not know.

Out with the old! In with the new!

Happy New Years!! 2012 went by way too fast, and while it was a super busy and productive year for my storyboarding career, it was pretty quiet on the personal project side of things. Something I aim to fix in 2013... as well as get a 6 pack (GO BIG OR GO HOME!) 

Here are the last of my 2012 drawings, done over a few classes. The first couple studies are from a great session where we had two models, Murray and Maria, posing out Paul Delaroche's "The Execution of Lady Jane Grey." (a beautifully painting of a very sad historical event)

The rest are a collection of 20 min, 10 min, 5 and 2s.

Here's to a brand new year. I wish you all tons of happiness, inspiration and excitement. Happy drawing! :)

Toronto folk

Evening doodle: A super cute girl I saw waiting for the streetcar today. Loved her hair!

Daily Outfit

Morning warm-up doodle. Daily outfit: The scarf was a gift from my lil sister Hesbell and I wear it preeetty much all the time.

Daily Outfit

Work break doodle. The show I'm storyboarding on at the moment has us using sketchbook pro and there's a lovely copic marker setting I'm having fun playing with.

Daily outfit: I picked up a cute head band from Urban Outfitters that has bendable wire in the bow for easy positioning... into rabbit ears! :O :B 

Wild Kratts

Wild Kratts - Mystery of the Squirmy Wormy from Wild Kratts on Vimeo.

Wild Kratts! This episode was my first storyboard job ever. Getting that first script and looking at everything that needed drawing was a little intimidating (and there may have been one or two "How did I con people into thinking I can actually do this!!??" moments) but things turned out aaaall right. 

I'll be storyboarding on season 3 of Wild Kratts this winter and am looking forward to all the crazy adventures these dudes get into next (and what creatures I get to study and draw.)

Super Why!

While popping around on youtube I found some clips from "Super Why" a pre-school animation series I did art design work on a few years back (I uploaded samples in this 2009 blog post). It was a fun show to work on as each artist was given 5 or 6 episodes and we got to design eeeeverything in those episode's 2D storybook-land sequences (characters, bgs, the works) and every episode was a different design style. I'm kept so busy working in this industry that often I never see the final product.  But having tracked these down I think the show turned out really cute and wanted to share.

Aaaaand if you're curious, I've found links to a couple full episodes I worked on...  in Russian! I think? And out of sync! OH MAN! Also, keep in mind it's a show for little, little, LITTLE kids to participate along with so it can be almost painfully slow to watch as an adult with a billion things to do. But if your curiosity cannot be stopped, the youtube links be listed below! (okay you got me, this post is just for you mom and dad. :P )

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty

Pinocchio

Back in life drawing classes. Onward!