Old Rev Cartoons

So, it’s been several years since I was doing single panel gag cartoons for REV! magazine…and here’s a few that I haven’t posted before:

Frankentsein’s Hipster

In honor of Halloween, I present…

A Few Sketchbook Pages

I’ve been doing my best to keep drawing everyday.  So far I’ve filled up a few sketchbooks, and I have a total of 8 currently that I will randomly grab and draw in.  I like to use a brush pen to sketch with…I prefer it to markers and even to pencils…though I’ve been trying to train myself to pencil things more often.  I just like the way a brush feels…I think I can be more loose in my work using it…but obviously, my draftsmanship suffers.  Anyway…here are a few random pages to share with you.

Also…I should mention that my brush of choice is the black or gray Pentel brush pen...the cheap one.  I have the Pentel pocket brush which I use a lot…but the ink isn’t as dark as the cheaper Pentel brush pen, so I tend to grab it first.  What do you use to sketch with?

T-Shirt Designs

Well…I’ve been busy lately.  I’ve started working freelance for a local screen print company called Inktrax.  A couple of my friends work there who suggested asking me to help fill out their sizable backlog of orders.  They’re really talented guys, and I feel way out of my league working with them (especially working with type and fonts).  Anyway…here’s a design I did for a local surf shop’s t-shirt line.

Here’s the final art:

In other news…the new owner of Oatmeal Studios Greeting Cards contacted me after finding my old file lying around somewhere.  We’re already working on two new cartoons for cards!  Exciting stuff!

Batman: Hobo

Over at Comics Alliance there was an article done by Laura Hudson and David Wolkin about the insanity that is Neal Adam’s “Batman: Odyssey” .  In the process of said article, the two of them proposed a different comic…Batman: Hobo…where Batman is a homeless guy, the batcave is a cardboard box, catwoman is…well…a cat, you get the idea.

I laughed out loud when I read it…and determined this kind of brilliance had to come to light.  Problem is…it made me too sad.  Poor Batman.  So here are some of the concepts I did for a project I will never really do.

Hope Amid Horror

It occurs to me that I never did post any of the artwork images from the graphic novella Hope Amid Horror which I worked on through Clash Creative last year.  I didn’t post any before publication because, frankly, I was working 12-14 hour days just to make my deadline…but I forgot to post them afterward.  What I really want to do is post a video soon on the process used to complete a page…I always find those things interesting.  Anyway…here are some of my favorite pages from that project, sans lettering.  Pencils, inking and colors are mine.

Surf art odds and ends

Been a while since I’ve updated.  I’ll put up some of the graphic novel project I was working on a little later.  Here are some surf paintings I’ve done recently.  They’ll also be put up on my Surf Art site, and a few of them are for sale.

This is a work in progress of a longboard (skateboard) design I did for Dustin Bryson

This is the final painting

“busted lip” done for Luke Benson

“Backside” – this one will be for sale on the Soulsurfer’s Surf Art site

“Heart and Soul” – another one for the surf art site.

Tags: surf art, surfing, surfing art

Goodbye Group

After an 11 year run (pretty good, by any estimation), the comic strip I drew for Group Magazine has been discontinued.  The last one will appear in the upcoming issue.  They are in the process of a redesign…and I’m sure as any print magazine is doing, they are looking for ways to cut corners.  The idea is, they will check on reader feedback, and if there is a call for it, they’ll recommision the strip.  I have serious doubts that anyone will miss it.

Anyway…I thought I’d throw a few of the strips that DIDN’T make the cut…stuff no one ever got to see.

First is one that almost got me in trouble with the editor, who felt I was being too close to disrespectful toward pastors with it.  Go figure.  (click it for full size)

The next one is an earlier attempt at re-vamping the strip, maybe even dropping the main character (Brian, named after the youth pastor at Eastgate from the late 90′s to about ’06, who was my very first introduction to what a YP goes through.  The character looked nothing LIKE Brian though…he looked more like a guy named Vance who was the only YP I knew at the time I started the strip).  Anyway…this one was without Brian.

Finally, for this morning…here’s a rough of another (albeit, ridiculous) attempt at re-vamping the strip:

I’ll try to get around and post some of my favorite strips that have appeared through the years.  If you’re a YP, please feel free to use any of these.

Tags: Comic Strip, Group Magazine, Youth group comic, Youth Pastor Comic Strip

Logo Design

A friend of mine is starting a recycled book company and he asked me to monkey around with a logo for the bookplate. I drew the whole thing in Photoshop.  I’m really beginning to enjoy inking in Photoshop, now that I can rotate the canvas while I’m working.

Tags: black bird, book, raven

REV! cartoons

Whilst I sit here anxiously awaiting word on a batch of roughs I sent to the art director of REV! magazine…I thought I’d share a few of the cartoons I’ve done for past issues.  They may be too “insider” to be funny to most people…so pity laughs are acceptable.