Sonic 224

Fire! Fire!! Things I'm really enjoying coloring right now: Fire and clouds. This shot of the evil wizard Ixis Naugus letting loose is pretty awesome, to me... And the Death Egg launch was outright epic!

 Scripted by Ian Flynn with pencils by Ben Bates, inks by Terry Austin and lettering by John Workman.

Donatello Does Machines

What an odd line from that song...

Sonic 223

The first and the last pages from Sonic the Hedgehog #223. Page 1 is penciled by Ben Bates - this is one of my favorite splash pages to-date. I think of Sonic a little like a "team" book, like X-Men or something. There are alot of characters and alot of colors that go on one page, and I adore big cast line-ups like this to showcase them.

Page 22 is penciled by Jamal Peppers and is from #223's back-story. Often the Sonic the Hedgehog book is broken up into a "lead" and "back-up," with 17 pages to the main story and 5 pages to what is often a side-story - usually a plot or character that could have potentially gone unseen that's brought into the focus, or maybe a quick set-up story for future events, etc. The back-ups have also been where some of the new talent dips their toes in the water. Jamal impressed me from the first time I worked with him (#202), especially how on-model everyone is. His Eggman is one of my favorites!

Resumé

Summary
8+ years experience as a full-time freelance illustrator and digital comic book colorist. Unique expertise working largely with licensed properties to maintain brand consistency across various multimedia including comics, toys, and video games.

Goals
To produce engaging, entertaining, and colorful comics and multimedia for all-ages

Freelance Illustrator/Colorist

Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
Mamaroneck, NY
October 2007 - Current

• Provided digital coloring and/or illustration for full-length comic books, shorts, concept artwork, covers and original graphic novels.
• Met a regular, monthly schedule for publication as both penciler and colorist.
• Assisted with problem-solving and special tasks, including pencil/ink/lettering/color corrections and separations.
• Lead colorist for company's licensed books, Sonic the Hedgehog (#199-Current), Sonic Universe (#46 - Current) and Mega Man (#1 - Current), working with editors to maintain brand consistency per licensor approval.
• Colorist for Archie Babies, company's first 100% original graphic novel.
• Colorist for Red Circle properties, including superheroes The New Crusaders. 
• Concept art color for Governator multimedia project.

Hasbro, Inc.
Pawtucket, RI
July 2008 - Current

• Provided proposed packaging and style test illustrations for company brands, including "Transformers" and "Marvel Super Hero Squad"

SoMoGa, Inc.
Tallahassee, FL
January 2008-October 2008, August 2010-Current

• Provided dramatic re-imagined and recreated illustrations and in-game graphics for updated, remastered iPod/iPhone/iPad versions of interactive software on a timely schedule.
• Worked to maintain consistency with the original source material per licensor approval.
• In-game graphics included pixel artwork and animation, hand-drawn illustrations and fully animated cut-scenes.
• Games worked on include Vay and Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch for iOS.

Snafu Comics
Salt Lake City, UT
August 2006 - February 2009

• Provided a routinely updated, self-created webcomic "Sticky Floors" for the popular webcomic website Snafu-Comics.com
• Assisted with company planning, special projects, and tasks.
• Represented the company publicly around the country at conventions, typically 2,000+ in attendance.

Other Clients

• Level Up Studios (Albany, NY) - Sketch illustrations and concepts for T-Shirts
• Planet Zero (Houston, TX) - Character and mascot design for company's "Anime Matsuri" convention. Concept, promotional, and interactive artwork for event website.
• Angry Viking Press (Boston, MA) - Digital color for The Extinctioners comic book.

Honors

• Original Artwork featured in PiQ Magazine Issue 04 (July 2008)
• Artwork from Mega Man #1 (colors) featured in Nintendo Power Magazine Issue 266 (April 2011)
• Artwork from Governator (colors) featured in Entertainment Weekly magazine issue 1149 (April 8, 2011) and on EW.com
• Artwork from Sonic the Hedgehog #226 (colors) featured in Nintendo Power Magazine Issue 268 (June 2011) 
• Invited guest of 15 anime and comic book conventions since 2007.

Sonic 222

One of my favorite scenes from this particular issue, penciled by the legendary talent Steven Butler. I think I've worked with Steve more than any other freelance penciler on these Sonic books - 11 out of the 28 books I've colored in the Sonic series to-date! He's the most challening to color for by far, but I definitely think much of my progress as a colorist from my first ish (#199) to now (#229) is owed to that.

Leonardo

My favorite Ninja Turtle! Because swords are awesome, especially to a four year old Matt Herms.

I was a huge Turtles fan - but probably not to-scale compared to others of my generation. I picked up some of the original Eastman/Laird books - the ones that got colored and collected in trades - when I was around 9 or 10 and it blew my mind how violent and awesome the turtles were! I also read the Archie TMNT Adventures series off-and-on. Good times!

Sonic 221

So every penciler is a little different with how involved they are with the finishing touches of the comic book page. Having worked as a penciler and a colorist, I can remember the relationship I wish I'd had with the rest of my creative team - especially the colorist...

Ben Bates and I touch base before each of his book to go over ideas and notes, and I think the results of that collaboration have been some of the best art printed in the book yet! Ben has a really energetic style that he brings to the interiors and he's willing to try some different things in his pages that I really appreciate - like this half-splash with Ixis Naugus looming over the concert, here. Very anime/poster inspired.

Ben also totally made this concert scene work. Music is pretty much impossible to properly convey in comic book form, but I think this issue came about the closest ever. I wish I could take credit for the awesome musical notes spiraling across the pages, but Ben fully deserves the props for those. He really went above and beyond and this book was stunning! 

Sonic 219 - Sonic Colors

Archie Comics' monthly Sonic the Hedgehog series is in the World Record Books as the longest running comic book based on a video game property. I mean, I read it when I was a kid! As a licensed book, one of the cool things that we get to do are these "Another place, another time..." stories that are like comic book commercials for the latest Sega-Sonic games! This was for last year's Sonic Colors adaptation. Written by Ian Flynn, pencils by Tracy Yardley with inks by Terry Austin, lettering by John Workman.

Sonic 218

Last year in Sonic the Hedgehog, we did a half-year's worth of a "World Tour" storyline. For me, it was an awesome chance to really diversify my colorist skill-set and work with some palettes I maybe didn't get to use as often as I'd like. No issue demonstrates this more than last year's Sonic the Hedgehog #218.  

With the Oil Ocean Zone as our set piece - an actual stage from the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 video game - new penciler Ben Bates and comics vet Terry Austin really knocked this issue out of the park with some of the most stylish and fluid action seen in the books to date! Ben also gives me some great anime-inspired moments - like Jack Rabbit's "rage face" on the last page there - that are lots of fun to color!

But perhaps the coolest part of this issue was the awesome contrast between our lead and this back-up story, penciled by Jamal Peppers. In the lead, I got to work with alot of warm colors, and here in the back-up I got to really play with my blues! (My favorite color! It has to be, when you're coloring for two blue icons!) To this day, this issue is one of the ones I'm most proud of for how it all came together!  

Doin' it for the Halolz

I typically do one or two commissioned T-Shirt sketches for Shawn Handyside's Level Up Studios and Halolz.com every year. The first of these was "Wolf Wednesdays." A popular joke on the site is the Star Wolf (from Nintendo's Star Fox) "Can't let you do that..." meme, so this one parodies that - and Starbucks Coffee. Originally, his mug read "I Love Mondays," but Shawn asked that it be changed to Wednesday - the day these memes are usually posted.

This last year, Shawn was looking to revamp his "I've got a Rocket Launcher..." shirts and add a companion "I have a Knife..." based on the popular Team Fortress 2 video games. The design was originally a silhouette, so Shawn wanted something a little closer to the cartoony look feature in the games.

And finally, a little something thrown together for the website the other night.

Sketches only. All digital inking for final products done by Shawn Handyside.

October '11 Solicits

Hey everyone! Solicits for October are out - here's what I've got in the pipeline from Archie Comics for that month, both books I color for monthly.

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #230"...Two Steps Back" & "SONIC GENERATIONS": "Genesis" may be over, but Sonic's 20th Anniversary celebration parties on! As the Genesis Epilogue unfolds, the Death Egg II still menaces New Mobotropolis, and Dr. Eggman has one more sinister trick up his sleeve. It's a desperate race against time as Sonic and Sally try to prevent another world catastrophe, and the ending will leave you speechless. Also featuring a very special SONIC GENERATIONS video game story!
Script: Ian Flynn.
Art: Ben Bates, Jamal Peppers, Terry Austin and Matt Herms
Cover by Ben Bates
Shipping Date: 10/19/11
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: 11/2/11
On Sale on Newsstands: 11/9/11
32-page, full color comic
$2.99 US.

MEGA MAN #7"Time Keeps Slipping" Part Three: Mega Man's search for his kidnapped sister and clues to clear Dr. Light's name is coming up with nothing. And Dr. Wily is still at large! Maybe he can save the day with the help of the six Robot Masters! Or are the robots wandering right into Dr. Wily's latest trap?
Script: Ian Flynn.
Art: Chad Thomas, Gary Martin, Matt Herms and John Workman
Cover by Patrick "SPAZ" Spaziante
Shipping Date: 10/26/11
On Sale at Comic Specialty Shops: 11/9/11
On Sale on Newsstands: 11/16/11
32-page, full color comic
$2.99 US.

Back to Blogging...

So... My buddies Brad Gullickson and Matt Constantine have been blogging for a few months now - tirelessly typing away at the very cool testament to geek culture "In The Mouth of Dorkness." I guess I was feeling a touch peer-pressured inspired...

Despite a failed foray into blogging circa 2007/08 on the rival Livejournal - which I think is still just a Google search away if you want a peek into my 22-year-old past - I still appreciate the medium and appreciate especially the "Art Blog." I'm thinking this will be a little bit of this and mostly that - just the latest and coolest things that I can share as my schedule permits. Thanks for taking a gander!

Pencils and inks by the talented and legendary all-around-nice-guy Tracy Yardley. I colored this up for Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog Free Comic Book Day offering this year.