Let It Snow

Last year we were spoiled with very little snow. I went mountain biking last Christmas Eve! This year is a little different. We've been getting massive downfall after downfall. How much snow?

This much snow.


The view from my studio window. I wish I skied.

So after a long hike with the dogs through trails 3-4 feet deep with snow I came home and wanted to draw something that took me away from all the cold. CBR had a drawing jam for Caitlin Fairchild. Boy, was I was glad to draw this: San Diego, palm trees, surfers (obviously returning from a great day out on the water), an awesome microbus. Oh, and Caitlin Fairchild.

Kids these days and their darn iPods!

It's done super light and loose in 4H. I can't wait to flesh it out but I've got a really busy schedule in the coming weeks. It's going to be a very long winter so this will be a great diversion come February (the worst month up here for weather).

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Elementals

The drawing jam for December over at drawingboard.org is Elemental. So what better than the greatest eighties' super team the Elementals?

Elementals was my first Comic Shop comic book. My first time away from Marvel books picked up at the variety store.

I'd always been a fan of this Bill Willingham guy who did these great drawings in the AD&D manuals (stop laughing, I know). Then I see his name on this comic book. I was blown away. This guy's art had reminded me of John Byrne on X-Men.

But I was surprised to discover that his greatest strength was his writing. The Elementals was very adult, and violent. Characters you rooted for could be killed. Horribly. It had impact. The artwork was great and everyone dressed like they were on Miami Vice. The first 12 issues were perfect.

Unfortunately the publisher, Comico, ran into serious financial trouble, and found themselves $750,000 in debt. When the new owner took over things got worse and I believe he even bounced the check when he bought the rights to Elementals. He does still have them though and for whatever reason has turned down all offers even apparently one from Jim Lee. Sadly it seems there will be no future for Elementals.


Edited to add: A lot of people are confusing my early 80's Elementals with the early 90's Elementals. The early 90's series was not under the control of Willingham and featured nudity and swimsuit and lingerie specials. Not the series I mean. Honestly. I mean the very first series that started in 1983. This is the cover to number one:

Dog Days #2

Just some more quick drawings of the gang...

Dog Days #1

Here are some drawings of some of my dogs. Speed was of importance with these. More to come...

Newfoundland Dog Rescue

Those of you who know my wife and I know that our love of Newfoundland Dogs has lead us to become involved in Newfoundland Dog Rescue in a number of capacities.

Each year we put together a calendar featuring Sandra's photos of Newfoundland dogs and all of the proceeds from the sale of the calendar go to Newf Rescue Canada Inc. currently located in Whitby, Ontario.

The 2008 calendars are ready to go, and it's our best calendar yet! Calendars can be picked up in our store, or directly from the newf rescue, or ordered online at our website.

For more info about Newf Rescue groups across Canada, why not check out our new informational website.

Thank you for supporting the Newf Rescue!

Sketch Book Dump #2

Here is some more junk...

A girl wearing some eighties ski goggles for some reason.

A retro Iron Man.

A wolf.

Sketch Book Dump #1

Here are some drawings from my sketchbook from the last month or so...

A half-finished Batman.

The Hulk vs. Bi-Beast

Adapted from a Jimenez X-Men cover.

Quinlan Vos from the Dark Horse Star Wars series.

Around the Town

During some nice fall weather last week I was able to get some life sketching done around my town. I have trouble drawing "funny" so I tried to lighten these up a bit. Done in pencil on site and inked by brush back at the studio.

Sidekick

The November Jam over at drawingboard.org is Sidekicks. I'm feeling pretty unimaginitive so all I was able to come up with was Robin. Oh, or maybe Kato. Green Hornet's Kato, not OJ's. That would require finding a reference though.
Here's my Robin and Batman...

Duke the Pig

We had a friend come over for dinner the other night whom we hadn't seen over the summer. In that time she somehow managed to acquire a pot-belly pig.

Here's one of my dogs, Neptune, taste-testing Duke:

This bacon is undercooked.

My wife holding the pig:

No we are not getting one.

Pigs can be quite aggressive, and though Duke isn't like that at all, I guess he had enough of a 120lb. dog licking his back for 2 hours and decided to do something about it. And while Neptune can come across as a brave and stoic dog he does lean towards high-pitched hysterics in times of stress. Think Magnum P.I. in a haunted house. From the screaming I assumed that Duke had somehow bit into Neptune's left ventricle, but on closer inspection (on the safety of the sofa) no mark at all was found. Neptune did leave the pig alone for the rest of the evening. And will forever.

Anyway, here's how I'm sure Neptune will describe Duke to all his dog friends...

Gods and Monsters

Time for the October drawing jam over at drawingboard.org!

I went for the Mighty Thor as my subject because I've really been enjoying the new Straczynski/Coipel series. Getting the pencils done was easy (I had the morning off), but finding time for the inks (especially because I'm rusty) was difficult over the Canadian Thanksgiving. I had to do it 15 minutes at a time over the weekend and probably spent more time cleaning brushes than actually inking.