Normally I’d wait until a book is closer to publication before I posted the cover art but since Adam Crossingham, the editor, has already posted this at Yog-Sothoth.com I figured it was okay for me to do it here. This is illustration is for Lost in the Lights by Jeff Moeller. He outlines the book here.
Author Archives: skook
Goodbye to 2009
We’re in the new apartment. We’re done with the old apartment. I’ve got wireless hooked up on my computer. Most of the books are still in boxes and probably will be for months. There’s all kinds of recycling that needs to be gotten rid of as well as a table and a dresser that died in the truck on the way over from the old apartment.
The business for which I’ve had a day job for the last few years was officially sold today. I’ll be helping the new owners figure out how things work throughout January but mostly I’ll be doing my new job. Which is a lot like the old job only more chaotic. I’ll probably go into it a bit as time goes on and I get more organized.
I also got a cover done for Sixtystone Press. It was a rush job that turned out much better than I expected. I’ll post that tomorrow. Over Christmas Nizzibet mentioned to someone that I would have 3 books coming out next year. There will be at least that. I expect to be pretty busy at the drawing board.
And, sooner or later, I’ll start posting here again regularly.
See you all in 2010!
Dropping in to Say, “HI!”
It seems terrible to have nothing new posted so here’s a Frankenstein Creature to keep you company for awhile.
He’s much friendlier than he looks. He doesn’t know his own strength so be careful what sort of games you play together.
Updates
There will probably be no artwork to post for most, if not all, of the rest of the month. Nizzibet and I are moving from our overstuffed apartment to a larger one across town. We’re expecting the new place to be just stuffed rather than crammed. But to get to that stage we’ve first got to put everything here into boxes and bags and schlep it there. And then, for Christmas, we’ll get to unwrap our old stuff! Yay!
Of course that means another couple of commissions showed up in email today. One is a new RPG book for Sixtystone Press. Cover and interior illustrations. The other is work I’ve already done, years ago, that looks like it may see print in an Oz related publication. The art has been packed away since the last time we moved so it’s going to stay packed until we get to the new place.
All of this needs to be fit around the work I’m doing on Oz Squad. Uh. Yeah. Seems like I’m destined to do that series. I’ve no idea when it will see print. I’ve got 12 out of 48 pages of the first issue finished. Assuming that it sees publication as a print comic. But maybe it will end up on the web first. Or we’ll collect the first story arc in a trade paper back. But that all happens when the art is done.
I hope you’ll all having fun. Feel free to drop by now and then. Just because I don’t expect to have anything to show off doesn’t mean I won’t end up surprising myself.
Whosever Knows Fear …
… Burns at the Man-Thing’s Touch!
That’s such a great tagline.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m fond of the Man-Thing. He’s got a great design. He’s big and shaggy and mossy and he has a face that looks like no other creature out there. One of the reasons I’ll probably never get around to seeing the movie is that they changed his look. (The general consensus that the movie is lousy wouldn’t stop me if the design had been correct.) It’s unsettling more than terrifying. You don’t worry that he’ll eat you. He hasn’t got a mouth. How could he? But if he’s not going to eat you what the hell will he do?
Man-Thing is one of those Marvel comics characters that has never managed to sustain his own series for very long. The reason is pretty obvious. He has no personality. He’s mindless. While he was originally a human being that human is so far gone as to be superfluous. Man-Thing doesn’t change back to his original human form. And as the Man-Thing he doesn’t think or plan or hunger. He doesn’t want anything, not even to be left alone. That would be too abstract of a thought. He’s an empathic creature and reacts to strong emotions. Some emotions rile him up. Rage and anger cause him pain and he’ll strike out. And fear? He really doesn’t like fear.
Bad Logo
A good example of why logos shouldn’t be done freehand. Fortunately I didn’t plan to use this for anything. I’ve got an Oz Squad logo I’m quite happy with.
Cyclops
I think the black in this drawing makes a significant difference. It helps the hand pop out and separates the figure from the background. The creature here is from an early Bert I. Gordon film The Cyclops.
Tusks and Teeth
Another marker drawing. This time with a black base drawing done before I moved on to color. Sometimes the black improves a drawing, defining and making parts of it pop out better. I don’t know that it made much difference here.
Remake/Remodel – Sister Zero
My contribution to the most recent Remake/Remodel thread at Whitechapel.
Kardak and Sons, Mystics for Hire
My second contribution to the Kardak Remake/Remodel thread. My Kardak is joined here by two other Kardaks – the middle one originally by Berserker (Michael Furious) and the one on the right originally by Seb Fowler.
