8.31.2007

31 Days

I said at the beginning of the month that I wanted to do a post every day in August...and except for one night where the weather was supremely uncooperative, I pulled it off! For some bloggers, that's no big deal and pretty much the status quo. But for a lazy artist like myself, it's reason to celebrate! Thanks to J. Chris Campbell for matching the post-a-day challenge and look for the posts to keep a-coming as I try to stick to a pretty regular three times a week schedule from here on out! Have a great weekend, all!

8.30.2007

Heads and Hips


8.29.2007

Tomboy

A letter writer in this week's Savage Love describes her problem thusly:
I’m a high-school girl with big problems. All my life I’ve worn boy clothes and had male friends, mainly because I’m into “male” things like video games and geek stuff. As high school approached, Mother Nature flipped me off with DD breasts and hips that would make Shakira jealous.
I tells ya, sometimes these spots almost draw themselves.



8.28.2007

Focus Group

So, in the grand tradition of artists like Coop, I'm thinking about making some stickers. With any luck, soon that unadorned notebook/laptop/bumper will sport a shiny new girlie drawing by your old pal Chappy. Here's the thing...they're kind of expensive to produce right at first (in fact, I'll probably only be able to make one design at the outset), so I'm coming to my dear readers for a little input as to which one you'd like to see made. I've narrowed it down to about four candidates ,which I'm showing here. The sticker'll be printed in full-color on clear vinyl (meaning everything but the figure will be transparent), about 3"x4", and durable enough to withstand the elements if placed on car windows, etc..

What do you think? Wouldja pay a buck/buck and a half for something like this? Would it help to have some kinda snazzy retro packaging? Would you rather get three or four of 'em all at once for five bucks? What design do you like best? I fear I've already missed the deadline that'll enable me to have them for Baltimore Comicon, but if I place the order by early next week I'll have 'em for Crafty Bastards, SPX and mail order. Also, I'll shoot the first five responders to this post (who give me some solid input, 'natch) a sticker gratis once I get them printed up, so come correct, y'all!

Thanks!

A. Creamsicle

B. Derriere



C. Comic Book Girl


D. Teeny Bikini #3 Cover

8.27.2007

Again With the Barda

Well, hey, if you're gonna draw super-babes, you can nevergo wrong with this sultry Apokoliptian bruiser. I'm not thrilled with it, but it's what I drew today!

8.26.2007

W.I.P.



8.25.2007

Thong Song

8.24.2007

Savage Lovery

Some more Savage Love art, from various columns over the last year or so. These will also be printed in the forthcoming ATOM-BOMB BIKINI #5, which should hit the streets in mid-September!







8.23.2007

Classic Zatanna

Nothing beats the fishnets and top hat, but this design from the 70s comes close. Just don't bring up that 80s monstrosity.

8.22.2007

Inking Practice

8.21.2007

Back to the Babes

8.20.2007

Road Trip



The family and I took a little road trip this past weekend, to our old stomping grounds of Greensboro, NC, for Evie's first (of many) visit to see her grandparents. A weekend at the in-laws might not seem like much to get excited about on the face of it, but I really like hanging out with Brooke's parents...they drink, swear and are excellent cooks! Besides, after spending approximately 22 to 23 hours of every day for the last seven weeks in this house, I was thrilled at the prospect of simply having four different walls to stare at!

Thankfully, there was even more than that going on. We drove down Friday afternoon, and Eve was an angel the entire way, sleeping for all three or so hours. Saturday, I drove around to a few of my favorite haunts, including Addam's Art Loft, which always seems to have some odd item that I find indespensable that no one in town seems to carry (in this case, a tiny replacement lead sharpener), and Ed McKay's used books, hands-down the best-stocked used bookstore in North Carolina. They have everything...the usual huge selection of fiction, classics, paperbacks, etc., but they also have tons of used records, CDs, DVDs, and books of every stripe-history, media, cartoons, and of course, comics. I usually bee-line for that section, and Saturday was no different. The finds of the day were a mixed bag...I picked up the first trade of Brian Wood's DMZ, which I've heard good things about but found to be almost unbearably trite and awful, and the first volume of Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers, which made about as much sense collected as it did in single-issue form- which is to say, not much. Some nice Ryan Sook art on the Zatanna chapters, though. In the children's section, Brooke found a well-worn copy of Syd Hoff's classic Sammy the Seal, which Evie will no doubt want to have nothing to do with when she gets older. She also scored the find of the day (and in the kids section, no less): In Me Own Words: The Autobiography of Bigfoot by Graham Roumieu. It's absurd, hilarious, and instantly quotable (everyone, including Brooke's dad, must've uttered the phrase "You shitty cat" at least a dozen times over the weekend) and it's nice to finally own a copy.

Sunday, we actually managed to get away to the movies for the afternoon and caught a screening of SUPERBAD. It was pretty consistently hilarious, and like all Judd Apatow flicks, it had a lot of heart behind the filth. Is this guy on a hot streak or what? I left the film with two thoughts: A, I want to put Evie in a convent already, and B, I want to have me some drinks! So, next up was back to the house for a few beers in the hot tub! The water felt great, as the picture below illustrates quite well. We finished the night up with a dinner of baby back ribs and preseason football. I felt like I was on vacation!



The trip home was not quite as smooth as the trip down...We had to stop for a diaper change and a feeding, neither of which is easy or fun when you have a dog in the car and it's 97 degrees outside. But, that's travelling with kids, I guess. And occasionally, it leads to moments like this:

8.19.2007

What I Shoulda Done

The freelance illustration biz being what it is, sometimes deadlines are just too tight and a drawing has to go out the door before you get to really squeeze your mind grapes and come up with the best possible composition. Such is the case with this illo from last January, about a spate of slutty behavior by a couple pageant queens. The illo is totally fine as printed...strong in composition, gets the idea across quite well, I think, and was enjoyed by all. But a couple weeks after I completed it (and cashed the check), it dawned on me that a camera phone snapping a photo of Ms. Nevada's antics would've really sealed the deal. So, here it is again with that little addition made, and with apologies to the fine folks at Las Vegas Weekly for not thinking of it sooner!

8.18.2007

Wonder Girl

8.17.2007

Cheesecake All Weekend




Blown Away

A massive, persistent storm rolled through central Virginia yesterday, bringing ridiculous amount of rain, wind and overall nastiness and resulting in several power outages and a spotty-at-best internet connection...all of which contributed to my inability to post anything last night. So, I guess the consecutive-days posting streak is broken at fifteen. But don't worry, I'll make it up to you today!

8.15.2007

Shampoo

From this week's Savage Love, about a guy who...well, you can probably figure it out!

8.14.2007

8.13.2007

Oranges Are Good For You

After all, she looks pretty healthy.

8.12.2007

Sketchery

8.11.2007

Sic Vick

I mean, how stupid does one have to be to get into dogfighting? Just another case of when keeping it real goes horribly wrong.

8.10.2007

Con Sketchin'

I often get asked to do sketches for people at cons these days. Up until a few years ago, I found it pretty difficult...being "on stage", so to speak, and having to perform on demand really got to me. I'd freeze up, and couldn't seem to draw anything...I'm pretty sure there are probably some horrendous Ullman con sketches floating around out there. Latley, though, I've been doing a little better job of it, and I've really come to enjoy it...it's a pretty cool thing to do, a nice little exercise, and it often makes those slow moments go by a little faster. The thing is, I often forget what I've drawn the minute the paper leaves my hands...so it's always a kick to check out people's online galleries and take a look back at some of the shit I've come up with on the fly over the years!











8.09.2007

The Trials of Train Travel

From this week's Stranger: Author Kathleen Wilson looks to the prose of Harlan Coben to survive a 37-hour Amtrak nightmare.

8.08.2007

Dancin' Queen

8.07.2007

In Glorious Black and White

I'm gonna try to get my act together in the next few days here and post some more girlie drawings...I have a couple projects I'm working on for which I'll need to actively solicit the opinions of you, my loyal blog readers. But for now, please enjoy these recent black and white pieces. First, from the San Francisco Weekly, an illo to accompany an article about what to do if you're a waiter and a skanky, drunk lady comes on to you, hard and repeatedly. Next, a Stranger piece about filmmakers participating in the Seattle Film Festival making their work available to iPod owners alongside showings in theatres. Finally, a comission of Superman and Lois Lane, done for a fan.





8.06.2007

Lee Hazlewood 1928-2007

8.05.2007

Some S--- I'm FAR Too Busy to be Messing With

My local shop, the great Velocity Comics, holds drawing contests every few months, the prize a gift certificate to the store. There's always a theme...draw your favorite Avenger, draw Wolverine fighting somebody...this time around, the theme was WATCHMEN. I came up with a pretty fun idea right outta the gate, but it took me awhile to find the time to put brush to board...if you wanna know the truth, I still don't have the time...but it was really too good to pass up. And what's the comics biz if you can't go nuts and have some fun once in a while?

It's a parody of the cover of FLASH COMICS #92 (by, I believe, Joe Kubert), with Nite-Owl, Captain Metropolis and the Silk Spectre of the MinuteMen standing in for Hawkman, Flash and Black Canary. One of the things I really dug about WATCHMEN was the flashbacks to the first generation of heroes...the simpler times (on the surface, anyway) they enjoyed before the world went to hell. I imagine this as being a relic of that era.



8.04.2007

8.03.2007

Crouch