Today’s warm up is from a very good friends web comic The Checkered Man! I met Denver Brubaker a little over 10 years ago in a small comic class he was running with another guy whose name I forget.  The class was full of kids and I had about 7 years on the next kid in the room and Denver and I clicked pretty damn quick.  Our shared love of Batman:TAS and comics in general made for a fast friend and we used to take up one of the gaming tables at Fanfare Comics in Kalamazoo and draw for an entire day.  I attribute a lot of my growth as an artist to hanging out with Denver and having him look over my pages and critique them when I came home from SCAD.  After finding a big stack of those comics last week I have to say I’m genuinely sorry I put you through that Denver.  That stuff is AWFUL.

Since I’ve known Denver, his baby has always been the Checkered Man.  I have his old minis he put together years ago sitting in my mini comic box on my comic shelf.  While a few things have changed between the time he did those and got his web comic up and going, all of the fun and excitement remains.  He’s a great storyteller and I have met few people who love and enjoy comics as much as Denver.  So if you haven’t yet go check out The Checkered Man and start from the beginning!

And while I’m mentioning some awesome artists, also drop by Robert Wilson IV’s website and Evan Bryce Cranston’s Tumblr.  I’ve added them to my link list and they’re some great guys I get together with now to have studio work days and talk shop for hours.  They’re also both involved in Jon Morris’ highly creative DC Fifty-TOO.  Robert did the Kamandi and Evan’s is still on deck to be shown so I won’t spoil it.

Another Sunday warm up post as the week begins!  I have Mega Man 07, a big commission, and side job drop it my lap this week so I neglected to post anything new. Hopefully I’ll be able to throw some of what I did up on the blog in a few weeks. One was a quick superhero drawing for a design pitch an old friend of mine asked me to do that I had a lot of fun working on but I don’t think I can post it yet.  In the meantime you get one of my (new)favorite Mega Man villains to draw! Nearing the climax of Mega Mans second arc right now and boy Ian Flynn is really putting me to work!  In future months as/after the books and previews come out I may post a handful of the working pencils for the book on my deviantart account like I did with some Young Salems.  If that’s something you’re interested in let me know!

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For the past 5 years or so Chris Schweizer (of Crogan Adventures fame, and writer of Tricky Tales) and I have thrown a family adventure comic back and forth and are finally close to really shaping the premise to where we want it(although, admittedly it’s in an extremely early stage) .  Over the next year or so I’ll do my best to keep posting some of our “Funny Animal” sketches up as we get closer to really getting this future project figured out.  And while your at it go to Chris’s blog and check out some of the stuff he’s done!

And below is a real quick warm up I did on a scrap sheet of the new Ultimate Spider-man, which I myself am quite excited about! I don’t love the new duds but I assume they’re probably temporary.  I like the drawing ok but I kinda screwed up the legs so I didn’t bother going much further with it(that’s what happens when I don’t scan my pencils just in case) .

2011 has been a great year so far and I have been lucky enough to work on everything from a newspaper comic, some cartoon background illustration, and a good handful of character designs for a number of clients.  But the things I’m most proud of this year a certainly the new Tricky Tales Series for Lerner Publishing’s Graphic Universe imprint and Mega Man for Archie Comics.  Chris Schweizer wrote a series of six short “choose-your-own-adventure” type tales featuring tricksters from different cultures around the world and I was lucky enough to do TWO of them. Coyote…

…and Monkey!

They’re for young readers ages 07 and up and are a mix of comics and prose with a LOT of illustrations and plenty of different story paths to choose from(The pictures above link to Amazon if anyone is interested).  And in this September, Mega Man # 05 is released and will feature my first(and hopefully not last) arc on the comic.  I’m in the middle of the project now and am really loving the world that Ian is creating around these long standing characters and I think fans will too!

“Time Keeps Slipping” Part One:
The evil Dr. Wily may be in jail, but that doesn’t mean the adventures are over for Mega Man! Federal agents are investigating Dr. Light for ties to the Robot Masters‘ rampage while sinister figures lurk in the shadows. And why does Dr. Wily look so smug in his jail cell? Don’t miss the beginning of the newest Mega Man adventure! Featuring a painted cover by fan favorite artist Greg Horn!
SCRIPT: Ian Flynn
ARTIST: Chad Thomas, Rick Bryant, John Workman and Matt Herms
COVER: Greg Horn
VILLAIN VARIANT
COVER: Patrick “Spaz” Spaziante
Shipping Date: 8/24/2011
On Sale at Comic Shops: 9/7/2011
Newsstands: Week of 9/13/2011
Comic, 32 pgs, 40 lb. glossy stock, Full-Color
$2.99 US

Another warm up/break time sketch I worked on while penciling Mega Man # 07 today.  My Blick Markers didn’t mix well with Martin’s BP white in a few places like I hoped it would but I like the turnout none the less.   My take on the character has come a very very long way from the initial stuff that was released, the sketch variant, and the Short Circuit back ups I did for the first few issues.  I saw some of the finished art for issue 05 and I’m so thrilled with the turn out.  Gary Martin, Matt Herms, and John Workman are just KILLING it, and Ian’s worked up a real solid 4-parter that I think everyone will enjoy!

Another warm up/ break time sketch while working on issue 07 of Mega Man for Archie comics.  If you like Cutman and Iceman then you’ll definitely want issues 06 and 07.  But since you’re already thinking about it you might as well pick up issues 05-08 right?

Sorry for the delay on posting.  I have another update with some info about Mega Man and my Lerner books that I’ll try and get around to tonight/tomorrow.  In the meantime here’s a warm-up/break time sketch I fooled around with today with some dick blick markers Schweizer recommended!