Hello, California

Green Hornet #4. 2013. Ink(ed by Joe Rivera)

on bristol board with digital color, 11 × 17″.

We made it safely across the country (and so did my iMac). Now I'm just waiting for my printer and scanner before I can fully exhale. But no matter what, the weather is gorgeous out here! And I have a car again. And there's liquor in grocery stores. And I use a cart to hold it instead of a basket. Did I mention we've got pool access?

I'm still pretty busy trying to catch up with work, so I'm gonna hold off on posting until next Monday. In the meantime, here's the 4th cover to Green Hornet. Looks like GH getting a little careless with the knockout gas.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone who attended my web seminar with Comics Experience. I really appreciate the support (and the fact that you listened to me drone on for 5 hours). I think it went really well and would love to do it again someday.

And finally, I received some amazing news this weekend during my travels: I won the Spectrum Fantastic Art Gold Award for Comics! This is a huge honor from one of my favorite institutions. I don't submit my work to many art competitions (Society of Illustrators is the only other), but I've sent entries to Spectrum nearly every year since I was first accepted a decade ago. Here's the full list of winners, many of whom I'm lucky to be acquainted with. As for the winning entry, you may remember it. Have a great week!

Daredevil #10 Cover. 2011. Ink on bristol board, 11 × 17″.

So Long, New York

This is a cross-post with Muddy Colors — An Illustration Collective



I'm about to move to the Bay Area, so I thought it would be a great time to document my work station as it existed in my New York apartment. I work traditionally, but there is a great deal of digital pre- and post-production in my workflow. Everything fits in and around my drafting table, so my whole studio has a very small footprint. And as you'll see, I really, really love magnets. The video is close to 15 minutes, but it shows pretty much all the tools I use. I've also included links below to some of the equipment I talk about. My printer and scanner are over 4 years old, but they're still working great (assuming they survive the cross-country trip). My apologies for not recording in landscape mode. I wasn't thinking at the time and I'm a little pressed for time with the move, but the basic info is still there. If there is anything I missed below, feel free to ask in the comments.

Humanscale 5G 700 Keyboard Tray
Epson Sylus Photo R1900 Printer
Epson GT-20000 Scanner
Safco B-Size Plan File Cabinet and Caster Base
iMac 27" (this is the new one — mine's a couple years old)
Cintiq 12WX (the new version is the 13HD)
Drawing Board: Max Tile F1 Galvanize Steel Tile (custom cut to 18 × 24″)
Pilot Color Eno Blue Lead
Kuru Toga Mechanical Pencil

I'm also taking a blog break for the next week or so as I move. My next post should be from sunny California. Westward, Ho!

Wacky Reference Wednesdays, No. 222

Avenging Spider-Man #20 Cover. 2013.

Ink(ed by Joe Rivera) on Marvel board, 11 × 17.25″.

Avenging Spider-Man #20 comes out today! Preview here. In case you're unfamiliar with the characters depicted, that's classic Spidey villain Chameleon giving a wicked smile as he portrays the Hulk, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Jr., Spidey, Quake, Maria Hill, Black Widow, Agent Coulson, Iron Patriot, and Bucky. And, as you should now expect, here's me acting stupid. Enjoy!

another use for my DD billy clubs

inks by my Paw

blue-line print of pencils (digital bars)

pencils

digital composite sketch

digital layouts

TweetChat Tuesday

Daredevil #3, Page 15 Layout. 2011.

Pencil on bristol board, 4 × 6″.

This Tuesday, May 7th at 1:00pm Eastern Time, both Eisner Award-winning artist Paolo Rivera and former Marvel and IDW Editor Andy Schmidt will be holding a #makecomics “TweetChat” discussing comic art, the use of design in storytelling, and more.

A TweetChat is a planned, live event and anyone using twitter can join in — simply follow Paolo, Andy, or the #makecomics hashtag on Twitter. Bring your #makecomics questions, especially those related to design and storytelling…

Paolo: @PaoloMRivera
Andy: @ComicExperience (no “s” on “Comic”)

The TweetChat is part of the lead-up to Paolo’s one-day, live streaming course on The Art of Design and Comic Book Storytelling. on Saturday, May 18, 2013