Online Store Open for Business

I know...it's been a while...blah blah blah.  Same thing I say every year.  But that's not the reason for this update.  I've just opened a web store with Big Cartel where I'll be posting artwork for sale periodically.  So check it out here http://skribbletheory.bigcartel.com if you're so inclined....and...ya know....buy some art!

2017: Facebook turned into a festering cesspool of sewage and that has me feeling a bit....GRAY

It's now 2017....and like every year I always post shock and dismay on how negligent I am of my so-called Art Blog.  Why should this year be any different.  Only this year it just might.  In 2016, feeling that this Art Blog of mine was just a futile waste of time and effort because nobody really payed attention, cared, or even noticed it, I decided to create a Skribble Theory Facebook page to hopefully broaden my "exposure" ( I hate that term) and get more of my work out to anyone who might actually give a damn. So I guess I was, in a sense, abandoning this Blogger page for, what was supposed to be, the new hotness.  Well...it really seems as though it hasn't been much of anything but a transferring of my time and effort wasting abilities.  

On top of all this was a ridiculously brutal and insane presidential election season. Seemed anything I tried to promote art-wise was instantly submerged in a sewage pit of propaganda, vitriol, agendas, hate, fear mongering and idiots with opinions masquerading as experts, patriots, revolutionaries, and town criers.  Then....THE ELECTION ACTUALLY HAPPEND and it seemed my Facebook newsfeed exploded into Butt-hurt Central...as people began melting down and tuning feral on each other.  What was a regularly toxic environment doubled down on it's doubling down.  It quickly became depressing and scary.  It seems like it was getting a little better the closer to Christmas we got.....but then.....THE INAUGURATION.  I've never seen anything quite like it.  I had to abandon my only real social media outlet because I just couldn't watch humanity descend into madness anymore.  

So Because of all that BS, I have decided to come back to this Art Blog and post my art here without the communal social media diarrhea deluge stinking up the joint.  

In December I picked up a small gray-paper sketchbook because I actually filled up my previous small sketchbook.  With the grays I thought it would be kinda cool to experiment with using some Jelly-Roll pens to add some color flare. I actually used the New Year to break this sucker in so while staying up late and watching a Knight Rider marathon on The El Rey Network, I drew up the following little pieces.

My Characters from two of my comic series.  The Void and Jane

Next we have another one of my comic characters, Shanna and a GI JOE character Snake-Eyes.

Not really sure why I drew this other than it was in my head and needed to come out. Mighty Mouse on steroids maybe?

Then...just before calling it a night, I decided to exploit the new gray paper and create a stupid little comic strip gag.  Mostly only artists will probably get this one but it had me chuckling and that's really all I care about anymore anyway. 

Next up are just the next several sketches that I've added to the book over the weeks following New Years.

Wolverine and Psylocke....Trying to prove to myself that I can actually draw some of those mainstream-type characters too.

With the above girl, I was really just experimenting with some new Jelly-Rolls I had picked up.  

The above is my character Jane again.  I've been working out a story for her comic and have had it on the brain for a couple weeks....I created a 3rd soundtrack playlist on my iPod for her comic and this was the first drawing to come out during a first listen. Music is essential to my creative process.  

Finally....we come to a really old character of mine that I came up with in the 7th grade.  James Crow started out as a James Bond parody in little radio skits that I made using some stuffed animals as the muses.  In high school and college I actually had converted him into a full-blown comic character with his own title.  His full origins is referenced in an older Blog entry here on the old Skribble Theory if you're interested.  Anyway...I started some weird hatching effect that I quickly gave up on because.....well....BECAUSE!  

Well anyway....I dunno if I'll keep a regular presence here or not.  For now I'm staying off of Facebook at least until May.  I take self-imposed social-media sabbaticals every so often when needed and this time it has been very much needed.  Whether I stick around for long after I return in May is left to be seen.  It depends on how much bullshit and bullshit people I feel like putting up with at that time.  So, who knows....this may be all the internet "exposure" I will have left.  

Lucky you right? 

Skribble Theory on the Book of the Faces

Hey Guess what folks....I now have a Skribble Theory art page on Facebook.  Chances are I will be better inclined to update that more.   Check it out!

Skribble Theory Facebook

Been awhile.....How about some old artwork?

So....It's been a long long time since last I posted on this Art Blog.  There's real excuses as to why....but for as many legit one's there's an equal number of ones involving laziness....so instead of apologizing or trying to plead some case...Why not just post some old archive pieces of art I've done over the last 17 years or so.

First off is a page I drew back in 1999.  I drew this while sitting in on a girlfriend's college classes when I was up visiting her for a weekend.  It was intended to be part of a mini-comic/zine I was planning on putting together but never really took off.  About a year later I ended up doing my first issue of THE VOID mini comic. I decided to NOT include this.

Not really sure when this one happened of for what reason...but local psuedo-celebrity behind 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment, Mr. Dick Enrico, needed to be sketched apparently.

During my 9 years teaching at the Art Academy in St. Paul, I ended up drawing hundreds of Creative Exercise/warm-up drawings.  This Seal-man assaulting some Scuba Frog-men is a crucial piece from those years.

Back in 2003 I was throwing around the idea of doing a comic book starring a 1985 version of me in a series of adventures up in Alaska with my Uncle.  Ultimately it just never happened.....but perhaps someday.

I'm kinda bummed by this next piece.  It was a year where we seemed to be hammered by snow a lot and everyone was sick of it.  So for that week's Creative Exercise in class, we had the kids do a snow-themed piece.  I loved how it turned out....Unfortunately it somehow came out of my folder and managed to float aimlessly in the bottom of my backpack for months....getting dirty and wrinkled. 

Last but not least I give you Rubbish Lord from 2013.  For the Creative Exercise that week, we had to create a super-hero and choose from a list of powers for them.  This guy commands the power of garbage.  

So that's it.  Hope you rad folks dug this little showcase of some of my random pieces of art over the last 17 years.  

Cheers!

2015 FALLCON IS COMING! Buy my comics and stuff!

October 10th is Fallcon.  Though this summer's been crazy with buying and selling of houses, moving and painting and all, I will still be there.  Even though I don't have anything new to offer as I haven't really sat down and drawn anything in over 4 months and, with nothing new to offer anyone, a one-day show is almost pointless for me to be a part of, I will still be there....If for no other reason than it's a great excuse to hang out with my friends and colleagues and maybe get my creative battery jump-started and recharged as I could very well really really need to rely on it in the near future.  

I tell ya....moving takes a lot out of a guy when he's a homebody, shut-in, introvert, type.   

Click on the link below for all the details!

MCBA Comicons

MSP COMICON May 16-17

I'm gonna be attending this one.  Come by and say "Hello"...buy some comics! Be a rad person.

MSP COMICON

Arsenic Lullaby trading Cards!!!

A while back I was asked to do a New 52 inspired version of the iconic Voodoo Joe character from the hilarious Arsenic Lullaby comic book for the Arsenic Lullaby blog. 

http://arseniclullabies.com/wordpress/?p=792

Well now that image is colored and will be featured in a new upcoming trading card set featuring other artists renditions of the Arsenic Lullaby characters. So click the link and check it out.  

http://arseniclullabies.com/wordpress/?p=1747

Then when you're done drooling over that.  Get over to the Arsenic Lullaby website and check out all the books and cool merch that you need in your life.

Comic Crossover interview Part 2

Here ye be...the 2nd half of my interview with the fine lads on the Comic Crossover Podcast

If you dig that, you can  listen to more archived episodes here:

http://comiccrossover.anacomics.com

PA-PA-PA-PAOW!!!

Check out my TANK GIRL on the Sketch Lottery website.

Part 1 of my Interview with THE COMIC CROSSOVER PODCAST

Check out Part 1 of my recent interview with independent comic creators, Anthony Hary and Rod Salm of the COMIC CROSSOVER Podcast, where I got to blather on about myself, my art and my comics. 

My Interview on Comic Crossover

And when you're done with that, checkout all the other great interviews and episodes about "The Business of Independent Comic Creation."  

http://comiccrossover.anacomics.com

They're also available for download on iTunes!

Comic Crossover on iTunes

Stay tuned for part 2 coming soon....

My Contribution to The Sketch Lottery

My pal Sal has a great sketch website called SKETCH LOTTERY where every week is a different sketch theme/assignment and artists from all walks of life and skill level are free to contribute.  NO pressure, no competition...Just sketching for fun which is something I don't get to do enough of these days so I try to take it where I can get it. 

This weeks theme was Man-At-Arms from Masters of the Universe and I actually was able to get in on the action.

Check it out!

Sketch Lottery

Yeah Yeah....Shut up! I'm posting stuff now aren't I?

I don't really have any excuses for my neglect of this art blog other than I've thought about posting stuff but have just been too lazy to follow through.  But I'm here now so quit whining and lets get right to it.  

All of these pics are "Creative Exercise" assignments from the Drawing Manga and Super Heros class Becky and I teach and the timeline of these particular drawings range from over the summer session to the last session which ended in early December.

The top drawing assignment was to draw a character that could control rocks so I attempted to draw the version of Tara from the original Teen Titans cartoon.  The detail was all from memory so I'm sure I took a few liberties but since when did consistency matter in today's comics anyway? 

Next up the assignment was to draw a cyber-punk or something.  For this one I did a less cartoony version of a character I've developed for a tentative comic project I have brewing.  Interesting thing of note about the design is that I basically ripped it off from myself from 2002 or so when I did a comic for a long-failed comic publisher that never saw print.  In fact, I don't think my work was ever inked.  Doesn't really matter since it was basically a disjointed X-men-like book anyway.  But I really dug the character design I came up with so  I'm gonna use it since...well....those guys dropped the ball.

I'm thinking that the assignment for the gal above was to draw a punker girl or something of that nature.  I really dig the way this one turned out and may end up using her as a character in one of my many tentative projects.

The above is from the last class of the last session which the exercise is always a free-draw.  I felt like trying to draw the 1990's version of Rogue from the X-men since that's the version I was first introduced to and it's also my favorite version of her.  In the last 10 minutes I decided to try and throw in an attempt at Iceman.  

We often have combination assignments where we list several ideas to choose from on the board and the kids get to combine those elements to create an interesting character.  In this particular assignment, I chose both ROBOT and ARTIST from the list to create BOB ROSSBOT!

The next creature came from a "draw a monster" exercise.  So....I drew this Todd McFarlane inspired demon of sorts.  It's ugly....Nuff Said.

That dude up there...with the thing...standing on that robot head.  That's a character I created when I was 15 named AR-MOR.  He's  one of the villains from my comic THE VOID that I've been drawing since then as well.  This is pretty much his look in THE VOID graphic novel I'm currently working on...so keep your eyes peeled for him.

Finally...there's this.  A piece of French Toast wielding a battle-axe.  This little refugee from Evan Dorkin's MILK AND CHEESE was concocted during the same combination assignment as the Bob Rossbot.  French Toast and Warrior were 2 of the other options for drawing and since I had 5 extra minutes, I frantically threw this thing together.  The kids laughed...but more importantly, I LAUGHED.

Well, I hope this sorta makes up for my laziness in updates over the last several months.  I'd promise to get better about it but why would you start believing me now?  I will try....That's all I can honestly do.  Till next time!  

Cheers!!

Outsourcing my past again!

About a year or so ago, I found a bunch of old character drawings I created in the mid-1990's which were downright terrible. I took it upon myself, one weekend, to try to re-imagine those duds and see how my 36 year old mind would approach something that I hacked together when I was 19 years old.  It was a really cool self-challenge and I, suprisingly, fell in love with the characters in their new, better thought out, incarnations.  So much so that I decided to rescue them from the paper-shredder of bad ideas and have plans of incorporating them into my future comic projects.  

Well tonight it sort of happened again.  I stumbled across my old Trapper Keeper in our spare bedroom and decided to rummage through the old wall-drawings, letters from friends and high school and college class notes.  On one of the stray pages of notebook paper in the Trapper Keeper was several sketches of Ren and Stimpy.  But in the corner of the page was a random comic book character I must've come up with during a class.  Next to the inked sketch was a name....a name that instantly stood out to me as the coolest bad comic book character I've seen in a long time.  He was simply named....NIGHT GHOST!!  I instantly knew what I had to do.  I needed to reinstate the Night Ghost for my future comic projects.  But first he needed a makeover.  Judging by the level of skill and subject matter of the entire page of sketches, I would say that Night Ghost was created somewhere around 1992.  So there was definately some tweaking that needed happen to bring him to his full potential.  So while watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean film with Becky, I sketched a couple versions of a new and improved Night Ghost.  So pictured below is the original 1992 concept sketch, from when I was 16, next to the new improved 2013 concept sketch at 37 years old.  Behold!!!  A character 21 years in the making!!!  NIGHT GHOST!!!!

SPRINGCON TOMORROW!!!!

Yep!  This year we're actually gonna be there, selling books, shaking babies, resisting the urge to buy cheap International GI JOE figures from the toy dealer booth right behind our table (discovered his awesome toys while setting up tonight).  It's fun for all, so come down and experience the experience!

And since I haven't posted in a while....A BUCKY O'HARE SKETCH I did a while back!!!  Pencils by Me, and Inks by Mark Stegbaur who will also be at tomorrows Springcon, so you need to go visit him and check out his original works as well!  

Oh Crap! It's 2013! Have I even been drawing anything lately?

The answer is ACTUALLY YES!  Just haven't found the time or energy to post anything on this here Art Blog.  Something I claimed I would remedy last year....but you know how that stuff goes.  So now it's April and since the local MCBA Springcon is next month I figured I better at least try to seem somewhat relevant in the world of comic art.  Ya know....gotta keep my throngs of fans satiatied.  All 4 of them.

So aside from a graphic novel project I've been pouring all my free time and soul into, I have done a few doodles and scrawlings here and there....mostly for our art class but here are some fun ones. 

This one had a name but I can't remember for the life of me what it was.  We put a strange word on the board and had the kids come up with their own interpretation of what that could possibly be.  Mine was this dude and his flying toilet paper rolls.

When my frustrated pal casually mentioned me drawing a picture of him punching a bratty baby, my twisted, childless mind came up with this.  Admit it...if you parental types are being honest, when your kids are bratting it up to 11 and beyond, there are times you fantasize about moments like this.

I dig this chick so much I'm gonna haveta make her into a character for one of my comic book/graphic novel ideas.   Just some sort of futuristic/space mechanic.  I really just created her around the thumbnail of this pose.

Just before heading to class on this day, I played hooky from work and watched an L.A. Marzulli documentary DVD called Watchers 5.  In it they discussed all sorts of supernatural and paranormal topics...one being the phenomenon of The Black Eyed Children.  It was still fresh on my mind when we got to class so I presented this depiction to the class.....and hopefully to their nightmares!  If you think that's too mean of me...I will refer you to the baby punching picture above.  

Cheers!

Fringe

I'm a big fan of Fringe, the soon to be ended show on FOX.  I'm gonna be sad when it's no longer on Friday nights.  At least I'll have this sketch to remind me of the awesomeness.  Becky drew the middle head during class as an example to one of our students and for some reason I thought it looked like Joshua Jackson's character Peter Bishop from Fringe.  So I decided to try to draw Walter Bishop and Astrid from memory.  I dunno....I think I did okay with only my tired brain for reference.  Sorry about the beat-up quality of the scan.  The page was loose in the bottom of my backpack for about 6 months so it got crinkled and crumpled like a MOFO!

The Drawing Station!

Every comic artist needs their cocoon of inspiration around them as they plow through the long, sometimes tedious hours of creating and imagining.  Or you could just say, most of us like alot of junk and cool stuff to look at and play with around our desks. In order to meet grueling deadlines or to, frankly, get anything done, many of us plant ourselves firmly into our drawing chairs, sometimes forgoing contact with the outside world for days.  We need stuff to keep us inspired, motivated and to keep us from cracking under the pressures.  WE NEED STUFF!!  Sometimes, however, the STUFF can be a distraction so, if you've got an A.D.D personality type, it's probably best not to do what I did to my art station yesterday....

It's been in the plan for a long time but I managed to avoid the trap that so many other comic artists fall into and made up all sorts of reasons to keep the PS2 out of my work area....I was trying to be responsible...but yesterday I decided irresponsibility had to be done....I put my old Playstation 2 at my desk area and connected it to my little TV/DVD thingy.

I had already set up a viewing station to watch/listen to movies, cartoons, TV shows and Prophecy DVD's and sermons while I burn away my life drawing stuff.  So 1/2 the setup was already pre-done.  The bonus of the PS2 though lies in it's easier to access DVD tray.  The little TV was okay but you have to pull it down and open it like a clam to change out disks.  Kind of a pain if you have action figures and various chords strewn about all over your work area.  So the PS2 would save alot of time and headache in that but also could potentially play some of the copied sermon disks from mom that the little TV/DVD thingy was just not capable of doing.  So a double bonus!

But this connecting cool stuff to that TV didn't stop with the Playstation.  There was a triple bonus int he works....See, I used to do alot of video recording back in my younger years.  I would make movies or just document life and trips and such, often sharing my recordings with my friends and family.  Well, these precious memories have been stored away for many years now, and I've been jonsing to watch them once again.  Problem is, I've learned it's not fair to subject my poor wife to such things for long periods of time as, what seems like awesome to me, is really kinda boring to her after a while.  And being that there are countless hours of these VHS-C tapes of my awesome memories...those would no doubt be countless hours of boredom to her.  I figured drawing time would be the perfect time to view these portals to the past....SO...I dragged out my old (but newest as of 1996) video camera and hooked it up to the little TV/DVD as well.  Soon I was guffawing out loud at the silliness on those tapes.  Me in high school making stupid movies with my friends, me on trips to MN (Before I lived here) visiting family and friends...Road trips,  parties, my first Chicago Comicon...The gems encased in that little treasure chest that was once a piece of my grandmother's luggage were endless.....But so was my watching.  I soon realized that these tapes could very well be one of those things I need to regulate myself on lest I spend more time watching the screen and less time focusing on the pages...*Sigh*  

Above is me lipsyncing to a Dr. Demento track called "Little Toot" when I was 16 years old.  Fun Fact: My drawing station at that time consisted of a small dinette table with the leaves folded down, a boom box and a stack of cassette tapes in my bedroom.  Good times.

Again...me at 16. Getting into character as I lipsynched to the "Dwayne Stomp" PSA, also recorded from the Dr. Demento show.  The "wig" is just a skull with hair tucked under my hat.  I had a paper logo of a worm with a skull for a head and the band name DEATH WORMS taped to my chest.  This stuff is pure gold people!!

So what other distractions surround my "Creation Station?"  (Sorry Commander Mark...had to do it.)

Well, the days of the boombox having a prominent place at the "table" are over.  Not that one could fit anyway.  But instead, I listen to music/radio/sermons/podcasts either on my iPod Touch, Discman or Walkman.  Yes, I still love listening to cassette tapes....I still prefer talking on regular land line phones, buying music on CD and paying my bills through the mail.  I'm OLD! Shutup, and respect your elders!

I've managed to attach toys to my desklamp.  The little Grim Reaper has magnets in his feet!  

My Far-Cry stuffed animals watch over me from the...*ahem*...Shower shelf tower in the corner.  Note:  I actually bought that thing just for the toys in my desk area.  You may call it sad...I say it's ingenuity.  

Also, there's a picture of a big ass burger on my wall!!!

More of my toy tower!  Countless action figures watch over me as I scrawl on paper.

What time is it?  I dunno...I unplugged that clock a long time ago.  But it still looks cool and...YES....there are toys on that too!

Also, my corkboard is filled with character reference for the projects I'm currently working on.

More of the corkboard and of to the left of that are some photos of my late uncle Ron and a picture of my mother and I when I was a baby.  It was taken by my late uncle, at one of my favorite places in the world, Hatcher's Pass in Alaska.  The top round pic is a cartoon version of my uncle Ron that I drew for his "Celebration of Life" service.  

Complete with my Suicide Machines workshirt (that is now dubbed my drawing shirt) that I'm wearing in the pic, THAT mass of mess  in these pictures is my Drawing Station.  

I should probably make a resolution to tidy it up a little better....But first I really should work on kicking this candy cigarette habit.