Monsters of Destruction

It’s that time of year folks – the comic book convention season is quickly approaching! As with the past couple of years, this means Greg and I have begun the journey of putting together the third volume of our yearly sketchbook. This is always a crazy time for us but we’re excited about some of the plans we have in store. Posts may get a bit sporadic as we get the little beast under control (including creating images exclusively for the book). We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated!

Related to the book, here’s a peek at some of the strangeness in store. Greg and I have made a point of clinging to the soul of books from our childhoods. Here’s to hoping goofy publications survive the digital transition.

RustBucket and Rose

I’ve been able to pull off three of the web comics so far for RustBucket and Rose. I kinda just went for it, even though I really should have explored the designs more. That said, after making some adjustments and planning a few more in the future conveniently worked into the story, I’m pretty stoked to be doing the strip on these two characters. Tonight I wanted to do a model sheet for myself, but couldn’t help turning it into this. I think it’ll still work to keep them on model, but I got a fun piece out of it. Now off to sleep!

BTW…Big thanks to Dave for creating the logo for this series! He ain’t cheap, but he’s worth every penny.

Navigator

I have a terrible sense of direction. If you spun me around twice and pulled a sweater over my head, I’d be lost for days. Fortunately our space age world has provided all sorts of gadgets to help me find my way around. But what if I end up on some distant planet with spotty cell phone reception? The image above was based on the idea of having GPS bots who help map out new planets for all those directionally challenged space explorers. He’ll be making an appearance in the next Atmosphere strip (yeah, I fell off the wagon after one episode – how sad is that?? Thanks tax season.)

In other news, NC got a large helping of sleet and snow this weekend. I have to tell you, there’s nothing funnier than watching your wife slide down the yard riding a large Rubbermaid storage lid. Ahhh, winter!

Bandits!

I had three things in mind this weekend as I began this post. One: I wanted to draw some hands being expressive. Two: I wanted to do multiple characters in tough poses overlapping as much as I could without making it look like a mosh pit. And three: draw something that represented the severe rub I feel every time we begin to organize our taxes. So to that, I give you a small band of space bandits about to score some spoils!

Nuts and Bolts

I’m not much of a handy man…and it’s all my fault. My dad has been involved with hardware and remodeling his entire life. He never ceases to amaze me with his work and his attention to detail. He mixes cases of paint by eye, constructed a 20×20 barn without using a single nail and has rejuvenated countless homes. Yet when I was growing up my head was buried in cartoons and comics.

I was reminded of this yet again as my wife and I battled a bathroom cabinet for 5 1/2 hours this weekend. In my defense, there was a bow in the drywall which didn’t want to play nice with metal rails. Somehow we found a way to laugh about it as we were entangled around the toilet all afternoon. It’s all about the adventure right?

I figured the best way to cap off the weekend was with a drooling grumpy robot. You can’t ever have enough of those in your life.

Hittin’it Old School!

Well it’s been busy getting back to work, hitting the ground running and trying not to trip! Things are going pretty well, even though we nearly killed ourselves re-skinning the site, I feel pretty refreshed and am excited to get back to a normal schedule. I haven’t had too much time to fill the moleskin these days though. That’s one thing I will find a way to squeeze back into life. I picked it up this morning and was re-inspired to hit the ink again and see what not having “undo” can unleash! I’m back to being scared.

On another note, I’m about to submit this snapshot I took this weekend of our dear friend Thorndyke for the contest! Without any other postings of him on the flickr site, I think I’m gonna win! Who’s gonna stop me? Let’s see ‘em!