Please excuse me, I have to do sort of a Small Name Big Ego thing for the next two posts. Hey, it's not every day I get published now is it? As usual, click the pictures to see them big.
In a great stroke of luck, I happened to be in a Comic Artists Guild chat when Michael Marcus of the Hamtramck Idea Men asked me if I wanted to do the cover illustration for the upcoming April issue of IF-X.
My response was, essentially, "Sure, I'd love to!" So later that night, I emailed these doodles. Marcus liked the "Easter Bunny who wandered into an Alien nest" concept the best. By a happy coincidence, so did I.
I quickly drew this little thumbnail (the original really is tiny) just to get the layout figured out. I emailed this to Marcus too, and he approved it, just requesting a few small changes.
Here is the pencil line art on what would soon be the final version. I like to scan or photograph the various stages of an art project *just in case*. It is nice to have a record, but it's also nice to have a backup just in case things go wrong.
And here is the *almost* almost final version. I knew I wanted to have some of the eggs already painted, but I didn't want to risk losing those neat sponge-painted textures. Photoshop layers seemed the best way to go...
Finally, here's the version I sent to Michael Marcus. I used a series of transparent layers to "paint" the Alien eggs. I also took the opportunity to enlarge the facehugger in the foreground, just to make it more prominent and to emphasize just how screwed our poor Dumbest Bunny is.
The final version can be seen here.
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In lieu of a Sketch of the Day, here is a brief Movie/DVD Review. I saw "Ponyo" the other night and... and...
Welp, this is the weirdest Anime I've seen in a while. And it is certainly the strangest thing I've ever seen coming out of the mind of Hiyao Miyazaki. You see, his films usually start out in a place that's fairly normal and mundane (but beautifully realized; my favorite Miyazaki moment of all is that little scene in "My Neighbor Totoro" where the little sister collects rocks and seeds and things and piles them on the desk to show her daddy, who is hard at work on something and is basically like, "oh, that's nice"), but then some fantastic element or other enters into this normal world. "Ponyo" starts weird and ends in an even weirder place, so by the time you get to the more typically Miyazakian scene where they're eating Ramen, it gets... odd. While I did find plenty to like in it, it is definitely for kids. Gotta give their little brains something strange once in a while, but "Totoro" is much better in this regard.
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I've got some art cards up for sale on ebay. Give them a good home, won't you?
I am very excited about this news, which I just got after checking my email (I was having an Internet-free week at Disney. By the way, remember those halcyon days when you could go for half a month away from the Internet and not miss anything important?) So if you'll indulge me, I need to be immature for a second here:
Yaaaaay!!! Hey, it's the first time I've been published in dead tree recycled post-consumer paper (I hope) form! Anyway, here is the email announcement:
The line-up for this next issue of IF-X, "April Fools" is as
follows:
Cover: "The Dumbest Bunny" by Tricia Arnold (OMG That's MEEEEE!!! I drew the Dumbest Bunny! My baby's being published!!!)
"The Adventures of StupidBoy" by Matt Feazell
"Suburban Heroes" by Terence Cover and Tom R.
"Best Prank Ever" by Michael Marcus
"Hans Beucher: Devil Baker" by George McVey
"Dorm Disasters" and "Witness Protection" by James Mascia and Mike Bunt
"Fearman: April Fools" by Thomas Jankowski
"Gas Pains" by Dino Caruso and Paul Houston
"Doveman and Pandaboy" by Mike Theis and Nick Mueller
Back Cover: "April the Fool" by Michele Witchipoo
...Congratulations, and thank you for taking the time to participate--
I love putting out IF-X, and I certainly could not do it without
each of you. Eventually, when this is making more money, I'll be
able to pay in more than just comp copies!
All the best,
Michael Marcus
Hamtramck Idea Men
You can purchase this issue or any back issue of IF-X for around three dollars at the Hamtramck Idea Men website. I might, as the song suggests, have to order five copies for my mother.
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In other happy news from the email inbox, as soon as I finish writing this, I'll be responding to my invite to join Art Evolved as a member. Which is wonderful, because even though I like comic art, I definitely want to learn more about the field of natural history illustration. Freelance illustration is one of the few fields where it's actually good to have your fingers in a variety of pies.
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Feederwatch Thursday!
Thanks to the scary rainstorm, there wasn't much going on here. But the Crocuses have started to bloom in that one sunny spot!
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 3
Black-capped Chickadee 2
House Sparrow 7
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Sketch Finished Piece of the Day!
Ba-hahahahaha...
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And last but not least, I hope everyone has had a wonderful Annoying Negative Ethnic Stereotype Reinforcement Day St. Patrick's Day!
Here is a review of an excellent Irish movie for you at the Realm.
