A Little Holiday Spirit.

Last year I wrote and illustrated a story for the Hard 8 Vol. 2 graphic novel titled, A Little Holiday Spirit. Its a Christmas story, and with turkey sandwiches on the dinner menu and December firmly in our sights, I felt like sharing it with you. I've posted bits and pieces of the artwork here before, but now I'm posting it all, in its entirety.  EDIT: Sharing time is over, but I've left a few pages up, so you can get a taste. I'm still quite proud of this story, and I hope to make the whole thing available as a digital download in my store when time permits.

If you've got a few minutes, put on some warm slippers, pop in some Vince Guaraldi, and give it a read. You can click on each page below, or you can scroll thru the whole thing > here. Either way, I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas!

Hard 8 Vol. 2 Photos

So we officially debuted Hard 8 Vol. 2 at SDCC last week, and it was a great show. If you haven't yet purchased your copy, these photos should sway you.  Also, check out the special "Harder Than Hard" hardcover version. There were only 20 of these made, and about half of them are gone. If you're thinking about picking one up, do it before it's too late. Click here to order from the Hard 8 blog, or pick up the softcover version right here from my sidebar. 164 full-color pages for 15 bucks. 15 bucks!

I Can Rest Again.

Hard 8 Volume 2 is officially done and at the printer! It's been a long time coming (I was still single when we started this thing... heck, I don't think I was even engaged yet)! But this here huge stack of pages is the pay-off for seeing it thru... 164 pages of Hard 8 goodness! The book debuts at Comic-Con, so head over to the Official Hard 8 Blog for the 411.

Everytime I Think I'm Out...

...they pull me right back in. This past week, I thought I finished drawing my story for the Hard 8 Vol. 2 graphic novel. But yesterday, as I was laying out the text, I realized there was a big part in the middle that could use one or two more illustrations to go along with the words (my entire story is basically an illustrated poem). I was able to bang out one illustration last night before bed, which is good, 'cuz we're assembling the book this weekend. I'm ready to say goodbye to Hard 8 for a while. I like dude, but I'm suffering major burn-out from drawing all these cute kids and playful ghosts. Once this book is done, I need to bust out on some bad-ass superhero type stuff, for real. But in the meantime, here's a couple of finished images (including the colored version of the pencil drawing in my previous post).

Walk Hard.

More stuff I'm working on for Hard 8 Vol. 2. If all goes well, the book will be off to the printers in a mere 2 or 3 weeks. It's been a long time coming for this one, but we're finally seeing the tunnel's end. Can't say I'm not thrilled, but it's still too early for that. For now, I gotta keep it movin'. Game don't wait, ya'll.

Waiting around...

I'm currently sitting at my desk at work, in limbo, waiting for an approval on a title card so I can head home. While I do that, I figure I might as well say something. I've got a ton of new work to share, which is dandy, except I don't want to share it yet, since it's all going to be in the new Hard 8 book. But I'm restless, and this sketch from the other night is the only thing I have on hand anyway, so I might as well. One of the characters in my story this time around is Horace, a little ghost who, more than anything, just wants to play the piano. The book is, for the most part, almost ready to head to print. My part is still in progress, but it's coming along. I'll be elated when it's done.

Oh, on a side note, CSU Fullerton is celebrating the big Five-Oh this year. There's an "Alumni In Entertainment Arts" gallery opening this Saturday night, Feb, 2nd, 7:00 - 10:00, at the Grand Central Station gallery in Santa Ana. I'll have some work from The Fairly Odd Parents on display. More info here.

Hm. 7:15, and no word on that title card. I'm gonna make like Horace here and get ghost. Peace.

Holiday Spirits.

My story for Hard 8 Vol. 2 centers around three little kids who come calling for Hard 8's help on the night before Christmas. The book will be out in a couple of months, so I'll be posting more related art as it gets closer to completion.

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Comic-Con is here! Ah, I love Comic-Con... there's so many people that I normally only ever get to "see" on the blog circuit, but through the wonder that is 'Con, we all get to be together for one glorious weekend of geekdom! If you're attending the show, come by booth 1034 and holla atcha boy, cuz I'd love to meet you! We'll have plently of Hard 8 books on hand, as well as those swanky Hard 8 poker chips, prints, and sketchbooks. And while you're there, check out all the movie posters we've created to promote the upcoming Hard 8 Volume 2. Here's a sneak peek at mine... See you at booth 1034!

Getting focused.

Here are some roughs (and some not-so-roughs) from my contribution to the upcoming Hard 8 Vol. 2. My hands have been tied with a lot of stuff lately (album cover work, mainly), but I'm realizing that I really don't take any pleasure in doing most of it, regardless of the money. And aside from that, sometimes the work I'm being asked to create isn't the type of work I want my talent to be used for (you reap what you sow). All I really want to do is draw. As such, I've started turning down some of that work so I can focus on Hard 8, and on my own book (which has been in the making for far too long). I'll be relaunching www.crushcounty.com this weekend, taking the work-for-hire stuff down and replacing it with artwork galleries once again. It feels good.

Hard 8 Video Teasers.

The super talented Ben Pluimer put together some Hard 8 teaser trailers for us to show at Comic-Con, and he recently uploaded them to YouTube. The voices were provided by the awesome Jason Makiaris, Derek Wallace, and Chris Tallman (House M.D., Reno 911). This particular clip features artwork by me (taken directly from Hard 8 Vol. 1), with a story written by my brother. I was out of town when they recorded it, so I wasn't able to let them know that they missed a couple key pages (without which, the story doesn't make much sense). But it's still fun to watch. Head over the the Hard 8 Blog to see all the other teasers too.

Hard 8 In Tha House.

The lovely Erich Haeger posted this great bit of news over on the Hard 8 blog, and I figured I'd share it here too, for all my many, many multitude of readers. If you missed out on picking up Hard 8 at the San Diego Comic Con, you now have a second chance! The book is being carried at both House of Secrets in Burbank and House of Heroes in Torrance!

House of Secrets is located at:
1930 W. Olive Avenue
Burbank, California 91506
(818) 562-1900

and

House of Heroes is located at:

18214 Prairie Ave 90504
Torrance, CA

(310) 516-7800

Pick it up and enjoy, people!

Best. Con. Ever.

I'll post a more in-depth 'Con recap in a day or two, but the good news is that the Hard 8 project was a HUGE success. A big big thanks to everyone who came by the booth to support, and hopefully you dig the book. In the meantime, here's a picture from one of my best moments at this (or any other) Con. Seriously, how freakin' cool is THIS???

116 Pages Of Goodness!

Yeeeeeeaaaaa, boyyyyyyyyy! The books are in! Pick 'em up at BOOTH 1032, San Diego Comic-Con!

Art and stories by a host of your blogger regulars, including Matt Roberts, Eric Gonzalez, Erich Haeger, Eren Blanquet, and of course, Mr. Big Toon (that's me, people), plus many more! And, for you geeky animation fiends, we've got pin-ups by the likes of Stephen Silver, Eric Robles, David Barkmann, Justin Ridge, David Colman, Joel Carroll, and Mike Roush, among others!

I'll also have a Hard 8 Sketchbook for sale, called "Anatomy Of An 8 Page Story."

BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032! BOOTH 1032!