Travis Hanson

I wanted to post a link to my old pal Travis Hanson's work. You might already be familiar with his art as he's been doing fantasy comics on the web since way back when. He used to do a strip called 'The Bean' which has now migrated to being a series of illustrated novels.

I was fortunate enough to have the adjacent table to him at the Alternative Press Expo in SF last year. We'd me once or twice before and have known each other online for years. He mentioned to me then that he was now having much more success from producing & selling large-format full color prints as opposed to individual comics, and he was certainly doing very well with it at the show.

He recently posted in his journal at DeviantArt.com (where he has had a lot of success selling prints and building community) that he's decided to shelve all his comics work in favor of just doing prints & illustration.

The fact is that you can sell one large print for more than a whole bunch of books would go for. I've asked him to stop by and be a bit of a 'visiting wizard' and hopefully tell us a bit more about it.

"Echoes" page fifteen

I love South Park

ELF `n TROLL pencils.

Here’s something I tend to not share too often; original pencils from Elf `n Troll. This is a scene from Issue 10 which I’m currently working on. No spoilers evident.

This issue will wrap up what I guess we could call "volume one" of the series. I'm actually a bit excited with the last few issues where I'm trying to tidy-up some of the back-story that's been floating around since the first issue.

It's taken a while for me to find my way with this series but I will, shamelessly, pat myself on the back for seeing it through this far...pat, pat, pat.

I can't wait to see what comes next.

Play Nice.

"Echoes" page fourteen

Pencils

Since we're talking about pencils as finished artwork, I thought I'd show an OLD piece I did for a longer book where I used pencils to differentiate between "real time" and "flashback".

Read the whole 5 page passage or so here:

http://www.comicspace.com/natepiekos/comics.php?action=read&file_id=86027

Something New?

While I’m in the middle of doodling ELF `n TROLL issue 10, I’ve been playing with an idea that could possibly sprout some fruit somewhere down the line. I’ve been playing with the idea of producing pages directly from my pencils and skipping the inking stage. This is something I’ve been playing with for a while now and seems to be something of a recent trend in comics these days. It’s not a new phenomenon by any means. If you’ve been a fan of Euro-comics over the past 20 years you’ve seen this before. I’m not sure how it’ll work out but it’s fun trying. I just need to purchase a much better scanner.

I Got Yer Manga!

See the comments in the previous post for an explanation.

This Week's Pewfell

"Echoes" page thirteen

More Sketch Madness

These were all in an old pocket sized notebook I used to carry in my pocket at work. I was doodling out ideas that would become Pan-Gea and other stuff I'm working on. I have a bunch of these little notebooks with little ideas and sketches in them I've completely forgotten.

Looking back through old sketchbooks I usually find something I forgot about that revives some crazy old idea. It's refreshing when you're able to inspire yourself by surprise.

Easter Sketch

Old rough sketch on Paris paper found in a pile of doodles. Hyper-fast ink job with a Copic sketch marker and a Pigma Graphic 1mm, then a dash of Prismacolor.

All for the Easter Bunny.

"Echoes" page twelve

"Echoes" page eleven

Tune of the week

I've been a big fan of Morcheeba for a long time, but this video is one I just had to share here:

BRUUUUUUCE!

I’ve been swiping the poor guy’s fonts for years now. I guess it’s time to move on to his comics. This is one of my favorites from Atland… BRUCE, THE MINOTAUR. Cheers Nate, keep them fonts coming, man!

This week's Pewfell

"Echoes" page ten

Elf Babe

Sketchiness

Eowyn Gets the Color Treatment

Sean Loftiss laid some hues upon my version of Tolkien's horse maiden Eowyn:

"Echoes" page nine

The Librarian: Page 2

Things to do with your fantasy art other than comics

This TV spot features (of all things) a bed designed by an excellent fantasy artist I know called Caleb Cleveland. I met him at San Diego Comic-Con a few years back. he's done loads of great stuff for Wizards of the Coast, Kenzer & Co., White Wolf and others. You can see his work at his portfolio site -- including his orginal designs for the bed!:
http://www.calebclevelanddesign.com/

Los Campesinos - You! Me! Dancing!

I love this little music video & think you will too.

More Dust Bunnies.

Here’s another penciled page from my (over 10 years old) sci-fi epic that I’ll probably never actually finish. I’m usually quite anal when it comes to organizing shit except when it comes to my art, which I treat like a red-headed step child. I may have even completed this epic and just don’t know it.

I keep half expecting that someday I'll have no projects or ideas and I'll be forced to complete this thing. Then again...maybe it's just all part of my master plan and when that bus with my number on it comes barreling down the street to finally finish the job...this will become my "Black Album". Hmmm.

If I have to explain that last part, you'll really see me cry.

Play nice.

Up All Night...Makin' Comics

Mid-day nap (on vacation) and some late night coffee has me up quite past my wee little bedtime. So I started messing around with an idea that's been hovering dangerously over my brain for a long time now.

Been wanting to do a catgirl comic. So I am. I'm going with the landscape format because it looks nice on the screen. I actually drew this on 9x12 Paris Paper for Pens with a live area of something like 10.4x6.7 (hell, I don't know...I grabbed a copy of Elf 'n' Troll and used it to rule off my borders...that way I'm golden if I ever want to print this in a standard sized comic). If you've never used Paris Paper for Pens you are missing out on a sexual drawing experience. Now, bristol is the king, for sure. Sturdy and receptive and all that. But the Paris paper is smooth as a baby's butt. To quote that guy from the second Matrix flick "It's like wiping your ass with silk". The pen nibs and brush pens just sort of glide over it willingly and the ink kind of clings to the surface lovingly. And the surface is ultra bright white, which makes anything on it pop out.

There are drawbacks. It's 108 lb but can wrinkle up like a prune if you erase too hard. The fact that it has very little tooth means the ink doesn't seep in very much so when you erase you tend to lose some black. But the same is true of bristol if you're using PITTs or some other disposable.

Anyway, I think the strip is going to be called "Catgirl Mojo" because that sounds hip and cool and I already have the domain name. Most of it is still up in the air (I say that, but you should see all the notes and sketches I have piled up for this...characters, stories, world notes, the full monty). I finally decided that nudity would be kept to a minimum instead of having all the characters butt naked all the time. Still, how much is left to the imagination by a couple of nipple decorations? Funny. But cool.

Here are the pencils, followed by the inks. The colors will come later. Right now I'm in the middle of inking page two. And I'm going to bed, dammit.






Oh, here's a bit from the second page to titillate your interest:

"Echoes" page eight

I don't know if you can tell, but on "Echoes" I deviated from my normal coloring techniques. Instead of using 100% traditional media (mostly markers, some colored pencils, spit, swabs, etc) I used digital tools as well. Mostly I swiped color areas from my other drawings and used them as a pallet, basically painting them in to fill areas and create textures. Some of this is actually colored by hand on the original art, some of it is simply painted in from other drawings (there are some swipes from "Seven Arrows" in there somewhere). I think it turned out ok. Learned a lot from the process.

Sketchy Situation

Sketches. They're like drawings that ain't done yet.

"Echoes" page seven

ELF `n TROLL Changes

I’m a little late with this announcement mainly due to battling the flu all week. Beginning this Monday, March 17^th, ELF `n TROLL will be going from its five days per week updating schedule to twice per week updating. New episodes will be posted every Monday and Thursday. The other big change is that the episodes will now be presented in glorious black and white. My reason for all of this is to free up some “real-life” time and to keep the comic going with some consistency. This won’t be just ELF `n TROLL sans color…no sir. I’ve put a little extra “umph” into these pages for your viewing pleasure.

Now, I must go continue my vigil at the porcelain god. Damn flu!

Play Nice.

2005 ATLAND Haloween Special

"Echoes" page six

In this tale, we meet another Gean from the old days. For those not familiar with the story, Gea was the Isle of the Goddess (who some call Nest, the Moon). Gea was destroyed by the God (Seer, the Sun) out of rage and indignation, along with Nest herself. The Geans were daughters of the Goddess, powerful and beautiful and pure. Most of them perished that day but some survived. One thousand years later they are beginning to find each other.

This is one of their stories.