Birthday Blog

Today's my Birthday!

I'm a 76er, so yeah, do the math. Today is also Brian Wood's Birthday. Small world!

Also born on January 29:
William McKinley, Anton Chekhov, W C Fields (!!!!), Oprah Winfrey, Tom Selleck, and former Yankee shortstop Steve Sax.

Let me know you visit this site, and say Happy Birthday.

Winter Carnival Illustration

I'm asked to do way too many adorable winter illustrations. It must stop.


Pencil sketch




Ink with acrylic color.




Scanned in textures, shadow effects, drybrush, China pencil.




Final art. City Pages 1/24/07. Kinda messy. Had to do it REAL fast.

Baseball Card of the Week: Cal Ripken Jr. '82 Fleer

Are you sometimes tired of art like me? Why, sure. Blogging pictures of your baseball card collection? What a great idea! First up, Cal Ripken Jr. And if you don't like this, too bad, maybe I'll put up my Billy Ripken 1989 Fleer ERROR CARD and you know what the consequences of that will be.

Like most dopes, the bulk of my collection is from the collectible-boom/bubble of the early 90's. comics, game cards, pound puppies, nothing was sacred any more. In the comics world, this would be the equivalent of putting up a copy of "Youngblood" and riffing the hell out of it.

Just feast your eyes on this totally off-centered example of an original Cal Ripken Jr. 82' Fleer Rookie Card. Aren't you jealous? Do you worship me now?

The newly annointed hall-Of-Famer was Rookie of the Year in 1982, Al MVP in 1983 and 1991, and an All-Star for 19 years. No steroids for him. He compiled 3,184 hits and 431 homers and a likely impenetrable record of 2,632 consecutive games.

If you're like me, and I know you are, you obsess over Lifetime batting statistics

LUCIFER: EVENSONG Volume 11 Release

Well, here it is.

Next week begets the trade paperback release of Lucifer, volume 11, "EvenSong". This book is both the crown jewel and the final nail in the coffin for a huge period of my artistic life. Being able to work on Lucifer steadily, for 5 years allowed me to grow my artistic and storytelling skills “on the job” and I’m extremely appreciative of that.

Personally, I feel Peter Gross and Ryan Kelly turned in some of the most untouchable dark fantasy art day after day (But I’m a little biased), and Mike Carey offered the world the performance of his life. The release of Volume 11 brings to completion the reprinting of the entire series, a fantastic feat for any Vertigo title, which began in 2000 shortly after the 3-part, “Sandman Presents: Lucifer, Morningstar Option”.

I got a copy of the book this morning and it looks stunning. It’s styling some shiny new paper stock and the colors are shooting off the page. A much needed improvement.I'm an artist, I obsess over these things. The collection reprints the final 10 issues including our final double-sized issue. It features stand-alone stories by Big Time Attic artist Zander Cannon (Replacement God, Top Ten, Smax) and Vertigo legend Dean Ormston (Love his work), as well as Peter Gross, myself and new Vertigo artist Aaron Alexovich and painted covers by Christopher Moeller and Michael Kaluta (One of my top 10 favorite artists ever, seriously). Most importantly, it reprints the highly regarded One-shot “Lucifer: Nirvana”, painted by John J Muth, one of my personal artist-heroes.

You can now follow this entire epic story in 11 trade paperback collections. Once I gain some distance, I’ll be re-reading the whole thing again.

Buy it! Order it online!! Tell your store to order it!!! Jon J Muth!!!!

LUCIFER: EVENSONG VOL. 11

Written by Mike Carey; Art by Peter Gross, Zander Cannon, Dean Ormston,Jon J Muth, Ryan Kelly and Aaron Alexovich; Cover by Christopher Moeller


The saga of Lucifer Morningstar comes to a close in EVENSONG, collecting LUCIFER #70-75. In the aftermath of the universe-shaking battle in Heaven, Lucifer and his cohorts return to pick up their lives and tie up their loose ends. As a special bonus, EVENSONG also includes the Prestige-format one-shot LUCIFER: NIRVANA, gorgeously painted by Jon J Muth.

Vertigo|224pg|Color|Softcover|$14.99 US|ISBN 140121200X|Mature Readers

On Sale January 24, 2007

MCAD gossip

ArtSchool's 2007 spring semester begins next week



From Anonymous student blogger, 2005:

"... My comics class has been getting more interesting, though I don't have a huge amount of faith in my teacher's ability to teach. It's more a case of being given tasks to complete and having the necessary resources to do the job. I don't remember now how much I had said about this class, but I'm too lazy to go back and check right now.

The teacher's name is Ryan Kelly, and he's a comics penciller and inker as well as a painter. The only regular publication I'm aware of that he works on is DC/Vertigo's "Lucifer" series, a spin-off of the "Sandman" series that's all about the Biggest Jerk in the Universe, Lucifer Morningstar. I don't know if he's depicted that way - I remember Gaiman presenting him as the "misunderstood rebel" type.

Anyway, the good part about that is that he knows the job, and his advice and critique are professional-level. It's a great opportunity. I guess I could find some kind of irony in the fact that I'm learning my trade with the desire to glorify God, being taught by a guy who makes a living drawing comics about Satan...but I think I've been in art school long enough to be unfazed by such things."


Ugh. If anyone can give me an award-winning answer as to why I still get into my car, drive over to Artschool and teach instead of DRAWING COMIC BOOKS ALL DAY IN MY PAJAMAS WHILE DRINKING A GLASS OF WINE AND LIVING MY LIFE will receive some free comics in the mail. Name what you want.

First Annual Golden Awards 2006

Hooray!

Randy Landers’s 2006 Golden Pants Recipients:

Best Writer: Ed Brubaker (Daredevil, Captain America, Criminal, Uncanny X-Men)
Best Artist: Ryan Kelly (Local, American Virgin)
Best Creative Team: Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman)
Best Cover Artist: Frank Quitely (All-Star Superman, American Virgin)
Breakout Talent: Brian Wood (DMZ, Supermarket, Local)


Dave Martindale's (D3)’s 2006 Golden Pants Recipients:

Best Writer: Brian Wood (DMZ, Local, Supermarket)
Best Artist: Ryan Kelly (Local, American Virgin)
Best Creative Team: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, Keith Giffen, Stephen Wacker, JG Jones & more (52)
Best Cover Artist: JG Jones (52)
Breakout Talent: Brian Wood (DMZ, Supermarket, Local)

Dave Farabee’s 2006 Golden Pants Recipients:

Best Writer: Brian Wood (Local, DMZ, Supermarket)
Best Artist: Guy Davis (B.P.R.D.)
Best Creative Team: Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly (Local)
Best Cover Artist: JG Jones (52)
Brakout Talent: Brian Wood (DMZ, Supermarket, Local)

Hooray for Brian's writing nods too.

Featured in Get Lucky at SooVac

An Army of Experts
Acrylic on Board
11X14
2004



My painting "An Army Of Experts" is a featured artwork in Get Lucky, a benefit event for Soo Visual Arts Center. If you go, it's an opportunity to get one of my paintings for a violently cheap price.

The Painting, done in 2004, was a critique on how disastrous the war is before it was trendy to say how disastrous the war is and not just, 'the war was a good idea but it was just performed disastrously.'

This painting measure about 11 X 14 inches

Get Lucky
Saturday, January 13 2007, 7-11 pm
Tickets are $40 each, or $30 for members.
Soo Visual Arts Center
2640 Lyndale Ave. S
Minneapolis, MN 55408

Go to the SooVac website for info and to purchase tickets for the event

A Brand New Culture To Learn - Print

A Brand New Culture To Learn
Acrylic On Canvas
2004
Print Available
Edition of 100, Giclee





This painting is my personal favorite, and it is now available as a limited edition Giclee print. Edition of 100. The print itself looks stunning. The color is warm and vibrant, The detail is rich and clear, unlike this JPEG on your screen which is more saturated. It's printed from a photographic transparancy.

The print is 100% size of the original painting. The Image area is 16 X 32 inches with the usual 2 inches border all around. This print is on Watercolor paper. Shipped in mailing tube.



Print On Demand
Price: $200
Shipping: $20.00
Print and Shipping Total: $220.00
Prices are subject to change.


I take Paypal or cash (personal check maybe, as well) in the mail.

Email me if you would like to purchase.

2007 New Year Kick-Off Super Blog with A Pickle On The Side.

Ryan Kelly and Local was mentioned in the Sunday New York Times (Big Time!) via the lengthy Brian Wood feature.

Local, an independent title published by Oni Press and illustrated by Ryan Kelly, is a quieter story, but it also has a strong sense of place, albeit a shifting one. The series follows a woman living in a different part of North America with each issue. Both series “comment on how important where you come from can be to a person,” Mr. Wood said, though he has to rely on friends and strangers to get the local details right, sometimes even calling comic-book stores for information and photographs. (He needed less assistance for Issue 6, which took place in his own neighborhood, Park Slope.)

Gene Hasaid this:

"I also traded Ryan Kelly for a page of comic artwork. But I did it on the condition that he let me pick a page five years from now, after he's bloomed into a pop culture phenomenon. Like Paul Pope and James Kochalka rolled into one! So join me on his coattails and check out his latest book Local with writer Brian Wood. You can see some of Ryan's painted work here..."

C'mon,don't lie, you'd put that in your blog if Gene Ha said that about you.

I got Darwyn Cooke's New Frontier Absolute Edition for Christmas. It is Breathtaking. Hey, if someone's going to ask me what I want for Christnas I'm going to DARN SURE tell them!!



I'm hard at work on a new original graphic novel (art not write) that will be announced later this year with the release date to-be-determined. It's very exciting. But it has been a trial to get started on it. Slow at first.It's making me a better artist, I believe. The preliminary designs have been a real workout, but once I pick up momentum it will really flow. I can't say anything about it. But when I can, I'll post a bunch of sketches and process work on my site.

Local is still going strong. Everyday is a trip to the candy store working on it. The work pretty much flows out with a minimum of fuss and difficulty. When I do get work, I work very fast. I try to stay caught up with Brian. It seems like he's writing 5 books at once. 4 more issues to draw. And, I helped plot issue 11, Toronto! exciting!





I needed to make an official purchase before the ol' digital clock flips over to 2007 (for tax-write off purposes). When you're a self-employed worker, you kinda' have to do this. And, I haven't spent a lot on "stuff" this year. Normally I'm required to spend a lot on framing, printing and art supplies. So, I ran out and got a an easy-to-use, simple Canon digital camera to take reference photos for work and shots of my son (one of many) in his first post-New Year's binge.

Whoa there, hoss!! Better stay off the sauce!