Walking Dead Sketch Cards Revealed

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I can finally show the 50 sketch cards for Cryptozoic's The Walking Dead trading cards, Set 2, due to be released on June 5th, 2013.

Whereas I did all my Superman card roughs digitally and transferred to cards, all 50 of these were drawn 100% on the cards directly. I used Micron pen, Zebra and Pentel brush pens for inking and Warm Grey Prismacolor markers for the grey tones. 

With all 50 cards approved, this means I should receive back 5 Artist Proof (AP) cards that I can draw on and do whatever I'd like with. I currently have my Superman AP cards, but just haven't had time to do anything with them. 

This set was fun, but it really solidified my theory that 50 cards for one set is about as much as I can legitimately get done by a deadline.

Click here to view all 50 cards over on DeviantArt!

The Walking Dead Sketch Cards

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I'm happy to finally be able to announce the trading card set I'm currently working on. It's The Walking Dead Trading Card Set 2 from Cryptozoic. This is their second set of cards based on The Walking Dead comics, the first of which completely sold out.

I was actually asked to participate in this set before I was even finished with the Superman: The Legend sketch cards. I wasn't too keen on immediately jumping on another sketch card set, especially when this one required a minimum 50-card commitment. But come on, it's The Walking Dead, only one of my favorite things ever. So of course I immediately said yes.

The only quirk of this set was that I had to pass an "audition", which consisted of drawing four actual sketch cards, which then had to be approved by the licensor. In this case, that was likely someone from Robert Kirkman's Skybound. They hinted that it might even be Kirkman himself, but nobody has ever been able to verify it.

Needless to say, I got accepted and they sent me the remaining 46 card blanks. So that's what I've been doing for the last few weeks. I have until February 28th and I'm up to 32 cards. I'm not terribly behind, but I can't afford to skip a beat.

As with Superman, I can't show any actual artwork until 30 days prior to the sets going on sale. But hopefully it won't be too long. 

More updates as I'm allowed to give 'em!

My 2013 Roadmap

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My 2013 Roadmap

So it’s December 31st, and time to look ahead to another year. I’m not much for making resolutions. When I do, it’s usually the same old thing: lose some weight, draw more, spend time with family, etc. All good things, but resolutions aren’t a plan. So this year, I’ve decided to to create one; a roadmap, you might say.

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Superman: The Legend

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Back in June, 2012, I started soliciting a few producers of trading cards, like Topps and Cryptozoic Entertainment. I’d done about 60+ of my own personal sketch cards and felt I was ready to try to get on an “official” set. 

About a month later, Cryptozoic invited me to be a sketch card artist on an unannounced trading card set, and I jumped at the opportunity. My commitment was 40 cards and I had until December 7th to finish and return them. This seemed like more than enough time, but I ended up cutting it down to the wire. 

It wasn’t until December 19th, when Cryptozoic finally published a product page for the set that I could finally reveal it. The 40 cards I drew are for the upcoming “Superman: The Legend” set, to be released in Spring 2013. 

This is all I can show you of my 40 cards right now :(

This is all I can show you of my 40 cards right now :(

The good news is that Cryptozoic approved all 40 cards. The bad news is they still have to go to DC Comics to be approved before they actually go into random packs of trading cards. 

If you’re unfamiliar with sketch cards, here’s the lowdown. For each set, a group of artists is commissioned to produce hand-drawn sketch cards. These are actual 2.5” x 3.5” bristol board cards. The front is plain white, usually with a small logo for that specific set, and the back is printed full-color, usually congratulating the finder on drawing a rare sketch card.

When finished, the cards are sent to the trading card producer (in my case Cryptozoic) for initial approval. Approved cards then go to the licensor (i.e., DC Comics) for final approval. Those cards are then randomly inserted into retail packages. In the case of Superman: The Legend, you’ll have a 1 in 24 chance of drawing a sketch card from a pack. 

Also, for every 10 of my cards DC approves, I get an “artist proof” card back. This is basically an extra blank card I can draw on and do with what I want. I can keep it, sell it, whatever. And it’s basically an “official” DC trading card at that point. 

And in early November, while in the midst of the crunch to finish Superman, they invited me to try out for another unannounced set. I can’t say a thing about it, other than the subject matter was just so tempting I couldn’t resist. I submitted 4 cards as an “audition” and I got in! So now I’m working on my second official card set. But if history repeats itself, it could be 4-5 months before I can even say what the property is. 

But trust me, it’s super cool.

Unfortunately, I still can’t show ANY of the Superman artwork yet until about a month before the cards go on sale. Hopefully won’t be more than a couple months. Keeping all this stuff under my hat has been a bit frustrating, but it’s worth the wait.

So Long, Mr. Spence

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Bernard "Red" Spence: 1933 - 2012

Bernard "Red" Spence: 1933 - 2012

I learned today that my favorite teacher I ever had passed away yesterday at the age of only 79. Bernard "Red" Spence was my 7th and 8th grade teacher back in 1985 and '86. The school was Watertown Elementary, in the tiny village of Watertown, Ohio, each classroom containing two grades.

Mr. Spence was probably the first person to really instill in me a love for making art. He was an amazing watercolor painter, specializing in rural landscapes. His pieces depicted old barns and run-down sheds, mills and streams and whatever else he happened to come across. 

Perhaps he could see some artistic potential in me, but he would regularly show me his pieces and techniques. At this time I was also enamored with painters like Bob Ross, so I was playing with oils and acrylics instead of watercolors, but it was all the same to me. During my time in Mr. Spence's class, I painted and sketched many a run-down barn. At the time, he was an artistic rock star to me, and to this day, it's rare that I pick up a brush and not think of him. And now that he's gone, I wish I'd kept in contact, or at least had some of his work. Hopefully I can get my hands on some before the prices skyrocket (this is a hint to family and friends back in Ohio).

Below are some of my (very) early attempts at painting, from 1986, '87 and '88.

Beyond the artwork, he was just an all-around great teacher. You couldn't get away with much, but I don't think we ever felt a need to. I'll never forget how he'd read to both classes at the end of the day. The two books I remember him reading annually were Where the Red Fern Grows and, for some reason, a book called Grizzly. It was a Jaws-esque thriller about a man-eating grizzly bear. He self-edited out the naughty bits and bad language, though, but we ate it up. I was also one of a lucky group of kids that got to go to his house to watch the movie adaptation. At the time it felt like a big honor. 

Over the years, I'd bump into Mr. Spence from time to time. I was always surprised he still remembered me out of all those other kids that had passed through his classroom. I don't remember specific conversations, but I'm pretty sure I always asked if he was still painting, and the answer would always be 'yes'. We've been in Georgia almost six years now, and it's probably been close to ten since I've seen him, so it's hard to tell if he kept up his artwork. I'd certainly like to think so. Such a shame that he passed so young, I really wish I'd been able to stay in touch.

Still, I think no other teacher had an influence on me like Red Spence, and I have no doubt dozens of other former students can say the same. Thanks for the lessons and inspiration, Mr. Spence. You will be missed.

Mr. Spence's obituary.

The Quest for a White Pen

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It seems like ever since I started drawing sketch cards, over two years ago, I’ve been searching for the perfect pen for white line work. It feels like I’ve bought and tried a half-dozen solutions, all falling short somehow. 

The one I’ve been tolerating for a while now is the white Gelly Roll pen from Sakura. But it’s never quite worked right. Ink never seems to flow right away; you’ve got to bang it on the desk a couple times. And when ink does start flowing, you have to have a super light touch, or it will stop. When you do get a good line going, it’ll just stop in the middle without fail. And the ball point of the pen will often cause a forked line. In short, I kinda hate it. 

Then one day recently, I saw a tutorial on Deviant Art by the amazing Mark Brooks, and he mentioned the pen he used for thin white lines. It’s the Uni-ball Signo White Gel Pen and it was in-stock on Jetpens.com. So I immediately ordered three :)

They arrived today and after just a few seconds of tests on a sketch card, I knew this was the one I’d been looking for. It laid down a solid, thin white line as soon as it touched the paper, and didn’t start and stop like the Gelly Roll. Of course, I need to try it out on some real cards, but I think I’m already in love. 

Now I need to find out how to buy Mr. Brooks a beer.

Avengers Poster Commission

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Avengers Poster Commission

About nine months ago (January 2012), I learned that a friend and former co-worker had been diagnosed with lung cancer. This was quite a shock, especially as Ryan was only in his thirties and had never smoked a day in his life.

A couple weeks after we all learned of this news, his boss at his current job reached out to me. He said his team wanted to do something special for Ryan and my name had come up as someone who could help out.

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New Project Teaser

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For a while now, I’ve been hinting about a secret art project I’ve been working on. Unfortunately, even though I’ll be working on it a couple more months, I couldn’t get really specific. This has been kind of a bummer, because I haven’t (yet) been able to talk about the last project I finished. So it’s seemed as if I haven’t been doing anything at all, since I can’t post much publicly.

But now I can finally divulge a bit of a teaser about what I’m working on. I am an official sketch card artist for a new, unannounced, trading card set being produced by Cryptozoic Entertainment. These are the fine folks that recently came out with card sets for The Walking Dead and DC’s “New 52” comics. Actually, I first came to know of Cryptozoic from the great card and board games they’ve made, including games for Penny Arcade, DC Comics, The Walking Dead and World of Warcraft. 

I had made some inquiries to a few companies including Cryptozoic and Topps, sending them my portfolio of 60+ sketch cards I’ve done in the last couple years. Cryptozoic seemed to like them and said they’d consider me for an upcoming project. A month or two later, I was asked to be an artist on a new trading card set, and of course I said YES.

In this box are my blank sketch cards :)

In this box are my blank sketch cards :)

My commitment is 40 cards that I have to have submitted by December 7th, 2012. At first, this sounded like a long time. Now it sounds terrifyingly close. My other art commission, the day job and a long commute have all conspired to put me behind already, but I’m cranking away as fast as I can.

It could be months before I can officially reveal all the details of the project, but at least now I can say, in the vaguest terms, what I’m working on with Cryptozoic. I can’t divulge the property featured in the deck, but trust me, you’re familiar with it :)

Time to get back to drawing…

12/31/12 Update: I can finally reveal some details about this set!