Thursday, December 22, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 7

And here they are--everyone's elfs!

Yesterday's winning name was "Dean," by Shannon Hale. Santa is a big fan.

That's it! Have a Merry Elf Christmas everybody!

I'll be back in January! Maybe I'll post something over the break--but I've never needed a break so badly, so I might not. In any case, big things are coming in January. Starting off with the second half of Taco Hell Drive Thru.

Thanks for a great year of comments!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Confused Elf Day

Hi guys, one more day to enter your elf--tomorrow I'll post it and we'll call it a year!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Reverse Elf Name Day!

Oh this should be fun. We're flipping the tables for this elf.

You name and describe it first, then I--I mean SANTA--will choose the one to draw for tomorrow! Name that Reverse Elf!

And keep naming yesterday's light-hanging elf. I--I mean SANTA--didn't get a chance to choose a name for him yet.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 6

This elf is in charge of hanging lights. Name that light-hanging elf!





Day 5's elf was named Hampton, by Gretchen Alice. Hampton the scooper.

Thank you to everyone who came to the signing on Saturday. It was fun. We SOLD OUT of both 12 BOTS and DINOSAURS NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS! I was happy to sell out (in truth, they didn't have that many copies to sell...) but there was a little boy there who wanted a 12 BOTS soooo bad, and we were sold out. It was very sad.

A special thanks to the Allred family who brought EVERY BOOK I'VE EVER DONE to the signing. Wow! (okay, not EVERY book, but a large number of them) It was fun to sign so many at once. Thanks!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 5

This elf's job is following the reindeer around.


Yesterday's name was the first one posted, Lipnick, by Stuart.

I will be signing books today (Saturday) from 12-2 at the Orem Library with a whole bunch of authors. Who? You'll have to come and see!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 4

This poor elf has been overworked at the doll factory.


Yesterday's winning name was Crenshaw by Tanei Atagi. Santa laughed and said, "Oh She's totally a CRENSHAW! Ho ho ho."

I'm going to keep the elfs coming (I know it's supposed to be "elves" but "elfs" is so much better. Also, I don't put an "an" in front of elf. No, I say it, "A elf." Plural, "Elfs.") Anyway, gonna keep the elfs coming through the weekend, since I missed the past two days and there is only so much time before Christmas. We've got to name these elfs while we can!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Space Elf DOUBLE Overtime!

Sorry Elf Namers. You get TWO days to name the space elf. What a wild and fanciful name she will have!

Guess who just turned in the finals for two mega graphic novels. It'sa ME!

I'm currently uploading the final files via the publisher's ftp site. The files are so huge it'll take a while. I wrapped the last page about 15 minutes ago. It's a wonderful feeling.

The finals for my first few picture books had to be shipped to the publisher in boxes. As in, the ORIGINAL art packed into homemade safety shipping containers. It was a humongous nightmare. I'd be coming off a series of late-night/all-night sessions to finish the art, then I'd have to scramble to pack the finished pieces into protective boxes and spend a FORTUNE at FedEx. Then wait in terror to see if they arrived safely. It was a terrible time all around.

Technology can be a wonderful thing. To be able to finish 256 pages of artwork, then send it to the publisher with a mouse click--that's magic.

Ahhhhh, I can't think of anything nicer that watching these FINISHED pages load one after another onto the publisher's site. So relaxing.

We still have to work out the cover...and the back cover. Possibly the endpaper...

But at least I won't have to box anything and stand in line at the UPS/FedEx/Post Office whatever.

I'm rambling, it's all the caffeine. And the euphoria from finishing something. I'm going to crash hard in 3...2...1...

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Space Elf Overtime!

Hi Elf-namers. You get an extra day to name our friendly space elf. I'm right at the very edge of my deadline. I'm putting everything I've got into finishing on time. Thursday is the deadline, I won't be sleeping much between now and then. Crunch, crunch, CRUNCH-TIME!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 3

This one's another lady elf--a space lady elf. Name that elf!



Santa chose "Dinah" for yesterday's elf. Thank you , Gaby Seeley.

ROBO-Santa has just appeared in the title bar of this blog. He has an advertisement for the 12 BOTS. This is the time of year--the ONLY time of year--you can read that book. Make sure to buy seven copies! The TWELVE BOTS OF CHRISTMAS! Word is Amazon even has a few at a special Christmas price!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 2

Santa has picked the name of his first elf. That name is Ronnie! Sent in by Heather Hoyt. Thank you Heather. Ronnie is a "Nice" name (which means everyone else's name was "Naughty.")


Name that Elf!

Friday, December 9, 2011

Name That ELF! Day 1

I can't do it, guys. I can't kill the blog and recycle a whole story (as much as I love the LEGO BOTS--go visit the December '10 archive if you haven't seen them--and oh yeah, go BUY a copy of THE TWELVE BOTS OF CHRISTMAS!)

So, instead of killing and recycling, I'm doing a holiday version of an old standby favorite (an easy-to-do, quick favorite.) It's time to...



NAME THAT ELF!


Name that elf.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

And the textbook is...

...the Bible!

I usually keep pretty quiet on the jobs I work on. But this one will be so long-term, I figured I'd let you in on it.

I'm illustrating the WHOLE bible--Old and New Testament--for St. Mary's Press. It's a textbook bible for grade school level religion classes.

Here's an early sketch from one of this week's pages:


I'll give you five guesses which Old Testament (hint!) story this is for--but only five.

If you guessed Noah's Ark, you are correct.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

I Must Save Christmas!

Gang, I have some bad news. Christmas is in danger this year, that's right. Christmas might be canceled. My deadline situation has grown so dire, so ridiculously down-to-the-wire, that I may be churning out illustrations on Christmas morning! I'm close, SO CLOSE to wrapping everything up. But the loose ends that pile up on a graphic novel project (or two projects, in my case) are astounding!

I have until the 15th of this month to get everything in. These things include, but are not limited to:
  • Covers
  • Title Pages
  • Endpapers (?)
  • Bibliographies (in comic form!)
  • Author pages (you saw one yesterday)
  • Timelines
  • Short biographies of each historical figure to appear in the books (and portraits)
  • A mini comic about Historical Research
  • A mini comic about Crispus Attucks (hardly mini--it's seven pages!)
  • Proofreading passes for both books (since I'm hand-lettering them all, there is no spell or grammar-check built in. Everything has to be reviewed, then carefully re-lettered by hand.)
Not to mention the other big job I'm working on (the big textbook has heavy deadlines each week. Three spreads a week, each spread features around six full color illustrations)

If I slip up on any of this stuff it will RUIN Christmas. So I have to get it all finished--I have to SAVE Christmas.

What does this all mean?

It means you are going to have to wait for the end of the Taco Hell story. Cliffhanger and all. I just can't fit it into my horrific schedule right now. I can't do it. To save Christmas, I must kill the blog!

I even had a Christmas story all lined up for this month--I'm scrapping that entirely. We'll see that next year, I guess.

We're going to re-run last year's TWELVE LEGO BOTS OF CHRISTMAS posts starting on the 13th. And the conclusion to the Terror at the Taco Hut will resume, deep breath, in January.

I'm sorry. Is there anything worse than an interrupted story?

Yes, a ruined Christmas--a ruined Christmas is worse than an interrupted story.

But trust me, in January, when the story picks back up, I'll make it really good.

Now back to the deadline death march.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Monday Morning Again?

You know how this goes. Monday mornings are almost a lost cause lately. Today is no different. But I do have SOMETHING for you today. This is the author bio page on one of the graphic novels I recently finished. We're just wrapping up loose ends, like the cover, backmatter notes, and this author page:

What do you think? I like an author bio with a lot of practical information in it.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Taco Hell Drive Thru 22

Looks like we're now entering spooky December.

In a horrible case of life imitates blog, I've now returned to the crazy, flip-flopped sleep schedule that this story started with. Spooky December indeed.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

Pasted

Uuugh. I really, REALLY wanted to post the next part in the Taco Bell story today. The next part is SO good. But I am being ground into PASTE by my deadlines right now. I have two continent-sized jobs vying for my time right now. ALL of my time. I've barely had time to eat turkey.

I need to wrap the Taco story soon because I've got a Christmas story I want to do. Taco Hell is the winner for most-interrupted-story of all time on the blog.

Bear with me.

{EDIT} Bear with me another day...

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Rapunzel and Jack on Turkey Day!



Hey everybody. I haven't drawn these guys in a long time. So here are Rapunzel, Jack and Goldy! Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy a one day break from the horrors of the Taco story.

[Edit] Make that a TWO day break--see you Monday!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Black Tuesday

Hi Guys, the trouble day is Tuesday this week. Once again, the story has to be held up by mean, mean deadlines. Back Wednesday.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Monday, November 14, 2011

Tell me why, I don't like Mondays.

Hey everyone. I've been having a hard time with Sunday night/Monday posts lately. I'm trying to balance my current deadline schedule. I'm going to have to skip today again. I will get back into the regular, non-day-skipping flow of this comic soon. I've gone full years without this many missed days.

Or maybe it's just this story. It could be too scary for regular daily posts.

Muahahahaha. AAHahahahahahaha. (that's my best Vincent Price laugh.)

Friday, November 11, 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

Running late...

A Taco Hell post WILL be up today, I'm just running behind.

[EDIT] Strike that. I'll have a new post tomorrow!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Taco Hell Drive Thru 8


Okay, here we go. Now we're getting to it!

I apologize for the spotty posts. I've felt nine kinds of rotten for the past few days. But I think I'm now over the worst of it.

This was supposed to be my spooky October story. It is now November. And that means NaNoWriMo! So the story will pause here for the next month and probably forever...


...just kidding. I'm not doing NaNoWriMo this year. No way! I've got to finish this story. This is better than some lousy speed-written novel any day.

Prepare for spooky November!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Double Cursed

Stomach flu, heavy deadlines and a candy-based holiday.

I feel horrible.

Bear with me.

This Story is Cursed!

Honestly, I've never had a story get so many interruptions! The story itself must be cursed! Back tomorrow!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Taco Hell Drive Thru 4


Sorry to pause the story. It was Fall Break for my kids, so we went to red rock country and did some hiking. I completely forgot to bank some blog posts to cover the days off. Woops. I have no regrets, it was super fun.

But now we're back. So on with the story!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Bad Timing Again!

Hi Guys. Sorry for the missing day yesterday. And today. I've had a few things pop up. The story will continue on Tuesday.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Monday, October 17, 2011

Taco Hell Drive Thru 1


October is here. Time for a spooky story.

Believe it or not, this story is not ZOMBEANS. This is a different scary story involving Taco Bell.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

CALAMITY JACK takes home the Utah Book Award!

Calamity Jack won the Utah Book Award in the children's book category last night!

The nominees were; a picture book (Rick Walton's Mr. President Goes to School,) a novel (Kristen Landon's The Limit) and a graphic novel (us!) It was a diverse trifecta of book types.

Hooray for Calamity Jack!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Princess BATMAN 13

Is this the end for Princess BATMAN?

Yeah, pretty much.

Thanks for participating in the Princess BATMAN posts. It's been fun! Maybe she'll return someday in a big story!

New thing--new spooky thing--starts Monday!

DELAYED!

Uh-oh, the final image in the Princess BATMAN series has been DELAYED! Yesterday's drawing style was such a hit, I thought I'd do another picture in that style. I started it, but it maxed out my B.A.T. (blog allotment time.) I need another day! I'll put it up tomorrow, a rare Saturday post of the final image.

I need two B.A.T.s for this one. Be back tomorrow.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Princess BATMAN 12

If you're gonna be Batman-like, you have to spend some time striking poses on top of a building, preferably in the dark. So here's the Princess on top of her castle.


Today's scene was supposed to be an action scene. But I ended up going out last night (*gasp* out of the studio!) My wife took me to hear Barry Lopez, the National Book Award-winning author. I brought along some paper (on a clipboard. I'm not a sketchbook guy. I'm a clipboard guy.) I listened and drew this night scene of the Princess watching over her domain.

I took the drawing and laid a digital layer over it (for the grays and yellows) and here she is. It's fun to do a different style. I haven't drawn on paper for months!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Princess BATMAN 11

Another peek at the Princess as her mild-mannered alter-ego.

She's a Princess who disguises herself as a Princess.

Here, she's having hot cocoa and scones with a fat duchess. You can't spend ALL your time fighting bunnies.


This is the last week of Princess BATMAN. We'll have two more images, then start with something new next week. (Something Halloween-y!)

BREAKING NEWS!

Remember a week or so ago, when I was up for a big job? Well, I just found out that I got it! Hooray! It is the rarest of all freelance illustrator jobs: a long-term, well paying, BIG job. It's a full textbook for an educational press and it will keep me in LEGO bricks for many months to come.

I don't usually talk about my day-to-day contracts here on the blog, but this one caused so much commotion last week, I thought I'd share the news.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Princess BATMAN 10

Here they are, the million billion bunnies.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Princess BATMAN 9

All this time we've been focusing on our princess in superhero mode, but we haven't seen her mild-mannered alter-ego. Here she is:



The horse has an alter-ego too.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Princess BATMAN 8

Princess Batman doesn't like riding side-saddle in her dress. So she stands.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Princess BATMAN 7

D3 is the one! Here she is in full action mode! She's wielding her princess scepter (which is usually small, but transforms to a staff) and her shield fan. Action petticoats!


Tomorrow we'll see her riding her action pony "Blackie!" Maybe next week we'll see her normal princess identity and some of the villains she fights (including the "Million, Billion Bunnies!)

Watch This Space

P-Batman is running late! She'll be up later in the day.

I accidentally fell asleep last night without doing the drawing. I promise, it had NOTHING to do with my awesome new awesome video game.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Princess BATMAN 7

Okay, it sounds like the longer/puffier dress with petticoats was liked by many! Yesterday's "B" struck a chord. So here is Monday's D2 with a longer gown. And different hair. Some of you requested her hair up.

D3 has flat shoes (better than boots?) tails on her mask and a big skirt with visible petticoat frill. D4 has Goldilocks ringlets and an empire waistline.


I like the blonde hair. I think blonde girls have been relegated to sidekick/comic relief or snob/villain roles lately. Can you think of any popular blonde girl heroes in children's media right now?

There are probably tons--I just don't pay attention.

Dark Souls Update:

I went with "Hunter" class. A female character. I'm shooting arrows at EVERYTHING! So far, so good. But I must admit, the female gait in the game is a little wonky. She swings her arms in a funny, elbows-in/forearms-out style. Must be a Japanese thing. I wouldn't walk that way if I was hunting demons in a zombie castle.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Princess BATMAN 6

Wild cards!


Okay, it's Wild Card Day, where we try a few last crazy ideas before going into the final. A note about Wild Carding--never, EVER do this on a real job with an art director. It almost never ends well. Either you get stuck with your worst idea, or you end up starting all over again.

These ideas are more princess-y. I feel there are lots of sassy, gear-laden, multi-belted girl-heros. But I can't think of anyone who fights crime in a poofy gown.

What should we plug into our existing designs?

Warning! The following is video game talk!

Dark Souls, the sequel to Demon's Souls (my favorite video game this generation) comes out tomorrow. I've had it pre-ordered since May. And speaking of character design, I have to choose a starting character class. In Demon's Souls, I played as a "Soldier." When given a choice, I like to play games as the everyman (no thief or magic classes for me.) There is no "Soldier" class in Dark Souls--they swapped it for "Warrior," which I don't care for.

I'm thinking of going with a "Hunter," or possibly a "Wanderer." And I think I'm going with a female character this time. In Demon's Souls I was a dude.

Anyway, I'm very excited. I haven't picked up a controller for months. Some quality game-time is just what the doctor ordered.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Princess BATMAN 5

Okay, so the two most popular designs were d2 (but with puffy sleeves!) and B2 (with d2's hair.)

Here they are, back in a static pose., and with a few tweaks.


Did the two weeks off give you any fresh insights? I still think we aren't quite PRINCESS-y enough...

D2 is on the left, B2 on the right. Tomorrow is WILD CARD Princess Batman Day--I'm going to throw out some fresh concepts, we'll see if any of them add to D2 and B2. Then we'll take her to final!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Graphic Novel Timesheet

Sorry for all the craziness everyone. It's been a very silly week in the studio. Total pandemonium. Moments ago, I turned in the samples for that new job audition (everyone cross your fingers!) The art director and the publishers will have a meeting tomorrow to see if I'm the right artist for the job. I'll let you know how it goes.

I am a man without a sleep country. I don't know when I'm supposed to sleep (or eat.) This week I've been using a horrible, cobbled-together, two-shift sleep schedule. 2am to 6am, then 5pm to 8pm. I think they call it "Polyphasic Sleep," I don't think it works. I feel crazy all day.

This should all be remedied by next week. We'll jump back into Princess Batman like the last two weeks never happened. I've also got a fun spooky Halloween story planned.

We'll have a fresh start Monday. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy these papers. This my graphic novel project bible. The timesheet, (remember, I was into that timer app.) with columns for lettering, inking and coloring. And the ever important page cross-off chart (the last row seems to have been cut off by the scanner.) Anyway, this documents the times for each page (starting at page 40) in graphic novel #2. Kind of interesting, if you are into charts and time trials for graphic novel pages. (super boring if you aren't.)

See you Monday!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Bad Timing

Boy oh boy, has the disorientation set in.

My body is angry and confused. Here's a long tale of life in the freelance illustration game. If you like that sort of thing, read on. Here's what happened:

I wrapped the book on Monday. I delivered it and waited for confirmation that the files were where they should be. When I heard they were safely delivered, I brushed my teeth and dove into bed like an Olympic diver.

Forty minutes after falling asleep, my phone rang. It was my illustrator's rep calling about a possible job--a fairly lucrative job. They wanted to see samples. Luckily, I had some samples ready to go. I sent those files (waited for confirmation again.) And a few hours later was back in bed--at that point I was pushing into the 30-hour zone. I was wiped out, but happy, because the big job was done, and an interesting new job was possibly opening up.

I got a few good hours of sleep then popped up at 10 pm on Monday, ready to roll. But, as you saw in yesterday's post, I decided it was time to reset the clock. From about 1 am on, I forced myself to bed, but since I was used to being awake at that time, I couldn't sleep. At all.

Tuesday morning, I felt okay. My rep called and said the job was looking good, but the client needed a new, specific illustration sample in the format of the project--and they needed it ASAP. Fine with me, I was feeling alright. By the time the client called with the info on the new piece, I was starting to flag. I got the specifics, and jumped back in the illustration saddle. I had nothing. The piece was fairly simple, an the possible job was a VERY nice-can't refuse-type of offer. But I had burned through all my illustration juice.

I tried to push through. By now the exhaustion was really hitting me hard. I had done several attempts at sketches but nothing was working. Oh, also, today was the last chance to get our business taxes in for last year, so my wife was running around trying to pin down all of our business expenses from last year. ALSO, this week is parent teacher conference, so the kids are home at noon every day.

Around 5 pm today, I took a two hour nap on a bean bag. I'm now back in my nightshift mode and feeling fairly awake, just tired and confused. The good news is, I got my drawing mojo back, and am about a third of the way through this illustration sample (due tomorrow--I hope I get it!)

Long story short. No Princess Batman tonight. Although, I think I hallucinated a Princess Batman a few hours back.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hard Reset

Oh boy. Folks, I'm going to need another day to get back into the groove.

I finished the books, now I need to reset my sleep schedule. The nightshift schedule worked WONDERS, I couldn't have finished on time without it. But now it's time to go back to the dayshift.

Disorientation, here I come!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Graphic Novel is a Wrap!

Hey everybody, I'm happy to announce I finished my big graphic novel today! On deadline! (the extended deadline, anyway.) Two complete graphic novels in five months. That's an all time record for me--one I hope I never have to beat!

The week off from blogging was extremely helpful. We'll get back into the groove tomorrow. Batman Princess ON!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Princess BATMAN Wallpaper and Week Zero

Princess BATMAN is really shaping up. I think we are closing in on that elusive final design.

BUT...

...this is week zero on my big graphic novel deadline. I can't do Princess BATMAN (or anything, really) on week zero. The deadline is a week from today, Monday the 26th. I have 20+ pages to go. I'm on lockdown-crunch-time.

I leave you with this parting gift to hold you over and keep P.B. on your mind:


It's the official Princess BATMAN desktop wallpaper! Tile it up so the princesses are tiny--so CUTE! You could tile it up and print it out as wrapping paper, or REAL wallpaper! The possibilities are endless with Princess BATMAN!

I'll be back next Monday (better make that Tuesday, I need a day off) with more Princess designs, and exciting anecdotes from my week zero adventures.

See you on the other side! Shutting down internet connection in 3...2...1...

Friday, September 16, 2011

Princess BATMAN! 4

It's time to see these outfits in action. Here are the favorite combos, but in an action pose!


I know there were some cape fans out there, but I'm afraid I have to veto the cape. She has to have a dress, and a cape + dress is too much (think of the fabric costs!) I mean, a dress is a cape for your butt, right? --wait, that was good. Let me re-type that in bold caps:

"A dress is a cape for your butt."
--Nathan Hale

That's going on my short list of quotes for my headstone.

E.2 has the minimized crown-under-mask, and a little highlight at the waist.

G.2's dress is a very different in action. The long middle flap section is problematic. Although Chun Li from Street Fighter doesn't mind the long front flap. I like the gray leggings, they give her a dancer vibe.

B.2 has some die-hard supporters. It's got a little Sailor Moon action going on. For this version, I've cut the hair and put in the pirate tie.

D.2 has the suggested super-hero mask with a crown built-in. Does Wonder Woman have that? Reminds me a little of Wonder Woman.

Lets hear your favorites! The elements in these four are the semi-finalists, we'll cut these down to two, then the final costume will be chosen!

Have a good weekend!

By the way, would somebody PLEASE leave a comment on my Wednesday post. Do you hear that whistling sound? That's the wind blowing through the zero in the "0 comments" on that post. Based on comments, Princess BATMAN is 33 times more popular than American History. Please, show some love. For bonus points, can anyone guess the historical event that is happening on that sample page?

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Princess BATMAN! 3

Okay, round 2 of the Princess:


E. and G. are based on your suggestions and likes from round 1. Puffy sleeves, the strap the B. mask, pigtails etc. F. and H. are wild cards, just to keep things interesting.

F's long sleeves (dagged sleeves? Is that what they call those?) can be found on villains, but never on good guys. Why is that? They look like fun. Think of the stuff you could hide in there.

H. has a ninja mask. There is something fun about not seeing her mouth. I toned the crown down. overall. I like a slimmer, less chunky tiara. I mean, if she's a princess in disguise, wouldn't the tiara be a dead give away? We have to keep the tiara, but it should be subtle. I like the ninja tiara, where you only see part of it through the mask.

I like how all-black E is, so stealthy. (and with new frilled cuffs.)

Have at it, and feel free to say you like aspects from A-D better.

Now back to today's 2.75 pages!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Collating Princess BATMAN input...

Holy mackerel! There was so much input for the first round of Princess BATMAN concept art! Feel free to add more comments today, but as it stands now:
  • D seems to have the most overall appeal
  • Pigtails are the favorite hairstyle, with the white hair of C coming in second
  • B has the mask of choice
  • The puffy sleeves of C are well-liked
  • Nobody likes A's crown (it is kinda Sauron-y)
Thanks for the input. I've never designed by large committee before, this will be a fun experiment. Round two, using your feedback, will come tomorrow. It would have come today, but I was running behind on my graphic novel page count.

Here is a recent page. I've got twelve days to my deadline, and 33 pages like this to go. Which means I need to finish exactly 2.75 pages a day.

The sketches are already complete, they look like this:

I do the lettering (all hand-lettered, much more organic and in sync with the line-work than digital, font lettering, I think.) I ink the drawing (while making a few cuts and changes--you may spot a few) then I add the tone layer. I'm also doing a single color pass that, due to the spot-color printing process, doesn't read as a post-able jpeg. I've done about 210 pages like this since May. It has been a KILLER workload. But the end is in sight!

I don't think I've ever been more excited for a project, though. I can't wait for these books to arrive on shelves next year. Can't wait!