First Professional Comic Job

I haven't been posting much lately because a fair amount of the work I'm doing these days is not allowed to be viewed yet, but my editor at ONI PRESS has given me the thumbs-up to release a sample of the comic art I've been doing for a back-up story in their post alien invasion story called Resurrection. I'm doing the pencils, inks and digital colors for a ten page back-up story that will appear in issue 2 of the second volume. James, my editor has been a genuine pleasure to work with on this, and my professor, Shawn Crystal, has been really helpful getting me up and running too.

I've spent a ton of time over the last year and a half researching, relearning anatomy, relearning perspective drawing, and reading books on screen writing, cinematography and how to maintain continuity in the art of comic book story telling... oh, and lots and lots of exploration in software. You could say that I've been a bit bookish. I spent 75% of my time preparing and researching and 25% of my time actually doing the work.

Some time last quarter the paradigm began to shift, and I was spending 75% of my time drawing, digitally painting, and writing while spending a modest 25% of my time researching. Now I'm working constantly and have hardly researched or read a thing.

While doing all this work, I'm finding that the time I spent over the last year and a half was well spent. I feel like I can approach the work with confidence in a way that I wouldn't have had I not prepared my self so well. However, I'm learning even more by just doing the work. Learning as I go. From now on my paradigm is going to consist of doing lots and lots of work, and reading books when I have the time. I'll still be going to seminars, conventions, and of course I have a few classes left to take in grad school, but the majority of my time will be spent in my sketchbook and at the drawing table.

Here's some snippets of the pencils for my back-up story in Oni Press' Resurrection #2, called Mercy. There will be more in a few days, so stay tuned: