Trying for more updates!

Well, Loyal Legionnaires, I am trying to post more updates....well you know more often is what I mean. Not that I want to bog you down with tons of stuff.  So we have a couple of pieces. 

This first piece is kind of an experiment.  I wanted to try and use more solid blacks on a figure and a bit less feathering and shading. I think is kind of ok..... I am not to comfortable using it yet, but will try some more ways to shade.  This one is kind of from a really rough sketch I did ages ago. I always liked the Tarzan figure so thought I would give it a workover.  Kind of practice for a secret project that I will let everyone in on when I can.  ha. 

This second piece is yet another illustration for the KiGor 'War of the Beast Men' that I am working on.  There will be ten illos in all. I think this is number six or seven, I forget. Anyway it is showing Helene's fighting skills.  I always felt she was one of the toughest pulp heroines around, and I really have fun drawing her.  There should be a pulp story cross over between Helene and Nita Van Sloan from the Spider novels.....now I would read that one right off the rack! 

Well Legionnaires, I do hope you have a great new year!!!! and hope you had a great holiday!  Let's clink our glasses to a great New Year!!! and thanks for looking in. 

tom

Tarzan, and Memorial Day...

One of the small projects I acquired at the DumDum last year was to do a small Tarzan image for a stamp cancellation postcard for when the Edgar Rice Burroughs stamp comes out. They are hoping, the Burroughs Society that is, that a ERB stamp will be done for the 100th anniversary of Tarzan coming up very soon. So the other day I started with some ideas of what to do for it. They seemed to like the one with Nkima, more than the one of the Tarzan yell. So I went with the Nkima one and started playing around with the design of it.

Next I pencilled and inked one. At the time I kind of liked it, but then started to sketch some more and decided I didn't like it very much. So I pencilled out another arrangement of the same subject.

I liked this one alot better. I focused a bit more on Tarzan by hiding Nkima behind him and brought his hand up with his knife in it. So I decided to ink it. I like inking, just sometimes the finished inks don't have the power or emotion of the pencilled piece. But I did the best I could.

I kind of think it held it's own with the finished inks. So I can consider this side project finished. I think it survived my inks.

Anyway Happy Memorial Day to all my Loyal Legionnaires. But that seems an odd thing to say a happy memorial day just doesn't seem right. So anyway just enjoy the day off if you have one coming. I know I will enjoy any day off I have from the day job. But tonight I am working on Captain Spectre, and hopefully tomorrow too, inbetween mowing and other duties around the secret HQ.

Now for a bit of news. I have accepted a project that will help things out. Let me explain a bit. The project will take me away from some time on Captain Spectre. Which isn't a good thing for me because I want this first issue out. But this new project is created by Sequential Pulp comics to be published by Dark Horse comics. So for one thing that means it is a high profile project published by a powerful comics company. It will be a full graphic novel, done in one type of story. So it will be alot of work for me as I will be handling all the art, letters and colors. But I hope with the added exposure from this project that will bring more attention to me and too Captain Spectre. The story is an Edgar Rice Burroughs one shot novel called 'the Monster Men'. The original title to the story was 'Number 13'. It has a bit of everything. It is kind of a frankenstein story mixed with pirates, a bit of jungle adventure, and some monsters....all with a burroughs twist. The official release hasn't been posted yet but should very soon. So it is going to be a tough year coming up for me trying to work on it and Captain Spectre. But I am hoping the combination of high profile and a great story will help out my other work. So I hope all you Loyal Legionnaires understand that I am trying to help out each project as best I can. So stay tuned to this blog for all the action and updates coming on both projects, as always.

Off to the DumDum.....in Chicago

That's right Jungle Pals, and Loyal Legionnaires....I am off to Chi-town tomorrow at the butt crack of dawn, to attend the annual meeting of the apes....better known as the DumDum. This year it is being held by the Muckers....a rebel offshoot of the Burroughs Society. I have the posters of the Mucker cover signed, along with the Tarzan posters that I previously previewed here on the blog. I am sure I will have some of each left on my return, so if you would like one I will post the price and all when I return. I would like the Burroughs folks that invited me the first shot at them, of course.

I am looking forward to the trip and meeting up with all the great people at the Burroughs event. Not looking forward to the speech I have to make though. But I will post it here when I get back next week.

Also I would like to make it over to wizard world chicago con, which is being held this weekend also. But money and time will tell that story when I get to it. Not a big fan of finding my way alone in Chicago traffic, but I guess if I was to go Sunday would be the day. Of course I also have to think about getting back home to all the work that is piling up on the drawing table.

So if you are around Hillside Ill. this weekend, drop by and see what's up in the Burroughs fan world. It is always a fun time.

in the works....

Well Loyal Legionnaires, here are a couple of things I am working on....Prints for the Burroughs Dum-Dum in Chicago this year. As I am sure you know if you tune in often, I will be one of the guests this year. One problem with that is, as most of you know, I did the cover to the Mucker digitally. So hence, no painting to sell to make any money. Not that I am trying to make a killing with my art. It isn't about that as you well know, if you know me. So the object is to produce something that will get some of my art out there in the public a bit more. Which sometimes is the object of this game of art.

So I thought I would produce some posters/prints of two of my Burroughs pieces. One the Mucker cover I produced for the Dum-Dum (in the tarzan books the council of the apes), and the other a Tarzan piece I produced in black and white, colored for the print. I originally produced the Tarzan piece, thinking it was going into an all Burroughs sketchbook to sell at the con. I may still do that too, but at this point probably all I will have time to get printed is the prints.

In July I am going to texas to see my eldest son's family, and attend my 40 th high school reunion. I don't want to think about all those years. ha. So that will take some production time away from me.

One thing with the designed white space on these I can do sketches to make them feel special since they are printed.

But, Loyal Legionnaires don't despair, I am also currently working on the script to issue on of the pulp action Captain Spectre comic. I also already have an outline for the third issue - the sword and planet story, but believe me when I say that story will be the pinnacle of my storytelling. It is the story I was born to tell. I feel that strongly about it.

I just can't wait to get to that third one, so that helps with producing the first two stories. As per the poll from the site here, the first one will be a slam bang action piece, the second a world war 2 story, which is in the works also....and the third one, a sword and planet piece that will establish Captain Spectre as the Phantom Soldier from the Skies!!! I am so proud of it I will sneak the working title to you, my Loyal Legionnaires. It is called "the Men Who Lost Yesterday". So stay tuned Legionnaires, it may be awhile to produce these, but by hook or crook I will do it. I live for this.

Oh, and also if anyone is interested in these prints, I will have some extras to sell thru the site, just let me know. Then I can add the numbers to my print run. thanks.....

Tarzan, for maybe a book mark to give away...

Well here is another Tarzan piece. Thanks to some great advice, I am trying some different things. I will have to wrap my mind around what I am trying to do. Well that doesn't make much sense, does it. I tend to rush things a bit. So one thing I have to do is slow down and think. I sometimes get in the 'I gotta get this done and move on' kind of thing. I should be trying to produce better pieces, not alot of so-so pieces. I need to try and plan things a bit better. But more on that later. Anyway here is an experimental piece. Maybe I will make a Tarzan bookmark from it or something.
I added some digital color to it too see if I could make it read better. I felt the black and white one was a bit confusing. Yet another thing I need to work on is my uses of black and white to separate the forms.
Anyway, guess you can't win them all.

Tarzan Inks...

Well it has been a hell of a week for sure. I am still picking up branches, limbs, and all sorts of parts of trees. But at least it was a productive Friday evening after getting home. Here are the inks to the Tarzan piece I posted a few days ago. I actually inked the Tarzan figure Thursday night mostly, and finished it off today. I felt I needed to get this one out of my system first. I hope you enjoy it. This is entirely inked with a brush and is on 11x17 bristol.

The Burroughs Sketchbook project begins...

As posted a bit earlier, I have been invited to be the guest of honor at the Burroughs Dum-Dum next year in Chicago sponsored by the "Muckers", the groups of Burroughs fans in and around Chicago. I have also thought of how to maximize my visit. In other words to help spread the word about my work. So I thought I would make a project and produce some works based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' fantastic range of works. From Tarzan's Africa, to John Carter's Mars, to Carson Napier's Venus, and all points inbetween and beyond. I don't know how many I will be able to create before I go, but I thought I would stretch my creative legs a bit. Especially since I think in my whole life I have only done one or two Mars drawings. I was always a bigger fan of the Tarzan adventures.

Also to make these works affordable I thought I would put them together in a Burroughs sketchbook type of thing. Mostly it will all be in black and white, since I am more interested in that form recently. I might compile it with all my other Burroughs works from the other books I have illustrated. But mainly I wanted to produce new works.

So it begins....here is a pencilled piece I had an idea for the other day and had a bit of free time to pencil it out a bit. I will be inking it sometime soon so I will post that version soon. Kind of a progress thing to post here too.

Of course don't worry Loyal Legionnaires, I will not take anything away from the strip to do this, it is of course above and beyond the ending of Chapter 4 and the stand alone comic adventure. So no worries Legionnaires.

The Word is out!!!

Well seems the word is starting to leak out, that yours truly has been invited to be the Guest of Honor at the Burroughs Dum-Dum next August in Chicago! The Muckers, a special group inside the Burroughs Bibliophiles have invited me to design and paint the cover of a new edition of the Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the father of American Adventure fiction. This is a very special honor for me. I was invited once before but had a prior commitment and couldn't make it. As of course you all know the Dum-Dum name comes from the Tarzan books, it was the council of apes - the heads of the tribe. The Burroughs Society has adopted the name for their annual gathering. It is a great time to be had by all for all Burroughs fans. So if you are around Chicago next August plan to stop in. I will post more as I know it, and also progress on the design. Thanks to the Muckers!