Another sneak preview page.

I planned on posting this the other night, just didn't get to it, and actually just noticed I need to change one thing. In that bottom split panel young Chris is holding a biplane toy. Ha, I need to erase that and either replace it or just will probably leave his hand empty. As with Chris being born at the turn of the century I don't think at this age there would be bi-plane models or toys yet. I guess I was just trying too hard to get the symbol of flying or him wishing to fly over too much. Oh well.

Anyway I am posting this as a full page preview, it is the end of the 'intro' piece at the front of the comic. Remember I had mentioned this intro to get people who know nothing of the character or time or place into the comic. To make the story more accessible to a wider audience if you will.

So in other words the sneaks from now on will be panels or sketches, so as to not spoil anything for you. Also as a bit of torture too. ha. Not really. Well there may be parts I could post as things move along. We will see.

Anyway this proves I am still working at it. Again just a very slow process.

A blast from the past!

I spent part of the day digging thru old storage boxes for art from years ago in search of a series of litho prints I did ages ago. I was amazed at some of the stuff I found, also saddened by some of it as when I did some of my more fine art stuff it was a tough time in my life. But also found some things that brought back some ideas and characters and also stories. The top one is one of the series of lithos I did about the war. The dog was not amused at all the time I spent digging thru the boxes, since I wasn't attending to him, so he just said to hell with it and went to sleep. Also found some old stories. This one was going to be Lone Star's breakout story. I never finished it so it didn't get published before Elite Comics fell. This story was going to be a turning point in my art and life, sad to think of sometimes. Maybe I will revisit it some time. Lone Star was my favorite character I created, until I created Captain Spectre.

part 3, that's it for this week.

part 2

Image, or Sketch dump....part 1

I just discovered you can only upload five images at a posting. Weird. Oh well this will be a many part update then. I produce tons of sketches in warm ups, character designs, layouts, thumbnails, and all aspects of drawing a comic. So I rounded up a bunch of them from my piled up table and scanned them in. Most of these were done in just the past couple of weeks.

the process.....the warm ups

I thought I would post a bit about 'the process' as it were. I had some people ask here and also email me about this little known part of the drawing process.

The first thing when I sit down to draw is the 'warm up'. I guess like most things involving controlled parts of the body, ha, like a baseball pitcher or something is the 'warm up'. Same in drawing. The 'warm up' gets the arm moving so you can work on control, movement, and just generally working the kinks out. And of course the older you get the more kinks you have to work out. I find it also gets some of the images out of your brain you may have stored while watching tv or reading or whatever from the night before. It also serves as kind of an 'idea factory' for poses and other stuff.

Also after doing this I usually scan them with my 11x17 scanner and save most of them. I usually scan all my work. Even pencilled pages before inking. Sketches I like, finished work and all. My scanner is one of my most important pieces on my computer table. I paid a ton for it, but it has been worth every penny. I used to have a small scanner, and when I started doing Captain Spectre I had to scan each half of a page and put them back together in photoshop. What a pain that was week after week. Or whenever I got a page done. Now I can scan a full size comic page, they are draw bigger than the print size, if you don't know. The drawing field on a full size comic page is about 10 x 15.25 inches.

Anyway you can see the simple sketch of the Captain Spectre drawing I posted last week, in the lower right corner of the top page of sketches. That is where it started, and I thought it was a cool pose so I finished it up on the bigger paper of a comic page.

warm up drawing goes crazy!

Usually as a warm up drawing I try to do poses for Captain Spectre flying or fighting. Mainly because they are more fluid and have some energy, and for warm up drawings that is kind of what you want to either get into, or out of your system. Also lately because of my hands I have been using large paper so I can kind of get all the joints and things going in the same direction. Well this morning started with a couple of very quick roughs sketches then this one just struck a cord. My arm felt ok, and things were going good so I just stuck with it. Also must of the time if I do a pin-up type thing it is or can be used for a couple of different things. I figure this could be a splash page sometime, or a cover, or poster or banner or something. Anyway now I have something nice to ink and warm up my inking someday, maybe tomorrow....we shall see. Sometimes a drawing gets under your skin and you just have to finish it - strike while the iron is hot kind of thing.

'Solo Flight' update - I don't have any more finished pencilled pages yet, I went back to working out some problems I saw on my thumbnails and layouts. Fight scenes are not as easy as they look to do the choreography for. And especially to make some sense out of. I don't like those fight scenes that don't move right. Anyway hope I can make them all work.

On the medical front, it seems that I had a couple of pains that just won't fade at all with all the different meds I have been taking. So my local doc tried something different, and it seems to be working some....it is a nerve med that attacks the way your pain receptors receive signals from your nerves. So it is a combo of neuralgia and arthritis...so more meds and more time to sort things out. But more on all that as it develops.

Again thanks to all who tune in....I do appreciate it more than you know. thanks.

A quick update

Legionnaires....sorry once again for a long pause between updates. I will explain as things develop on that, with good news hopefully.

But until then here is the pencils for page 2 of the 'who are they' part of the intro to 'Solo Flight' -the first full length Captain Spectre comic!

I finished these off last night, after having a couple of bad nights with my arm and hands. So I guess you could say, 'equipment failure' was the reason for the long pause between page 1 pencils and this page 2.

thanks for understanding Loyal Legionnaires.....I do appreciate it alot.

...and so it begins.

Believe me I have said it all to myself....about damn time, time to get to work, get off my butt and do some work, just do it, and most anything else you can think of to get me going.

Sure I have to tighten up the script, iron a few more things out along the way, but the good news is....it has begun.

What you see here is the first pencilled page of a very short intro to the world of Captain Spectre. I decided to add this to the first of the book for people who aren't used to the story, or even comics in general.

I recently listed to a couple of podcasts about comics from part time or non-comics readers. One of the more interesting things about it all are a couple of questions us regular comic readers take for standard practice. Like the big question, who are all these people I am seeing and where did all the stuff come from?

As comics, I feel, need to spread out since we don't seem to be getting new readers just mainly comic readers trying something different. I thought I would add a intro bit for people who haven't see the on line strip, I can always point them there with something in the book, or in person if they buy a copy. Also this sets the stage for the era and feeling of the book, rather than people thinking it is a modern day book and helps get them in the mood for what they are about to see and read. At least I hope it is a good idea. I will post all of this intro online as I get the pages done and we can talk about the idea and if it works or not.

It does add some pages, but this first one is gonna be a whooper anyway. I really don't have a official page count yet as I am still working out some layout problems and storytelling things. I want this book to be as clear as possible to readers and non-comic readers alike.

So stick with me Loyal Legionnaires, it is going to be a long slow road getting this book finished, but I am hoping it will be worth it in the long run.

I will post as much as I feel I can to not give away too much, but since this is mostly what I am working on from here on out, after the day job of course, then I feel I have to post somethings.

thanks.......and away we go!!!!!!

I am not a doctor, but I play one in a comic book....

Just had to post this concept idea. Not going to tell where it is from or when he will appear. Just mainly wanted to get it posted before someone else hits on such a simple idea for a character. He does plan on being a part of the Captain Spectre galaxy of characters.