PINOCCHIO VS DRACULA in color

While digging around for another old picture I found this. It's a color version of a black and white drawing I posted a long time ago. I figured I'd go ahead and post it since I haven't posted much lately. If you snoop around you can find the black and white version.

In other news, I've just recently completed a 32-page Gold Key style comic book. Now I'm looking around for a printer who does newsprint. That's surprisingly difficult to find these days. Supposedly the newsprint paper is dusty and mucks up a digital printer. It's funny because back in the day newsprint was used because it was cheaper. Now it's more expensive than fancy shiny white paper. I wanted newsprint for nostalgic reasons. If anyone knows where I can get a comic book printed the old fashioned way let me know.

PINOCCHIO VS DRACULA

VLAD THE IMPALA

Wakka wakka!

FRANK, BAT and MUSTACHIOED MONKEY-FACE MAN

Here are some post-it note doodles that have been scanned and colored. I like the look of simple 2-tone shades much more than airbrushed shading when it comes to black outlined drawings.




I don't enjoy modern comics because of the airbrushed shading they all have. I don't know exactly why it bothers me so much. Maybe it's because of nostalgia for the older flat color style. It wouldn't bother me so much if all the objects had a singular light source, but when I see them it looks like different objects in the same picture are lit separately in a way so each object has it's own uniquely-placed spotlight.

It's weird (to me) to shade something if it's already outlined. If it's shaded then the outlines aren't even necessary. If something isn't shaded then outlines are needed to delineate the forms and shapes. Having both is like wearing boots on top of shoes.

Since I'm already whining about comics, also I don't like the shiny glary paper. I liked old newsprint. It's both cheaper AND easier to see. Also it tones down the gaudy primary colors into something pleasing. I miss the advertisements too. Twinkies ads were just as fun as the actual comics pages.

I always wonder if they quit spending so much time airbrushing, and used cheap paper, and made the books half-full of ads if I could afford them again.

Whoever's in charge, hurry up and fix this stuff!

MASTERSON BAT

This is a model sheet for a grumpy bat cartoon character. I temporarily named him Masterson Bat, but I also like Gus Guano. Alternately I guess his name could be Bat Masterson but that gives the joke away.

I don't really have any plans for him as of yet, but he's fun to draw so I wanna use him for something.

BATCAVE PLAQUE

Here's an easy project you can make in a day. A BATCAVE plaque! Woohoo! It looks good hanging in a work shop or den, or under the carport or out in the garage, or in the living room (if you're spouse allows it.)


First I folded a piece of paper in half and drew and cut out half-a-bat. The clunkier you make it the more Sixties-y it will look. I unfolded and traced the bat onto a scrap piece of wood, and cut it out on a band saw.


I sanded the edges a little bit and sprayed it with gloss black enamel paint.


Then I cut out a lettering mask with an Exacto blade. I had to make little triangles with masking tape for holes in the "A" and "B" letters. I was going to paint the letters white but I was out of white spray paint so I used silver. I think silver made it more snazzy, like something on the tv show.

I used a regular sheet of paper since it was easy to cut. Since it was paper and it was flimsy there was some over-spray(under-spray?) under the edges of the letter openings. After I sprayed it the paint absorbed into the paper and curled it so paint was able to get in where it wasn't supposed to. When you paint it you need to be quick. As an alternative you could use something a bit thicker, like a donut box lid, or you could take the time to make little inside-out rolls of tape to hold the mask down to the wood. I was in too big of a hurry and did it the sloppy way. I kind of liked the over-sprayed look though. It seemed industrial.

The thickness isn't really important. This one measures 5/8" thick. Now all it needs is a hook on the back to hang it.


The requirements for this project are:

A piece of wood
Black enamel spray paint
White (or Silver or Yellow) enamel spray paint
A couple pieces of paper for cutting out the bat shape, and the lettering mask
Masking tape
Scissors
A pencil
a band saw
Sand paper
A hook to hang it
A desire to be awesome

TOM ATKINS SHIRT

My new "best shirt in my closet." I don't even know if I wanna wear it and mess it up. Maybe I'll just wear it on very special occasions, like weddings or job interviews.



I got it from the man himself. Even if you don't know him by name you would probably recognize his face.

Everyone else was doing it, so I did it. Now I regret it.

FILIPINO BATMAN AND ROBIN

ATTENTION: SPOILER ALERT!

If you plan on watching the Filipino Batman and Robin movie some time in your life, don't watch this video and see the wonderously magical ending.

DOCTOR DRAVEN

Here's a doodle of a bat/ghost/vampire creature. I don't know what he is actually.


Here he is with some color.


And since I love the 60s Batman tv show so much, I totally ripped off that Batman bat logo with the text in it. Nowadays kids don't even know who Adam West is anymore so maybe I'm safe in this thievery! Ha Ha! Suckas!

BAT CAUGHT IN THE ACT

CLICK TO SEE HALF-TONE DOT DETAIL
I was wanting to make a horrorific comic-style bat, but instead of looking horrifying, he looks more like he's just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. I liked that better anyway.

I made up a philosophy for pictures like this:
When in doubt
Black it out.
This method probably works best with "scary" pictures. I tried a few things on his fingers, like hair and tendons and veins, and nothing looked all that good. I colored it in black and then it worked better. This way the texture and dimension of his hand is created in the viewer's mind. That way it's as perfect as it can be. More black would have been even better, and I know this is a bad reason, but I didn't want to use up my ink pen on this practice doodle drawing.

There wasn't enough paper so his hand couldn't open up like it needed to (see below.)

Later (in the picture above) I opened it up a bit more.

BLOOD COUNT #5

It's the 1st time nobody dies at the end. It also debuts the Count's horde of vampire women.

BLOOD COUNT #4

When you think about it there are cross shapes on just about everything, even evil stuff. If you were a vampire I don't believe you'd be as bold or as cool as the movies make vampires out to be. I bet you'd more likely hide in your apartment all day with the lights out, and get the jitters every time you heard a bump.

BLOOD COUNT #3

CLICK TO ENLARGE

Originally there were bats in the sky but I felt like they served no purpose and cluttered it up, so I instructed them to skeedaddle. I also didn't want people to think the bats somehow played a part in the joke. Since these are minimalist style comics I figured if an entity didn't absolutely have a specific purpose for being there it needed to not be there.

BAT PENDANT

Happy Halloween month!


I dug an envelope out of the trash and cut out half a bat shape at the folded edge, so when I opened the paper fold I had the whole bat. I used some wire to make chain loops to hang it. I found a necklace chain in a parking lot a few years ago so I used it too. The only thing I actually bought was a package of fake red jewels of various sizes.


The bat shape was traced onto a thin piece of Butternut. Butternut is very soft; nearing the realm of Balsa wood, but not quite. That made it really quick to carve.

The way to carve a bat is simple: cut off everything that's not a bat, and then the bat will be all that's left. That bat was always in this wood; I just removed the parts he was encased in.

One thing about carving soft wood: You have to have razor-sharp chisels and knives or the blade will tear through the wood rather than cut it, leaving a crummy rough surface.


I painted it all black first, and then dry-brushed it with silver paint, and glued on the fake jewels and it was mostly done. I put an eye screw into his head, and made 2 links with wire, and VOILA!


Carving wood is not much different than carving clay. The only thing you need to watch is grain direction. As long as you go with the grain you will never have splits or tear-outs. There's really only one direction that will give you fits.


I think of grain direction as pages in an open book. If I were to rake my fingernail along the edge of the pages in a downward direction, the pages would remain as they are. If I did the same thing in an upward direction all the pages would separate and split apart.


If you are unsure of the grain direction, carve a little bit and see if it begins to split. If not, keep going! If it does start to split, stop and go the other way.

THE SEA BAT

Here's a DVD cover cover illustration I did for an old 1930 movie called "The Sea Bat." Boris Karloff has a very small role in it. The Sea Bat looks pretty realistic for a movie from the 30s; so much so, I wonder if they found some giant dead sea bat and drug it around on a wire.

My friend Allen sells this movie. Ask me for his phone number if you want it.

STUFFED BAT

I got this taxidermy bat when I went to Thailand last Summer. I thought it was the greatest thing in the world when I saw it, and it was only about $3 or $4 dollars American money. I bet it was even cheaper than that, but since I was a tourist I got the high price. It's fairly large too; it's got a 13" wingspan. He's got red glass eyes which give him a seriously creepy expression. It says "HAIRLESS BAT" but he's got a pretty hairy body.

Mei was okay with me buying it. She said it would look very nice in my TV room. Translation: It ain't going in the living room.

I was worried I wouldn't get him onto the plane because they give you a card to fill out, and it asks if you are bringing any food, soil, or animals into the country. I talked with someone and they said at this point it's no more an animal than my leather belt and I'd be okay. I was surprised the window of the glass box wasn't shattered with the way luggage guys fling suitcases.

I bought it pretty early on in my vacation, and after I bought the thing, it consumed my every thought. I worried the entire trip I was gonna break it or lose it, or it would be stolen. Mei would periodically comfort me and tell me nothing would happen to it, but I felt like something was bound to happen. Usually when I like something that much, fate will destroy it. Amazingly though it did make it home.

Here's an unfinished bat drawing: