in stores tomorrow:

POPGUN 2:

featuring a story by Ulises Farinas with colors by Ben DeRosa. See previous post for some preview pages.

Art-Burn Team-up GO! Popgun 2 preview @ act-i-vate.

Act-i-vate has a posted some Popgun 2 previews, including Leaf & August by Ulises, with colors by me (Ben).

read it!

Giraffe-man is going to be a huge hit...

Here's an interesting piece on alex ross, photo-reliant/mimicking art and what it's done to comics. The comment section is mostly worth reading as well.

What drives me crazy though, (even if i agree with the central premise: ross=lame, fumetti-esque comics=suck) is how photo reference has somehow become a catch all pejorative term for quasi-plagarism/lazy/crutch-for-the-unskilled.

Photo reference doesn't mean photocopying, tracing, duplicating, or stealing a photograph. Photo reference means just what it sounds like. It's reference. It's the visual research you do, so you know and understand what it is you're planning to draw. Let's imagine I'm drawing a comic that features a giraffe (yes, the imagination is a terrifyingly powerful thing). I have a vague idea of what giraffes look like in my head. I know they have long necks, and sort of look like a cross between camels and horses, but beyond that it's pretty fuzzy. How long is the neck in the relationship to the body? They've got those knob things on their heads, but what exactly do they look like? and where exactly are they on the head; are they behind the ears, or between the ears? And what the hell kind of ears do they have? Shit if I know off the top of my head.

photo by digitalART2

photo by cornstaruk

photo by Wildcat Dunny

Oh, that's what they look like. Now I can draw any giraffe I want. Thanks, photo reference. And thanks, baby giraffe...

photo by Ron D’Raine

important news!

Oh, i'm in it. This is shameless self promotion. Cool huh?

HERE COMES A SPIDERMAAAAAN!!!

After speaking with Jonny, not Sperry, but Hill about comics (likes & dislikes), i decided i'd draw a Spiderman comic how i'd like to see it done (By me). So here are the first two pages of a spiderman comic. They are sorta dark, so you can see the lines easier, since i didnt feel like inking them. So check this shit ouT!!!




WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO OUR BELOVED WEB HEAD?! Find out later...

cartoon

I did this just for fun. its my first time inking with a wacom. tell me what you think.

Herge

Here is something I ran across in the New York Times
A Congolese student has initiated legal action in Belgium to have the 1931 comic book “Tintin in the Congo” declared racist and removed from bookstores, Reuters reported. “It’s racist, and it is filled with colonial-era propaganda,” said the student, Mbutu Mondondo Bienvenu, who lives in Brussels. He is also seeking symbolic damages of one euro ($1.38) from Moulinsart, a company that owns the rights to Tintin but does not publish the comic. Belgian prosecutors said a judge’s decision on proceeding with Mr. Bienvenu’s motion could take six months. A spokesman for Moulinsart said: “The book dates back to 1931 and has to be seen in the context of the time. We are surprised to see this complaint after so many years.” Some stores in Britain and the United States have moved the book from their children’s shelves to the space for adult graphic novels. This year is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Georges Remi, the writer and artist who created the popular series under the name Hergé.

OH!

Just a doodle comic I made on acetate paper, paint markers and rapidographs. The sloppy look is intentional.

Online Comics.... The Future?

I found this pretty interesting.

Do online comics, and get paid. Problem is DC 0wns your work, or at least I'd imagine they would.

Still not a bad deal. Thoughts?

TIME TRAVELLING TV HEADED ROBOT COP GOOO!!

Initial drawing of TV headed robot concept. I don't have any good designs for his legs. Also, I want him to wear clothing but I haven't come up withi anything too good to show. Comments? Suggestions?

*EDIT*
I just drew and colored this after reading the comments. I'm trying really hard not to make him look like Kanti. I gave him a fin and a uniform of sorts. I also rounded his TV head a bit more. I also wanna make his head bigger.

Immonen + Spider-Man 3 + free comic

Stuart Immonen draws a Spider-Man 3 comic for Target. Check it out...

also, about Alumni cards for those who don't check their SVA email

To request an Alumni ID card, call or e-mail Alumni Affairs. Please provide your name, current home address and phone number and we will mail you the card. You may also pick up an Alumni ID card in person. Office hours are Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

Office of Alumni Affairs
214 East 21 Street, Room 200A
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212.592.2300
E-mail: alumni@sva.edu
Website: www.sva.edu/alumni

alumni get $50 off continuing ed courses.

Alex Toth

Every few months or so i go through my Alex Toth craze and become amazed at how incredible an artist he really was. And whenever i go through a new search of his work, theres tons of stuff I've never even seen before, which just goes to show the enormous amount of work he was able to produce in his lifetime. This piece i recently came across and was blown away by it. The way he's able to get body language, realistic shadows and action across simply with the use of whatever was lying around(sharpies, pens, brushes,ect.) is something you don't see too often. If you haven't already seen this one before, enjoy! Wow, I guess I'm officially a member of artburn now!

Nick Bertozzi Book Release Events

Hi Friends,
Please forgive the mass-email, but there have been a ton of developments
in the world of Bertozzi. April is the release-month for my comics THE
SALON (St Martin's Press-April 18th) and HOUDINI: THE HANDCUFF KING
written by Jason Lutes and drawn by me (CCS/Hyperion-Out now!). There's
a bunch of events that I'll be doing to celebrate, so please come by to
any or all.
For the Village Pourhouse event we're asking for donations for the Comic
Book Legal Defense Fund to offset the nearly $100k spent by the fund to
defend retailer Gordon Lee who was arrested because of a preview copy
of THE SALON.
I'll be sending follow-up emails as the events get closer, so please
tell me if you'd like me to take you off of this list.
Thank you!

Nick Bertozzi

EVENTS
April 23rd-Tuesday 7pm MacNally-Robinson Bookstore Reading. For those
of you who are too young to drink alcohol, please come to this event!
52 Prince St, New York, NY http://www.mcnallyrobinsonnyc.com

April 26th-Thursday 7pm-Midnight THE SALON Book Launch Party to Benefit
the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at The Village Pourhouse 64 Third Ave
(Corner of 11th St), Newy York, NY. Live music by The Cangelosi Cards.
7-8 Open Bar and Food ($20 and up donation), 8-12 ($10 and up suggested
donation), 2-for-1 Absolut drinks all night.

April 28th-Saturday 2-4pm SALON/HOUDINI Signing at Big Planet Comics,
4908 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD http://www.bigplanetcomics.com/

May 9th-Wednesday SALON Reading at Happy Ending, 302 Broome St, New
York, NY

May 12th-Saturday 7pm-10 SALON/HOUDINI Signing at Rocketship Comics, 208
Smith St, Brooklyn, NY

I'm planning to attend the MoCCA Arts Festival June 23rd/24th, the San
Diego Comic Convention July 26-29, and the Small Press Expo (Bethesda,
MD) October 12-13.

Attention New Englanders, there'll be a private SALON party in RI on
Sunday, May 27th. More info to come.

VIDEO
My sister Vanessa just put the finishing touches on this great
mini-documentary that she made, "NICK BERTOZZI UNCUT: THE MAKING OF THE
SALON" watch it here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7441654662611402262&pr=goog-sl

She also made a great promo for THE SALON:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2145321546792389019&q=the+salon+bertozzi

PUBLICATIONS
There have also been some wicked cool publishing updates to tell you
about:

The April 16th edition of the free METRO Newspaper (NY, Philadelphia,
Boston) has a great write-up of THE SALON and HOUDINI: THE HANDCUFF
KING on page 15.

ARTnews April Issue features a great write-up of THE SALON on page 30.

THE BELIEVER April Issue features incidental drawings throughout by me.

WIZARD Magazine April issue features a quick write-up of both THE SALON
and HOUDINI: THE HANDCUFF KING.

PLAYBOY online is running a mostly-positive review of THE SALON:
http://playboy.com/arts-entertainment/reviews/books/the-salon/the-salon.html

Also, I just signed a contract from Houghton-Mifflin to draw a
comic-biography of Lenny Bruce, scripted by Harvey Pekar. Due in late
2008.