I did comics once upon a time. I was a penciller for DC Vertigo. "Animal Man" was my title with a few guest pages in "Doom Patrol". At Marvel I was an inker and finisher for Marvel Comics Presents, Dr. Strange, Savage Sword of Conan, and other pin-ups here and there. I didn't grow up with that goal in mind, but being in New York City, this is what I had the opportunity to do so I did. I learned so much! I worked with many different artists. Some good and some bad but I think I came across some new knowledge from all.

Since then I have become friends with even more comic book artists who inspire me. Of course my good friend Steve Ellis, and Dean Haspiel, and Gregory Benton.
They do more personal comic book work that doesn't always deal with a fight scene. Their themes are more adult oriented and they and the slew of others I don't have the time to write down and link to inspire my desire to tell some stories. 

This is my character "Klunk". He's loosely based on me. Very loosely. Because you are here looking at this and because I have a keyboard connected to my computer in front of me I will share his story with you... or at least an explanation of the character. Klunk appears to wear a gas mask. It is a metaphorical device I use so the reader is able to get past what he looks like and go immediately to what he "feels" like. The viewer never sees Klunk's face. This is my personal challenge. How do I get across the full range of emotions and expressions a faced character can do? I like the idea that although the viewer can't see his whole face but a character in the strip might say something like Klunk you have a piece of tentacle stuck between your teeth" implying that they can see his whole face.

So here is a Klunk story he is barely in. And you can interpret it in several ways, which I like.

Reworking a composition I don't like in gouache but I'm using Oxgall medium this time. I never tried it before even though I've known of it for years. It seems pretty cool. A subtle difference from just using water but it is definitely different!

Molly, my GF, had a great 2015 and topped it off with a successful book launch and tour of her book "Drawing Blood" from Harper Collins... no relation. In her mind she thought she was very difficult to live with this last year as she wrote her book and planned all the details around it to be a success. Truth, she wasn't any harder to live with than any other time! Well I wasn't going to argue as she wanted to treat me to a three day get-away to New Orleans... Come to think of it I guess she was a bitch!... and you made a mess in the studio! Is that worth at least a trip to Pittsburgh? HA!

We spent all three days going from food, to coffee shop, to more food, to a hookah lounge, to roaming all over the Bywater, French Quarter, and the Garden District. This was one of the doodles in my sketchpad at a coffee shop. We had the best time and I would even go so far as saying it was perfect. I love that girl!

I played around with it in Photo Shop a bit. I think it'll make a nice painting eventually.