Artist or Reptile?

Well, this one ain't gonna sculpt Saint Mark for the linen weavers' guild!

...

...no one? Anyone? Bueller?

Screw it.

Anyway, this page was done on a whim for some portfolios I sent out over the weekend. This was sent to one editor in particular, but I already got a reply, so I don't think I'll be doing anything soon with these childhood heroes.

Not never, just not this year probably.

Anyway, fun page for me to throw together.

Double Midnight Sketch Club - Adventure Strode!

Double Midnight Comics is an awesome comic book store in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Sadly, they're about two hours away from me, so I really only see the guys when I attend the comic convention they put on, Granite State ComiCon (aka, GraniteCon).

This is truly a bummer, now that they've started a once-a-week sketch night called Sketch Club. I never have time to attend.

However, as of last night, I got my Livestream working again (by DOWNGRADING the software - ugh), so I thought I'd tele-participate via the web, and sketch along with those in physical attendance at Double Midnight (even if I couldn't see what they were working on until they were done.

So, last night's subject was officially Adventure Time... but one of the club members, Jim Valliere, really wanted to draw The Strange Talent of Luther Strode. He proposed a crossover.

So that's what I did;



If you'd like to see me draw the piece above (in Manga Studio EX 4), click here --> [CLICKY]. The stream is about an hour and forty-seven minutes long, but more than a half hour of that, interspersed within, is me stepping away from the keyboard, or using another program off-screen for a moment.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun drawing this piece, so I shared it with the group on Facebook, with Double Midnight, and on Twitter. And as of now, I've gotten many a thumbs up, including cheers from Justin Jordan, Tradd Moore, and Felipe Sobreiro, the writer, artist, and colorist (respectively) on Luther Strode!

So that's pretty nifty.

I look forward to participating in more Double Midnight Comics Sketch Club shenanigans as my schedule allows!

Cheers!

~Blair

PS - Did I mention I got a proof of the back cover of the upcoming The Guild, Volume 2 TPB in my inbox today? The back cover featuring my artwork? The back cover partially covering the awesome The Guild comics written/co-written by the awesome Felicia Day? I didn't mention that? Well, that happened too.

DOROTHY OF OZ Sneak Peek 2!

Here's another approved sneak peek at DOROTHY OF OZ: PREQUEL #1 (of 4), written by Denton Tipton, line work by me, and colors by the super-talented Joana Lafuente.



Something's been stolen from the Wizard's Tower which, as you can tell, has the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion a bit worried.

If you want to know what has gone missing, you'll have to grab a copy of the comic on March 21st (estimated street date), brought to you by us and the folks at IDW Publishing!

Enjoy!

All Cut Open

I still owe a Gallifrey One 2012 wrap-up - but that'll hold off to tell you what's been going on the past week or so...

I've been out of the loop since last Wednesday. Why? Well a minor medical problem I had since last summer, originally thought to be a lipoma (I'll let you Google that) got worse/more painful in the past two months. I had an ultrasound. Then I had an MRI.

On Tuesday my doctor finally came up with a diagnosis - I had an abdominal hernia (once again, Google that). Specifically, my omentum was coming up between my abs just above my umbilicus.

Not life threatening, but would eventually need surgery.

Except I woke up on Wednesday in increased pain, and with a 102° fever. I worked at my desk for a few hours, but the pain was pretty significant. So I called my doctor's office. I was told to come in.

Long and the short, the hernia was incarcerated (once again, Google), and while I could go home, I wouldn't get any better, and in fact, would start to feel worse.

So they kept me, and 11 AM on Thursday, they operated.

I've been home since Friday, and it's been a hairy few days. The original pain is of course gone, but it's been replaced by weakness, pain from the incision (I have 14 staples!) and drain hole next to it, and brain scrambling from the oxycodone I've been prescribed for the pain.

Right now is the first time I've felt right enough to sit at my desk since I left on Wednesday.

So I'll be fine, I get my staples out on Friday, but have a few weeks of taking it easier than I'd normally like to ahead.

But I've had an experience... so... there's that?

No more Marvels.

I bet you were expecting a Gallifrey One wrap up. Well, it's coming.

Just wanted to drop a bit of a PSA. This won't be a unique PSA, as you'll see many artists, amateur to big time pro doing the same. Anyone else who ignores does it at their own peril - but hey, it's their life/livelihood, and I can't force them to live it the way I do - but I sure as hell am going to control my life.

In light of the Gary Friedrich case, and other instances like this --> [CLICK] <-- I will no longer do sketches of Marvel characters at conventions. DC seems to be a bit more lax at the moment, so for now I might do original sketches of them, but anything Marvel is no-go. And no matter the character, unless I own it, I will never have sketchbooks, prints, whatever - anything mechanically reporoduced - on my con tables for sale.

And if I get a C&D from anyone to stop sketching at cons, I'll go the route of Sean Murphy, and suspend all non-owned-by-myself-or-personally-allowed-to-draw consketches and private commissions.

Many companies looked the other way for years, but are starting to look back in our direction. I don't make even a fraction of the money it would take to go to court with one of these companies, so I'll just avoid the whole affair altogether.

This'll also mean that I, someone who only tables at a couple shows a year, will probably reduce that to more like one show, namely GraniteCon in Manchester, as I can't afford to go to shows if I have nothing to sell but comics and/or non-Marvel consketches.

That means no more of this -->



<-- on FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. Yeah. No free Venom/Spidey/Marvel-anything on FCBD. Cos I won't even risk FREE with Marvel. If I draw a Marvel character, it's staying in my OWN sketchbook.

Will I still do full-color digital fan art of whatever for myself, and post them on my blog? Sure... until we starting hearing about Disney/WB cracking down on fan art as well. Then I'll just fucking give that up too. Cos, you KNOW they're not too many years out from trying to control what we draw in our own homes and post on the internet.

Sounds like paranoia - but so does Sean Murphy's case above - but that happened. And I know of similar cases with smaller creators.

So... there you go. Reality squishes the lil' guy. Sorry, but I've got a family to think of, and putting a 15-minute sketch of Spidey in a book for you, or a color print of Wolverine on your wall isn't worth thousands of dollars in court.