GI Joe Wraparound before and after...

Since the Baroness went down so well, not sure if I ever showed any WIP for the other one I did, so here's a before and after.

This is pretty much the original but I had already started to add photo bits of smoke in which I then darkened up, just to add some volume kinda to the billowing smoke. Apart from that it was all tonal colour & selective little dodge and burning highlights. Oh yeah, & a touch of fire of course.

Singularity7 art on Ebay

Don't remember if I've ever put anything from it up before actually. A piece from the very first project I ever wrote and drew myself. Cheers to everyone who checked out the last auction. I was quite bowled over by the interest.

If you want to see what happens with this one, the auction is here.

Step by Step Art. G.I. Joe Baroness One-shot! In February...

Come February, there should be a GI Joe Baroness One-shot out from IDW Publishing. I'm drawing it! ( No not a movie one, from the comics stuff, which I obviously much prefer ) Finally got the ok so I don't feel naughty showing a bit of how the cover ( or one of them ) went...

Started off with a basic line drawing I did up, regular size so I can get more of a handle on it. I then blew it up & transposed it to a large toned sheet of Reeves paper.



Lots of painting. Ink, acrylic, some charcoal too I think . I kinda forgot to take many photos during this whole part of the process. Sorry! Here it is, basically finished before the computer work.



A closer pic.



I wrote a comment for this one twice already actually, but it's been failing to load so I keep losing it.

Suffice to say, here's the basic scan, just with a little hint of a photo mouth and nose ( from a bunch I keep on file ) plus a little airbrushing to flesh out and add a little realism to the faces. I do that often.



Next up I just go about darkening and lighting the image via some dodge and burn. Apart from anything it brings out the natural painty texture stuff I have going on in the original. I also drop an overlay of an old photo I took of a concrete floor, since I like the crack lines it has.



This was my first final in colours. I work tonally pretty much, and blend everything in in stages. Kind of a big fan of coloured lighting that gives hues to everything.

Only, uh, problem was...I accidentally saved over the image as a jpeg only. Not really the best if you want to go to print...so I had to redo it...in the next image. This one is lost to the ether!



The err..."final" final... I couldn't replicate the initial colours I cam up with...but I don't mind this one either. A bit warmer, probably stand out on a shelf a little more perhaps.

A Blast From the Past

Since I can't really show any of the stuff I'm working on right now, here's an oldie but a goodie ( well for me ). Did a whole bunch of kooky slightly odd assassin type characters in an old art book called CONLUVIO which is now, sadly pretty hard to find and out of print. Here's another favourite of mine from it.

New Wasteland Cover

I never seem to get around to posting Wasteland covers I do much, so here's one I recently did. I got real excited about this one as I wanted to kind of make it a riff on the very first one I did. A big ol' face. This time of Dexus.

If you've not heard of Wasteland, from ONI Press before, do yourself a favour and check the official website. It takes place one hundred years after the Big Wet, a disaster that destroyed most of the world as we know it. It's by the talented Antony Johnston & Chris Mitten.

Alrighty, back to the work. Sadly it's non comics stuff I probably won't be allowed to show anytime soon, if ever.

Wormwood Original Art up on Ebay

Finally put another piece of art up on Ebay. Check it out here. Figured it was time to offer up another little bit of Wormwood! This page is from Calamari Rising, issue 3 of 4, page 13. My kitties need food. Hell, so do I, though I can't eat much fun stuff anymore due to high blood pressure. Apparently I'll explode or something.

Interview at SDCC with the iFanboy.com crew

Yap yap yap with McCool and I, about what? CHOKER of course. ( click the link if the video doesn't show )



Snowed under right now with a plethora of deadlines. Been doing so much travel the last few weeks the actual work days have been fewer than I'd like. Back to regular blog postings next week I'd say. Of course, I'm also working on a bunch of stuff I'm not allowed to show at all, so I'll have to figure out something to keep you lot interested.

The Beginnings of CHOKER

Destined to be in Liberty Comics #2, from Image Comics, Ben McCool and myself in October.

Third Coast Comics, Chicago Signing!

Hence my one, vaguely Chicago related image.

I'll be signing/chatting/drinking and whatever else the kind folks at Third Coast Comics want me to do...so drop on by if you're anywhere near. I don't get out that way often at all.

YES, I will have some original art on me. YES, you can bring as much as you want for me to sign. YES, it'd be even more awesome if you bought some stuff from the store as well!

Details! ( And possibly now, an over use of exclamation points! )

Third Coast Comics Signing

Third Coast Comics
6234 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60660
www.thirdcoastcomics.com
August 15th 2009
2:00PM to 7:00 PM
Chicago, IL, USA

Laughing Ogre, Washington DC/VA Signing

Cheers to everyone who stopped by! Was great to meet you all. And special thanks to Norah, Gary and the gang for getting me out there in the first place. No only did I get to come out, I got to see a few of the landmarks that, as a foreign type, were rather awesome to view. Was great to see the Whitehouse, the Lincoln memorial, Washington monument and more.

Also, if you couldn't make the signing, never fear, I signed basically every book they have in stock of mine at Laughing Ogre, hopefully available at all 3 of their stores, so check em out.

Next weekend I'll be in Chicago. See the "appearances section" on my actual website for details and I'll blog more about that tomorrow too.

Well, I like it.

Mr Templesmith Goes to Washington DC

Basically, yeah. Thanks to the kind folks at Laughing Ogre Comics I'll be signing at a store in the area, and also sweating my arse off apparently, around the United States Capitol this weekend. I'm told hot and humid ( err, the weather, not myself ) will be the order of the day.

SO.... if you're in the Virginia/Maryland/DC/Wherever else is sort of close area...come say hi.


Laughing Ogre Comics Signing
8th August 2009
www.laughingogrecomics.com
I'll signing anything, including babies!

Laughing Ogre Comics Lansdowne Shopping Center
19340 Promenade Drive Lansdowne,
VA 20176

Time: 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm.

CHOKER makes it's first list

Of vaguely interesting stuff.

You don't have to vote for it obviously, but it's super nice it's even noteworthy enough to be on the poll over at Bleedingcool.com .

Where I Am On The Internets...

Realized I've probably never told everyone where the hell I am. I'm in lots of places, some people know me from and others you've probably never heard of. So, in the interests of being cohesive, here's where I am on the interwubs:

Main website Templesmith.com
Twitter
Blogspot.com
Facebook
Flickr
Myspace
Livejournal
Tumblr
Deviantart
Blip.fm
Comicvine.com

And now... the proto site for CHOKER is launched at: WWW.CHOKERCOMIC.COM. Expect more to be up there as we get closer to it hitting shelves.

Bloody hell, that's a lot of sites.

Logo by Babe Elliot Baker- www.spiritform.com