Black Sky Concepts

Gestating rough ideas in a mad rush before San Diego Comic-con. This is the next thing I'll be putting time into after I finally wrap CHOKER for awhile. Post-apocalyptic "Band of Brothers" type thing...with volcanic squid.

For more info, check out the MTV blog, Splashpage.

Kane & Lynch #3 Cover

The third and final cover I'm doing for the Kane and Lynch game related comic.

Got more stuff coming, oh so much more, just completely buggered with work and playing catchup after SDCC right now.

What is a typical work day like for you?

Currently there are no typical work days for me.

If I had to say, they'd mostly involve being sat at a desk, in front of the computer/drawing area in front of it, where I peer out to the internet to keep sane while drawing/inking/painting/photoshopping until the small hours of the morning, stumbling to bed then repeating soon as I properly rouse myself the next day.

Ask me anything

RACKED LA

I made the RACKED LA fashion blog! Apparently I'm some sort of slight fashionista now, ( Or just a pretentious prick in a suit...yeah, probably just that ) but I do the clothing enough that it's worthy of a fashion blog to cover me & a few of my friends.

They got it slightly wrong though. My suits are tailor made, so are the shirts, in Asia, as copies of an original Ben Sherman suit that was off the rack ( and thus nowhere near as well fitting ) Wish he'd got me on another day when I was wearing my custom cobra skin shoes though. Dang it.

It's definitely nice that someone was there willing to put media out there that not all comic types wear star trek outfits all the time. It's nice to break stereotypes instead of enforce them ( which is what mainstream media usually does in my experience, ).

I know you don't get much sleep, and you're always overworked, and you're life is crazy and hectic, but on those rare occasions when you are able to relax, step back, and look at it all, is it all worth it?

When I look back on all I have done, it's all because of comics. It's all because I would work through the night sometimes, if need be, when everyone else was out having fun on a friday or saturday night.

Is it all worth it? I have am amazing live. Even during the down times, I wouldn't trade it for anything. And I thank every single person who ever bought a book because I drew the silly little thing.

Ask me anything

San Diego Comic-Con 2010

It's OVER. Regular sleep ( somewhat ) can resume.

Drawing. Oh so much drawing.
Shaking hands.
Meeting new people.
Meeting old people.
Making dirty jokes.
Drinking.
No sleep.
Selling SQUIDGIRLS.
Shaking more hands.
Remembering why I do comics.
Destroying my brain trying to remember people's names after since meetings over the previous year...
More drinking.
Learning my place has about a 4 guest limit before we enter Bangledeshi illegal immigrant worker dormitory territory.
More drinking.
LIVE ART and suit abuse!
Even less sleep.
Remembering what's important to me.
Walking like an old man for 4 hours.
Saying goodbye to old friends and new.

Huge thanks to all you lovely people who came out.

More pictures...like this...soon.

Yes, I am an utter tool. I never said otherwise.

Signing off...

For about a week I guess as the geek rapture that is San Diego Comic-con starts tomorrow night (but drinking & being busy starts NOW )

So just a reminder on where to find me, since one of the most common senstences I ever hear at a con is "I didn't know you were here!"

If you're going to the con, have a good one, be safe, drink/eat some things other than alcohol once in awhile and enjoy.

Kane & Lynch SDCC

Am told via Ben Abernathy that there's going to be a special fancy lithograph available at San Diego Comic-Con with one of the covers I did. Only 1000 of them, I'm guessing at the DC comics booth. I'll happily sign any that come my way, so just bring them over to the Image Comics area, where I'll be rooted to when not in meetings/panels/interviews/tomfoolery with my new chums, the Westboro Baptist Christian fundamentalists.

SQUIDGIRLS at SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON

Unlike 2001 A Space Odyssey, it's not full of stars.

It's full of tentacles.

Cyberman Work In Progress...

A few shots of how the Cyberman I did for my San Diego Comic-con promo  looked before it came about. ( & yeah, for those that sadly miss out on the con, I put the piece up on ebay too. )





Forgot to take pics in the pencil only stage. Here he is, all inked and I've been adding pencil tones.





More pencil and I start with the watercolour washes.





After a lot more layers and washes, I work back into it with a white pen.



How it looks as an original piece of art before I whack it on the computer.



I layer some previously painted textures and such into the image, do a bit of darkening up parts of the armour and highlight a few others. A little lighting for kicks before I add some tonal colour to get the final image that becomes my promo piece for San Diego Comic-Con. Huzzah!

5 Days to Die... with a Cyberman

You will be deleted.

Cyberman without all the text on it. I want to do all the Who villains, old and new versions, one day.

5 Days to Die

I recently did a cover for Andy Schmidt's 5 DAYS TO DIE and right now is apparently a good time to order it and as with all smaller titles, every order counts! Tis a good little book, I've read the first issue and the art suits it perfectly, by the artbot known as "Chee". It's from IDW.

Here's all the info you need, have at thee.

Andy on twitter: @comicexperience

Link to CBR article about 5 DAYS: www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26937

Podcast with me about 5 DAYS and a bunch of other stuff on Comic Book Geek Speak: www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes/comic_geek_speak-1124.php

And here are the Diamond Order Codes:

Issue 1: JUL10 0331

Issue 2: JUL10 0333

Issue 3: JUL10 0335

Issue 4: JUL10 0337

Issue 5: JUL10 0339

Where I'll be this San Diego Comic-con

What the poster says basically!

Click for the larger version.

are you going to be at NYC comicon?

Yes, I'm apparently a guest this year, because the NYCCC crew are awesome.

Ask me anything

Vale Harvey Pekar

"I think comics have far more potential than a lot of people realize."
1939-2010

Fresh Brains

Between CHOKER pages and general life stuff, to stop myself going insane I did up a few zombie sketches on some cards I found. Here's the results! Yeah, I whacked em up on ebay afterwards too:

Zombie card 1
Zombie card 2
Zombie card 3
Zombie card 4

Here's a bit of a step by step on them:



Zombie card 1 inks



Zombie card 1 watercolour



Zombie card 1 finito



Zombie card 2 inks



Zombie card 2 watercolour



Zombie card 2 finito



Zombie card 3 inks



Zombie card 3 watercolour



Zombie card 3 finito



Zombie card 4 inks



Zombie card 4 watercolour



Zombie card 4 finito

Where I am on the web & Wormwood: L'invasion des tentacules

L'invasion des tentacules !

From the fine folks at Delcourt.

You'll be able to grab it here from the French Amazon site soonish.

Expect proper news on new Wormwood in english around October or so. Yes, I'll be at San Diego Comic-con. Copies of Squidgirls, Fell & commissions ahoy!

Also, if you weren't aware of just where I infect/people tolerate my presence on the internets... check out whichever one works for you most.

My Deviantart
MyTwitter.
My main site.
My myspace.
My books!
MyTumblr.
My blog.
My Livejournal
My Flickr
My Cafepress

Ghengis Khan's geneology.

From an exhibition out in San Jose

Ghengis sure did a lot of f***ing.

Ever going to update your cafepress store?

Just for you, I did. Slightly. May The Squid Be With You. ( In mug & water bottle form just for now )

http://www.cafepress.com/templesmitharts

Ask me anything

A little bit of Cobra

Done a ways back for Cobra: Origins.

A little bit of Wormwood

DRACULA Original Cover

I did another of those "Draw your own cover" books between CHOKER pages and about a thousand other things. ( I still have a couple of these things left, plus a few other titles that may make an appearance someday. For now, this Dracula is up on Ebay.

These books are probably some of the most fun things I get to do, since they're quick, easy warm ups and let's face it, I won't be doing *actual* covers for most of the classics in the Penguin line any time soon.