Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

Cover for the eventual Boondocks Saints II comic prequel from 12 Gauge Comics, tied to the sequel for the flick of the same name. It was a freaking bear, even if you don't go to the San Diego Con deadlines crop up around it and make for a hectic time regardless- this got brutal. Did 30 hours straight on it at one point, slept 2 hours, got up and went again for another 12 or so. AND did another cover directly following in the same week. blahblahblah, nother post.

Percolated watching the movie, going thru reference, drawing other stuff a while before diving in here, wanted something symmetrical. Stanley Kubrick uses symmetry in a way that knocks me on my ass constantly (usually kind of "meh" on it), an in this book "Stanley Kubrick-A Visual Analysis" he refers to it as "the face of god" (if im remembering right, think he also says its "the void staring back". sorry, great book, no index to check). Anyways, the Boondock Saints obviously have a religious thread to the story, between this and Kubrick, was set on a symmetrical, stained-glass window sorta cover. Then the assignment morphed into a wraparound cover/poster, and I got really stuck on how to pull off symmetry in on the right half of the layout (what would be its own cover) when the whole of it had to hold together. Seemed pretty impossible, then found this "Italian Job" poster. hallelujah. Kinda bungled the cross shape I was going for near the bottom. And that guy screaming. ah well, strikes and gutters.

Rico could've colored this about 3 different ways at least, tho still had to juggle his ideas wif a movie studio approval process that tends to favor literal colors- sky is blue, grass is green, etc. I really liked the Bros bottom right all blue. Want to jump in here sir?

Thanks Chris, I'll toss in my two cents. My general allergy to local colors makes me think this movie tie-in stuff may not be for me! It's a shame too, the checks are always a bit better. I wish the seated/smoking guy made the cut, I LOVED him! Anyway, I had the luxury of getting to color Chris' rough layout on this, it's our preferred way to work but it doesn't always work out time-wise. So, I did a couple of different takes on it. It's a good thing I did because we didn't end up using the one I wanted to use, we had something to fall back on, an ace in our pocket. Chris had a few things he wanted the viewer to be able to focus on, the brothers and the geezer with the guns on the front, the cross behind them and the pennies on the ghosts' eyes. It can be a lot to juggle so I tried to keep the rest simple so it didn't turn into a big mess.

Here's what I thought would be the final but the client didn't dig it so we went back to the drawing board. -rico.



my awesome niece, zaria! not a staged photo! she picked FF out herself at the library. and does the spider man web shooting hands w/noises. and kung-fu chops. :)

HeroesCon- whew!

it took awhile to get back to normal post-HeroesCon but things have finally settled down. Shelton, Dusty and the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find crew put on a top show like always; much beloved, appreciated, and never taken for granted. Thanks to them and everyone that stopped by the table, for all the folks we got to catch up with there are even more who i missed in the mad rush trying to finish sketches ("sketches" ;p). only downside was not getting to be there like a fan i am and nerd out at all the amazing artists who attended (and were tough acts to follow- Paul Azaceta, Andy Kuhn.....grrr).
was a spastic 24-7 art factory here at Casa De Gavel during the month leading up, outside of unfinished commissions and the beautiful and shiny golden sketchbook Rico put together at IndigoInk, there've been 5 new pages of Loose Ends come and gone that i can only share in clipped form. sorry.

Rico painted these based on a group argument over whether Wonder Woman could fly ;p and they sold before he finished


salvaged this from an old email rounding up stuff for the sketchbook, the full size file died with the hard drive, but it prints pretty good for a jpg

finally, started up a Deviant Art account: http://kickstandkid78.deviantart.com/
aye, enough babble, have a good one

HeroesCon- nice!

Chris and Rico will both be sitting at the 12 Gauge Comic tables (BOOTH 630/729) at Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina this weekend. It's our favorite show, so come out and say "hi". We have a new art book for sale (pictured above). We also have prints and we'll even draw for you people (for a nominal fee) if you ask.
(drawin for 70's soul singers/dc comic heroes sketchbook. its not done)


(chris draws tiny)


(rico paints)

fox confessors bring the flood

(far from finished colors)




much appreciate folks stopping by for a visit after such long bouts of inactivity, many pages done, just the (relative) best of em have to stay under wraps. hard drive died a few weeks ago, i was so worried about that conflicker virus (despite "being" a mac) id backed up this comic project right before the crash- a rare instance of my general paranoia having an upside. still in mourning for huge amounts of lost reference and itunes, along with finished one-offs like the ninja turtle (previous post). ah well, not the first time, turned out i did not miss having a computer (tho latour would point out i had a handheld handy).

the croaked hard drive also lost a 3-d model i'd built for this scene (so far haven't straight up drawn over models, but its bound to happen. ill fess up) so i drew that model from memory, for the better i guess, but it woulda been nice for all the ellipses. tricky pages, spent a good while working out how to approach a strip club. there's the one loooong night, the first and last time i've been to any, with some older and, uh, saltier friends, where i was profoundly creeped out (and lacking a sense of humor). then there's the fact that i just like drawing pretty girls, it's hard to switch off. so, i dunno, tried to get across a whiff of ick-factor without being disingenuous, and pay attention to what the men were up to (point of the scene); bored/salivating/sympathetic/hateful/gorging/ 'avin a laugh. anyways, im just fricking exhausted from overthinking, so ill spare you. can't say enough about how helpful it was to have latours finished letters for post-thumbnail stages, the course they chart across the page goes a long way and takes off some of the pressure. next scene is a high school house party, can post it all here, super-anxious/excited. in an alternate universe (one where im speedy and not turned off by nostalgia) id be perfectly happy drawing "my so-called life" comics.
rico- no ricky jokes.

rain, i don't mind

Sonny day?

This is Page 1 of the 1st issue of Loose Ends. I'm sure it'll get tweaked before this book sees print sometime this summer. Starting any new project that will be longer than a few pages or one issue is always kind of scary. Aside from doing your best and hitting deadlines, when you start a new book, you are setting up rules for yourself on those first few pages. So, you have to do your best to see the future. "Will my solution I used to solve a problem on this page work when I have similar yet slightly different circumstances in issue 2 or 3?" Chris keeps an eye out for this stuff for me, he knows what the future holds for the most part so he know what will work and what could be trouble down the road. Anyway , it feels like we're firing on all cylinders now. I for one am over the initial intimidation of starting something new. RAH!

tattoo you