Robot Fighting Triceratops

Just finished this commission of a robot fighting a triceratops.  Added some extra trikes to suggest story.

Musician Portrait Roughs

I've been switch-reading between a couple of books on American Roots music and one on the history of Country, and this (coupled with my listening habits) have made me want to do some kind of music-based project, mostly because I can't spend so much time reading about (or listening to) something without turning it into output without feeling like I'm being lazy and self-indulgent.

Doing a project based on whim interest is certainly self-indulgent, but at least it feels like I'm accomplishing something, so it scratches my work ethic itch.  And a project like this has the potential to fulfill one of my foremost goals when it comes to the projects that I undertake: to introduce readers/lookers to something that they may not have encountered before.  Little gives me more professional satisfaction than to hear that a drawing I did got somebody to pick up a book or read about a historical figure, and I'm hopeful that this series might get someone to hit their old record store.

So, anyway, these aren't the final drawings, but compositional roughs.  I've never done square compositions before, and I'm surprised to find that I really like them.  They force simplicity in a way that the rectangular stuff doesn't.

Not sure how I'll handle the final art, but I'm guessing I'll use a brush, something I almost never do on comic pages these days.

Anyway, here are a few.  Doing these in between Creeps pages.

The Coon Creek Sisters

Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys

Lead Belly

Ola Belle Reed

The Carter Family

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Son House

Jimmie Rodgers

Blind Lemon Jefferson

Hank Williams

In-Story Intros

One of the challenges with each Creeps book is to offer up a formal in-story introduction for each of the main characters to the reader that gives them a sense of their abilities/personality as it'll affect the story.
While on serialized comics, I can appreciate the need/efficiency of having an intro page on the inside cover and a "previously" synopsis to catch the reader up, I feel like books that might be picked up by kids out of order ought to make an attempt to give the kid a full stand-alone reading experience, and not make them feel like they bargain-binned some sequel.
The purpose of these on-page is probably painfully obvious, but I reckon that if I can make the context different each go 'round then it's okay, and it'll always serve new readers.

Dad Horse Experience

One of last week’s Sketch_Dailies topics was “One Man Band,” so I used the opportunity to tackle my favorite (or at least the most influential on me) musical performer at the moment, Germany’s THE DAD HORSE EXPERIENCE.

Mostly stripped down banjo/organ pedalboard/kazoo numbers, DHXP’s stuff is a really cool roots hybrid, a mix of early radio gospel (think Woody Guthrie or the Carter Family) and Alpine oompa music, with kind of an old punk ethos underlying the whole thing.  My favorite numbers are probably “Gates of Heaven” (language in that one, if you’re at work), “Dead Dog on a Highway,” and “Too Close to Heaven.”

I’ve never had a chance to see him live, but hopefully he’ll make it through Kentucky or Tennessee before too long.

You can listen to a lot of his music for free at his website, and his album mp3s are quite inexpensive.  Worth checking out:
http://www.dad-horse-experience.org/