Sketchbook Project part 1

So, later this month I'll be participating in the Sketchbook Project, a traveling art exhibition sponsored by Art House (you can find a listing of the cities and dates here.) I sent in my book this week, a 3x5 Moleskine, and I thought I would post images from it periodically. I didn't start out with much of any idea for the book, but as time went on I started telling little stories about characters, sometimes across multiple spreads. This round of images will focus on the story of the Minotaur and Medusa, two monsters whose last chance for happiness may be with each other:

Illustration Friday-Climbing

I don't know why, but I must have Middle Earth on my mind these days. I haven't read the books in ages, and I haven't seen the movies in recent memory. But this is the second week in a row where I've illustrated an IF topic with 'Lord of the Rings' subject matter. In this case, the climb up the stairs of Cirith Ungol, with Gollum, Frodo, and Sam.

Illustration Friday-'Pale'

When I saw this week's topic, I immediately thought of Gollum, from 'The Hobbit' and 'Lord of the Rings,' hiding in his cave with the Ring of Power.

Tribute to Atlantis Lad

Just a little something to show that I haven't forgotten about this blog. I recently did a drawing of Atlantis Lad, from Danno Klonowski's 'Manly Tales of Cowardice.' You can find more of Danno's comics here: Staple Genius. Danno's a key member of the Cartoonist Conspiracy here in Minneapolis, and a prolific creator of mini-comics. Thanks Danno!

'Supernova Lullaby' premieres Friday, January 9!

As part of the big plans for 2009, I'm starting a weekly Web comic called 'Supernova Lullaby' starting this Friday. You can find it at this address:

http://supernovalullaby.blogspot.com/

Stop by then, and if you like what you see, please consider becoming a Follower (for Blogspot users), or subscribe through an RSS Feed like Google Reader. Thanks for your support, hope you like it!

Season's Best

Jenny Lewis

I made this drawing some time ago, thinking that I would make it into a faux concert poster. Alas, it fell to the wayside on my Flash drive, but I decided recently that it was worth at least bringing to some form of completion. Pen and ink drawing, with digital coloring and modification in Photoshop.

Illustration Friday-Opinion ('The Senators Discuss Over Coffee')

A late entry for Illustration Friday. I was out of town last weekend, hence the delay.

Illustration Friday-Pretend

When I started this image, I was thinking of that scene in Romeo and Juliet when they disguise themselves at a party. Or maybe I'm thinking of something else. Anyway, I think it works well as just a Masquerade Ball image. Still working out some of the kinks with color and background, but this is about as far as I could go for now.

Holiday Extravaganza!

On a budget this holiday season? Looking for a gift that is unique AND affordable? Look no further than comics and prints from Mike Sgier Comics and Illustration:
1)The Ballad of Toby & Sara: Tracks 1-4
Price: $12
Know someone that is an avid reader, a lover of stories, and has a hankering for comics? Then give them 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara: Tracks 1-4,' the first four stories from the new comic series. A story about music, love, and lost, wandering angels, it would be perfect for both music and Neil Gaiman fans alike. Plus, any purchase of this comes with the mini-comic 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara B-Sides: Visitors' for FREE!
2) Summer Night at Horror Vacui Intergalactic Park
Price: $20
A digital print of the popular, limited edition screen print from the MCAD Print Portfolio 'Horror Vacui.' Printed on Epson Enhanced Matte Paper with archival inks.

3) Two Phoenix
Price: $8
A digital print of this Threadless T-Shirt Submission, printed on Epson Enhanced Matte paper with archival inks.

4) Cruisin'
Price: $8
A digital print of another Threadless T-Shirt Submission, printed on Epson Enhanced Matte Paper with archival inks.

5) Lament for the Unrequited
Price: $8
A companion piece to the mini-comic 'Show Offs of Love,' this print features our two heroes bemoaning their lonely states through song. Printed on Epson Enhanced Matte paper with archival inks. Also, each purchase of this print includes the mini-comic 'Show Offs of Love' for FREE, from the Lutefisk Sushi Volume C box set.

All orders must be made by DECEMBER 1ST, to guarantee delivery for Christmas. Shipping and handling will be determined by the quantity of items purchased (most likely between $3-$5). Email Mike at msgierillustration (at) gmail.com to place an order and to find out further payment information.

Thanks for your support, and happy holidays!

24 Hour Comic-'Toby & Sara B-Sides: Visitors'

I finally got around to posting my recent 24 Hour Comic, 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara B-Sides: Visitors.' Click the image above to see it on my Web site!

While the comic itself isn't a continuation of the 'Toby & Sara' narrative, it does highlight a few of the supporting characters, and will prove pivotal in some of the future stories. So please read, enjoy, and provide any feedback if possible.

Illustration Experimentation-Book Illustration and Copic Markers

So, ever since Fall Con I've been wanting to give the Copic markers a more serious shot. But I also thought it would be a good opportunity to try out some book illustration. So I worked up some spots for a favorite story of mine, Neil Gaiman's 'October in the Chair,' and here are a couple of the results.

The story involves the months of the year gathering to tell each other stories. Since it is October's month, he is presiding, but Gaiman gives the remaining months intriguing and unique characteristics. Above is an illustration of May, who bears a slight resemblance to Desire from Gaiman's 'Sandman' comics. The description of the character in 'October' matched Desire fairly well, so I wasn't afraid of the influence.

From here I took a sheet of layout bond paper, and working over the inks, I created layers of tones using the Copic markers. I was using a combination of cool gray, neutral gray, and warm gray.

In Photoshop, I lay the inks over the tone layer. Just one problem: I'm not satisfied with the color. It feels lifeless to me.So, I pulled the tone layer into another layer, grayscaled it, then switched it to a duotone setting, and after some messing around, brought it back to the original document. Much better! I chose some autumnal colors in the duotone setting since this is October's story, and it created a much better atmosphere for the image, and a palette to use for the other images.

Now let's see this with another spot illustration, this time for June (who I loosely based on one of my former grad school colleagues). June is described as a little shy, and fearful of the woods, hence the overpowering nature of the environment.


Here's the tone layer, prior to duotone shading.


And here's the final June image. I narrowed the image to give more emphasis on the trees, and to draw the eye to June a little more.

Hope you enjoyed the process breakdown! There will be more of these down the road.

Reading Comics-Batman: Dark Victory

Believe it or not, Robin is a hard character to deal with in a serious, noir way. He's a kid with a colorful costume, with quips that reflect this. The only way he fits in with the Batman mythos in any significant way is his origin, his two circus gymnast parents being killed during a performance. The who and why of this, however, changes in each writer's hands.

To their credit, Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale do a good job bringing Robin into their vision of Gotham City in Dark Victory, their follow-up to The Long Halloween. Set a year after the end of that series, which found the crime boss Carmine Falcone dead by the hands of former DA Harvey Dent, and the serial killer Holiday behind bars, Batman now has to contend with a new serial killer in Gotham, the organized crime families fighting for their survival against the costumed 'freaks,' and a new DA with questionable allegiances.

Victory continues the various 'Godfather' references included in TLH, although they aren't as heavy handed this time around. A new Falcone son appears, named Mario, thus completing the triumvirate of Corleone references, (Mario=Michael, Sofia=Sonny, Alberto=Fredo). Mario, however, is attempting to make the family legitimate, with little help from his siblings or the other crime families. The new serial killer continues in the vein of Holiday by striking once a month, but this time targets cops and former cops, and pins a version of the hang man game on them. Frank Miller's and David Mazzuchelli's Year One proves ripe for this 'game,' with the former commissioner and corrupt cops becoming victims to the killer. In some ways, this serial killer is more imaginative than Holiday, but Loeb and Sale don't provide the suspense and pacing that they did in TLH. The mystery feels like a sub-plot to the main plot, which revolves around the battle between the mafia and the freaks.

In this, Dent, now Two-Face, becomes the de facto leader of characters like the Joker, Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy, but his aim is still the same as his former self, to take down the Falcones. His personality becomes a hinge for the plot, split between his devotion to his now-absent wife and the new DA Janice Porter, to the law and his now rengade status. He continually tries to prove that he is not the Hang Man Killer, but is continually reminding his former allies Batman and Jim Gordon that things cannot go back to the way they once were. The other 'freaks' don't get the same thorough treatment as he does, although Loeb and Sale still bring interesting facets to them. Mr. Freeze and Penguin finally enter the picture, Poison Ivy makes a pass at Two-Face (only to be surprisingly rebuffed), and the Joker proves to be a volatile force, particularly at the end.

As for Batman, a continual phrase he uses is 'I am alone.' Due to his self-inflicted guilt for Harvey Dent's fate, he becomes isolated from those who he grew to trust. He no longer feels connected to Gordon and the police, especially since DA Porter does not trust him. His lack of commitment loses both Catwoman in his costumed persona, and Selina Kyle in his Bruce Wayne persona. The one person to snap him out of this is Alfred, the one father figure he has in his life. And the one true bond he can make is with Dick Grayson.

I've long wondered why this is, and fortunately Loeb provides the best rationale I've encountered. Bruce Wayne is essentially in a state of arrested development, he is still a young boy chasing down the man who killed his parents. This is a tragedy that he hasn't been able to overcome, but it has become the only focus in his life. Grayson shares the same situation, a zeal to go after the two bit gangsters that were responsible for his parents deaths. Batman helps him overcome this in a way that was absent to him, becoming a mentor to the young boy and channeling his aggression. And Loeb and Sale also give the Robin costume meaning, a memorial to the Grayson parents. They avoid the questionable associations that have so long plagued the duo, and instead they resemble Ogami Itto and his son in the Japanese manga Lone Wolf and Cub.

While Dark Victory may not be superior to The Long Halloween, it is an equal. Sale's artwork continues to amaze and surpasses his previous work, becoming more fluid and gestural (although his Joker is borderline weird). And Loeb provides not only a great plot, but moving moments as well, such as when a young Bruce Wayne's experience of entering his parents bedroom after their deaths is contrasted with a similar experience shared by Dick Grayson. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have officially made their mark on the Batman mythos, an influence that won't fade for quite some time.

Candidates, one more time...and a sort of endorsement...

I wasn't terribly pleased with my first illustration of Barack Obama, so I attempted a second one, something that would complement the John McCain one I did better. Above is the new one, below is the old one, and the McCain one.


My aim with these isn't to tear either candidate apart. They're more caricature exercises , as well as pen and ink exercises. I've never been very good at dealing with politics in my work, or maybe it is because I don't want to appear partisan.

(And now, to contradict myself...)

But I will say right now that I've supported Obama since his primary campaign, and will continue to do so beyond Election Day, whether or not he wins. I simply think that he is the best candidate for this time, someone who can bring an intelligence and wisdom to the office of President. I think his energy policy has a long term strategy to it, instead of the short term 'drill now and forever' thinking that has taken over the Republican party. And I think his level-headedness will do well for domestic and foreign policy, a steady hand to bring us through the problems at hand. More than anything, I think he will bring a new perspective, a new set of eyes that haven't been jaded by the political and cultural battles that have burdened us for the past 30 years.

Unfortunately, this appears to be turning into another identity election, one where people are voting based on their insecurities and fears, and not upon the issues that face us today and tomorrow. Lies and misperceptions are being spread, and the spectre of the '60's is rearing its ugly head. How long will this ugly and despicable decade continue to haunt our politics? One which started with so much promise, and ended with death and carnage? Why can't older generations just let it go, and move on to what faces us down the road?

That's my two cents, for what it's worth.

Fall Con Sketches 2008

As with any convention, there are always sketches, and this Fall Con 2008 was no exception. This year was kind of a mixture of my own characters, and better known heroes and villains. Below are some of the highlights:

Doctor Octopus

Spidey and MJ
(note to self: don't try to draw Spider-Man with a nose. It looks awkward.)

Sara Reynolds from 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara'

Toby Jazynski from 'The Ballad of Toby & Sara'

Poison Ivy and Batman
My favorite sketch of the convention. Gene Ha, an amazing artist I was sitting next to, was kind enough to let me try out his Copic markers for shading, and it amazed me how much it added to the depth and detail of the sketch.