Paper Doll Veronika update

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 17, "The Apple of your Eyes", is complete!
The update starts here.
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Male portrait training begins with Belloc

Some of the reviews of Clockwork Dancer have made a criticism with which I and many female artists, especially those influenced by anime, are quite familiar: that the male characters look a bit feminine.

So! Rather than whine about it, I'm undertaking a little training exercise. I put together a list of twelve real men that I consider handsome in one way or another, mostly military and political leaders, a few literary, a few actors, all undoubtedly masculine. I'll be doing quick black and white portraits, not being too uptight about capturing likenesses, but concentrating on masculine features. It'll be fun, and I am eager to improve.

This is the first, of Hilaire Belloc. In addition to his historical, polemical, journalistic, and fiction writing career, he served in the French army, was an experienced recreational sailor, and walked from France to Rome and from the Midwest to California, the latter to claim the woman he wanted to marry before her mother would make her enter a convent.

This being the first portrait, I expect it to be the least well-executed of the twelve. The features are a bit small.

Orion battles Taurus over the Fiery Eridanus River - detail

A detail of an illustration I did for an article by Laramie Hirsch, which you can read here and also see the whole picture.

It's about some recent astronomical phenomena and what it might portend. There's a tendency to dismiss any thought of meaning in the stars as superstition, but medieval astronomers believed that God sends us providential messages through creation, including the sky. What is superstition is to believe the stars control our fates. The article also has some beautiful meditation on the wound to Christ's shoulder caused by carrying the Cross.

Paper Doll Veronika update

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 17, "The Apple of your Eyes", continues!
The update starts here.
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Aspiration achieved: mentioned on Castalia

Cover art by Brad Ashworth

Clockwork Dancer was featured in a post of new releases in fantasy and adventure stories--several of which look very interesting, and I want to check out--on the Castalia House blog. It's humbling to be there among masters such as Chuck Dixon and John C. Wright, and to be mentioned on that blog itself.

It was a post on Castalia House, back in 2017, that brought about the existence of Clockwork Dancer, and quite honestly changed my life. "A Pulp Revolution for the Comics Crowd" stirred my enthusiasm and I linked it on Gab with the comment, "How can I be a part of this?" whereupon Jon Del Arroz replied to me and suggested a collaboration. This led to me quitting my day job and finally trying my luck as a full-time illustrator and comic artist. I'm only getting started, and I hope you'll be along for the ride.

Clockwork Dancer is available for Kindle and in paperback. It's a rollicking steampunk adventure that made Amazon best seller!

Paper Doll Veronika update

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 17, "The Apple of your Eyes", has begun!
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Clockwork Dancer is Number One!

Last night on Amazon, Clockwork Dancer Issue 1, written by Jon Del Arroz, drawn by me, colored by Emmanuel Torres, cover art by Brad Ashworth, made not just number one new release, but number one best seller in the category of steampunk graphic novels.

It's a rollicking, charming Victorian adventure, so please check it out!

And now it's available in paperback!

Here's the digital edition!

My network debut

I went on comics author Jon Del Arroz's livestream to talk about our collaboration, Clockwork Dancer! I felt rather shy, so pardon my nervous laughter, and multiple technical difficulties.

Clockwork Dancer makes its entrance!

Written by Jon Del Arroz, drawn by me, colored by Emmanuel Ordaz Torres, Clockwork Dancer Issue One is now available in digital form! Print coming soon!

It's a steampunk story about a former secret agent inventor and his robot creation, evading capture by the Queen's forces, a mad scientist, gangsters... I am presently working on Issue Two and I can tell you, it gets even more exciting and cool.

Clockwork Dancer coming out soon!

Cover art by Brad Ashworth

The first issue of the steampunk comic Clockwork Dancer, written by Jon Del Arroz, drawn by me, colored by Emmanuel Ordaz Torres, will become available later this week!

I can't wait!

The end of Christmastide

Happy Baptism of the Lord or Feast of the Holy Family!

It can be hard to photograph a Christmas tree and get the light right, so I wanted to show off this one. Used a slow shutter speed and wide aperture, with the camera, a Fujifilm Finepix S1000, on a table for stability.

Paper Doll Veronika update

A panel detail of a new character!

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 16, "The Hospitality of Thuanna's House", is posted!
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Paper Doll Veronika update

Paper Doll Veronika has updated; Chapter 15, "The Ides of June", is posted!
The chapter begins here.
The story begins here.

It updates every Friday. I recommend using the "Save your place" gadget, even once you catch up, because the site starts at the beginning and updates are several pages.

Veronika Bosch, who's never left her father's estate, has to go on a journey when envious animals kick her out. Half collage, half puppetry, it's the traditional media equivalent of an elaborate sprite comic.

Three memes for the teens - years in review

At the end of this my first year with art as my full-time job, I'm looking back using a few art compilation memes.

January is a detail from The Day-by-Day Coloring Book of Saints; February and October from the Bovodar and the Bears upcoming graphic novel and September from the new edition of the novel; and August from Clockwork Dancer, the first issue of which, by the way, is now available through writer Jon Del Arroz's Patreon.

This one covers the main influences on me becoming serious about drawing, going back almost twenty years. I did follow its additional challenge of one 3x3, two 2x2, etc., mainly because that made it a sort of puzzle, which fits with what the biggest influence is.

Row by row from the top, left to right: John R. Neill's illustrations for the Oz books; traditional Catholic and Orthodox religious art; Malice Mizer; Fire Emblem 4: Seisen no Keifu; Ace Attorney and Professor Layton; Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle; Final Fantasy VII, especially the environments; Virginie Merrienne; The Legend of Zelda, particularly Wind Waker; Pokemon; pre-Raphaelite art; Patrick Palmer, my main teacher in art school; and Toshio Ebine, as inspiration for the future as I newly move into gouache.

I am very grateful to the makers of all these works and hope to achieve something comparable.

Finally, this one covers the teens, which happen to be the years since I first started trying to make a go of it professionally, to now, the end of my first full-time year. To be quite honest, the monetary return was not very great to start, but several substantial projects, as named above, were established and sent underway. I expect that 2020 will see them really take off!