once, twice, three times a lady....

so im learning photoshop here....inbetween 2 jobs, commissions and three side projects...and a manic fabric addiction...

first: traditional stuff


and then i try to color it in PS2...i cant tell you how i got this, as im not quite sure myself...some sort of happy accident involving quick masks and layer styles...



and then me being obsessive and going back into something.....i don't know which i like better or if either is finished...

rumour sketch numero duo

yes yes...still have a fun cold that makes it impossible to gain sweetsweet oxygen from my nasal cavity....so i tried too draw yesterday and this was the half-way decent outcome...notice i say half way....ugh!

finally done

YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! after a late late nite until i couldn't draw a straight line, i've officially completed three full issues of pencils and inks for ARCHAIC, issues 10-12. i took a lil break yesterday and hit the comic shop to buy old backissues of STEAMPUNK, as it's something i've been meaning to buy and always forgot to. I really need to start bringing lists into the comic shop/convention because as soon as i walk through that door, i go blank and end up with $40 worth of cool stuff i didn't mean to buy.

on saturday i went to an awesome art show down in LA to promote a new artbook FUSION JUNCTION 2. My BF wanted to check out LeSEAN THOMAS's new stuff and i was there to see ERIC CANETES cool cool art! It was a lot of fun, in little china, which, although living so damn close to LA, I've never been to. It smelled like udon noodles and eggrolls as soon as we got off the freeway...very cool...

I've been mad busy the last month and so that's the reason for the lack of posting...i did comic con in july which was utterly awesome and utterly exhausting. I was fortunate enough to meet and greet GABRIEL BA, FABIO MOON, GERARD WAY, SCOTT ALLIE, RANDY STRADLEY, CHEEKS, ERIC CANETE, JASON CRAIG, PETER PALMOITTI, and a ton more that i cant remember their names....It was really awesome to put a face to a name and talk comics.

It was also really awesome seeing all of the hardcore ARCHAIC fans. This was only my second time sitting with JAMES ABRAMS and BRETT MARTING in support of ARCHAIC. They have some absolutely amazing fans and i really hope my run on their series does this amazing *effing book justice.

Yesterday, when i was at the comic shop....i meekly checked out the PREVIEWs mag they had on the counter to see the issue 11 ARCHAIC solictation...it was so cool. i remember in high school buying PREVIEWS just to check out all the cover art and stuff....i dont think back then i would have imagined seeing my stuff in it, but there it was...and it's pretty surreal.

today, i think im going to chill. My thumb has this massive calluse on it and it hurts pretty bad. But no pain, no gain, as they say....and drawing til it hurts is the life i live.

I've been catching up on news and crap through my favorite podcast AROUND COMICS. I must say i really was touched by their tribute to MIKE WIERINGO, and although i have never read a TELOS book...the care and closeness of the comics industry really stood out, despite this tragedy. It's really a close industry as i am coming to see, most people know everyone else, and the admiration, cohesiveness and compassion in the industry is really shown when they experience loss of their comrads. There's something there, kindled, in the hearts and minds of comics artists that joins them all and, in comparing it to other industries, it's really something that brings a warm fuzzy feeling to yah...and i cant quite put it into words. Perhaps it's all of us frantically trying to put out creative juices out there in the threat of our own mortality, perhaps it's because we are sensitive to responding to our environments...im not sure...but it's fucking admirable beyond anything, and i couldn't be happier being a tiny part of it all....

So, as far as art goes, issue 10 of ARCHAIC hits next month. I think maybe i'll hole myself into my room until the storm is over...which wont be until december. Issue 11 and 12 i believe are NOV and DEC...It's funny the emotions one goes through with doing comics...first it's excitement, because your working on an awesome book...then the wave of overwhelming work hits and it really seems quite impossible to do the amount of work that is in a single issue. I'm looking back now and i cant fucking believe that i actually drew over 60 fucking pages....it's nuts and makes me a lil queezy. and everytime i finish a book i get this wonderful sense of relief, accomplishment, and happiness....then as the thought of it hitting the market comes into my head, im both excited as hell and nervous as fuck!
"yes, i have a book coming out!"
"fuck, what if they dont like it and are like 'what is this shit?!?'"
"damn, i fucking rocked that panel!"
"fuck....there's so many fucking amazing artists out there that are so much better..."

the whole constant happy/sad/happy/insecure/happy thing goes through your head, that i almost think it's best not to think about it and just move on the the next thing...

and we'll just see what that is, eh? ha!

it's where the parties at!

so im swimming in inks and pencils and pinups and empty red-bull cans and instant noodles....this is a post. sort of. see you there!

There are many ways of getting around ignorant folk

i had this posted on my myspace page, and wouldn't you know it, some asshole got their panties in a bunch over the fact the character aint wearing a bra. well, sucks to you, whoever you are. deal with it. some people dont like wearing tops. men get to go around shirtless, so why not women. Well, myspace deleted the pic. obviously this image just bugged someone that much that they had to go and do something about it rather than having the balls to message me and express their disgust in my carefully covered pencil-rendered tits. i dont get pissed easily, but here's a big ole FUCK YOU!

THE SCENE!

yup, the scene. i cant reveal anymore than that....but if your hip, yah know the lingo. ;)

ARCHAIC 11 COVER

finally finished up the colors on issue 11. can't show you the kick ass interiors yet, so i have to settle with showing you the covers, until the time comes when i can sneak some interiors, and by then i'll think they look like crap....the highs and lows of the artists ego.....oh dear.

A fresh start: JUNE

So after a month and a half of stress, thinking I wasn't going to pass a mandatory language class, (because the language and mathmatical part of my brain ceases to function at normal capacity), I checked my grades....and I PASSED! That means I oficially have a BA of Fine Arts (unless they F*** up somewhere in academics and tell me some class I took does't count or something)

Anyways, some may not really care, but to me that is such a tremendous relief. I have been doing comics for the past year and doing school full time as well as working part time at a retail job, and it has been one hell of a juggling act. Not to mention I somehow managed to pay my way through school all on my own with grant writing, scholarships and financial aid. So I think I can finally take a month to just exhale and relax and de-stress myself after all those years of college. And shop like any girl would like to...graduation reward shopping! yahoo!

So I'm currently working on the second half of issue 11 for ARCHAIC. And because I just finished the tedious rendering of a cover, I thought I would share. I use a pentel mechanical pencil for everything, 05 lead. Nope. None of those fancy art pencils or different grade graphite things or whatnot, just ole' trusty. I actually got so attached to this particular model of pentel mechanical pencil that I bought about 10 in backup in case the one I use ever decides to spontaniously combust.

and past log of may

i'll just post a bunch of scribbleys i did in april and may that i never got the time to put up here.



one is a superman sketch that was going to be part of my comic con 2007 sketchbook. i think i wanted to go a bit cartooney at first with this and then i got into realistic detail and i dont know what happed. it was supposed to be the 'krypton-hulk' kicking superman's ass.....because i was never all that into superman, except for the old old cartoons. and i thought, well if the hulk is green and krypton is green, maybe we'll just say he is made of kryptonite in this and that's how he beats superman. like a crayola crayon. totally odd-ball reasoning, but i was in a weird mood.



and this was just me messing with lines and whatnot......



and then some sketches for ARCHAIC 11 cover. i'll post the finished pencils when they're done as well:

catgrrrrrrrrrl

not much to say. im tired....i meant to color this...but my photoshop skills died from bordom coloring this and the colors i did aren't worth showing. im off to go eat some cookies.....

ARCHAIC priests

So, as you may or may not know, I am working on a RAD book called 'ARCHAIC'. (www.archaiccomic.com). They just printed the second volume last month for Wizard World LA, and anyone that got their lucky paws on one is a better person for doing so. But don't frett just yet. You too, can be a better person as well! Simply by going to your local comic store and ordering numerous copies for everyone in your life, you too shall achieve "better-person-dom".

With that said, (and since I have Russian guards bigger and meaner than Chuck Lidel guarding these puppies, so no eyes besides my own and my lucky lil' cat can see them) I give you some sweet character designs I have done for the TECHNOLYTE priests of ARCHAIC. I am dubbing this fellows mechanical hair as a Fiber-Optic mohawk or 'OPTO-HAWK'. Yes I coined that term. Cool, I know....so since I've been a slacker as far as my posting has gone, you lucky lil' devils get many sketches instead of just one. I wish I were you....LOL.

hero in a half shell, TURTLE POWER!

so today was my lil brothers b-day....and we went to go see TMNT (the hip, new abreviation for that beloved wacky creation that is 'teenage mutant ninja turtles').
ah yes, the intro...about four young turtles transformed by toxic goo, named after the great renaissance masters and trained in the ancient arts of the ninja brought me way back to when i used to watch this stuff when i was a kid....and yes...the movie was good....and so i drew a turtle...i wanna do a crazy angled one of all four of the turtles, but this will have to suffice for tonite. off to go watch kat on miami ink!

(oh yes, and because it seems unhip to sign my complete name on everything....im trying out new lil' sigies to see if i can sign art the new hip way.....damn you hipsters!)

and 20 minutes later.......a quick sketch of kat from miami ink

sketch: ladytron done wrong

well, im going to try to have some sort of doodle up here at least every three days (hahah i say that now...) well, i briefly looked at some of a pal of mines doodles...'ladytron' by eric canete...and loved the character who i am not really all that familiar with. i think i only saw maybe like three quick images of the character because i had to go run erands, but it's something i wanna draw as a pin-up. this outfit and character is missing things and because i was in my jazz class with no referance material, besides my crappy memory....i'm going to have to re-do it because it's anything but accurate...but it kept me entertained in class, kept me from nodding off....and the lines are pretty clean. enjoy.

ARCHAIC "dirt" short story inks

My first work for a really great book called ARCHAIC comes out this month, in the volume #2 trade paperback. I did this short 8 pager way back in August 2006....so it's quite a bit old by now, it seems, but has some cool stuff. The ARCHAIC TPB is available at your local comic store and is really something worth picking up, as the story is pretty darn intriguing and the art earned Mr. Brett Marting a Golden Chazzie nomination for best artist , not to mention ARCHAIC was nominated for Best Ongoing Series.

Wizard magazine issue 186 (feb. 2007) also recognized ARCHAIC as the fourth top indie book on their list of indie comics to look out for. "The level of detail and creative passion pumped into every level of Jon (James) Abrams and Brett Marting's epic fantasy adventure series Archaic from Fenickx Productions crackles on each page. Archaic formulates a dark and stylishly horrific tale of two warring families in a world born of Slovakian myth, and the duo's vision of a civilization powered by spectacular magics. For fantasy and horror lovers alike unfamiliar with the book, pay attention: This is the best ongoing epic you've never read."