For Best Anthology, that is. Go us!

Here are the rest of the winners, and I don’t really have much to say about the list except I am a little stunned that Lynda Barry got shut out (of the best painter award, that is…)

So glad to see awards go to Evanier’s Jack Kirby book, and Little Nemo. As always, Chris Ware. I picked up the latest at a book fair on remainder for only $4.50. Gorgeous.

I can’t really comment on most because I simply am not familiar with them, but here’s Amazon links to the good stuff. The Kirby book gets my highest recommendation. I found the back story of Kirby’s professional struggles particularly moving. Young creators seem to think the top guns like Kirby never had to struggle. This book will put that sort of myth to rest. About Kirby, anyway.

I know some of you must be wondering if I work on A Distant Soil at all these days.

Yes. I combine my work on ADS with my efforts to expand my digital painting chops.

My first digital work (outside of basic scanning and the use of the paint bucket feature) was on Tori Amos: Comic Book Tattoo, which was a little over a year ago. However, like my Star Wars trading card work, I did the drawings by hand and then colored the work in Photoshop.

For this series of A Distant Soil portraits, which I will be uploading to the site gallery over the coming months, all the work is digital. This painting of Rieken is unfinished (obviously).

I am also working on a series of environmental concept paintings of scenes from the book, and I am very happy with how they are coming along. I’m now devoting a full day’s work a week to A Distant Soil, a good half of which is computer lessons. I used to put in a few hours once a week, but could not retain the info. So now, I work at it a little each day.

Once you get the hang of this technology thingy, it is surprisingly easy to use, much easier than painting by hand. For years, some people tried to convince me computer graphics was akin to rocket science. Now I wonder that I was ever intimidated by the whole thing.

I am only just learning to use the computer for background work, and I have learned so much over the last few weeks, I wonder if I will ever draw another cityscape by hand. The perspective features are gold. I would not weep to never draw another orthogonal line.

c

PS: I want lots more Torchwood.

Finished Rieken character portrait now added to CAST. Click the above link.

Another digital portrait in the works.

Can you tell Kelly Freas was my teacher?

I told myself I wouldn’t post these until they were ready, but what the heck. I am really happy with the progress I am making on my digital work. I hope to have an entire gallery of character portraits up over the next few months, and by then, I also hope to have some real digital painting chops. The old art will be removed.

As I wrote in an earlier post, these paintings will include environment concept works for the book.

These low resolution jpegs are really washed out. I will upload the final works at higher res so you can get a better look.

I am also working on that t-shirt design of Rieken and D’mer I promised ages ago. I just didn’t think my digital skills were up to my ideas before. I should have something to show, soon.

Oh well, I had my day to work on A Distant Soil, and now it is back to work on Gone to Amerikay for the rest of the week!