"MAY" post, hey -- better late than never!

Hi.

it's MOCK MAY . . .

Gad-zooks—it doesn't feel like May! Only one more month left before I am all caught up in posts, huh?

Much small stuff this time:

these are very SKINNY thumbs . . .

...from an unused gallery from my non-existent web page (which i'll probably never get too). You may recognize some of this art from the first Sketchbook. Others haven't been published yet.

BTW, I've another 48-page sketchbook out from IDW, and now we’re moving on to the BIG sucker. Yeah, the long-overdue art book everybody always asks about—the one that WASN'T canceled, but I can see why you'd think it was! I only had a small fit about this sketchbook:

The cover isn't as crisp as I'd like, but i didn't toss in in the garbage this time. When you go non-gloss which i like, that's the trade off, so I’m somewhat to blame for this one seems less crips in the blacks. Bitch bitch bitch… here's the raw hand drawn cover for comparrison.

Notice the moss is made with modeling paste with sand? The 3D texture doesn't show as well in print. i love the texture of moss, however it's made. Stippling, sand, or even real moss pasted on canvas. There's something almost organic and sensual about moss for me. As i said, a lot of moss contrast gets lost when you don't use a gloss cover. - ENOUGH, it's what it is...

Now, what's next?

Here's the THREE-PHASE PLAN for all my art books, that will eventually be published down the road. Before you bring up my tendency to procrastinate, take heart: were already DONE with phase one, see? The two 48 pagers should give you some faith i will get off my ass and do the later ones! I describe the three of them in detail the intro to the second Sketchbook, so i won't repeat all that here.

Phase Three is these BIG THREE VOLs. which all add up to 600 pages of sketchbook material. These will be super-rare, limited print run, dipped in plates and art, signed/numbered, the whole bit, blah blah. Why so rare on these? Mostly because frankly, who the heck WANTS much sam crap right? Not everyone. So why not make it collectable, and special for the sam addicts who just HAVE to have it? Right?

I'm probably more proud of these goofy sketchbooks than anything else I've drawn for the last two years for the big two. And I have all of YOU fans to thank for checking these first two sketchbooks out. No offense to DC, but we all know they’ll move plenty of Batman and Arkham books without my plugging it. But these little sketchbooks are PURE labors of love.

From the subtle and evocative to the silly and grotesque, these pretty much shows the full range of perversity i can't always get to in sequential mainstream stories.

At the risk of seeming full of myself, these art books are really my way of saying THANKS to my fans who put up with me over years, and STILL check out my weird wonky stuff. YOU guys n' gals are what keeps me alive and kicking, creatively.

Until next month, (which is five minutes from right now..)

sam