Choice Between 2 Magic Boxes: Brown or Sepia?

Here's Two versions of something I imagined, designed & drew, then glued together out of clay and antique type-writer parts, then photographed, printed out, drew and painted over the photo of it, one more time. Yeah. i know. Over-worked much?

Regardless of the fact there's no right or wrong answer, I get a lot of help from the insightful feed back you guys provide.

So . . . which one do you prefer, and why?

Treeple

Once upon a time, many years ago, my old friend the amazing Alex Pardee, asked me to draw something he called "treeple" - Half-tree - Half-people. 


I added the kitty.

Alamo . . . & Neurotic Little Jullie.

 Just back from the fine folks at Alamo City comic con, also wanted to thank all the cool, patient lines of super supportive fans who stopped by!!! 

 I'm a few days behind in posting,

so here's a neurotic looking little julie to make up for it.

Variant Batman Secrets, Joker Cover

I've posted this image before, but Graphitti's doing a variant cover for the Batman Gallery edition.

The original art for this cover is pretty small, maybe 8 x 10, so i'm surprised it holds up to being blown up to original art sized. Images blown up bigger than their normal size, usually look much worse.

So . . .  just throwing it up here for fun.

Annoyingly cute Alpacas

Post Modern Maxx

Here's the second Maxx cover i drew after a nearly 20 year break from the original series.

A few differences: Inuit inspired Red-Black symbols are one things I hadn't discovered yet 20 years ago, but the surreal plants are straight out of the old classic Outback plant fora-fauna.

So what about the Maxx himself? Do you think how i draw him lately, style wise, has changes much from the old days? 

My Studio, right now.

Had to merge two pics to catch everything. Nothing magical about it. Biggest change is the sheer amount of crap has grown, more acrylic paint, black india ink, pastels, ink pads, clock gears, fabric, Cheese cloth, various mixed media stuff, brush-pens, - all the usual stuff studios' have.

Probably the biggest difference is how, (unlike the majority of artists now-a-days), is how little i use digital tablets to draw with.  Nothing against them, digital art is awesome and way more versatile.

I hear lots of digital comic artists don't even have original art to sell anymore.  I wonder if buying original art will totally disappear someday?

Also weird how the old comic companies used to throw out Original Comic Art to make room for office space.  I wonder if we 'hand drawn' comic artists are almost like dinosaurs? 

Still have that same shelf i posted two days ago... getting a little messier. Funny how the more tools you have to draw with,

doesn't necessarily make your art any better of an artists. 

Rejected Hellboy

Here's a drawing i scanned for a charity, but i didn't really like - so i destroyed it. 

So why bother to post it here?

Mainly because, however embarrassed i am by my "bad drawings", they sometimes leads to "not-so-bad-drawings".

And on a good day, my artistic screw ups become mulch and compost for ...

something else.   

Old Studio

This is where i worked in my last studio. Kinda messy.

'Yellow Sponges' wrapped around pens are to lessen hand pain - which i used to have lots of.

I'm much better about not gripping my pencil/brushes as hard as i used too. Sorta a literal, and figurative, "letting go" idea.

Epicurus snow

Back when i used to cross-hatched over my brush lines with white paint.

Abstract

Thought i'd throw up a few abstracts every once in a while, just for fun.

And yeah, that is a little sand sprinkled in there too.

Up on the roof

. . . Dana & Nola

Additional Tues. Post

Sorry, i have to do a second post today, feels like my posting that Hellboy piece ( below) robs you of your daily dose, which is kinda dumb because some of the images i post, i have posted before.

But, whatever . . . so, anyway,

for what it's worth:

Lobo. 

. . . this guy, again?

I know - i already posted this one, but my old friend Andrew Farago at the Cartoon-Art-Museum asked me to remind everyone this Hellboy piece, (and other Hellboy art) is up for sale on ebay today.

It's for a good cause.  But otherwise, let's just get back to the *free* daily pic posts. 

- Sam

Playing katsup . . .

Posting later than usual, pile of Eleanor pages need scanning this week,

plus a few half-finished Nola pages floating around too.

There's all these small of "batches of pages" from various projects,

like boiling pots on a stove  . .

. . only it takes *years* for me to finish the soup.

Don't worry.  Long as i don't croak,

we'll get there.

Goofy Mistakes

When i first drew this, i worried it may have been a mistake to have Maxx's arm behind his leg, but i wanted to try something different. 

It may have been a goofy mistake, but i'm sorta used to it now.

That line sums up my whole career in a way.

Another day . .

. . . another Mom.

Bats & Joker . . .

. . . with a little duck tape.

Bimbo: Lo's Stroke

A dramatic panel from Inner Bimbo, where-in Lo's bimbo notices his face drooping in the mirror.

It was based on a real life close friend of mine who had a stroke, and amazingly drove himself to emergency.  Luckily they caught it in time and made a full recovery.

Interesting how fictional comic-book stories . . . can often reflect really heavy real life stuff we endure.

Trout-in-Toast

From the Big Book of Trout: 'Pareidolia' is the phenomena of seeing faces in ordinary objects, like rocks, trees, the moon,

or . . . toast.

Someday i'll put out a "Mysteries of the Twout-a-verse" book, and when i do . . .

this page will be in it.







 

Batman on brown paper.

Here's a page from Batman Secrets, ( the original art of which, will be collected in THIS Gallery Edition. )

This page is interesting because the top panel was done on recyclable brown paper.  Pops nicely against the white. It's not the his fault, but i forgot to tell the colorist to leave the brown panel uncolored, so the intended effect was kinda lost. 

So here's a chance to see it as originally intended.

The black strips on the sides are my usual sam kieth trademarked habit of adding masking tape.

: )

Just what's needed on a Monday Morning . .

. . . laughing naughty piggies,

obviously. 

Eleanor and the Egret early sketches

. . i showed John Layman some animals in my sketchbook, and these drawings are what helped shaped the Eleanor idea.  Originally the bird had a hat and some goofy socks.  And, for some weird reason . .  a shopping cart.

John's first script had the Egret wearing a different hat in each scene,  but somehow as it evolved, i found myself resisting that idea.  Neither was right or wrong, just different. 

So would have been a more cutesy and anthropomorphic book if we had dressed him up?

Labor of Luv.

It's still years from being finished, let alone released . . .

. . but i'm over half way through it now. 

Chugging along.

Rarely seen Wolvie Cover..

This one's lo rez,

but i'll dig out a higher rez version and throw it up soon.

 

Project Back-Log.

Unless i get hit by a tomato truck,

or croak from some goofy disease or something . . .

. .  many Projects I have are so close to done, they could even be published regardless of if i am around or not.

Art of Maxx book,  Mysteries of the Trout a verse, ( either in book form, a series of short films), 101 Maxx covers, half a dozen others . . . . art's all scanned, finished text, etc.

Good news: they are all hand-crafted an piped in directly from my subconscious. Bad news: Not everything my subconscious pumps out is a golden egg.  Lotta rotten eggs in there too. 

Other Snags: my own personal procrastination means their all waiting in "stand-by" mode.  Some are  moldy, cobweb-ed, and dusty.  But, however flawed or indulgent they are, or seem to me to be, i must have faith that most are probably worthy, of eventually,  seeing the light of day.

Even if the masses may scratch their heads or even hate it, even if it just reaches that One Fan, who totally GETS it? 

Then it was all worth it.  

So . . . all i ask is your patience, 

don't give up on me yet.

Thanks
Sam 

Soft Brushwork

In the second Epicurus series, i pulled back on the "jam-packed-line-work" style,

and instead tried a more lush, softer brush style.

Trying for a deliberately blurred effect.

68 Zombie Cover

Was asked by my friend Jay Fhotos to do a zombie cover.

Horror isn't really usually my strong suit, but it was fun to at least try. 

Rift in her Thoughts

for some reason,

i always keep coming back to this one.