I Can Split the Atom of a Molecule, of a Molecule, of a Molecule

Drink and Draw! The reason I wake up every Wednesday. Tried out hemp paper from this new sketchpad I bought. It's nifty and durable, a nice attribute for one who erases frequently and violently.

-V-

Only I Will Remain

Hey gang,

Another drink and draw today. Big crowd now that we have some ACAD grads joining us. My head fuckin' hurt too. It was a hottish back of your head kinda pain, but after walking around the street I just felt wrong. Like a storm was about to break. My pupils were also slightly dilated, so lights were a touch brighter. Here's hoping it's not anything serious.

First 2 pics are from past drink and draws, the Flash Gordony fella's from tonight.

Also, Fiona Staples was awesome enough to do some fanart of my Nobodies comic. She did a pretty good job, I'd chalk that up to the talent potion she was fed as a child. I was only fed the sarcasm potion and the overweight potion. C'est la vie!

Anyways, thats it. Hope my head feels better. Might be physical, might be mental. Either way, I need to get improvin' before it's too late to do anything about it. And by that I mean, I hope I don't die before I wake.

-V-

I've Got Another Puzzle For You

Well, I've finally started drawing again after a long deserved break. I recently lent my cherished copy of Claire Wendling's Iguana Bay 2.0 to a friend who's been fiercely linking me to get me more traffic. Much appreciated, chum. (I didn't realize 'chum' is almost 'much' backwards.)

For those who don't know who Claire Wendling is, get on that shit and buy her stuff immediately. Iguana Bay 2.0 is a unique published sketchbook in the sense that it's old and new. It's got all the material from the '96 release of Iguana Bay 1.0 in it, along with brand new redo's of every sketch from 96 done 8 years later. It's amazing to see how much she's progressed, refined, and grown since then.

So, as always, I steal/try it for myself. I dug out my first sketchbook. Admittedly, my first sketchbook wasn't started until I was 20, blame it on my former habit of drawing on scrap paper. I remember getting this sketchbook as a gift for painting the windows of my animation school for the Stampede. I forget the administrative assistant's name, I wanna say Melissa, but she was cool. In fact, she was hot. Long strawberry-blond locks that would put Goldilocks to shame, and buddy holly glasses. But I digress. I finished that lil sketchbook in about a year, much of the material done was very loose, unfinished and experimenting in mediums I was trying for the first time. Materials like blue pencils and illustration markers.

After flipping though the relic, I found two pieces I chose to redo. You can definitely see the increase in anatomy knowledge, line confidence and mastery of the materials. I still wouldn't consider myself pro, but after doing this, I can see myself getting closer.

I have a few things to do in near future, like a script for the second issue of the Nobodies, some fanart and some more experimental pics. More to come. Drink and Draw tomorrow.

Oh, and I've got another blogger buddy. My good friend, Richard Barkman. Fellow comic booker and Luchadore enthusiast. Check him out and shower him with praise or just soap and water. Either way, he wins.

That's all for now.

-V-

I See You Left A Mark

By the way, I forgot to mention that I have a new member in my family . Meet Drawy McDrawonme Pants, my first official drawing table. Sweet Zombie Jesus, it took long enough. My next comic ought to have some actual 2 and 3 point perspective thanks to Drawy here.

Oh and don't forget that I also have a deviant art account. It has art this blog does not have and vice versa. Check it.

Oh and the bearded Stuart Immonen linked me on his blog today. Happy times, he is one of my favorites. Check him out too, he works on some weird, underground indy comic called Ultimate Spider-man. Probably popular with the Pekar crowd.

-V-

I Need You Disciplined

Well, my buddy Johnny and his fiance Candice has gone and moved to Vancouver to start 3D Animation at VFS. And to him I say, good luck and make the most of it. It's a very daunting task to uproot yourself, move to another city, and edjamacate yourself at a very expensive school.

I hope all the best for Johnny and Candice in the city that never dries. Check out his blog, I'm hoping he'll be posting all his new and improved artwork as the year rolls on.

-V-

Navras

Saw Bitch Workhorse

Hello gang,

Its been an eventful few weeks. I had the worst stomach flu ever two days ago. Swore I almost died of dehydration, but I seem to be all better now. The convention over the weekend did really well. All in all my new comic, the Nobodies, was well recieved. A few people have already asked about issue two. That's bloody spectacular to hear and that's what keeps me going.

Finally finished those Marvel Cards. All but one were approved my Marvel. I guess they thought my Enchantress looked like a puffy She-ra. No arguements here. Not my best work unfortunately. I really think the lack of time and payoff quickly squashed my passion and effort on this one. I'm glad I did it, and I did have some fun, but I don't think I'll be doing it again. I can't say I really grew as an artist on this one. I felt rushed, kinda like 24 hour comic book day. You draw to get it done, not to become better or try something different. Live and let die.

It'll be a while yet before Issue two. I want to take some time off to draw for myself again, hopefully reach another plateau. You'll see what I'm fiddling with soon enough.

That's all for now.

-V-

I Got Five On It

Hey Muppets,

Here's the first 9 of my 50 Marvel Sketchcards for Upper Deck. I have till the end of the month, so expect these to frequent my blog as the weeks roll on.

I recently attended both an ACAD Show/Sale and Graduating Porfolio show. I was rather blown away by those talented mother-truckers. I was also quite humbled, angry, and resolved in my quest to become a better artist. Despite how good some of you may think I am now, I know I can still be a thousand times better. This blog is precisely that, a road map to my betterment as an artist. So keep watching.

Here's a few of the people I met and in some cases, befriended: Sarah Friesen, Heather Reinhardt, Chika Ando, Connor Willumsen, and Maggie Cloutier.

Check 'em out. I'm jealous of all of them and may have to destroy them one day.

Cheers!

-V-

If You Listen To Fools, The Mob Rules

Hey Creepsters,

Here's some colored work of recent. The Nobodies finally wrapped up and it's at the printers. That'll be for sale at the Tubby Dog Release Party next Thursday, check the image for details as well as the Gong Show/Calgary Expo next weekend. It's gonna be the balls. Gong balls. Do visit myself and the Vicious Ambitious table. We'll have 4 new books and lots of pie-throwing. No joke!

Also, some of my good friends will be in attendance, Johnny Luu, Daniel Andrews, James Davidge, and Riley Rossmo will be in Artists Alley, make sure you check those guys out.

That's all for now. GONG!

-V-

Never Wanna Give You Up

Well, here's the inks to my new comic book coming out later this month. Here's hoping the printer can pull my late ass out of the fire. Colors later. Greatly inspired by Will Eisner and the Ryan Sook, the guy who made me remember why Eisner covers kick ass.

-V-

Snowblind

Hey gang,

Another drink and draw in the bag. I did a few Marvel Sketch Cards, but I can't show those yet. I did a circus thing and here's another panel from my comic. I hope to get this to the printer after the first week of April and printed by the time that expo rolls around.

It'll happen, I'm making some good progress. I hope to have a cover to show next week.

-V-

Like A Puppet On A String

Another Drink and Draw in the bag. I present missile Boy and General Bird.

Comic's coming along nicely and I'll post some more stuff once I draw something without mesas in the background.

Oh, also my artiste-inspirados, Cory Walker, has recently begun posting on his blog again and I've even got a link up to his blog. So check the man out, he's awesome possum!

Bye for now.

-V-

C'Mon Baby Say Bang Bang

Another awesome Drink and Draw last night. Got a quick magician piece done and Kraken from the Umbrella Academy, of which I recently read and loved.

Oh, I also started up a Deviant Art account. Check it out here.

I'll post some more Nobodies stuff in a few days.

-V-

You Want The Candy

Here's another panel from the Nobodies. I have 10 pages done, so I've still got a ways to go. I'm also trying not to ruin too much of the story prematurely on this blog. An no, this girl is not going to become Venom.

Oh, and one more thing. I have to slightly changed the title from 'The Nobodies' to the 'Nobodies.' Why? Well, apparently some guy wrote a kids book called 'The Nobodies' so I'll just drop the 'the' in the title despite my explicit use of 'The' whenever I talk about it.

I'm almost out of blank comic book pages too, so I'll be on the hunt for those this week, seeing as AD comics is fresh out.

-V-

Let Me See You Stripped

Hey fugglers,

Had to share this panel with you guys, cause I'm mighty proud of it. And yes, this is officially the most detail I've put into a desert scene. I might get the cover done up next week, so I can finally get that into the ether.

Also, three of my buddies are online, I present Christopher Bruce Johnston, Caleb Hystad and Brian Yee.

I also got my Marvel Sketchcards in, and I've done up three tonight at Drink and Draw. Can't show 'em yet cause of the NDA. The comic is my biggest priority now, so you'll have to wait until next month to see some cards.

That's all for now.

-V-

Keep Your Dreams, Just Gimme the Money

Hey gang,

Just in case you thought I was slacking, you thought wrong! Dead Wrong!

I'm currently working on an epic 6 issue mini-series with the first issue coming out for the Calgary Expo in April. It's called the Nobodies and it is the biggest comic project I've worked on yet.

Here's two pics from the pages I've already finished, stay tuned for more and maybe even a cover later this month!

-V-

Deep

This is a favorite song of mine I'd like to share on this holiest of Hallmark days. It's probably my favorite love song ever, so enjoy this audio only Youtube file of Peter Murphy's - Strange Kind of Love

Me Am No Blog Post

A lil something from Drink and Draw.

-V for Valentine-

Survivalism

Universe, I know you're listening, so listen to this and help us out.

I Want To Be The Girl With The Most Cake

Hey gang,

I'm hard at work on my big comic book project for this years expo. I recently finished up two stories for Gord Cummings' Mercy Seat Presents: Children Are Cruel. I wrote one and Jason Mehmel wrote the other. Not sure on the release date, but it'll be awesome when it comes out.

-V-