TWO GREAT PROJECTS ON KICKSTARTER

Please take time to check out the following two kickstarter pages!

The first is Breakers by Noel Short and Andrew Reeves. Breakers is the story of an underwater world and it's inhabitants. The story focuses on the heroic, Gundred, as he struggles to discover the truth about his people's past and also change his life. The art for the story was first done by NEVERMINDS colorist, Rey Arzeno, and will now be drawn by Ashish Joshi. You can see all kinds of preview art and a cool video on their kickstarter page. They are offering some nice incentives for donating to their project. Check it out here!

The other project I wanted to mention is No Sweets For Santa by John Gramhan and Mark Mariano. This is a fun holiday themed book that promotes positive eating and still entertains kids! The art is very cute and, just like with Breakers, they are offering some nice incentive packages for donating to their project. Please check it out here!

ANOTHER DRUMFISH CONTEST ON DEVIANT ART

Since we had such a great turnout and so fun with the first Drumfish Productions Art Contest that we had on DeviantArt, we decided it was time to do another. Go over to our Deviant page at http://www.drumfishproductions.deviantart.com/ and check out the info. You'll see the rules, prize info and deadline date. You do need to be a member on DeviantArt to enter, but it's a great site that I highly recommend any aspiring artist or creator to check out. We're doing this contest to coincide with the release of NEVERMINDS #2.

I also thought I should mention something that I posted earlier this year. There is a cool site called Patched Together that makes statues and toys. On there, Firebomb and Harlette from SENTINELS have been submitted for consideration to be made as statues. I spoke with them and they really like the designs, but because the costumes are so detailed, they need more interest. I know any fan of SENTINELS would love to have these, so, if that's the case, please head over to the site and voice to them that you support seeing these made! VOTE! Check it out at link and link.

ALANIS MUNROE BY GEORGE PEREZ

This sketch of Alanis Munroe, from NEVERMINDS, is the last sketch I got at the 2011 Pittsburgh Comicon and it was done by the maestro himself, George Perez! It's no secret that George has been a big influence into my comic life and anytime I'm able to catch up with him or get a commission, I jump at it. This time was especially nice as, later in the show, George came around and chatted with me at my table for a little while. He stopped and looked at all the books I've done and said to the people around how proud he was of me and how great it was to see Drumfish's second series out. It was really great to hear him say that and it made my day. After the comments I got from Phil Jimenez, this sent me over the top, lol. Since I had gotten all of the SENTINELS team drawn by George in the past and he drew Samanya from NEVERMINDS at Megacon this year, I figured I should get another of the main characters from that team. I decided on Alanis this time and I love his rendition of her. She looks beautiful. Her eyes draw you right in! Then again, that's no surprise, George makes every character look amazing!

RAPTURE BY ZIGGY BLUMENTHAL

This sketch of Rapture from SENTINELS was drawn by Ziggy Blumenthal at the 2011 Pittsburgh Comicon. I've known Ziggy for a while now and let me tell you, he's a real pain in the a$$, lol. He'll throw drinks at you if you're not careful, lol. Seriously though, Ziggy is a super funny guy (again, when he's not splashing drinks around) and a very good artist. Last year, he did a funny sketch for me of Bolt from the 1st Gen SENTINELS and had him riding a kid's hip-hop horse and being struck by lightening. We both thought it was a funny theme to continue and he did another this year with this sketch of Rapture going down a sliding board. I love this idea and hope to get him to do more as time goes by. Check out more of Ziggy's work at http://www.fakemccoy.com/ and watch your back if you run into him at a convention! (Just kidding! lol)

MORE PITTSBURGH SKETCHES

Since I'm way behind in posting the sketches I've gotten, I'm putting a few up here that I got while at the 2011 Pittsburgh Comicon. The first is of the three ladies from NEVERMINDS drawn by the very funny, Phil Juliano. Phil always puts a fun twist on his sketches and I love his interpretation of them. His Samanya cracks me up. Phil's cartoon strip, "Best in Show", is awesome and is featured in many newspapers across the country. Check it out at http://www.bestinshow.com/ .

This sketch of Heartache, from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS, was drawn by Phil's cartoon partner, Mike Cole. Mike is the creator of the cartoon strip, "Dragin", which is about a guy and a...dragon, lol. It has a lot of the same wit as Phil's 'toon and I liked Mike's cartoon style. Check out more of his work at http://www.dragincomics.com/ .

Last, but not least, is this sketch of Crusher from SENTINELS was drawn by James Q. Nguyen. James was stuck way back in the second room at the Con, but I was still able to find him and get this energetic sketch. I really like James's sense of motion here and in all the sketches I saw him doing. He also works super fast! See more of James's work at http://www.jamesq.deviantart.com/ .

BUGGED PREVIEW PAGE

It's been a long time since I posted anything concerning the other book I've been working on, BUGGED. I didn't want to keep posting or mentioning things until we had more work done. Well, it's looking like we'll have this OGN done before the end of the year. I really, really can't wait! It's a very different type of story from what I've ever done before. I still don't want to talk about the book too much, so I figure I'd show a page just to give a taste of what it is. More soon....

NINA BY CHRIS MORENO

Everytime I see Chris Moreno at a convention, I always try to get a sketch by him. Chris always put extra effort into every sketch he does and never disappoints! Since he's drawn a few of the SENTINELS characters already, this time at the 2011 Pittsburgh Comicon, I asked him to pick of the NEVERMINDS team this time. He choose Nina and did an awesome job on here. I love the effects he added to her and the watercolor wash really makes her pop! Check out more of Chris work at http://www.chrismoreno.org/ .

ELECTRON BY PHIL JIMENEZ

It's often hard to stay positive in the comic biz, especially as an Independent publisher. You get knocked around a lot, back-stabbed a lot and snubbed sometimes for no reason other than your not friends with the right people. Believe me, I've been there and still am, lol. But whenever I get to the point of just throwing in the towel and admitting defeat, I try to look at the good things that I've accomplished and the great people I've met. One of those people high up on the list is Phil Jimenez. Phil is a huge name with the comic industry and rightfully so, he's one of the rare talents who truly lives up to his image. Not only is Phil an incredible artist, but he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He works very hard at his craft and it shows. I had met Phil a few years ago, but hadn't seen him in a long time. This year though, Phil was at the 2011 Pittsburgh Comicon and only a few tables away from me. All weekend long, Phil was drawing free sketches for people. His one rule - you had to wait there as he drew it. This meant, lol, you had to talk to him. Well, I mean you didn't have to, but why wouldn't you? It's rare to get time to talk one on one with a big name creator. I didn't bother to get in line for a sketch on Friday or Saturday, figuring that I didn't have time to wait in line, even though I wanted to and wanted to say hi. But when Sunday came around, I learned how quick Phil was drawing and had an opportunity to wait in line for a short time and get a sketch. Phil remembered me and we chatted for a while as he drew the sketch posted here of Electron from SENTINELS. But what was really cool was Phil stopping by my table later and chatting more and saying how great SENTINELS and NEVERMINDS looked and how impressed he was with the work. As we spoke, Phil mentioned how he also taught art classes back in NYC and he was teaching a superhero class in June. When I returned to NYC, I signed up for the class and ended having a great time and learning a lot of great tips. It's creators like Phil who I try to think of whenever I need to get back into that positive state of mind. He's a class act and incredible artist!

ELECTRON BY ANDREW HARMON

This sketch of Electron was done by Andrew Harmon at the 2011 Wizard World Philly Con. I met Andrew a few years back in Florida at the 2009 Megacon and also knew him through Deviant Art. Andrew is primarily a colorist and does amazing work. His coloring style is unique in that he does it all in many different layers and uses different levels of flat color to achieve a very original look. In addition to coloring, Andrew also draws and was kind enough to do this sketch for me for free! I love all different types of styles, but lean a bit to the more animated stuff, so naturaly, I really like Andrew's work. Andrew also created a group called the Dynamic League, which helps children with Type 1 Diabetes. In order to help promote awareness and education about the disease, the Dynamic League gives children character sheets which allow them to create their own hero. Different artists then draw the hero and the character gets to join the League. I think it's a great and inspirational idea that I hope people look into it more at http://www.thedynamicleague.com/ . And please check out more of Andrew's work at http://www.charactersink.deviantart.com/ . I've also included an example of his awesome coloring that he did on linework done by artist, Jamie Fay.