DRUMFISH DEVIANT ART CONTEST WINNERS!

I'm happy to announce the winners from the 1st Drumfish Productions Deviant Art contest! The first prize winner was Davina Falcao's rendition of Henko from NEVERMINDS.

Coming in second was Gospel from SENTINELS drawn by Danielle St. Pierre.

And rounding out the top three in third place was Kanaloa from NEVERMINDS drawn by Nick Rhodes.

Congratulations to all the winners and a HUGE thanks to everyone who entered the contest. We plan to have more in the future, so if you're a member of Deviant Art and not yet part of the Drumfish group, join up now to be notified of future contests! http://drumfishproductions.deviantart.com/

DEVIANT ART CONTEST!

Last month we started a Drumfish Production group on Deviant Art. We thought it was a great way to expose our books to a wider audience. We opened the group by having a contest for all artists. They could draw any character from SENTINELS or NEVERMINDS and submit it by February 28th, 2011. There are more details on the link below, but I thought I'd share some of the awesome entries we've gotten so far. It's going to be hard to vote for a favorite because I think all of the entries are really great. Check out the Drumfish Production group on Deviant Art here.

AT YOUR LOCAL COMIC STORES TODAY!

Today is a big day for SENTINELS artist, Luciano Vecchio! His first published work by DC Comics was released today and is in stores right now. Luciano drew the Ben 10 story in Cartoon Network Action Pack #57. And this is only the beginning for Luciano, trust me. Big things are in his future. I'm hoping they make him the regular artist on this book, because his work looks amazing! I was really excited to buy the book this morning. I hope everyone will go out and support him and pick up a copy!

In addition to that, Pacesetter, the George Perez Magazine #11 was also release today and I have a story in that. I've always been a BIG fan of George Perez and I was happy to write something for the New Teen Titans focused issue when they asked me. You can also order the book here or get the online version here.

NEVERMINDS #1 AT THE PRINTERS

Finally!!! I'm happy to announce that the first issue of NEVERMINDS is officially at the printers. WooHoo! Its been a long time coming, but we hope that the wait will be worth it. The art looks amazing! We also decided to do a new cover which is posted along with this entry. Within the next few days, I'll be posting ordering info and we'll be premiering the first issue at Megacon in Florida next month.

SOME NEW HEADSHOT SKETCHES

I'm planning to post some new Drumfish stuff, but have to wait. Sorry! In the meantime, here are a few recent headshots I've done. :)

LUCIANO VECCHIO ON BEN 10

Well, it's finally started to happen! I'm VERY proud to report that SENTINELS artist extraordinaire, and my original partner in crime, Luciano Vecchio, is beginning to hit the big time!

At the end of this month (February), Luciano's work will appear in issue 57 of DC Comic's Cartoon Network Action Pack. His first published story for DC Comics is Ben 10 and I'm sure it will look just as amazing as everything else Luciano has drawn. This is just the beginning for Luciano. I'm sure of it! I can't wait to tell people "I knew him when...", lol. Big congrats to you, Luciano! You deserve it. :)

Make sure to buy the issue when it comes out, everyone!

MORE INDIE CHARACTER HEADSHOTS

Here are a few more (better late than never, lol) headshots I did for friends recently. They are all from their own independent comics. I had a lot of fun doing these!

The first is Katt from Ryan McLellan's comic, Philly. Philly is funny and just as awesome as Ryan's other series, Wise Intelligence. Ryan also wrote Serpenta's story in the SENTINELS Anthology. You can read Philly for free at www.drunkduck.com/Philly/index.php?p=218044. Templar and Serpenta from SENTINELS even made a guest appearance in Philly #4. Check it out!

The next is Nick Vargas from Philip Clark's comic, Quantum: Rock of Ages. I love Philip's book and even inked issue #7 of the series. Philip was one of the first Indie creators I met in the biz and one my favorite writers. He even wrote Firebomb's story in the SENTINELS Anthology. You can learn more about Quantum at www.quantumcomic.net.

Then there is Tara Normal from HC Noel's web series, Tara Normal. HC (Howie!) is an old friend who's first series, Mr. Scootles, is still among one of my favorite Indie comics. Mr. Scootles even made a cameo appearance in the SENTINELS ANTHOLOGY. Check out Tara Normal at www.taranormal.com.

And last but not least, is Kasira from Dan Sehn's comic, Argo 5. Dan started doing Argo 5 shortly after I started SENTINELS and it's been great to see him develop and publish his series. I really love the characters he's created and can't wait for the next issue of Argo 5 to come out because four SENTINELS make a guest appearance in a 5 page story written by myself and drawn by Luciano Vecchio! Learn more about Argo 5 at www.argocomics.com.

SPLASH BY ERIC GUERRERO

This sketch of Splash from SENTINELS, in her "re-visioned" colors, was drawn by my friend, Eric Guerrero. Eric is a talented artist who is working on his own series but found the time to do this drawing in my sketch book. I really love the colors and detail. I also love the way Eric draws faces. They always look different and unique. Please check out more of Eric's work at http://www.drawdammitdraw.blogspot.com/ .

CRUSHER BY ANDREW CHARIPAR

Another amazing sketch by Andrew Charipar. This time Andrew decided to drawn Crusher from SENTINELS in one of his revisioned colors costumes. I love seeing these! Keep at it, Andrew. Only 348 more to go!

RAPTURE BY ANDREW CHARIPAR

Throughout 2009, I decided to focus on my art and I did my "Sketch A Day" project (see all the posts here on the blog from 2009, lol). I had been inspired by my good friend and one of the artists on the SENTINELS Anthology, Andrew Charipar, to do a sketch book because I always admired how he did one every year. Well, our roles have been flipped this year and he tells me now that I've inspired him to do a sketch every day this year, lol. So far, he's off to an amazing start. He's knocking every drawing out of the park and even doing them in color. He asked if he could tackle some SENTINELS and/or NEVERMINDS characters and I'm really excited to see him them. He just did this excellent sketch of Rapture from SENTINELS. I love it and I'm honored he's including me in his list of characters he wants to draw. Please check out Andrew blog http://www.misfitcorner.blogspot.com/ to see more of his art (I've put a few under this entry to see also!). Thanks, Andrew!

SANRIA BY HOLLY MONGI

This watercolored portrait of Sanria from NEVERMINDS was done a while ago by Holly Mongi, but I didn't realize until now that I hadn't posted it on the blog here. I'm a big fan of Holly's work and think she's amazing with watercolors. Please check out more of Holly's work at http://hollymongi.blogspot.com/.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year to all who visit this blog! I hope everyone had a safe and fun New Years! Here's to 2011 and all the great days ahead. :)

SPLASH AND BOBO BY CAMILLA D'ERRICO

How cute is this picture of Splash and BoBo from SENTINELS by Camilla d'Errico? I got this sketch from Camilla at the 2010 NYC Comicon. Camilla's artwork definitely caught my eye as I walked around the convention, but it was Camilla's personality and excitement that got me to truly get a sketch from her. She's a very nice and energetic person. I find it interesting how artists work often look like them. I don't necessarily mean the style, I mean more the energy and feel (if that makes sense, lol). I love Camilla's line work and soft style. It fits these characters perfectly! Please check out more of Camilla's work at http://www.camilladerrico.com/ .

SOME INDIE CHARACTER HEADSHOTS

I didn't get done as many as I wanted, but here are a few Indie character headshots I did for friends for Christmas gifts. I haven't finished all the ones I planned, but I'll get to them this week I hope. They might be sent a little late to people, but the holidays rushed in on me this year! The characters below are: Indigo from Spandex by Martin Eden, Ricky 17 from Tales from the Cornerstone by Andrew Charipar, Nashya from Breakers by Noel Short and Andrew Reaves and finally, two of the main characters from Cruel Thing by Luciano Vecchio and Lean. I hope everyone has a happy holiday!

HARLETTE BY STEVE WALKER

This sketch of Harlette, in her look from SENTINELS Book 4: Echoes, was drawn by Steve Walker at the 2010 NYC Comicon. Steve was sitting across from me at the convention and was intrigued by SENTINELS. He stopped over to say hi and I took one look at his art and had to hit him up for a sketch. I really love Steve's clean lines and style. His work reminds me of Darwyn Cooke's art a little. I wish I could find Steve's website to post a link along with this drawing, but I can't seem to find it. If anyone knows it, please let me know and I'd add it on here. :)

SOME NEW SKETCHES

The holidays are making life busy here, but I thought I'd post two new sketches I did recently. I'm trying to draw more and I hope to announce info on ordering NEVERMINDS #1 soon.

ELECTRON BY DEL BOROVIC

The very talented Del Borovic drew this sketch of Electron from SENTINELS Book 3: Echoes at the 2010 NYC Comicon. I was told to check out Del's art by Rey Arezno and I'm really glad he pointed me towards her. As soon as I saw her art, I thought it was amazing. To me, Del's style is a mixture of Anime and Western comics. She has a fun and exciting energy to her panel art, that you can see by checking out her cool webcomic, Delve Into Fantasy, at www.delveintofantasy.com . On top of all that, Del is super nice and was very fast doing this sketch. Please take some time to check out Del's webcomic or see more of her art at www.exileddelusion.deviantart.com .

RAPTURE BY ANTONIO BIFULCO

This sketch of Rapture was done at the NYC Comicon by Antonio Bifulco. Antonio was sitting one table down from me at the convention and I really liked how detailed his art was. He has a nice realistic style and toning to his figures. I didn't see Antonio doing many sketches at the Con, which was really odd considering that his prices were very reasonable and his work was so good. But, you never know how you'll do at conventions, you might be crazy busy at one and totally dead at another. Antonio had travelled all the way from Italy to attend the NYC Comicon and then went on to the New England Wizard Con. I hope the Wizard Con went well for him because he's a super nice guy and really puts a lot of work into his commissions. Please check out more of Antonio's work at http://www.fragcomics.deviantart.com/ .

A FEW NEW SKETCHES

I meant to post these sketches a while ago, but completely forgot to. At the NYC Comicon in October, I actually got commissioned a bit and here are two of the ones I did. I think they turned out pretty nice. The Dr. Strange one was difficult because the person wanted me to draw him as the character. I'm not really good on portraits, but I tried my best. The Storm one was a fav that I did. Also, below them are two newer headshots I've done.

ROBUST SKETCH FROM NYCC

Here's another of the sketches I got at NYC Comicon. I was actually kind of disappointed in this one and meeting the artist. I've always been a big fan of this artist and when I meet them, they were very cold. I think at one point they even made a face when I said hello. Very odd. Now I know everyone has a bad day and can have things going on, but at a convention, I think it's best to stay positive and be friendly with people. Especially people who might be your fans. Anyway, it's not often I spend extra money on a sketch, most are free, trades or cheaper than the big names, but with this artist, I really wanted to get something from them, so I decided to spend the extra cash. If you've seen this artist's portraits, you might know how beautiful their work is, so I gave them the choice of drawing any of the SENTINELS characters and felt a little riped off that they drew the one with a full face mask. I guess it was my fault for not being specific, but I did tell them I loved her portraits and thought they drew beautifully realistic faces and had always wanted a sketch from them. I figured that made it clear I wanted them to do a portrait. But, it really was my fault for not just saying "draw character X". But I think what made me feel so negative about this all was the artist's attitude. I hate that they made me feel like I was bothering them when I first asked for a sketch and I hate even more that I feel they took the shortcut and did a sketch that was not up to their normal standards. Out of fairness, lol, I'm not naming this artist. It's still not a bad sketch, but totally not worth the high price I paid for it and the negative attitude I got.