CAPS auction fo benefit Stan Sakai

My contribution to CAPS upcoming auction to benefit Stan Sakai.

For nearly 30 years, Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo has set a high water-mark for creator-owned comics. Stan's wife Sharon has been battling a debilitating illness for some time; after an extended hospital stay and convalescence, she is now back home, but her condition requires 24-hour care and medicines that cost more than their insurance covers. 100% of the proceeds from the CAPS auction will go to the Sakai's to help pay these medical expenses - and if you don't want to bid on any of the art, you can also simply donate money at https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=B1tJ0a8V4injUgxbstAaGczWMwIMDYP2SrXX3k1zkHOrYRm-cNrKcjN4z_8&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63

Ill post the details of the auction as soon as i get them

you can actually see a much larger version of this piece at http://jonathanmarksart.tumblr.com/post/71372849978/this-one-you-can-make-bigger-to-actually-see-the or http://jonomarks.deviantart.com/art/Usagi-Yojimbo-422723224

Massive Black workshop

Went to the Massive Black (http://massiveblack.com/mbwp/MbwhiteSplash.html) workshop over the weekend - what an intimidating and inspiring few days!
Though there is a real emphasis on digital art (about which I know next to nothing...), all of the instructors and students are more than proficient with traditional techniques, and it was great speaking with, learning from, and painting/drawing with all of them!
Here are a few sketches from the weekend:

just a sketch

Swamp Thing: Closure

A 5-page Swamp Thing story just finished for fun.  A book I would love to work on!

Snow Scenes...

Two (totally unrelated) pin-ups i just finished, each involving snow and animal mash-ups!

This one i can't really talk about yet, but its for project that's slated for next year:

And Korra from Avatar: The Legend of Korra (the best american cartoon out there right now) for 'Women of Wonder Day' (October 20th), an

 HEROIC CHARITY EVENT raising money for Domestic Violence charity programs by auctioning Artwork, Collectibles, and Autographed Items featuring many "Women of Wonder"!

Check out the facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/womenofwonderday for more details.

More Animals

More animals in my little brown book (5''x8'').  These were all done pretty quickly (30 min to an hour) with brushes.  Maybe a little too loose? I like the look of watercolour but i dont think i understand the medium enough yet to achieve a texture that really makes a rhino or hippo believable...

Animals

These are actually from earlier this year, I just found this book again. Gonna get back into it, working on tinted paper always adds a cool dimension to the drawing.

Artist Proofs Shrugged Covers

Some examples of the AP sketch covers i've finished from Shrugged no.1.  These are a lot of fun to do, i get to be a little more loose than when im doing pages, and get to experiment with different tools.  These are a mix of sumi and dr. martins white with brushes, nibs, brushpens, and copics.  There are a few more left, email me if you're interested!

Out of the Mist

Sumi and white acrylic. The white was watered down applied on top of the black and grey wolf, im pretty happy with the result, looks snowy.

£^$&ing Google

So heres a funny story:

In an effort to send a single large PDF containing multiple images to someone in such a way so that they wouldnt have to download it, i decided, hey, why not check out this 'google +' that all the kids are talking about (none of the kids are talking about this).
Its like, a share - hub right? just set it up, upload the image, send the recipient a link to access the page. Bob, as they say, is your Uncle.
Once I got to google plus though, i realized that there were already somehow a lot of images - my own images - waiting for me. not wanting to clutter my 'plus', i deleted said images, not realizing that all of google is somehow connected, and i was actually deleting every fucking image id ever uploaded to my blog.
so ive re-posted most of the recent images, but anything beyond a few months ago is gone...
dust in the wind.
(although if theres anythone out there desperate to see an older post, just email me and ill put it back up!)
after all that, the google+ PDF email idea didnt work either.
figures.
Fucking google.

SDCC '13 sketches and commissions

just some stuff from San Diego over the weekend. ComicCon was, as always, a HUGE fun nerd mess! I got to see some old friends, make some new ones, and drool over all the cool stuff coming out soon.
Here are some pieces from the show:

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON PRINTS!!

The Comic Book Convention to end all Comic Book Conventions starts tomorrow (or today? has it already started? i think it has...im not there yet. clearly.)!  Last year was my first time at SDCC and i cannot wait to get back for this year! 

Ill be hanging out at the Aspen Booth (#2321) Friday - Sunday with tons of other great artists and writers and fans, and in addition to free little sketches, pages from 'Shrugged' and 'Soulfire', and commissions, i also have limited edition prints of the 'Ol Canucklehead himself:

'Snow'

and

'The best there is...'

Each print is signed and numbered and there are only 25 of each, so get in early if you want one. Hope to see lots of people in San Diego!

ROOAARRR

Captain Ben Daimio, 13''x19'', sumi

just for fun

Im super excited for Spider-Man 2099 to return this fall in Superior Spider-Man!  The original series was great, Rick Leonardi's Spider-Man is actually one of my favorites, and i cannot wait to see what Slott and Stegman do with this character. I just did this for fun today, it actually didnt come out at all like i wanted it to...i was kinda upset for a second but its not terrible, i think i learned something...? 

Ink, Dr.Martins, white acrylic, and copics

New Covers

Finished covers for Shrugged vol. 2, numbers four

five

and six

Shrugged pages

Shrugged vol. 2, issue 3 came out today! These are some of my favorite pages from the issue, all finished with some combination of inks, pens, and markers, used with brushes, nibs, and pens.  I think im figuring out my voice with each issue i finish, and these pages best show the direction in which i hope to continue.

Cant wait to show off issue number 4!

   

FCBD 2013 and sketch dump

Some recent commissions i just finished.

 This was actually a third attempt at a commission from Wondercon about a month ago. This one is going to be the graphic on a custom wood board that being shaped as we speak! Cannot wait to see what it looks like finished, ill post a link as soon as i have one

Over a month ago i was meant to go to a comic shop in San Antonio to do a store signing for Shrugged. After a plane mix up and a snow storm in Chicago, i ended up missing the flight and the store appearance.  The guys in Texas were completely understanding and i ended up getting back to Heroes and Fantasies (http://www.heroesandfantasies.com/) this past weekend for Free Comic Book Day!  The shop was awesome - intimidatingly huge - and was packed the entire time we were there. I got to hang out with Cory Smith (http://csmithart.blogspot.com/) and JT Krul (http://jtkrul.blogspot.com/), which is always great.

I did this pin up of Ange and Dev for the shop as a little apology for missing my visit last time.

two quick sketches from FCBD

                                                A Dev commission from FCBD