Let There Be More Light

Here's the fourth page of the Kill All Monsters! pitch. Hell yeah, this stuff was fun to draw. Maybe more soon....?

Lines by my and colours by Scott Keating.

Daydream Believer

I can't believe I've never posted the final finished Kill All Monsters! pages. The book has been sitting with a couple of interested publishers for a while now but no movement has taken place. Sigh.

Line art by me and the amazing colours are by Scott Keating.

Trouble With The Sweet Stuff

Sketching stuff.

After finishing up the Braids of the Gorgon art, I began to wonder what I should focus my attention on. I'm in a weird spot, project wise. I should have a Perhapanauts story coming to me to draw in the near future, and it might be a long one, so I want to make sure I have the time and energy to make that kick ass. And, if either Kill All Monsters! or Braids find a home, I'll need to be able too give them the time they will demand. So starting something big just doesn't make sense. Then it hit me, I should put together some portfolio pages for my upcoming trip to the Emerald City Comic Con. And that's just what I'm going to do.

More drawings on Friday.

Confidence Man

New Year's resolutions aren't something I normally make. Come December 31st, they tend to be reminders of the things that you failed to do that year. But, after reading David Hopkins' and Jason Rodriguez's resolution posts, I felt like it's something that needs to be done this time around. So without further ado, Jason Copland's 2009 New Year Resolutions!

1. Get more comic work published than 2008.
This one is not going to be hard to achieve, actually. 2008 was pretty dismal in the work published category and I already have 2 things I did art for that should see publication. I'd love for one of my co-created projects (Kill All Monsters! and Braids of the Gorgon) to get a green light but the comic book industry doesn't seem to be taking many chances these days. I'm just a little fish in a huge sea of pros looking to land a creator owned gig. Which brings me to resolution #2...

2. More exposure.
This one goes hand in hand with #1. The publication of more of my work will increase my exposure to new comic people. I'm looking to also increase my exposure on the web, too. I've been trying hard to make sure I have new content for this blog 3 times a week. I've been doing that for just over 3 months and I think it is working. I plan on posting more "work in progress" type stuff here and on sites like Digital Webbing, too.

3. Produce more work.
As a few of my friends will attest to, I am very hard on my self, especially when it comes to my comic work. They say every artist is their worst critic. For me, that holds 100% true. I do believe that that critical voice has made me a better artist but I do feel that it has also kept me from producing work at a faster pace. I tend to worry too much about little things that no one else will ever pick up on. At a certain point, I need to let stuff go and just move on to the next panel/page/whatever.

4. Have more confidence in my work.
Confidence in my work is something that I lack, generally. It is always a surprise when I get someone asking to work with me or wanting to buy art. I can't believe that someone actually thinks I do somewhat notable work. I'm naturally self deprecating so it's hard to know when to be proud of something I've done.

5. Finish reading BONE.
I've tried twice to read the huge Bone book that my wife gave me for Christmas last year. I'm currently working through it. I'm just over half way. It's good but I find myself going off and reading other books when I should be hunkering down and finishing it. I guess it's just a little to "light" for my reading tastes. It's wonderfully written and drawn but it has a little too much... cuteness...? I intend on finishing it, though.

6. Lose weight and maintain it.
Yeah, you knew this one was coming. I've lost about 10lbs since the summer and I have about 5lbs more I'd like to shed. Playing more hockey is helping but it all comes down to the snacking. Jackie and I fell off the snacking wagon a few months ago. Time to get back on it, me thinks.

Well, that's about it. Only time will tell if I can achieve one, some or all of these resolutions but getting them down on paper is one step closer, I guess.

High Hopes

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The Kill All Monsters! pitch pages are complete! They have been colored (by Scott Keating) and lettered (by Kel Nuttall) and are now ready to be sent out in the hopes that they'll find a good publisher to call home. Michael and I are so jazzed about the pages that I feel like I just have to share one of them with y'all! So, here's page 1 for your entertainment!

I'll make sure to keep you all posted on any developments that occur during the publisher hunt!

Love Bites

Here's another coloured panel from the all new Kill All Monsters! pitch. Colours by Scott Keating.

One World (Not Three)

I thought I'd give you all a peek of the Kill All Monsters! logo that will be gracing the mock cover of our pitch package. The logo (and lettering) for the pitch was done by that wacky "Mad Alaskan", Kel Nuttall. It's amazing what quality lettering does for a book! Thanks, Kel!

... And Justice For All

I'm back from FallCon. I'll post more about the show soon but I wanted to show you a part of something that was in my inbox when I got home...
Colourist extraordinaire, Scott Keating, has begun to work on the Kill All Monsters! pitch pages and they look amazing! Seriously, if these pages can't get a good publisher to invest in putting this book out, then there is no justice in the world. Sorry about the small image... That's all I've got right now. Once I get the hi-res files, I'll post a bigger image.

New Jack Hustler

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This a character sheet for Jack Dressen, from the Kill All Monsters! pitch. He's a new character that has been thrown into the mix. He pilots the mech that we have jokenly dubbed "Skullinator". I don't know if that name is going to stick but it helps us identify it from the other mechs.

Scream Like A Baby

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As my time on the Kill All Monsters! pitch is coming to a close, I'm starting to work out some bugs in the new style I hope to utilize on the next project, Braids of the Gorgon. It's going to be messier, for sure. But just how much more messier.... that's what I have to figure out. Here's a drawing that is just me trying to find that level of messiness.

Remember When (Side A)

Remember when I said we weren't showing any finished pages from the Kill All Monsters! book? Well, it seems like that sneaky KAM! co-creator Michael May* went ahead and posted a page on his blog today!

Fine! I will, too! Behold page 1 of the new and improved Kill All Monsters!!

you gotta click the image to see it in all its glory!

* Michael isn't really that sneaky
** tip of the hat to my grammar editor, Jackie Copland!

Show Me

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The Kill All Monsters! pages are complete. And, they rock, indeed. There is a 2 page spread in there that is probably my finest work. Ever. But, I can't show it. I can, however, post this quick ink sketch of a giant robot fighting a giant monster!

Your Gold Teeth

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Another inked panel from the Kill All Monsters! pitch pages. My part of the pitch work is almost done. Michael May and I are looking to get the pages coloured and lettered and then the publisher search will be on.

When The Lights Go Out

No, I'll not be making my way down to San Diego for Comic Con International. I opted to spend my convention going money on my trip to Heroes Con, this year. SDCC is not a great con to go to if you're not promoting a recent/upcoming book, as far as I can tell. I will miss getting the chance to sit and chat with some of my comic book creating brethren, though. I *may* go next year but I'll have to make sure I've got a book coming out around SDCC time. And on that note, here's a look at the inked version of the panel from the previous Kill All Monsters! post.

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With My Own Bare Hands

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Here's a penciled panel from the Kill All Monsters! pitch. This is going to be soooo good.

Comin' Under Fire

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Part of a rough drawing for one of the panels in the Kill All Monsters! pages I'm currently working on.

Exactly Where I'm At

Heroes Con was excellent! I got to meet a bunch of people face-to-face that I've only known through the Worldwide Web. The internet is an amazing thing, but getting a chance to talk to fellow comic creators in person is soooo much better.

I had a great time talking to Perhapanauts creators Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau. I'm a huge fan of the 'Nauts, so it was very cool to get a chance to hang with them. Todd has offered me a chance to do a little something for a backup feature for an upcoming issue, which I jumped at in a heartbeat! As a warm up to whatever that something will be, I did a Perhapanauts pin-up (below). I took it down to Heroes and gave it to Todd. He seemed to like it and even thinks it should appear in the 4th issue of the book! Sweet!

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Being a HUGE Guy Davis fan, it was an amazing few minutes when I got the chance to talk shop with him while he drew a very cool Marquis sketch for me... for free! Thanks, Guy!

I also got the chance to talk to some comic creator friends like Kevin Mellon, Dennis Hopeless, Kody Chamberlain, Josh Elder, Dwight L. MacPherson and Charlie Kirchoff (and his lovely wife, Elbonie). All in all, Heroes Con was excellent and I'm very close to saying I'll be back there again next year.

Meanwhile... back at home...
Things are moving on the Kill All Monsters! pitch pages. I had a few days off from drawing, after my trip to Heroes Con, but now I'm all about the giant robots kickin' giant monster butt action!

More soon!

Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)

Click on the image to see it bigger...

I'm working hard on the new Kill All Monsters! pitch pages. Michael and I have decided to hold off on showing any substantial images for the book while we work our way through it. But, for the sake of having something to look at (as this is an artist's blog), I'm posting this look at my process for working out a particular panel. That last image is pretty much ready to ink, although I think I may put something in the foreground to help give the reader a sense of the monster's scale.

(You're a) Strange Animal

More monster sketches to take up even more space on the internet!

Maneater

As work on my Trickster pages continues, I sometimes manage to find time to do some fun drawing, too. Here are a few more monster designs I've done... some of which may find their way into the Kill All Monsters! redo.

Just Between You and Me

Kill All Monsters! might be going to go back to the drawing board, literally. So, I've begun to so some more drawings in hopes that I can come up with better monster designs. Here are a few that I've done over the past couple of days.

Ready Steady Go

The Kill All Monsters! pitches are primed and ready to go! I did up a few new character shots for the pitch. I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites...

The pitches go out this week. With some luck, we'll see some interest in the book from the quality publishers Michael and I targeted.

She Sells Sanctuary

I just flew back from FallCon in Minneapolis and boy are my arms tired. (groan)

But seriously, I had a great time at Fall Con, even though the hot temperatures and high humidity were slowly killing me. Hanging with my good friends Michael May and Alex Ness (and their families), getting to know Jessica Hickman, Grant Gould and Darla Ecklund and meeting tons of comic readers who were very eager to get their hands on a book like KILL ALL MONSTERS! were all highlights of my weekend in Minnesota.

This was my first con that I spent behind a table instead of being a homeless creator that roamed the con floor looking for people to talk to or good deals on comics. It was a great experience. Thankfully, Michael and I were sharing a table so the pressure to be constantly greeting and chatting up people was lessened. I’m not much of a salesman but by the end of the 2-day con I was starting to get into the groove.

The selling of books was all fine and good but the main reason Michael and I were there was to talk up our Kill All Monsters! book to anyone who was interested. And, according to the number of people who flipped through all the preview pages of the first issue and picked up a full color KAM! print, we have a book that seems to have a lot of interest! Now we just need to find it a publishing home that can take advantage of all that interest.

Pictured above is me (left) and Michael May (right).

Do The Brown Nose

While Michael May and I have been getting the final Kill All Monsters! pitch together, I've been working on a few drawings to keep me in the "robot vs. monster" mode of thinking. One such drawing is the one above, which I've put together as a "thank you for your support" giveaway. It started out as a sketch but turned into something a little more... involved. Hopefully the recipent will dig it!

UPDATED: I added the image of the pencil drawing as it looked before i inked it. As you can see i added some things and deleted some things while inking it.

Coloured Rain

Some days start out perfectly. Case in point....





















This was in my inbox this morning.
Colors by Scott Keating

Ch-check It Out

Check out the newly coloured page from Kill All Monsters!
Michael and I are thrilled to have Scott "ELK'S RUN" Keating supplying the colours!

Ruff Stuff

Here's a little robot vs. monster action to make the day just a little better. The page shown above is from Kill All Monsters!

Cover Me

Here's the previous drawing inked... but with a repositioned robot arm. This is the proposed cover for the first issue of Kill All Monsters!. It will be included in the submission pitch that will be going out to select publishers!

My good friend, Alex Shiekman, asked this question in the comments section of the previous post :

Jason,

Looks great! Is this a stage from which you can ink or do you have to do some more rendering before inking?

I did indeed ink from this stage of drawing. After I changed the left arm of the robot in the original drawing, I went straight into inking mode. About 90% of the inking was done with a pen (using a Hunt Globe Bowl Pointed 513 EF nib, for you artists out there). The other 10% of the drawing was done with a brush (Winsor and Newton series 7 #2), mostly to beef up some of the line weights and for the fur/hair on the monster's neck and back. The dry brush for the background was done with a bamboo brush.

With the commencement of Kill All Monsters!, I've been trying to make the inking process more spontaneous and fun. This has lead me to leave the pencil drawings I ink from a little more "loose", much different than the way I've always worked. It can be a bit of a drag when the drawing is not working, but overall, I've had a lot of fun inking Kill All Monsters!.

We Don't Need Another Hero

Hot off the drawing table.

Trouble for our illustrious hero?

Mother of Violence

An inked panel from the forthcoming Kill All Monsters! book from Michael May and myself.

Punch and Judy

Don't Cry No Tears

Work on Kill All Monsters! continues. I've just finished the last page of layouts for a rock'em sock'em robot versus monster throw down! I'm having a helluva time drawing this stuff! Which is a good thing, by the way. Unfortunately, it's too early to start giving sneak peeks at the new pages... I mean, we gotta keep some of this stuff secret or you won't need to buy the book... so I'm posting another panel from the first few pages of the book.

Enjoy! More soon.....