GET READY FOR TCAF!!

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival is next Saturday and Sunday at the Toronto Public Reference Library at Bloor and Yonge. It is without a doubt one of North America's finest and most diverse comic book shows, and is free to the public!

I will be appearing, signing and doing sketches both days and can be found at the TOP SHELF table along with Matt Kindt, Tim Sievert and Brett Warnock,

In addition I am part of an exhibit at The Harbourfront Center running from Friday May 8 to June 21. The exhibit deals with the process of creating graphic novels and will feature displays by myself, Adrian Tomine, and Mariko Tamaki among other international cartoonists.

For more details on this and more vists TCAF's website!

Toronto Comicon This Weekend

I'll be appearing at the Toronto Comicon this weekend, sketching, signing doing commissions etc. I will also have original art for sale as well as preview art from The Nobody and Sweet Tooth.

Other guests include Bill Sienkewicz, Doug Mahnke and Chris Sprouse.

Toronto Comicon
Fan Appreciation Event 2009
April 18-19, 2009
Metro Toronto Convention Centre South Building Hall G
222 Bremner Blvd.

Hours
Saturday: 11:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday: 11:00am - 5:00pm

VICTORY AT LAST!

Well, my hockey team The Flying Burritos and I have been playing together for five seasons now, and this weekend we finally overcame our collective demons and emerged as the Exclaim Cup Champions at the Exclaim Hockey Summit of The Arts.



It was a HARD fought tourney with five games played over three days, and we had to beat The Montreal Ninja Tunes, The Bi-Town Billionaires and The Dartmouth Ferries to make it to the Championship game vs. The Gas Station Islanders yesterday. Nerves were high as we took the ice in front of a healthy-sized crowd of friends and family, but in the end we beat them handily 3-1 and claimed the trophy.



I had a strong tournament with 3 goals and 2 assists, and the we had a lot of fun, drank a lot of beer and played a lot of good hockey. Way to go Burritos!

First Look At The Nobody!

Newsarama has posted an exclusive 6-page preview of THE NOBODY!

ART BRUT ALBUM COVER

I recently finished doing the album art and sleeve design for UK band ART BRUT's forthcoming album, Art Brut Vs. Satan.



You can read more about the album and how I hooked up with frontman Eddie Argos here at PITCHFORK MEDIA.

The album is due April 20th.

WIZARD'S 25 ARTIST'S TO WATCH!

The most recent issue of Wizard Magazine includes a list of the "25 Rising Stars", and I was included! Click on the image above to read the article. They also suggest that I would be a good fit for BATMAN...maybe one day?

A TOUR OF MY "STUDIO"

I thought I'd post some pics of my workspace. I have been working in the basement of our house for the last year and a half, and while I do miss the natural light, I also enjoy the privacy I have down here. I also have to share the space with our washer and dryer (which make nice extra work tables sometimes) and my 3 cat's bathroom...but such is life.


One of my many bookshelves, this one contains my 9 bound volumes of Legion of Superheroes
(From Levitz's first issue through to the end of Abnett and Lanning's run) as well as all of my oversized "European" graphic novels, reference books and of course one of my favorite comics of all time Dave McKean's Cages.













Behind my drawing desk I have my oversized scanner, my short boxes of comics, and a shelf containing all of my favorite "indie" books, my Lester action figure and The DC Vault. I also have some advance galley copies of THE NOBODY kicking around, next to my Final Crisis posters of Hal Jordan and Barry Allen.














And here's the most important stuff, my actual drawing table. I hand built a little table easel to hold by drawing boards at the right angle. Beside that I have my little inking station. I generally use a steel point crow quill and a #1 Kolinskly Sable brush for all of my linework, and I use a couple of rapidiographs and tech pens for backgrounds. Those are preliminary pencils for Issue #4 of my upcoming Vertigo monthly series SWEET TOOTH on the board right now.

Hanging right above my drawing table, for easy reference while I work, is a "model" sheet of the main character from SWEET TOOTH, and to my right I have more bound volumes (those are the complete Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis Runs on Hellblazer and both of Tim Truman's Scout series as well as the complete Who's Who) I also have all of my Jack Kirby Omnibus Collections and all of Alan Moores and Eddie Campbells work there as well. Above my desk are all of my trades. I've really been into Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX series lately.

And last, but not least is my ever growing collection of original art which I hang on the walls around me for constant inspiration. Pictured here are some of my most prized pieces, a Brian Bolland Animal Man head sketch, A Carmine Infantino Flash head sketch, a Joe Staton Hal Jordan, and a page from Tim Truman's Jonah Hex series. I also have a Kieth Giffen Dr. Fate page, a Leonard Kirk Captain Britain, a Matt Kindt Wonder Woman, a Darwyn Cooke Batman and a Jeffrey Brown Superman around there somewhere too.