Patrick and Molly: And All the Small Things

Here's a version of a title card I did for the web series Patrick and Molly. It's not my usual style at all, but I guess whatever suits the job, right? And i have to admit, it was refreshing and fun to be working in ol' AE again. I quite missed it.

All Three Finals

These are the final three, warmer across the board.

I know everyone likes the first one ... and I mean EVERYONE. Honestly, though, I don't care. My favorite is the second! Nyeh!

Third Death and Cremation Poster

This is the third poster, and while it seems simpler than the others, I have to say I like it better like this than with tons more going on. I considered adding other things, and I debated whether so much of the image should be black, but this seems best.



The second image is distorted and used in the third poster, in which it is barely visible as you see it dimly in the bowling ball. I figure I should post it as well, because otherwise it probably would never be seen by anyone, and because while its rough, it's still sort of fun. I tried to meld the prop head with the features of the actor. Since I had to do it in my head, it's not as photorealistic as the others.

Second D&C Poster

Here's the second poster ... same overall method as the first, although as you can see a much different tone and feel.

New Death and Cremation Poster

Here's the new poster. Ross Otterman, the producer of the film, wanted to use an image I had done a year ago. Well, I've come a ways since that time and thought I would give a new rendering a shot.

Same basic concept as before, but obviously, much, much better. At least I think so.

Here's a before and after. I think its funny ...

Death and Cremation Comic

In case some of you are wondering why I post so irregularly, it's because I'm working on the Death and Cremation comic book as the colorist and cover artist, and it is somewhat long term, at least for the next few months.

I thought I would share a page I recently colored. The comic is basically the storyboards which were drawn by Saida Temofonte. Since they weren't penciled or inked with the intention of publication, but were such lively drawings in their own right that they deserved to be in a comic form, I was asked to paint in a little bit.

It's actually only my second job coloring, so I am kind of learning as I go. Saida's work is a real joy to color, though. I am more looking forward to some ambitious covers, which I will post as they're completed.

Dave Lanphear is working on doing the layout and lettering so the boards work like a comic book, and Anders Jensen Sved is the writer who adapted the script.

Above is a picture of me with Jeremy Sumpter(Peter Pan, 2004) who plays Jarod, and Brad Douriff (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 2003), who plays Stan, holding the first issue of the comic series.

Exercise with Industry Standard Processes

Using photoreference, I went about trying to create a comic book using very traditional, by the book methods of penciling and inking. The inking process reveals a lot about how you draw, because suddenly you need to simplify shades into blacks.

The most difficult part was training myself to ink entirely with a brush! Talk about control ... I messed up a few times, but I think overall for my first attempt, things turned out pretty decently. Again this was my first time doing something like this using photos, so you can kind of see how the first page is far less decisive in terms of the line and blacks than the third, where I think things really came along nicely, when I had kind of gotten the hang of it.

Special thanks to Justin Wragg and Seth Laird (the ADs on the Death and Cremation set) for being the leads in this. I know you guys went through some discomfort, and we were technically 'on the job', so I appreciate it. It took me a while to get around to doing it, but here it is. At some point I'll throw in dialogue and color and throw it in to a collection of future comics I plan on publishing.