Wounded Wampa Kit

Wuv Your Wounded Wampa

A more comical take on the Star Wars universe, this is a tribute to all those model kits I built of X-wings & TIE fighters back in the day when they were the only SW 'toys' out there. I never found a Wampa kit, but imagine it might have looked something like this molded in plastic flash-- sans snowglobe and ice cream most likely.

Bonus points (and pack of buttons) goes to anyone that can name what the sign at the bottom right is from. Comment on my Facebook page--!

[EDIT: A belated Christmas variation for the holidays]

The design for MightyFine now available here.

One more Star Wars design has been approved and coming down the line very soon-- keep your helmet on~

The Millennium Zeppelin

Less Than 12 Parsecs!

The ever-present peoplemover of the original Trilogy gets a Victorian/ Steampunk overhaul in this design for MightyFine. There are many a detail hidden in both wording and design--who knew Corellia had it's own logo?
Keen eyes might also spy some Aurebesh script. It's a very small detail, but y'know...size matters not.

Find the shirt here!

[EDIT: An added thanks to MightyFine for making me my own section in their shop! ]

I also created this process video as I concepted and drew out this one. It went through a few iterations while trying to consolidate a blimp look with the iconic starship shape.
[Music provided by dapper pal Digitalcasm] :

Jango Fett & Son

Fett Family Business

This design was previewed in an earlier post-- now I can finally show the completed result!
Available as a t-shirt through MightyFine, check it out HERE (welovefine.com)

A Victorian ad influenced design, I thought it would be fun to conjure a promotional idea for the bounty hunting duo. The most treacherous of freelancers, I can't help but want to relate to their notorious business acumen... If only I could strike a good deal with the Caminoans-- a clone would come in handy during busy illustrating seasons~

There is one more similar Victorian influened design in the works along with a few more Star Wars designs--- stay tuned!



Taun Taun 2.0

I also made a process You Tube video of the previous Star Wars design I did for them, "Echo Station".

Long Beach Comic Con

Ardee R & D

These are a couple process pics of the 'Ardee' model I'm building. He's the central character of my first comic and I'm finding myself oddly in the same role as the Inventor in my latest comic.
I've been having to research many an automata online to figure out how he'll work as a mini Zoltar-esque fortune telling machine...

If this contraption won't fly, at least I'll still have a reliable gumball/toy machine at the table!

Come find Victor Camba, me, and articulated Ardee at booth #1507 in Artist Alley at Long Beach Comic Con, this 29th and 30th !

"I guess I'll hang around for now..."

Fancy a Lift?

Flights of Fancy

This is a design submission for MightyFine's STEAMPUNK themed contest.

Seeing as how there are several projects I work on that lean toward this re-imagined past/genre, the contest theme was a natural one to work in. I had two more design ideas in mind but ran out of time to finish. 

This one is more simple and not much more than what you see~

Y'know...it's a rocket, with a mustache. The end.

Enjoy you fine fellows! 

And please if you might, vote it up on their site HERE-- the contest concludes in less than a a week!

Frontier Legacy

Final Frontier

No. 10 in the "Nouveau Robotica" series, this heavily Spaghetti Western inspired design "Frontier Legacy".
Akin to my previous 'cosmonaut' design, this was a slight style departure from the traditional Art Nouveau adapted for a more Western fare.
It was a also a chance to draw something uniquely "American". After reading the frightfully good "American Vampire" comic series, which opens on the Western landscape, I wanted to do a design that had just as much unique culture as the other European influenced robots. There's something to be said about the last frontier of Western expansion and our ideals as a country that were formed through it's founding.

The design itself hides clues from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" in a double tribute to Italian (Sergio Leone) and American (Clint Eastwood) tastes. Graphic symbols are nestled within like the six-shooter barrel, nooses, wagon wheel, poncho pattern, and + signs-turned-Civil War crosses.
One of the most dramatically and musically loaded scenes in cinema history, I wanted to depict that final scene in the movie transposed to a mechanical measurement.
An extra hidden detail is the pattern on Clint-bot's chestplate which is taken from the iron oven door trick that Marty McFly employs in his duel in "Back to the Future III"-- Itself a parody of "A Fistful of Dollars". A copy of a copy of a copy is new... right ?

The first print run made its debut at the Alternative Press Expo last weekend with strong appeal.

A xylene transfered and hand painted version was made for the previously posted art show at Catalyst artspace-- proudly owned by Jackson Root ! See his work here.

Cross Pollination

For Hire!
[Preview shirt design]

A Little Fett Up? 

If you like less words and more images (and general stuff I like), check out my Tumblr stream.

Time to get Conventional

Rise of the Apes

This upcoming month will find me at a couple events. Exciting times~

First October 1st & 2nd will be APE (Alternative Press Expo) with Josh Kemble. I'll have copies of the full version of "The Tell" as well as another print run of "The Sunless Circus" for sale. I have a limited number of the "preview" hand-stapled/punched versions left over from the previous Mini-Comics Dump Truck on hand.

Inked Ardee pages

We will be at Booth #455, right next to the usual partners in crime of Ralphco Comics (Ralph Miranda) and Co.


View Larger Map

There will be one more addition to the Nouveau Robotica series, "Frontier Legacy" will be making its appearance here. A featured post about that print will be up soon and linked as well.

In case they're out of your size, I'll also have a few extra "Arabian Crescent" shirt designs on hand. Be sure to let Threadless to reprint your size if they're out here.


I'm looking forward to returning to APE this year with Josh since it was years gone by that I first stepped foot into the expo, played roadie at his table, and saw that there was such a great avenue for indie creators.

Josh (with printers accommodating) will have copies of the new book "Barbarians: A Handbook for Aspiring Savages" by Byron Clavicle, which features over a hundred of his skull-bashing barbarian illustrations (some of which I posed for!)
You can pre-order it on Amazon here-- but truly illustrious conquerors will demand it in person at our table.
Anybody dressed up as an authentic Barbarian will win a free... chest bump.

Going Long

[ EDIT: Table confirmed-- We'll be at Booth #1507 in Artist's Alley ! ]

Second will be the local Long Beach Comic Con, Oct 29-30 with tablemate Victor Camba and Patrick Sung.

[Table details pending on this venue] but we will be in Artist Alley under "C.K. Perfecto".

Victor will be debuting his book "You're Stuck Here", which goes like this:

The first semester of college! A time of promise, of leaving the nest and meeting new people, with your whole future ahead of you. That's the life that Bridget McKeen longs for. But Bridget, her twin brother Jeff, and their friend Chet are leaving Winchell High for their first semester of Cyprus COMMUNITY college, the educational equivalent of purgatory. Will Bridget make room for a social life at a school she hates? Can Jeff cope with life away from his high school sweetheart?
And why can't Chet get that fast food cashier-girl out of his head...

 He will also have original lithograph prints of characters and art available.

By this time, I'll have a mini-diorama setup of my character Ardee (the Robot Acrobat as Fortune Teller) built and fully operational. I will double my efforts to construct it on schedule.
I'll be shooting to have screen prints by this time too.

At both venues, look for the red toy machine full of buttons I designed, trinkets I found, and a chance to win  personalized artwork (Blue Caps are winners)!
  

Tauntaun at Echo Station

It's Getting Hoth in Here...

Available at MightyFine here.

This design was a challenge and a fun one to do. 

Growing up a huge fan of Star Wars (during the lowest point of it's popularity~), working on something stamped by Lucasfilm was a certain boyhood joy.

The idea behind the illustration was to incorporate the Galaxy far far way with the Steampunk genre. Adding a sort of Victorian inspired armour to this beast of burden was an interesting task-- trying to figure out if it could still move with so many accouterments. For the true fans, you can find small details like the silhouette of the Ion Cannon and the Shield Generator in the framing. Also even more scrutinous lookers would find the design decal on his retro looking gun and the accurate "Commander" ranking patch.

As for the subtitle, Wookiepedia take it away... Echo Station 3-8

It's pretty crazy how much detail has been amassed about the 'events' in the movies... I think actual engagements in real wars probably have less detailed accounts on them~

Hoth was also the 6th planet in the system and I wanted some excuse to put numbers after things.

Well, enjoy!

Chris9

[edit: added process GIF]

Namor Nouveau

Undersea Tee

This Marvel design for MightFine available here.
The character's costume choice for this one is more like his recent versions in the X-Men books. It was just more fun to draw than only those green underoos--

I did a bit of catching up with the classic title and now really dig Dodson's work. Pulling my nose out of the indie books, there's some great work out there. 

In drawing the first Marvel mutant, I wanted to incorporate both (his sailor father's) nautical motifs and Atlantean influences. Oceanic fun~

The Nouveau Magneto

The Nouveau Master of Magnetism

Marvel licensed shirt design for MightyFine (welovefine.com)-- get attracted to it here!

The Show with No Name

Saddle Up!

This is an upcoming show at the Catalyst Art Space (where we had the "Prehistoric Show"previously), this time themed around Spaghetti Westerns. In case you didn't see the Community episode "A Fistful of Paintballs", westerns in a contemporary setting still rockin' something fierce!

To get several of the artists acclimated to tone of Westerns steeped in Spaghetti, I put together a DVD that we showed during early planning meetings. They featured clips, trailers, and posters from "The Good the Bad and the Ugly," "A Bullet for the General," "Once Upon a Time in the West," and "Navajo Joe" and others. The Italian directors of the time really established a unique and recognizable aesthetic that we hope to showcase in the show.

Something's strange is afoot. 

Just as a teaser, we will have our resident makeup artist (who did the cavegirl makeup in the last show) apply her magic to make a select group of us all rugged (and possibly shot ;).

There will also be a olde-time photo-op space for folks with some Western themed ephemera to get a fancy photo-graph taken too!

Stay tuned through the invite on Facebook EVENT PAGE here and be ready for a fine roundup, July 9th at 7:00!

[edit: WANTED POSTERS of the Artists!]

"Captured"-- as in art form... get it~?  :le sigh:

I hope Dog the Bounty Hunter (or Boba Fett) don't take these posters too seriously~

The Lawmen will get their metal.

[I'll post up previews of the piece I'll be contributing as updates in this post. It'll feature a mix of Tuco from "Good, Bad, Ugly" and the classic 8-bit game "Wild Gunman"]

[a Preview of artworks on display:]

by Christina Rincon

by Christina Rincon

My old "Old Man and the Mountain"

Chris Houghton's "Reed Gunther"!

[Our increasing collection of Western accouterments:]

[Construction of our hitching post. Oversize pony riders please inform us beforehand ;]

And if you got the kind of pony tends to get lost easy, find the the gallery here:

View Larger Map

Tee Time

(Marilyn ain't got nuthin' on this Monroe..!)

[6/18 updated T-shirt design info!]

Storm Front

Hot off the news presses and available in apparel form HERE through fantastic MighyFine tees-- it's everyone favorite weather goddess!!

The X-Men were the comic characters I grew up with as a young lad, so to add some Nouveau flair to one of these iconic characters was mighty fun! Her design is meant to incorporate some African influence to merge with the art movement of 1900s Europe and pay some homage to her Wakandan royalty.

By the power of the wind! ...wear this shirt to stay warm ;]

Belated Crescent


Also on my late newsfront is that the "Arabian Crescent" design for Threadless was chosen for print and is up for sale up their site. The winnings from it have provided a warm and steady stream of tees through these temperate Californian months~

(This shirt is perfect camouflage in wheat fields)

It's been supremely encouraging to join a part of their ranks and there'll certainly be more apparel design related news to spread in the coming weeks.

Thanks again to all who voted--!

O Do Tell

Tell the Truth

Here are some previews and sketches for a short comic I'm working on for a group called the "Mini Comics Dump Truck".

Headed by one of the co-hosts of the "Art and Story"and "Big Illustration Party Timem" podcasts, Kevin Cross, this is part of the 'Supreme' membership group that makes a pledge to create a mini-comic to be mailed to all members.

I usually need self imposed deadlines to get personal projects done between freelance work so this creative group was a perfect motivator. Here are some pages at the penciled stage and a shot of some inks strewn on the lightbox. I don't want to give too much away, but generally, it follows the events previous to my first short story "The Sunless Circus".

My convention copies of "Sunless" are currently sold out but you can find the p.o.d. version available here. There were also some limited edition ones I made that included a sketch card and premium cover on the Collectors Society forum, which was pretty neat to see at this early stage~

It's been fun exploring this world in the story and reverse engineering ideas for characters and locations that I may or may not have subconsciously had in mind when making the first silent comic. This one has a more complicated story involving the inventor of Ardee the Acrobatic Robot Boy and the Ringmaster.
The text is still left out so there's some room for your imagination to tinker.

Free Comic Book Day!

"The Ink Raven" hand carved stamp

FCBD FTW !

Many cheers to friendly neighborhood photographer Caitlyn of Comic Book Resources for the kind mention on their site. It's an honor to be named anywhere near the regal Richard Starkings. 

As a youngin, I followed "Generation X" (which Starkings lettered) amd I mistakenly took the company 

"Comicraft" to be some sort of magical lettering program. I can wholly appreciate the art of type and lettering now that I've attempted it myself and marveled at Comicraft's newer work in "Elephantmen".

Vol. 1 "Wounded Animals" was beautifully done. 

One tough gang

The Raven leaves a Trail

There were events all over LA for Free Comic Book Day, but I decided the best place to be was the Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach. I made economy paper versions of my Ink Raven story (standard edition currently sold out :/) to give away at this event in exchange for being "inked".

This idea of the Raven leaving his ink-laden talon marks is actually part of the larger story in its universe. Generally, the idea in the story is that the mark is dynamic and rotates like a compass in the direction of your destiny. I'm itching to dive into it~

Pics from the Comic Bug:

 Troopers take the streets!

Tyler Crook was super swell and drew me a Liz Sherman.
He definitely got a mini comic in return~

 Mike raffles off prizes in style

The most leisurely paced Flash I'd ever seen 

and one warm-blooded Wonder Woman 

Comic and rhyming pals Ralph Miranda and Kathryn Renta

Mike Mignola of Hellboy fame

I also had a fantastic time getting to talk to Joe Benitez, whose "Lady Mechanika" is some great steampunk fare. Having run out of mini-comics, I gave him a copy of the "Sunless Circus" (sorta steampunk~). The second part of that story titled "The Tell" is more than half complete and I'll be posting previews soon--!

The Art of Artifiction

A Brief Prehistory of Time

These are some photos from an art show I was in at Catalyst art space: "Prehistoric Artifictionn" 

Ideally these pics would have been posted much earlier, but I was doing some up-to-the-minute hand building for the construction of a fullsize cave installation in the show.

The cave was constructed inside an adjacent room to the gallery made out of cardboard supported by easels, make-it-stone spray, expanding insulation foam, and live ferns.
The audio aspect of the installation, with help from Abel Stearns, featured a collection of "prehistoric" sounds (drips, echo, growls) provided by a hidden amp in the room. The lighting was partially recessed and angled to cast long shadows and illuminate higher areas of the cave and stalagmites.
Many thanks goes out to Jeremy Parsons and Jackson Root for helping me construct this crazy thing.

The postcard from the past at top was also something I digitally painted for the show. Something time travelers might appreciate~

Pre-set up photos:

Testing the Make-it-Stone Spray

Jeremy takes some process pics 

The small room being prepped for "cave in" 

The show also included live actors dressed as prehistoric people and music:

Make-up artist Tammie Rupe apply prosthetics to our Cavegirl.

 A view after patrons contributed their cave paintings.

 Prehistoric Picasso Tim leaves his mark

This dino's right on the money

 The contemprary Venus of Willendorf is a bit more conservative

 "Sssssimbaaaaa!"

A view facing out from the Cave

Josh Kemble adds a great piece where Deleks wipe out the Dinosaurs

Curator Corazones Christina's Caveman!

I saved this Universal Studios' Jurassic Park ID badge
from when i was 9, just for this purpose.

If you enjoy this type of interactive show, the next theme is going to "Spaghetti Western", so keep your eyes peeled pilgrims!