New Magazine Cover

I just received my comp copies of CURRENTS magazine, which not only includes a slew of new artwork of mine, but this is also my third magazine cover, and I'm very pleased with it.

The cover was created in Adobe Illustrator CS3, with some touch up in Adobe Photoshop CS3. I'm becoming much more familiar with Adobe Illustrator, and this new version has some nice features in it that make me rely less on Photoshop to complete a cover like this. Once upon a time I'd need to do a lot more finishing and color adjustment in Photoshop, but I've found transparency adjusting in Illustrator, and other helpful items which have enabled me to create much better work, in less time.

The Statue of Liberty was created first, and in much detail, so that the image could be taken apart and enlarged to create sub images for inside the magazine. This wasn't done, but I am planning on using Liberty herself to make a fine poster.

Something I shouldn't admit here, but since I try to use photo reference for those little details that create realism, I found myself having to pose for the guy on the right waving his cap. I just couldn't get my models to do it right (4 year olds are really hard to work with), so I did it myself, and so there, that's me on the cover of CURRENTS. :0)

After CURRENTS magazine, I created illustrations for my first Annual Report. Yes, the freelance career has really taken off, and I'm hoping to be able to do more high end work like this. For the Annual I created 10 fine art type pieces based on ports of the world, which was really fun considering my interest in travel. I'll definitely show off that artwork after the Annual has gone to print either here or at my travel blog, or both.

And speaking of blogs, I'm thinking of starting a third blog to feature The Inquiring Minds. I'm still looking for a big venue for the strip, so maybe a blog is in order to focus on the strips and build more of an audience.

Magazine Art Directors are welcome to contact me for copies of my work or hiring info. You may also check out my online portfolio , which is currently being updated. And please look at my previous post for a Vector Illustration comic book cover.

Cheers, JOHN :0)



UPDATE: Inspired by posting, I went and finally finished the Statue of Liberty print I mentioned in this post. I also used a 'stained glass' technique that I have been experimenting with, which gives it a unique and beautiful appearance. See the art below, or you can preview and buy the print at my Lulu.com shop.

Free Comic 2008!!

Traditionaly, once upon a time, to a small group of us, May 5 meant National Cartoonist's Day... a day on which folk heaped praise upon their favorite Cartoonists. and thanked them for the joy that they bring others.

For some reason, though, a day of praise for Cartoonist's just couldn't compete with another country's holiday that Americans celebrated with much drinking of beer, and the eating of many Mexican foodstuffs, including heaping plates of Nachos.

How to compete? Somebody, somewhere, had an idea. A great idea. Let's take National Cartoonist's Day away from May 5, and place it on the weekend closest.... and give away FREE COMIC BOOKS!!

Yes, a new Holiday was born, and you, the reader, get free stuff.


Not to be left behind, we here at HappyGlyphs Comics have once again decided to offer you FREE stuff: Our first true comic book story!


HappyGlyphs Comics is proud to announce the completion, and immediate availablility, of The WOlfman of Beckenham, Kent! Yes, it's been over a year in the making! Okay, it's been over a year of procrastination, but we've been busy. But here it is, in full black and white 7 page glory, the first in a collection of stories collectively known as "John's Shorts", The Wolfman of Beckenham, Kent takes you to a small town in the south of England where things are not quite what they seem. There's a mystery here, and it's up to you to gather the clues, and solve it. You'll have fun in the process, we'll promise you that.

So, here it is:

The Wolfman of Beckenham, Kent .



While you're there, you may want to check out our other fine offerings, including the very beautiful cover to our new story, which is available as a fine poster print. Here's a small preview of that cover.



For more of the back story, please check out our other blog, The Travelling 'Toonist.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

A Funny Thing Happened...

Somehow or another, I started calling myself an Illustrator, instead of Cartoonist. I've been a Cartoonist for a long time now, but suddenly, my Freelance work has pulled me into new directions, somewhere between illustration and fine art. As much as I hate to admit it, but Freelancing pays more than my cartoon and cartoon book publishing does, at the moment, so most of my time goes in that direction.

The funny thing is, though, that I saw Freelancing as a way to expand myself as an Artist, and especially as a Cartoonist. My cartooning actually improved, for awhile, but now it's so hard to tell because very little of what I am currently doing is cartooning.

Am I complaining? No... I like creating, and mentally, art is art. Creating something that is nice to look at, or has something to say, or both, is very rewarding. And trying someting new and actually succeeding at it? Good stuff. And getting respect for your work, which Cartoonists very rarely get? Nice.



Then again, creating an entire world where your own characters interact within their own continuity, and events that you initiated start running off on their own, well... that's great too. Really great.

And then there's the smell of ink, and the feeling you get when you ink in panel borders and realize that you've just opened a window into that other world, and any minute now your characters will be there to share a laugh.

Yeah, that's great, too. :0)



Cheers, JOHN :0)

On my iPod right now? Echobelly - People Are Expensive