The Story in an Image

If you know me at all, you probably know me as either a cartoonist or as an illustrator... usually not both.  You either have an image in your mind of beautifully rendered ships on magazine covers, or of goofy looking people sharing those everyday moments of life that we all can chuckle at.  To me it's all the same... stories told with pictures.

With a cartoon, the pictures and words work together, as partners, to tell a story and to conjure up some emotion: usually a laugh.  With an illustration, the image tells the story alone, and I must use visual clues, symbols, and carefully chosen props to convey what I want to say.  Lighting and weather play a big part in this, since a lot of my illustration takes place outside, usually on large bodies of water.

I'm trying to reconcile the two worlds, or at least bring them closer together.  They need to be separate, though, and since both are important to me, I guess I'm trying to bridge the two so that you, my audience, can see and enjoy both sides with me.

I'm not sure where I'm going yet, so your comments, likes, shares, and commissions are important to me.  I must do what brings me income, but I work within that framework, so that I'm happy with the work.  I appreciate the challenges that come from clients, and I do love telling stories, and I do love sharing my work.

So with that in mind, I'll be sharing some online galleries with you, and adding some new artwork as time permits.  I've got a new line of comic art coming out, that takes a cartoon one step further, telling the story not with words but with more elaborate illustrations, with more time and detail put into them.  Of course, there will be more stories to come, if things go well, and hopefully much more of my fine illustration.

And some other stuff, of course... photos, and art outside the other two realms.  And I have a great idea for this year's Holiday card, which I hope to find time to illustrate.

Meanwhile, I'll be at the Ohio Comic Con in Columbus this Friday through Saturday, with the new comic book, a new art print, and some special workshops for kids on Sunday.  So come by and say Hi and let me know what you think, huh?

Cheers,    JOHN :0)

Mermaid's Cove: A Special Illustration

I am very proud to announce a new illustration that I hope will become part of a series. This began as my tribute to the California coast, and turned into a very special piece for a very special someone.  And yes, that is Flash the studio cat, sniffing at the bucket of fish. :0)

Mermaid's Cove is my own creation, but after leaving Comic-con in San Diego this year, I drove up the coast and visited many strange and beautiful places along the California shore.  I'd love to go back and explore some more, but for now I'm there in my imagination.


Mermaid's Cove is now available as a print at my DeviantArt Gallery, where you can see it in better detail.  The print will also be available soon in our shop and at conventions that we attend.

 Please let me know what you think of this illustration.    Thanks,    JOHN :0)

Comic-con International 2013 Pics!

I'm finally getting around to posting my Comic-con pics from this year, the first time I actually exhibited.
It's a work in progress, but you can see the to-date set here at my facebook page, and hopefully I'll find another photo-sharing site as well. (I can't seem to load to my Flickr account, so...)

I'll also get around to doing a full report, once I iron our a few problems, and find the time during what will be a very hectic fall schedule, with Baltimore and Ohio Comic-cons coming up, and some other exciting events!

I will say that Comic-con this year was exceedingly crowded with some very enthusiastic crowds that started lining up around 6:00 every morning, before the sun even came up.  Thanks to jet lag, I was up around 5:00 each morning, which actually worked to my advantage, allowing me to easily get into work and have my table ready usually an hour or two before the doors opened.

 

I will say that walking the show floor early, when the lights seemed dim, and few people were around was an amazing experience!  I was able to totally geek out walking past huge banners of superheroes and video games, a life-sized LEGO Iron Man and even Thor's hammer.  Unfortunately, because I was working the show, I did not see more than 20% of the show.

I did see lots of costumes, and met some wonderful people, and have a lot more to tell you when I get the chance.  And I got to do my first convention sketch, live!  I've done plenty of little sketches for people, but this was a complete illustration, penciled and inked as people walked by and watched, which I never thought I could do, so... I did it again, and plan to do more at future shows. :0)

Click that link above for the rest of the pics, and be reassured that there are a lot more to come.

All the best,    JOHN :0)