Italian Chicken and Noodles

Tonight, dinner is an oldie but goodie, Italian Chicken and Noodles. There's nothing really difficult about the meal as it's fried chicken smothered in a tomato based pasta sauce and served with egg noodles.

Basically, you fry up some chicken and heat your favorite pasta sauce. As each piece of chicken is cooked drain it and them place it into the sauce. After all the chicken is completed and submerged in the sauce, let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove all the chicken and prepare your egg noodles. Mix the remaining sauce into your egg noodles and you're done. Top with Parmesan cheese as desired and enjoy.

My father prepared this meal at least once or twice a month and it always was accompanied with a story about his Italian grandfather (via marriage not blood). The sauce was always homemade built up from tomato paste,but alas the sauce recipe was lost to me when my father died (although perhaps my grandmother knows it).

Tonight for Sunday dinner is Italian Chicken and Noodles, garlic bread, corn on the cob and a garden salad.

Illustration Friday: Vacant

Beside my grandmother's house for years stood a vacant house. It was unloved and uncared for . Over the years, it slowly just rotted and decayed. It was slept away in a flood and now a trailer sits where this house once stood.

Apple Marinated Pork Shoulder

Most of the posts in this blog revolve around my art, but more and more of my projects are stuff that I can't share, so rather than leave the blog idle, I'm going to start posting about the other aspects of my life.

As most know, I'm a father of 3 and we'd taken in my nephew (Eli) so now, I'm essentially the father of 4. Every night we sit down to the dining room table to have dinner. Those dinners are mostly prepared by Deanne. However, on the weekends, I get a chance to flex my culinary muscles. I'll attempt to post my weekly experimentation here. For me cooking is not an exact science, so the recipes you find under the Dinner Recipes label will not have exact measurements. So with that in mind, feel free to take my recipes and expand them as you wish, however please share any changes you make along with the results.

Without further ado, I bring you....

Apple Marinated Pork Shoulder

2.5 lbs Boston Pork should sliced 1/4" thick
1 medium sized apple (I used Golden Delicious)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Kraft Honey)
3 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
garlic powder
onion powder
celery seed
Italian seasonings


Slice the apple into 1/4" pieces.
Place the apple and all other ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Coat the pork with all the mixture and set in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (mine sets for 5 hours).

Heat a pan under medium heat.
Add the pork to the pan and cook until done (about 5 minutes on both sides).

And that's it.
We're having this for dinner tonight along with a small salad (lettuce, cucumber,onion, boiled egg), corn, broccoli and cauliflower*.

* We're attempting to introduce new veggies into the kids diets, so every week we pick a new veggie for the kids to try. The last veggie was Brussel sprouts (UGH!) and they went over very well when I blended intto mush and added them to the sauce for Shepherd's Pie. This week it's cauliflower.

More Work in Progress: Warmageddon Tarot the Devil

I left left you with this image...


The next step I drop more shadows into the dragon and place the female into the shadows with the dragon.


Next, I finish off the dragon.
I dropped the BG color to make the wing transparency easier to see.
The shadow on the female have been lighten a little.

That's all for now!
Next is KRI'LANG THE EXECUTIONER!

Work in Progress: Warmageddon Tarot the Devil

I was lucky enough to get the ever talented Drew Moss to contribute to the Warmageddon Tarot set. Drew is an artist that has grown leaps and bounds over the years and I'm very happy to work with him on anything.

The commissioned piece is the Devil card. This called for a devil, a throne, a nude male and a a nude female. Since this image was to be available to the general public, Drew was instructed to the cover up the nude figures. Instead of a throne, we place our devil (Kri'lang the Executioner) on a dragon. The Image below is what Drew turned in, penciled traditionally with digital inks. The original pencil art will be on sale at some point at BullCityComics.com.

I will be coloring this and hopefully it will be completed in time to be available for the Baltimore Comicon. As I color this, I will upload it in steps. Below is the first stage. This is basically all the flats with the rock platform rendered.


Stage 2 include the 2 human figures rendered.


With Stage 3, I'm playing around with the colors, trying to find the right color for the dragon and the background. I'm not totally committed to this color scheme, but it will do for now. The mouth and head of the dragon have been fully rendered.


This all for now, check back with me. The next updates will focus solely on one image.

Coming Full Circle

Very few know my origins as a small press comic book creator, so I'm going to share where I began now because as of last week, I've come full circle.

Back in 2003, Dan Berger (now managing editor at Mirage Studios home of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) was publishing his Gutwallow comic via Digital Webbing. He had just finished a 3 issues mini series and was collecting it into a TPB and needed a colorist for the cover (that's not the final colored image to the right). Publisher, Ed Dukeshire, posted the cover in the Digital Webbing forums with an open call for colorist to color it. Being a Gutwallow fan since Dan's earliest efforts with the character, I decided to dust off my copy of Photoshop and give it a try. This was my first effort ever to color anything using the computer (no that's not my effort to the right either). I didn't win the contest, but I believe I was in the TOP 3. The winner did a much better job than I. However, within a mnth or so, I was contacted by Ed to lay down some grey tones on an upcoming issue of Digital Webbing Presents and have continued to receive regular work inking, coloring and adding gray tones since.

Last year, Dan Berger contacted me to grayscales for a TMNT story over Andie Tong's art. This year at Heroes Con, Dan mentioned that Gutwallow was returning in an issue of Tales of the TMNT. (Okay Dan told Deanne that Gutwallow was returning because Deanne is Gutwallow's #1 fan. She has a Gutwallow tattoo design by Dan on her left shoulder blade.) Dan contacted me again last week and asked me to do the grey tones for the Gutwallow appearance in Tales of TMNT #51. I signed the contract and received the first 10 pages of the story today.

Upon receiving the pages, the very first thing I did was single out the panel with the largest image of Gutwallow to experiment with how I wanted him to appear. The result is below.


And with that my minor comic book career has come full circle.

Illustration Friday: Sour

I'm going to try to get back into doing these Illustration Friday topics. No promises as I've got a move coming up in the next 2 weeks. But here's my illustration for SOUR.

A Plethora of Projects

I've been silent for quite a while. My silence, however, is never a sign of me not having anything to do. In most cases it's a sign of me having lots to do. Here's a run down of the projects that I've been working on over the last couple months.

Warmageddon Volume 1 : Foundations
http://www.bullcitycomics.com/prodView.asp?idproduct=93

Foundations is a 128 paged collection of the 11 Warmageddon stories that form the cornerstone of the land of Warmageddon. This project came about from a conversation with my buddy, Mike Imboden. He wanted a TPB collecting the Warmageddon stories that he had written. As a surprise to him, I put this collection together with 10 of the 11 stories written by Mike. The cover was drawn by Jake Bilbao, inked by James Taylor, and colored by myself. From start to finished this collection was produced in little over 2 weeks time and was ready for purchase at HeroesCon.



I purchased the original inks of the cover and gave them as a gift to Mike. The cover features all the main characters from the stories featured in the volume with a special edition in the buttom left corner. Prints of this cover will be available soon at BullCityComics.com and any convention where we are set up.


Kid Lightspeed and ... #1: Pi is Squared
written by Aaron Thomas Nelson
illustrated by Michael Nigro

I'm not sure of the exact name of this title, but I have lettered the first 8 pages of the first issue and expect to receive the remaining pages. This is a fun tongue-in-cheek story set in space.
Noble

This is gray scale project of just 10 pages. Page 6-10 have been completed and I'm awaiting pages 1-5 (they are being inked at this moment, I believe).

Mr Phelps Space Detective #1
written by Shawn Granger
illustrated by Jason May

This is another letter job for a space adventure. I have 3 issues of Mr Phelps to letter and spo far I have completed the first issue. I plan to start the second issue this week.


Ultimate Avenger
story by Jeff McClelland
pencils by Travis Sengaus

This was a 3-paged digital inking job which turned out quite well. I've been a fan of Sengaus's pencils since I saw them on a Klik-Boom story in Digital Webbing Presents. By biggest complaint about his work is usually the chaos as he usually uses very organic panel borders and often breaks through the boards with art (in all direction). This was a more restrained Sengaus and was a pleasure to ink. I think this would look amazing with some simple bold coloring.


Gene Gardens #2
I lettered #1 so I returned to letter #2. It's a pleasure to work on Shawn Granger projects (even if he does change the scripts after the first round of lettering).


Eirian and Orumil: Season 3
I was lucky enough to snag by buddy, Grant Perkins (of Doxxville fame) to complete the pencils for Season 3 of the Eirian and Orumil strip. I digitally inked the 33 strips and have lettered 13 of the 33. Season 3 finishes the story line from Season 1 and 2.

After I complete lettering Season 3, all 3 season will be collected into a single collection (Eirian and Orumil: Televised) and will be launch the brand new Eirian and Orumil strip with pencils by Tyler Richlen and inks by me. The new E and O series will be updated once a week and we will have 3 months worth of strips in the can before launching.

Pin-up form Dreamweaver Press
I was contacted by JD of Dreamweaver Press before Pittsburgh Comicon and he asked me about inking this pin-up. We talked about it at Pittsburgh a bit and when I got home after that weekend, it was waiting for me in my email. I just put the finishing touches on it this weekend and it's done and delivered.

I planned to use this pin-up to do a tutorial on my digital inking method, but just couldn't find the time. So all you get is the finished work.

Awakenings
Last but not least, there is the Awakenings GN. This is 180-200 pages and so far I've completed 12 of the first 20 pages. I'll be working more on this project this week. When I do greys, I usually only get the art, so I don't know exactly what's going on via the script. I do know that there are guns, goons. swords and decapitations, so it's all good.


That's about all that's on my plate for now.

On Warmageddon
Mike Imboden and I have a few future Warmageddon story ideas to work out. I've seen more layouts for the next Warmageddon Tiegre story (and they are NICE). There are lots of other Warmageddon stories being written, drawn, inked or lettered and I'm working on a new Warmageddon web site.

Mother

My maternal grandmother, Clara Lee Koonce Farrow, passed away today. She was 82 years old and was always affectionately known as Mother. Mother had 9 children (7 boys and 2 girls). Her oldest and youngest sons preceded her in death. She was the matriarch of the family and lived to see 4 generations of her descendants.

For me, my grandmother was a teacher and storyteller. She was never without a story to tell you or a lesson to teach you. She lives on today via the 4 generations of lives she created. We are her legacy and through us she gains immortality.

Mother, you earned your rest. Know that you are missed and loved.

Clara Lee Koonce Farrow
"Mother"
March 20, 1926 - June 20, 2008

Zombie Con 2008 Report

Wow! It's a bit dusty in here as it's been a while since I've posted. Hopefully, this is a start of more regular updates.

This past weekend, I was invited by Mark Bowers to attend the inaugural (one day) Zombie Con at the Clarion Hotel in Greensboro, NC. This con was the first convention of the season for me and was a particularly odd fit because I don't do a zombie comic or even a horror comic. Warmageddon is pretty much strictly a sword and sorcery (without the sorcery)/ fantasy comic. What about Zombie City? Well yes, there is a Zombie City in Warmageddon, but to date we haven't really explored it much. In preparation for Zombie Con, I pulled out a zombie print that I colored a while back that was drawn by Josh Ross and I had a new display banner made (see left). With that and my usual cache of comics and merchandise, I was ready to go.

Greensboro is only about an hour away from my palatial estate in Durham and the con began at 9:30, so I was up and on the road by 7:30 am. I hit the local Wally World for some con snacks and drinks (I never ever ever eat the overly expensive con food). After the stop at Wally World, I hit the road. I was in Greensboro and all set up by 9:30.

After meeting Mark Bowers, the first person to my table was Mark Carter. Mark is a surrealist fantasy painter who is seeing increasingly more interest in his work in the world of tattoo art. We had a nice discussion about art, commerce, and finding your niche for about an hour between his table and mine. It's always good to make new connections in and about the world of comics and fantasy art.

Speaking of making connections, shortly after finishing up my discussion with Mark, I headed back to my table. At my table I ran into Brett of Brett's Comic Pile. Brett is one of the co-owner's of the Virginia Comicon in Richmond, VA. He's been nice enough to invite me up twice which is always nice. If you are in the area, then check out the Virginia Comicon.

Business at these small one day cons isn't huge, but I received a consistent flow of traffic and sold a decent amount of comics and prints. Actually, I sold a lot more comics than I expected. As a result of this con, I'm going to have to need to do a short second printings on all Warmageddon Quarterly issues*.

The family (with our new addition,Eli**) showed up around 12:30. They stayed until near 3:00. This was just enough time for all the kids (and Deanne [my SO]) to wipe out all profit made and for the littlest one (Nesta) to attempt to get himself lost.

I made my rounds of the convention after the first dealer began tearing down his set-up (around 3:30) and spent some more of my profits on the Young Avengers hardcovers (I'm a sucker for hardcovers). By 4:15, I was back at the table and began to call it a day. I was packed up and out the door by 4:30 and home no later than 5:45.

All in all, it was a good time. Where else do you get to see people pay to beat a zombie, girls from a burlesque show, buy stuff for the entire family, and walk away for $7.00 more than you started with? I have very low expectations for local hotel conventions, so being able to walk away with a profit (of any type) is a boon. These cons (for me) are more about building my brand and local goodwill. Despite, not having much zombie material, I'm very happy with Zombie Con 2008 and hope it returns next year.

* My plan is to launch the new Warmageddon title (WARMAGEDDON) to replace Warmageddon Quarterly, but as of this con, I don't have enough stock left to get me from point A to point B, so I will be working on a short run of each issue in order to last through this convention season.

** Eli is my 12-year old nephew. He spent his Spring Break with us and will be returning to live with us permanently this summer. We have to increase the size of our palatial estate before Eli can join us.

Riddle Page 1 Final Inks

My goal for the new year is not only to post more, but to get more personal comic book work done. Every day, I devote about 90 minutes to one of a personal comic project. Today, I spent a little bit more (about 3 hours) to finish up this page.

This is page 1 of a Warmageddon story called Riddle. It's pencilled by Dario Carrasco and everything else is on me (writing, inks, lettering, grays, publishing). Dario received the script for this story about a year ago and so far has delivered 2 pages. I'm still patiently waiting for more pages and can't wait to jump into inking the next page (page 2).

While you're her at my blog, take some time to visit, read and hopefully vote for Thomas: Agent of Chaos over at Zuda Comics.

Harley Quinn in 90 minutes

I hope to get more coloring and inking practice in the new year, so I will be posting regular exercises where I spend no more than 90minutes on an image. This is the first one.

Harley Quinn
Pencils by Tom Hodges
Inks and colors by me