Wonder Woman Day 2011

Coming up on October 30th, a ver special auction will be held. It is called the Women of Wonder Day and it benefits domestic violence shelters. I have 2 pieces in the NJ auction.

I have a Supergirl piece pencilled by Bat Hilliard and inked by me.I also have a Femme Noir page pencilled by Joe Staton and inked by me.


There web page can be found here:

http://www.womenofwonderday.com/

Please go check out the page and bid. The funds you raise help our mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins, and friends.

Thanks!

Fallcon and Dr Goyle goodness!

Happy Autumn everyone!!! Lots going on here. Moved back here to Madison just last month, and have been helping Mom take care of things here at the house. Been good seeing lots of all friends again after a several year absence.
Going to Minnesota this weekend for my annual trip to Fallcon! I love the shows the MNCBA puts on every spring and fall. Lots of good friends and fans as well. I will have a special exclusive print, seen above, for the show.
Dr Goyle is slowly getting done. It's been a lot of work so far. Coordinating artists for pinups, writing, penciling, inking, lettering. I forgot how much time it all takes. But still looking for releasing 4 issues by the time Philly con rolls around next June, that gives me 7 months to get 4 issues ready. I think I can do it. This first issue will be the hardest, but only because I haven't penciled a comic in quite a while, and getting used to the characters is taking a bit. But in the end, it will be totally worth it.

Look for more Dr Goyle updates soon!!

Holy crap, what happened to summer?!

Yeaaaah,....its been a while since I've posted. I know, I'm a fail. But it's not like I haven't been busy doing stuff. Let's see, what have I been up to? Well, I did a few shows this summer. In June I hit Wizard World Philly, in July I was at CONvergence, and in August I was at Wizard World Chicago. All great shows that wore me out.
I managed to get a few projects done. Saw the first issue Of Grimm get published. Waiting for pencils for issue 2, Bat is kinda slow. Hurry up dude!! Finished up the Marlow: River of Symbols graphic novel, and it saw print for SDCC. A wide release will be done for it in Jan/Feb of '12 according to Arcana, So I can't wait to see that. Am going to be finishing up a project for my pal Amber Delaney, aka Amber Unmasked. She's an East Coast cosplayer who does a lot of charity work for various things. SHe asked me to ink a 10 page story for a charity book coming out later this year. It's pretty fun so far.
The big comic project for me will be the return next year of my character,..Dr Goyle. I created him back in 99 with Mike Norton. We did a one shot at Arrow, and then an 8 page story for SLG a year later. He's been at the back of my mind for a while, itching to get out. Will, my editor at Alpha Dog, really pushed me to do a book for this year. So I thought about it, and made the decision to bring the Doc out of hiatus. I will be doing 4-6 issues, leaning more toward 6 right now. I will be writing, pencilling, inking, and possibly lettering. It wil be in color, and I hope to have a few issues ready for Philly next year, maybe even for Springcon in May. I'm really excited to do this project, and have enlisted some friends to do some pinups for each issue. Should be some good looking stuff!
On other fronts, I am moving.....again. Roomie decided not to renew the lease, and since the few hours I was getting at work have made it difficult to afford a place on my own around here, I needed another option. So I'm moving back home. Mom is looking to sell the house next year, and could use my help. So as of next weekend, September 10th, I will be once again back in Madison. I managed to get a transfer to a Best Buy store right across the street from where Mom works. This will make it great to carpool when our schedules are similar, and even better when the weather is bad. I'm sad about leaving friends and co-workers behind, abut I have oodles of friends in Madison who I haven't seen in 8-10 years that I look forward to seeing. This will also give me a chance to get debt paid off and actually save $$ for a possible move to the Twin Cities next year. We shall see what transpires.
So life once again is kinda crazy, but still good.

Memorial Day and Philadelphia

Wow, hard to believe that Memorial Day is here already.Seems like it was just the first of the year, time has gone by too quickly. But lets not forget those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to allow us to do the things we love to do.

Lots of things going on around here. Working on the finla 6 pages of Marlow, looking to have that wrapped up this week. Finished the first issue of Grimm: Dynasty. We hope to have the first issue out for......

Wizard World Philly! You knew I was heading there didnt you. Did the banner give it away?

I will be there along with Will Caligan and Bat Hilliard, my studio mates and cohorts in crime on Grimm. We will be doing sketches, and I will have prints and originals for sale. If you live in the area, come on out and see us!!

Other than that, Not much going on. Springcon was a blast as usual, kinda wish I wasnt so busy that I couldve gotten away from the table to see people. But there is always Fallcon in a few months.

Until next time!

Springcon is busting out all over!

My favorite show of the year, Springcon!! May 21 and 22 I will be at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds for a great 2 day show. I will have prints and original pages, as well as many of the drawings I have posted here and on Facebook and Deviantart.
I am also taking pre-orders for pick up at the con. A pencilled and inked piece will be $30, and color is $40. This is for one character. If you want one, email me at msartistmark@gmail.com and we'll work out the payment arrangements.

Hope to see you there!

Spring done sprung!

Spring has finally arrived here in Wisconsin. The last of the snow piles has finally melted, we've had our first day of 80+ degrees, which means there's at least one more snow storm in our future. Thats how we roll in the Midwest.

Anyway, been busy around here. Been working on a few things, a couple of them will be wrapping up in the next few weeks and months. But I hope to have more work lined up by then.

Got a few ideas of my own I'd like to develop, but who knows when I'll have the time to do it! Will probably pick at them here and there, but would like to be able to really put a lot of time into them. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, here's a piece I did for the Alpha Dog Studios sketchbook that will be out this summer. My buddy and studiomate Will Caligan did the bang up colors on it. This is one of the ideas I'd like to develop if I can. Her name is Ace.

Enjoy!

Drawings n stuff

So here we are again. Not much going on, other than inking Uzan, Marlow, and various Alpha Dog stuff. Been trying to do more drawing for myself tho. So I knocked this one out today. Will try to do more and post them when I can.

I do love me some Blue Devil.

Grimm sneak peek

Here's a little sneak peek at one of the projects I'm doing with my buddies at Alpha Dog Studios. This is page 5 from issue #1 of Grimm: Dynasty. Written by Will Caligan, pencils by Bat Hilliard, and inks by little old me. Bats pencils are just a blast to work on. I have a feeling this is gonna be a good looking book.

Enjoy!

Contest and commissions

Well first off, there's a pretty sweet contest going on with us at Alpha Dog Studios. Here's the details:


Best in Show Contest


Participants: All Creators

Prizes: $400 and published in Alpha Dog Studios Anthology
series The Dog Pound Volume 2. There will only be
one prize awarded to one submission.

Submission deadline: 15 April 11

Objective: This is the opportunity for creators to not only get your story published; you will also receive $400 for it. Alpha Dog Studios wants to help creators get their stories out there and give you a chance to see your work in print.

Rules and Guidelines:
1) The story has to be delivered to Alpha Dog Studios by email to alphadogstudios1@aol.com by 11:59pm on the 15th of April. Anything set after that will not be accepted. It needs to be marked “Best in Show contest”.
2) The story can be black or white or color. We do prefer color. It has to be 10 pages long with one Cover with a logo. Which means you should send us 11 pages.
3) The story needs to be PG. No porn, no nudity and no religious blasphemy against any religion. We are a family company. We are looking to produce stuff for any age. If you need to cuss in the writing then use the symbols or imply it. You can be creative without being vulgar.
4) Alpha Dog Studios is not responsible for paying talent. The winner gets $400. This will be paid to the individual that submits the story. If you do not own the story then do not submit it. Payment will be made using PayPal. If you do not have a PayPal account we will arrange for another way of payment.
5) By submitting your story to Alpha Dog Studios you give us the right to publish and print your story in The Dog Pound Volume 2 and to use your work as promotional tools for the book.
6) If you are selected the winner; you can not reprint the story you submitted to us for 365 days after publication.
7) You retain all your rights to your creation but your only compensation for the story you submit will be the prizes.
8) Alpha Dog Studios reserves the right to reject any submission without explanation. We will get a lot of submissions and we can not respond to everyone.
9) The winner will be contacted through email.
10) The winner will also be spotlighted at :iconalphadogstudios:

Prizes:
1) The winning submission will receive $400. This will be
paid to the winner on the 1st of May 2011.
2) The winner will also receive 5 comp issues that will be
mailed to them by the 30th of June 2011.
3) The winning submission will also be offered a chance to
produce a 2 to 4 issue mini series using the winning story
through Alpha Dog Studios for the year 2012 release.
The creator will get $400 an issue for their projects and 5
comp issues per issue. The book will be edited by the
staff at Alpha Dog Studios and it must meet the
companies standards. The $400 per issue will be all the is
compensation the creator will receive for the mini series.

Other information:
Alpha Dog Studios will have updates on submissions and
Other contest on our Facebook page, blog and DA site which
will be listed below. If you have any questions please send
them to: alphadogstudios1@aol.com and mark them "question for Best
in Show contest.”

Thanks from all of us at Alpha Dog Studios and we hope to see all of you in the future.

Pretty cool eh?

Also, I am open for commission work. I'm looking to raise some $$ for the summer convention season which is rapidly approaching.
9x12- 1 figure $30 additional figures $20 each
11x17- 1 figure $50 additional figures $20 each

These are for black and white inked pieces. Color is an additional $15.

I accept paypal for payment. If you want one, just email me at msartistmark@gmail.com.

Later taters!

Everything old is new again...

The past can be a funny thing. It seems to be a place I visit a lot. There are many things about the past I wish I could change (Don't we all?), but when it comes down to it, the past is the past.
Thats why it's always amazing to re-connect with people from my past, people who I haven't talked to in 5 years or more. Especially people I haven't worked with in 5 years or more. A few weeks back I was on Facebook, where I am frequently, and was chatting with Ruben Diaz. I worked with Roo back when he was an editor at DC Comics. I did some inking work for him on a few titles here and there. He now does all sorts of multi-media stuff in Philly. But he asked me if I was interested in inking something. Never wanting to turn down work, I of course said yes.
He's been working with a local wrestling circuit to help promote them by doing some comic type art projects. They do dvds of their matches, and for covers, Roo has had some artists do re-creations of classic comic covers. The piece above is one of the covers that I did. I have also inked one that Roo pencilled.
It's been 15 years since I worked with Roo, and we just picked up like it was the old days. He's a good guy, is a believer that talent is just as important as a name.
Hopefully this will lead to more things with Roo.

Work is good. Work with people you know is better.

Uzan the Mighty

Howdy all!! One of the projects I'm doing this year is called Uzan the Mighty. Written by Kevin Grevioux and pencilled by MC Wyman. Its a 60 page graphic novel that will hopefully be out late this year. Kevin has been around a while doing all sorts of things. He was the writer and co-creator of the original Underworld movie, as well as the writer of the third film in the series. He also acted in the movies, playing the lycan Raze. He has written for Marvel on series such as the Blue Marvel, and New Warriors. He is also the writer of ZMD:Zombies of Mass Destruction.
Uzan is a tale of an african tribesman. The pencils are gorgeous and full of lush foliage and animals galore. I don't think I've ever inked this much greenery for one project.
Anyway, here's a peek at one of the pages. Hope you enjoy!!

M

Welcome to 2011!

Well here it is, a new year and I'm already posting!! Woot, its a good way to start the new year. Just want to announce my first project of the new year. Gonna be inking a 4 issue mini series thats gonna be put out by me and my studiomates at Alphadog. It's called Grimm:Dynasty, and is written by Will Caligan, pencilled by Bat Hilliard, and inked by me. Will is also gonna be doing the lettering and coloring, cuz he's a friggin monster!! The image above is one of the character sketches that Bat did that I inked. It's gonna be a killer book! I'll let everyone know the release date of the first issue once it gets closer.

I am also playing catch up on UZAN, a graphic novel written by my buddy kevin Grevioux, and pencilled by MC Wyman. We hope to have it out later this year. I'll try and post some art once I get Kevin's ok.

Lastly I will be moving in a few weeks. Life changes have forced me to find a new abode come February first. Luckily I have found a place within 2 miles of my job, and with cheaper rent. So it'll be a win/win situation for me.

On a side note, even tho I don't post it here, I am usually open for commissions. So if you're looking for something cool for yourself or a loved one, hit me up. I don't just do the superhero stuff either. I've done RPG character designs, tattoo designs, pet portraits, all sorts of stuff. I can always use the $$ and I can usually turn stuff around in a week or 2 at the most.

Until next time, which hopefully will be soon!