Art Blast April - Holmes Incorporated

I've had the pleasure of learning from, (and working with!) Ty Templeton.

Ty teaches at  Comic Book Bootcamps here in Toronto. His classes are a great way to learn more about comic creation, and Ty is a fantastic teacher! Graduates of the classes were published in the Holmes Incorporated comics, and this page was my favorite from all the art I contributed to it.

Ask an Artist on the 11th! - A3on11 - Pacing and Dynamic layout...

Talk about good timing...it's posted on the 11th!

As you probably know I'm working with the fine folks over at Holmes inc. and they are just about to launch issue #2.

They had asked me to write a brief tutorial on 'Dynamism and pacing' in the laying out a comic page. I'm a bit afraid I've made it TOO brief, but you can judge for yourself over here. If you need/want more details, just LMk and I'll be happy to expand more on this in the future.


As always, if you have a question or want me to expand on any of the above…just ask! I’ll be back next month on the 11th to answer another question. They can range from very technical comic art ones, to very general questions- there is no such thing as a bad question. What I answer will depend on what gets asked. Feel free to email me at gibsonquarter27@yahoo.com , ask it in the comments section below, or shoot me a message on Facebook.

Other 'A3on11' blog posts can be found by clicking here.

Cheers!

Holmes Inc. # 2 Cover and promo art...

Excellent.

I can finally show and talk about Leonard Kirk's excellent cover to Holmes Inc. #2!

Here it is in all it's glory.


Yes, it was drawn by THAT Leonard Kirk (Supergirl, X-Factor, JSA, and many other well drawn comics) It was coloured by my long time colorist KT Smith (Northern Guard, Revolution on the Planet of the Apes, and lot 'o' other stuff...like this for example! )


The book will be released on July 22nd. Details, and TONS of other art, tutorials and all things Holmes can be found here.

Feeling inspired by Leonard's cover, I whipped up a quick promo piece with the 2 main characters from my pages, Edgar and Elizabeth. Enjoy!

Holmes Inc. # 2 is a wrap!

Holmes Inc #2? Yes! The game is afoot once again!

I'm happy to report that my pages for Holmes Inc. #2 are now all done and dusted. Ty Templeton says they are probably the best pages he's ever seen from me, and he's seen just about ALL of my work. (Probably because we ALWAYS seem to be sitting within spitting distance -or directly beside each other- at conventions. But I digress...)

'Polarized' is the tale I provided artwork for and it was written by Sam Ruano. This time I'm pencilling and inking myself. The story features abandoned Antarctic mine shafts, creeepy aliens and related family members making out. I'm serious. I couldnt make this stuff up.

Only Sam could...and did.



Once again, the overall creative process was a blast. Having a real 'bullpen' creative environment once a week at our update meetings was very fun. Seeing some of the other artist's great artwork makes one want to go and work even harder on their own, and I think there's real value in that. It's also heart warming to see folks who were new to the publishing game grow artistically and gain confidence over the weeks while we were at it.

This is the main Holmes Inc. website to swing over to. There are tons of goodies going up there every day and you can even do the twitter thing to grabs all the details.

The book should be out in about 4 weeks or so. Keep watching this space, and The Holmes Inc site for the exact date.

Sneak peek of HOLMES INC. #2 !

After Holmes Inc. #1 (remember?) got good reviews and was so well received, it was elementary that there would be a second issue! (Sorry....I could NOT resist!)

I'm currently working on 7 pages for issue #2. I'll be inking myself this time (sadly no inks from Ty for me on this one) so it will look alot more like my work over at WASTED.

The book is again spearheaded (and the editorial whip cracked!) by Ty Templeton. I've heard all the pitches, read all the scripts and seen chunks of the art on this bad boy, and it's like the best parts of issue #1 are now taking steriods!! Yep, it's that strong.

The release date has not been set yet, but keep watch here, and over at Ty's website for all the details in a short few months.

If you've not seen issue #1 yet, see me at a con, or head over here and grab one!

HOLMES INC. launch and SPEAKEASY illustration show

Holmes Inc is ‘officially’ launched this Friday! Please come on out to join the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop as it celebrates the opening of its new permanent teaching space as well as its FIRST student publication - HOLMES INC.! Original artwork from the comic will be on display and copies of the book will be available for sale.

It’s on Friday, September 24 at 7:30pm –midnight and the location is at: 486 a College Street (upstairs) TCW studio space. I’ll be there signing books and chatting comics and art with everyone , so please come on by!


A few weeks later, due to a happy mix-up, I’ll be at :

SpeakEasy's 15th Annual Illustration Show
Thursday October 7th, 2010
Take a peek inside the collective imaginations of 40+ talented illustrators whose work features original styles, techniques and media. SpeakEasy has a reputation for showcasing the talent of Toronto's best illustrators. This colourful event is sure to be a myriad of fun in typical SpeakEasy Fashion.


Time & Space:
Thursday October 7th, 7pm-11pm
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen West
Second Floor Lobby + Studio Rooms

Cover:
Pay What You Can ($4.00 Donation Suggested)

See you there too!

Holmes INC!

It looks like HOLMES INC is set to drop very soon, so it’s finally time to talk about it! This is a project I’ve been working on with a number of local folks from the Toronto Cartooning workshops that I’ve taken. It’s all spearheaded by long time comic pro, and all around great guy, Ty Templeton.


The really cool part about this for me, is the fact that Ty has INKED my pencils for this one! As an added bonus, the lettering is done by Keiren Smith, who has colored my work in the past, and will again in the future. The pages look great, have a look below and see for yourself.


Advance copies of HOLMES INC. #1, will be on sale next week at Fan Expo. Look for it at the Toronto Cartooning Workshop/Fit to Print booth. Ty and I will be there signing the books on Saturday August 28th from 2-4pm. This book has lots of great new talent, and clocking in at 52 pages, it’s lots of comic for your money!

Please note: the ‘official’ release and launch party (along with website!) will be upcoming soon. Watch this space for details