The Devil's Carnival

One of our household favorites is the gorgeous, gruesome goth musical Repo! The Genetic Opera, by Darren Lynn Bousman and Terrance Zdunich. So when they reunited to do a touring indie roadshow, under the catchy title of The Devil's Carnival, we really couldn't miss it. Here a few sketches of the other folks in attendance at the Balboa Theatre on that fateful Saturday night...

Naturally, there was cosplay aplenty. Like it says in the song, "We've got ordinary sinners, and extraordinary ones..."

We were lined up next to a quartet of cosplayers, who posed for a group shot. I don't think I've ever had to sketch this fast before! Left to right: Misty, Bridget, Stephanie, and Prince Lysander.

The pre-show entertainment included a juggling, accordion-playing clown.

Carlee Baker, the hilariously sassy emcee, picked an audience volunteer and then asked her to confess her worst sin. Witness the epic brain freeze!

So how was the feature attraction? I really liked it! Catchy music, great visuals, and the incongruous combination of an infernal circus structured around Aesop's fables worked surprisingly well. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next episode, and I just hope poor Darren will be up for another road show, even after getting his nose broken by a slamming theater door!

Time Capsule

Oh yeah, I should mention that I have a story in the latest issue of Britain's legendary sci-fi comic weekly, 2000 AD! The big news in Prog 1791, of course, is the conclusion of the 15-year epic Nikolai Dante. But tucked away in the issue, you'll find a little "Future Shock" written by David Baillie and illustrated by yours truly.

Here's a random out-of-context panel.

In other news, the Academy of Art's Sequential Imagery Consortium has just released an interactive iPad version of its Figments comic anthology. Not only does this showcase the work of many of my past and present students, but it's free! Check it out today!

Demons Demons Demons

Some demonic creature doodles. These first few are ideas for infernal dignitaries, ambassadors, their bodyguards and translators, etc. The hammerhead shark guy in the top right is of course inspired by the Dayak from Enki Bilal's Immortel.

Naturally, the boss of Hell would have to be the Krampus, Prince of Punishment.

A few more. Classic demons would actually be invisible and bodiless, so as you can see, I included a few of these as well.

Finally, some giant robots. I guess I just have a fondness for oversized heads.

Beauties and the Beast

So the Academy of Art's Comic Book Club hosted another Superhero Costume Carnival this weekend, and it was awesome! Here are some of my sketches from the event...

Sarafina, queen of models, as "White Queen" Emma Frost. This was early in the event, and you can see I'm still forgetting to factor the high heels into her proportions.

Comic Book Club president Matt Harding as Beast.

Put those two together, and things start getting a bit kinky.

Lots and lots of Whitney Mccabe as Poison Ivy. Based on my last couple of Superhero Costume Carnival posts, it looks like I have a particular fondness for this character!

Liz Ramsey, last year's Poison Ivy, was Zatanna. Jonathan Bowling played Rorschach.

The amazing Ashton Warren as Rocket of Milestone Comics fame. Yes, she really does do all these crazy poses.

A few pen sketches, and then...

Sarafina's awesome spacey costume from the very end of the workshop. How Barbarella!

Hello World!

I may have dropped off the face of the earth these last few months, but I haven't forgotten you, dear readers! Here, enjoy some recent nonsense. First, a quick ink techniques demo for my comics class. It's sort of an Alice in Wonderland thing...

And a few scribbles from a Quick Studies workshop. Wish I could get to these more often, but you know how it is.

Happy New Year!

It's been a pretty hectic year, and Julie and I are really late sending out our holiday cards this time. But on the occasion of the Chinese New Year, here's a virtual greeting from us to you. Gung Hay Fat Choy, everybody!

Superhero Costume Carnival

Now this was a ton of fun! This Sunday, the Academy of Art hosted a Superhero Costume Carnival, masterminded by Matt Harding and the AAU Comic Book Club. Even with finals coming up, there were still about 25 students and teachers in attendance, and a great lineup of models. It seemed only appropriate to sketch these larger-than-life characters in color.

Sarafina as Catwoman. That alone would have justified the price of admission, if it wasn't already a free event.

Liz Ramsey as Poison Ivy. Next time we'll have to find a Harley Quinn for her to hang out with.

Whitney Mccabe as a very elegant Scarlet Witch.

Ashton Warren as an '80s-style punk rock Storm. She'll cut ya!

Plus Richard Jao as the indispensable Stunt Ninja. Alas, poor student models, they'll be feeling those pulled muscles the next day!