The Canyon

[ale]

The Canyon :Link.
art: garza
words: warner

Sketch of the Week, Numero Tredici

[jimlee]

Using this occasion for a few reality checks:

1--Thank you all for your support --Gelatometti has really come to be a part of our days here at the studio. That said, unfortunately, I cannot give individual critiques of work through email. I get too many of these and there simply isn't enough time in the day to do them all justice. I am late enough on the work I have on my plate and while this blog is a lot of fun to be a part of, I have limited my time on it to about an hour a day. But don't stop drawing simply cause I can't take a peek! Cream always finds its level and once your work starts kicking into gear, it's simply a matter of time before you get your first assignment.

My advice is to join the Gelatocafe--RicH is spearheading that and posts there as well and it's turned out to be a great support network for aspiring artists.

2--I am a n00bie when it comes to counting traffic, especially in regard to RSS and atom-enabled feeds. I assume if someone is reading the site through such a feed, we don't get credit for the 'hit' or do we? If not, for all you lurkers checking the blog via feed--hit this link (http://gelatometti.blogspot.com) back to our site just for today (Friday) --so my puny sitemeter can get a sense of how many of you are out there. Again, we love doing the blog and it has been steadily growing in popularity but there will come a day when we have to take a hard look at the energy spent vs the the number of people we are reaching.

3--Fantasy Gelatometti Publisher--the online rotisserie game where you can pick creators to create a fantasy publishing company and compete against other braggarts is about to start. Well, at least the Beta...will keep posted about its progress but it may go live this summer. Chuck H. from KC has done a phenomenal job at coding it and creating all the databases...so this has truly been a labor of love.

4--More video is on the way, once some major deadlines are out of the way. It's a matter of editing what we have and that takes time, especially on the time budget we have imposed on ourselves.

5--My GelatoIronChef competition is in the works...just waiting to arrange a time.

6--Oh and here is a closer look at the Wolverine sketch I did to raise Euros for the Tsunami victims at the store signing I did at Reggio Comics (link here).

Be well...


EDITED: Comments were not working...now they should be.

Oh, and one more final thing--while Frank Miller and I will be working together on Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder, I am not in his employ as a a secretary so please don't ask me to contact him on your behalf--thank you. This has been a public service announcement = D

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Twice the Pleasure, 8 pages more the pain

[jimlee]

Back to comics...DC officially released the final covers to the last issue of For Tomorrow today. Slated to come out mid-April, there are two covers and 8 additional interior pages. The image above are the two covers placed side by side. Draw a line vertically down the middle of the image and you can see where one cover ends and the other begins. This was a complicated piece to pull off, more so because I was relying on Alex Sinclair to do a lot of the separation of the elements all in color and photoshop.

The inspiration for this diptych was actually all the great George Perez covers of yore where he had layers of big figures superimposed on a sea of smaller figures all of which were laid out on multiple layers. I took that approach because like the last Hush #12 covers, I wanted to have the final covers of For Tomorrow reflect all the different elements of the story thus far--a reflection of the entire arc, and George was simply one of the best at doing that kind of imagery. Sometimes it's good to think out of the box and approach a cover or an assignment with a different mindset.

After I did the piece, Alex and I spoke and I gave him a handful of notes via email but this piece is presented in all his glory. I think it's the best Superman, perhaps the best DC cover of mine that he has colored. Think of all the different elements and how they are separated by color, value and hue and how translucence and opacity help organize the composition. In the end, I wanted to create a cover which could be viewed as separate covers (left and right) but also form together to make a bigger (duh) more impactful statement. Alex deserves to take a bow on this one, folks.

Here is a slightly bigger shot of it. Now for those of you who hate multiple covers, I have my thoughts on that but will save them perhaps for the day this book actually ships. It's a whole 'nother can o' beans. For now, check out the boo--tee--full colors by Color Masta Sinc.'

Ninja Boy prelude...

[ale]

So with the idea of doing a weekly strip came the great idea of doing two weekly strips! That's right, although this one will be more bi-weekly. However, to respark interest in what is something very near and dear to my heart, I have decided to do a weekly Ninja Boy strip! The above page is actually taken from the begining of series 2, a story which takes place five years after the first entitled, "The Age of the Dragon." The strip on the other hand will take place just before the first series. It will involve his brothers Jimichi, and Ogori, and his everwise Grandfather. I know everyone's first question is, whattabout Sake? Well he hasn't showed up yet at this stage of the story, but expect even more fun loving characters to appear. Also I'm planning it to be full color. For those not familiar with Ninja Boy, the book is now in trade format and is quite easy to locate. All in all, I just want to keep these characters going even if it is for free, there are many stories to be told. Look for the first installment sometime next week, and a new Canyon strip later this week. :)

-a
"easy..." PSHOO!PSHOO!

Beer Jacket Blast from the Past

[jimlee]

Decades ago, in a different life, I was an undergrad at Princeton University. Like many of the Ivy League universities, Princeton is and remains a stuffy, conservative institution set in a sleepy, small township in Mid-Jersey where one can get a great liberal arts education and encounter some truly incredible beautiful minds. Of the 4,600 or so undergrads, there were those who gave it its reputation, those who leveraged and drafted off said reputation, and the remaining majority who were there to finance its existence and cover its overhead. I won't say what group I was in = D.

Anyway, it really is an old (by American standards) university, covered with actual ivy; a gorgeous setting to learn in and one steeped in traditions. There are school songs (Ol' Nassau--words to which I can still sing from memory today), bizarre rituals (Nude Olympics (since banned I hear), Cane Wrestling (in which freshmen and upperclassmen fight over possession of a stick--no holds barred), Clapper stealing (also since banned I believe) and exclusive societies (such as the infamous 21 Club) and eating clubs (akin to most universities fraternities).

One other tradition is that every graduating class has to create their own Beer Jacket (mind you, many of the seniors were still underage, but old habits die hard). The purpose of the Beer Jacket seems self-explanatory--one wears it while quaffing down fermented brews and I imagine it helps keep your real clothes nice and clean. It is also worn at the annual P-Rade where you march down beautiful Prospect Street with all the other Reunion classes who descend and take over the university every June. All the Reunion classes are also decked out in their own atrocious orange, black and white class gear. Some of the looks take on various themes--Pirates, Sailors, 20's Flappers--you name it--it's been done. It truly is a place where people have stepped out from the pages of the Great Gatsby.

Anyway, I was graduated in the class of '86 and had the proud distinction of designing and drawing our graduation Beer Jackets. Click here for a closer look but don't look too hard...my work was very rough around the edges nearly 20 years ago! All I remember about this design was that a fellow classmate who was an outspoken feminist took me to task for the aggressive and overly masculine take on the school's mascot. I don't think she would have approved of the Image Comics look years later, heh. The front of the jacket has a outline of one of the famous Tigers in front of Nassau Hall (where once the US's early fledgling government was seated for a spell if I recall) and instead of Tiger stripes, I drew in a barcode, creating a Tiger look and saying something which I thought was cleverly insightful, heh.

Anyway, the Tiger on the back is holding his diploma and has the aforementioned cane one wrestles for in the other paw. I think in retrospect, I should have gone to an arts school like RISD but then again, I would never have met my wife, who lived upstairs from me my freshman year. And my cane wrestling skills would have never have blossomed.

Co-missions...

[ale]

So as promised, here is a larger scan of my previously posted Leia commission. This piece was so much fun, even though I wasn't asked to, I just had to throw Jabba in the bkgd. My next challenge will be getting my wife Carla to dress in this costume for Halloween and yes, if she does, I will post pics, lol!

-a
"who says?" PSHOO!PSHOO!