Here you go… the newly colored version of that Frog Thor I did a while back.   This and much more will be in the new Sketchings.  Stay tuned for more!

For the next week and a half, I’ll be in my native land of Montana.  It will be good to get out of this Midwest humidity and into the mountains (my mom said it was sleeting there the other day… which sounds wonderful).

But don’t worry, we will still be posting a bunch of stuff from the road… including an extended preview of our new Sketchings Color Special.  So, stay tuned!

I just finished completely revamping my online art portfolio.  This is something I have been meaning to do for quite a while, so it feels good to finish it.  The new site is much more streamlined with a pretty slick interface.  I was able to sort my work into different galleries (illustrations, comics, other), instead of having them all jumbled together.  Anyway, you might want to take a look, as there are several pieces in there that I have never posted on this site.

As I mentioned in the last post, I am available for freelance illustration work.  I’ve worked for both companies and individuals on a variety of projects (many of which you can see in the new portfolio).  I can also do commissioned drawings of your favorite comic characters, if you like.  So, if you happen to be in need of a certain image… drop me a line sometime!

In addition to teaching, I also do some freelance illustration on the side.  One of the things that kept me busy for much of May and June was a large clip art project I did for an education website.  These are just 9 of the 49 images I did for them.  The fact that I was able to work in my cartoony style for this assignment made it a lot of fun!

Several of you have asked us if we had a page on Facebook, and now we do!  This will be yet another way for you to keep up-to-date on our comics, artwork, appearance, and contests.  Speaking of which…

ANOTHER CONTEST! To celebrate the kick-off of this page, we will be giving away a comic and a custom sketch to two people this week! Saturday night we will randomly pick two winners from people who “Like” this page. It’s that easy! (If you’re really awesome, you might even suggest this page to some friends.)

UPDATE:

CONTEST WINNERS! Well, the results are in and our two winners are JOSIAH JORDAN and PAUL McKINNEY! Hope you enjoy your comics and sketches, guys! Everyone else… THANKS for your support!

There should be some more contests down the road…

Congrats to Jason Lysinger, the winner of our last contest.  Jason correctly guessed that the image was from the wonderfully bad “Hercules in New York” movie (Arnold Schwartzeneggar’s first ever movie).  If you’re ever in the mood to heckle a movie… check out this one.  Arnold’s accent was so thick (and his delivery so bad) that they actually dubbed another generic voice over him.  Luckily, on the DVD you can listen to the original Arnold track.  This is definitely my favorite movie that features a mythological hero wrestling a bear in Central Park.

As part of his prize, Jason requested the above sketch of Esmerelda.  Thanks, Jason… your sketch and free comics are on their way to you!

Stay tuned for another contest coming soon!

Hey, I wanted to show you guys the coloring job that my friend, Brad Shipp, did on my drawing of Master Oogway.  I especially like the texture he gave his skin!  You should definitely check out Brad’s online gallery… the guy knows his stuff!

At the last Sketch Night, we did some more ink splatter drawings (inspired by the incredible Daily Monster blog by Stefan Bucher).  I was really happy with the creatures that sprang out of the ink this time!  My wife Laura even joined in and did the two below!  Fun stuff… I highly recommend it, if you haven’t tried it yet.

This story was originally going to be part of a large anthology where every tale took place with the moon about to crash into the earth.  That book never materialized, and I have been sitting on these pages for years waiting for a place to use them.  Random Ink #3 is where they ended up.

This is definitely one of the most realistic stories I’ve attempted.  I really tried to imagine what might go through my head in that crazy situation.  I hope you enjoy it!

Just a goofy sketch that sprang out of boredom.  Sometimes it can be very freeing to go right to ink.