Applying for the Position

I first heard of Saguarrior through Chris C. who came into my 7th grade class and showed my friend Brad and I his work. We thought it was the coolest ever, and then 8 years later I saw another drawing of this "cactus man" at Brinn's Automotive.

To make a long story short, I chatted it up with the artist who did the drawing and eventually made contact with the creator of the character and comic.

This is where people skills are key in making and maintaining good relations. While waiting for his call I sat around and drew sketches of my interpretation of the character and found other pieces I'd done personally to show. Here are 4 examples of my sketches and drawings I brought to the interview.

(click for larger image)

The first two are just illustrations I had done on my own. The last two were based on different interpretations I had of Saguarrior and two separate styles in which I could portray the character. It's always good to bring more than one idea to the table. Once I sat down with them at the interview I told them what I wanted to bring to the table. They had mentioned that they had rushed the first two, so I told them that I would take my time and try to give the Saguarrior franchise a more modern and professional quality. It's all about being friendly, even when saying unfriendly things.

Do say, "I'd like to bring my talents into this group to work with yours and further your image and ideals potrayed by the characters in the comic."

Don't say, "Your stuff sucks and I can do better." 

After looking through my drawings, they said they'd love to have me on board and the writer said he would send me a rough idea of the story I'd be working with. Also, a little brown nosing helps a ton.

In the next installment I'll show you some more sketches and character development.

Great Beginnings

This is my new and hopefully exciting blog about the adventure of creating a comic. I was hired by LoS Comics to illustrate and layout the first installment of "the Path of Saguarrior" series. LoS Comics has already come out with two issues of Saguarrior which are in circulation locally (Murray, KY.) My story is separate from these two, considered a side story, but we'll talk semantics later on.

Here is the cover to the second issue for reference to what I'm working with... (This is not my work.)





















When given this opportunity, the first thing I did was look up technical "how-to"s. Just wanted to know the technical side of how to create a comic. But I couldn't find squat! (excluding books I'd have to pay for) In response to this dilemma I decided to keep this blog as a comprehensive log of the process in which I attempt to create a professional, shelf ready comic book. With the help of my ink artist, Austin Madding, my color artist, Brad Elliott, and the story written by B. Charles Shelby, we will attempt to get our product on the shelves of comic shops across America.

So, if you're looking for instructional step-by-step on the process of creating a comic then this blog is for you. I'll post pictures and explanations of my steps along the way.

So, welcome to my Comic Quest. Hope you enjoy!