Art Update

I haven't posted in a while as I've found my schedule suddenly packed heading into the holiday seasons.  But here are a few updates: 

• "Grace Awakening" is still about 1/2 done for the first issue.  Unfortunately, the book as become a bit of a casualty as some other things have come up - but they're REALLY COOL things.  :D

• Got inspired recently about a new book - will be more of a sword / sorcery themed book.  I have the concept, now it needs to be written. 

• Finally - I've been asked to participate as an artist on an official trading card set that has yet to be announced. I will be doing an unnamed number of  'sketch cards'.  Right now, I can't give any more details than that, but suffice to say that THIS is as close as a 'dream come true' as I've ever had.  Once I am officially announced by the publisher I can give more details, but for now, I'm heads down working to produce the best art as fast as I can.  

 So, that's what's up with me, hope your holiday season is shaping up to be a good one.  Mine is going to be extremely busy, but if the last week is any indication, I'm going to be loving every minute of it.

Sketchbooks Available

Sketchbooks have been in for about 2 weeks now and I've had several folks order and I've enjoyed the variety of custom sketch requests I've gotten from folks.  It's actually really encouraging and inspiring when I get these requests because I try to continually push myself to get better. 

Here's a snapshot of several of the ones I've completed so far. 

I've also learned that shipping outside the US is expensive.  More expensive than I anticipated, but that's okay.  If I get many more requests for overseas shipping, I may have to bump the price though just to break even on the book. 

So for now, I have a number still available.  If anyone would like one - please let me know at moonlightpress93@gmail.com and I'll get one set up for you.  $10 for a custom sketch on the back cover. 

Sketchbook Arrives This Week!!

My 2010 - 2011 sketchbook is due to arrive this week from the printer so will be opening up for orders for anyone who wants one.

It's 16 black / white pages of artwork from me over the last year.  Front and back covers are in color.  Let me know if you're interested in the original artwork used in the sketchbook.  Some was sold during Heroes Con this year, but I still have many of the original pieces including the covers as well as the centerpiece.  

Prices: (shipping not included)

• $10 - Everyone will receive a personalized pen / ink sketch on back cover of character of your choice.  (There is  section that will be trading card size on the back cover that will be used for your personalized sketch).

Final cover / back cover are below.  

Sketchbook cover

I just finished the back cover for my sketchbook and so now it's all about formatting everything properly to send off to the printer.  Here's the initial version for the final cover.  I've changed the color on the title but otherwise it's pretty much the same.

Open For Commissions

After thinking about it for a while now I've decided to officially open myself for commissions. Here are a few examples of commissions and my rates are below.  Size is on 11 x 17 Bristol.

Pencils only:

• 1 character no background - $40
• 1 character w/ minimal background - $60
• 1 character w/ detailed background - $80
• Addl character - $20

Inks:

• 1 character no background - $60
• 1 character w/ minimal background - $80
• 1 character w/ detailed background - $100
• Addl character - $40

Full color Copics:

• 1 character no background - $80
• 1 character w/ minimal background - $100
• 1 character w/ detailed background - $120
• Addl character - $60

If you are interested in a commission please send an email with your request to moonlightpress93@gmail.com

Recent Commission

A friend recently commissioned a drawing from me of Lord Vader.  Decided to do this one in Copics and overall I thought it came out reasonably well.  Hope my friend likes it.

Sketchbook update

Well, looks like it's going to be Aug before I get my sketchbook out.  I have been working hard on Grace Awakening and have completed several more pages but I've still got the covers and a double-page spread on the sketchbook to finish coloring.  So, going to be shifting gears slightly and trying to get these pages finished in the next week.

I'm a little nervous overall because I really like how the pencils and inks came out on these, and I don't want to mess up the colors, but I've got good scans of all of them so if I had to I could recreate from them.  I will probably be selling the originals though provided they come out well.

Work Continues

So I haven't updated in a little while - I apologize for that.  I've actually been working on finalizing things for my sketchbook - which hopefully should be on it's way to the printer by the end of the month (July) - and also working on additional pages for "Grace". 

Since the script I wrote originally is a little dated I have been making some updates and trying to figure out how to best tell the story now in light of where I want to take the character.  That's required a few adjustments and changes to the original, but I think we're back on track now and moving forward.

Here are a couple of panels from the book as it's developing. 

 

 

 

 (All artwork and images are the property of Eric McConnell - Copyright 2011 and may not be used or reproduced without permission)

Heroes Con Wrap-up

Heroes was a great time this year and once I got some good pain meds it got even better. I set up on Sat and Sun thanks to a friend who split his table with me in Artist Alley. I ended up selling several sketch cards as well as several 9x12 pieces and a few commissions as well (the one to the left is one that I completed on Sunday). So all in all it was a good weekend. I've definitely decided to get a sketchbook together and should have that ready to go by the end of the summer.

I also got a lot of great feedback on the book and folks enjoyed seeing the first several pages I have done. So that's encouraging. I'm starting back on the book now and my goal is to finish a page a week (pencils and inks). Working a full-time job and having 4 kids now out of school for the summer I'm not sure I can go much faster than that. LOL.

So again, a great Heroes and will definitely be setting up there next year.

Heroes Con 2011

Well day one at Heroes is over for me. I had to leave early today as I just got too tired and sore from the wreck yesterday. BUT while I was there today I got an offer to take a seat at the con in Artist Alley with a friend, Ed Eargle, an inker. So we'll be over in the 100 aisle in the alley next to the wall.

I'll have some of my sketch cards there for sale and will be doing sketches as well.

Hope to see you there!

Sketchbook for 2010-2011

I've been thinking about this for a while so I decided that I'm going to put together a sketchbook of some of my artwork during the last year. With con season in full swing already I know this is late in the year to produce something like this but still it will be a good experience and a way to try out a version of self-publishing.

It will likely be 15-20 pages in total, and not sure if it will be in full color or B/W. I'm leaning toward B/W after seeing several sketchbooks from pro's. I did like what one artist I know did and had a space on the back cover where he does personal sketches for the buyer. I may incorporate something like that as well.

No idea if I'll sell a single copy but it would be really cool if I did.

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day was on Saturday, May 7 this year and I spent about 6+ hours at a local comic shop right around the corner from me.  Thanks to Matt at Parker, Banner, Kent & Wayne http://www.pbkwcomics.com/ for letting me hang out and sketch like crazy for folks during the day.

Mostly I did "sketch cards" for the kids, just because at a smaller size (2.5 x 3.5 in) I could do full-color stuff pretty fast.  A rough summary of what I did:

Sketch Cards:

• Darth Maul
• Ghost Rider (2)
• Sokka from Avatar: The Last Airbender
• Wonder Woman
• Thor
• Batman (3)
• Firestar - from old Spiderman TV show
• Phineas (Phineas and Ferb)
• Iron Man
• Hulk

8.5 x 11:

• Spawn vs. Ghost Rider
• Drizzt (Forgotten Realms)

The only one I actually have a copy of is the last one there - Drizzt since I actually finished that up at home and brought it back by the shop on Monday.  Here's a copy:

And with that wrapped up now - I'm going to get back to working on the book.  :D

Meet Grace - First glimpse.

First look at a panel from the book I'm working on.  At this point, the formal title for the book hasn't been finalized so I'll let you know when I know.  :D  This is the first time I've shown any work for this book to the public 'at large', outside of some other artists that I meet with a few times each month.

So, meet Grace (on left).  Grace is the heroine for this book - at least in the initial book anyway.  Her life is about to turn upside down and she'll have almost everything she's ever believed and trusted, put to the test.  You see her here talking to her friend and confidant Jenn.  You'll find out more about them both later - I'm working on a full character profile and some additional images of Grace so hopefully they'll be ready for putting up soon.

This panel didn't take too long to draw and ink overall, while some of the other panels in the book contain pretty complex backgrounds and much more detail so they naturally took much longer. 

My wonderful wife also just got me some assistance on digital coloring so hopefully soon I'll be able to flesh out the line art and bring it to life :D  

Recent Sketch Cards

Couple of cards completed recently as personal sketch cards (PSC).  Will be submitting these to Rittenhouse Archives soon to see if they would pick me up for a future sketch card run. 

These were completed using 2.5 x 3.5 in smooth bristol paper and copic pens and markers.

  

Lord of the Rings and associated characters are the creation of J.R.R. Tolkien

Welcome to the Launch!

Welcome!  This is the initial launch of "Moonlight Press - Comic Art and Illustration".  My goal here is to chronicle the creation of my own comic book and if all goes well be the first place to hear when both that project and other works are completed.

For a little while here, as things get rolling, there may not be many posts, but if you'd like to check out my artwork in the meantime - feel free to visit my DeviantArt site - jedidad.deviantart.com