BLOODY BLACK MAGICS

Inspired in part by Charles Huettner. I’ve heard a lot of...

Tue, 07 May 2013 12:00:49 -0700

I’ve heard a lot of good things about manga studio, so I’m giving it a bit of a trial whirl right now. I don’t usually have a very painterly style—I typically keep things in blocks of solid color, I don’t even use brushes in photoshop—but manga studio’s strength seems to be in its brushes and how it simulates real media. I’m using this as a bit of a way to encourage myself to loosen up and try a smooshier, messier approach (not that that’s overly evident from this drawing).

plain-comics: Had a lot of fun with this commission piece. From...

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 03:01:34 -0700

plain-comics:

Had a lot of fun with this commission piece. From the pleasantly broad prompt of “ghosts/spirits”.

If you’re interested in commissioning me…

http://plain.bigcartel.com/product/commissioned-drawing-13-x-19

I recently commissioned a piece from Mac Schubert, who runs two nascent but so far fantastic comics and competed on Strip Search.

I’m pretty thrilled by what Mac cooked up, and I’m glad it was a fun project!

I digitized an old doodle I’d always kind of...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 03:17:00 -0700

I digitized an old doodle I’d always kind of liked.

I’m no stranger to inconsistent colors but man oh man this one seems to switch between highlighter green and dull green-gray, depending on the monitor and application.

Late night sketch of a king who is also a bomb. It’s a...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:54:57 -0700

Late night sketch of a king who is also a bomb. It’s a metaphor, probably.

And he’s all outlined. Weird, right?

I was really psyched about this for the first half of the...

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:01:00 -0700

I was really psyched about this for the first half of the drawing process, but I think I suffered from the art version of feature creep. Nothin’ like drawing a half-dozen hands to make an artist lose confidence. I’m still decently pleased with the final product, though.

“I know what you are” “Say it. Out...

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:01:07 -0700

“I know what you are”

“Say it. Out loud.”

(bites lip. murmurs) “Vampire”

An angry lightbulb (in a classic jailbreak pose?) “But...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:01:05 -0700

An angry lightbulb (in a classic jailbreak pose?)

“But Cole, what’s the deal with the lighting in this picture? Why is the lightbulb emitting no light itself?”

“Um. Artistic license.”

“Also, it doesn’t make much sense spatially. How is he standing so close to the wall? Is he flat or something?”

“Shut up shut upppppp”

I’ve been playing around with adding more corners and...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:01:07 -0700

I’ve been playing around with adding more corners and fewer curves (inspired by the style of one of my favorite artists, Mike Mignola). I think I may have applied that idea a bit too heavy-handedly here. *shrug*

Hey blog. Long time no see. I realized it’s been forever...

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:03:00 -0800

Hey blog. Long time no see.

I realized it’s been forever since I’ve posted anything, so I decided tonight to throw some colors on a sketch I did of a stubby shark.

I did a very similar poster for a Gauntlet Hair concert last year, because raspberry sharks are rad.

I’ve also wanted to play around with water ever since I read this post by nedroid, so…now I have done that. It kind of looks like cobwebs though.

Calm the hell down, clefairy. Buy this as a print

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 17:33:00 -0800

Calm the hell down, clefairy.

Buy this as a print

I just finished the artwork for the debut EP of Gravies and the...

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:15:00 -0700

I just finished the artwork for the debut EP of Gravies and the Main Dish Sauce, and here’s the front panel. David and Alex are good friends of mine, and they’ve just embarked on a coast-to-coast tour as Gravies, so I’m super psyched to dance to their quirky electro-noise-pop when they finish up in San Francisco.

Their concert lineup’s right here on their facebook page. So check it out and catch a show when they’re in your city! And buy an EP when you see them, so you can own a piece of my art forever.

If you’re wondering why that image has odd proportions, it’s because It’s a cassette release, because I guess that’s what the kids are doing these days.

Behold, the Lich King! Lord of Misery. Devourer of Dreams. Cower...

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:02:35 -0700

Behold, the Lich King! Lord of Misery. Devourer of Dreams. Cower before his icy gaze.

I saw Purity Ring today, and they were amazing. Since I saw them...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 03:23:00 -0700

I saw Purity Ring today, and they were amazing. Since I saw them last summer, they’ve released one of my favorite albums of the year and, apparently, put a lot of polish into their live show. Everything pulses and glows—the “war drum,” the sea of cocoon-like lanterns overhead, and their (new-and-improved) quirky-pipe-and-bulb-instrument-thing. The show would be worth it for the visuals alone, but they also really came through with their dark, haunting, drippy brand of synthpop.

In other news, I need to sit down and do some serious lighting and posture studies, because it is inexcusable how uncomfortable I am with both (as anyone can probably tell from this picture). She looks like she’s falling asleep at the mic :(

What a happy little fellow.

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:04:37 -0700

What a happy little fellow.

Chin up, butterfree. It’s gonna be ok.

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 11:59:25 -0700

Chin up, butterfree. It’s gonna be ok.

Slowpoke: not the brightest crayon in the box.

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 12:53:02 -0700

Slowpoke: not the brightest crayon in the box.

Photo

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:53:00 -0700

Not sure if jiggly’s ability to float is canon. Drawing it...

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 17:35:00 -0700

Not sure if jiggly’s ability to float is canon. Drawing it like this anyways.

Buy as a print

Aww, don’t cry lil’ buddy. Buy this as a print or...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 17:53:00 -0700

Aww, don’t cry lil’ buddy.

Buy this as a print or t-shirt

Bulbasaur, you goof. For a while I was considering joining the...

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 22:55:00 -0700

Bulbasaur, you goof.

For a while I was considering joining the pokémonathon, so I whipped up a batch of pokémon to stoke myself up. Then I realized that it would be ridiculously irresponsible of me to commit myself to such a huge endeavor when I already update so infrequently. So instead of making a pledge to draw all 151 original pokémon on the pokémonathon, I’ll just post a few of them here.

Buy as a print