ziontific

Some new(ish) sketches

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 20:28:00 +0000

Here's some sketches I drew recently...

I Make This Look Good by Samax Amen

Say Word by Samax Amen

Yeah, just some sketches I drew that I liked enough to scan. Feel free to ascribe extra meaning to them, if you like.
peace,
-samax
Ziontific.com

Valentine Sketch for my honey...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:37:00 +0000

So Far, So Good by Samax Amen

For once I wasn't totally broke on Valentine's Day, but I didn't wanna buy a card, so I drew this yesterday and stuffed it into a box of chocolates. It made her smile...
♥
-samax
Ziontific.com

New ninja sketch...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 23:09:00 +0000

ninja sketch by Samax Amen

I drew this at the Library the other day. A client commissioned me to draw him as a ninja (like YOU don't wish YOU were a ninja...). I drew this with a mechanical pencil, then fell asleep, because I work too hard or whatever. This probably not gonna be used in the final piece, but I like it in all it's flawed glory, so that's why I'm posting it now...
enjoy!
-samax
Ziontific.com

New Dare drawing

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:52:00 +0000

Dare is Chillin'... by Samax Amen

My long-time fans may remember my character, the teenage adventurer Darius Davidson, from his appearances in the Champion of Children, Underground Artistry and GhostWerks Comics anthologies. I've been trying to get a Dare collection together for some time so my new fans can get acquainted with the youngster. No movement on that, but there's a new Dare short in the works that will be on the web soon. This drawing is part of a page I'm reworking from that story. Just thought I'd share it with you guys...

Anyways, if you want to read a story where Dare saves a bickering married couple from an insane bomber by beating up a couple of really mean mute brothers with killer dogs (but you don't wanna wait on my mythical TPB), Ten Minutes and Counting is in the anthology GhostWerksComics #1 which is still on sale here.

Peace,
-Samax
Ziontific.com

New Flyer Design- BlackRadioIsBack.com

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0000

The lovely, gracious, and talented Mary Nichols (DJ Fusion if you're nasty) commissioned me a long time ago to make a flyer for the mighty FuseBox Radio Show. In fact, this was my second job for Fusion, who had commissioned me to do that mock Ghostbusters joint which you may remember (if not, click here). This time, I didn't focus as much on the likeness, and I cast them as crime busters instead of Ghostbusters...

Black Radio is Back dot Com by Samax Amen

Like I said, I really wanted to use the piece to evoke the comics I grew up reading in the seventies and eighties (yes, I'm old). It took a (long) while to figure out the best way to do that, but once I figured out what I wanted to do, the piece fell together quickly enough. If Fusion is ~~crazy~~ nice enough to hire me again, I promise in front of my massive (chuckle) readership not to take so long again! Now, I got plenty more work to do, so...

holla!
-samax
Ziontific.com

The mighty red and pink juggernaut approaches... be ready!

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Love Is... by Samax Amen

Valentine's Day is coming whether you're ready or not, fam... so why not make your life a little easier and order a card with my art on it now so you don't get stuck with the slim pickins at Walgreens again...

Before I Let You Go by Samax Amen

Cards come as singles or in packs of 10 and 20 for all the ballers out there, so click here to peep the selection. I got a bunch of new ones since last year!
Holla!
-Samax
Ziontific.com

I drew my girls...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:47:00 +0000

I drew these drawings of my wife and daughter a couple weeks ago. Thought y'all might like to see 'em...

My Girls by Samax Amen

Charlene (Reading) by Samax Amen

Hope you enjoy them!
-samax
Ziontific.com

A few words about the whole "Black March" thing...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:27:00 +0000

ummm... no.

Okay, so one of my fellow artists on Google + posted this promo for Black March, the SOPA/PIPA- inspired mass boycott of movies, music, downloads, and the media industry at large. I somehow managed to not know about Black March until today, and I typed out the response below in his comments section, but then chose not to post it.

"No. This will unfairly impact too many little people who have nothing 
to do with the issue in question. I'm not just saying that because I 
make books and magazines (my income from self-publishing these days is 
so small it will not make much difference if it dries up for a month), 
or because my birthday is in March (no one is likely to buy me anything 
anyways). 

I have a day job now, but if I wasn't married with a toddler, I would be trying to make my
 living as a full-time freelancer and self-publisher right now, and this kind of 
mass tantrum would kill my business. 

As an opponent of SOPA and PIPA, as well as a champion of independent 
artists and musicians, I totally disagree with this. We should 
definitely find a way to solve the problem of piracy on the web. SOPA 
was not the answer, and neither is PIPA, but this kind of attack on 
creatives is dangerous and poorly conceived.."

After thinking about it, I decided not to post the response because I understand why people are frustrated by media companies that are trying to protect their financial interests at the expense of personal freedom. I believe in their right to protest. Maybe it's arrogance on my part to think their plans are misguided and will be mostly ineffective. Perhaps movie theater, bookstore and comicshop owners ought to absorb the loss in the name of the greater good. Maybe professional creatives should just take one for the team.

Usually it's the bad guys saying you have to break eggs to make omelets. That's an argument that sounds good to everyone except the chicken. I recognize your right to vote by withholding your dollar from giant media companies that are advocating for SOPA and PIPA. That said, I would actually encourage you to instead use that dollar to support an independent artist, filmmaker or musician, rather than throwing us all out with the corporate media bathwater. If you're mad because you heard Marvel and/or DC supported SOPA, by all means, boycott them. But don't punish your comicshop owner too... buy only indie comics for a month instead. Turn off MTV, VH1 and BET and go cop some cheap or free music directly from the musicians via sites like bandcamp. Skip the studio blockbuster of the week and go to the arthouse theater for an indie movie or rent a documentary or something. You want to send a message? Spend money with independent artists... people just like you who would actually appreciate your business.
I know I would!

peace,
-samax
Ziontific.com

Work (still) in Progress...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:10:00 +0000

This is a drawing I did for a flyer I'm working on. The client basically gave me the freedom to do whatever I wanted, and I've been making it a lot harder than it needed to be...
So, I trashed what I had already and drew the client as a kid superhero, and it just feels right to me! So now I'm gonna do the flyer to look like a comics page clipping... anyways, I was so excited by all this that I had to drop an in-progress joint! Anyways, I gotta get back to work!
peace,
-samax
Ziontific.com

New Drawing: "Before I Let You Go..." by Samax Amen

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:24:00 +0000

If you're one of my Facebook friends, then there's a good chance you've already seen this drawing, but if not, check it out below...

I initially planned to go with no title, but when I was drawing it, I was humming the Blackstreet song Before I Let You Go the whole time.

I figured it was only fair that I title it that... but you can call it whatever you want... A lot of my personal emotion that I was feeling at the time went into this, but it's more important to me that the viewer fills it with their own story than that you "properly" interpret what I was feeling at the time.
Anyways, I drew this with a watercolor brush pen, and added the zip-a-tone effect in Photoshop. By request, I made this available as a teeshirt design in the Ziontific online store. If you want one, click here.There's posters and other junk with the design in there, too.
love, peace, etc.
-samax

New sketch: "Meet Dave"

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 03:21:00 +0000

Meet Dave by Samax Amen

I drew this for my column in GhettoManga Quarterly called Movies That Should be Comics. It's based on the Eddie Murphy flick Meet Dave, which was a good idea, but not a very good movie. You can read the article free... just click here.
holla!
-samax
Ziontific.com

#fromTheArchives- John Henry: God of Thunder

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:31:00 +0000

John Henry: God of Thunder by Samax Amen

I drew this back in 2005 for a sketch challenge on ArtXilla. Lately it's been getting a lot of love on DeviantArt, so I figured I'd pull it out an post it here for you. The challenge was to combine a marvel character and a dc character to create a new one... of course i was gonna do a black superhero, cause that's how I roll... The first combo that came to mind was a cross between John Henry Irons (aka Steel of Reign of the Supermen and Morrison's expanded JLA lineup) and the Mighty Thor!

I named him John Henry: god of Thunder because "black lightning" and "chocolate thunder" were already taken... I drew this with pencil and micron pens, then added the grey tones in Photoshop. Anyways, I gotta get back to work!

peace.
samax.
Ziontific.com

A Spirit Juice Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 23:47:00 +0000

I did this for indie director Danny Hidalgo of the mighty Spirit Juice Studios. Danny wanted to make some prints for the kids he featured in the Super Mario Brother's themed video he directed for Heath McNease and For Beat's Sake's Kain't Moov Nuthin'.

Kain't Moov Nuthin' by Samax Amen

In case you're wondering, this song is off Straight Outta Console: The Nintendo Thumb Mixtape, which has provided me with hours of easy listening or whatever...
<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://heathmcnease.bandcamp.com/album/straight-outta-console-the-nintendo-thumb-mixtape"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Straight Outta Console: The Nintendo Thumb Mixtape by Heath McNEase&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>
Anyways, Danny also commissioned me to draw another piece featuring him 'longside his Spirit Juice partners Kyle Escamilla and Rob Kaczmark (shown here holding their prints!). Danny was very easy to work for. He contacted me after seeing the artwork I did for Heath and Playdough on the Wed, White and Wu mixtape, and really trusted me to deliver, which I appreciated.

You can check out some process art and the finished piece here. I'm glad everyone is pleased with the work. Merry Christmas, everyone!
peace, love, etc.
-samax
Ziontific.com

It was the hair...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 05:54:00 +0000

Self-identified thinker, philosopher, theologian, speaker, artist, entrepreneur and pastor Lee Harmon inquired about my rates to draw him an avatar and I immediately started drawing this based on his current profile pic. It's not a great likeness, but it was all kinds of fun to draw!

After walking away and coming back, he looked too much like the Joker with that grin, so I fixed it.Still not a dead ringer for Lee, but I can leave it alone now. If he hires me, I will worry more about getting the likeness right. This was just for fun.
peace,

-samax

A behind the scenes look...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:33:00 +0000

I did some artwork for indie director Danny Hidalgo of the mighty Spirit Juice Studios crew. I drew all the figures separately on paper, then composited and colored it in Photoshop. Peep the process and final results below...

I used a stock photo of the Chicago skyline by Michi, because the one I drew wasn't as awesome as the figures (better luck next time). This is one of my favorite joints I've done in a while... Hope you enjoy it!
peace,
-samax

A few drawings...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:41:00 +0000

What a weekend! I did some drawing and selling at H4's annual Toys for Tots Benefit show 'longside a select batch of artists from the mighty ArtLoveMagic collective... In addition to being surrounded by fresh art and hip hop, and selling some prints, magazines and postcards, I drew this drawing and the Daredevil/Elektra piece below...
But before that I drew Danny Rand (that's Iron Fist to you, tough guy) smooching with my favorite dark knight detective, Misty Knight. Yeah, I know he's missing his dragon tattoo... I'll fix it when I get around to it...

Danny Hearts Misty by Samax Amen

I drew this on a sheet of computer paper with a felt tip writing pen, then jazzed it up in photoshop. I used it to launch a "comicbook couple" meme on the Metrosketchual blog... there's been some pretty good stuff on there, including this aforementioned Daredevil/ Elektra joint that I drew at the H4 show...

Matt Hearts Elektra by Samax Amen

Even though I'm way behind on commissions, I'm glad I stole some time to do these... helped me get out of a creative slump. If nothing else, I hope you enjoyed these! Now I gotta get back to the drawing board...
peace,
-samax
Ziontific.com

My Wed, White and Wu one color tee Design

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 21:59:00 +0000

Wed, White and WU (Love is Love) by Samax Amen

So here's the one color tee-shirt design I made for Playdough and Heath McNease's Wed, White and Wu mixtape promotion. Click here to download the album, and you can kick in $25 to cop a physical copy and a teeshirt (while supplies last). To see the rest of the art I made for the mixtape cover and packaging, click here.
Enjoy!
-samax

Finally...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 14:40:00 +0000

The Brother Returns... by Samax Amen

Finally finished this piece, which was my second commission of Jay Kelley's supernatural African time-traveler The Brother. This piece started off with a quick marker sketch, then I scanned it into Photoshop to work some trickery on it. There's a good chance I will get a chance to draw some comics with this character at some point, so stay tuned...
-samax

Sketch to Tracklist: My Wed, White and Wu artwork.

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:58:00 +0000

original sketch, ball point pen

One of my favorite rappers- Playdough of Deepspace 5, Phonetic Composition, and Ill Harmonics- approached me to do cover art for his mixtape collabo with worship crooner Heath McNease (don't sleep, dude can rap his tail off as well)... "We were talking about album artwork," he said in the email, "and all I could think of was you. I know you're a long time head and have Wu history without even asking. You'd smash the kung-fu, hiphop, comic book rawness we need. You would be perfect for this and I'd love to have you do the artwork." He laid out how much they were looking to pay, and it was music to my ears... So it wasn't long before I started sketching...

Inks. brush pens,photoshop

Playdough couldn't make heads or tails of my roughs but He trusted me to do a good job. He reminded me that he wanted to be portrayed in the hotdog suit from the teeshirt I did for the promotion of his last album Hotdoggin... so I changed that, plus I flipped the composition before I did the finishes and inks. I had fun drawing the caddy, as flawed as it is...I traced the Wu-tang emblem with Illustrator, then turned it into a flag and worked the composition together in Photoshop.

Final naked art, colored w/Photoshop

They wanted it to have the traditional Wu-tang font, so I tracked down a free download (it's called "bard" in case you care) and lettered the cover in Photoshop.

Final Cover w/letters. Lettered in Photoshop

The remaining album art was made with the existing elements and my modest design skills.

Art for the back of the insert. Photoshop and a little illustrator

ceedee art. Photoshop and a little Illustrator

Ceedee case interior art. Original drawing + Photoshop.

back cover/tracklist. Illustrator.

I hope that fans who cop the record online and on merch tables enjoy the artwork! Wu-tang has a rich history of great comicbook style art on their records, so I was really flattered that Playdough and Heath felt like I could help them sneak into the rugged slums of Shaolin. I grew up staring at album art while absorbing beats and rhymes, so I'm glad to provide something for current heads to stare at... y'know, for those tracks that don't have videos! Wed, White and Wu drops Tuesday, November 8.

peace,
-samax
[EDIT:Listen to it here] Wed White and Wu by Playdough and Heath McNease

"The Brother" Returns (again)...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Peep a "work in progress" view of The Brother below...

Still in progress...

So, there's definitely still a long way to go on this piece, but I felt like posting something over here, and this is what I'm working on right now... I'm also putting together the fall issue of GhettoManga Quarterly (Subscribe now and get a FREE comic. Click here for details), which will be out soon. As for this, I did the sketch a couple weeks ago, and banged out the art you see here Sunday in Photoshop. Stay tuned for more!
-samax

"The Brother" returns...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:07:00 +0000

If you're one of the people who got all excited about the commissioned piece I did of Jay Kelley's creation The Brother, you'll be glad to see these sketches. Jay was impressed by all the folks asking for a comic book featuring the dapper time traveler, and he started working on some scripts, and asked me to work with him on it... Meanwhile, he commissioned me to do a hero shot type pinup of the character in action, so I started sketching...

The piece features the Brother with his protege Imani Anderson. Since I will likely be working on comics with this character, I took some time to work on her design, to prevent serious headaches down the road. I'm pretty happy with this, so I can go forward with the commission. I'll be drawing all weekend if my wife and daughter will allow me, so hopefully I'll be able to post updates soon!
peace,
-samax

Work In Progress: "Real Spit #1"

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 02:14:00 +0000

Real Spit #1 (sketch) by Samax Amen. ballpoint pen.

I've been kicking around the idea of drawing comic strips based on real life situations and conversations I have had (mostly of the WTF variety) for some time now. I'm inspired alot by indie comics superfreak Brandon Graham, who is really really good at them, but while working on an interview I recently posted on the GhettoManga blog, I realized that I used to do stuff like that all the time... In college, I had pen pals that I wrote to regularly, but instead of writing a regular letter, I would draw a 2 or three page comic starring me talking directly to the reader.
It never occurred to me to make copies, but most of the people I sent them to have probably kept them... I bet they will all turn up on eBay after I'm dead...
Anyways, I definitely want to draw more comics, so hopefully I can use this to encourage myself... maybe not. I am doing them mostly for myself, but you know me... they will probably end up in a sketchbook for sale in my bookstore at some point! I dunno...
please let me know what you think...
peace,
-samax

Currently my 3 Top-earning designs @CafePress

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:03:00 +0000

I feel like I have the talent to be a decent tee shirt artist... I wouldn't say that I'm there yet, but I try. Over the last three months, I haven't had time to submit any new designs to my Cafe Press shop, but some of my old designs are performing well for me...

I guess it's a summertime thing? For whatever reason, this "Who's Your Daddy Apron" I made on a whim many years ago has started selling well. Nothing special design-wise, but people are buying them for some reason!

Buffallo Soul is one of the "Old Faithful" types that pops up on every order report. More than any other consistent entry, this one makes sense to me. I worked really hard on it and it has historical significance, so there's no surprise when people order products with this image. I think the "Buffalo Soul Light T-Shirt" in ash gray or natural is the best deal, even though I offer it on the thin "Value" Tees for almost 50% less. I see both of them sell, so I guess the people like 'em both!

That said, right now nothing is coming close to competing with my dog! Yeah, my #1 selling design for the last three months (and I mean BY FAR) is based on a doodle I drew of my dog back when I worked in a call-center. I made a "my big sister is a Cockerspaniel onsie" before Marley was born (and a matching "My first baby is a cockerspaniel" tee for her mom), and it apparently resonated with cockerspaniel owners in the US, Canada and Australia. Since then I have sold Onesies, Baby blankets, and Toddler teeshirts with the drawing on it. In fact, they have sold themselves, since it was the CafePress that generated all those orders. They are great for baby showers (so if you know a cockerspaniel owner who's expecting, this will get you some props!
-samax

What a week...

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:36:00 +0000

This was a week full of ups and downs that started on an up note:

A fan I recently met at a convention emailed me last week because he wanted me to meet with his nephew BJ (seen here), who is a bright young artist. They came over on Sunday, and the three of us talked about hip hop, religion, Boondocks, and pretty much everything else worth talking about. I always enjoy discussing the challenges and rewards of being an artist, and it was especially flattering to have someone admire what I do and stand for enough to arrange the meeting.
Like I said, a great start to my week. Then I went to work on Monday. At my job, we have the option to work one day per week at home. I usually work at home on Wednesdays, but on Monday I found out that my entire team would be working at home on Fridays. Pretty cool, I thought. Unfortunately, my computer crashed on Wednesday, so I would have to work in the office since I wouldn't have access to a good computer at home. Not only that, but I would be especially limited in my ability to run my blogs and stuff. Boo... Even worse, the crash puts a couple freelance projects I'm working on in limbo until my computer problems are resolved.

Not being one to whine or wallow, I took the opportunity to head out to the 24 hr Post Office and mail some packages (namely the huge pile of envelopes containing copies of my magazine GhettoManga Quarterly that were waiting to find their new homes). That went well, so subscribers and others who ordered the Luke Cage tribute issue will start getting them soon.Even with my computer down, I check my email every day, so place your orders for the Luke Cage tribute issue (aka the Sweet Christmas Special), because I have a few more copies in stock and of course it's always available through Indyplanet... I'm not ready to announce the theme of the next issue yet, but it's gonna be pretty cool, too.

So anyways, my team at work went out bowling as a team-building excercise at a fancy-shmansy bowling alley in Dallas. I'm not much of a bowler, but I really enjoy playing, especially on the boss's dime. I got excited when I hit back to back strikes in the last game and kept trying to throw the ball harder and harder, until I tweaked my left knee. It didn't hurt that much, but I knew from experience that it would hurt more the next day. When I woke up Friday morning, I was limping around like pegleg pete or something, so I called in sick, which of course wouldn't have been necessary had I been able to work at home. Good grief...
So I'm taking it easy this weekend as I expect my sisters to visit on Saturday. I also plan to take my computer to the nearest computer geeks-for-hire so hopefully my computer issues can be resolved cheaply.
Fingers crossed...
-Samax
Ziontific.com

"I'm sorry I pimp-slapped you into that china cabinet..."

noreply@blogger.com (samax amen) — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 01:41:00 +0000

Black Dynamite by Samax Amen.
Haven't really had time to draw like I've wanted lately, so I took a minute and drew Black Dynamite, the afro-wearing badass from the 2009 action-comedy of the same name. The movie's producers actually put out an awesome Black Dynamite comic too! Click Here for a free preview of the comic. Anyways, I drew this picture straight into illustrator (with a mouse). For more Black Dynamite news, click here to go to my other blog GhettoManga.
peace,
-samax
Ziontific.com