Scott Hallett's Sketchbook

iPhone and So Forth

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:49:34 PDT

Man oh man, I have had a roller coaster of a time these past weeks! I've been working on art, just not anything I can show. So what can I show? Well, for you technophiles out there, you'll now be able to hit this site on your phones and get a nifty little mobile version. It relies on some fancy javascript though, so for now it will probably only work on iPhones, or any other webkit enabled smart phone. I'll have to address that in the future, but it'll do for now.

Here's some art while I'm at it. These were all Drawer Geeks entries, some of which I didn't even get a chance to finish and submit on time. Thems the breaks as they say.

Comics! Comics! Comics!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:49:43 PDT

Alright, now that I've got some life changes tidied up, I'm back in the game! I've been working away on "Don't Get Sucked Under the Escalator", and I think I just drew the best page I've ever done. Hopefully I'll keep saying that as the pages keep coming. Unfortunately, that's going to be a ways off until anyone can see that book in finished format.

So what can you take a gander at? How about Popgun Volume 3? That's right, I have a short story in Popgun! It's a small one titled "The Last Voyage", and lettered by the always awesome Thomas Mauer.

I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say it plants some seeds. Here's the cover (by Tara McPherson, who I've always enjoyed):
Here's the absolutely staggering in a "How the hell did I end up a part of all this awesome" sort of way, list of creators:

Alison Acton
Joshua Agerstrand
Laura Allred
Anjin Anhut
Kris Anka
Amanda Becker
Peter Bergting
Patricio Betteo
Danilo Beyruth
Sam Bosma
Dan Brereton
Olaf Brill
Dennis Brown
Antonio Campo
Dominique Carrier
Celor
Jim Charalampidis
Bobby Clark
Ryan Cody
Dave Collinson
Dave Curd
Mike Dawson
Ben DeRosa
Michael Dialynas
JEIK Dion
Juan Doe
Becky Dreistadt
Nathan Edmondson
Ulises Farinas
Ray Fawkes
Gary Fields
Fonografiks
Frank Gibson
Vassilis Gogtzilas
Zac Gorman

George Gousis
Paul Grist
Scott Hallett
Jason Hanley
David Hopkins
Jason Ibarra
Joëlle Jones
Janet Kim
D.J. Kirkbride
Nic Klein
Adam P. Knave
Peter Krause
Edward Kwong
Erik Larsen
Robbie Lawrence
Johann "Ullcer" Leroux
Maximo V. Lorenzo
Thomas Mauer
Derek McCulloch
Sam McKenzie
Tara McPherson
Alberto Mielgo
Robb Mommaerts
Paul Montgomery
Chris Moreno
Matt Moylan
Ralph Niese
Anthony Nixon
Josh Parpan
Jeff Powell
Isam Prado
Justin Randall
Stephen Reedy
Jamie S. Rich
Rachelle Rosenberg

David Rubin
Matteo Scalera
Douglas E. Sherwood
Guillaume Singelin
Eric Skillman
Mark Andrew Smith
Eric Stephenson
Alisa Stern
Amy Stern
Chris Stevens
Frank Stockton
Andre Szymanowicz
Gregory Titus
Ron Turner
Christian Ward
Daniel Warner
Connor Willumsen
Brian Winkeler
Michael Woods
Derek Yu
K.I. Zachopoulos
Tonci Zonji
Jim Zubkavich

edited by
MARK ANDREW SMITH
D.J. KIRKBRIDE

cover by
TARA MCPHERSON

I've set up a new section on the website for comics. You can just click Comics at the top to get to it. I'll be posting to links to the books I've done, where you can get them, and any other information I can scrape together. I may also look into getting some other cool things in this section.

Finally, while we're on the topic of comics, do yourself a favor and check out Mark Andrew Smith (also writing "Don't Get Sucked Under the Escalator") and Matthew Weldon's New Brighton Archeological Society.

It's a kids graphic novel, and it's exquisitely done. The story is full of adventure, and the art is phenomenal. It never once talks down to the audience, which I think is the way to go for kids comics, making them open to all audiences. A great book, and well worth your time.

Alright, I think that should about do it for comics. For now...

Classic Video Games!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 08:22:57 PST

The topic this week at Drawer Geeks was "Classic Video Games", or anything that came out before 1985. I actually did 3 pictures for this one (one isn't scanned, and I'm not too happy with it). There was a big break over the holidays so I sort of chipped away at it here and there. I have always been a big video game fan, ever since I first played Super Mario Bros. on display at a K-Mart when it first came out.

First up is a re-design for Mario from Super Mario Bros. Sort of a grounded in reality, practical design. Not 100% sold on this one, but a good learning experience.

Next is just sort of an homage to the NES in general. I wanted to put a positive spin on the act of blowing dust out of the NES cartridges every kid who had one is probably more than familiar with.

New Year, New Site Design, Etc. & So On & So Forth

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:43:46 PST

I've just recently seen proofs for the letters of a short story I wrote and drew, coming out in an anthology from a publisher I totally geeked out to as a teenager. I've also recently finished colors on a two page spread I think is the best work I've done up to this point, for a graphic novel I'm working on, with a writer whose work I admired long before getting the opportunity to work with him.

I love comics.

Giant Monster Redux and a Goblin

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:03:07 PST

I had started this picture a few weeks back for the topic "Giant Monsters" at Drawer Geeks, but never got around to finishing it. Sort of plugged away at the inks over a few lunch hours recently. Came to some interesting conclusions about my art and where I'd like it to go after completing this one, but we'll see what happens with that later.

This was a character sketch I did after reading a friend's comic treatment. I'd love to be involved in this, but I have to be true to my prior commitments.

Witch

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:05:35 PST

This is for the topic "Witch" over at Drawer Geeks. This was part of a challenge with an artist friend (Steve Ogden). The challenge was to finish the piece in an hour. I drew the original drawing in about 1/2 hour, then about an hour on the photoshop grayscale. So I guess I succeeded on the drawing, then failed in the Photoshop. One step forward...

Giant Monster!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 19:01:01 PST

This is for the topic "Giant Monsters" over at Drawer Geeks. Probably the first time I've slammed together colors without looking back and nitpicking. Not that I'm saying it's perfect, but it was a good experiment. Done with brush pen, pen and colored in Photoshop, in about an hour or so.

True story, I got the idea to give this monster piercing blue eyes after hearing Stephen Harper described that way. I'm just sayin'...

Amazing Joy Buzzards Pinup

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:28:44 PDT

This was a pinup I had originally started to enter into a contest on the Satellite Soda forums, but I didn't get it completed in time. I liked it enough to finish off. Amazing Joy Buzzards are copyright Mark Andrew Smith and Dan Hipp.

Absentee Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:49:32 PDT

I've been extremely swamped at work and at comic creating, so you'll have to bear with me while I get things in order. In the mean time, this short web comic is very odd and very moving at the same time http://www.sugarboukas.com/X/DCFM/wDCFM00.

Yeti

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:55:03 PDT

Yeti. Drawer Geeks. Check it!

Genie

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:27:38 PDT

May?!? I haven't posted since May?!? Well time to dust off this site a bit and post some new stuff! I meant to do a full write-up on my vacation to Italy this summer (summary: it was awesome!), but I haven't had the time. I've been putting the finishing touches on a story for a major anthology (more soon), and working on about a billion other projects. Hopefully I'll have more to show soon. Until then, this week at Drawer Geeks the topic was "Genie". I may have put too weird of a spin on it for that to come through. C'est la vie!

Zombies!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:06:56 PDT

This week at Drawer Geeks... Zombies! Anybody that knows me knows that's a topic I couldn't pass up!

Etc., etc., etc.

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sat, 17 May 2008 16:32:35 PDT

Here are some of the things I've been working on. Character designs for a short story:

And a very quick color test for that same short story:

The last two Drawer Geeks, "Lone Ranger" and "Dinosaurs":

Fablewood Update

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:40:17 PDT

I keep forgetting to mention that you can now order Fablewood online, as well as at your local comic shop. You can get it at Amazon.com (sorry, none at Amazon.ca), although their stock seems to fluxuate a bit. You can also always snag a copy directly from the Ape Entertainment online store. Also, here's another review from Sequential Tart.

The Story So Far...

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 08:32:40 PDT

I've been very busy in my spare time (still got that day job), so I haven't had a chance to post much. I've got a few different things on the go right now, but the biggest one is a book called "Don't Get Sucked Under the Escalator" with Mark Smith (Amazing Joy Buzzards, Aqua Leung). Pretty exciting, and a great story. Here are some promo pieces I put together recently to sort of introduce the story.

Here is my entry for this week over at Drawer Geeks. The topic was "Triplets".

Samurai

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:43:11 PDT

"Samurai" was this week's topic at Drawer Geeks. I haven't had any real time to draw anything just for myself (which is actually an awesome thing... more on that later), but I couldn't pass up Samurai! That being said, I tried quite a few new things in this one, some successes and some not so much. Interesting experiment none the less. Enjoy!

Tarzan

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:06:43 PST

"Tarzan" was the theme this week at Drawer Geeks. I really tried to push myself this week. I took my time, and really tried to get down exactly what I had in mind. I'm happy to say this is relatively close to what I had in mind, a few happy accidents aside. I know as an artist I still struggle with putting down on paper what I had in my head.

Fablewood Is Out Now!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:40:24 PST

Fablewood is available in better comic stores everywhere! I have a copy myself and it looks great. It's still very surreal to see my little story published, let alone along with so many talented artists and writers. Here's hoping it's a sign of great things to come. Thanks so much for everyone who supported the project, and to William Ward for all the hard work he put into making this project a reality. Here are some more reviews:

Wednesday is My Sabbath
Ain't it Cool News
Comics Bulletin

Monsters Under the Bed

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:45:52 PST

This week at Drawer Geeks the topic was "Monsters Under the Bed". I kind of just flew through this one, not a lot of time this week.

Galactus!

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:16:00 PST

"Galactus" was this week's Drawer Geeks topic. The focus on this one was getting a straight up cel shaded effect that I was happy with, and cutting down on my coloring time. I was pretty pleased I was able to get this one out quickly. I realized after finishing this that Galactus' pose is a bit like he's getting ready to scratch some records. Maybe he's a DJ on his off time?

Ents

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 13:13:30 PST

This was my original sketch for the "Lord of the Rings" topic at Drawer Geeks, but I ran out of time. I decided to finish it because I thought it had promise. This was done with a brush pen and Photoshop. The things I tried to focus on this time were limited palette, and no fancy Photoshop tricks such as blurs or fancy brushes. This was done using the pencil tool and a few gradients. Often times I get caught up trying to add more bells and whistles and really eat away my time.

Nazgul

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:27:27 PST

This week at Drawer Geeks the theme was "Lord of the RIngs". I wanted to take some time and try out a few new techniques to try and speed up the way I do things. I also wanted to focus on value over hue, hence the grayscale. I think I'm going to use the Drawer Geeks topics from now on to try and push new ideas and new ways of doing things, at least for me.

Red Necks

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:20:35 PDT

This week at Drawer Geeks the topic was "Rednecks". For some reason, this was the first thing that popped into my head. More of a "red necks". I know, I know... Rednecks are obvious. I think I have too much giant monster on the brain or something.

Aqua Leung Pinup

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:12:49 PST

I did a pinup for the book "Aqua Leung", coming out later this year by Mark Andrew Smith and Paul Maybury. The short story in Popgun Vol. 1 was awesome, so I had to take a crack at drawing the character. Inked in Illustrator, coloured in Photoshop. Enjoy!

The Elf Polar Rescue Squad

noreply@blogger.com (Scott Hallett) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 13:04:07 PST

This week at Drawer Geeks, the theme is Elves. In particular Christmas Elves. I was a little out of my element here, but since I couldn't think of a way to wrangle giant robots into a Christmas illustration, this is what I ended up with.