SkottieYoung.com

Brobee Daily Sketch

2012-01-27T09:47:00.000-06:00

My son won't watch anything but Yo Gabba Gabba and I use the word WATCH very loosely. He basically just runs around the room dancing and will randomly check the screen to see if he's doing the dances right. He's 2.

So here's Brobee from Yo Gabba Gabba

6x9 bristol, brush, pen, color pencil. UPDATE: SOLD

Earthworm Jim Daily Sketch

2012-01-26T10:00:00.000-06:00

Doug Tennapel is a big inspiration to me. He's shared a lot of ideas about how he goes about producing so much work and striving for more. He's a creative guy that puts out a graphic novel ever year, if not two.

The thing that you all probably know is Earthworm Jim. If you didn't know, this was Doug's creation. So here's my quick tribute to my friend, Doug Tennapel. Thanks for the advice and encouragement.

6x9 bristol, brush and ink. UPDATE: SOLD

Invader Zim Daily Sketch

2012-01-25T10:08:00.000-06:00

A few years back I did a month of gag cartoons called THE ADVENTURES OF BERNARD THE WORLD DESTROYER. A little alien that came to earth, confused by our ways but didn't care much because his mission was to take us out. I thought I was so clever.

Then I discovered Invader Zim. Ok, so I spent too many hours slinging burgers at Ed Debevics in 2000 to notice this little gem of a show. I found it on Netflix and devoured every episode in a few days. First I laughed at it's genius and then cried that I had just about ripped the entire concept off without knowing it. Only IZ had done it much better.

So today is my tip of the hat to one funny show. Invader Zim.

Pen on 6x9 bristol. You can buy the original in MY STORE

Super Mario Bros. Daily Sketch

2012-01-24T10:15:00.004-06:00

I can still remember my friend Chad explaining that he got a thing called a... NINTENDO. What was this word? Who were these Super Mario Bros. he was talking about. I manipulated my way over to his house and was stunned by the amazing world I had discovered. It wasn't long before I had my own Nintendo and was saving the Princess like nobodies business.

Here's my tribute to those fun days of mashing that A and B button until I had what we labeled NINTENDOITUS.

9x12 bristol, pen. UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Year of the Dragon

2012-01-23T10:02:00.000-06:00

Someone suggested a little Chinese New Year piece since it's the Year of the Dragon. I'm probably nowhere near the culture stylings of the a Chinese Dragon but I celebrated in my own Fairyland style way.

9x12 bristol, pen.
UPDATE: SOLD

Thanks!

Snow Day

2012-01-20T09:13:00.003-06:00

Illinois usually starts getting snow in late October to mid November. December is usually a complete whiteout for as long as the eye can see. It's around this time that I always start getting hit with story ideas that puts a character running around in all that snow.

The snow came much later this year, but when mid January came and the snow finally fell, so did the sparks of inspiration. Trying to keep with my 2012 manifesto, I won't say more than that because I need to actually DO something before I get too excited.

But here's a quick sketch I did when all that now started falling. I just pulled out the brush and drew. No pencil, no underdrawing. Just started drawing with that brush to get the idea out. Then I threw in some very basic color to give it a little life and we have a piece.

Something may be out there.

Bully on Pause

2012-01-18T12:18:00.001-06:00

It's been over a year since I touched this project. It's not dead but it needs some re-working on the story front. I still have a lot of love for this idea and have a lot of fun drawing in this more frantic, shaky style. I'm a bit frustrated with my self that I wrote this entire book, laid out all 127 pages and inked 30 of them...

... then stopped. I got in my own way. That, and the content was a little hardcover for the age group I was going for. A book about bullies followed by a year of the biggest ANTI-BULLY campaign ever didn't seem to go hand in hand. I let the world around me get in the way of my idea and that was my mistake. I'm going to remedy that this year.

I thought I'd start the year off with sharing a bit of art from my little story about bullies. I'll get back to this one day, but for now here's some previews.

The 2012 Manifesto

2012-01-04T19:41:00.000-06:00

When I start looking at 2011 I see a ton of half measures. Don't get me wrong, it was a good year for the most part. I worked on OZ, released another hardcover and with the help of the readers spent a little time on New York Times Best Seller List, joining the previous 2 hardcovers. I won 2 more Eisner Awards for our work on OZ. I started a great blog with Scott Morse. Great things happened, but like most people, I focus on the things that didn't turn out as expected. For example...

My family moved to a new town, but we played it safe and just went an hour away instead of the 14 to North Carolina like we thought.

I talked about working on 2 different graphic novels, started both, but fell victim to my own self destructive procrastination.

I started a webcomic with my buddy Scott Morse, but work, travel and family matters got in my way of me keeping up with it.

My dad went on a 2 month business trip to Ireland but on Thanksgiving, 3 weeks before he was to come back home and retire, he had heart attack out of nowhere and passed away at the young age of 56.

2011 was filled with starts and no finishes. Ideas not fully realized. Goals set but taken for granted and not reached. Sadly, a parent who left and didn't return. Some were in my control, some not so much. I'm hoping to change this in 2012.

First up, I will no longer be using this blog to talk about what I WILL BE doing. I will only share what I AM doing. I've tried to create a fire to drive me by using you and this blog as a motivator. If I talk about starting something, you'll get excited, I'll get excited and then the project will happen. Obviously I have many blog posts and no projects to show for it. So, I'm going to shut up and show you what I have when I have it. No more talking.

Tied to that is the ACUTAL doing it. I need to beat that fear, hesitation, ego, and all the other crap that keeps me from fully committing. But like I said above, I won't be talking about that. I'm just going to do it.

Just so you don't think I'm wallowing in my own sorrows, I will be keeping up with my morning sketches. I won't promise them everyday but I'll be doing them through out each week and selling them as usual. Casey will also be putting my original art in the store in the coming weeks.

I signed up for 3 months of personal training sessions because it's time for me to get back to where I was on the fitness side of life. If I'm not taking care of the body, the mind won't be there and all these goals will go unfinished again.

Moving into the new year I'm going to continue something that I started in the last few years. Staying positive online. I know this sounds like an odd thing to put out there. But we spend so much of our time on various social networks, art sites, and blogs. It's silly for me to pretend that's not apart of my life. It's how I interact with my readers and keep in touch with old friends and family. Most of all, it's how I keep up with the world of comics and what's going on out there while I'm locked up in the studio doodling away. Switching from the guy who hunts for the flaws, always ready with a rant on something, and generally being a bitter know it all... to a guy who just doesn't care about any of that at all has been the best thing for me. It's not that I enjoy everything now, that's just silly. But I try my best to focus on the things I enjoy and not waste my time or yours on the things I don't. I try to promote the books I like without trashing the ones I don't. I try... you get the point. I'm a bright, smiley fool now. Blame it on my son and deal with it. :)

There you go. There's a few things I'm going to try and change and in some cases, keep on keeping on. You may be asking yourself why in the world would you be interested in any of this. I have no idea. I'm really just typing this for myself and we'll see if posting it keeps me accountable.

I'd like to thank each of you for support this past year but most of all, this last month. I'm a lucky man to have you all on my side. Let's see how I can repay you throughout this next year.

Happy New Year.

See ya Dad

2011-11-29T09:23:00.001-06:00

We lost my Dad on Thanksgiving. It was unexpected and quite a shock to us all. He was only 56 and much too young.

He was a good man, and as a Thor lover from childhood he was very proud that I hang my hat at Marvel drawing comics. There wasn't a person he came in contact with he didn't mention it to. When I bought my car, he mentioned it to the dealer as if Spider-Man would inspire them to cut a couple thousand off the price. Ha ha. He was proud of me. He was a husband and father of four who worked at CAT for 34 years so I don't have say that I am proud of him, but... I am very proud of him.

He was a music lover, and grew up in a family of musicians. He could play most instruments but he was a drummer at the heart of it. He gave all that up when I was young so I didn't see him play much thru his life. But about 4 years ago the music returned. He found that young man again and assembled a kit and shortly after that had a full blown, 6 piece band ready to play shows. My better half Casey McCauley was asked to sing for the band. I had the chance to see my dad rediscover his love of music with Casey by his side. The man who led me here and the woman to will walk with me the rest of the way. That's a pretty special thing to get to watch.

I'm glad my son had the chance to meet his Poppy and spend a few years with him. He'll hear stories for years to come and has his Grandma, aunts and uncles to fill in the gaps that will be there. I'm thankful for that.

I'm also thankful for all of you who have reached out in the past few days to show your love and support. From my close friends to the fans out there, you all have warmed my heart and given me the brief getaway that has helped over the last few days. Your words are strong and they are appreciated.

I'll be taking a small break from my blog, but rest assured that it will be small. After all, I am my father's son and we all knew that guy would never just sit the f down. ha ha.

See ya later Dad. We'll miss you.

Daily Sketch: Usagi Yojimbo

2011-11-15T09:57:00.001-06:00

Stan Sakai is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and a true inspiration. He's been drawing his own character in volume after volume of his comic for years.

Today is his character USAGI YOJIMBO.

6x9 bristol
Brush, pen, ink

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Wormwood Gentlemen Corpse

2011-11-14T09:25:00.001-06:00

My friend Ben Templesmith is one of those guys that knows who he is as a storyteller and artist and has built up a stack of books that hammer that home. WormWood: Gentlemen corpse is a fun mixture of grimy dead things and humor and the thing Ben loves most... tentacles.

Here's my 15 pen sketch of The Gentlemen Corpse. 6x9 bristol, pen and ink.

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Creed

2011-11-11T09:38:00.001-06:00

When you ask creators about their influences you will find many of the same names on everyones lists. But there's one name that pops up on my list that played a big role in my early years of wanting to draw comics. Trent Kaniuga.

I discovered his book CREED around 1996, the year I graduated high school. Wizard Magazine was promoting the book a bit and I remember being blown away by how different it was. I read the standard superhero stuff but I never really drew like that. All of the sudden there was this guy around my age publishing his own comic and he drew in more graffiti like, fantasy style. I fell in love with it. I grabbed onto the idea that someone my age was doing comics books, his own comics books, and it gave me the thoughts that I might be able to do it to.

Trent brought Creed back a few more times over the years and recently released a Omnibus of all his Creed adventures.

Most people have Watchmen. I have Creed.

Today's sketch is Mark from CREED. 6x9 bristol, brush, pen and ink. About 25 minutes.

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Maxx

2011-11-10T10:01:00.001-06:00

Sam Keith played a HUGE role in my young artistic development. I really look up to him for his freedom of expression in his shapes and lines. So fun.

Maxx is 6x9 bristol, pen and ink.
UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Mouse Guard

2011-11-09T09:51:00.003-06:00

After doing the Goon yesterday I thought it would be fun to do a few days featuring more of my friends creator owned books. People like Eric Powell and David Peterson are very inspiring for me. They've created their own worlds and great characters that live in them. One day I hope to be there with them.

Today is a MOUSE GUARD sketch from the David Peterson's great comics.

6x9 bristol
Pen, Brush and Ink

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: THE GOON

2011-11-08T10:09:00.003-06:00

Eric Powell is one of those guys that nailed a character so hard that he'll stick in our heads forever. Today's sketch is THE GOON.

9x12 bristol, pen and ink.
UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Sketch: Where the Wild Things Are

2011-11-07T10:19:00.001-06:00

After a month of moving my family into a new house and setting up a new studio outside the house, I am getting back normal slowly but surely.

I'll be jumping back on my morning warm-up sketches but I'll be keeping them a black and white this time around. I'm really interested in playing with black and white pen sketching so I'll be using these to study and explore a few new styles.

Today is Max from WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. 6x9 bristol board, pen and ink
UPDATE: SOLD

Out of commission

2011-10-14T22:55:00.000-05:00

Hey all. I realize it's been over a month since I've posted anything. I will be back to graphic novel updates and Daily Doodles soon. My family and I are in the middle of moving into a new house and I'm getting a studio outside of the house for the first time in 10 years. Things are a bit all over the place at the moment but I'll be back to posting in the next month.

Thanks for the patience everyone!

Finding The End Part 5: Found the Beginning

2011-09-08T21:45:00.003-05:00

Today was an amazing day. Ever since I decided to start writing in a bit more of a traditional way I've had a few starts that just weren't sitting right. Today that all changed.

Each time I would finish the first scene of my story I would step back and shake my head. It started out so right but by the end of the opening it was nothing but wrong. The various starts felt too formula, like here's the intro now we're heading to Plot Point 1 then we'll roll into Act 2. That's movie stuff. I'm not saying that's the wrong way to approach a comic, but it's not the kind of story I'm trying to tell. I'm attempting to look at different points of my life and see if I can inject them into a story. A graphic novel to be more precise. I want to take advantage of the NOVEL in graphic novel and let the story tell itself however it sees fit and not get lost in the three act structure that we all usually fall into. Again, I'm not dissing that method and I'll probably tell many stories in my life using it.

After a few days of missing the mark of my opening, I decided to pack up my laptop and sketchbook and change my environment. Maybe getting out of the same old same old office space here at home will get me out of the rut of repeating the same mistakes. Change the scenery and maybe I'll rattle something loose. That's exactly what happened. I setup shop at the local library and after firing up Samurai Champloo (I like background chatter) and chugging a latte I was typing away. After a few hours I was floored at my progress.

Instead of thinking of the opening scene, I just wrote ANY scene. I dropped into the middle of a situation and wrote myself out of it. I did that a few times and then I started seeing the whole picture. I realized it didn't want to be and A, B, C story. I wanted to drop in around C, leave and then come back around E or F. The story started capturing moments and I could figure which order they need to be in later. Just grab the emotion now and piece it together later.

Writing at the library and having a completely different focus in a new location was so good I did want it to stop. Having a family, I do my best to keep regular working hours of 9 to 5 and 5 was coming up fast. I decided to meet Casey and my son Baxter at the park after work and use all this positive energy to wear the kid out on the slide. After that we took care of the two dogs, Casey cooked up some yummy salmon and then I decided to head back to library to keep the momentum. A few more hours and I shut the place down and now I'm typing this. My excitement is through the roof because not only have I found the path but I feel I'm jogging down it at a good pace now.

Thanks for following along. Next time we'll check in on my main character, Boy.

Daily Doodle 13: Typhoid Mary

2011-09-08T09:38:00.002-05:00

6x9 bristol board
Brush and ink
watercolor
white out pen

Original art for sale in my ONLINE STORE

Daily Doodle 12: Storm

2011-09-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

Mohawk Storm is the best!

6x9 bristol board
Brush and Ink
Watercolor
Whiteout pen

UPDATE: SOLD

New OLD Art for Sale

2011-09-05T14:17:00.001-05:00

I was going thru an old portfolio and came across some of my warm-up sketch from 3 or 4 years ago and though I'd put them up for sale. CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE STORE

Daily Doodle 11: X-23

2011-09-05T09:17:00.001-05:00

X-23

6x9 bristol board
Brush and Ink
Watercolor

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Doodle 10: Cloak

2011-09-02T07:22:00.001-05:00

6x9 Bristol, brush, ink, watercolor

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Doodle 9: Thing

2011-09-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

6x9 Bristol, brush, ink, watercolor

UPDATE: SOLD

Daily Doodle 8: Mojo

2011-08-31T10:38:00.001-05:00

This is the creepiest looking character. I love the whole idea of this guy. I would love to do a story with him one day.

6x9 Bristol, brush, ink, watercolor

UPDATE: SOLD