What a weekend.

I jumped out of a plane on Friday. I went and saw The Incredible Hulk that night. Saturday I went rafting down the Guadalupe. Went to Pluckers and had wings and beer that night. Became an uncle on my birthday (!). Sunday I recovered. All in all, a perfect weekend. Thanks go out to Matt, Mel and Steven for hanging and to Dwayne and Shawn for the invite for the skydive. And a big congrats to my brother Dylan for becoming a dad. You guys rock.

Jumper.

I'm hours away from getting on a plane.

Going to 13,5oo feet.

And jumping out.

On Friday the 13th.

The day before my birthday.

Fuck yeah.

Effing busy.

Well my blog has been sadly neglected these past few weeks so I'll try to remedy that a bit. The workload is full and I am officially not taking on any more work for awhile. I'm working on finishing up work for WEGS Pirate book, Captain Bogg and Salty's Frogg Island, a few more concepts for Dragonblood Miniatures and working fulltime on concepts for a super secret computer game project (of which I wish I could show work from as it's been a lot of fun). I'm also slated to be in a group gallery show here in Austin of which I'm going to try and do some new sculptures for and I was also asked if I'd be interested in doing a whole book (!) for TMNT next Fall/Winter. Whew. Just typing that wore me out.

*Also those of you that ordered Fish Books, I was told that they'd be in the mail this week. Thanks for your patience and the pre-orders. And I still haven't gotten 25 pre-orders so if you want some original art AND a book feel free to get your order on.

This Saturday's my birthday and I'm hitting the river. I'm pretty stoked. I'm also slated to jump out of a plane on Friday but I'm not sure if it will happen with my current workload.... We shall see....

In the meantime, have some random art.





This last image is for a personal project and I can't decide on her hair color. What color do you like?

Waffles, sweet, sweet, waffles.

It seems our* Atland guest strip is up for the week over at www.realmofatland.com. Check it out.

*Written by John Kipling, drawn by me.

TMNT short page 1.

So one of the things I have been working on is a TMNT short story I was asked to contribute to. Written by Tristan Jones, I'm doing the pencils and Eric Talbot(!) will be doing the inks. It's the first time I've worked with an inker and man I started at the top, I've been a fan of Eric's for a long time and his inks are mind-blowing.

I think I may have over-worked my pencils as I'm used to inking them myself (and I'm pretty anal when it comes to my work) so some things I just leave rough and finish them up myself. Should be pretty cool to see nonetheless.

This is the first page. Once the story comes out (it's slated to appear in The Tales of the TMNT #48) I'll post the rest. Stay tuned.

Bug Guy sculpt.

Here's a pic of the final sculpt for the bug guy (name: "Clal-Chk") I designed for Dragonblood Miniatures a few months ago. I'm not sure who the actual sculptor is but it looks fantastic, the detail came out great. I can't wait to get one of these for my annual family monopoly game.

Random cephalopod sketch.

What a great weekend. Thanks go out to everyone who came to the party. I am wiped.

And some more concept stuff.

So the the last three posts were all part of the same job. The client wanted the same character (note the scar) in three different genres/time periods done in three different styles. I really had to push myself on this one.

Some more concept stuff.

Well this Saturday is my buddy Steven and I's annual joint birthday houses (we live across the street from one another) party. Man I can not wait. Good fellowship, crawfish and ice cold keg beer. It doesn't get much better than that. That's right.

Nazi Hunter

A little concept work. Just a little inspired by Mr. Jones. Yes, I'll be seeing it today. My fingers are crossed...

*edit: Saw the new Indy movie. One word: CRAP.

The Funky Fish Book!

So I have received the prototype for The Funky Fish Book. I am super pleased with how it turned and while I am tweaking it and making a few changes I will be taking pre-orders.

210 pages of fishy love, mostly black & white with 6 color plates. *It measures 9" wide by 7" tall and is about 5/8" thick. You can see one of the page(s) here with a Sharpie for scale. Super cool.

And for the first 25 books sold (paid for) I will be giving away (FREE) 25 ORIGINAL fish drawings that appear in the book itself (one per order please). What a deal! The books will be $20 with $5 for shipping so $25 total. You can email me directly (mail(at)kennonjames.com) to order or you can use that spiffy new PayPal button over on the left.

Yeehaw.

Control + Z

Ever use Photoshop so much that when you're actually doing things in real life you do something then think "Okay that sucks, I'll just "undo" it. Um...shit..."?

20K

So my site meter told me that my blog visits hit 20K yesterday. Wow. I'd like to say thanks to everyone who has come to visit; new visitors and those of you who come back regularly.

Thanks.

Dwarf sketch

Nasal Ed

He runs through the woods
in his birthday suit,
He wears a bow in his hair
so you will call him cute,
He enjoys tea parties
and always says please,
He is on a magic quest
to cure his allergies.

Troglodyte - Concept work

Some more of the concept work I'm doing for Dragonblood Miniatures.

Iron Man kicks ass. Go see it.

Betas

A request for betas. One of the few times I've done an actual fish. I like how they came out, I may do prints of these...(click for a bigger view)

It's Friday, have some Ewok Gospel.

Long Mandibled-Tusk Perch

It's been awhile for sure but I was inspired to draw another fish today. I'm not sure if it will keep up but we'll see...

In other fish news, my first compiled fish book is off to the printers and I should have an advance copy soon. I'll then start taking pre-sales, so if you're interesting stay tuned. I will be offering original drawings from the book for the first 20 or so books sold.

"Draw Yourself as a Teen" Meme

So I'm going to totally date myself with this one... There's a "draw yourself as a teen" meme that I stumbled upon and thought that would be fun for a break. This is me around 1988/89. Yes I was(am) a headbanger, here's proof.
Come on artists, join in and comment with a link.

Lincoln

An opportunity to draw one of my favorite historical figures and post to IllustrationFriday, topic: Wrinkles.

TMNT pinup final

So Tales of the TMNT #45 is now on stands and I have gotten permission to post the final. So go grab a copy or two. I received some copies in the mail and it's really, really cool (and not just a little surreal) to see my stuff in a TMNT book. Awesome.

Fishing For Terrorists - Cover

The last piece of Fishing For Terrorists is out the door. I've heard rumors from a few playtesters that the game is hoot. I look forward to getting a copy.

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 12 & 13

Here are a couple of pages from some heavy hitters. Steve Prescott delivers arguably the funniest line yet with "Oh sweet Jesus on rye..." Friggin' hilarious. And Steve Ellis takes us into left field with the "Yogshug Megacarp" and the Judge Dredd-esque "Judge Corporate Lawyer". Sweet.
And if you haven't seen it yet, check out Steve Ellis' online comic High Noon over at Zuda. Beautiful stuff!

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 10 & 11

Well here are two great pages, awesome because they are so contrasting in style and awesome because... well they kick ass. Jeremy's super clean penciled page and Sarah's strong use of black and her signature spiral scary stuff.
Jeremy moves the story with a great cottage/forest setting and introduces a villian(?). We see that Curt and Frank have now been reunited with "the Girls".
And Sarah kills with "Operation: Holla-Back-Girls!" 'Nuff said.
Brilliant!

Do they make "Just For Men" in white?

I may go back to playing music...

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 8 & 9

A beautiful page by Kevin Peake. I love the landscape shot and the frame layout. And then blam! in kick-ass-heavy-metal-pinup fashion Tess Fowler introduces us to "The Girls".

Red Dragon Inn 2 cover

Yee haw! It's done. This one took WAY longer than I had anticipated but overall I'm pleased with the way it came out. It's a great game and I'm looking forward to trying out the new characters.
I've included images with and without the type. I made a conscious effort not to go crazy with the background details which just got covered up with the type elements like I did with the first cover but I did have fun with the background characters nonetheless. Notably the dwarf slayer guy with tattoos and green mohawk in the middle.

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 6 & 7

It opens Frank's wallet that's what it does! Brilliant! Dylan Edwards of Feeps fame delivers a great page and follow up to Christopher's set up.

And in super tight form Paul Adam continues the witty banter and character development between our two mysterious travelers and introduces "The Girls"...

*Notice Frank's development now. Brilliant!

Etsy shop update

I have added a few more prints and originals to my Etsy shop which you can visit here or click on the newly added Etsy Mini-shop to the right (thanks Alicia!). I plan on adding more stuff in the upcoming weeks. I have a ton of artwork to unload so if there's something you may want or are interested in and don't see it feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. Thanks.

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 4 & 5

Melita "Miss Monster" Curphy did a great job following up Brad's "What's that?!" line from the previous page. Enter: a big cat-headed guy named Magnus who wants his money.

Okay so after the last post I was requested by Christopher to "get to the good stuff". I think he means his stuff so here it is.

Christopher Jennings did a brilliant job continuing the action and setting up the " gotta reach... gotta get it... gotta... gotta... " all important "red shiny button". What will it do?? The suspense is killer...

Collaborative Sketchbook - pages 2 & 3

Here are the next couple of pages. Page 2 was done by Thomas "Goatboy" Reidy III and page 3 was done by Brad W. Foster.
I especially like the way Brad changed Thomas use of an alien language explaining it with a "clearing my throat" comment. Brilliant.
Also Brad named our first two main characters, Frank and his dinosaur buddy/steed Curt. Originally when I drew him I had pictured a little bald guy in space gear. Thomas immediately saw a monkey with goggles and a ball cap. And over the next few pages you'll see Frank change even more than this. I think this is a great visual representation of how different artists see stuff and what makes this project so cool and dynamic.

Collaborative Sketchbook - page 1

So I started this collaborative sketchbook at ArmadilloCon 2006. The premise was that a different artist would do each page in a sequential story. Well so far it's turning out awesome, there is some great work in there and many thanks go out to the artists who have contributed. Originally I had this posted on my website but I didn't think the small images did the work justice (plus some of the type was hard to read). I just got it back in the mail from Mark Smylie so I figured I'd start posting the images here. It's interesting to see how the story(?) has developed and how the different characters have evolved.

This is the first page done by me.

I guess the other 60% is football.

I am 40% Tortured Artist.

I have some artistic ability, but it is probably a hobby and doesn't drive my life into a dark abysmal hole were I am alone and against the world.

Take the
Tortured Artist Test
@ FualiDotCom

Tower sketch

A quick sketch I did in Bull McCabes last Saturday while waiting on some friends to show up.

Red Dragon Inn 2 part 1

Well this isn't actually "part 1" as there have been some initial roughs and thumbnails but this is the initial approved line-work and a preview of the color work of the characters for Red Dragon 2, the sequel to the hit game of the same name.

Pet Peeve

I have a hard time believing we have the technology to put a man on the moon and yet we can't build a smoke detector that can distinguish between my house burning down and me cooking a friggin' pizza.

A quick sketch for Illustration Friday's topic: Pet Peeve.

Atland Process.

Suh weet! Our Atland strip won the guest strip competition! I'm stoked. My thanks go out to all the other competitors (they was some great stuff in there), my fellow conspirator Jon Kipling for being Johnny-on-the-spot with such a great script, and to Nate Piekos for doing such an awesome comic as Atland. After doing this one strip I quickly realized how much work goes into doing these, I couldn't imagine having to come up with one a week. Whew! My hat is definitely off to Nate.

So that being said, I thought it would be fun to post my process which is much different than the way Nate does his, notably I knew when I started I wasn't going to work on 11x17 paper. I like to work small, I try to keep all my stuff on 8.5x11 paper. 1) It saves me time (working freelance this means more $) & 2) everything will fit conveniently on my scanner (which I am extremely reliant on).

So first off I contacted John to see if he'd ever heard of Atland and then if he'd be interested in writing a script. He read all 170+ episodes and banged out an awesome script in record time (I think he said it took him around 30 minutes). You can read the script here. Even his descriptions and scene set ups were funny and I found myself laughing out loud which was a sure sign that we had a winner.

(1) In my usual fashion I read the script then "rolled it around a bit", gave my subconscious some time to work it over. After a few days I started scribbling, working out layout, some character poses, mainly working on Queen Maple Butter... the process being what I affectionately call the "brain dump".

After that a long time went by, I wasn't happy with what I had, wasn't feeling it, and got real discouraged. I had a great script and what I had drawn was mostly crap. I moved it to the back of my priorities, the deadline was looming, and resigned myself to the fact that I probably wouldn't have time to get back to it. Bummer.

So the day of the deadline was upon me and while in the shower I said to myself, "Self, I'm finishing this damn script today. Cowboy up and nail it." So that's what I did.

(2) I scanned my scribbles and using another episode of Atland as my template I began laying it out. After I had an initial layout I printed out a version and did some pencils on top of my rough. I scanned these again and used these as my rough artwork. I knew the episode would appear small online and I wanted the type to be readable at that size so I laid out the type font and size at this point. Also I knew the word balloons would be integral to the final layout so I also figured out where those would go and how the art would fall under them.

(3) After deciding where all the type would go and fit inside the word balloons I dropped out the type, turned all the line work to blue line in Photoshop I printed this out and did my inks right on top of my print out.

My final inks are small as you can see from the photo, a size I'm comfortable with. I ink with pigma microns and faber-castel brush pens (my favorite pens ever). * I swear that the brown pens give me a better line but I think this might just be my imagination.

I then scanned the inks at 600 dpi then enlarged them to the 11x17 size while dropping the resolution to 400 dpi (the specs for the final). I cleaned up the line work a bit then started coloring. My coloring process is very similar to the way Nate does his and pretty much the same as the way I did the Fishing For Terrorists cards. I was quickly realizing that I was going to barely make the deadline (Thursday at midnight) if at all and I had to keep myself from going off on a tangent and spending too much time on any one thing (I too often find myself zoomed in 400% erasing pixels...) and my file quickly ballooned to a whopping 105 megs so every time I saved it would take around 5 minutes. I was starting to sweat...

I finally finished up the final at 11:33 pm, 27 minutes to spare. Luckily no unexpected problem arose or I would have totally blown it. I didn't give myself much breathing room. I think I like working with a gun to my head, either that or I'm King Procrastinator... I think it's a combination of both. Anyway, that's it in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed the process.

Atland strip and "Rock"

Well I've taken off a few days this week to spend Spring break with my nephews, Orion and Sirius. So far it's been a fun filled week with lots of board gaming, role-playing, video gaming, etc... (actually lots of me watching their insane skills at Guitar Hero). We have affectionately named it "Geek Fest 2008". So while waiting for the guys to get up each morning I've done a little fan art...

I entered the contest over at Atland for a one-shot strip with a writer buddy of mine, John Kipling. If you've never read it ours won't make much sense but if you do, you'll totally get it. It was a hoot.

My friends, Paul Adam and Alicia Traveria, did some fan art for Animal Band so I thought I'd get into the action with a pic of Rock (easily one of the coolest names for a cat I've ever heard).

Captain Carabel and the Justine

I've been super busy lately and most projects I'm currently working on have been either top secret or still in the rough/development stage so I haven't had a whole lot to post lately. So I dug into some old files to try to find something cool to post. I found these old Shawks designs I did for Captain Carabel and his ship the Justine, which he now uses for his house. I based the Justine on the Orca, Quint's ship in Jaws and I based Captain Carabel on my granddad. My granddad always had an old fishing boat in his driveway on blocks when I was a kid and I spent a lot of time crawling around in it. It totally made sense.

You can watch the episode where the Justine and Captain Carabel appear here.

Have a cool St. Pat's day everyone.

TMNT pinup pencils

Whew. Here are the final pencils for the TMNT pinup. Eric said "go nuts and have fun with it", well I did both (now where am I going to put my signature...?) I'm probably going to ink on vellum which gives a super clean finish which I'm shooting for. It will appear in the book in black & white and I want to eliminate all my pencil "noise" and not ink directly on my pencils, which is what I usually do.

I believe it will appear in issue #45 of The Tales of the TMNT inside cover. I can't show the final inked version until it actually comes out so if you wanna see it go out and grab a copy.

Word.

TMNT pinup rough

Well I hinted last week that I had a project cooking for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Well I was contacted by Eric Talbot about doing a pinup for an upcoming issue of the TMNT comic book. I instantly said I'd love to and tried not to go all fanboy on him and maintain a measure of professionalism. This is my first rough and it may change a lot from now but this is my first go at it. You have no idea how cool it is to be drawing these guys. I was a big fan of the comic way back when they were still in black and white, before they became the mega stars they are now.

Animal Band

My good pal, Christopher Jennings, had his first book release last week. It's called "Animal Band" and it rocks (literally). Awesome illustrations as expected. You should check it out.

Monday Zombie