Super-sports: Batman

I've been doing these little (6.5" x 9") drawings as a warm up for inking/coloring lately. I've drawn supers playing sports before, but I thought it'd be a nice little challenge to add some more folks in tights to the mix. This one is actually a re-do:


Despite the fact that I just finished inking 133 pages of comics (with Faber-Castell Pitt pens), I've decided that I'm making the switch to...NIBS! I like to be green, and I always feel bad about how fast I blow through the pens (you can't refill them, and I'm not sure they can be recycled). I've also been missing a more organic line (although Joe has already pointed out to me that I'm pretty tight about my nib-work as well). What ultimately turned me was our trip to Belgium back in November, where we were lucky enough to work in a studio with a bunch of AMAZING comics artists. My friend Max asked me what I inked with, and I showed him my fistful of Pitt pens, and he was like, "Whhhhaaaaatttt??????". And then he made a pretty strong case for nibs. I was also inspired by my friend Alec's recent post about the inking tools he uses. Needless to say, I've been inking with nibs a lot. I'm still using the Pitts when I travel (to avoid bag spills, which is a phenomena that I excel at), but all the stuff I'll be posting will most likely be inked with a G-nib. I must admit, it is super fun. Enjoy!

Hammer Time!

Break it down:
THOOOOOORRRRRRR!

Let me first start by saying that our trip to the Pacific Northwest was AWESOME. SO AWESOME.

Emerald City Comic Con = super rad. Got to meet Mr. Chris Samnee, who is the man responsible for one of my FAVORITE superhero comic stories, Thor: The Mighty Avenger (written by Roger Langridge to boot!). I had never read a Thor story before. I totally love Thor now, because of this comic (see above drawing). Thank you, gentlemen!

Joe and I got to hang with Mr. Greg from Tugboat Press (the man responsible for making Yes, Let's happen), see Mr. Chris Haley and his posse, get some bro-time with Mr. Scott Campbell and meet countless other comics folk (sorry if I left you out; you can heckle me in the comments).

BOWIE!! (for Mr. Haley)

Aside from the con, Joe and I had a blast during our short time in Seattle. We visited the Seattle Aquarium (gee, I wonder who wanted to do THAT), marveled at the wonders of Pike Place Market and ate copious amounts of delicious food. Short and sweet, and then we where on the road to Portland (and beyond).

Once in Oregon, we checked in to Chateau D' Ann (Ann and I were roomies back in college!). From there, Joe and I rented a car for our journey south to visit...the Allreds! Mike and Laura are SUPER DUPER!!! We had a blast doing everything from karaoke to dune-exploring to movie-watching, out in the middle of the beautiful Oregon woods. It was amazing to hang with such amazing artists; we can't thank them enough for their incredible hospitality!

Joe, Maris and Mike somewhere in the Shire.

THEN, back to Portland for some hang-time with Ann, some doughnut-eating, and more karaoke (with the Allreds again, but this time at Floating World...crazy!).

Now I'm back in Somerville, drawin' and computerin' and workin' at that place filled with fish and turtles and penguins...

I'll have a post about the cons I'll be at this year...just a few (I'm trying to be good). Oh, and I apologize for my silence in the comments; I've just been super-busy. I suck at staying on top of stuff like that!!

byebye for now!

Inks-cellent.

Done. With. Inks. I am so excited!!!

*note: the pages above are not really that big*


So here's a little update on the life of Maris (well, the life that is squeezed into the non-primates time):

ZOMG (part 1): I wrote a one-page Madman story with Mr. Joe Quinones (he did all that lovely art - more about that project here). Thanks to Mr. Mike Allred for the awesome opportunity!

ZOMG (part 2): I also wrote a script for a super-secret DC project; more about that soon. I kind of still can't believe it. Joe's also doing the arts on that. Yeah Joe!

ZOMG (part 3): Leaving for Seattle in...1 hour!! Joe's a guest at Emerald City Comic Con, and then we're heading down to Portland, OR for a little working vacation. I will be at the con, but I'll just be hanging around. If you want to buy something Maris-y, my friend Greg over at the Tugboat Press table (M-22 in Artist Alley) will be selling copies of "Yes, Let's". Actually, if anyone would like a sketch, I could definitely be persuaded to draw something of the super-hero variety for a tiny bit of moolah...just sayin'.

I have lots of art to post. And peeps that I want to shout out too. But that will have to wait. For now.

So yeah. Crazy-pants stuff going on. It is EXCITING!!!