Jane's Binoculars

Young Jane Goodall

For Primates, I created 60 little 3"x4" watercolor paintings for promotion of the book, and I'll be posting them here on the blog.  Here's a young Jane Goodall!  Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday, Dian Fossey!

Today would have been Dian Fossey's 81st  birthday!  She studied gorilla groups in the forests of Rwanda for 18 years; you can read more about her here. (And when Primates comes out!)

Primates!!

Happy New Year (a little belated, I know)!

2013 is going to chock full of new and art and doodles...First up: Primates!

Yup, it's the project I've been working on for the past 4 years...written by the amazing Jim Ottaviani, published by the also-amazing First Second Books.  Here's a profile page for the book, and you can pre-order on Amazon.  The official release for Primates is June 11 2013, and I've got a whole lot of fun stuff to post about it.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, I spruced up the blog with some foliage (and a chimp).

Fionna & Cake!

Hey!  It's a backup cover for Fionna & Cake!  By me!  More here.  I may be paying a little homage to one of my all-time favorite video games...

Fan Art Friday No. 17

The Falcon!!  (drawn for The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe: REDUX Edition)

Vacation = over (for now)

Hi internet,

I took a vacation from you (and from working), and now I'm BACK.

Sincerely,
maris

But seriously, I took a much-needed break towards the end of the summer.  And now it's full steam ahead!  I will start by saying that Joe and I are going to be at New York Comic Con.  AND...we will be selling a print that we did together:

First, we worked on a sketch together (which included brainstorming all the animals we wanted in the piece).  Then, Joe penciled Aquaman and I penciled the animals, and we took turns inking sections.  Lastly, we finished it up in Photoshop, taking turns as well.  We'll have this 11 x 17 print (along with an animal-identification guide) at NYCC.

Fan Art Friday No. 16

I love me some Indiana Jones.  Just sayin'...

Fan Art Friday No. 15

Spidey, about to enjoy some soft serve.

Another commission from Heroes Con 2012!

Fan Art Friday No. 14

Yup, that's Supergirl walking Krypto the Superdog.  I sure hope she cleans up after him...

Commissions...

I know Heroes Con was a few weekends back, but here are some of the super-fun commissions I got to

do there:

Suki, from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Toph, also from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Supergirl, playing volleyball

Iron Fist, doing some martial arts

There were more; I will post them soooooooon.

Bravest Warriors!

This got announced yesterday!  I'm doing one of the covers for issue #1 of Bravest Warriors (along with Jim Rugg and Tyson Hesse).  Learn more about Bravest Warriors here! woot!

Spongebob!! (well, kind of)

Hey everyone, if you're heading to your local comic shop, check out Spongebob Comics #9.  Why, might you ask?  Because I wrote a one-page marine bio comic in it!  Draw by Nate Neal, it examines in the wonderful world of cephalopods!  It's all fact, so no actual Spongebob characters show up in the story (hence the "kind of" in the title of this post).  The issue is chock-full of other great art and stories, so check it out!  You can also look forward to more Maris-written marine bio comics in future Spongebob issues.

Here's a little look at what my process for writing the script looks like (I also include a rough pencil sketch for layout):

This project has been a pleasure to work on, and I can't wait to share more sneak peeks with you soon!

Fan Art Friday: No. 13

Dr. Manhattan...having a Manhattan.  Happy Friday!

Fan Art Friday No. 12: Wonder Woman!

Wonder Woman!!  Happy Friday!

Process: Sketchbooks

I've been keeping a sketchbook since senior year of high school, when my AP Portfolio teacher had us make our own (before that, I just drew all over EVERYTHING). Since then, I've kept a devoted sketchbook...with the exception of the year after I graduated college; I needed a break from drawing after 4 solid years of art school.

During college, I went a little nuts, filling sketchbooks (like the one in the top right corner) every 3 months or so. I know there's a huge jump in sketchbooks between '02 and '10; I filled 13 more little guys before I switched to those larger, floppy Moleskins. I figured you might start to worry about my sanity if I posted 13 more pictures of me holding tiny sketchbooks...

The bigger Moleskins were originally meant for work-related drawing (as opposed to recreational drawing), I loved the paper and size, so they became the standard. That is, until now. I'm going back to the smaller, thicker-paged Moleskin. It holds ink a lot better (nib inking on the bigger ones bleeds like crazy), and it's a bit easier for traveling. Here's the first page of the new dude:

Most journal comics, fan art and doodles will be coming from this sketchbook, done with the following materials:

Fan Art Friday No. 11: Pete & Pete

Dear "The Adventures of Pete & Pete", You were one of my favorite shows, ever. You are still one of my favorite shows, ever. And, you were one of the major influences on the way I tell stories. So thanks:

To commemorate my love of all things "Petes", I created this piece for the up and coming Waiting for October zine (the zine is in black and white, so I colored the above piece for fun!). I will keep the internet posted about this project! Happy Friday everyone!

Fan Art Fridays No. 10: Skyrim!

Yup. I totally heart Skyrim. Here's my character; I pretty much tried to make my cat Biggs...:

I should start by saying that I am pretty terrible at this game; I love to just run around and pick flowers and eat stuff. And sometimes kill bandits. I had never played any video games like this before (the closest I'd come is probably the Zelda games...but those are still pretty different), but I got really psyched when I saw the trailer for Skyrim. Also, I was lured by Marian Churcland's drawings. I love it; her art makes me want to eat food in the woods!

May the 4th...

...be with you. Is it just me, or is it super-sad when the Rancor dies in the beginning of Return of the Jedi?