Oms en Série visual diary II

Some early designs for the Traags(or Draags) - the giant aliens who keep humans as pets.

Best,
Mike

Tweet

Don't start none...

Brain storming for shirt design ideas and drew a monkey with nunchucks. Sorry.

Mike

No resolutions, just plans - 2010

First let me say Happy New Years to all of you out there! Much love!

I wanted to take a moment and talk about my plans for 2010. You may remember my Mantra for 2009 post. If you don't want to read the rest of this post, just read the Mantra post and plug "2010" in where you see "2009".

But if you want details on my plans for 2010, then read on.

In 2009 I pushed myself and my work. I started being a cartoonist again, writing and drawing my new book at Vertigo.



I got wot work with color, and control the final look of my work, with Star Trek and. G.I. JOE.



I also started penciling Fear Agent, and am getting to work with a great inker. I accomplished just about everything I set out to do. Thing is, most of you haven't seen any of it. My actual comic out put was way down in 2009. Not to say I wasn't drawing like hell, because I was. It's just that you're not seeing it yet.



That's going to start to change in 2010. You'll begin to see some of the stuff I've been busting my hump on last year, including the new Fear Agent series. My new graphic novel won't ship till 2011, but you'll be hearing more details on it this year.

I have some specific plans for 2010 too. Let me touch on each one individually.

All City quarterly -



This one has been in the works for years, and the original plan was to put it out as one big 200 to 300 page sketchbook.



Instead I'm going to be putting it out as a quarterly sketchbook in 2010. It will feature all the art and sketches you see on this blog, as well as new stuff I'm working on. It will allow me to share what's going on in my studio.




Besides the art and sketches you may see short comics and my print work (like the Sweet Science girls) in each issue. Every issue should be around 45 pages or so, and I will begin taking pre-orders in a few months.

COVERS! -



I'll be doing some covers in 2010. One is for a book called BITERS, which is a brilliant idea by my pal Jamar Nicholas. Up and comer Samax (of GhettoManga.com ) is going to do the art, and I jumped at the chance to do some covers for the series.

I've been asked about doing covers for a second series, oddly enough another Zombie comic, but I can't let that cat out of the bag just yet. But you're gonna love it :)

My son's webcomic -



People have been hammering at me to do a comic about my son's crazy antics, so I'm going to take their advice and start that in 2010. Hopefully very soon. This boy is hysterical, and it's about time some good comes from madness.



Skullface art show -



John G. and I are planning an art show/comic featuring his character Skullface. This thing has been years in the making, and I'm planning on some really experimental stuff I've been itching to do. Stay tuned for more details on that.

SHIRTS! -



I'm going to start pitching t-shirt ideas to manufacturers this year, and if all goes well you'll see those in 2010. Cross your fingers ;)

Of course there is also stuff I can't talk about yet. For instance, there is another series that's been offered to me, in one of the few genres I haven't worked in yet, that I've wanted to draw for a long time. I'm still not sure I can't fit it into my schedule, but if I can it will be freaking glorious. Lots of exciting shit is in store for 2010, and I hope you fine folks will choose to share the year with me.

Best,
Mike

PS - If you're so inclined, please share this with friends. You can also use the "Share this" button below to promote this post on Stumbleupon, DIGG, etc. I appreciate it :)

Karmaloop.com sticker design

So, I think I got this the way I want it. Looks kinda washed out in this jpeg, the high res version is more saturated.

I'll be submitting it soon. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

OBEY HAwthorne part III

So, my entry is finally up! Go VOTE!!

VOTE HERE!

Remember, A vote for me is a vote for America!

Best,
Mike

OBEY Hawthorne part II

Remember I mentioned I was going to enter an OBEY Giant t-shirt design contest? Well, I wrapped it up last weekend and sent it in. I had too much fun riffing on Shepard's work, and adding a lot of me into the mix. I'll let you all know once they OK'd it for inclusion into the contest.

Here's how it would look on an actual shirt.



Best,
Mike

OBEY Hawthorne!

I'm working on a piece for an OBEY GIANT shirt design contest. I'm a fan of Shepard, and would love to get to work this thing on a real shirt.

Anyway, here it is with no colors. Can't wait to finish it and enter this bad girl!

Best,
Mike Hawthorne

Spring shirt designs 2008 pt. 3

Ok, so I think the big tank is pretty much a shoe in for a final design. As much as I like it with a simple black and white, I want to keep other options open in terms of color. Here are some color ideas I'm playing around with.

Here's one for the ladies, which I f-ing love to death. That chunky tank in all pink just sings to me. I'd also like to do a white shirt with a pink tank.



Might be mandatory to offer a green version.

I'm not even sure I can get these exact shades, still gotta meet with a printer this coming week.

I think I gotta offer a brown one. I love brown shirts myself. Here's a lighter version.


Can't forget the black on white.


Anyway, something to think about. More soon.

best,
mike

Sprint shirt designs 08 pt. 3

Still fighting with this, and I have several versions I'm working on.

Here are some mock ups on actual shirts. I really want to do a big graphic shirt, so I'm working on one with a large wrap around tank. It's a far cry from the first design, but I kinda' dig it.




I actually like the dark grey logo better. Just have to find out from the printer if they can even do the wrap around or not. I also want to see if they can use an ink that is relatively flexible.




I want to have this thing be 100% on point before I offer it up, which is why you're seeing all these different versions. Hope you're all digging these behind the scenes posts.

best,
mike

Sprint shirt designs 08 pt. 2

Hey all,

Ok, still hammering away at this design. I want it *just* right before I'll commit to it.

I've simplified the design, but tried to keep the same feel. The text on the two color is kinda hard to read, but I love so bad...it's hard to give up. The color on the two right hand side designs is supposed to be brown, but it looks a little too mustard like in this jpeg.

Here's a one color design that my man Andy MacDonald of NYC Mech fame helped me figure out (thanks for the crit, man!). Used a different font on the text, which I like.



Once I settled on a final design or two I'll be taking it to a local printer and looking at some shirts, and ink colors. While all that happens, I'll have a period of time where you guys can pre-order the shirt and get a 30% discount. So, stay tuned!

Best,
Mike

Sprint shirt designs 08 pt. 1

Hey all,

I'll be making a new shirt in the next couple of weeks, and have been trying to hammer out a design. Here's one I did, but I'm not totally sold on it. I figured I'd float it out here to see what you folks think.

Here's a two color version.



The "Beautifuller and Beautifuller" is a quote from Luis Armstrong, which always loved and fits how I feel about building my online comics. I want to use more ornate text, but you get the idea.

Let me know what you think. I already have some ideas of what's not working, but don't want to say them so as to see if it's just me or if anyone else sees it.

Thanks!
Mike