The return of INSOMNIART!

Remember when I couldn't sleep a while back so drew stuff for you?

Yeah, so, I did it again...

Mike


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Oops, forgot Conan 4 Pt.2!

hey y'all!

A while back I posted some pages from CONAN #4 and promised to post more, but... uh... forgot to! Sorry, dudes and dudettes!

Anyway, here's what I WAS going to post.

Hope you enjoy seeing what the pages look like before they're inked :-)

best,
Mike


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Loose Ends

This week on Comic Twart Declan chose "LOOSE ENDS" a creator owned crime comic by my friend Jason Latour, and his insanely talented pals Chris Brunner and Rico Renzi.

You should look for the comic at your local comic shop. I believe creator owned comics drive the industry with new ideas, and if you care about comics you gotta support them.

More info about LOOSE ENDS here.

Best,
Mike


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GaNARLY New Comic Twarts!

Heyo,

I haven't been able to contribute to Comic Twart in a while, so I made some time and banged out some new piece. I'm terribly proud of these pieces. Verily.

I'm not gonna even pretend these aren't awesome.

Sorry.

Best,
Mike


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New Raising Crazy!

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to share some of the more recent strips from RaisingCrazy.com.

Hope you're enjoying the strip. Share it with your friends!

Mike


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Modesty Blaise & Ifanboy's Sketch up

Hey everyone,

Wanted to share another commission I did recently...

...and point you to Ifanboy's Sketch Up where they featured a piece of mine! :-)

Best,
Mike

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Brule the Spear Slayer

Here's another recent commission, this time of Brule the Spear Slayer. He's a character from R.E. Howard's Kull stories.

This is a companion piece to the past King Kull, and Thulsa Doom pieces.

Enjoy!
Mike



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Conan, Belit, O-ren, and Captain America walk into a bar...

Just kiddin'. More recent commissions.

Enjoy!

best,
Mike

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Valkyrie, Beatric Kiddo, and Batgirl walk into a bar...

Ok, OK. They don't really walk into a bar! But I did draw them all recently!

Just wanted to share a few commissions I've done lately.

Enjoy!

Best,
Mike

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Raising Crazy going strong!

hey everyone!

A couple of comic news sites (like Broken Frontier and are running a story on my webcomic, "Raising Crazy"! I'm thrilled and humble that people are interested in my little side project.

Just a reminder, you can read new Raising Crazy every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday over at RaisingCrazy.com!

Thanks!
Mike

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King Kull

Hey,

Thought I'd share a recent commission I did. This one is a companion piece to that Thulsa Doom commission I did a while back.




Enjoy!
Mike

Do us all a favor...

An old poolshark I knew reminded me once that the important part of calling your own shots is actually MAKING the shot afterward.

More soon...

Mike



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That's how I likes'em!

I was looking for something to post here, since I haven't posted any new art in a while, and found this goodie in a folder I have set aside for my upcoming sketch magazine(we talked about that before, remember?).

I DO likes me some curvy ladies! ;-)

Anyway, serves as a reminder that the magazine is still in the works and will hopefully happen this summer!

Enjoy,
Mike

Ifanboy Upstarts me!

Hey, check this out! Ifanboy.com featured my work over on their site, and I'm totally flattered by the kind words and attention!

All I can say is THANKS! :-)

If you're so inclined, let them know how you feel about the feature. You can post below the story.

Thanks!

Best,
Mike

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Taking new commissions

Hey everyone,

I have two commissions to wrap up, then I'll be taking new commissions. If you're interested, please e-mail me to schedule your piece - mhawthorne @ thinktankcomics.com


Commission sizes and prices:

11" x 17" - 300

8" x 11" - 100

There are other options for sizes and prices, so ask if you have any questions.

Thanks!
Mike

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Raising Crazy interview in "In Central Pennsylvania" online!

Hey everyone!

You can now read that Raising Crazy interview for "In Central Pennsylvania" online here!

Make sure to let me know what you think :-)

Best!
Mike

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Comic Twart: Panda experiment

Hey everyone,

Haven't done a process post in a while, so figured I'd do one this week for you guys.

This was my week to pick a character for Comic Twart. I wanted to stick with the theme of Latina characters in comics, and was going to choose Renee Montoya but decided on Panda Delgado from Body Bags. She's not as noble a character, but I figured she'd be fun for the fellas to draw.

Anyway, everyone has been talking about using Google sketchup for things like guns, cars, building, etc. I know lots of comic artists use it, but it still always seemed like cheating to me. (I know, I know... a tool is a tool. I know it's NOT cheating. Chill!)

I've used it as a reference tool, where I'd look at the thing on screen then draw it. The same way you might use a photo. But I never just printed images of guns out to ink.



I have this big collection of toy guns for reference, and take great pride in the fact that I've always acurately drawn guns by hand. Just see my run on G.I. JOE. All those guns were all done by hand, using a toy as a model.





But I thought I'd give Sketchup a shot for the guns in this piece. So I penciled the art, and left out the guns.

Then picked a 3D model in Sketchup, and dropped them into the drawing after scanning it into Photoshop. After that I free-transformed the gun till they were the size I needed, and I drew the hands around it.

Then I converted it all into a light blue, printed it onto a new board, and inked it.

After that I rescanned it as line art, and colored it using Photoshop and a Wacom tablet.

I have to say, although I like the illustration on a whole, I'm not really happy with the Sketchup models. I mean, the models are fine as reference, but printing them out to ink isn't working for me 100%. It looks Ok, I guess, but in the end I don't think it saved me enough time to justify the cheat. I'm also just not crazy with the look of it. If I'd drawn the guns by hand I would have adjusted it, "cartooned" it up to fit the drawing more.

Still, it can be a valuable tool for anyone willing to put in the time to use it right. My personal opinion is that if all you're gonna do it trace the 3D models then you're going to end up with a dead drawing. Try to learn to draw this stuff, get a feel for how it should look,then use these tools. Cartooning can be done with any tool, but tracing is always bad.

Again, no diss to anyone using 3D models well. Some dudes have it figured out,and I tip my hat to them. They're the reason I tried this experiment out in the first place.

Best,
Mike





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Raising Crazy interview in "In Central Pennsylvania"

I recently did an interview with "In Central Pennsylvania" magazine, which hits stands today. If you live in the Central PA area, especially around Harrisburg, you gotta check out the article.

Here's a picture from inside the magazine. Photographer Sean Simmer was recreating this comic strip. It came out great!

My son was excited about the photo shoot, and now thinks he's "famous like Justin Bieber"! He's even expecting to have a TV show and his own action figure!

For more of his hinjinks, go read Raising Crazy online :-)

Best,
Mike

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The end of Fear Agent...are you still waiting?

Hey everyone,

On his Twitter feed fans of Fear Agent have been asking writer Rick Remender when the last two issues of the series will be released by Dark Horse. He responded with this;

"Fear Agent 31 an 32 have to be resolicited due to lateness. They are done, but I guess they won't be out until October. Nothing to be done."

I have not been involved in any back room discussions about the book, but I do know they are finished. I wrapped up the pencils BEFORE I started on Conan (which I've penciled 7 issues of, so it's been a while since I wrapped Fear Agent). I've also seen colored and lettered PDF files of the missing Fear Agent comics. So I assure you, it's all finished.

I'm sure there are good reasons for holding off on the release of comics. Fear Agent is a beloved series, and this is the last arc, so I'm guessing no one is in a hurry to just throw it out there. But the truth is I don't know what those reasons are. I just wanted to disparage any one from thinking the book is late because it's not done, or that anyone is running late. Everyone has worked hard to make the last arc special, and I for one am proud of how it turned out.

So, if you're a fan of the series, all I can say is please bare with us. Your patience will be rewarded, I promise. If you've been following along with Heath's ups and downs, then the end of this thing is going to break your heart and make you smile. Rick wraps up everything beautifully.

Best,
Mike




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Black Widow commission

Hey everyone!

Here's another commission I wrapped up recently. Kind of a companion piece for my earlier Daredevil and Electra pieces.

I have two more commissions to wrap up, and will then be ready to take on new commissions. So stay tuned.

Best,
Mike

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