David-Hutchison.com

Dragon Arms Series 3 pre-production mode

2010-06-29T08:18:00.000-07:00

It's coming!

What's it been since the last Dragon Arms series? Five, no six years! Whatever, it's been too long. In all that time fan interest hasn't waned very much. I don't think that there's been one convention, outside of Katsucon, where fans haven't asked about Dragon Arms. "When's the next Dragon Arms coming out?", "Any news on Dragon Arms?", "I really enjoyed Dragon Arms, are you going to do another one?" You get the idea.

So pre-production has commenced. Yah!

Here is some promotional art I'm working on for the series. More to come!

Hope you like, let me know what you think!

Gnyaaaaaa!!!!

2010-01-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

I hate today. Got ahold of a virus somehow, and its a real pain. I doesn't seem to do anything unless I'm on the 'net. Then, I get a pop up every other page... I'm going to have to invest in better antivirus protection. Till then, I'm on a Mac for my internet. More actual updates soon.

Almost forgot! I'm working on a Deviantart Club for Antarctic Press. So if you're a fan head on over and check it out. Not much of anything at the moment, but it'll shape up soon!

Governator

2010-01-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

Quick post! Started writing on Governator for March. That's really no time at all in the scheme of things. The hardest part has been finding a storyline I think works. This isn't the same character shown in President Evil, this is more a parody of Arnold and his solution to the problems California is facing.

I plan to start posting designs in a few days to show what I have in mind, til then, peace!

How to draw Super Powered Villains

2010-01-18T11:00:00.000-08:00

Hey, guys!

Just finished my articles for Super Powered Villains, and the book is off to the printer! I don't mind saying that I'm very happy with what we've done with this book. Too often, these books are just bologna.I really think we've managed to provide some good analysis for our readers. The why's and hows. What kind of thought process was used. It's unfortunate that we couldn't include as many examples as we wanted, but at 128pgs we cover a lot!

Well, on to the next project! We also have another How to book after Villains. How to draw Vampires! One of my favorite subjects. I'm hoping to post more as the book starts to take shape. I want to do a lot of the design this time around if they'll let me.

Procrastinator!!!

2009-12-23T12:30:00.001-08:00

Hey, guys! Once again back on the 'nets! An interesting thing I've seen on the web lately, are artists streaming their work online. People like Scott Kurtz, Otis Frampton, the artists on MegaTokyo and Penny Arcade. A number of manga artists are using these services as well. I figure if it's good enough.

Now you can watch me draw live on the web. Just visit

Let me know what you think!
I won't be on all of the time, as it slows my laptop. I will record some of my sessions for those that miss the live drawing. The quality is a little disappointing. Hopefully, I can improve that.

More later!

Back at it!

2009-08-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, everyone!

It's been a spell hasn't it? A several months long spell. Sorry about all of that, but when you combine busy and lazy, something is going to be neglected. As you may well have heard by now, President Evil has done better than I could have hoped!! We even got a mention in USA Today! That's never happened to me before, very exciting stuff! I'm hip deep in #2 and I'll be posting some art soon, so keep your eyes on the spy for that. Back to work!!

Back to the Emerald City

2008-12-07T18:15:00.000-08:00

J.L. Anderson is down visiting Antarctic Press for a week. It's pretty special, since we don't often have visiting artist. She's doing some really nice stuff, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for her! She's improving w/ each new project, I wish I could say that when it comes to my work!

Anyhoo, we all went out to local Mexican restaurant, Martha's, and had a few laughs over dinner. We had great food and a poor waitress. I got some sketch time in while waiting, and learned about 'Hot Pocket Stew'. Don't ask.

Tomorrow I'm going to have to hit it hard. I want to be done w/ the next issue of Oz before Christmas. I'm looking to get three pages done a day, but we'll have to see. I would like to be through this issue by the 15th or 16th.

-sigh-

I guess it's snowing in Cincinnati right now. I'm a little homesick this time of year, but I don't want to head up until after I do the last Oz issue. So, March or April. It may be April... I'm supposed to go to Sakuracon in early April, maybe I can just go on to Cincy from there?

More in a day or two!
Laters

Oh, Velma!

2008-12-06T11:52:00.000-08:00

I think I might do this up in full color if I get the time.

I'm Sorry!

2008-12-05T11:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I goofed and posted some Gargoyles work I should'nt have, my mistake. Here's something to make up for it in apology. Oh, and some other stuff.

Whole lotta sketches!!!

2008-12-03T21:01:00.000-08:00

Yep, I've been a busy boy. Hope you like!

Well, my work on Slave Labor's 'Gargoyles' is pretty much done at this point. I just have a couple of covers left, I'm waiting for approval of the layouts. It's been an interesting, if brief experience. While I wish that I had more time to do the work, I enjoyed it immensely and got to see how another company works with artists and writers. Very cool. Maybe I'll upload some of those pages at some point.

Of course this isn't the first licensed work I've done, the most notable one being 'Sonic X' for Archie comics. It's odd how these things come to you sometimes. I had never even considered working for Archie, an editor there contacted me out of the blue. It seems the colorist on the book at the time, who used to work at Antarctic Press, had suggested me! I sent in some tryout pages, and except for some gaffes on Sonic's ears, they liked the pages! I've learned a lot about myself doing those books. Things I need to work on; I'm a procrastinator. I'm beginning to chip away at that one. It's hard, but I'm more of a self starter now than I've ever been. The other thing I learned is that I have a problem communicating with my editors and the people that work with me. In this business they only take so much of that. Editors need to know your progress. If you're behind, the inker and the colorist are behind, and have to hustle to get their work in. An editor has ways of dealing with these things, but they can't do jack without info.

Since I don't want to mess with other people's money, I'm trying to change the way I work. Slave Labor has been good for this, because they have a server that the work can be dropped into at each stage of development. Easy access for everyone. It also makes getting feedback easy as well.

I've been lucky to have such a malleable style, I can hop in and out of a given style with only a little practice. Another reason I'm glad I got the Gargoyles job is that it's opened my eyes to some new possibilities as far as style and use of light and dark.

Well, that's about it for now, I'm thinking I might write a little something about how I came to be at Antarctic Press, so keep an eye out.

Turbines to power!!

2008-11-24T22:55:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks!

I know it's been a spell and half but hopefully I can have things back up full in few weeks. Been busy as it gets the past few months and I want to get my presence up to where it needs to be. I know you want that too, so keep your peepers open. Big things comin'

Land of Oz: the Manga

2008-03-01T13:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, I've been busy. It doesn't really look like it's going to let up any time soon! Just wanted to drop a quick note about 'Land of Oz.' June 2008! The wheels have been set in motion, so there's no stopping now! Here is a pic of the wraparound cover for the first issue. Let me know what you think!

Global Harming Redux

2008-01-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are again. I'm much happier with this version. After stepping back from it an talking to my editor, talking to the writer, I was able to pull it off. Thanks to everyone for their input! Now back to Sonic X pages!!

Global Harming

2008-01-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

Global Harming is the next Pirates vs Ninjas book I'm working on. I don't know if I'm looking forward to another book like this.

Yet again, I've done a cover for a book with no characters, no storyline... not even a plot. WTF?

Here's a look, there are already some things I feel need changing. I'll post an updated version closer to publication, which will be in April.

Peace.

Frankie

2007-12-29T14:31:00.000-08:00

Thought I might try to embed that Frankenstien timelapse.

Mind Numbing Horrors

2007-12-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

David Hockney...

I just want to write that name down before I forget it.

If you know me, you know I don't do very much writing on the information super highway. I also rarely comment on other artists and there work. Generally, I hold to the old saying, "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything".

Rob Liefeld for instance. I see any number of people on the internet slam Liefeld. Calling him an 'idiot', painting him as bad person, making ludicrous statements like, "Liefeld has never seen a woman", and other obvious lies. Those that love Liefeld, love and defend him with all of their hearts. Those that hate him, attack with a savagery usually reserved for rapists and murderers.

I think I may be feeling some of that hate myself right now.

Not for Liefeld, but for an individual that I've never heard of before today. His name is David Hockney. Apparently his a famous British artist. As I said, I'm not familiar with the man or his art. What I've learned today has polarized me against this person for life.

Why, you ask? Mr Hockney makes this claim; the works of the Old Masters, painters like Vermeer, Da Vinci and others are too perfect to have been created without the aid of devices such as Camera Obscura and other techniques to trace images onto canvas and then to paint over them.

...

I can't say with 100% certainty what the Old Masters did or did not do, no one can. No one records every move they make. But I think I can safely say that the ability, skill, knowledge, and yes, mastery of art these people displayed is not founded solely in a primitive artograph.

Hockney's theory is timely, if anything. Is there anyone left in world today without a 'secret' to expose? This kind of revisionist history is taking place everywhere. No genius, statesman, or artisan is above being 'taken down' a few notches by jealous assholes who bank on a general ignorance of how such exceptional works are achieved.

Because Hockney is considered some kind of an artist, and not a soulless void forced to feed off the life and vitality of others, his points are taken as fact. This man has actually managed to divide the art world with this theory. Madness!

I wish I could just concoct any ole lie that comes into my mind, then go on television and talk about it as if I were discussing reality. Unquestioned and unchallenged...

Certainly there are people out there that know this man is telling an elaborate joke, but braincells are few and far between sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind theories. I don't even mind Hockney's theory. I sure there are some artists from those times that experimented and used concave mirrors and other devices to aid them. I will never believe that most did it habitually and then lied, and instructed their students and everyone that ever learned to draw and paint as they did to lie about it for over five hundred years.

Next, he'll tell us how this is all part of the Illuminati's plan.

I can understand jealousy. I can understand disappointment. But to say that 'no one' can come close to the ideal of the Old Masters, not even they themselves, is to make a mockery of art and artistic achievement. I've seen people that can draw like the Old Masters. Young people. I'm sure we've all heard of ingenious forgers, who, using the same techniques as the Old Masters, have fooled experts time and again. Unlike this individual.

But, no.

Tracers.

Sigh... Maybe he's right, even Liefeld has been known to 'borrow' from time to time.

Pirates vs Ninja: The End

2007-12-19T12:23:00.000-08:00

The end for me at least! Pirates went to the printer... last week I believe. It's on to new issues of Sonic X for Archie comics now. I'll update as that issue progresses.

But, looking back on PvN, now that it's finished, I'd like to relate some of my thoughts on the experience.

First of all, I wanted nothing to do with this series when we first started developing the idea. Nothing. Period. Sure, I would toss out the occasional idea here and there, but that was about all. Of course, it was never intended that I work on the book. This was Craig Babiar's book and he was doing a phenomenal job on it. The series was doing well. So well, that they started working on the sequel right away.
I was really happy for Craig. I only know some of what he went through as an artist at AP. He originally started as a penciller on Warrior Nun Areala back in the day. WNA was a big hit back then. As the popularity of the book waned, Craig went from just pencils, to pencil/inks. Then the book went to black and white... The whole time Craig had a family to support and was working part time for the Library. A man of Craig's talent and enthusiasm makes it look easy. It isn't.
As I said, I was happy to see Craig get his hands on a book that's doing well. Just around the time the second series was starting production, Craig called to let us know that he wouldn't be finishing the second PvN. He had been offered a full time position at the Library he works for and would be taking it, making work on a comic impossible. That's where I came in...
Craig said he would be willing to do the first four issues, no more. I was asked to step in as of issue #5. I agreed. I wasn't too thrilled, but I knew the editors didn't really have much of a choice in approaching me. I was fine with this arrangement, as it meant I would still have time for outside projects between the end of Final Girl and starting on issue five of Pirate. That didn't last long. I learned at last year's A-kon that Craig had just finished issue two of Pvn and that he did not wish to do any more issues. Goodbye free time!! ;)
The only good thing that happened going into this series is Fred Perry's involvement. While Fred wasn't able to give much input into the series once he started Sky Sharks, he was able to provide an initial layout for issue three that helped get me into the headspace a little. After that, I was pretty much on my own...
As you can see, there is a marked difference between my work on the book and Craig's. Looking back on it, I see some of my work on the book as very unprofessional. The way in which I depicted the characters, settings, storytelling and action put my disinterest in the material on display for all to see and I should have tried to maintain the standards set down by Craig. There really is no excuse, and I won't try grasping for one now.
With each new issue, however, I tried to get more involved in the process. Helping Robby (the colorist, writer)lay flats or help with backgrounds. By issue six I was doing the backgrounds almost exclusively, and laying most of the flats as well. Sometimes, that was the only way an issue would go in on time. I found I enjoyed working on the backgrounds the most out of any of the work I did in the series. I just really like seeing those environments being realized. Maybe it felt like I was pulling my weight on the book for once. Yeah, I think I was trying to compensate for the horrible pencils I was doing. Oh well. Because of that, I was finally able to get into the spirit of the book at least a little. I'm still no great fan of Pirates or Ninjas, but, just maybe, I was able to inject some of my love for art and comics into the series after all...

More later

Frankenstein timelapse

2007-10-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Halloween! I had another Photoshop timelapse laying around, so I posted it on Youtube. Let me know what you think!

Dragon Arms: Masters

2007-10-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Dragon Arms is still probably the thing I've worked on that I like the most. What I don't like so much is the fact that I've left readers hanging, that's never good. To this day, it's the series people ask me about or comment on more than anything else I've done...

I do plan to get back to DA at some point. I think after I get Land of Oz out the door it'll be time to start working on it again. I've got the plot for the series laid out and ready to begin hammering out scripts. But that's almost a year away at this point. Keep your eyes open, there will be more production and design stuff soon!

Pirates vs Ninjas... The End?

2007-10-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Just finished the cover for the final issue of PvN v2! I'm just waiting for approval.

I'll post the image as soon as Blogger's image upload let's me...

I do want to take some time to mention the fact that I've really enjoyed working on this latest issue of Pirates. I liked the story, and while my pencils in this issue weren't the best, the backgrounds I colored for the issue were the most fun I've had in a while. This cover was also a lot fun. I loved doing a sort riff on the covers Arthur Suydam has been doing for Marvel. Suydam is one of my favorite artists and I get a kick out of seeing him become such a major success after all these years. He was always known, but to see him blow up like this is a real gas!

I certainly loved Zombifying our Pirates cover, let me know what you think when I finally get to upload it!

Update: Image posting works again!

BotPaint

2007-10-13T12:55:00.000-07:00

Just trying out a new image capture program called Jing...

JunkRobos

2007-10-12T19:23:00.000-07:00

These are just quick sketch bits took about 40 mins altogether. ^__^

The Prettiest Pirate

2007-10-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know what I was thinking, but I was really out of it when I did this piece. At least that's my story!

A quick note...

2007-02-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!

Just wanted to leave a quick note; I’ve become very busy over the last few months. Because of this I’ve fallen behind recently, and my priorities from here on in will be getting books in. The work on Final Girl is paramount, and I have work for Archie Comics (Sonic X) that must be done also. Since these project have to be done, you won’t be seeing much of me on the web. I know, I hardly post or respond now, and I regret that. But it looks like I won’t have any kind of presence here at all until at least August, after Final Girl is finished. Please keep an eye out for me, just don’t expect me to be around, respond, or even read post for some time to come.

Laters!

Scarecrow...

2007-02-07T19:49:00.000-08:00

Yo,

Here's the pic of the final piece hope you like!

New time lapse!

2007-02-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

Hey, folks!

Just wanted to upload this real quick, I'm steeped in many pages of Final Girl! This sketch took about 45 mins or so, from around 1am to 2...

ZomBear

2007-02-05T13:52:00.000-08:00

Grrr...Grrrr...Graaah!!!

Something new...

2007-02-05T10:40:00.000-08:00

Something new that I've started doing are different 'takes' on a given character. As an instance, a few days ago I painted the character below:

Now, I started with the idea of a character w/ big, sharp teeth. No hair really, and no real nose to speak of... Just a very bare bones sketch of a concept. Then I just kinda went for it, and let the painting take me where it would. I have to admit I was pleased w/ the result. Then I saved it and went back to work on some pages. I came back the next day to see how I felt about my design.

I didn't like it very much the second time.

So leaving the first image open, I created a new file and started painting new design within the same basic ideas I had painted the original. The second piece came out a lot more 'real', I guess, in my opinion. The original, while seeming kind of funny, or belonging more in a cartoony world, really helped put me in the headspace to do the second. Not only that but may of the things I tried in the first painting were used in the next and really sped up my painting. I plan to try more of these in the near future. Until then, Peace!

Unholy again!

2007-02-03T19:26:00.000-08:00

Yo! Thought folks might benefit from seeing the actual illustration for the youtube post below. Here you go!

Unholy 3

2007-02-03T11:35:00.000-08:00

Well, this is a bit of an experiment! I've done a little recording of myself doing a speed painting and uploaded it to Youtube. So, if you would like to see me in action creating one of these monsters, (in timelapse, anyway) you know what to do... I hope. If not, drop me an email and I'll try to clarify.

Something a little different

2007-01-31T12:28:00.000-08:00

Just thought I'd show some stuff that's not a monsters and scary. We all need a break sometimes, even from work we like. These sketches are for the barest inkling of an idea that has been rattling around in my head for a bit. Let me know what you think!

More-Monsters!

2007-01-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

Yo! Some more uglies!

Mon-stars!

2007-01-30T20:19:00.000-08:00

Some of the baddies that may appear in the book!

Final Girl

2007-01-30T20:07:00.000-08:00

I'm probably going to be using the ole Blog here to keep folks up to date w/ all happening Final Girl related for the time being. So keep an eye out! I'll start out w/ some possible monster sketches and what not. Be sure to stop by and vote for which character survives and becomes Final Girl

I'm Back! (I think!)

2007-01-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

Just checking to see if the ole blog still functions... If this all works out, we'll be back in business!