super robot monster

'And a Happy New Year too!

2011-12-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

From all of us here at SRM Industries,

'Wishing you a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

GIANT MONSTER PLAYSET!

2011-11-17T08:58:00.001-08:00

Hey folks,

This last summer, I had the pleasure of helping out my friend filmmaker Greg Pope on his new Monster movie short film. I was asked to contribute some art pieces that support the big muguffin of the film, but also really had a great time assisting on the set, and even helped out with a bit part..... watch out Leo D. Without giving away too many of the details here's a short synopsis of the film:

"After receiving and opening a mysterious package, a young boy innocently plays with it's toy monster contents. Simultaneously a gigantic beast appears, bent on the destruction of his own small town. The boy's older brother discovers the connection between the two and realizes... only he can stop it."

Ooooh SCARY right?

My job was to create the box art for the toy monster that the kid opens and plays with. Our thoughts were to pattern it after the Aurora monster kits and Famous Monsters covers from our youth- that had such heightened and dramatic cover art... you couldn't help but drool over the wanton distruction and saturated colors!

At the time that I started, Greg already had a strong idea of the creature design and was still building the action figure that would be used in the film- so to start I had some of his early sketches and then photos of the unpainted-un "furred" creature to base my art on.

We also knew that at some point in the story, he was going to be holding a train with a tanker car--that and a confrontation with the military (both in the air and on land).

Early color blocking layout.

Final pose sketch.

Full near-finished box illustration.

Simultaneously I was developing the "toy company" logo- which comes into play not only on the box, but also on the mailing label and elsewhere in the story. As well as creating a wrapping paper for the mailed package that would nod to the monsters' hide- as well as serve a dual purpose in the sides of the box art packaging.

Logo variations with the "winner" asterixed lower right.

Package wrapping paper.

Full box art graphics for the printed toy package.

Package stills from the film.

After all was said and done, we needed to create a one-sheet for the film, and we decided to use the toy packaging as the tease.
And finally...Here's the official trailer!

The film is currently under consideration' at several film festivals and depending on what happens there we will release the film online and on DVD. Check the official blog for updates:

www.giantmonsterplayset.blogspot.com

Remember, whatever you do...

DON'T LET THEM OPEN IT!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T14:46:00.001-08:00

Hoping everyone has a safe and joyous holiday with family and friends,

Merry Christmas from the Conrads.

The Mother Hen Project

2010-11-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

I had the honor of contributing this artwork for the Mother Hen Project which is a charity auction, benefiting the Chicks in Crisis, Saturday, Nov 20 4:00p to 8:00p at The Galleria, San Anselmo, CA.

"An exhibition and art auction to benefit Chicks in Crisis. Featuring over 50 works by artists in the fields of animation, illustration, graphic design and fine art. Including work by a host of directors, animators and designers from Pixar and beyond. Date and time details are for the auction itself, the exhibition will run for two weeks beforehand."

You can check out some of the really great artwork and artists featured at the Mother Hen Project blog Here.

If you can, please come to the event and contribute to this great cause!

Monster Maker!

2010-10-30T09:13:00.000-07:00

This year I wanted some fun Halloween decorations for the Conrad domicile, but after doing some scouting out at the stores, all I could find were generally either the more "gory" representations of all that monsters and Halloween have to offer or stuff that was perhaps a little too "kiddie" in tone. Not that there's anything wrong with either....

But not exactly what I had in mind...I was looking for stuff more in the spirit of the classic Universal Monsters, The Mad Monster Party, The Munsters, Disney's Haunted Mansion etc.. Also for the actual decorations, what I was looking for was something along the lines of the old halloween mainstays; The cardstock witches, cats and pumpkins that folks used to tape up on their windows and door frames... but especially the printed/cardstock Skeleton with posable limbs, my favorite as a boy... except I always wanted it to be a FRANKENSTEIN!

(Yeah, I know...technically he's Frankenstein's monster, or creature... but c'mon, when we were kids, that's what everybody called him!)

So... I decided to MAKE my own MONSTER!

Starting out, I made his head (posted previously), and followed with his various body parts, (a lot like Dr. Frankenstein when you think of it...) Because of the size limitations of my printer, I had to divide some pieces that would ordinarily be "one": The forearms/wrists and hands, or lower leg, ankle and boots for example. After I created the pieces in Photoshop, I printed them all out:

Then, using an exacto, I cut along the edge of the thick black outlines that I put around all his parts. After I cut everything out, I took a black marker and ran it along the exposed white/cut edges...just to help it all blend a little better when assembled.

Next, I inserted black metallic "brads" for the posable joints (I bought mine at Wal-Mart in the craft section, but I bet you could get them at Michaels or Hobby Lobby too):

Taping the remaining elements to the backs of the forearms, lower legs, and the head to his shoulders, I taped a length of string to his back and then attached the other end to the top of the door frame.... add a little lightning from the storm ... and VIOLA! My Monster is Alive!... It's ALIVE!

I've included files below for printing, if you'd like to try this yourself at home! The format I printed on was 13x19... but you should be able to scale these down fairly easily for whatever sized printer you have. Good luck--and Happy Halloween!

Head & Hands

Upper & Lower Arms

Main Body

Upper & Lower Legs

Boots

Let's give him a hand!

2010-10-26T08:59:00.000-07:00

...Two of 'em while we're at it.

Can I be Frank?

2010-10-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Frankenstein's Monster

Counting down...

2010-10-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

..the days to Halloween!

The Count

Happy Birthday Ray

2010-09-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

A little late... as I'd hoped to get this out before Mr. Bradbury's birthday (being his 90th) on August 22. But due to numerous circumstanci at the Conrad domicile (What's the saying?, "Sometimes you eat the 'bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you.") it was not to be..

Hopefully there's still a piece of cake left in his fridge.

Now, let's see if remember how to work this blog thing...

B is for Bradbury

My mom was librarian of the small Missouri town I grew up in, and many a day after school I'd sit camped out in front of the science fiction section, pouring over the paperback covers and spot illustrations found within some of the older tomes. Greats like Virgil Finlay, Frank Kelly Freas, Richard Powers, Ed Emshwiller, Ralph Brillhart, Jack Gaughan and so very many other un-credited cover artists explored all of these fantastic themes before my hungry eyes.

In this piece, I wanted to honor both Bradbury's canvas and those "old school" science fiction book covers that I had poured over in my youth as well as "texture it" with physical wear, as many of those books I studied were worn from many readings. I thought it might be fun to use The Illustrated man as the anchor, with the titles of some of Bradbury's stories and books as his tattoos. R is for Rocket was my first experience with his work, and the "B is for..." seemed natural to include as the large central focus of the main figure's back. A Sound of Thunder being one of my favorites, I had to include the time traveling hunter's encounter with the T-Rex. I loved that story, and the twist ending was so surprising then, and has been aped by many since.

Here's to you Ray- You took this small town boy on quite a tour; The frontier of space, the planet mars...I met ghosts of ancient alien civilizations, fire starting firemen, went to mystic carnivals and prehistoric safari's all along the way. For the ideas you shared and all the many places that you led me to I thank you. Cheers.

Update:

The piece was put up alongside several others on the official Bradbury Week tribute FB page.

Besides the art gallery, if you scroll through the pages, there are great video clips and interview pieces from the week long celebration.

For those interested, an overview of the process follows.

Paperback Cover Reference

Thumbnail Sketch Ideas

Rough Color Thumbnail

Vector Color Layout

Finished Painting

Graphic Design for the "paperback cover" elements.

Including a publisher's mark.

Alternate Author Treatment

I toyed with this wonderful 70's style type for the title, but opted for something "plainer" to stick with much of the particular era style from my reference, and to also separate the "publisher's" graphic design from the Illustrated man tattoo type.

And finally again, with distress and wear added:

Help the Hodges

2010-01-19T14:28:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: 2! LIVE AUCTION HERE.
UPDATE: Official Press Release

Hey Folks,

I wanted to alert you to a non-profit ebay auction this coming Thursday, January 21 to raise funds for the family of animation artist Tim Hodge, whose son was in an auto accident last August and remains in a coma today.

Tim explained on his blog:

"As many of you know, my son was in an auto accident with a train back in August. He has still not regained consciousness, but is doing a little bit better each day.

As you may not realize, our short term insurance expired in September. The rest of the family could renew, but Matt became a pre-existing condition. So Matt's healthcare since that time has all been out of pocket. Vanderbilt Hospital was gracious to us and forgave our six figure debt to them. But Matt's ongoing care and future rehabilitation is still in the balance."

The website HelptheHodges.com has images and details about all of the donated artwork so far . It's already an incredible collection that includes pieces from folks like Pete Docter, Chris Sanders, William Stout, Drew Struzan, Charles Schulz, Nick Park, Frank Thomas, Craig McCracken, and Mike Mignola. Should you wish to help the family without participating in the auction, the Hodges’ website also has details on how to make a fully tax-deductible donation to the family.

If you can, please help this family in need.

(posted art above in order by Chris Sanders, William Stout, Frank Thomas & Multiple Artist "Jam")

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's from the N.P. Forest Service!

2009-12-24T09:49:00.000-08:00

This card came in the mail today and I thought I'd share. I made a contribution a few years back and I guess I'm still on the mailing list! They're still doing great work up there for sure, and don't forget their motto;

"Keep 'em Lit!"

Merry Christmas to everyone and Here's to a happy 2010!

UP is OUT

2009-11-13T11:12:00.000-08:00

In conjunction with the release of Pixar's Up on DVD/Blu-ray I'm showing some of the work that I did ( graphic design and illustration for the production). I also thought that it might be interesting to show not only the pieces as they made it into the finished production, but also some of the process and development along the way. By no means is this all of the graphics work that was done for Up, by myself or others, nor am I showing all of the steps or versions, but these are certainly some of the highlights along the road.

WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!

There are important plot and story spoilers in this post, so if you haven't seen UP yet, you should really wait and look at this until AFTER you've watched the movie.

*ALL ARTWORK PROPERTY of PIXAR/DISNEY*

TEPUI ETCHING.
Ellie as a girl, has "procured" some pages (including this illustration of Paradise Falls) from various library & text books and pasted them into her own Adventure book. Later, Carl carries it with him on his own adventure in South America.

My first concept sketch, also showing that Ellie was going to attach her own drawing of her dream house on top of the Tepui illustration.

Style exploration and test.

Sculpt of the Tepui by Jerome Ranft, (Left and Top corner/Side) view. The bottom right image, shows the above digital shot that I altered for a faux geographic style magazine article that Ellie thumb-tacks up on their living room shrine.

I began to work with the digital shot as my reference and foundation for the "real" Tepui ...a difficulty with this, was that the actual model for the set had yet to be built, or finalized in it's design. As you'll see in the steps shown, there is some evolution to the silhouette of the location within my illustration.

The final image (in the film it receives the addition of a house drawn by Elie Docter. See the first image of this post.)

MAP OF SOUTH AMERICA
The facing page to the Tepui Etching in Ellie's Adventure book.

Initial sketch and screen shot of placement during the layout phase of production (this helped to determine if elements of the illustration needed to be moved for visibility and emphasis);

Early rendering.
Final rendering.

PLANE TICKETS
The plane tickets for the trip to Venezuela that Carl and Ellie never take.

Early concept sketches (these were to tie in with the logo and signage for the travel agency/airline location that Carl buys them from).

An early round of design as we determined the overall look and level of detail that the tickets would have.

The final two tickets.
The final two tickets-/ with color adjusted for environment. (Sometimes, as noted with the South America Map, solutions are determined after a design element has been seen in the context of environment, lighting, interaction with character, etc..)

CARL'S HOUSE
As Carl is a senior citizen, his house was to be filled with a lifetime of items that he and Ellie had collected...along with that, a lot of clutter that Carl had ceased to be able to take care of properly. So, scattered about his house are notes, receipts, pill bottles, coupons, letters etc...

Some letters, a postcard back and a screen shot of the living room shrine, during layout for placement purposes.

Two postcard fronts (subtle reminders throughout the set of the trips that they never took).
Magazine covers.

Album and record label.

Layout screen shots of Carl's front foyer and living room for graphics placement.

Carl's cereal box and milk carton (Another example of design elements moved for visibility during the layout of the film is the empty space on the left of the cereal box front, something that wouldn't happen in the "real world".) I got a kick out of showing that Carl had opened the wrong side of the milk carton.

SHADY OAKS
Shady Oaks is the retirement home that Carl has been court ordered to move into. Here is the logo for the van that comes to get him, the brochure (3D models would later replace the storyboard drawing that I used for placement during design) and the ID badges for the orderlies. Sculpture of Nancy by Greg Dykstra.

CHRISTMAS CARD
Made during production, the card featured the bird, then named "Gary" with a different body design and coloration than the final version.

STORE FRONTS
Signage for the modern stores that have built up across the street from Carl's house, including models and layout screen shot for placement. The thinking here was to be slick, plastic and generally the antithesis of Carl's aesthetic.

CARL & ELLIE'S MAILBOX
Ronnie Del Carmen became the official source for Ellie's hand writing (I also used him for the "Paradise Falls" label on the side of the glass jug where they saved all of their coins). The two names shown here are several scanned tries by Ronnie using various brushes, which I then combined and cleaned up. The two hand prints were created by having Harley Jessup be our hand model for Carl and Stephanie Hamilton for Ellie. We basically coated the bottoms of their hands with various paints and inks, and then had them make several prints on paper... after scanning those in, I took the best sections of each and composited together an Ellie hand and a Carl hand, matching those proportionally to the actual CG hand models of the characters.

Screen shots from the film of the store fronts and mailbox.

BILLBOARD
During Carl's flight from the city, he clears a billboard as he flies over the rooftops. We wanted to underline his escape from his urban prison with an image that echoed his flight "up".

One idea was that through the decay that you often see on billboards, we would be able to combine an underlying image with a tattered front to convey the up and out movement.

Later the thinking was to tie in the billboard with the travel agency/airline where Carl had previously bought his and Ellie's tickets.

Until finally we ended with a much more simplified version of the airline logo, in a subtle blue (shown with layout screenshot).

WILDERNESS EXPLORER LOGO
Russell is a member of an organization much like the boy scouts or webelos, called the Wilderness Explorers. We knew that we wanted to communicate all that goes along with those institutions (exploration, the outdoors, camping, etc..) and subtly point in the "up" direction as well.

Early sketch ideas.

First round of design.

Final design, with a render of Russell's backpack for design application.

WE MERIT BADGES
Russell wears a sash that is covered with several (47) Wilderness Explorer merit badges, with one open space for the "assisting the elderly" badge that he is attempting to complete by helping Carl.
The ideas for the badges were hatched in a jam session with several of the story team artists, so as you will see in the following four images, we had 185 initial badges to choose from for Russell in the first review.
Keeping in mind that Russell has grown up in an urban setting, one of the ideas was to have badges reflect those type of skills and adventures rather than completely reflect the outdoors counterparts that are more commonly known. Believe it or not there is a name and meaning behind every one of these....

Once narrowed down to the final badges, placement and color coordination began.

The final 47 badges.

WE MANUAL
Referencing old scout manuals, alongside my own memories of being a cub scout, webelo and boy scout, I wanted to distill all of those types of ideas into the design of Russell's WE manual cover.
I also thought it might be cool to somehow incorporate an eagle and bear motif to go along with the hand signal and "call" that Russell makes throughout the film, as well as the Explorer motto that he recites.

Cover sketches.

Early round of design.

Finalists.

Final cover design.

At one point in the story, Russell was going to explain the jet stream to Carl using a spread from his Manual.

WE GPS
Interface/display (Don't blink or you'll miss it):

SODA BOTTLE CAPS
I believe that this was my last assignment on Up. At the beginning of the film young Ellie, has fashioned several pins or medals out of soda bottle caps and initiates Carl into her club of two by pinning him with the Grape Soda cap.

Round one.

Finalists.

Final cap and with Carl in the film.

And Finally, at the end of the film, Carl pins it onto Russell, naming it... the Ellie badge.

*ALL ARTWORK PROPERTY of PIXAR/DISNEY*

Hey Ma! Look- I'm on MTV!

2009-11-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

..and I didn't even have to dance or sing!
Here it is on MTV and then over here on Aint-it-Cool news too...
..and several more of those internet-type places as well.

I originally created 5 of the posters that they are showing, for display in the Pixar atrium a while back and was surprised to see them all over the net yesterday!
Disney is getting ready to release Pixar's Up on DVD (November 10th) and they have released the poster images to help promote it. I really hope that they help drive interest in picking up the film when it's out...it truly is a great film and I'm very proud to have worked on it.

Checking out the DVD specs online, it looks like there's going to be lots of great extra features (including Pete Sohn's incredible short "Partly Cloudy" and a new "Dug's Adventure" short), ....I may just have to get the Blue-Ray... uh...and a blue ray player too I guess. ;)

NOTE: Some of the websites that are displaying the posters are crediting the art incorrectly though. Besides the ones that I did;

Erik Evans did the "Paradise Falls" (with Kevin the bird).

Craig Foster did the SAA South American Air (with the Lama).

and Eric Tan did the "Journey into the Wild" (with Muntz's dogs).

Allright folks, that's all I got right now... maybe I'll post some of my development art from the film to celebrate the release of the DVD. (I probably had better check first though....)

You can run, but you can't....HYDE!

2009-10-28T13:24:00.000-07:00

....from Halloween that is.

I had the good fortune to pick up the special edition dvd of Rankin/Bass's "Mad Monster Party". (From the folks that also brought us Rudolph and Santa Claus is coming to Town)
'Loved this show as a kid, and really dig it now as well. Halloween was always a special time for me growing up, and this, the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, FM magazine and all those great Universal horror films helped build the anticipation for the night of costuming, make up and trick-or-treating.
If you get the chance, pick this DVD up, mostly for the visuals...the art direction ( including character & creature design by MAD Magazine artist Jack Davis) and stop-motion animation are still just incredible.

So...here's Mister Hyde. ..And I have all the other characters sketched out as well, including a full body Frankenstein's Monster with hopes of finishing them before Halloween...
Don't know if I'll make that goal (those pesky bills and paying jobs keep getting in the way)... But I guess it wouldn't be so bad to keep posting them ...after Halloween... WOULD IT? HM HM HM HA HA HA (insert Vincent Price laugh here)

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everybody!

NJ-CLASH!

2009-10-21T15:09:00.001-07:00

The cosmic fur's gonna fly!

I've had the chance to point out the very fun comic ( Fun to read AND to look at!) Jersey Gods from Image comics.
As I said before, if you haven't had the chance to check it out yet, run down to your local comic's shoppe and pick this book up!

Well in the course of my fan-boy gushing, Dan McDaid ( the inspiring artist that illustrates this title) invited me to do a pinup. After picking myself up off the floor..., I decided to show the book's star hero Barock in toe to toe cosmic combat with his overgrown nemesis Minog.

Man, these guys are fun to draw!
If all goes well this should show up in an upcoming issue--SO keep your eyes peeled for it True Believer!

Here's a bit of the process for those interested,

Initial roughs:

My scanner was on the fritz for a couple of days...so here's a phone pic of the pre-clean up inks:

The cleaned up version:

and the full/un-cropped colors:

See you in the funny papers!

Happy Birthday Mr. Kurtzberg

2009-08-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

Jack Kirby

SPONGEBOB SUPERTEAM!

2009-06-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

Hey there-I apologize for the lack of posts around here of late, but I've been pretty busy working on some projects... that I can't quite talk about yet! I'm pretty excited about them so, when I can, I'll be sure and share what I've been working on. Until then though, I can show you....the SPONGEBOB SUPERTEAM!

The good folks at Nickelodeon Magazine invited me to contribute to their special Spongebob 10th Anniversary Celebration issue which comes out next month. (August cover date I believe). For this special issue, several folks were asked to do various takes and interpretations of Spongebob and his crew! In my case, I was asked specifically to reinterpret the gang as a "Jack Kirby inspired super-team". I had a blast previously doing a comic book cover for them of Alfred donning the famous cowl as the "Bat-Butler", so I was thrilled to take on this Kirby inspired assignment!

For those interested, here are a few of the process steps taken towards the finished Spongebob Superteam piece;

I started off sketching ideas for how the classic SB crew might look through the "Kirby lens".. I knew from the start that I wanted Patrick to be the team's "Thing" type character:

With Squidward I was thinking of an "Inhumans" type;

And with Spongebob, I wanted to have enough cues to his already signature silhouette... initially to retain that large square face, I thought of a Modok/Arnim Zola type... but it was just too creepy for me! So I started thinking that perhaps a large yellow "tech" helmet might do the trick, giving him the recognizable shape, but still keeping a more heroic overall feel;

To sew up the JK homage, I borrowed heavily from one of my favorite Kirby covers= Fantastic Four #49 and did a version with the new SB characters (w/ Sandy as the Silver Surfer and Plankton as a Galactus/Dr. Doom amalgam);

and before the final colors (all in close range to the official SB colors), the inks:

On a sad note, if you haven't heard yet, Nick magazine has unfortunately been canceled. I was very sorry to hear this news, as I not only was proud to be associated with them, and truly enjoyed working for Gordon Whiteside there, but I also thought it was an AWESOME kid's magazine.. I can only hope that someone somewhere takes up this mantle as they were a great patron of independent comics art and offered a wonderful alternative to the very few comic offerings for kids today.
I hope you enjoy the piece I did and if you get a chance, pick up the August issue (which may be their last I'm not sure) and check out all the other takes on this great cartoon.

#1!

2009-06-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

$68.2 million at the Box Office this weekend!
Go UP Go!

Up is Away!

2009-05-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

(The Up crew opening the Cannes Film Festival)

Well as you may have picked up around here, I worked on Pixar's Up, opening this weekend (May 29th), and I'll admit that I'm extremely proud of it.
I'm not exactly impartial, as I was and am so close to it, but I believe we've ended up with a great film that hopefully everyone will enjoy for years to come. I think it has lots for everyone, including action and comedy, but also things that will directly speak to the adult members of the audience as well. Lots of good folks contributed to this, and I was only a small part of the larger whole.

I hope you all enjoy it, and I'd love to hear what you think! (gulp)

Here's a link to a great interview with Up director (and all around swell guy) Pete Docter over on NPR.

Next, are some things that are more specifically "me" related...to show and share;
(Now mind you, this is all a bit surreal for me, to be seeing my work not only in the film, but all over books, and toys and even at the Disney theme parks in walk around characters and on a parade float!)

The Art of Up book is out, I have a few things in it yes...but you get to see some REALLY good art by the folks I was fortunate to work with. There's quite a bit of great artwork shown in the book, but honestly, you'd need about 10 volumes to show everything that we did!
Check it out!As I said, it is odd to see some of the artwork I did for the film in the various consumer products etc.. out there. For example this is a kid's sticker book, that is loaded with stuff I did for the show!;

And this last one is probably the most "surreal"... to see walk around characters at the Walt Disney theme parks decked out in my graphics, as well as a float that's chugging along, with a huge illustration on it that I did as well--Watch it here!

Flying Up to Venezuela

2009-04-30T11:47:00.001-07:00

I was honored when asked to create posters that celebrate Pixar's latest feature film: Up. ( In theaters May 29)
It was a dream assignment for sure, and I'm sure you will see quite a bit of influence from both the classic travel art of yesterday as well as vintage Disneyland attraction posters; Two of my favorite genres of art and design.
It was quite a thrill to see them exhibited in the Pixar atrium, as I had admired the Ratatouille and Wall-E posters displayed there previously. Here they are alongside offerings from artists Eric Tan, Craig Foster and Erik Evans.

Congratulations guys, they look great!

Up, Up and Away

2009-04-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Beauty and the Beast:

Last weekend my wife and I were lucky enough to visit San Francisco to attend the Pixar wrap party for their 10th film: Up. We are back home now, but I feel a little bit like an Apollo astronaut that has returned to Earth from a Moon-shot... my body is here, but my head is still "there". What an excellent time we had- saw old friends, hob-knobbed with the stars and was thoroughly blown away by the finished film that I had worked on.

While I was at Pixar I was fortunate to work alongside some of the most talented artists in the business and I'm eternally grateful for all that I learned from these fine people. What a great experience it was. I have to say that I'm very proud of Up and how it turned out. It certainly is not the standard story that we tend to see in today's animated films... or even non-animated films for that matter. I can't wait to see it again- as well as hear what folks have to say about it!

After the screening we headed over to the party held amidst the art deco splendor of the Fox theater in Oakland! If you get the chance, you really have to check this place out, it's truly magnificent.

Here's the gorgeous gal that accompanied me, posing by one of 5 posters that I had created to celebrate the film. They had them all displayed in the poster cases outside the theater.
(I'm going to check and see if it's okay to show them here on the blog, so......"Stay tuned.")

...Is she a doll or what? ;)

The Thinker

2009-04-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

'One for the road, before I head out the door to SF;

SRM Fun from Paul Conrad on Vimeo.

I had created this as a promotional image back in the fall for my ongoing SRM project. I wasn't too happy with it, but shared it with friend and PopMonster Esquire, Greg Pope--He sent me back this cool animated short that he had made for fun (Using my flat jpg art even). Yep, he's a talented chap that one. He can currently be found in his studio finishing the follow up to his last album PopMonster.

Here's the inks

and colored version:

Orion meets Carl Fredricksen

2009-04-21T06:55:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,
'Have been hiding under a rock the past couple of weeks, apologies for the slow updates. Actually I've been working my tail off on a pretty cool project, that I think I can share after May 29 (hint hint).

As I've had my nose to the grindstone, that hasn't kept me from doodling on other things and ideas out on the periphery of my work ....Which used to get me into trouble back in grade school, right mom?

Here's a few more of my border thoughts:

And I came across this on the net.. someone had shot a pic of a pretty cool sculpt of Russell from Pixar's Up, 'sporting some of my work there:

Very cool to see it in three dimensions.
You can see more of the photos of sculpts and development art from the upcoming film here.

AND There's a pretty cool new "featurette" with the film makers of Up posted here.

Next up on the 'ol SRM blog, Paul and Lora's Excellent Adventure to San Francisco and the Up wrap party!

peace,

Paul

Cleaning up Gotham City

2009-03-29T11:31:00.000-07:00

A few months back, I had the pleasure of doing an illustration for the good folks at Nickelodeon magazine. The request was to create an old-style comic book cover for the character "BatButler" for a made up line of "Low Value" comics.

I had a blast working on this, not only designing BB's look, but the book's title and LV comics logos too! You can see mine, alongside several other very cool covers from the Low Value line of comics in Nick's latest issue (marked April 09) on stands now. (the magazine is really just chock full of cool illustrations) Thanks to Gordon Whiteside for the assignment!

Below are some process steps towards the finished piece:
First I submitted a few thumbnail roughs on possible layout and "gag" ideas. Like the one they selected shown here:

I also included a rough sketch of a logo Idea I had for the book, drawing from the opening title sequence from the 60's Batman tv show;

Once the initial thumbnail was approved, I moved into tighter pencils including a rough-in of title and various logo elements:

I then moved into the inking, scanning and coloring process with the character and at the same time created the logo in illustrator. Then I pulled them all together, adding some dot patterns and "aging" to the faux comic cover and ended up with the final image shown here:

New- Jersey God

2009-03-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

Here's my fanboy art of lead character "Barock", from the excellent new series Jersey Gods from Image Comics. Written by Glen Brunswick and pencils and inks by the amazing Dan McDaid. It's got lots of humor, big league action and is kind of a throwback to the wonderful silver-age comics of the day...
And the artwork Hooboy... Dan's work on this is like a wonderful fusion of Kirby and Frank Robbins... luscious inks and Powerful imagery, give it a read!

What a fun character to draw! Here's the pre-color inks;

Android Avenger

2009-03-04T13:13:00.000-08:00

Here's that Crimson Avenging Android.... The Vision! (I used to love the old Avengers comics as a kid, and this guy was always a favorite in the lineup!)
More of the ongoing superhero gauntlet slapping between myself and Everett Downing.

Where's HIS huh? ;)

Here's Russell!

2009-02-26T08:53:00.000-08:00

He's one of the hero's from Pixar's next film UP, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, in theaters May 29.

I had the amazing and humbling experience of working on this film, side by side with some of the most incredible artists working in animation today. Too many to list here, but check out the "Art of" book when it comes out, I'm sure they will all be featured there.
You can see some of my contribution to the film in the new character posters ; Here's a link to a higher rez version of this one, plus two more characters!

Yahoo!

SuperLove

2009-02-17T12:45:00.001-08:00

For my SuperLady.

S R Maya

2009-02-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

From the archives:
About a year ago I experimented with building a 3D SRM model. (I know just enough Maya to be dangerous!)

He's evolved a little since then, but overall he's basically the same lovable big blue robot monster we all know and love.

Sketching

2009-02-10T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to be better about having a pad out and sketching on things as I work (during the savings and sendings...)
Here's some recent doodles, and thinkings....

Random, doodles:
This next page is inspired by (I'm lifting it verbatim) the James Tucker cover art for the comics version of the great new Cartoon Network show "Batman, the Brave and the Bold". Plus some "Vision" head noodlings in there too (he's the latest challenge from Everett Downing):

The New Gods meet Star Trek (now that would be a rockin comic!):
And some Barock inspiration from Dan McDaids' great new comic Jersey Gods from Image comics (pick it up, his art is fantastic):

Mining the Negative Zone

2009-02-02T19:02:00.000-08:00

This piece was inspired by the Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four books. It represents a control interface for opening and maintaining a portal into the "Negative Zone", as well as allowing tracking and observation of the "away team" as they navigate an asteroid field in hopes of harvesting/mining energy rich alien ore found at the core of one of the larger N-zone asteroids. IE: Something that would be on a big screen in front of Reed Richards.

Control Detail:

Tracking Detail:

Additional screen focusing on the "away team" as they mine the Negative zone asteroid.

Sam Wilson-The Falcon!

2009-01-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Everett Downing keeps on challenging me... in more ways than one.
He's been sharing some behind the scenes work for his soon to be released MOJO story, and it is kicking my behind... in a really good way. Wait'll you see it! (You can find out more at his inspiring art blog)

As before with Luke Cage, he's thrown a Falcon shaped gauntlet at me this time... Check out what he did here. It's awesome.

My response:

Things were never the same...

2009-01-15T13:58:00.000-08:00

...After I saw this film. (All of it, but especially this shot) I saw it as a boy in my home town theater...a re-release, which was something Disney did quite a bit in those days.

It set my young brain on fire.

SRM X

2009-01-07T13:51:00.000-08:00

As in "x-ray".

Overview and diagnostic of the mighty SRM.

Detail:

Run, Don't Walk...

2009-01-03T07:58:00.000-08:00

...to see this film.
Absolutely amazing.

Transparent

2008-12-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

On screen tonight;

Feliz Navidad

2008-12-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

Feliz Navidad and may we all have a Very Happy New Year!

Danger Rudolph Danger

2008-12-17T09:37:00.000-08:00

'Working on a pretty cool project right now (hope to show you some of it soon), I was searching through my archives for some related reference and happened upon some things that I thought were kind of interesting... So I guess we'll call this segment;

TALES from the SRM Attic

This was a story I was working on a few years back, very 1950-60's B movie inspired, with jet pilots vs giant alien robots... (I think I can detect a heavy New Frontier influence too. ;)

Here's some doodles from that stalled project;

And in the holiday spirit, heres the cover I did over a year ago for a new Little Golden Book retelling of the Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer story, which I haven't seen yet, but I believe it's on the shelves now.... Ho Ho Ho!

Update: You can get it online at Amazon.com.

In Theaters Now!

2008-12-09T09:28:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to say something about this, but wanted to wait until it was actually going to see it's theatrical release. Well that time has come!

I had the pleasure (and I really had a blast) to work on the new animated short from Pixar featuring the characters from their previous movie Cars. Starting this weekend (Dec. 12th) it's attached to the front of Disney's Bolt.

It's called Tokyo Mater and as the titled suggests it all takes place in downtown Tokyo. (Somewhere I've always wanted to visit since watching UltraMan as a kid) Anways, I had a great time mostly doing graphics for all of the BladeRunner-esque signage and motion graphics in the "times square" sequences as well as some of the character "costumes". Everything with that Cars world "wink". Be sure to check out the "House of Donuts" too! :)

"I thought it was as visually arresting as the first time I saw TRON... that sort of crazy neon beauty.

We ended up watching it twice back-to-back, just so we could soak up even more of the back-to-back-to-back visual gags and design details."

From today's write up about it as well as another image over at Aint-it-Cool News.

UPDATE: There's a few more promotional photos and a more detailed press release over at Coming Soon.net

ALSO attached to Bolt is the first offical trailer for next summer's Pixar release UP, which I also had the pleasure of working on. This is going to be one very cool film, directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson. Check it out over here in HD: Up Trailer.

'Looking forward to seeing both of these on the BIG screen!

New Pantheon

2008-12-02T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here's an early peek at some development sketches for a group of costumed folks that will be appearing in the comic book combat I'm currently working on.
(p.s. a certain giant monster robot will be making an appearance!)

Boy howdy, the super powered fur is gonna fly!

Giving Thanks

2008-11-21T19:17:00.000-08:00

Getting ready to head up north to break bread, and turkey, with all of my in-laws. "Up north" to the land of cheese and beer. Milwaukee. Home of Schlitz, Pabst, Miller and many more. Hoping for some snow and a slice of pumpkin pie... or two. I know I'm in store for at least one of those. :)
In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few words and pictures of the things that I'm thankful for right now;

I'm thankful for my friends (new and old).

I'm thankful for those three monkeys sitting next to me;

I'm thankful that I have paying work (and that it involves creating art), that we have a roof over our heads and that we can go out to eat on occasion, and draw on the table while we wait;

I'm thankful for coffee;

and Jack Kirby.

I'm thankful for the newest member of our family, Monsieur Lambeau;

I'm thankful that I had the privilege to vote.

I'm thankful that we can take trips like this, and a previous one to Milwaukee where we got to view the Charles S. Anderson exhibit at the excellent Eisner Museum.
A few picks from that:

My favorite piece of the show;

And I'm especially thankful for this beautiful woman who puts up with all my nonsense and supports me on a daily basis.
I'm a very lucky man.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

CAGE!

2008-11-18T19:51:00.000-08:00

Still there?
Well I wrapped up the latest big freelance job, more on that in my next post.... and I've started doing layouts and development for my next comic story. And don't worry, it's filled to the gills with loads of super powered giant robot action! Just the way we like it :D

In the meantime, after many excuses, I have responded to the gauntlet thrown by good friend Everett Downing. Everett's an awesome artist, animator, story guy, fellow comicbook wannabe and all around cool dude currently working on the feature film Up at Pixar Animation (And after hours, he's working on a very cool graphic novel titled MOJO ). When I was stationed out there with Ev, we used to pal around, check out the movies, comic shops and local mexican joints.

(The Heroes for Hire at the opening of the Art of Wall-E exhibit at Pixar.)

Many a time we'd take a lunch trip to Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland and head over to the Taqueria to look over our recent buys, chew on chicken burritos and pontificate on the world's problems of the day. One troubling issue that kept coming up was how Marvel has underused and basically kicked to the curb, character Luke Cage and how they should have a kick ass ongoing title of his own again. Our thinking, is that they are missing the boat, and that he needs a revitalization along the same lines that Catwoman went through with Darwyn Cooke over at DC. Well, I guess if Marvel ain't gonna step up then Ev and I are gonna have to be the ones to do it!

Anyways, Ev had been after me pretty much the whole time I was out there to do a riff on Mr. Cage... and I'm just now getting around to it. If it's any consolation I've done not one...but TWO , count 'em two takes on our Hero-for-Hire. One is the more traditional look that he started out in (I still think that Luke Cage #1 is one of the coolest comic book covers ever made!)

Clearly inspired by a lot of the street hero films of the day, Shaft, Superfly etc.. Why else would a super-hero don a silk shirt to fight crime I ask ya... and while were' on the subject, Just who made the rule that african american super-heroes have to have their shirts open to the belt buckle? Check it out; Luke Cage, The Falcon, Black Goliath & Black LIghtning for starters.... What's up with that? Except for The Black Panther, and I attribute that to the forward thinking of Jack Kirby. Speaking of the King, my second take on Powerman is more of a re-imagining, kind of a "what-if" Jack Kirby had created him during his run on the Fourth World titles over at DC?
Introducing.... Luke Cage of the New Gods!

POPMONSTER released!

2008-10-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

PopeMonster:
Met up with Greg Pope at local saloon McCreary's to toast the release of his new album PopMonster (which I had the honor of doing the cover art for, posted about earlier.)

Check out the real thing;

Also, not only did they print the disc to look like it had an old school album label...but they even printed it with "grooves" to look like a miniature LP.

Anyways, forget about the artwork... the album is getting GREAT reviews and you can get it here at itunes. Or here at not lame.

And catch up with Greg at his PopMonster blog.

Oh yeah, and p.s. ...

Has SRM met his match?!

2008-10-20T09:43:00.001-07:00

Working on some SRM promotional images...

the New Brighton Archeological Society

2008-10-09T08:10:00.000-07:00

Quick update; I've been pretty swamped between the day gig, and a very cool freelance gig the last several weeks...which I'm afraid I can't really show anything on for now, but I can say that you'll be able to see it in theaters very soon! ;)
I'm also working on some SRM exploration and character design, and should have something to share on that by next week I'd think....

In the meantime, here's one from the archives; When I was saddling up to contribute my "Bloom" short story for the Image Comics anthology Popgun (currently on sale over at amazon), I was asked to create a logo for the original graphic novel they have coming out titled "the New Brighton Archeological Society". The client wanted it to target kids, and have a school crest/ coat of arms feel, that would nod to all of the mystic and arcane goings-on in this "all ages" series.
I was going for a Harry Potter meets Hellboy kinda feel...

I was also asked to create a new logo for the series "The Engineer", with the direction to make it indicitive of Pulp books like The Shadow, mixed with the old Famous Monsters and Eerie Warren titles...and with a twist of "soviet union" too, as the main character is a Russian Cosmonaut that gets mixed up in all sorts of fantastic goings on.

We went through quite a few versions and at the last minute this one was punted for their previous version, but the NBAS one is still being used. In fact I saw this solicitation in Previews;

I thought the overall contrast and feeling of both the logo and the overall cover could use a little boost, so I comped up a couple of possible alternates. It looks like they may go this direction now.... stay tuned.

Back from Baltimore!

2008-09-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

I had a very good time in MD over the weekend at the Baltimore Comic-Con.
It all started off with a tour of the cool creative community of Baltimore. A great lunch at the Golden Harvest (I had the breakfast burrito), a curios shop crawl (C you really should have bought the owls and the doe eyed puppy painting) and a visit to super cool Atomic Books. Then on to the Orioles game Friday night, hanging out with O's fan Chris Pitzer and sitting in with a section of comic book folks. Walt Simonson sat right in front of me :) Heck, Jim lee threw out the first ball.... Just look how far as a people we've come!
The game was rained out in the 7th inning, so Chris, new friend Stuart and I made a run for it. 'Covering heads and dodging puddles, we made it to a local pub. After wringing ourselves out, we spent the rest of the evening discussing the finer points of Jedi attire and lightsaber assembly over some local brew. Honestly the highlight of the trip!
Saturday was the first day of the show, went to my first Harvey awards that night, watching the current greats of the industry honor their peers, then wrapped it all up on Sunday. The show itself hosted the likes of Mike Mignola, Darwyn Cooke, and of course Jim Lee! Not to forget, Jeff Kinney, author of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". The lines for those folks were really nothing short of amazing.
As far as how I myself faired, I think it went rather well... Chris let me camp out at his awesome AdHouse table, which I am very grateful for. It was some good exposure and experience for me, and hopefully didn't soil his reputation too much in the process!
I met some great folks, made some new friends, sold a good many prints and got some positive feedback on my art. ... Specifically folks wanting to know more about SRM; When, who, what... "Where's your book?" All that to say, I walked away encouraged by the response and more resolved to bring SRM's story to life. My current goal, barring the arrival of hell or high water, would be to have it close to print-ready come springtime.

Also, I have some of the afore-blogged about Baltimore Comicon Posters left over. If your interested, drop me a line!

'Til next time, here's some pics from the trip!;

Great atmosphere at the Golden Harvest. I highly recommend... check out my menu; made from a Barbara Streisand album... Man, was she cute back then or what?

Jim Lee on the Jumbotron.

How about that view of the diamond? (that's the back of Walt Simonson's noggin in the red cap)

Here comes the rain again.

Dinner before the Harvey Awards.

My wares at the AdHouse booth.

SRM for a sketchbook. Just look at that concentration!

Baltimore Comic Con!

2008-09-24T08:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend I'll be in Baltimore hanging out with Chris Pitzer at the AdHouse Books booth (#1503).
Among the various great Adhouse books, we'll be selling an exclusive limited run of the SRM & Masked Pugilist posters posted below. Get 'em while they're hot!
(I'll have some prints of some of my other stuff too!)

Baltimore Comicon
September 27 & 28
10-6 & 10-5

Hope to see you there!

Masked Pugilist (color)

2008-09-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be fun to see what the Masked Pugilist might look like colored in a more "traditional" comic manner.

Soon to be Hot off the Press!

2008-09-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

...Or Sometimes ya gotta dance with the one you brought!
Meaning: I'm going to have to put the SRM exploration to a halt for now, The Dreaded Deadline of Doom Dictates!
Heres' the Color versions of the SRM and Masked Pugilist Baltimore Comic-Con posters. If your gonna be in the neighborhood next weekend, these will be available at the AdHouse Booth at the show.

Still thinkin on the Masked Pugilist's colors..

(Updated!):
I received some great feedback, and have adjusted the contrast on each of these... as well as darkening the ink layer on the Pugilist.
I know it still doesnt' pop as much as a "normal" comic image, but I did want to play somewhat with the relationship between the comic image and the graphic design elements and build a more "subtle-tension".
Hopefully I've succeeded. As is, they've been sent off to the printer.
Thanks again for the constructive comments.

Here he comes again..(and he's bringing a friend )

2008-09-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

More study on SRM...and a masked pugilist friend...(I'm working up some posters for the Baltimore Comic Con next week)
Inks and colors to follow...

Here he comes!...or... Evolution of a Monster

2008-09-15T09:11:00.000-07:00

You've heard me mumble about a series of graphic novels with the same moniker of this here weblog for many a moons...
Well this is the year it happens! Ha. What you see here is the recent progression of the way 'ol SRM looks.

You've heard of the expression "necessity is the mother of invention" right? Well I've been invited to hang out with Chris Pitzer at the super cool Adhouse booth at the Baltimore Comic-Con Sept. 27-28 (that's a little under 2 weeks from now true believers!) and I thought it would be kind of cool to do a sneak preview poster image of SRM. Easier said than done. What I've found is that I see him semi-clearly in my head, but have yet to really bring him fully to life with pencil, ink and digital color. My first two tries are just that... "tries". This isn't him yet. He's getting there, but hasn't fully materialized in a way that says "Aha! That's SRM!" to me.

I have a much better understanding of the natural progression of the visual style of characters like Mignola's Hellboy or Kirby's Thing for example, in that like a sculptor discovering the figure within a block of marble, the character starts to reveal itself over time... and as the necessity above states, invention can happen.
The problem that I'm currently wrestling with, is that I want to convey his "surface texture" but I don't want it to be too laborious as I'm planning on drawing this guy a lot, as well as I don't want to overpower the viewer with too much surface detail. I lean more towards enjoying "simple" design rather than too much noise... All that to say I'm still "figuring" this guy out. Like an inventor working out problems on the chalkboard, mine are still ending with question marks.
But I'm narrowing it down.

Here is some recent sketch noodlings to show you some of my process...

Stay tuned...more to come and soon!

POPMONSTER!

2008-08-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

A few months ago my friend, musician and filmmaker Greg Pope, approached me about doing the cover art for his upcoming solo album titled "PopMonster". Greg and I have a lot of similar interests, specifically sci fi and classic monster movies (he easily has the largest collection of Kaiju on vhs and dvd in this part of the country) and he thought I might be good at doing a giant robot monster inspired cover for his new rock n'roll album. (Don't know how he got that idea...)

Here's a few pics of Greg in action sporting a tasty SRM shirt;

Greg's just finished the final master of the album and is sending off the tracks and art today. I'll do a follow up post with the links to where you can purchase the album or go see one of his shows. (Since he'll be doing shows promoting the album, I may try and do a poster for one of his gigs too) Until then, he's got a link up with a couple of sample tracks from the new album here.

Greg's posting some news over here at his non-solo "group" site; edumund's crown

AND you can download a couple of free tracks from his previous album there too... this one's my fave: Keith Richards

Here's what the front and back for the PM album look like together, as well as the actual disc too.

For those interested, you can check out some of the process steps toward the final art below.

Some initial sketches:

And a few of the color concepts;

Totoro Forest Update

2008-08-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

Well the tickets for the event are sold out!

If you didn't get tickets and are really wanting to go to the event, being held at the Pixar Animation studios, and view, bid on and/or meet some of the super talented artists who contributed to this auction, then stay tuned...: According to the event organizers; "We might have some more tickets available in a few weeks." they also said, "It won’t hurt to shoot an email to admin@totoroforestproject.org to be put on the waiting list."

There's also a new blog (highlighting the art, artists and behind the scenes goings on) for the project here: TFP Blog

Totoro Forest Auction Update

2008-08-11T14:04:00.000-07:00

Tickets have officially gone on sale for the upcoming Totoro Forest Art Auction Benefit Event to be held at Pixar on September 6th. The price of each ticket includes a copy of the amazing Art of Totoro Forest Book, a $40 value.

All the “Totoro inspired” art is up for preview here.

Here's the breakdown:
Forest Friend - $100 regular admission + book.
Forest Sponsor - $200 includes admission + book + signed limited edition print
Forest Champion - $300 includes middle VIP live auction seating + book + signed limited edition print + gift certificate to Blowfish Sushi
Forest Hero - $500 includes front VIP live auction seating + book + an original drawing by one of the artists

Tickets are on sale HERE. There are a limited number of tickets so if you're interested in attending act quickly. All proceeds will be donated to the Totoro Forest Foundation!

Here's a shot of the in production "art of" book. It looks fantastic!:

And a panoramic shot the artwork being judged for the gallery showing after the auction at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco:

In Stores Now!

2008-07-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

Pardon the plug, the promotion and pimpery ..but I've got something coming out on the comic book stands today.
Actually...it's my very first published comic book style adventure! Pretty cool huh?

It's a short story titled "Bloom", in Vol. 2 of the Image Comics anthology series "Popgun". All sorts of cool folks have contributed art and stories to it...Heck, it's even got a cover by Paul Pope!

In a nutshell, my story is about a super-powered girl shipwrecked on a hostile alien planet populated by killer robots....
Think Planet of the Apes meets The Terminator...uh...with superpowers... Yeah. :)

If you've been around these parts, you'll know that I've previously talked about it here, showing process sketches, etc.. I finished it over a year ago, and 'am looking forward to finally seeing it in print. WooHoo!

Here's the official website for the book: Popgun 2

Look for that snazzy PP cover at your local comics shop & bookseller...or you can get it on amazon here.

'Nuff Said!

Totoro Forest Project

2008-07-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

Framed and shipped!;

I'm very excited to tell you about an upcoming event that I'm honored to be a part of . I was invited to be one of the contributing artists for the Totoro Forest Project.

"Totoro Forest Project is an international charity effort to preserve Sayama Forest, also known as Totoro Forest. This endangered sanctuary on the outskirts of Tokyo is where director Hayao Miyazaki got the inspiration for his much loved character “Totoro.” Over 200 top international artists from animation, illustration, and comics are donating artwork especially created for this cause.

On september 6th 2008 Pixar Animation Studios will be hosting an art auction event featuring all these fantastic pieces of art. All the proceeds of this fundraiser will benefit the Totoro Forest Foundation."

The project is being organized by Dice Tsutsumi, Enrico Casarosa, Ronnie Del Carmen, and Yukino Pang at Pixar.
There are some amazing entries...you really should head over and view them as well as read more about the project!

The theme is "What is your Totoro?". I had more than a few ideas, and was so inspired by the challenge that I executed two of them. The background inspiration for these comes from my own childhood treehouse. Growing up in a small town in Missouri, that treehouse resided in my backyard. Many a day I piloted spaceships from it, fought monsters and traveled through time. I guess you could say it was the crow's nest for my young boy imagination.

...and, to this day, I can rarely find solace more than when I'm in the presence of a tree.

The Return of SRM....or ... Lazarus Rise!

2008-07-11T12:37:00.000-07:00

Or something like that. Whew. Where the heck has this guy been?! If you're interested, read on, if not look for the next post (which I'm working on right now!)

Well, long story short; I accepted a job at Pixar Animation Studios in the fall of last year, and my family and I moved to the bay area of California. As you may have noticed the American economy has been in trouble, and we were unable to sell our house back in Nashville the entire time we were in Cali. The job was very cool, I made some great new friends, learned lots and created lots of art....but the financial situation and the area we had to live in because of said finances just made things too tough on our family. We started weighing it all and the cost to stay there was too high...moving back into the house we already owned, the good neighborhood, good schools and friends all seemed to make the most sense. So.... here we are, right back where we started...sort of. A little rougher round the edges, but certainly wiser and very happy to be back. The previous situation with new job, cramped space and all sorts of stress really prevented me from working on any outside projects...hence the lack of postings here-abouts. Well, I'm here to tell you...that's all about to change!
I've about got my home studio re-set up and I'm rairin to go... I've got lots of catchin up to do! So without further ado...the real reason why y'all come by these parts: Bring on the Art!

Recycled Christmas!

2007-12-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays,... or if that offends..."Season's Greetings!"...whatever that means...
Aw for pete's sake!....MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope everyone has a blessed holiday, I'm off to spend the week with my family in Tennessee, and bring them back with me to oh-so-sunny California!
I didn't have time to make any Cards this year, so if you'll forgive, I'm recycling from last year.
See you in 2008, Feliz Navidad!

Welcome back....

2007-12-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

(Insert Welcome Back Kotter theme)
Wow...well it's been awhile for sure. Sorry about that, to say "I've been busy" would be an understatement!
As I stated in my last post...so long ago...
I've moved out to the California bay area ... and am working at Pixar Animation on the upcoming movie titled "Up".
'Afraid I can't say much more than that about it, but I'm having a good time, and am definitely being "stretched" as an artist and human being. The best part about it, is meeting and working with all the great and talented folks that are already out here.

The move has been a bit tougher than I'd imagined, some of that is due to the cultural whiplash moving from Tennessee to the San Francisco area....some being the day to day adjustment from freelance artist working from my home, to working in an "on-site" studio environment...and the hardest part has been the emotional hurdle of separation from my family who are still living in TN. They will be joining me over the Christmas holiday though....thank goodness! We have a place to live in and are looking forward to exploring the natural beauty that this state has to offer. Yosemite here we come!

Here's a couple of views from our new domicile;

(that's San Francisco in the distance)

(and the Golden Gate bridge in the far off..)

For those of you who are interested in tracking my art and stories... I have a short story that I want to get off my chest, about a spaceman voyaging to a strange planet...(wonder where I got the inspiration for that one....)
And a longer story next, that I've hinted around about these parts before.

Here's some inklings from those stories...:

I'll be answering questions & comments etc.. asap. And if you'll look at my links bar you'll notice a couple of additions;
My buddy Everett Downing... very talented animator and story guy. Go check out his site, and look for his upcoming story "The Soul Cage"...cool stuff!
Also be sure and check out his report on the recent Maverix Charity auction...great art donated for a great cause... if you look, you'll see my ugly mug hobknobbing with all the cool kids.
I also linked Lou Romano, whom I have the privilege of working with. Great guy and great artist ....check out his work, you'll be glad you did!
And I have a link for the Little Friends of Printmaking...always inspiring.

OkeyDokey...I'm off...but I promise not for long this time. ;)

Blast Off!

2007-09-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Blast off. Hurtling through the sky towards mystery and adventure.
That's what It feels like.
Like I've prepared for the mission, have climbed into the nose cone, checked the engines and have started the count down for ignition.
Ready to blast off-- towards..what? A strange new planet? The stars? Well not exactly, no, but... ... A new job, new town, state, friends etc..
We are moving from Nashvegas to the west coast...so it will definitely be an "alien world". Something far different than what we are used to, for sure.
I've accepted a position at an animation studio in California.
Strike that, not just "an" animation studio, but what I'd have to say is the coolest animation studio on the planet.
And we are loading up the truck (just like the beverly hillbillies) and movin to "bev-r-lee"...actually the bay area that is.
Leaving this weekend.........and adventure awaits. :)
Signing off for now,

3....2.....1....

Coming Soon-Delayed!

2007-09-22T13:46:00.000-07:00

Well, if you were looking for the story that I've been hinting about around here, you're going to have to wait just a wee bit longer. It was scheduled to appear in the upcoming Image Comics anthology "Popgun" Vol. 1 (out in November I believe), but due to circumstances beyond my control, chapter one of my sci-fi serial will be starting up in Vol. 2 (which comes out next spring I believe.)

You can read Newsarama's coverage of Vol 1. here:

Newsarama

and the official Popgun website here:

POPGUN

It's all looking very cool. In the meantime, I don't think I'd be giving away too much by posting this image from the story:

If you've been keeping score, you'll recognize this as a retooled image that I've shown around these parts previously. Her costume has been tailored a bit, here and there...
I was going for something similar to the "space suits" that Chuck Heston and company were wearing at the beginning of Planet of the Apes.

:)

Coming Soon!

2007-09-05T02:25:00.003-07:00

Finished!
Well, 'Actually...I finished it last week, but i've been trying to catch up with all the other crazy goings on here at SRM central...More on that later.

13 pages of action packed robot fighting goodness...coming your way in a super cool anthology filled to the brim with big time comics creators, indy up-and-comers...and 4 color wannabees (that's where I fit in if you hadn't already guessed)

I don't want to give away too much, natch, but here's a panel to give you a hint of what you'll be seeing soon!

Robo-Cap & Home Sweet Home

2007-08-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hey there....who? It's just lil 'ol me...raising my head to peek around a bit.
'Apologies for the delay in posts...
Yeah, there's been quite a bit going on here at the Conrad digs the past few weeks...between the paying and non paying work, and the natural goings on of life.
Summer's nearly over, and we are going through a heat-wave here in the greater NashVegas area...(oh, my poor lawn...sniff.)

Anyways, I'm still working on the story that I've been teasing the last couple of posts... as well as a few other things that I can't tell you about yet, but I do feel like I need to post something.

Here's a couple of Robo-Cap sketches from the archives;

And a concept sketch from the story that I'm currently working on:

More Top Secret

2007-07-24T08:53:00.001-07:00

And now back to our regularly scheduled sci-fi action melee...:

Having a great time on the new comic story I'm working on...not sure I can show more yet (if anything!).
I can say this: It's to be published in an upcoming book, by a comic publisher that you've heard of before, and the cover is going to be done by someone you've heard of too, who has an ongoing series that's recently been optioned as a film to be directed by someone that's made movies you've heard of too. Ha. Vague enough for ya?
Until then...here's another tease.
It has a bit of action to it...and yes...it's chock full of robots, rayguns, and super-powered beings.
All things a growing young boy or girl need. ;)

Proud Papa

2007-07-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile a project comes along, that I get really excited about.
You may not know it to look at the goings on around here at SRM central, what with all the robots and monsters...but I'm a huge fan of classic children's illustration. Any time I can lay my hands on a reprinting or, gasp, an original copy of older Disney storybooks, Little Golden Books, etc..(and can afford them) I do!
I'm also a big fan of the more recent adaptations of mostly Disney films that have been coming out from Little Golden Books... I think "Finding Nemo" was the first one that really knocked my socks off. If you don't have a copy already...run out and get one! The new "Ratatouille" one is pretty gorgeous too.

Well, you can imagine how excited I was when I was asked to illustrate Little Golden Book adaptations of two seperate stories from the popular VeggieTales series. I had a blast making them... and yesterday I got the actual published samples!
Here's a shot of the real published books:

And here's some jpgs of the actual art:

Look for 'em at your local book seller!
Or you can get 'em here at amazon:

The Ballad of Little Joe

Where's God When I'm S-S-Scared?

What's more, is after those, they asked me to do two more.
Coming soon: Lyle the Kindly Viking & LarryBoy & the Fib From OuterSpace!
(Vikings and Superheroes, oh my)

Collect 'Em All!

2007-07-16T07:47:00.001-07:00

If you been following the goings on around here at SRM central..., you know I've been participating in Sam Hiti's monster smack down "Fist-A-Cuffs".
Another one of the participants, Adam Cadwell has taken it upon himself to create his version of a collectable toy or card game version of the goings on over there. 'Comes complete with a tiny plastic figurine (although some folks are saying they look like fruit chews....) I think they're great either way!
I just received his version of one of my fighters "RagnaRokker"...

Pretty cool eh? :)

You can head over and check out a whole menagerie he created:

here

or head over to Adam's place to see more things he's got cooking...

there

Thanks Adam!

BUNNY- ATOMO!

2007-07-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Well...here he is in all of his unfinished glory. This weeks challenge for Drawergeeks was : Bunny/Rabbit.
I was going to slick this up, inks and full colors, but I just have too much on my plate right now. I thought folks might like to see the initial doodle/concept anyhow.
Undoubtedly influenced by the Transformers movie and the comic story I'm working on right now. (there's a fair amount of "Johnny Socko and His Giant Robot" influence in there too!)

If I get the chance, I'll try and come back to this guy sometime later...

Take that ya Latverian rats!

2007-07-03T08:35:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I pulled together a portfolio for a potential "top secret" project... 'while doing so I found all sorts of good (and not so good) things in the dusty archives. I got a kick out of this doodle of Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew putting the hurt on those goose stepping Latverians.

Robo-RollerBoogie

2007-06-26T09:03:00.001-07:00

This is the Arena-Bot I did for Sam Hiti's

Fist-a-cuffs!

Voting is currently under way for the "FACA NORTH- DIVISION" ending tomorrow.
So head on over, and check out the fighters, robots, monsters et all!

UNMASKED!

2007-06-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

FINALLY- the truth can be told...
During the recent FACA battle for the West Division championship...I was fighting as none other than...

Baron Von WhoopAss!

Alas, the good Baron was laid to rest...(not sure if that term really applies for the Baron) by the UNSTOPPABLE "Cannon Father"!

So head over to Fist-A-Cuffs and either congratulate or boo and hiss CF for me! :)

FIST-A-CUFFS!

2007-06-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

Hey make sure and head on over to Fist-A-Cuffs, check out the goings on and cast your votes! All sorts of cool fighters, monsters etc... and my buddy (Spanish Vunderkind) David Rubin drew the latest "Arena Girl".
I just might be in the current tournament...and I might not. Can't really say...
(This time around Sam is having us keep our identities secret... so you'll just have to vote for the guys you think are the toughest, etc..)

Check it out

2007-06-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

Raising my head from the drawing table for a sec...
During the wee hours, I'm currently working on my next story. It's to be published in a top secret anthology that I can't name yet... Soon, I think...;)
Some thoughts on the heroine of the tale:

Ghost-Rex & Kid Frankenstein!

2007-05-30T12:44:00.000-07:00

Friend and filmmaker Seth Worley is at it again.
Don't know how much I can spill about it, but I was asked to craft a prop for his latest film. It's supposed to resemble a page torn from an old book on Tennessee ghost lore....
The legendary....GHOST REX...!

After I turned that in, Seth wanted to know if I had done any comic book covers that he could use to populate the kid's tent.
I'm sending him my TrogHammer comic ...and while rooting around I found this guy in a dark dank corner of the archives. I dusted him off and brought him out into the light...
Say hello to Kid Frankenstein!

You can follow Seth's exploits more closely:

Here

Robot Horde!

2007-05-29T08:43:00.000-07:00

Allright ...previous commitments swept out of the way...
Family illness on the mend...it's time to get crankin on my next story. This is for another anthology that's coming out...don't know that I can name it yet. :(

Anyways, this one is going to be done in more of my traditional pencil/ink style...it'll be a bit longer than "DD & the Kid"...and I'm looking at it as an ongoing story (I already have several chapters plotted out). Hope you like it!

This is some development on various members of the "robot horde":

Doc Dastardly Preview!

2007-05-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well I've hinted at this a bit previously, but I've got the okay to actually show a couple of pages!
These are from a short story I have in the upcoming comics anthology "Parable".

Here's the title (Dr. Dastardly & the Kid!) and a following page:

If you like Robots, Mad Scientists AND super powered kids...hopefully you'll like this too!

Hero or Super-Villain?

2007-05-11T08:26:00.000-07:00

(For this weeks DrawerGeeks! challenge)
I wish I could take credit for the copy on this... but it's straight from a 1974 Marvel house ad that introduced Wolverine.

For those interested, here he is before I "aged" him:

Here's to you Wolvie...you've come a long way baby!

Shhhhhh!

2007-05-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

TOP-SECRET...
Okay, just between us...I'm working on some cool stuff!
Two new comic anthologies are coming your way very soon, and I've got stories in both of 'em! This is a WIP from the first one....

(remember, don't tell anyone I showed this to you....)

ONE VOTE

2007-05-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well...
If you haven't heard yet (they've been running the story on CNN for a few days now)...
The Pain Brothers LOST the last round of Fist-A-Cuffs! ...By ONE VOTE!

Ugh!

The new WORLD FACA Champions are the team of "Skin and Bonez"!

Maris Wicks

and

Joe Quinones

Congratulations guys! ('two outta three?)

My Brother in Pain,
David Rubin, commemorated the occasion with this:

Is that guy a STUD or what?

Go check out his art and tell him how cool he is!:

David

SPACE MONSTER: Battle for Nashville

2007-05-03T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hey my friend Greg Pope has a new video up on you tube...
featuring cool things like, giant robots, robotic spiders from outer space, missles, death rays and mass destruction...
You know... for kids! :)

Go check it out:

Here!

Rokk the Vote!

2007-04-26T09:49:00.000-07:00

THIS IS IT!

The Fist-A-Cuffs EAST VS. WEST CHAMPIONSHIP!
And it's for or all the marbles!...Actually for two swell championship belts!

The "Pain Brothers" need your HELP one more time!
(which translates to votes.)

Please Vote Here!

Thanks everyone for your support!

P.S. remember;

"VOTERS must have a complete profile, your vote will be void if the USER PROFILE is not legit. (It will help if you have a link to a working Blog or Website.) "

P. Conrad Esq.
Official Press Agent of The Pain Brothers

Holy Cow

2007-04-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

I'm speachless...

If you like Giant Robotic Battles like I do...then go watch

This

Wow

Congratulations David!

2007-04-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to take a time out from all the "me me me" stuff around here, and applaud my friend David Rubin.
He just returned from the Barcelona comics convetion, (the most important comic convention in Spain) and won the prize of de jury in the category of "Best new talent of the year in Spain" for his book "La tetería del Oso Malayo"!!!!

Bravo David! Bravo!

You can congratulate him yourself...and check out his amazing artwork here;

David Rubin

RagnaRokker! (w/battle damage!)

2007-04-24T08:43:00.001-07:00

Sam asked that we do new drawings of our fighters showing wear and tear from the battles leading up to this match...
So Here's RagnaRokker...showing some nicks and cuts...blades cracked and chipped...missing a few teeth...but still no slowing down for this guy!

FYI, Sam's only accepting BW pieces on the FACA site currently., but I may get around to coloring this guy...

We Did it!

2007-04-23T12:42:00.000-07:00

It's Official...the Pain Brothers are the new FACA Conference West CHAMPIONS!!!

And when I say "We" did it...I really mean "We"....as in all you voters out there. THANK YOU.
Here's a picture of the championship rings that are headed our way;

I'm sharing this ring with all of our supporters...I dedicate it to you! So, if you want to wear it for a bit, just stop on by. :)

Stay tuned for info concerning the upcoming WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 'BOUT!

SRM in 3D!

2007-04-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

In case you hadn't guessed on the earlier post...I've been modeling a 3D version of SRM.
Not quite ready to completely unveil him yet...

Meanwhile...

2007-04-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

In the F.A.C. universe...

Hmmm...Will TrogHammer come out of retirement?
T.H. jr may need a new pair of sneakers... Braces for sure! :D

(psssst. remember to vote for the Pain Bro.s!)

Vote Here!

Call to Arms!

2007-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

The "Pain Brothers" need your HELP!
(which translates to votes!)

Over at Sam Hiti's Fist-A-Cuffs!:

F.A.C.

If we win this match (and it's gonna be close)...we go on to the CHAMPIONSHIP!

Please Vote Here!

Thanks again for your support, we're gonna need it! :D

P.S. One more thing:

"VOTERS must have a complete profile, your vote will be void if the USER PROFILE is not legit. (It will help if you have a link to a working Blog or Website.) "

P. Conrad
Official Press Agent of The Pain Brothers

"To a new world of gods and monsters!"

2007-04-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

Dr. Pretorius from James Whale's "Bride of Frankenstein".

Here I go again...
Messing with things beyond my comprehension...weird science indeed.
What monsters will I unleash?

Fluke: the Return from TastyWorld

2007-04-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Hey folks,
Had a blast at the Fluke show in Athens, GA.!

I shared table space with fellow NashVILLAINS:
Dean Trippe , Jason Horn and Jason's lovely wife Kathryn.

That's me on the left, Dean in the middle and Jason on the right (Kathyrn shot the picture.)
Right below the "Tasty-World" sign even!

I met tons of great folks from all walks...'really enjoyed it;
J Chris Campbell, Scott Ellingburg, Justin Gammon, Joey Weiser, Andy Runton & Robert Venditti...just to name a few. I also picked up a bunch of mini comics...that I'm looking forward to reading in the next couple of days too.

I didn't have any of my own mini-comics to sell this time around, but I did bring several large size poster prints of my stuff.
Folks really seemed to respond favorably... so much so, that I may set up a little online shop offshoot to the SRM site.

Afterwards...we went to what I think may be the coolest comic book shoppe I've ever been to...it was an almost religious experience. "Bizarro-Wuxtry" is the name of it. If you are ever in Athens...and you love comics...ya just gotta stop by and check it out.

Bizarro-Wuxtry

For more pictures from the show, you can head over to Dean's site to view 'em.

FLUKE PICS

Allright...gotta get back to the grind now... ;)

Fluke!

2007-04-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

And out the door I go...to Fluke in Athens, GA.

FLUKE

Tasty-World, here I come!

FIST-A-CUFFS 2!

2007-04-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

That's right...I'm back for more punishment.
The mighty TrogHammer gave it the ol' college try...but was sacked in the third round.
Don't cry for T.H. though...always remember the words of Oscar Goldman; "We CAN rebuild him."
While T.H. recuperates, he had us put in a call to his cousin Floyd Ragnarokker to fill his sandals for the next FAC tournament.

Allow me to introduce THE RAGNAROKKER!

This time around it's a tag team match. And Ragnarokker (Floyd to friends and family only) has the good fortune of teaming up with his old friend Kaptain Knife Kafka! (as drawn by my friend David Rubin) They'll be fighting under the moniker of "The PAIN BROTHERS".

Be sure and head over to Sam Hiti's Fist-A-Cuffs blog for all the gory fun...and remember to vote for the "right" team... We are currently in match #3. ;)

Vote Here!

David and I thought it might be fun for each of us to take a swing at coloring the duo...
So Here's my take on our Four Armed Fist-A-Cuffers!

Please visit David's blog to see the fantastic work that he's posting there...and pester him for his version of the Deadly Duo.

David Rubin

Go Go, BOWL-ZILLA!

2007-03-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the WIP.
I actually like some of the overlaps, the "off register" and various levels of treatment here....but since it's for a 9 year old's birthday party....
I'll be bringing it into "focus" a bit more.

(UPDATE):

And the finish...just in time for the party. Whew.
Basically I have a horizontal two sided card, and the individual Godz/MechaGodz mini-standees for all the party tables.

I've also included larger printable images of the two side card/ and the mini-standees for your own downloadable enjoyment.
For the monster standees, just cut on or inside the black line around the beasties, then cut and fold the backer as indicated...glue that sucker on the back of each beastie..and you've got a Kaiju standee for your Godzilla themed bowling party!

POWER GIRL! (and friend)

2007-03-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Well, honestly that didn't take too much effort for her.
But, I figure whoever was the boss of what's left of that robot there, well, he's got more where that came from....
He was just seeing what our gal from Krypton 2 was capable of.

Now I don't know about you, but I'm bettin on P.G.!

You can view other folk's entries in the Power Girl meme

Here

Power Girl WIP

2007-03-22T13:20:00.000-07:00

Inspired by

Dean Trippe

again.

Here's my quick entry into to the Supergirl "meme" follow up. This time around, the subject is DC's PowerGirl.

I should have a colored-up version up later tonight, then I'll send it on over to the official meme gathering place....

You can view other folk's entries

Here

Bowl-Zilla!

2007-03-21T16:19:00.000-07:00

My Son's birthday is coming up, and we are having his party at a bowling alley...AND he would like it to be Godzilla themed. :) So, I made this invite to send out to his friends.

I addressed and sealed all the envelopes myself. YICKK......next time, I'm getting one of those little envelope sealer sponges for sure. Whew.

Next up, I'm going to try and make some table stands, etc... to help theme out the party.

Now, as far as I know...this is the only Godzilla bowling themed birthday invitation around.
If you find some...be sure and let me know. In the meantime, If you like this, and want to use it yourself, I made a blank version that you can print out. It's (5x7), and I found a bunch of stationary envelopes this size at Target.

Come on back, and I should have downloadable table toppers.... :)

Go Go Godzilla!

Ironclad Jackson

2007-03-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

Dr. Thadeus E. "Ironclad" Jackson

One of the founding members of the league, long standing advocate of the Whig party and still serving in an advisory and reserve position on the league since it's inception in 1835.

Trog-Hammer SMASH!

2007-03-08T20:47:00.000-08:00

Yes, TrogHammer IS mighty. There's no doubt about that.
But, just like all the great warriors before him (Genghis Khan, George the Animal Steel, Shelley Winters & Russel Crowe to name a few), he benefits from the support of his fans as he smashes his opponents into so much bloody paste.
With that in mind, T.H., as his friends call him, needs your help. He would never ask you himself, but I know that he needs it. Please stop by and let him know how you really feel...

Fist-A-Cuffs

Your post can make the difference between a simple win, and a disgusting mangled bloody mess, with little bits of gristle, hair and possibly some entrails stretched from one corner of the mat to the other.
And after all, I think that's what we all really want. Right?

So, cast your vote, and let's help a small town boy from the wrong side of the tracks know that you really care...and um, yes...uh, the hm, bloody bits,...yes that too.

Thank you very much.

Paul Conrad (close personal friend and water boy for TrogHammer)

Viva Las Elvis!

2007-03-08T14:36:00.001-08:00

America's first REAL superhero.

Originally done for a Drawergeeks E topic... I pulled him out and dusted him off for one over at SFG.
(there's a few nips and tucks on him here and there for those keeping score)

I'm expecting a phone call from the Memphis lawyers even now...

Mister RobotO

2007-03-07T13:59:00.000-08:00

WIP for a robot theme over at Drawergeeks.

In progress color exploration:

'Got a color preference?

Junkyard Gus

2007-03-02T12:48:00.000-08:00

So while I was rooting around in the archives for that self-portrait...
I found this. From way back in September 14, '05.
It's an early exploration sketch for a story I'm working on.

Meet Gus.
He runs a junkyard.

He has a secret.

super robot monster

'And a Happy New Year too!

GIANT MONSTER PLAYSET!

Merry Christmas!

The Mother Hen Project

Monster Maker!

Let's give him a hand!

Can I be Frank?

Counting down...

Happy Birthday Ray

Help the Hodges

Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday's from the N.P. Forest Service!

UP is OUT

Hey Ma! Look- I'm on MTV!

You can run, but you can't....HYDE!

NJ-CLASH!

Happy Birthday Mr. Kurtzberg

SPONGEBOB SUPERTEAM!

#1!

Up is Away!

Flying Up to Venezuela

Up, Up and Away

The Thinker

Orion meets Carl Fredricksen

Cleaning up Gotham City

New- Jersey God

Android Avenger

Here's Russell!

SuperLove

S R Maya

Sketching

Mining the Negative Zone

Sam Wilson-The Falcon!

Things were never the same...

SRM X

Run, Don't Walk...

Transparent

Feliz Navidad

Danger Rudolph Danger

In Theaters Now!

New Pantheon

Giving Thanks

CAGE!

POPMONSTER released!

Has SRM met his match?!

the New Brighton Archeological Society

Back from Baltimore!

Baltimore Comic Con!

Masked Pugilist (color)

Soon to be Hot off the Press!

Here he comes again..(and he's bringing a friend )

Here he comes!...or... Evolution of a Monster

POPMONSTER!

Totoro Forest Update

Totoro Forest Auction Update

In Stores Now!

Totoro Forest Project

The Return of SRM....or ... Lazarus Rise!

Recycled Christmas!

Welcome back....

Blast Off!

Coming Soon-Delayed!

Coming Soon!

Robo-Cap & Home Sweet Home

More Top Secret

Proud Papa

Collect 'Em All!

BUNNY- ATOMO!

Take that ya Latverian rats!

Robo-RollerBoogie

UNMASKED!

FIST-A-CUFFS!

Next Story

Ghost-Rex & Kid Frankenstein!

Robot Horde!

Doc Dastardly Preview!

Hero or Super-Villain?

Shhhhhh!

ONE VOTE

SPACE MONSTER: Battle for Nashville