The Thinker

'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:

S R Maya

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.

SRM X

As in "x-ray".

Overview and diagnostic of the mighty SRM.

Detail:

Transparent

On screen tonight;

Feliz Navidad

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

Has SRM met his match?!

Working on some SRM promotional images...

Back from Baltimore!

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!

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!

Soon to be Hot off the Press!

...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 )

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

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!

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

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!

SRM in 3D!

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...

"To a new world of gods and monsters!"

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?

Real T-Shirts!

I recently got my comp SRM shirts that are selling over at my friend Chris's online T-shirt store.

Freaky Kids

No matter if I do a t-shirt design, children's book, magazine illo, toy, logo, animated character or whatever...I still get a thrill seeing them as an actual product.

A tangible thing....It's REAL!