Logo - Back Pocket Entertainment - fist of fury!

BAM! How about them apples?! I give you - one of my favorite logos to work on - Back Pocket Entertainment by Matt Martinez. Matt and I came together back in spring of 2014 to create this little guy. I created a bunch of concept sketches best on his ideas and preferences and after a couple rounds, this is what we came to as a 'final' logo. I say 'final' because in my opinion, no logo is ever final. They change as the times and company change. But I think this is a good first step for Back Pocket Entertainment. The image above is the full logo in all it's glory. Below are the separated pieces. Please don't steal - these images and ideas belong to Matt and we would be both be very hurt if our hard work was stolen and exploited. Remember, we're the little guys, not huge corporations.

A little bit about Matt Martinez and Back Pocket Entertainment: Matt is a film guy. Back Pocket Entertainment is currently a podcast/blog site with aspirations of bringing fellow film/comic book/tv enthusiasts reviews and new content from things like interviews with other content creators such as artists, directors, writers, and so on. In short, there's a lot happening over there so keep an eye on it as the site continues to grow. And feel free to give encouragement! It's a fairly new project and if he's making something that you enjoy, be sure to let him know.

So there you have it! Back Pocket Entertainment - welcome to the logo world. I might do a post about the process I went through for this and other logos if that's something that interests people. If you're curious about getting a logo made, fill out this form and we'll go from there. Otherwise, go check out Back Pocket Entertainment!

with love - M

Sketch Diary: TBT Totoro mini comic

Almost missed my chance for TBT this week! And what a special little piece of paper it is, too. Another piece filled with memories. Being cold in a Japanese winter, seeing little Totoro figures EVERYWHERE. The little strip at the bottom... I thought was quite genius at the time haha. I hope it makes you smile. Now I need to go watch a Ghibli movie! Gets me every time.

with love - M

Abby Howard and why I think her work is fantastical

Thank you, Penny Arcade folks for introducing me (and many others) to a wonderful artist and blossoming story teller - Abby Howard.

The Nerve of Some People

Before I go any further, let me preface this whole post by saying I feel a little odd talking about a person here. Typically, I'm used to discussing websites or tools or pieces of work... not a person. Let me know if I'm doing it all wrong, please. I'd rather not have her or her fans get upset and make me go insane by hacking my computer and installing strange programs and make it look like it has a mind of it's own or that it's out to kill me or something. Not that they would do that... that's just where my mind went.

ABBY HOWARD has changed my life. Not in that extreme I-was-going-down-a-dark-path-but-no-longer-thank-to-Abby kind of way. More like the I-now-have-a-better-understanding-of-things-I-want-to-accomplish-in-this-life-and-how-to-get-there kind of way. That was way too many dashes. 

This is also why I thanked Penny Arcade at the beginning of this post. They played a large role in it all. If you haven't already watched Strip Search, maybe it's time you did. If you have any interest in every creating your own comic (web or otherwise), watch it. I found it super enlightening and entertaining. Within it you will watch heroes rise and fall. Heroes like Abby. She went through a lot in that little web series. I don't feel like I know her or anything but I could definitely sympathize with her and several of the others. Being female myself, it was empowering to see fellow ladies-at-arms, not behind their web comes on the internet but out in the open for all to see (and judge!). Abby specifically seemed the odd ball at first but as with most human beings, the more we saw, the more we understood... her genius. 

Let's get to the good stuff. Abby now has two running web comics. The first is called Junior Scientist Power Hour or JSPH. It's light, it's fun, and sometimes my face hurts it's so funny. Always, it entertains me. Maybe my kind of humor is a little different... whatever. JSPH is her long standing comic with no over-arching story, just funny slice-of-life kind of stuff. After her experiences at Strip Search, she decided to dive in face first and do a kickstarter (that was way successful) for her new comic The Last Halloween. It's several pages in and the art style alone is enough to keep me hooked. Every week I look forward to these two comics. But why...

Maybe it's the dark material, maybe it's the style of illustration, or maybe it's that cat. Whatever it is, it makes me smile and that's what matters. I know I can peruse through older posts and find a treasure I had forgotten about. I know I can look forward to new pieces of  web comic gold each week.

Draw on, Abby Howard. Draw on.

with love - M

Sketch diary - webcomic test run panels

And here is a test set of panels for the webcomic-yet-to-be. Five panels is a bit much, right? Nom nom nom.

with love - M

Sketch diary - random webcomic test sketches

These are more sketches from that webcomic that has yet to be.

with love - M

Sketch diary - expressions practice

Sometimes when I get stuck on something, I just move on. So doing a series of facial expressions can be a good way of moving the brain around those road blocks. This page was for a character based on a friend that I was chatting with at the time about making our own web comic. Hasn't gotten traction yet but I think it's good to get those ideas out there. See what flies. Or falls. Regardless, these were fun to do. I feel like some expressions aren't so different between characters but it all ends up being "well maybe I'll put that eyebrow here- look at that! and maybe the mouth a little bit lower - yuck, definitely not". Makes me feel like a scientist... of faces.

with love - M