Calgary Comics Expo:
It's been a while since I posted, so I haven't been able to share how great the Calgary con was. Julia and I had some travel difficulties getting there, but it was worth it! It's a great show with a very impressive guest list. I met Whilce Portacio, Jim Mafood, Bill Pressing, and Bill Willingham and reconnected with Josh Middleton and Stewart Immonen. I was really impressed with the hardcover art book they publish to bennifit the Boys and Girls clubs of Canada. I didn't get many sketches done at this show (it was very busy for being a smaller convention) but I was able to do this young hellboy. The owner scanned it and I gave it a quick color job as a warm-up for today.


Our driver to and from the airport was super-nice-guy Steven Gettis. I had never met him in person, but did a piece for his literature themed blog. And I was able to get another piece done for him. When I was in 2nd grade some of my classmates and I decided we were going to do a play of the Wizard of Oz for our class. We cast roles, rehearsed, planned, conned our folks into making costumes: all without ever getting permission from the teacher to ever preform it. She said "no" our parents, knowing how much work we had all put into it, talked her into sparing a bit of time over 2 days for us to preform it in two parts. I was the tin-woodsman and have always had a soft spot for the character. So here is the moment (with text from the book) Dorothy and Scarecrow find the Woodsman rusted stiff.


Free Comic Book Day:
Had a great time signing at Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. Dan and Katie went all out to make all the guests feel well cared for. I met and sat next to James Kochalka who draws 'American Elf' and the upcoming 'Johnny Boo'. Thanks Dan and Katie for the great day!

Runners:
Sean Wang does a great book called Runners. He self published the series of five issues and later a compilation over the course of several years and with the support of his then-girlfriend/now-wife Peggy. Runners is a sci-fi adventure comic that takes a lot of it's cues from the han/chewie parts of Star Wars. When Sean found out that his 2nd Runners series would be picked up by ASP, I was thrilled to do a pin-up for him. It won't be in print for a while because it's slated for the extras section of the collected hardcover (after the issues are published) but I wanted to share it and hopefully get some new people familiar with what I find to be a great comic. The pinup is based on the flashback scenes from Sean's first story arc. They stuck with me enough I had to draw the old crew for myself.

Upcoming Appearances:
Motor City Comic Con: This weekend is the Motor City Comic Con. I'll be there all three days (though I may be leaving an hour early on Saturday to make it to a cousin's wedding) signing, meeting fans, and sketching. Motor City is always a fun show because of the close friends I have that also set up there like Jeremy Bastian and Nate Pride.

Detroit Comics Signing:
June 7th I'll be signing at Ferndale Michigan's only comic shop: Detroit Comics on Woodward from noon to three. If you are in the area, stop by!



Fan Art:
This one was e-mailed from fan Orlando Ambriz. He says he imagined Celanawe wearing clean linen robes after becoming the Black Axe.

Back from NYCC

NYCC:

I'm back from Year 3 of the New York Comic Con. It was a really fun and exhausting show. I think I only got up and wandered for a total of 2 hours the whole 3 day con. It was great to see ASP with such a large space (last year's San Diego was like being in a sardine can). And I am proud to be published by a company that boasts the creative works of A.Dave Lewis, Sean Wang, Jon Rea, MATZ, Mark Smylie, Nick Tapalansky, Alex Shiekman, Jeremy Bastian, Alex Eckman-Lawn, Grant Bond, and many many more.



Mouse Guard RPG
When I arrived in NYC on Thursday I was whisked off to Burning Wheel Headquarters where Luke Crane had me playtest the Mouse Guard role playing game. To save some time, we used sample characters and got right into an adventure. I could go on and describe the system, the situation, or the details, but instead I'll sum it up with the most important part: I had a lot of fun playing it. Thanks Luke and Thor for the dinner and adventure!

Sketches:
I was able to take names for sketches Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately, I got to all but one of them. Also unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of each one (I think I was able to document 3 of the 11 or so that I did) So, if I did a sketch for you this last weekend, please scan it and send it to me if you could. I'd love to include them in an upcoming sketchbook. ericebon (at) hotmail.com

Jeremy Bastian, his girlfriend Emily, and I shared a hotel room, which was lovely. It's always nice to be able to go back to a room and relax with old friends. Saturday night Jeremy and I were each behind in con sketches and stayed up 'till the wee hours of the morning finishing them. You can see some of the stuff Jeremy did this weekend on his blog: http://jeremybastian.wordpress.com/


I was also really pleased to meet some great folks at this con. Joao Lemos, who's Avenger's Fairy Tales #1 artwork blew me away, was in from Portugal. I was pleased to exchange artwork with him and see his incredible journal/sketchbook he kept to document the Peter Pan history and his adaptation for AFT#1. (his versions of the Avengers as the Lost Boys can be seen to the right)



James Gurney has been on my list of great illustrators for some time. I discovered his work in an issue of Smithsonian magazine where he discussed his process. There were photos of his dinosaur models and gadgets and goggles he had modeled as reference for authenticity in Dinotopia. James and I have e-mailed back and forth a few times recently and I was really excited to meet him face to face. If you haven't check out his blog, it's AMAZING (and if you have checked out his blog, you know it's amazing). He posts on composition, color theory, painting techniques, model making, history, and concept thinking. It's like a refresher for all the things you wish had been explained better in a college art curriculum.

It was also fun to catch up with Runner artist/writer Sean Wang and his lovely wife Peggy. I met Sean a few years ago and read his first self-published collection of Runners on the plane ride home. I have been hooked ever since. Runners is the continuing adventures of alien smugglers, rouges, and outcasts in a sci-fi setting that brings the best parts of Star Wars, without ever crossing the line of being derivative. My favorite of Sean's characters from the book is Grissom, a smuggler from our heroes' past. Sean did this awesome sketch for me while in NY this weekend. Thanks Sean! A new Runners series will be coming this summer through Archaia Studios Press.


Upcoming Appearances:
Calgary Comics Expo:
This weekend I'll be in Calgary, Alberta (that's right, now that it's 70F in Michigan, I'm headed for 30F Calgary) for their Calgary Comics Expo! If you remember in a previous post I showed the image that would appear in their western themed artbook. I'll be signing that book, any Mouse Guard book, sketching, and meeting fans. I'll also be on a panel about being an artist with an indy published book (I don't have details on the time or date of the panel)


Free Comic Book Day!!!
May 3rd is Free Comic Book Day. I'll be at Green Brain comics in Dearborn, MI (unsure of the time yet, but I'll aim to be there by 10AM.) I'll be giving out a Mouse Guard print especially made for Free Comic Book Day. (I'm sorry to say that the print will not be available though sources other than Green Brain...sorry out-of-town fans, I'll try and get something out there in a national way next year) So stop by and chat and pick up some free books!

Fan Art:
This Wintery piece comes from the hand of Matt Strackbein. Thanks Matt!

2008 Eisner Award Nominations Announced!!!

And Mouse Guard received two nominations!!

Best Publication for Kids Mouse Guard: Fall 1152 and Mouse Guard: Winter 1152, by David Petersen Best Graphic Album (reprint) Mouse Guard: Fall 1152, by David Petersen.

I am thrilled and excited to have my book nominated for this award. It's a dream coming true.

Recent Appearances:

The Comics discussion group at the Eastwood Schulers in Lansing, MI was wonderful! I had a great time. The store holds a monthly comic discussion group (which I think is amazing that a bookstore is forward-thinking enough to hold). I was also pleased by how polite and thankful the attendees were. I received more 'thank you' emails the day after from that crowd than I have from any other event. So a big THANK YOU back to the attendees and to the organizer at Schulers, Whitney for being such a wonderful host.

Comic Geek Speak Super Show:

Comic Geek Speak is having a convention of their own this fall. After the success of their 200th and 300th show parties, the decided to make it an annual event (instead of based on the number of shows in the can). They asked me to do the cover for the program. I was pleased to have the mice marching with the CGS banner and ringing the Liberty bell all the way to the show in Philly.

here is the link to the event: http://www.comicpodcasting.com/cgsss/index.php

New York Comic Con:

This Friday through Sunday I'll be at the Archaia Studios Press booth in the New York comic con at the Javitz Center. I'll be signing, selling original art, and taking commissioned sketches. Sunday Mark Smylie and I will be on the panel: Let the Magic Begin – Fantasy in Comics: Creating Alternate Worlds on Sunday at 1pm in room 1E03. ASP has a huge round of talent appearing at this convention. For more info on who's going to be there, check out the announcement at the ASP website: http://www.aspcomics.com/2008_pr_041408.php

Fan Art:

My three nieces are helping a family in-need in their area. To do this they are collecting bottles, taking donations, and selling their artwork. Well I loved that they wanted to help (they are all under the age of 10!!) so I commissioned them to do a piece of Mouse Guard fan art for the cash donation. Emma and Kate each drew mice (and were relieved that I wanted to see their style of drawing and not try to copy what I do) Lauren, the youngest, declared that what Emma and Kate were doing was "too hard" so they printed off some images from last years sketchbook for her to color. Thanks for being such wonderful little girls that you offer your time and service to help the less fortunate!!

FIA event

Spring weather is here!
Last week before seeing my dad off safely for his surgery, I headed out to my old woodland stomping grounds to gather some photo reference. Not too far from my childhood home were some nice wooded areas with streams and some wildlife. As a kid I played back there a great deal and even built a fort back there (which had a working fireplace!!) On Saturday mornings (in most any weather) friends and I would head up to our fort and cook frozen burritos, pasties, and one time even scrambled eggs. We would pass the day following the stream, climbing trees, gathering firewood and repairing/improving the fort (it wasn't 100% water-proof). So last week, while tromping around there, I was able to see the location that once was our fort, but the high stream wasn't something I was up to try to cross all for a photograph of the wood pile that was a part of my childhood. However, the photos I took did contribute to this springtime image.

FIA:
Last Saturday I had a wonderful time at the Flint Institute of the Arts doing a lecture presentation on Mouse Guard, my background and my process. The lecture was well received by the audience. I think they enjoyed seeing how I start working from a rough script and then were able to see the steps through a final colored and lettered page. After the lecture I took questions from the audience, and there were some really good ones! Questions about why I use animals to tell the stories, why I use the format I do, and lettering.

The lecture was followed up by a trip to the gallery where they are showing 20+ pages of inked Mouse Guard pages from my collection (the pages and covers I don't/won't sell) I also brought up the Mouse Guard sculptures I did back in '03. Friday night when I was bringing them up from the studio for transport, I dropped two of them and broke them. So at midnight I was mixing up epoxy and trying to make sure all the sculptures would make an appearance.

As this was part of FIA's educational workshops, they opened the studios for young and old to draw and paint. I wasn't able to get around to many of the artists working away, but it was wonderful to see the studio packed with parents and kids dreaming of world and characters far far away from the chilly day in Flint.


The final leg of the FIA day was a signing outside of the gift shop. It was a very nice turnout and great to see so many Flint-area fans. Because the characters in Mouse Guard are based on friends of mine, many of the people in line hadn't read Mouse Guard, but knew or were related to the pals of mine used as the basis for Kenzie or Lieam.

Overall the event was a wonderful success. I had a great time and FIA reports to me that they were very happy with the turnout and enthusiasm from the public. Thank you to everyone who was involved and attended! (FIA is already telling me they want to set up another comics related event next year!!!)

Eastwood
Schuller's
Appearance:
Monday April 7th I'll be attending the Eastwood Schuller's bookstore in Lansing for their monthly comic discussion group (7:30 PM). I'll be taking questions and signing and perhaps sketching if time permits. If you are in the area please stop by and say hello!

Fan Art:
Megan Cutting is a HUGE fan of Mouse Guard and attended the FIA event last Saturday. I have met Megan and her parents a few times now (she has been to every Flint event I have done so far). At the library reading in Jan. she had the cast sign her Lieam plushie. This time she gifted me with a piece of fan-art of her own Mouse Guard character "Burnheart" Thanks for the drawing and loyal fan-ship Megan!

Mouse Guard RPG

I'm really glad to hear there is so much interest in a Mouse Guard Role Playing Game so far! Luke Crane has been working really hard on making sure it is firmly rooted in not just the current Mouse Guard books, but doesn't undermine any future Mouse Guard stories and books. At the same time, Luke is making sure there is plenty of room for players to take their own paths and adventures that stray far away from my Mouse Guard. Unfortunately, I can't share too much more on the details or more artwork. In the past I posted sketches for the cover. Now the cover is finished and since that will be shown in any solicitation ad, I figured I could share that with you. It was really fun placing characters from Fall and Winter along side characters who have only been mentioned or ideas of characters that I plan on fleshing out some day.

Year of the Mouse:

Don and Joanna Corcoran, the developers of the Mouse Guard Board game, have declared this not the year of the rat, but rather, of the mouse. One of their many game-related sites: The Reality Vault, has a post about it and some of their plans to make the year plenty mousey. Thanks for all your time and support Don & Jo!

Children's book illos from the past:

I was browsing my harddrive for pieces to post in this blog entry and I stumbled across two pages for a children's book I had an idea for a few years back. I was working in an antique store (with lots of large ticket and physically large items) when a mother brought in her two sons. One dressed all in red, the other in green. They were running around the store when their mother calmly said something to one of them and then he passed on the message to his brother. I liked the interaction and the idea of 'stop and go' started in my mind. I thought it would be great to do it in a style similar to that of Jack Ezra Keats where the artwork was a blend between collage and painting (this later lead to the style of illustration I used for books for my nieces Kate and Emma)

Upcoming events:

The next few weeks are going to be exciting, and they only mark the start of what will become convention season.

-Wednesday 3-26: The Villard edition of the Mouse Guard softcover will be out in stores. It's pretty exciting to have an imprint of Random House wanting to publish your comic work.

-Saturday 3-29 @ 1pm: Gallery opening, presentation, and signing at the Flint Institute of the Arts. I'm really excited about this one. My hometown has a wonderful art museum. It's where I took classes as a youngster and then later when the local College had it's art department housed there it was my home-away-from-home. The day looks like it will be a lot of fun

-Monday 4-7 @ 7:30pm: Schullers Books talk and signing. The lovely folks at this independent bookstore asked me to come and talk about comics and sign some of the new Villard edition of Mouse Guard. Come on out and chat if you are in the area.

Fan Art:

This one comes from Bo Harris. He sent a lovely

e-mail and a scan of his color pencil work. Thanks Bo!!

Spot Illustrations

I will be appearing today at Mott Community College in Flint, MI (my home town) today Mar. 4th (the only day of the year that is also a command) from 11am-2pm at the Phral Center . If you are in the area, hope to see you! I'll have books to sign, answer questions and if time permits, I may do some sketches.

For the RPG I have been doing a bunch of new spot illustrations. Some are for the chapter headers, others are just to throw in to give a sense of setting or mood. Here are a few that I colored Monday:

Process...

I wanted to share a bit about my process. I am usually bad about saving artwork in-process, but recently I made sure I grabbed a few pieces every few steps. The page I'm going over is page 19 from Winter 1152 #3 (if you haven't read it yet, you may want to wait to read this blog entry!)

--------------------------------

Step1: The

Outline

/Script.

For Fall 1152, I worked almost exclusively from an outline. I would finish the art then script the dialogue in-place having a good idea of what I wanted the characters to be saying. Sometimes it worked out great, other times, it proved to be daunting and frustrating.

So for Winter 1152, I still start with an outline, but now I also do some scripting before I draw. For Winter I sometimes write out a complete script for certain scenes, or jot quick ideas. Too often had I thought of the structure of the dialogue for the page, and later when the time came to add the words, I'd have forgotten them, so any ideas I have about dialogue I write them as soon as they hit me. For this page the dialogue was quick and idea-oriented. I marked the lines with 'A' and 'B' to note where on the page I thought those would be used. The 'lantern breaking' I originally planned for the next page, but for the final version, it occurs on this page.

Step 2: The Sketches & Layout

This is the step that feels the most like 'work' for me. It's a balancing act 'of which panel arrangements work best with the secession of actions I need to show on this page?' I tend to divide Mouse Guard pages on the 1/3 lines of the page, so I have a standard 'set' of layouts I can choose from and play with. The trick is to use the right shape panel to match the motion or viewpoint, or grouping of the characters, or at least to not have the two be in conflict. I try and imagine the panel I think is most important on that page (in this case Saxon riding the bat in the first panel was the one I focused on) and then work around that.

I sketch everything for a page in a sketchbook or on scrap paper. I try and focus on one panel at a time, sometimes even drawing separate elements from that panel and then composting them together on the computer later. Once I have sketches done for each panel, I scan them in and resize, rotate, and paste them into a page layout that matches the finished page size (12" x 12")

Step 3: Pencils.
I print out the sketches in the layout and use a light-box to transfer the page onto my Bristol. I clean up the image as I go, being more careful about contours & tangent lines. I like working this way because when I work on a drawing over and over on the same sheet of paper, I tend to get it very smudgy and dirty (which can work well when I'm rendering something in pencil, but not for inked work) This way, I have the minimum of pencil on the final bristol page and was able to work out all my erasing and re-drawing and fixing on the sketch paper or on the computer.

Step 4: Inks

I ink with Uni-ball Vision pens. They are waterproof and lightfast. For larger fill-in areas or textures like the bats wings, I use a '0' brush and Speedball Superblack ink. This is where the page starts really taking shape. I add the textures at this point, play with line weights, and fill-in the black areas. This part is one of the most enjoyable for me (sometimes overtaken by coloring). It's something I can work on most anywhere, so I can sit with my wife while she watches TV, or I can take it with me to coffee shops, or conventions.

Step 5: Colors

I color using Photoshop 7. Once I have the colors 'flatted' (establish what areas are what colors using just flat color) I only use the 'drybrush' brush for the dodge, burn, and paintbrush tools. I also found that adding 'color holds' (areas where the linework takes on a color) helped add depth to my work on Mouse Guard and now it's something that I think about as I'm inking the page "What gets 'held' on this page?". Originally I was worried about coloring Mouse Guard, not because I couldn't imagine the world in color, but because I was having trouble meshing my inks from Issue 1 of Fall with the colors. Ever since I found the right 'blend' I have really enjoyed coloring and pushing my work in ways I hadn't seen it going before I started Mouse Guard.

Step 6: Dialogue & Sound Effects.

Lastly, The dialogue is added. For this page, I went back to the method of writing and tweaking it after the artwork was done. I know Saxon's line in panel 1 was one that I came up with in the shower (where a great many of my better ideas come from). The idea to have the bats 'echo' one another was one that I had from the beginning, but hadn't noted it on the script. I am frugal with sound effects. I think there are a lot of them in comics that are either unnecessary or draw you out of the story because it looks like some clean type slapped on in photoshop. Here I had to have a crashy-hissy-burney-sizzly sound...bat flambe anyone?

--------------------------------

So, that's a walkthough page 19 of Winter Issue 3. Hope everyone enjoyed this and it wasn't too boring. At some point I'll try and record more steps in the coloring.