While I'm away, this week & next week's posts will be about Artists I collect the work of. I want to share these artist's amazing stuff and ways to find them.


Jeremy Bastian:
Not only one of the most talented people I know, he's also a good friend to boot. Jeremy's work is amazingly detailed and creative. He does all his inking with a brush, which a lot of folks do, but not with Jeremy's 19th century engraver's-line sense. This piece was a gift because Jeremy knew how much I admired this character's design. You can find more of Jeremy's work at http://www.jeremybastian.com/

Mike Mignola:
Since 1993 when I saw the Wizard cover announcing Dark Horse's new Legend imprint, I have loved Mike's work. Hellboy has been one of my favorite comics ever, and I think Mike is a genius at panel by panel storytelling. I bought this piece from him in Chicago, which was my first big con to attend..it's also where I first met Mark Smylie). It took almost all my convention spending money to get this piece, but I really wanted it and Mike was pretty much the only guest I had come to see. http://www.hellboy.com/


Eric Canete:
I found Eric's work via his old blog (he has since overhauled it and started fresh) and was really amazed with how dynamic his compositions are. I love the energy and complexity he puts into each piece he does. Last year Eric did an Iron Man series for Marvel called 'Enter the Manderin' which just goes to prove he can do more than single images, he's a great storyteller as well. Just last week at the Big Apple Con, I browsed his original work and had to buy this Robotech/Macross piece. You can find Eric's blog here: http://kahnehteh.blogspot.com/




Evan 'Doc' Shaner:
Evan and I met through cartoonist Jay Fosgitt. Evan's work is more than just a 'throwback' to Toth lovers, he is really doing something original that it's hard to quantify. It's familiar and different at the same time. Evan's mugshot lineups are one of the staples of his commission list, so I recently asked for him to do a lineup of my favorite X-men team, the All-New/All different Giant Sized team. I also love that Evan is hand coloring these with guache. You can catch up with Evan's blog here: http://www.evanshaner.com/



Katie Cook:
Katie often gets labeled as a 'cute' artist, and while she knows how to work the cute angle, I think she is also equally witty and genuine. Though Katie does full sized commissions and comic pages, she is becoming more well known for her mini-paintings. They can range from comic characters to food mascots, to harry potter teachers, to cult movie creatures for subject matter. Katie seems to have no end to her familiarity with all things geeky. This mini-painting she did for Julia and I on our 5th wedding anniversary. You can follow Katie's blog here: http://katiecandraw.typepad.com/




Nate Pride:
Nate's artistic talent hasn't been as widely seen as it should due to his years placing balloons and aligning text. But, it's clear to me that his real place is as a pencil and ink guy. Nate's linework is something that I envy. He can throw down a perfect contour line to describe someone's arm or leg in a single stroke, or make hundreds of little hatches and tics that make a surface look moldy or weathered. This piece is one I bought from him a few years back at the Motor City Con. Nate can come up with these great characters that seem for all the world like they have a backstory and life to them. You can check out Nate's work here: http://www.natepride.com/



Jay Fosgitt:
Jay and I met through e-mail and then later in-person after he and his wife moved to my neck of the woods in Michigan. Jay's sense of humor is one of the things I like best about his work. On top of having beautifully clean smooth inks, he knows how to poke fun. Jay and I are both big Jim Henson fans. To return a favor, he offered to draw me my favorite Henson-based character..I told him it was a toss up between Gonzo and a Skeksis. He was awesome enough to do them both and throw a gag in for good measure. You can follow Jay's blog here: http://jayfosgitt.blogspot.com/


Duncan Fegredo:
Like many fans of Hellboy, I was nervous about a Hellboy book not drawn by Mignola. I didn't have the problem with BPRD and Guy because it was always intended to be a spin-off book. So when Darkness Calls hit shelves with Duncan's artwork I was very pleased to see what he had done. His next Hellboy arc: The Wild Hunt, is even better and I had to get some of his work to own. The cool thing about buying Duncan's work is that he pencils, scans the pencils and prints them out in blue-line on heavy bristol and inks the blue-line. So when you get a page from him, you get both the pencils and the inks are separate pieces. You can check out Duncan's site here: http://www.fatotto.nildram.co.uk/Site/index.html


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next week 8 more awesome artists, originals, and links