Muppet Sherlock Holmes Cover Process

Some folks may have already seen cover artwork I did for Boom's upcoming Muppet Sherlock Holmes. However, what I originally drew is different than what you saw. When told the assignment, the casting had Kermit as Sherlock and Fozzie as Watson. I was busy and went radio-silent as I worked on my cover. I turned it in and found out that the casting had changed to Gonzo as Sherlock.

With the artwork already colored I needed to patch in Gonzo without disturbing any more of the colored work than I had to. I went back to my original inkwork and used a lightbox to draw a Gonzo that would cover up as much of Kermit as possible. Because I had to change some of the pose (Gonzo's nose blocked the bubble pipe in it's original position, so I had to move his arm) there were some areas where Kermit would be exposed, so I had to draw new background on my patch.

Scanning the Gonzo patch I placed it in my layered color file. I erased all the layers associated with Kermit as well as the Kermit line art. I colored Gonzo and used the eye dropper to get color matches where I was filling in exposed background and making a new color hold for the patched background. From a casting point of view I think I prefer Kermit as Sherlock (even though Gonzo is my favorite Muppet Show character), but I was able to give the handle of Gonzo's eyeglass a little chicken head motif and anytime I can do that it makes me happy.


Legends of the GuardIssue 4 of the Mouse Guard Anthology is now in previews (order code: JUN10 0748). Here is the full cover for the issue. The covers all have 1 paragraph stories associated with them that are included in each issue. But more importantly, this issue will feature stories by Karl Kerschl, Craig Rousseau, & Mark Smylie!


Fan Art:Martin Kirby sent this in and writes:
My friend, Melanie, and I were perusing around Forbidden Planet in Newcastle where I ended up picking up one of your Mouseguard books...Once I got back home I more or less immediately started sketching out some ideas for mouseguard characters... I couldn't pass up the opportunity to draw us out in all our small-statured glory!

Upcoming Appearances:*
Kids Read Comics: June 12th (Sat. only)

Harper Woods Library reading: June 28 6pm
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Snow White #4 Cover Process

Muppet Snow White #4 cover process:
The story for issue 4 spins away from the traditional telling of Snow White and leads to the Wicked Queen kidnapping Prince Charming and forcing him to marry her. While in the shower (where I get all my best ideas) I was thinking about how to layout the cover showing a tied up Kermit marring Wicked Queen Piggy. This is the rough that I came up with in the shower using my shower crayons. I snapped the photo with my phone before wiping the tub clean.

The next step was to sketch the key players in the scene in my sketchbook. I wasn't trying to draw the cover yet, just the characters. It's freeing to not draw the characters in relation to one another, but purely to get their pose, likeness, and expression. I drew a 'replacement' eye for Piggy, because the first one wasn't to my liking. Knowing that Uncle Deadly would be performing the ceremony I made a doodle of the Jim puppet to hide as a carving in the pulpit or lectern Deadly would be behind.


I also wanted to feature a stained glass window in the castle/church the scene would take place in. I have long admired and even dabbled in stained glass work, so I always want the windows I draw to be physically possible and believable (some tight cuts were not possible to make in glass until modern glass-jigsaws were available). Using a photo of some glass pieces at a local antique shop, I was able to distort, cut, paste, and draw new parts for a fully round window.

Putting the sketches and photo collage window into place in photoshop I came up with my final layout. I was able to resize characters, swap out the bad Piggy eye for the good one, and tint everything so that it was easier to see what every line belonged to. I printed the layout at full size (which involves printing in 2 parts on legal paper and taping them together) and moved over to the lightbox.

On the lightbox I was able to see the layout print through my bristol board (the stock I use to make the final art). Because the pencils were fairly tight on the characters and the design was solid on the window, I was able to ink directly without penciling at all while at the lightbox. The stone and steps were easy to pencil in as I worked as they are just simple lines showing where the mortar lines fall or a step ends. The real work in the background is all the stippling and rendering, but no amount of pencil can help we with that step.

Lastly the cover art is scanned and colored. I use photoshop 7 and do most of my rendering with the dodge and burn tools using a stock brush that comes with the program. As always it was a trick to make the background push back behind the characters. That depth of field is something I try very hard to create in all my work, and often most of it happens in this coloring stage.


Legends of the Guard signing:
Next week Legends of the Guard #1 comes out in stores. To celebrate, Jeremy Bastian (who has a 7 page story in Issue 1) and I will be signing at Detroit Comics in Ferndale on Wed. the 26th from 5-8pm.* So if you are in the area, stop by and see us, and pick up the first issue in the Mouse Guard anthology series. Also look out next Tuesday for a Legends of the Guard spotlight blogpost interview with Jeremy. (* LotG Will be delayed by a week due to an issue at the printer. However we do plan on having advance copies at the Detroit Comics signing)


Jim Henson: 1936-1990

Joe at Tough Pigs.com asked me to be a part of a tribute to the anniversary of Jim's death of 20 years ago. I am a very big Henson fan, and really admire what Jim was able to do in his lifetime. He was a real visionary and his creativity inspired me. I am lucky enough to be a fan who has the privilege of working on Muppet related artwork as part of my living. I am grateful and still in awe of Jim.

Motor City Comic Con:
It was good to be back on home turf for a con at the Motor City Comic Con. Sat in an aisle with a bunch of my favorite people: Jeremy Bastian, Katie Cook, Jay Fosgitt, & Eric Lynch. It was also a pleasure to reconnect with talented folks like Guy Davis, Vince Locke, Andy & Alice Price, Stan Sakai, Sergio Aragones, and Jake, Kevin, & Matt Minor. But enough namedropping & linking.

Fan Art:
This comes from one of my niece's friend's Riley. I met her while we were visiting the nieces earlier this month. Riley came over and drew with Emma and I set up a still life for us all to draw. Before she went home, Riley gave me a piece of Mouse Guard fan art. Thanks Riley!

Upcoming Appearances:*
Detroit Comics signing: May 26th
Kids Read Comics: June 12th (Sat. only)
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Snow White #3 Cover process

Muppet Snow White #3 process:
With the popularity of showing the Piggy Snow White cover process. I decided to show the same for cover 3. As before, it started with a small thumbnail sketch in my sketchbook (upper right corner). The potential cast list was pretty big for the funeral scene, so I focused on just sketching out mourning Muppets, not worrying about who went next to whom. Some character sketches I didn't like and redrew, others I passed over due to lack of space.

The sketches were scanned and sliced up in Photoshop. I had each character on a separate layer (the background trees were also on their own layer). Tinting the characters helps me know what lines are associated with which Muppet. This is the stage where I try and resize things or characters that are out of proportion. I can rotate heads or arms, re-center eyes, basically any minor changes. The order of the grouping was done mostly by height and what direction I had them facing in my initial sketch. If the arrangement wasn't pleasing to the eye, I could have mirrored characters to try and reorganize them.

The layout above was printed out at full size and taped to my final bristol board. I inked the cover on my light box using the printed layout as a guide. With the character's positions and faces, I followed my layout very closely. Other areas like the flowers as the base of the casket-platform, I inked as I went, just drawing variations of the few flowers I had sketched in on the layout. The leafs on the trees were also something I spent time on in the inking stage that were rather undefined in the sketch. It's that kind of varied repetition that I like doing in ink (rocks, leafs, water droplets...)

Last step was the color. I used a palette close to what I would have used for the Muppets anyhow, but I gave it a little yellow boost at the end to give the feeling of light coming through the canopy of that dark forest. With Spamela being the focal point I played with the lighting to make her some of the lighting source. The other trick was to push the background back behind the characters and not lose it in a muddy clump.


Motor City & Ink & Stein:
This Friday, Saturday, & Sunday I will be at the Motor City comic con in Novi MI. I'll be in artist alley selling books, buttons, posters, & original art. I'll also be signing anything I worked on, and doing commissions (7" x 7" square fully inked $100). They are 1st come, 1st serve. I start a new list every day and cap it with what I can get done at the show for that day.

This weekend is also Ink & Stein, but with Motor City, we decided to move the location for this week out to the Double Tree in Novi. This will allow any of our regular artists and writers attending or exhibiting at the con to come to Ink & Stein without driving all over Southeastern MI. It also opens the door for non-regulars who are out-of-town guests of the show and may be staying nearby to attend. Meeting time is still 7pm, so feel free to grab a bite after the show or just relax at the Double Tree until 7.

Bare Chin Deal:
This weekend I will look a bit different. Some may recall I took this photo a while back after thinking it was funny to shave my chin only. Julia didn't think it was funny and so the look only lasted long enough to grab this photo. Katie Cook thinks this shaved look is hilarious and has been pushing me to do it again. Well Katie, Julia, & I struck a bargain. For Motor City I have to have my chin shaved like so...but for San Diego, Katie will wear custom made Mouse Guard Shirts (of her own design) all 5 days. I couldn't pass up the advertising space and rate.



Fan Art:Kyle Ferrin tweeted some of his fan art to me. This piece is of he and his wife as Guard Mice. Kyle has a Deviant Art page set up just for his Mouse Guard Fan Art.


Upcoming Appearances:*
Motor City Con: May 14-16
Kids Read Comics: June 12th (Sat. only)
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Snow White #1 Cover Process

Muppet Cover Process:
Since last week's Snow White cover #2 post was popular, I'm going back to show you the cover to #1 with my rough sketches and inks. I stared with sketching out all the characters that needed to appear: Spamela, Zoot, Dr. Teeth, Janice, Floyd Pepper, Animal, & Lips. Knowing this was a jammed packed cover, I planned on mashing these sketches together to try and find a way to do the layout where everyone would be seen and the cover still make sense.

My first attempt at this wasn't working for me. I planned on having Spamela sitting on the piano surrounded by the 'dwarves', but it was too bottom heavy. Before going back to sketching again, I tried a different layout with the characters larger and on a hill outside the cottage. I sketched a cottage to drop in after I liked the placement of the characters. I tend to tint the characters so that it's easy to tell where one ends and the next begins. having every character on their own layer also allows me to scootch them, rezise them, rotate them etc until I like the layout.

I print out the layout at scale with the final cover art size and use a lightbox to pencil & ink on the final bristol. The inks is where I feel I do a lot of the heavy lifting. I focus on line texture and weight. The materials the Muppets were made from are important to who they are, so I try and make the hair act like it's made of feathers or cord. I pay attention to stitching and sequins on the costumes. I want my drawing to feel as Muppetish as I can and the inks are a big part of that.

The other important part of making them feel Muppet-ey is in the coloring. Again it goes back to the fleece and feathers and foam that the Muppets were made of. I try and render them that way. Placing color holds on the various stitching and clothing details also helps add to the feel that these characters are made out of real stuff and not just ink on paper. For all of my covers I tend to lean the overall palette towards a classic fairy tale look and the tones from the late 70's Muppet Show episodes.


Legends of the GuardIssue 3 of the Mouse Guard Anthology is now in previews (order code: MAY10 0747). Here is the full cover for the issue. The covers all have 1 paragraph stories associated with them that are included in each issue. But more importantly, this issue will feature stories by Katie Cook, Guy Davis, Jason Shawn Alexander, & Nate Pride!




Fan Art:
Tessa e-mailed me this fan art of characters from her Mouse Guard RPG group. I really like the hummingbird & the pommel details on the sword and dagger. Thanks Tessa!

Upcoming Appearances:*
Motor City Con: May 14-16
Kids Read Comics: June 12th (Sat. only)
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Snow White #2 Cover Process

Here is my cover for Muppet Snow White #2. This cover was not used for solicitation (one of those instances where I was not able to get the cover completed by the solicitation date) but it will be printed as cover A on issue 2. On this one I was able to get the sketch, pencils, and inks done quickly and without much pain, but the colors were an endless tweaking job. At one point it was much more blue overall with a green (poison) apple. Julia suggested a different palette and to make the apple red. I think the cover is better for it.

Piggy Sketch:

As I said above, the sketch and drawing for Snow White #2 was fairly straight forward. I started with a thumbnail (lower right corner) and then started drawing a more finished version. You may notice that I did not draw the right eye or hand. Since I was going to scan this and resize it to fit the final art size, I could just copy and mirror those features from the right side. The trick when mirroring these things is to alter them slightly. If a drawing is too symmetrical, it doesn't look right. This is also a rare instance of me doing rendering on a drawing intended for ink, but I wanted to plan out some of the lighting at this stage that I would ultimately realize in color. I used my late 70s Fisher Price Piggy puppet as a lighting reference.

Free Comic Book Day!

This Saturday from 11am-3pm I'll be at Graham Crackers in Chicago (loop location) for Free Comic Book Day! I'll be signing books, chatting with fans, and I'll also be tweeting ways to get some other free Mouse Guard goodies at Graham Crackers

I got a few advance copies of the Mouse Guard/Fraggle Rock book, so I was able to take a sneak peak and it looks great! I am honored that Archaia included me in a Free Comic Book Day offering and I hope fans enjoy it as well.

Fan Art:Mikaël Morin-Hamelin is an animation student in Quebec who emailed his fan art to me. It's a 3D rendering of Kenzie in his Winter gear. Great job Mikaël!

Upcoming Appearances:*
Graham Crackers Comics Chicago, IL May 1st (FCBD)
Motor City Con: May 14-16
Kids Read Comics: June 12th (Sat. only)
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Snow White:
Here is my cover for Muppet Snow White #1. I originally planned it for the cover of issue two, so it didn't make it into previews for solicitation, however, I have been given the go-ahead from Boom to share it. Snow is being played by Spamela Hamderson, while the 'dwarves' are the Electric Mayhem. Special thanks to Katie Cook who lent me some reference material to get this cover done.

Narnia:I recently borrowed the Narnia audio books from Jeremy Bastian and I have been listening to them as I work. A few years ago, when I still had time for commissions, I did this piece of Reepicheep sailing off into Aslan's country. Bill Willingham wrote in the introduction to the Mice Templar collection that The Mice Templar, the Mouse Guard, and Willingham's own Mouse Police, are "sons of Reepicheep". I must admit, Reepicheep was in my mind when I drew the first mice, his bravery out matching his size. *edit* I just realized after getting to this point in the audio book, that I drew this without re-reading the scene and got the setting and a few details wrong.


Fan Art:This week's Fan Art is from Charlotte Cheng. Thanks Charlotte!
If you want your Mouse Guard Fan Art to appear on the blog, just e-mail a jpg to ericebon (at) hotmail (dot) com.

Upcoming Appearances:*
----2010----
Alaska Library Conference: March 4-7
CGS Supershow: March 27-28
C2E2 (Archaia Booth): April 16-18
Motor City Con: May 14-16
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Peter Pan #4 Cover Process

Muppet Peter Pan #4 will be out later this week (Thursday the 21st due to the holiday). I wanted to share the process steps in this cover (I have doe this with other pieces, for the blog, so the steps should be familiar). I had been given an outline of what happens in each issue from Boom with a note from editor Aaron Sparrow saying "Captain Gonzo kidnaps the children would make a good 4th cover".

I sketched out ideas in my sketchbook. In the upper right you can see my rough thumbnail for the layout. Once that layout idea worked, I started sketching out the various characters. Gonzo was first since I knew he would be most prominent, and then I drew the other Muppets a few times until I got something I liked. I work this way so that if I draw say Gonzo, right on the first try, I don't have to worry about messing up that part of the drawing when I get to the next character and it doesn't work out.

I scanned the page from my sketchbooks and cut and paste each character onto their own layers in a new document the size of the cover art. I tinted each character to help me keep track of what lines belong to whom. In this stage I can tighten up the layout. I can move or rotate characters slightly. I can resize parts of them that are out of proportion (either to themselves or with each other). This digital layout of my drawings helps me finalize the image before inking it and without doing much, if any, redrawing.


I print out my photoshop layout and use a light box so that I can see the rough through the bristol paper stock I ink the cover onto. In this inking stage I focus on line quality and texture. That the contour lines of Bean Bunny look like fur and that Scooter's hair looks like yarn. I also like adding patterns that I will use a color hold on when I color the image, like the stripes on Rizzo's shirt or the embroidery on Gonzo's coat or the lace pattern in his cuff.


Lastly I use the color to make this a night scene, turn those dots into stars and add a glow around the lantern. I start with base colors for everyone (most of which I either use reference for or have established on previous covers) and then tint them to the tone that night would change them to, or the lantern's glow would do to them. I chose not to use a color hold on the water this time around. I wanted that sea to be inky black and ominous. (I referenced the ocean waves Windsor McKay did for Little Nemo)




Inking & Coloring on Ustream:
Monday night I streamed for four hours while I inked a Mouse Guard page. The session was recorded, but Ustream caps recordings at 2.5 hours. I want to say that I don't think people would want to watch the long stream after the fact, but I had requests for it. I did my best to verbalize the questions asked in the chat before I answered them so later viewers can still benefit from the Q&A that goes on in my streams. I plan on coloring this page on Saturday and streaming it live. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook for updates on the time of the stream.
The URL to watch a stream (when live) or to watch the recorded streams is:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/davidpetersen

Fan Art:
Paul Davies is in the final year of his studies at the University of Hertfordshire for special effects and television. As part of his final project, he made stop motion animation puppets based on Mouse Guard. He had to sculpt and cast and punch hair and paint every bit of the mice and their attire. He has been updating me with the progress (I hope he makes a blog showing all the steps and variations he made) but I thought I'd share the end result with this beauty:


Upcoming Appearances:*
----2010----
Alaska Library Conference: March 4-7
CGS Supershow: March 27-28
C2E2 (Archaia Booth): April 16-18
Motor City Con: May 14-16
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppets!!
Joe over at Toughpigs.com a Muppet fan-site was kind enough to do an interview with me about my Muppet Covers for Boom. You can read the interview here. I'm really glad to have the privilege to do these covers and having the fans enjoying them makes me happy. Muppet fans are not the easiest to please, so I'm glad that the response to my work has been positive.


I also got word from Boom that I can now share all 4 Muppet King Arthur covers! I know I had shown two of them before, but thought I'd show them all again and in order (#1's cover was used for solicitation for #2, but I am assured that it will print on issue #1)

Mouse Guard Model:

I did a quick glimpse of this on Twitter a while back, but wanted to give you some better images. This is certainly the biggest and most complex model I have made to-date. It's the interior of the June Alley Inn. It will be featured heavily in the Anthology series Legends of the Guard, so to make my life easier I took some time (a full day and night) to build this from scratch. The materials are bristol board and balsa wood. The stairs would lead up to the rooms, the two doors on the rear lead to the kitchens. There is a staircase behind the bar (under the staircase) that leads to the cellar for drink storage.

Fan Art:
A childhood friend of mine and I reconnected on Facebook. His daughter Madeline LaVere did this drawing for me when she and her dad and her younger brother came over to visit and see where Mouse Guard is drawn. So it was wonderful visiting with an old friend and getting to meet his budding artist of a daughter.


Upcoming Appearances:*
----2010----
Alaska Library Conference: March 4-7
CGS Supershow: March 27-28
C2E2 (Archaia Booth): April 16-18
Motor City Con: May 14-16
San Diego (Artist Alley): July 22-25
Baltimore Comic Con: August 28-29
*more 2010 dates may be added

Muppet Peter Pan #4
This may be my favorite of the Muppet covers I've done. Gonzo is my favorite Muppet and I didn't feel like I really nailed my take on him on the two other covers he's been featured on. I'm also pleased with the water (inspired by Windsor McKay) and the coloring. I think Peter Pan #1 ships soonish from Boom.

Dead Duck:
My pal Jay Fosgitt has a book coming out from Ape called Dead Duck (Previews Sept090577). Jay has a great sense of humor (a nice blend of Muppets, Monty Python, and Benny Hill) and Dead Duck is his way of pouring that funny stuff right onto the page. I warn fans of mine that it is more adult than Mouse Guard, but fun for those old enough to appreciate it. Oh, and here is My take on Dead Duck and Zombie Chick.

NYT Best Seller Week 5:Every week I figure is my last, and Winter 1152 keeps hanging on! Thanks to fans and retailers for making it happen! Here is the full list

Fan Art:
Mat Marbolo sent in two Fan pieces. I like the stylization and use of color on this one. Thanks Matt! here is the other Mouse Guard piece on his blog
Upcoming Appearances:
Windy City Con: Sept. 19
Detroit Comics' Book Club: Sept. 25
Long Beach Comic Con: Oct. 2-4
Baltimore Comic Con: Oct. 10-11
Mouse Guard Live Readings in the Michigan Area: TBA