BLARG!

STUFF FOR HULK TO SMASH!...

2012-01-24T19:58:00.003-05:00

(cuz... well, you know...)

cheers.

happy xmas!

2011-12-24T08:50:00.002-05:00

from everyone at team fowler.

the Thrilling Adventure Hour: THE POSTER!

2011-12-19T13:33:00.013-05:00

just in time for christmas!

a while back i discovered the amazing podcast THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR, a marvellous oddity wherein a bunch of very funny and talented people in los angeles get dressed up and do an old timey radio style stage show. i was hooked immediately.

around that time i tweeted something along the lines of: "i wish there were a thrilling adventure hour comic book so i could, you know, draw it." to my delight less than ten minutes later the creaters of the show, mr. ben acker and mr. ben blacker, contacted me and we started talking about fun things we could do. many months (9?!) later the poster above was born.

big special thanks to the lovely and talented jordie bellaire for the graphic design. please check out my previous post for information about the BIG project we've got brewing.

and also thanks to acker & blacker for being good sports and providing cartoonists with something to listen to at 4 in the morning.

the thrilling adventure hour is available for free on itunes or over at the nerdist network.

cheers.

HULK season 1...

2011-12-19T09:59:00.004-05:00

well, we're official...
this isn't, by the way, an official image commissioned by marvel, but a little promo jordie bellaire and i whipped up to get ourselves (and everybody else) excited.

i'll post more as i can, when i can.

cheers.

my new art rep: cadence comic art...

2011-12-14T12:39:00.003-05:00

i actually signed up with the good people over at CADENCE COMIC ART a couple of months ago, but it occurred to me i'd never made the official announcement here.

so....

please head on over to CADENCE, my new exclusive original comic art dealer, to find all of my pages that are currently for sale. and please stick around to see some of the other things paolo has up for sale. paolo will thank you and i will thank you.

cheers,

tom

monsters & dames 2012

2011-11-21T13:44:00.005-05:00

the nice people at ECCC have given me the okay to give you a preview of my entry for their MONSTERS & DAMES charity book.

cheers.

sculpting day two...

2011-11-15T10:12:00.005-05:00

more sculpting. very happy with how these are turning out. here's the progress.

sculpting...

2011-11-14T13:26:00.005-05:00

i had a little bit of time before my next project so i decided to do something i've been threatening to do forever: sculpt myself some reference.

with luck i'll have time to knock out a few more busts before i get going. i'm not a shade on paolo rivera, but i'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.

here are some progress shots.

all made with sculpey, an x-acto knife, and an ikea dish rack.

COMICTWART: DAMIAN WAYNE...

2011-11-05T18:06:00.005-04:00

i twarted this earlier. and now it's here!

ps... it's for sale. please email me for price/details.

pps.... SOLD.

happy halloween...

2011-10-31T20:11:00.002-04:00

nycc sketch round-up...

2011-10-18T10:51:00.002-04:00

well, it's pretty much all there in the title isn't it?...

last one's my favourite.

VENOM 8 preview and NYCC...

2011-09-29T13:15:00.006-04:00

first the arts...

i'm going to be at NYCC this year. as usual though i'll be there just walkin' the earff. which means no table and no signing schedule per se.

i DO however still have to pay for the trip. SO, i'll be accepting up to 5 pre-ordered commissions that you can pick up from me at the show.

all will be 9x12 in COLOUR for $150 each. (there will be an extra charge for additional characters)

if you'd like to get on the list please email me at bigbug1(at)rogers.com with the subject line "NYCC 2012 PRE-ORDER" and the character's name. we'll work out a day and location at the show where you can pick up your piece and pays me my moneys. edit: sorry, all booked up. BUT...

i also have a tonne of VENOM art for sale. prices range from $250-$400/page. if you're interested in purchasing, either through the mail or picking a page or two up at the show, please email me with the subject line "VENOM ART INQUIRY" and let me know what issue and page you'd be interested in and i'll get you the appropriate info.

cheers,

tom

"KAMANDI Search+Destroy": a twartist's progress...

2011-09-25T18:19:00.010-04:00

... so people seem to think i done good with my KAMANDI twart. i thought you might like to see how i done it. good?

once again, super-big thanks to mitch gerads for doing the letters.

EDIT: and a big thanks also to kyle latino for providing his brand of KRAZY KIRBY KOLOURS to it! awesome stuff kyle!

LOTR commission...

2011-09-09T15:04:00.002-04:00

i'm very slowly getting back to my commissions list lately (he said, sheepishly looking at the dates on his list).

here's a recent LOTR piece.

VENOM 7 preview...

2011-09-03T18:48:00.002-04:00

... continuing with this "artist's edition" stuff.

VENOM 6: artist's edition...

2011-08-15T18:27:00.005-04:00

pretty much the same as last week's post. here are the first six pages of VENOM #6, unplugged.

enjoy.

(apologies to the twarts for having posted this over there by accident...)

VENOM #5, warts and all....

2011-08-11T19:49:00.010-04:00

i've been pouring over walt simonson's thor artist's edition the last few days and thinking how much i LOVE seeing original art, warts and all. i love figuring out how artists make their marks to create the page.

with that in mind, here are three pages of my most recently published issue of VENOM. i don't have the time or energy right now to do a full-on "how a bill becomes a law" process post, but please free to glean any of my secret craft... such as it is.

ironically my two favourite (and to my mind most successful) pages are the LAST two. the book's still on shelves so i have no interest in spoiling its emotional punch. remind me to post them when the trade comes out.

a slightly less little storyteller preview...

2011-07-09T16:24:00.004-04:00

first two pages of my HENSON STORYTELLER story with jeff parker. available in better bookstores... sometime.

a little storyteller preview...

2011-06-22T00:22:00.005-04:00

... a VERY little preview.

along the appalachian dragon trail with jeff parker from our upcoming STORYTELLER short.

EDIT:

here's a another quick in-progress shot from our story:

HEROES CON...

2011-06-02T00:17:00.002-04:00

as of 7:35 am tomorrow (ugh... this) morning i'll be be on a airplane headed for sunny charlotte NC.

i'll be at table AA-307 with selling original art and sketches (prices below). please swing by and say hi.

two roald dahl paintings...

2011-04-16T14:06:00.005-04:00

it was all ROALD DAHL over at comictwart this week, and i was very happy with the way these turned out. i've posted them everywhere so i may as well put them up here, right?

i knew you'd be with me, internet.

Jim Henson Storyteller and Calvin & Hobbes...

2011-04-11T15:21:00.005-04:00

... one of my favourite shows ever. jeff parker and i are doing a short story for the upcoming graphic novel.

this is my first pass at the characters.

also, i drew calvin & hobbes for comictwart last night. people seemed to like it.

VENOM!!!

2011-04-05T18:46:00.002-04:00

hey kids,

lookee what i did.

psssssst... i'm doin' more too...

design stuff...

2011-03-26T22:29:00.004-04:00

it's been a little while since i posted anything here and i'm not entirely sure if i'm aloud to start talking about my new gig, so i thought i'd toss up some designs for a video game a friend and i are slowly chipping away at.

the working title is: "WELCOME TO THE DUNGEON". it's really chris' baby (i'm just a hired hand) but it's been loads of fun so far. you can read chris' progress on his end at his blog.

sooooooooo monsters!:

con-sketch pre-orders: ECCC & wizard world toronto...

2011-02-14T23:48:00.010-05:00

hey kids,

first some recent twarts...

aaaaah. twarty.

convention season is nigh and i'll be at a few of 'em. so, as usual, i'm going to look at defraying my costs a little by doing a few sketches at home before i make the trip.

all sketches will be ink and/or paint on 9x12 2 ply strathmore. you can find examples of previous pre-orders here and here and here.

b/w....... $ 75
colour... $100

$25 each additional character.

please email me (you can find it in my profile) with "(name of the show) PRE-ORDER: (name of character)" in the subject line.

example: "ECCC PRE-ORDER: ziggy" (it just makes my life a whole bunch easier.)

i'll be taking on 8 for ECCC and 5 for WWtoronto on a first come first serve basis.

BEFORE YOU ASK, yes i will be doing sketches at the shows. there is not now, nor will there be a list for that, it's strictly first come first serve once i'm in the building. the pre-order list is for stuff i do before hand so that i have a reasonable expectation of covering my costs while i'm on the road.

with luck i'll also have a new "sketchbooks" ready before both shows as well.

thanks very much. i hope to hear from you and look forward to meeting you all.

cheers.

ps... all the art above is for sale.

help!!! i've lost my commissions list!!!...

2010-12-30T14:49:00.004-05:00

... so i sat down today with the intention of starting to burn through my now rather extensive commissions backlog and discovered that i'd lost my master list. the list that included all the names/subjects/contacts/prices.

fudd.

IF YOU ARE ON THIS LIST please email me at bigbug1(at)rogers(dot)com with the headline "COMMISSION" and remind me of your name, address, the subject (who is?/ what big?/ colour or b/w?), and the price we agreed on.

this isn't an opening for new commissions (although i will be opening that door again once i've knocked enough of these to make the list manageable again).

thanks for your help and your patience. i apologize for the breakdown in studio organization.

tom

HAPPY XMAS!...

2010-12-21T15:58:00.001-05:00

... from everyone at TEAM FOWLER.

montreal mini-con...

2010-12-04T09:43:00.004-05:00

first the art:

a VERY recent batman/etrigan commission:

...and last night's superman twart that people seemed to enjoy:

i'll be appearing tomorrow, among others, at the montreal mini-con at place bonaventure. i hope to see you there.

("you" being my montreal peeps...)

an interview and some twarts...

2010-11-30T16:16:00.005-05:00

first the twarts. my last two weeks worth...

futurama:

and mr. jonah hex:

i'm very happy to report that my vernissage at montreal's LA GALLERY was a success. monique and i had a wonderful time and i'm very much looking forward to being a part of upcoming shows both there and their paris location.

while i was there i had the pleasure of doing an interview with the aptly named local radio show "les Mystérieux étonnants". the show's in french, but you can listen to the unedited interview here in it's entirety.

art show at LA GALLERY de MONTREAL...

2010-11-22T08:00:00.005-05:00

i'll be there signing, selling, and sniffling.

more details about the show plus all of my art for sale can be found la gallery's website here.

please spread it around. and if you're in the montreal area on friday come by and say hi!

doc savage...

2010-11-11T13:29:00.005-05:00

... he didn't go to 7 years of savage medical school for you to call him "MR."

dames and monsters...

2010-11-10T11:36:00.002-05:00

i'm a guest at ECCC this year, so jim asked me to contribute to their charity auction/book.

flash commission...

2010-11-08T16:22:00.002-05:00

barry allen's a nerd.

...and i've got a new tumblr thinger. so... i don't know, go there or something.

save the date...

2010-11-05T11:45:00.006-04:00

just found this "save the date" card i did recently over at ifanboy's weekly sketchup. while i'm always flattered and thankful whenever anything of mine winds up over there, the colours seemed really blown out for some reason. so here it is again in all of it's none-blown-out glory:

...and congratulations to mike and maja!

EDIT: it's been fixed now over at ifanboy, so it no longer looks like a black light poster. thanks josh.

FF...

2010-11-04T15:18:00.005-04:00

people seem to be very much enjoying this over at comictwart, so i thought i'd post it over here too.

the FANTASTIC FOUR:

war rockets, marvel twarts, and 888 pools of dead...

2010-10-27T20:43:00.005-04:00

first the art:
it's "what if the twarts ran marvel" week over at comictwart. not having time to participate with one piece i of course did two. perennial favourite rocket raccoon (above) and new love man-thing (below). the latter also coloured by fellow twartist nathan fairbairn. all the specific details are over there so please take a look.

i also sat in on war rocket ajax the other night and, in a shocking departure from the norm, managed to behave myself (mostly). go take a listen as chris, euge, jen vaughn and i talk about scooby doo, vaginas, and wrestling.

speaking of, deadpool team-up #888 came out today. written by cullen bunn, coloured by the aforementioned mr. fairbairn and drawn by me. you can see the preview here. the rest is ben grimm wrasslin' an alien for 20 pages. i'll post a couple of black and white pages from it in a few days, but in the meantime go buy it.

a couple more NYCC sketches, and monsters and stuff...

2010-10-06T15:42:00.006-04:00

just a few more before i get on a plane tomorrow.

and this, my contribution to comictwart's KETCHUP week, will be getting auctioned off as part of comic alliance's CBLDF auction.

please pay lots of money for it and help some people out.

two more NYCC pre-orders...

2010-10-04T22:16:00.001-04:00

almost there...

NYCC pre-ordered sketches...

2010-09-30T21:02:00.003-04:00

here's the first batch...

... more as they're finished.

things i want:

2010-09-17T10:40:00.003-04:00

...to draw this story.

"swamp lilies" was this week's contribution to comictwart. thanks for getting me thinking, declan.

thanks also to the ifanboys for including it in their weekly sketch-up.

squirrel girl!

2010-09-10T21:24:00.006-04:00

book's been out a couple of weeks now, so i think it's safe to post these: my big time marvel debut! many thanks to lauren sankovitch for throwing me this fun little story written by alex zalben. hopefully the first of many!

many thanks again to lauren and also paolo belfiore and his lovely wife for sweating out new york's hottest weekend to get me reference snaps of columbus circle. wonderful humans all!

also i'll be at the montreal comic-con on saturday (tomorrow!) selling art and stuff. please swing by and give me some money.

rustlin' up bid'niss...

2010-08-27T17:59:00.007-04:00

hey all.*

over at bleeding cool they're running a preview of a western short that i drew ages ago (while i should have been working on MYSTERIUS) for michael woods' second OUTLAW TERRITORY anthology at image. it was written by rich johnston and coloured by my MONROE colourist carl peterson. since they're running it in it's full glory over at bleeding cool, i figured you might like to see the stripped down tom fowler unplugged version here.

... and you should buy it and stuff.

* note how i resisted the temptation to write: "howdy" or "hey y'all". (and they say i have no self control...)

comic twart: lone wolf and cub...

2010-08-19T17:26:00.003-04:00

i just twarted this over at the other blog. i scanned it twice both as a greyscale and a bitmap, but couldn't really decide which looked better so i'm attaching them both here.

i used to be a BIG fan of lone wolf and cub... then i had a kid. now, not so much. don't get me wrong it's still beautiful and poetically told masterpiece of comic book tragedy, but...wow, grim.

still, fun to draw though.

THE POWER TRIO...

2010-08-11T15:04:00.003-04:00

this is a commission i mentioned on twitter a while back. so now i'm posting it.

YAY SCIENCE!!!

not back from SDCC...

2010-07-26T15:06:00.011-04:00

"@tomfowlerbug: just realized that i spent the last day of SDCC killing angels with gay dudes. take that fred phelps. #gamingwithbears #notatSDCC "

... so, yeah, didn't go. haven't been for a few years. strangely though (to me at least), this was the first year since i stopped going that i was left with the feeling that i may have had a good time. i hasten to add that i'm sure i wouldn't have, but i did feel a certain longing.

it's just as possible, though, that that "longing" was born not out of whatever imagined fun-missing was going on, but all the fun-having that took place at the two shows i DID do this summer. both of which i've been very lazy about reporting on. and sooooooooo...

TCAF

the show started just as every show should: with a lesson in bat sonar from jim ottaviani as he gave me a lift back to where we were staying. i finally met jeff lemire after years of being in the same room and not meeting. had fun talking nerd things with him, as well as with a few fans from the 11 o'clock boards, one of whom (the proud owner of the above) HAD DRIVEN FROM SUDBURY to get to the show!!!! cue impression of gimli describing sudbury ("...and they call it a MINE...").

i was seated next to a number of very sweet 12 year olds who'd put together an anthology book entitled (aptly enough) "the anthology project". seek this book out people. it am beautiful! seek it out if only to relieve my guilt for completely blanking on frequent commenter RAWLS when he introduced himself to me (sorry dude).

much of what i love about TCAF is that it's a festival as opposed to a convention. there is a tangible sense that we're there to celebrate, with each other, with fans, what we do. and that everyone is welcome to celebrate it with us.

a young boy came by the table about midway through the weekend. he very eagerly grabbed at my "NOW PAY ME : commissioned art" book (largely because it's got boba fett on the cover). he looked a bit disappointed that it wasn't in fact a story: "there's no story, just pictures..." his father said and they didn't buy it. there are two reasons why i don't see this as a negative experience/story, indeed, why it's an illustration of why i love TCAF and other shows --festivals-- like it. the first (and most important) because i sold them a copy of the PRINCE OF PERSIA GN two minutes later. the second is because it shows that the kid wasn't there because of some big name celebrity/artist, or some piece of flash, or free buttons, or any of that crap. he was there because he, the kid, loves and wanted to read comics. simple as that. he was disappointed that he couldn't read the story. HE WANTED TO READ!!!

huge.

the fact that chris, peter, miles, and everyone else who puts the show together have created a space ---a free space-- where a kid can come and feel entitled to immerse himself in the thing he loves and sample it in a much broader spectrum than would typically be available to him is everything that is good and bright with the world.

plus it's a kid who digs comics, so score!

plus monique and graham had fun at the zoo.

HEROESCON

my first year doing this show. i will be back. every year. always.

if it didn't have "con" in the title i'd swear HEROESCON was a festival as well. just a really positive, fun, relaxing show to be at. everyone's friendly and enthusiastic about comics. and that's why they're there... comics. (and to dress up like the cutest storm trooper you ever saw...)

this show started with a mad rush around charlotte looking for jammies, as i'd forgotten to pack any and steve lieber and i were sharing a room with a lady. most of the rest of the show was a blur. i met a lot of wonderful online friends in person, made some new ones, and ate myself into a soul food coma. all of it topped off with all-around awesometastical dude jason latour taking pity on my late-flight-out-on-monday bones and showing me and fellow zombies erika moen and jeff parker around. jason gave jeff the opportunity to get reeeeeeaally southern. like all faulkner-talkin' southern. my my.

dustin harbin and shelton drum put on a fantastic show. and as i said, i will be there as long as they'll have me.

if i haven't already, i want to thank dustin, shelton, peter, miles, chris, and everyone else involved with the smooth running of both shows for EVERYTHING. you keep doing it right... that's an order.

HEROES CON's a comin'...

2010-05-30T16:13:00.005-04:00

i'd held off on this because i wanted to write my round up for TCAF (which was awesome), but alas time got the better of me and it'll have to wait until i get back and do a HEROES CON/TCAF wrap up.

if you're planning on attending HEROES CON please stop by and say hi. i'll be somewhere or other in artist's alley with jeff parker, steve lieber, and a bunch of other nutty folks.

i'll also be sketching and selling copies of my sketchbook (info here).

and now a bunch of commissions and pre-ordered con-sketches. * SPOILER WARNING* if one of them is yours...

TCAF and HEROES CON...

2010-04-29T14:51:00.007-04:00

i'll be attending TCAF next weekend (may 8-9) and HEROES CON JUNE 4-6 doing most of the same stuff i was doing at C2E2.

(the above batman has nothing to do with any of this. it's just a recent twart for colour... and it's for sale!)

to recap, that includes sketches at $50 for b/w and $80 for colour. sketches can also be pre-ordered from me (bigbug1(at)rogers(dot)com) at those same prices. it probably too late for TCAF but there's more than enough time for HEROES. (examples)

and i have a few copies left of my new sketchbook "Now Pay Me". 24 pages (4 in colour!) and a colour cover for $15.

... (and last year's as well)

also if you bring or buy a copy of the MYSTERIUS the UNFATHOMABLE trade you will get a free sketch in it!

C2E2...

2010-04-12T20:47:00.008-04:00

i'll be in chicago this weekend for C2E2. if you're so inclined i'll be at table O6 in artist alley selling art/books/prints/sketches. swing on by and say hi.

here are a few commissions and con sketch pre-orders:

as i mentioned i'll be doing sketches. $50 for b/w and $80 for colour.

i'll also be debuting my new sketchbook "Now Pay Me". 24 pages (4 in colour!) and a colour cover for $15.

... (i'll have a few leftovers from last year as well)

mysterius round up (includes monsters, hippies, and poets...)

2010-03-31T14:54:00.007-04:00

a few new links for you:

jeff and i would like to thanks the always congenial aaron and evie for having us on the their awesome awesomed by comics podcast the other night. i managed to be slightly less offensive in this outing than i was last week on ajax. jeff, though, goes on a 48 minute long racist tirade that will hurt you soul. good times.

also i just yesterday discovered sporty heidi (the beat) macdonald had linked to a an interview that i'd done with my good friend, slightly feral poet rob mclennan, just before MYSTERIUS' release. i'd forgotten to post it here so now i'm posting both.

also, as some of you are aware we put together a promotion with online comics retailer DCBS for MYSTERIUS. these ten adorable, smiling monsters were randomly inserted into the books as they shipped.

i hope they're all happy in their new homes.

what's "the BIG IDEA"...?

2010-03-23T14:14:00.007-04:00

it's this.

mr. john scalzi was nice enough to include our book as one of his "the big idea" picks. thanks, john!

ps... a monster.

podcastses....!

2010-03-22T18:49:00.004-04:00

i've been doing the rounds lately.

go on and listen to admirable editing works of chris neseman for my ifanboy interview (which ran significantly longer than 17 minutes) and my cameo apperance on the first part of the last record of around comics, and euge ahn for my interview with him and chris sims on war rocket ajax (for which my wife wants me to apologize for all my salty language...)

it's hard, hard work making me sound even half-way coherent, and an excellent job done by both.

i'd also like to thank everyone at the silver snail for my signing last week and the same to everyone who came out to say hi. it was a really good day and i had a lot of fun meeting you all.

MYSTERIUS IN STORES TODAY!!!

2010-03-17T09:40:00.002-04:00

today's the day, kids! now go out and make poppa proud.

MYSTERIUS on the radio!

2010-03-15T12:45:00.007-04:00

jeff and i will be on CBC radio's "all in a day" this afternoon at 5:30 (est) talkin' 'bout comics. you can listen live online at cbc.ca/allinaday. i'll post the finished interview when it becomes available in their archive.

EDIT: my interview with ifanboy/11 o'clock/around comics' chris neseman is now up... at ifanboy.

EDIT THE SECOND: listen to the CBC interview here. scroll down to "mysterius the unfathomable" on the 15th of march 2010.

mysterius signing...

2010-03-09T12:14:00.003-05:00

hopefully the first of many...

oscar wilde, twarts, "news"...

2010-03-05T15:21:00.005-05:00

first the art...

berko shemets from michael chabon's amazing novel "the yiddish policemen's union" for steven gettis' equally amazing hey oscar wilde! it's clobbering time... site.

and jordi bernet's clara de noche for the comictwart boys.

now the news...

i'm going to be at the silver snail in ottawa signing copies of MYSTERIUS on wednesday, march 17 from 1-5pm (or until closing... who are we kidding). if you're able please swing on by. i'll make a more formal announcement with some possible other appearances next week.

cheers.

two new commissions...

2010-03-03T14:46:00.004-05:00

here are a couple of new commissions i had a lot of fun with. i should be back before week's end with exciting MYSTERIUS news...

changes to my portfolio...

2010-02-22T14:38:00.002-05:00

i just added a couple of new entries over at my portfolio site. why don't you head on over and take a look. show it to your friends! (especially if they happen to be art directors...)

two new twarts...

2010-02-18T13:17:00.005-05:00

just posted a new image over at comictwart. so in the spirtit of laziness here are my last two entries there plus some fun process stuff...

G.I. ROBOT...

francesco francavilla's THE BLACK BEETLE

so head on over to comictwart, kids! and learn to love again...

new commissions...

2010-02-09T15:52:00.003-05:00

hey kids did you know i do commissions?

just sayin'...

TWART!

2010-01-27T12:52:00.002-05:00

it's been a couple of weeks, but i thought i'd make some form of official announcement here. i've joined a weekly sketch blog called TWART!. every monday one of our members picks a subject and the rest of us have a week to do something with it. so far it's been a load of fun, but with the likes of:

... HOW COULD IT NOT BE?!!!

(in case you hadn't guessed from the above, this weeks was the ROCKETEER)

Mysterius in march...

2010-01-14T23:02:00.004-05:00

...march 17th to be exact.

here's our beautifully designed front cover. (there are still a couple of tweaks to be made, but i just couldn't hold it in any longer)...

the quote alone made my decade.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ME!!!

2009-12-30T14:09:00.009-05:00

...or berthday, since i will be spending the day being carried around by a team of midgets while i throw fist fulls of glitter to the sounds of rush's "tom sawyer" (as is the custom in canada).

also here, finally, is the art for the special giveaway poster/print that we're putting together for people who order the MYSTERIUS THE UNFATHOMABLE tpb through dcbs.

it's getting type and logos and will be signed and numbered by both jeff and me. it will be available for free for the first 250 people to order through dcbs, along with 10 randomly inserted original drawings by me (i'll post those, along with the finished version of the above, a bit closer to the day).

i'd say that was a pretty good deal... wouldn't you?

ps... if you like podcasts where people say awesome things about ME! (...and jeff and mysterius and a couple of other things, i guess...) swing over to the truly awesometastic evie and aaron's awesomed by comics year end awards show.

thanks guys.

happy xmas...

2009-12-17T18:38:00.006-05:00

...bit early this year (due to popular demand)...

from all of us here at team fowler: tom, monique, graham, and zool

we thank you for your indulgence, and wish you the very best of the season...

new commissions: ra's al ghul and lex luthor...

2009-12-08T19:26:00.002-05:00

... and they said i couldn't hide obelix in another post...

the joke in this luthor one is almost painfully subtle. can you tell what it is?*

and once again the grizzle-scazzizzles...

* (hint) he's drinking GREEN tea...

new commission: blue beetle...

2009-12-04T16:53:00.005-05:00

fightin' THE SQUIDS!!!

and now in greyscale...

squid fightin'...

new commissions deadpool and harley 'n' joker...

2009-12-03T22:41:00.004-05:00

(i can't believe i now have two labels for "decapitation"...)

oh well... kids love killin'!

i've also included the greyscale versions of both, cuz that's how i role...

hey kids, ALLIGATOR!!!...

2009-11-24T18:13:00.005-05:00

'cuz everybody loves a repeat of a step by step process post...

first: start with a dire need for a new portfolio.

next, dig around for some recent sketches. anything will do. say, a recent petarding of a close friend and creative partner...

now drain out all that comics junk, 'cuz art directors think they're oogy... and make it orange.
now paint it. paint it like there's a mortgage payment due. paint it like you don't want to have to wear a paper hat... ever. paint it like you've no intention of calling a thirteen year old "sir". paint it with love.*
now get your rep to try and sell it to some business magazine... or something... whatever... remember, you're a private dancer. a dancer for money. do what they want you to do...

* by "love", of course, i mean a mix of fear and panic...

hey kids, PROCESS!!!...

2009-11-24T18:09:00.009-05:00

... and who doesn't love a little bit of procedural navel-gazing once in a while? now that i'm a regular-type illustrator i've been trying to build up some kind of cohesive portfolio again.

well, maybe not "again" as i never really had one to begin with. i went straight from college to alcoholism to animation to deeper alcoholism to fantasy/gaming illustration to penury to comics to... well, nothing really. i've done the odd "straight" illustration job here or there, but never frequently enough to build anything out of, and the real shame of comics is that after twelve years of doing primarily comics all you have is a portfolio full of... comics.

so it behooves me now to start developing a process by which i can meet deadlines and show some consistency on more conventional illustration jobs. after playing around a bit i decided to approach it very much like i do my comics work (at least it was valuable for something... *), and i'm really happy and excited about the results!

first: the sketch.

this is the cleaned up sketch. i'll save you seeing any of my scratchy, crazy-pants doodles. this would be what the client sees. just a simple pencil drawing on typing paper, once i've worked out all the compositional elements in the doodles.

second: a cleaner inked sketch.

this was done with markers right over the first. it's really just to clean everything up for me and incorporate any changes or added elements the client may suggest after seeing the first sketch. in this case "the client" being my european rep and the concept being his, there weren't a lot of changes to be made...

third: now here's the fun bit. i took it into photoshop and, fiddling around in utilities, turned the black ink line into an orange/sepia colour that i often use when laying down my underpaintings.

this is exactly the same technique i use when i'm bluelining layouts for comics and advertising work, just playing around with the rest of the spectrum instead. the benefit of this is getting a perfect transfer of what the client signed off on AND keeping all the spontaneity and energy of the original drawing. i blew this up and printed it off onto 2 ply strathmore with my tabloid printer.

four: ...er... then i painted it.

the final painting was done with whatever dead brushes were at hand and daler rowney gouache. (btw, if anyone knows a good online source for DR that isn't prohibitively expensive in canada please let me know. i'm starting to run out and there really isn't anywhere to get it in ottawa anymore). i like daler rowney paints because, as i think i've mentioned before, i find them to be "creamier".

if i've done my job the right the final should resemble something approaching what is to my mind the pinnacle of gouache paintings: the 1969 poster for "the computer wore tennis shoes" that's hanging in my studio.

(* sorry if that sounds a bit harsh or negative, but the last four months or so haven't left me terribly well disposed toward the industry. that said, for all my belly-aching, i'd probably jump right back into it if it gave me the slinky wink... )

new commission... and a question.

2009-11-16T13:41:00.007-05:00

here's the latest commission. again, both in greyscale and bitmap. i really can't decide which i like better.

soooooo... one look at the sidebar will show that i really need an update of how this blog archives things (AND a little twitter window, AND a little followers window...) all of which i believe are readily available if i update to the new blogger. my problem is that every time i've started the process of updating, i get a little message that more or less says: " you may lose some content".... and there's the rub. i don't care if i lose the links in the sidebar (they can be replaced easily enough), but i do not want to lose any past posts.

has anyone out there updated their blogger blogs from the beta version? what/how much did you lose? did you lose anything? did you and blogger rent a cabin in the woods and spoon all weekend? did it touch you in an uncomfortable place? did it leave you in a puddle of tears and regret? did you have to sue it for custody of your pomeranian: admiral fluffikins mcwhiskerface? why hasn't it called? can't it see you love it? roughly? etc...

thanks for your help/experience in the comments...

two new commissions...

2009-11-15T14:49:00.006-05:00

here are the latest two commissions:

and here's how that last one looks when i play with my new (11x17 1200 dpi) scanner...

also, thank you to the astoundingly talented mr. guy davis for the shout out over at his marquis blog, where he includes a little blast from my past. (although the link he includes is to my portfolio, but i'm not picky...) EDIT (they're both there now. apparently i'm a little picky...)

when you're not reading and buying MYSTERIUS (available feb.9th) you should really be reading and buying something by guy...

big monkey and 11 o'clock...

2009-11-08T20:07:00.003-05:00

i sat in with the 11 o'clock guys on wednesday night. it was a lot of fun. i'm sorry i probably should have posted about it on thursday, but i got a bit distracted by sickness and work...

here's a picture of a big monkey from my new advertising portfolio. colours by keith garletts...

happy halloween...

2009-10-31T16:58:00.006-04:00

you know, the only really frightening thing for me about this drawing is that it turns out i'm not nearly as a attractive a person as i thought i was...

(and, yes, i am fishing for compliments...)

CBC asterix interview...

2009-10-30T11:59:00.007-04:00

i got a call yesterday from the cbc to see if i could come in that afternoon and drop some asterix on them. so, after rousing myself from my sick bed and smearing purel on my every exposed surface, i did just that...

you can find it here.

(and i didn't swear or nuthin'...)

parker's dream...

2009-10-29T13:41:00.004-04:00

via twitter:

"@jeffparker Dreamed last night that @tomfowlerbug drew a picture of me, and when I saw it, it was an alligator. Interpret THAT"

'kay.

new commissions...

2009-10-17T16:17:00.004-04:00

two new commissions...

first: batman and superman as they should be... friends.

... and a quick vogon for steve gettis' amazing hey oscar wilde! it's clobberin' time site...

i like vogons...

2009 sketchbooks for sale...

2009-10-14T15:02:00.005-04:00

2009 sketchbooks are now available for sale online (well... through me via email*). it's big boy at 24 pages with colour covers for only $10.00 usd. i'll throw in a wee monster sketch on the cover as well.

please include $2.00 postage inside canada and $3.00 outside.

ps... made a few changes to the portfolio blog. not done yet, but getting there...

* which you can find in my profile.

salon de livre schedule...

2009-10-08T10:24:00.005-04:00

i've received my schedule for this weekend's Le Salon de Livre de l'Outaouais: Rendez-vous International de la BD de Gatineau but first a sneak peak at one of the new images in progress for the mysterius trade:

now the schedule:

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm Opening Ceremony
This is optional but we’d be delighted if you could join us!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
10:30 am to 11:30 am Autographs
12:00 pm to 12:45 pm Hosting Lynn Johnston’s LIVE DRAWING
3:oo pm to 4:00 pm Autographs

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11
11:00 am to 12:30 pm Autographs
2 :00 pm to 3 :00 pm Hosting Ronn Sutton’s LIVE DRAWING
3:30 pm to 5:00 pm Autographs

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12
11:30 am to 1:00 pm Autographs

most of my signing will be with my friend eric gauthier, who wrote "feu blanc" and "terre des pidgeons" (illustrated by moi) which i've posted about previously.

the "live drawings" are on stage interviews with the artists as they... well, draw live.

other guests this year include: christophe bertschy, nicolas boucher, francis desharnais, christian durieux, lynn johnston, loustal, louis-philippe morin, gabriel morrissette, myriam roy, ronn sutton, lewis trondheim, daniel shelton, as well as some special appearances by others.

the whole thing starts friday at the museum of civilization and is all kinds of free.

11 o'clock podcast...

2009-10-02T11:13:00.005-04:00

i sat in with vince, chris, david, and jason on the 11 o'clock comics podcast wednesday night... and just could not shut up! my unfocused, one might think coked-up, ramble can be heard here.

many thanks to everyone involved. it was a lot of fun.

here's a new commission:

more news, more commissions...

2009-09-24T22:03:00.006-04:00

NEWS: i'll be appearing again at this year's tenth annual Le Salon de Livre de l'Outaouais: Rendez-vous International de la BD de Gatineau running from october 9th to 12th. among the special guests this year are Loustal, Lewis Trondheim, and Lynn Johnston. i'll be conducting an on stage interview with the latter at some point over the weekend. i'll post a schedule of events including that interview (of which i am slightly terrified) and my own signings a bit closer to the event.

COMMISSIONS:

EDIT...

my portfolio...

2009-09-08T11:54:00.003-04:00

hi kids,

i've just updated my links to include my new (and somewhat hastily thrown together) portfolio.

there's not a huge amount there right now, but it will change and grow to include a comics, and a design section among other things. i'm hoping to replace it eventually with something a bit more snazzy, but it'll do for now.

just click here (that is, if'n you're too lazy to scroll your mouse over to the link in the sidebar...)

some more recent commissions and some even cooler news...

2009-08-17T12:17:00.007-04:00

this time the news first...

the Society of Illustrators has chosen one of my pieces from Spectrum to hang in their gallery for an upcoming show highlighting the Spectrum annual.

the piece of mine they chose was the perennial favourite of mums everywhere "bad panda".

i'm super excited about this. the show runs from september 1st to october 17th at the society's gallery. monique and i will be there for the official opening on the 11th of september (i know...).
more about the event here. i'd love to see some members of the Fowler Army there.

i'll also be at the montreal comic con september 19-20. i don't think i'm on the site yet, but i'll be there.

and now the commissions...

dat wascally wolverine....

some recent commissions, and some cool news...

2009-07-21T16:29:00.003-04:00

first the commissions...
president martin van buren: the original wolverine...

an introspective thor...

supes giving bats a boost. this last one isn't really a commission (don't worry, dave), but more something i had to get out of my system before attacking said commission.

now the news: as has finally been reported i'll be appearing in disney press' the prince of persia gn. it's a tie-in to the new movie and it'll be on sale i april(?). it's looking like its going to be a quality book and i'm having a lot of fun with it. mostly though, i'm just happy to finally be able to talk about it... even though i can't actually say anything about it.... or show any images from it...

.... crap

messing about....

2009-06-02T10:40:00.005-04:00

while i've been waiting for my new mystery gig to start up in earnest, i've had a bit of a chance to sit down and do some drawing/painting just for the sake of drawing/painting.

i was going to hold one of these back for a longer focused posting about orphaned jobs that can't be done now, but... who are we kidding?

enjoy...

some of =you= might like to note that the three of these were done on cartiera magnani's annigoni paper...

after mysterius...

2009-05-29T09:47:00.004-04:00

i delivered the last issue of mysterius a couple of weeks ago... i kind of don't know how i feel about it. (being done i mean, the issue rocks!) i'm also having a bit of trouble figuring out what the hell to do with myself now.

luckily, though, it turns out unemployment feels a lot like work.

well... fun work.

also...

also...

also...

also...

mysterius #6...

2009-03-23T21:22:00.002-04:00

... do i really need to tell you to order this book?

really?

a nutty big shout out to aaron and evie and aaron's pants at the awesomed by comics podcast for choosing us for panel and book of the week. here's the unwhatevered version of of the painting from said panel...

thanks kids. now go out and threaten your lcs manager with bodily harm if he/she doesn't get those numbers up mysterius...

monroe lives again...

2009-03-10T12:07:00.002-04:00

...for now.

we just managed to squeek him into #500.

mysterius #5....

2009-02-28T18:36:00.003-05:00

i was planning on writing a big nycc/MAD piece filled with lots of pictures and hilarious snark.

but i'm busy.

order #5. that is an order.

ps... speaking of nycc, here's an podcast/interview mr. parker and i did with tucker stone for comixology on the floor of the show... i think we may have been feeling a bit honest that day.

happy st. valentine's day...

2009-02-14T19:04:00.004-05:00

this was for my son's daycare's card exchange...

no one gets into the romance of the day like toddlers.

mysterius in new york and on the cbc...

2009-02-04T09:36:00.007-05:00

leaving today for the new york comicon, but yesterday (feb. 3rd) i did an interview for the cbc's "all in a day", in which i sparkled wittily, and managed not to sound like too much of an idiot.

(although you can hear me sniffling through the whole thing, so those of you opposed to dribble, be warned...)

if you're at the nycc this weekend, stop by and say hi. here's my schedule:

SATURDAY
1:30-2:30pm: PANEL – WildStorm: After World’s End (Room 1A23)
3-4pm: SIGNING - DC/WildStorm booth

SUNDAY
12-1pm: SIGNING - DC/WildStorm booth

i'd like to also take this opportunity to thank all my friends at the beguiling and all my new friends at isotope for having me and making me feel so welcome. (also thanks to viktor, nick, and kevin respectively for giving me somewhere to sleep in the bay area... and ALSO big thanks to my brother, my folks, and our friend martin for putting out fires and helping out monique on the home front while i was away, it was veeeeeeeeeerry much appreciated.)

for some pictures of the isotope show go here. though, i think it would be best if people just stopped taking my picture.

mysterius and wildstorm...

2009-01-26T15:24:00.005-05:00

like strawberries and shortcake?

... well, kinda, yeah.

maybe more like rum and coke.

we've been getting a lot of feedback, and so far it's all been really positive (thanks, internet, didn't know you had it in you), but there has been one, slightly curious, thread that keep popping loose in much of the press/reviews/reactions/comments that's got us a wee bit stymied. and that's: "i love the book, but why is it coming out from wildstorm?"

this isn't the first time i've gotten this reaction. back when i was working on caper we got the same thing, and just as the answer back then was: "because bob schreck doesn't work for vertigo," the answer now is: "because that's where ben abernathy is."

simply put: ben called us, those other places didn't (not that i wouldn't mind a call now and again, especially given the current state of things at my day job--- but that's another post). dc/timewarner/whateverthehell does not, in fact, have a giant PLINKO board where the ideas go in at the top and bump their ways down to the various imprints at the bottom. what they do have are some darn sharp editors (some at least) who, when they're given the opportunity, are willing to branch out and commission what they think will be good work regardless of genre.

ultimately neither i nor parker are interested in scolding anyone. that's not the point of this post. what is the point?... crap, i forget. i guess if you like a book you like a book, regardless of whose shelf it's on. i mean that's what we've all been begging for for what seems like forever, right?

so if you see ben abernathy at a con, go give him a hug. he loves hugs.

ps... order mysterius #4.

pps... big thanks to vince bonavoglia and the other guys from the 11 o'clock comics podcast for the love.

ppps... order lots.

MYSTERIUS IS HERE!

2009-01-21T07:30:00.002-05:00

let the trumpets blare!

now go buy it.

ps... more sugar...

more mysterius goings on...

2009-01-20T09:42:00.005-05:00

... and an interview with the forces of geek.

note how i shamelessly ripped off everything about the beguiling poster (sorry chris)...

ps... more luv.

mysterius preview!!!

2009-01-16T17:58:00.003-05:00

who loves mysterius?

the internet, that's who.

they called us cool... squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

mysterius goings on....

2009-01-13T17:35:00.006-05:00

where to start, where to start...?

oooh! how about here...

or maybe here...

possibly even here...

so if you're in san francisco or toronto next week swing on by. buy some books. and buy some books.

and the magic mysterius tour will keep rolling along. we'll be announcing more appearances over the next couple of months...

ps...completely off topic, but possibly the funniest thing ever...

mysterius preview...

2009-01-07T11:01:00.003-05:00

it was my birthday yesterday, and my wife bought me a plane ticket to san francisco (more about that later).

makes the surprise registered in this panel somewhat apt...

mysterius booty...

2009-01-03T18:05:00.004-05:00

droppin' some panels from mysterius over the next couple of weeks in the lead up to the 21st (when the clouds part and the angels sing...).

plus there's been a shocking lack of ladies' bums on this blog of late...

don't pretend you don't love it...

happy xmas...

2008-12-24T18:04:00.003-05:00

from tom, monique, and graham.

mysterius 3...

2008-12-18T12:27:00.003-05:00

buy it, kids. you'll like it...

too close for comfort?...

2008-11-20T09:46:00.009-05:00

soooooo.... everyone remember this image? it was one of the images that was submitted and accepted into spectrum 14 a couple of years ago. very proud of it. still sell a ton of posters of it.

i just popped over to the spectrum site to see when the deadline was for this year and was met with this lovely painting by one of my personal artistic heroes, peter de seve:

gosh.

to be absolutely clear here: i'm not accusing peter de seve, the fenners, or anyone associated with spectrum of anything. i will say only that i guess great minds really do think alike.

and, peter, i got there first. (winking sideways smiley face)

UPDATE: i guess charles addams got there first. (see comments)

UPDATE, THE SECOND: de Sève speaks! ... and says some very nice things. thanks for being a good sport, peter.

mysterius #2!!!

2008-11-17T20:58:00.005-05:00

the mcguinness wore tennis shoes...

solicit blurb here