Requests, Part Duex!

And the requests still come trickling in.
As some of you know, I had to take a little while off from drawing comic. Every once in awhile, and as fun as it is to draw page after page of comic books, it's kinda nice to just draw something else.
Some of my earlier requests can be seen here.

This first one only technically counts as a request as it was something someone asked for a long time ago, but, hey, I'm not gonna split hairs. Besides, I really like how it turned out and so does he!
Rafael Navarro, creator of Sonambulo, asked Nik Havert last summer to let me know he wanted me to do a pin-up for his next issue of Sonambulo, Mexican Stand-Off. I'd tossed around a number of ideas, before settling on the one you see above.
"DUUUUDE!!!!!" was his response to the image. I'll take it as a compliment.

When I asked Robert "Hollywood" Swinton what he'd like, he said, "How about an old fashion DJ in a radio booth, make it kinda shadowy."
I tossed around a couple of ideas until I settled on this:
It combines a number of influences and homages and gave me just one more excuse to draw Big 'Fro in action. If you can name the two main homages, I'll give you a free original drawing (first one with the answer only, though, I'm only human).
I emailed this picture to Hollywood, letting him know that his request triggered an idea for a possible Big 'Fro story somewhere down the line.

Don't worry, Bill, your cats are coming.
More pages will be posted soon, I promise.
Oh, and thanks to Amanda for the matchboxes.
Keep it here, boppers!

I Do Requests

Trenched in a number of comic book projects as I am, I decided to take the week off and just do pin-ups, sketches, etc, for the fun of it, so I asked a couple random people I know what they would like me to draw. The thing I enjoy about this is, like doing pictures at comic book conventions, you just never know what people are gonna ask for. One particular conventioneer just gives me a big-ass sheet of paper and asks me to draw any Marvel character. I like that guy!

So far, I've gotten Nik wanting a picture of DC's Creeper (below), whom I'd never drawn before and after seeing the sweet version Nik has by Daniel Brereton, I don't know why he even bothers to collect any others.

My favorite part is the hood ornament. Once I did it, I had to put the Penquin in the car. That's just how my mind works.

"I want you to draw me with a skull and make me look hot," was my wife's request (like that's difficult). I got a bit of a Sharpie-high off of this one but it's the best skull I've ever done.

I got a request from Nicole McClain for and Angelina Jolie drawing. Sheesh! Sometimes, you get what you ask for. In this case, it's the challenge of the thing. Check back soon, boppers...

Cartoon Girl!

Here's a picture I did of my wife Barbi for Valentine's Day.
It's based on a picture of her when she was little that I absolutely love.
Obviously my wife isn't a cartoon, but it turns out Bill "The Inkmeister" Wilkison is more of an influence on me than he knows.

It's in Sharpie and colored pencil for anyone keeping record...

Bad News Travels Slow

Johnny Cash once said, "Bad news travels like wildfire, good news travels slow." Such wasn't the case for me as I just learned yesterday that bluesman R. L. Burnside passed away on September 1st, 2005. Who the hell is R. L. Burnside? you're probably asking. Here's a brief biography I swiped from another website:

R.L. Burnside, who redefined the blues genre by incorporating indie rock acts and hip-hop production, died September 1, 2005, at St. Francis Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Burnside was born November 21, 1926, in Harmontown, Mississippi, and spent most of his life in the north Mississippi hill country, where he worked as a sharecropper and a commercial fisherman and played guitar at weekend house parties. In 1968, noted folklorist George Mitchell recorded Burnside for the first time. In 1991 Burnside was the first artist signed to then-fledgling Fat Possum Records in Oxford, Mississippi. His debut, "Too Bad Jim," was produced by former New York Times pop critic Robert Palmer. Along with his friend, neighbor, and label-mate Junior Kimbrough, Burnside was one of the most popular and important blues musicians to emerge in the last two decades. He recorded the crossover collaboration "A Ass Pocket of Whiskey" with the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in 1996 and became a cult hero. In 1998, music from "Come On In" was featured in several movies and television shows, including The Sopranos. Burnside sold hundreds of thousands of records in his lifetime. He is survived by his wife Alice Mae, twelve children, and numerous grandchildren.

It was back in '98, when I was awakened from my sleep by what was probably the coolest song I'd ever heard. Back then, I used to sleep with the radio on. WXRT, out of Chicago, used to play some pretty awesome music after midnight and that night was no exception. The song turned out to be "It's Bad You Know," off of Burnside's then just-released CD "Come On In." I went to the nearest music shop the next day and was surprised to find not only "Come On In," but a bunch of other CDs by Mr. Burnside.
How could this be? I wondered. How could someone as cool as this guy escape my watchful ear? It was just one of those things. Like discovering a novelist for the first time only to learn they've written a ton of books already!
If you haven't heard Mr. Burnside's music, pick up one of his CDs today. I'm sure his widow, twelve kids and numerous grandkids could use the money.
Rest in peace, Mr. Burnside. Hope you made it to Heaven before the Devil knew you were dead.

Project Updates Galore!

Big news, boppers! Lots of groovy art updates this time 'round!
First up is a sneak peak at a possible ad for Salem, AZ to be ran in Bill "The Inksticator T-1000" Wilkison's upcoming third installation of Wha? For those of you not familiar with Bill's work, check out his blog and website. Tell him I sent you and he'll probably say something like, "Paul who...?"

Anyway, here's the ad without whatever wordage Nik Havert decides to go with on it. This is probably some of the best work I've done and I think the reason is all the thought I put into it. I only had one page and had to get it right. I did a similar version of this ad first, but Bill took one look at it and asked, "Where's the sex?!" The ad is also a sorta tribute to one of the greatest spaghetti westerns of all time. I'm talkin' 'bout "Once Upon A Time In The West." Along with "Death Hunt" & "The White Buffalo," it's probably Charles Bronson's finest film, but I'm getting off track a bit.
Next up: pages three and five of Salem, AZ#1!
Out of all the Salem, AZ pages I've done, including the preview that'll be appearing in the second issue of The Three Keys#2 (due out sometime this summer, I hear), page three is probably my favorite. I love the way the action flows.

If you can't remember what happened here, click here and page five (below) might make a bit more sense.

To be continued...

Along with Salem, AZ, I've been diligently chugging away at "Sweet Black Angel," part one (of two) of Up Jumped the Devil, starring the afroed one himself, Big 'Fro Brown. Big 'Fro, of course, is the creation of Robert "Hollywood" Swinton, who was gracious enough to trust me with his baby for this one-shot story.

Here are the pencils for pages five through seven.
Sorry for the grainy scans, but sometimes pencils don't photocopy well.

Well, that's it for this time around, boppers.
Keep coming back for more (you know you like it).