EATING DOLPHINS AND HANGING OUT WITH LADY-SINGERS.

Parks & Recreation and I had a somewhat rocky beginning, but I believe those early obstacles allowed us to strengthen our relationship to be what it is today. Seriously, I'm a big fan now. I'm totally gonna be Ron Swanson when I grow up. Or Jean-Ralphio. I don't know, there are a lot of factors to consider... Mainly how douchey I become (most signs currently point to Jean-Ralphio).

I oh-so-cleverly used tonight's season premiere as an excuse to draw some Jean-Ralphio and Tom. I don't think Jean-Ralphio does ties, but I liked the way I drew that hand, so I left it.

What's that? You want another drawing of Ben Schwartz? Well, that's a strange thing to request, but I guess I could upload this other sketch I did while watching "Jake & Amir" videos. I know a lot of illustrators have taken to doodling Nick Offerman/Ron Swanson pics -- AND FOR GOOD REASON -- but I submit that Ben Schwartz/Jean-Ralphio is equally fun to draw. I think it's the hair.

Aaand that makes three updates this month with actual new artwork. I'm really determined to keep this blog alive, even when I can't post my professional work. We'll see how long I can maintain this stupid go-getter attitude. "Oh-ho-ho," she laughed knowingly.

"Jean-Ralphio" count: 6

PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA.

I did a guest comic thing for Warren Ellis's Three Panels feature. Above is the full-size third panel, which I had to crop in a weird way to keep the writing legible at 640px on Warren's site. Click here to see the full comic. My friend Ariyana Suvarnasuddhi also did one.

I've been thinking a lot about this concept over the past few months. I had "PROHIBITION ERA PSYCHEDELIA" scrawled repeatedly in my notebook and those words regularly bothered me, so I eventually forced myself to draw this, just to get it out of my brain so I can never think about it again. I think my exact words were "Deliver me, inky exorcism." And yay! I'm free. Now I can get on with my life. I guess.

Oh, these are some pictures I threw on Twitter and Tumblr while I was working. This actually strayed pretty far from my typical process. I usually use pens more than brushes or digital linework.


And this is how I look after staying up 'til 6AM last night for no good reason.


Okay, back to real work.

THIS CROP MAKES ME LAUGH.

I bet you're rolling your eyes at me if you also follow me on Twitter or Tumblr, because I've been going on and on about this... But it's my first printed comic work, so LET ME HAVE THIS MOMENT.

Okay, so, basically, I illustrated a short story in the penultimate issue of House of Mystery (#41, out today). I may have had too much fun doing it -- I got to sneak in a robot with a hand grenade! And used fight scenes as an excuse to study clips of Mac from Always Sunny! Also, I showed the cover (by Esao Andrews) to my mom on Skype and she screamed. There's your stamp of approval. Thanks to Greg Lockard, Matt Sturges, Shelly Bond and the folks at Vertigo.

I can't wait for you guys to see what else is coming up. I just need to learn how to work faster and stop nitpicking at every line and maybe cut down on these very time-consuming ham + cheese toasties.

Oh, and speaking of ham and wanting all of it, if you've already seen Patton Oswalt's great new special, you may enjoy this silly sketch I did while watching it this Monday.