Another original piece drawn for Girl to Grrrl Manga. This was drawn entirely in marker.

It’s hard to believe how many years ago this assignment was. I used to think this style of coloring was super-fast and easy. But that was before I got some computer chops. Now I know what fast and easy really means!

That said, I am glad I chose to do the work with inexpensive tools; to show kids one doesn’t need a lot of expensive equipment to get good results.

Original illustration from Girl to Grrrl Manga. I really loved doing this book and it sold well. It was a fun exploration of how to draw in various manga styles.

Drawn with markers. I made it a point to do almost all the art in the book with inexpensive tools so that any kid could afford to reproduce the same look in their own art.

This was created for a comic called Warrior Nun Areala. I’ve never actually read it, but I recall being on a radio show, and the person interviewing me sort of ambushed me over the content of an issue of the series. I think I did a pretty good job defending the rights of cartoonists on the program, but I have no idea what this book is about. I think I did this pinup later just to annoy the radio host.

This picture was inspired solely by the title of the book and main character design.

Watercolor and colored pencil. The original art is long gone. This was scanned from a fifteen-year-old-copy, which is why the skin tones look particularly blotchy.

Funky anatomy aside, one thing I really like about this piece is the feathers. Each one is drawn by hand, with each feather composed of 4-6 different strokes of colored pencil, one on top of the other. This is a very tedious process, but the result is glossy and iridescent. It’s worth the effort.

From Robotech Art II, circa 1987.

This was drawn in ink and colored by hand on a copy using Dr. Martin’s Concentrated Watercolors. These paints are actually a type of dye, and they are not lightfast. That is, they fade with exposure to UV light. I begged the person who bought the art not to display it, but he put it right in the window of his comic shop. In only a few years, the art was destroyed.

This was scanned from a poster with minor restoration in Photoshop. I have a very good copy of the line art, so maybe I will redo it entirely on the computer someday.

The publisher used the piece in both the book and on a promotional poster. This was early in my career, and I was only paid $50 for this piece! I also had no contract, so I reserved the copyrights for myself, which is some compensation!

However, the trademarks belong to Harmony Gold, I assume.

This was drawn with Copic and Deleter markers. I wanted to make a book which would show kids how to create professionally finished art without a lot of expensive computer equipment.

I used a computer to create the glow effect in the eyes, but all of the rest of the drawings in the book – as well as the colors – are by hand.

Art from Girl to Grrrl Manga.

This pic was based on my friend Jarl Benzon, who is one of my favorite models. He was Orlando Bloom’s body double in the Lord of the Rings films, and appears as an elf in a number of scenes.

Cover art to Girl to Grrrl Manga, a how-to book. Watercolor.

This project was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, I was in the middle of moving when I worked on it. Harrowing!

Also, my new country home had no modern computer amenities. It was more than a year before I could get a satellite installed! I’m absolutely dependent on my computer to get my work to my publishers now.

Another page from “The Adventures of Sweet Sophia,” my defunct manga-style romance for Sweet 16 magazine. Go back one page for another look.

Several years ago, I was tagged by Sweet 16 magazine to write and draw a manga-style teen romance series entitled “The Adventures of Sweet Sophia”.

Though Sweet 16 sold 100,000 copies per issue, that’s considered modest by magazine industry standards. After running only a couple of pages of the story, the magazine was canceled.

The people at Sweet 16 were really great to work with, and it’s too bad things didn’t work out. The entire experience was a joy…except for the whole getting canceled thing!

FYI: I had limited computer skills then, so the lettering and color are by hand. Most of this is colored with markers! Now almost all of my comic art is colored digitally.

Still, I love the way these colors look online.

Manga art like this is so much easier to draw than Western style. I can easily do a full color page or more of manga art in a day.