Congrats to Nate Simpson

His comic 'Nonplayer' was picked up by Image Comics, which is one of the companies I'd love to work for. It comes out later this year. I've been following his blog http://projectwaldo.blogspot.com/ about the process on creating a comic, its pretty cool to see some one put in the hard work & then have their dream fulfilled. Thats what I'm all about! 

Here's a sketch

I figured I'd post a sketch of the characters from when I was originally designing them over a year ago. And Tim does not look like that with his glasses off anymore. Here's a few things.


Grade 5 #1 the hard copy will available next week I believe.


I'm working on drawing issue  #2 right now & I'll post some images next week.


And I will post a Friday Comic about the superbowl on Friday. I haven't done a Friday Comic for weeks b/c I've been too busy, but this one looks good.


so that's some stuff to look forward to, & uh, Go Pack!

The Waiting Game

This is the sucky part about self-publishing & publishing in general. The wait. Everything has been done on my end to complete issue 1, & I'm currently working on issue 2. The book digital book is online. But the hard copy is still in limbo so to speak, b/c I'm waiting for ka-blam.com to approve the files so they can start printing the book. Who knows when they actually get that done. Hopefully it'll be this week, cross my fingers.

But the good news is I'm working on lining up a few days to go speak to children about the book. I will be doing actual workshops with them about book & character creation. No I just won't be telling them to buy my book, oh but I will sneak that in there of course. 

Getting the book out in the public is just as if not more work than actually working on the book. Its sure not as fun, thats for sure!

Grade 5 can now be purchased!

The book is now listed on lulu.com. So you can now buy it! what an excellent end to a very stressful week! And its only Thursday! Ok, time for bed, & I'll be posting more. The exact link is http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/grade-5-%231/14682836?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

Two new character designs.

These are two new character designs for 'Team Ballin.' Team Ballin is a 3-man wrecking crew that gives the main characters of Grade 5 a lot trouble. These two characters are named Dustin & Jim, and they are actually my friends in real life. But in the book, they are far from it. They are the focus of later issue titled 'Friday Night Fights.' 

PLEASE HELP ME CHOOSE A COVER

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2

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5

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7

Well the design for the 2nd issue isn't quite set in stone & I wanted to get some one else's idea on what color I should go with so... here they all are, can some one please help me out by suggesting a cover. There are 7 total. If you think another color would work out too, that would be great. 

The idea was to go with a much darker feel  for the cover for this issue, because the topic was a lot more serious in tone. This issue is about how kids get along socially, & believe me, it can get pretty nasty. 

To sum it up, what happens is there's a dodge ball war between the 4th & 5th graders. One of the 4th grade girls bites me on the face (true story, it's explained in the book), & so that my reputation isn't ruined, my friends & I take a preemptive strike against that girl & her friends to protect my rep. It spirals out of control until rumors, fist fights, & even a food fight is started, I'm excited to introduce the 'graham cracker slap.' Remember girls are vicious. And that's all I'm going to say, but I would like help on which cover suits it best & doesn't scare kids. Remember there are 7 total covers.

I like the the 1st purple the best, & I'm trying to stay away from red, & if you know of any other colors that suit the cover, let me know. Just post in the comments here or on the facebook wall.

-JCray

Next week...

Yup the book should be ready to be purchased by next week, but 1st I have to finish over a few things & go over the final files. This blog is done & the facebook will soon follow. 


I'm telling you I'm so ready for this 1st issue to be up & ready it has been one of the best & yet most stressful moments of my life working on this thing. The light is on at the end of the tunnel.

Final cover for issue 2

This is the final image for issue 2. It is extremely dark in tone compared to the 1st cover. It almost looks demonic, but it is far from it. This issue is about social status & the relationship children have with each other, and the dark side of that. In this issue I wanted to go in a place that most cartoons & comics for children won't go. And it centers around a dodge ball war & a very ill timed 'bite.' 

Creativity is a process

The process it took to create issue 2 of Grade 5. This took me a couple of days to create. I'll be posting the final cover  in a moment. The illustration is a little scary compared to cover for issue 1.

Stymie Magazine?

I never heard of that magazine, until near the end of 2010, when some one e-mailed me asking if a image (silk screen) I created of legendary Negro League catcher Josh Gibson could be used as the cover for their spring/ Summer 2011 issue. Well I said yes of course, and I'll update you again about the magazine when the issue debuts in 2011. Makes me excited for base ball season, but that can wait.


The Packers defeated the Eagles tonight in Philly and football is alive and kicking in WI for another week.

Friday Comics 1/7/11

So basically I'm drawing a short comic strip every Friday to help promote the book on this blog. So the goal is to produce 52 of these things! 

The comic strips will reflect US pop-culture like movies, shows, sports, etc. I may even throw some politics in there, well maybe not, let's keep this fun. Here is the 1st edition. I just finished it right now at 11:11pm CT. I don't care if it's a Friday night, I had to stay on schedule. Enjoy until next Friday!

Birthday Shout Out!

I'm going to give a huge birthday shout out to Steve! I'm talking about the real Steve that the character is based on! I've known this guy since 1st grade and I just want to say Happy Birthday Steve!

The Final cover for issue 1, ta-da

After a few more changes, I present to you the final cover for the book. I can't wait to see this thing after its printed later this month!

This is how it started...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!


I figured with it being the 1st of the year and all that I would post a strip of the characters that I actually created when I was in 5th grade. These characters have come a long way, even though Steve pretty much looks the same. Don't fix something that isn't broken. This comic strip is from the 2nd book I made with the Grade 5 characters. 

Back then it was just called 'The Adventures of Steven & Jason.' I was actually going to call the book that, and my mom told me not to. I'm glad she did, that titled really has nothing to do with what the book has turned into. Back then the book was about what ever craziness my brain could produce. To be honest half of the stuff didn't even make sense. Luckily, that isn't the case anymore. 'You never told me about a goog monster...'