So many great Thing sketches in this round of the Thing sketchbook show...thing. This might be the best grouping of five consecutive sketches yet...though I suppose I've said that before. There are some great ones, though, to be sure. Check 'em out!
Zander Cannon - Comic-Con International 2014
After pulling in a half dozen sketches at Comic-Con in both 2012 and '13, for some reason I returned from San Diego in 2014 having added only one Thing sketch to the book. But what a sketch it is! This beauty, done entirely in colored pencils, is by Zander Cannon, perhaps best known for his work on the graphic novel Heck! and his work on the America's Best Comics line with Alan Moore. I know him best, though, for his short lived Chainsaw Vigilante series, a spinoff of the Tick line. The rounded figure and the stubby arms and legs really make this piece for me - along with, of course, the beautiful bright orange and blue.
Dani Grew - Toonseum 2014
I worked with Dani Grew during my time volunteering at the Toonseum in Pittsburgh. Dani is an artist in residence at the museum, and she does a lot of work in coordinating the various exhibits as well. I was hesitant to ask her to draw something in the sketchbook as I wasn't sure if she's want to do it or not...but as always, my desire for Thing sketches overrides any semblance of manners or couth. And this time, my lack of social grace paid off in the form of this great sketch. I love the subway figures to each side and how expressive everyone is.
Katie Cook - Pittsburgh Comicon 2014
One of my big regrets of going to Detroit's Motor City Con was forgetting to take the sketchbook with me. I partially made up for it by buying a blank cover and having Katie Cook draw on it, but it's just not the same as getting something in the ol' sketchbook. When I saw that Cook was coming to the Pittsburgh Comicon in 2014, almost four years after the Detroit show, I knew that I had to add a sketch and I was lucky enough to grab this great, tiny watercolor before I ran out of pages.
Let's check out that sketch cover!
Okay, obviously the scrapbook joke is a theme of Cook's, but I'll go with it. Now that I think about it, I have a few of these blank covers with sketches on them. Maybe one day the world will be ready for a sketch cover post. Who can say?
Christopher Peterson - New York Comic Con 2014
I made it back to the New York Comic Con in 2014 and was able to spend one day at the show. NYCC is always packed to the gills with people and it's hard to see everything in one day, so I try to make a point to add one sketch into the book when I go there - there's usually not time to get more than that unless that's what I want to do all day. Anyway, this year I was able to get a sketch from Christopher Peterson, a fellow FUBAR alum who has gone on to work on some fairly high profile books. Here we see another appearance of the Thing with a trench coat, which I am always grateful for. This is a very moody piece! I think Christopher was happy with it and I certainly am as well.
Don Simpson - Pittsburgh Indy Comix Expo 2015
It's pretty difficult not to just stare at this piece when I look through the book. It's a full-figure drawing, it's in wonderfully rendered color, it's by Megaton Man creator Don Simpson...and it's the Thing! It's hard to find fault in any of those reasons. It's difficult to rank the drawings in the book, but if I absolutely had to, this would certainly occupy one of the top spaces. Not only did I get to strike up a conversation with Don, but I at least hold out a little bit of hope that one day we may work together on something fun. For certain, he drew one of the signature pieces for the book, and I couldn't be happier with it. It's, in a word, incredible.
It'll be hard to top these five as a group. We'll see what I can do with the next batch, some of which have yet to be drawn!
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