My favorite panel

We're seeing more progress made with our illustrious Teddy and the Yeti.  Colors are nearly done and letters (which I'm learning a great deal about) are coming along, albeit a bit slowly.

Along the way, certain aspects of the process stick out, but perhaps none more than the panel you see on the right.  This panel has fast become my favorite of the book.  Why?  I don't know, truthfully.  I guess I think that the expression sums up the Yeti pretty well, the colors are spot on, and...I just like it.  I don't have to explain myself to you!!!  Or, maybe, I do.  But that's the best I can come up with right now.

When I need inspiration for a script or the motivation to open Illustrator and letter some more, I look at the panel, and all seems right.

Strange, yes, but true.

Copyrights

I got a call from my parents today saying that they received a letter for me from the US Copyright Office. I immediately knew what it was, but I still found the timing a little bit strange.

You see, when "Josh Howard Presents: Sasquatch" first came out and I was beginning to think about doing more with Teddy and the Yeti, I filled out the requisite forms and sent in a copy of the book to copyright the characters and ideas in a legal sort of way. I remember reading something about how the Copyright Office would be in contact with me and would mail my distinct number within six weeks or so. This was, oh, a year and a half ago.

I guess it's a case of "better late than never", though I still do find it at least a little bit amusing. After not hearing anything for so long, I just figured that I'd never hear anything back from them, which seemed to say something about our governmental structure, but HEY! I guess things are working down in Washington after all, albeit a bit more slowly than I had anticipated.

The most interesting part about all of this is that they've requested another copy of the book so they can keep it on file at the Library of Congress. Now, let's be clear: there are lots of books at the Library of Congress, and they didn't request a copy of the Sasquatch anthology because it was a priceless piece of art history (or did they...?), but there's an odd feeling knowing that, long after I'm dead and forgotten, Teddy and the Yeti will be tucked away in some corner of a governmental library for anyone to stumble upon. Take that, future!

Cover preview, part 2

As promised, here's a peek at the cover to our third issue.  This one's pencilled by Godland's Tom Scioli - and if you know anything about the man, you might have a good idea of what the theme for this cover is.  At any rate, the Yeti sure does look concerned...doesn't she?

As you can obviously see, we're only in the pencil stage with this cover, but we've got lots of time before we need to see a final version, at least concerning printing and the like.  Duane is currently in possession of this piece of art (the electronic version, anyway...), and he's in the process of inking it.  Tom mentioned that he usually inks his own work, so this will be a different experience for him as well.  I'm sure it'll look great when it's finished...heck, it looks pretty good right now.

Cover preview, part 1

The past few weeks have been pretty exciting, as I've seen artwork continue to roll in as we inch closer and closer to releasing the book in stores.  It's always fulfilling to see a creation come to life, and I know that Duane and I are both just as thrilled to see some great artists put their stamp on a few Teddy and the Yeti covers.

The clip you see to the left here is from our first issue.  The pencils are done by none other than Phil Hester, a super talented guy whose work you might recognize from runs on Green Arrow and The Irredeemable Ant Man, to name a few.  Duane showed us his versatility in inking and Karin did her usual bang-up job in the colors department.

I'm just releasing a clip for now, but I'll show the entire thing soon enough.  I've got another preview from the cover to the third issue coming up soon, but for now...marvel at the awesomeness that is this part of our first cover.

Speech Balloons

Progress on Teddy and the Yeti continues to be made.  Colored pages for the first issue are starting to roll in, leaving letters as the last piece of the puzzle to be...well, whatever you do with puzzle pieces.  What I'm getting at is this: we're nearing the end.

My good friends Brant Fowler and Adnan Virk are each contributing to the book in their own way with letters and advice, but I'm looking to take the bulk of the work on myself.  This entails that I actually learn how to letter, which is no easy task, but I'm working on it.  If nothing else, I spent a big hunk o' money on buying Adobe's Illustrator CS4 program, which is as daunting as it is wonderful.  This is obviously time consuming, but I think that in the end, as long as I can get the hang of it, it'll be worth it.  If I find out that I'm just not up to snuff, I'll take myself off of lettering duties - I don't want the product to suffer because of stupidity on my part - and hand those responsibilities off to someone else, but at least for now, it looks like I'll be adding that to my list of things to do.

If you're out shopping for Jeff...

...you could do worse than to pick up Batman: The Complete Animated Series.  This show, along with Batman Begins, is one of my all-time favorite cartoons.  Just the right about of drama and levity for me when I was...what, 12?  At any rate, I had already bought the first two volumes, which have been made obsolete by this comprehensive set.  This would normally irk me, as this is obviously a case where we as consumers are being milked for every last dollar we can spare, but LOOK AT THIS!  It's got an art book and everything.  Plus, I'm hoping to get it for Christmas, which costs me a total of zero dollars.  And that's right up my alley.

Q&A with Karin Rindevall, part 2

We'll wrap up our interview with Karin Rindevall today, moving from more Teddy-and-the-Yeti-centered questions to more general, and perhaps more personal, ones. I really can't reiterate enough what a great job Karin is doing on the book or how grateful I am to have her involved with this project. Karin has colored a short T&Y story for issue #3 and a backup "Andromeda Jones" tale for issue #1 (as seen above), is working on all the covers, and (if I can twist her arm hard enough) will be coloring flashback scenes for issues 1 and 2 in the very near future. I know I've said the before, but I'd put Karin's work against any other in the industry with confidence. But enough sucking up (for now) - let's get to the conclusion of her question and answer session.

JM: Are there any artists you particularly admire, both contemporary and historical?

KR: Well, one of the online artists that first got me into digital drawing was Emily Gregg. She mysteriously vanished back in 1999 with a simple "goodbye" message on her homepage, which was a really sad day for me. I wish she knew how much she inspired me, and how she got me into drawing. Another artist from that time that has kept on inspiring me until now is Vanessa Adams. Her pieces are truly something "more." They always have some sort of feeling or message in them. It's never just a drawing; there is always something to tell from her pieces.

I don't really have any historical artists in mind. Don Rosa is truly fascinating, though, and I loved his comics when I was a kid (and still do).

JM: When I think of Sweden, I think of yodeling and snow-capped mountains. How far from the truth am I?

KR: I think you are far from the truth, but not entirely! I don't know of much (if any!) yodeling here. When I hear yodeling, I think of Austria or Switzerland (now *I* am probably far away from the truth!). And when I look out of my window, I see mountains but no snow (yet). We tend to get snow in November (October is we are lucky) and it disappears in March or April. In southern Sweden, the winters tend to be pretty wet and the snow doesn't really come to stay until January or February.

But I do remember that we had more snow when I was a kid, but that could be because I lived more north [compared to] where I live now, and in a more mountainous place with huge valleys. Or it could be simply be that as a kid everything is "more", "bigger" or "longer" in that time span.

I do know that winters in Sweden are longer and colder than in a lot of places - and during winters, the sun rises really late at sets really early. When a good friend of mine from the USA visited me back in 2005 to celebrate New Year's, she was really excited and pleased with the amounts of snow - but less excited about how short the days were (the sun came up around 9:00 am and went down around 3:00 pm). It's the other way around during the summer. Where I come from, it's only dark two-to-three hours during "midsummer's eve", and in Lulea (far north in Sweden) the sun never truly sets...which basically means the sun never really rises during "midwinter's eve". Pretty inspiring, huh? Even though I love snow and love to snowboard, I think the Swedish winters could get pretty depressing because of the lack of sun.

JM: If you were stuck with one color (and all of its shades) for the rest of your life, and you had to use that color and no other, which one would that be?

KR: I don't really know; it all depends on my "period" in drawing! Usually, since it is my favorite color, I would say 'blue', but I am kind of bored with that color right now. So I'll have to say 'orange'!