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I dunno, this guy just called out for a graphic, logo-like approach, like Colonel Sanders or the Pep Boys.  Drawn with Sketchbook.

This was my cover to Slave Labor’s Tales From The Heart #11, from 1994, painted in Dr. Martin’s watercolor dyes, with probably a little bit of guache, if I remember right.  I was grateful to publisher Dan Vado for allowing me to do the cover to the final issue, following earlier covers by the likes of Brent Anderson and Charles Vess. It really was an honor.

Tales  was the true-life adventures of a college-aged woman’s stint as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Central African Republic, written by Cindy Goff and Rafael Nieves.  A little ahead of its time, the series never generated a lot of attention or sales, although it did receive a fair amount of critical acclaim and managed to generate two graphic novels from the Marvel/Epic imprint (which I wasn’t involved with).

I was brought in at issue #7 after original artist Seitu Hayden left the book.  Unfortunately, my work in the second half of the run, issues #8-#11, was never collected in trade.  Working on the series was really one of the great honors of my teeny-tiny comics career, and I’d jump back into it without hesitation if Cindy and Rafe wanted to pick it up again.

I recently upgraded to Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro 2010–so good it’s from the future! Updated with a few much-needed features (thanks for the ruler, Autodesk), still the best drawing software around, now better. Color from Photoshop.

Rose Madder is © 2009 A.L. Baroza.

Drawn with Sketchbook, painted in Photoshop.

Wherein I try to draw cartoon characters in compromising positions and throw dignity out the window.  Below, Daphne and Velma from Scooby Doo toss the boys and dog out on their ear and enjoy a night of drunken revelry.  But wait, this isn’t “compromising” enough?  Well, duh.  Not for free.
Drawn with Sketchbook. Maybe later I’ll go back and add color, if time permits.

Apologies to Edvard Munch.  Rose Madder is © 2009 A.L. Baroza

Steven Jones just let me know that our 1994 Sherlock Holmes miniseries has been re-released by Gary Reed (formerly of Caliber Press), through his new venture, TransFuzion.  Sherlock Holmes:  The Cases of the Twisted Minds is a new graphic novel available on Amazon that includes Adventure of the Opera Ghost.  You can also order direct from the TransFuzion site, which also has a few extra sample pages up.

An attempt at caricature here. I tried to be a little less concerned with photorealism and anatomical structure in favor of expression. I also took a looser, more painterly approach to color. Drawn with Sketchbook, painted in Photoshop.

The editors and crew of Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology hit the Los Angeles area this past weekend, making appearances all over the place.  The weekend culminated in book signings/parties at the Japanese American National Museum on Saturday, and Giant Robot 2 on Sunday.  Although my old bones were unable to make the Giant Robot event, I did show up for the night at JANM.  Here’s me with the lucky winner of my drunken sketch of what has been dubbed as “Asian Aquaman”, which was raffled off as a prize.  I’m sorry I don’t remember your name, lucky winner, as I wasn’t quite sobered up yet!  If you’re around and see this, post a comment and I’ll namedrop you accordingly.

6/9/09 Edited to credit Rachel Bieber as the lucky winner of Asian Aquaman!