9.17.08 - TMNT, Chaotic, COMnGRAF
Current mood: blessed
*A lil heads up. Case y'all didn't know, my REAL blog is Kharupt.blogspot.com. This one is pretty much a supplement to the other since this one is a lil more visible, what with the 6000+ people on my friends list (izzat crazy or what?!) But here's the thing -- I just started doing some life drawing classes again so the OTHER blog's gonna start to be getting updated a little more frequently. This one's kind of a pain so I only post the bigger posts on this one. So if ya's want the TRUE, I suggest you keep your eyes glued to Kharupt.blogspot.com. Y'erd?*
Aight, aight. So I slipped up a lil', lil' bit. I should have mentioned previously that BOTH the new seasons of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Chaotic launched last weekend. I should have. But I was out of town and it totally slipped my mind. You'd think that wouldn't happen considering these are the two biggest things I've worked on in the past year. . .but uh. . .oops? So yes. TMNT: Back to the Sewer is on The CW, Saturdays at 9:30am. Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion is on Fox, Saturdays at 10:00am. See that? A whole HOUR of Kharupt goodness for your Saturday morning, on TWO different channels. So I screwed up a lil'. Here's a peace offering:
A sampling of the pieces I did for the intro to TMNT. Drawn by me, painted by my homeboy Emilio Lopez.
There are downloads and wallpapers available of this stuff over at 4kids.tv.
More Chaotic. Kopond is colored by Tony Washington, and Arbeid is colored by Axer.
And to get a sampling of the new season of Chaotic, which looks dramatically different from the last season, also check out 4kids.tv.
Lastly, I had the honor of being asked to be a part of a gallery showing coming up in my hometown of Boston. My good friend (and mentor) Rob Stull is putting it all together and it should be pretty ill. It's called COMnGRAF, and basically it's a show that brings together the worlds of comics and graffiti all in one art exhibit. Some of the artists in the show are amazing, seriously. I was really flattered to be asked to be a part of it. There was one show back in July that went over pretty well and this one promises to be even bigger. It's on Saturday, September 27th and it'll be at Technical skate shop on Newbury St. I won't be able to be there personally (gotta wedding to hit that same weekend) but I'll have some art pieces in it and also there will be Black Books for sale. All the information can be found on the flyers below. If you happen to live in Boston, also pick up a copy of the local newspaper (I believe it's called the Daily Dig) the Wednesday before the show. I, along with a few other artists was interviewed for a piece about the show. Peace.
Yeah, so it's been a while and I apologize for that. Kinda been a bit crazy lately, professionally and personal life-wise. Trying to get back on track though, so deal with me a bit as I get my life back in order. On the plus side, I have just accepted a full-time gig as Character Designer over at 4kids. Not much really changes from what I've been doing for the past year, except for a title and some of the benefits that come along with being an employee to a major company. It's good to have some stability for once.
My main priority there is, as it has been for the past year, Chaotic card illustration and character design. I'd love to show you some of the stuff we've been coming up lately, we've really been hitting our stride. I feel like I'm doing some of the best work of my career right now, and it feels good, even though there's a lot of it (and never enough time to do it, lol). I also helped out on the new season of TMNT, which will be coming out sometime this month. I worked on the style guide and also did some illustration work for the show intro. I'll post those when I get the go ahead, they came out pretty cool.
I also recently completed this cover to a TMNT Season 2 DVD. Colors by Emilio Lopez.
More Upper Deck for y'all! Papi! David Ortiz of the Red Sox here was actually the first design I did for Upper Deck, about a year ago. Still one of my favorites thus far. Maybe it's a Boston thing, I dunno.
David Wright of the Mets.
Finally, you guys can peep some of the stuff I did for Wolverine & The X-Men, coming out in 2009. These are pics I took from San Diego Comicon, where they had this big set up at the Marvel Booth promoting the new cartoon. The Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Cyclops were all drawn by yours truly. :)
I got plenty more stuff I'd like to show you guys, but I just have to wait until the right moment to do so. I promise to post more regularly tho, you have my word. Holla back!
The Kharupt World Tour continues, this time in sunny Southern California. The San Diego Comicon is July 24-27th. I won't have a table but I will be at the Chaotic booth (booth 3351) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 2:30, kissing babies, signing autographs and giving out my personal cell to the groupies (ladies only, please). But for real, if you're gonna be there, definitely swing by and chop it up with me. San Diego is my favorite con and it's always a good time. But be on good behavior, because there will be lots of little kiddies (and my bosses) around.
And if you don't see me on the con floor, you can be damn sure you will see me at the hotel bar later on that nite. Holla atcha boy.
Melke is designed and drawn by yours truly, and colored by Tony Washington. And can I say, I've seen some stuff from Chaotic Season 2, and it is %$7;^ing AWESOME. Seriously, the show has changed up a lot from Season 1 to Season 2, and y'all are not ready.
Well dear friends, it is that time once again. I will be attending Wizard World Chicago (June 26th-29th) for the 4th consecutive year. I always have a good time at WWC, and I'm looking forward to it as always. I'll have the usual goods (Black Books, prints, watches, original art, yadda yadda yadda), plus I'll be doing sketches and commissions and the like. I'll be sitting with my homeboys Greg Titus and Eric Jimenez. So holla atcha boy, y'all!
And some more art, of course. This is Ultradur, from a recently released set of Chaotic cards. Art and design by yours truly, colors by Emilio Lopez.
Aight. So every con I've done in the last year or two, I always get the same question: What the hell have you been up to? Because since I'm not actively involved in the comic book industry and people don't see my name in a lot of places, a lot of people seem to think that I'm not working, or that I'm struggling or something. Well guess what kids, that is soooo, so far from the truth. In all honesty, my career has never been this good and I count my blessings that I've been able to be a working professional for almost NINE years. Crazy, right? The thing about it is, specifically in the last 2-3 years most of my focus has been in the animation industry. And unlike comics, the turnaround on projects is a lot slower, and ya just can't talk about stuff, it's all non-disclosure. And by the time I get to show you guys art, it's old news to me. But hey, c'est la vie.
My current gig, the job that I spend most of my time on, is Chaotic. I know I've mentioned it before, but just to recap, it is a cartoon and a card game. It's currently on Fox Saturday mornings, but that will be changing to the CW very soon, maybe already. My role on the property is as head card art illustrator. I get the descriptions, and then I design the characters and then illustrate them. The animators then take the card art and translate for animation.
I started this gig in late '05/early '06, knocked out the first set of cards, then took time off to work on Wolverine. I then came back in September of '07 and I've been working inhouse every since. It's definitely the most fun I've had on a job, and I'm glad I have it. And when I'm not working on Chaotic, I spend my other waking hours doing stuff for the new season of Ninja Turtles. Or Upper Deck. Or the odd online Spawn comic. And when I'm not doing THAT stuff. . . I sleep.
So there, full disclosure. No more secrets. Okay, that's a lie. I mean, I can't show my whole hand, right? ;)
Here's some Chaotic stuff you. The first card, colored by Tony Washington, the second by Emilio Lopez.
Aight, so know how I mentioned I'd be at New York Comicon (table 2355) this coming weekend? Well, I didn't really go into the specifics of what I'd have there. Well, here's some specifics. In conjunction with Flud watches, I will debuting the Black Watch. It's a limited edition joint, designed top to bottom by yours truly. Only about 50 of these were made, so when they're gone, they're gone. Still working out the price point, but it will be in the range of $60-70. They came out really tight, I must say. The quality is on point, very sturdy, and definitely eye catching (Ive been rocking mine since about Xmas on the low, and everywhere I go people ask me where I got it from, lol). The packaging came out quite nicely as well.
Next up: prints. So, every show I do, I try to do a new print to sell. And seeing as how NYCC is close to home, you know I had to represent. This time around TWO new prints, y'all. Ironman and Storm. Lastly, I'll still be slanging Black Books for those of you that haven't gotten one yet. And I should have a nice little selection of Black Book T-shirts as well. So come thru, say what's up, politic with me, and we'll have a grand ol' time. See you on Friday.
New York Comicon. April 18-20th. I WILL BE THERE. Booth 2355, Kano Kid, LLC/Kharupt.com. Take notice, this is not an Artist Alley table, we’re set up in the Small Press area this year, on the main floor. That’s right bitches, steppin’ it up.
Well, the cat's out the bag. This project is the reason you probably haven't seen me drawing much in the way of comic books lately. I worked on it the majority of '06 and '07 as character designer. I've worked on a few other cartoons before, like Boondocks, Hellboy, TMNT, etc. But all of those projects were only to a limited degree. This is what I consider my first cartoon since I worked on it full time for over a year. So it's pretty cool to see your designs come to life.
Another week, another party! If you're in NYC this Friday, this is the spot you need to be at. There'll be poetry, dope music, and a projector slideshow featuring artwork by yours truly. So come thru, it'll be a good time. There will of course be copies of the Black Book and t-shirts for sale (yes, I am one hell of a self promoter). Props to my man Chuck for the hook-up.
blessed
angsty
