I’ve finally finished illustrating the first Mill Creek Kids book; here’s the cover and first illustration. Click on them for a larger version.

 It should be hitting stores by this Christmas, and if I play my cards right, so should my Off the Deep End book and calendar.  Just keep reminding me to actually work on them, would you?

Some of you may remember one of my cartoons that I drew way back in 2001, and is in the planned book, that looks like this.

It’s also one of the few that I actually still like from the old cartoons of mine. Well, while in a Borders a few weeks ago, I came across a strikingly similar birthday card cartoon. I seriously had to stop and stare at it for a few minutes, before calling Sue’s attention to it. It was different in the fact that the “LOL” was responding to another Indian mooning him, and the smiley wasn’t there, but everything else was basically the same.

Now, I’m not saying that this cartoonist stole my idea, because I seriously doubt it. But, I don’t want to run into any trouble when I go to publish my book. Granted, my version was drawn seven years ago, and I have the computer files to prove it should any problems arise. Honestly though, it’s a simple enough idea that really anybody could have come up with it over the years, which is partly why I decided to get away from single-panel cartoons and focus more on full-length stories.

I’ve been watching Bob & Margaret on a nightly basis now. I grabbed all 4 seasons from Myspleen, since for some reason, they haven’t been released on DVD yet. It’s a lot of fun. That, and my complete series set of Dr. Katz have been filling my “older cartoons” void.

Well, that’s all for now.
-Ben

I’ve been thinking for a little while, (probably since July or so) that in 2 years, I’ll be turning 25, and I want to have something to show for it. I can’t have lived for a quarter of a century and about a third of my life without having done something meaningful or important.

So, I’ve decided that by the time (or while) I’m 25, I want to have accomplished the following:

     1. Published my book of all my old comics.
     2. Completed at least one animated short film, preferably more.
     3. Published at least the first few issues my NEW comic series.
     4. At least be in the production stages of the video game.

I’m actually on my way toward these long-term goals, as I’ve now gotten 12 of the commissioned illustrations completed and inked. I just have to redraw the 13th, alter and then color the cover. I’ve been sitting on many ideas for when I finish this project this week.

I’ve got the concepts and basic “scripts” (I don’t actually write screenplays for them, since it’s easier for me to go straight to storyboard, and then move things around) for several short films, including a couple of series, that I’m going to start boarding as soon as next week.

I’m in the concept and “treatment” stages for the game, and am in the process of typing up what would amount to a concept bible of sorts for it.

And as far as the comics go, I just have to revamp the test book I had printed for my old stuff, and I plan on having that out by Christmas (again), and I can get to work on the new stories once that’s out of the way. (Again, I have trouble with sitting and writing scripts for these, and I’m not sure if doing thumbnail pages would be the best option for all the stuff swimming in my head, or if I should force myself to write it regardless. I don’t know, I just find that the ideas that I really like in my head, I can’t commit to paper in text form without it sucking the fun out of it. Not that I dislike writing, I just find I’d rather be drawing it already.)

So, as long as I focus and set aside time to actually be productive and creative, I think my 2 year plan will work out nicely.

As for more short-term plans, I still need to finish the revamp of my website. I sketched out the background image and just need to finalize it.

I also downloaded Corel Painter, and want to play around with that for future artwork (comic book covers), in conjunction with Photoshop. I’ve been chiefly inspired by the work of Rob Sheridan and want to see what I can accomplish with that program.

That said, I’ll probably let you see some of the artwork I’ve been doing for this kid’s book in a week or two. We’ll see.

Later,
Ben 

So, I’m nearly finished with the illustrations (8 out of 13 are inked), which leaves 5 more and the cover left to complete. So far, things are moving along nicely, and I’ve got plenty to tackle once this project is finished. I have many plans for myself and my artwork in the coming months, so be prepared to hear from me on a more frequent basis.

I’m in the process of redesigning this here website, and I’m really enjoying the look of it so far, as well as trying to work out the kinks of it. We’ll see how things end up.

In the meantime, I’m making progress on the commissioned illustrations I’m doing for a children’s adventure novel. The illustrations will be finished by the end of August, at which point I should be in the process of re-preparing my OWN book for publication. So, hopefully both will be out by December. Again, we’ll see.

Once these projects are out of my system, I’ve got plenty more up my sleeve, so be on the lookout for a new comic series, several animated shorts, a Flash game and potentially a video game (oooooh). LOOK OUT!

-Ben