Black Friday, indeed!

I was reading yesterday of a death in a Wal-Mart in NY, where a worker was trampled to death by people rushing in the doors as he unlocked them. Another incident involved a shooting in a Toys R' Us. How shameful. People in the Wal-Mart turned violent when asked to leave because THEY KILLED SOMEONE!

I dislike Christmas shopping. I like Christmas, I'm not a Grinch. I hate the over-commercialization. Every year I more and more want to forget it all, I'm not participating in it, and go volunteer and give to really needy people.

These incidents make me more determined to never participate in Black Friday. I'm thinking of asking my wife to give any remaining shopping money for me to Compassion International. These kids are in need. No one I normally give gifts to is in need as much as children who have to live on pennies a day, in filth. Please give if you can!

Even more art? What's going on?!

Page 24 inked. All by me. I'm liking the inkwash I've used on the past few pages, but don't think it came out as well on this page. You can compare to the pencils I posted a few weeks ago. 1 more to go!

Tampon shopping:
Face it guys, one of these days you'll have to do it, if you haven't already. Your wife or significant other has been shopping all week, and forgot that one thing, on purpose, one might think.

My wife was sick in bed today, and guess what she needed? Guess where we were just the day before? You got it. As I received the news, I had to begin planning. A guy can't just go and buy feminine products only, I started making a list of things I could buy to hide the "stuff" in. I don't care what it was, I had to get something else. A lobster, shoe polish, a gouda cheese wheel, anything to take attention away from "it".

I managed to come up with a modest list of things we for real needed. It can't be too big of a list, because you have to go through the self-checkout. There's nothing worse than locking eyes with the cashier while "it" goes *beep*. No way. You might say, "Oh, Tommy! Girls understand and might think you are so brave for buying "it". Aha! but what do you do when you choose the grandmotherly cashier (safest bet), and suddenly switches with a guy cashier. You leave, quickly and quietly. Yes, even if your stuff is already on the belt.

So I got some other stuff first, so I could hide "it" underneath. Then had to scope the aisle out before making my approach. Hmmm...toothpaste...mouthwash...casually looking...target sighted! Made a quick but non-attention-getting grab, and coolly stroll away.

turns out I had too much for the self-checkout. there's no limit, really, but they only give you like 1 foot of space to set your scanned items in. So I found my grandmotherly cashier, prepared to drop all and go at the sight of a dude. Played it cool, because if she saw me sweating, it was all over. Made it through without incident, until I thought I'd say hello to a high-school classmate I recognized. Then I saw what was sticking out of the top of the bag. Changed my mind, went home.



Listened to the new Jack Johnson today, liked it, need to have a few more listens before I could comment. Jack, you too may be called upon to buy "it". Be ready.

Cover for Children of Light #2 by Eric Merced. Coming your way soon!! Doesn't it radiate awesomeness?

New Children of Light pencils by Papa Nate

I'm getting near completion of CoL #2, hopefully in a month or 2. I've got 1 page to pencil & ink, and inks to finish on 1, and lettering for 5 or 6 pages. The awesome Eric Merced has agreed to do a cover which I'm always excited about! I am working more lately, knowing I'm close to finishing has lit a fire under me, and I've been working almost every day on the art. Hopefully it'll become a habit!

Listened to the new Guns n Roses today. At 1st, I thought it could have been better for 15 years in the making, but I'm really diggin' it now. Might be worth buying.

Got Starbucks for the drive to work and listened to Jack Johnson & Friends: A Broke Down Melody (find it yerself, I'm tired of linking). Makes a snowy drive nicer!

Sketch and The Lord's Table

Here's a sketch of Page 24 of Children of Light. Note how I patched the pages together hastily due to having to work with a small scanner. Someone else was supposed to do this one, but they disappeared on me. Mouselad, where are you?

I started a new online course from Setting Captives Free, The Lord's Table. I realized a need to get control over my eating habits (gluttony) before I become a mentor for SCF. Day 1 is today, so we'll see how it goes!

My 1st comic appearance

A few months ago, I got to meet Adam Withers & Comfort Love, a great husband/wife art team at Wizard World Chicago. I had been reading their comic, The Uniques, and got to talk with them for a while about the comic and art. They offered to put my family in the comic since they liked us (they have put a lot of their fans in the comic, actually, because they're cool like that!). We're the family in the last panel giving the police a statement. You should become a fan today, and maybe you can be in the comic, too. You can download it for only 99 cents and read the rest of the story.

Home alone 2

First, new art by me for Children of Light:

I used inkwash to do the tones, still experimenting with it. I think it came out OK, and set the mood I wanted. Below is the reference I used.


This is my last day home alone. I enjoyed the peace, and got some things done I wanted to do. I got to be selfish, I guess. Is that OK? I don't get to do that much. Friday I cleaned some for our open house Sunday, and watched Heroes that I missed last Monday. Saturday I cleaned some more, had to go to work for a couple hours, went to a comic shop in Cleveland, Carol & Johns, great shop! Brian Bendis used to go there! Also bought a few used CDs: Elastica, U2 (Atomic Bomb & Rattle & Hum)and Eurithmics greatest hits. Sunday I finished cleaning (yes our house was a mess), took Sushi for a 5-mile walk in the park trail, went to the thrift store and bought a few nice shirts, and finally sat down to do some art.

I made the awesomest dinner on Sunday! We had a pack of cheddar biscuits I made with a whole roll of sausage, and a few eggs. It was messy like something you'd get from a cheap diner (not because I'm a bad cook), and was excellent! I had it again today.