Giving a little green for a lot of Blue

Hello friends! It has been a while since I've had any updates for this blog. Today that all changes. Our super awesome, super humble, super talented, super everything else, friends at creative studio Imago, have a Christmas party every year geared towards raising funds for a charity/cause of their choice (what a great way to leverage your influence and relationships. An example we could all learn from.). This year is no different. This year they have chosen Charity: Water as the organization they would like to help.

If you are unfamiliar with Charity:Water, they are such an innovative organization who are laser beam focused on ending the water crisis. Founder, Scott Harrison, recently visited my church and, let me tell you, they are a top notch organization who truly have simplified their vision and mission. They are the real deal.

So what's the point? Well, when Imago invited me to the party, I asked if he would like me to bring some books. Thankfully he said yes and so this is where the money from the books will be going to on that night. I'm looking forward to meeting some great people and sharing the book with some new friends.

So this year I encourage you as you brush your teeth, take a shower or simply take a sip of water, to not take that gift for granted and consider giving to one of these great organizations this Christmas (or any other time between January and December ;). Thanks friends! Have an awesome Christmas!

A Gift worth Giving

A young lady I know and her friend had a moment in life where they looked at the water crisis and how easily they receive their water and said, "This is NOT ok!" So they set out to do something about it. The best part is they're actually still in high school. They decided to raise money through Charity: Water (an excellent organization where 100% of the money raised goes straight to the cause) to raise $1000 through the holiday season. I think that is awesome! I donated some books for their cause so I hope they will help out.

A little while back I made my book available as a free download and you could help by buying a physical copy, donating directly to the water charity or simply by spreading the word. So if you feel motivated to give this holiday season, here's the free book download and Rachel and Katrina's link to their page is here: http://mycharitywater.org/rachandkat

What I love about this type of charity is that so little literally does so much. We're talking about the lives, health and economies of people around the world. Stay awesome people!! Enjoy your holidays!!

The book is free!!!

Hey friends! So I have decided to make the book available as a free download. As important as it is to raise the money, it's also important to raise awareness. So please download the book and if you really like it, do at least one of two things:

1) Tweet, Re-blog, post on Facebook, etc about this book and cause.

The buttons are down below by the comments.

AND/OR

2) Buy a book or make a donation to an organization that supports this cause, like Blood: Water Mission

If you don't like the book, do one or both of the above anyway. It's for a good cause!!

So please download the book here or click the image below. 

To buy a book, please use the PayPal button to the right OR donate directly to Blood: Water Mission. I make sure to sign every book and even do a little doodle ;). I should probably add, I don't make any money on the book. I paid for the printing myself and I reimburse myself for the cost of shipping only. All of the rest of the money goes to cleaner water and brighter futures :).

Thanks folks!

Look Mom, I'm Famous!!

Ok, not really. Back in October, Target was putting a show at a local gallery and asked its creative staff if they wanted to join. I was planning on creating and submitting new artwork, but I was right in the thick of moving that I was unable to follow through on that. BUT I was able to submit I NEED YOU BLUE which was really great! Unfortunately I was out of state and wasn't able to attend, but here are a couple of photos of the event. Yay! A big thanks to those who purchased the book and supported the cause!

Mucho Needo Update-o

Hey folks!

Here's a quick and much needed update.

1) The book is now for sale online via Paypal!! The button is to the right.
2) We're (yes, you too) almost at a 100 books sold, BUT we're already over $1000! Some of you have gone above and beyond with your generosity. THANK YOU! Keep popping back in to see how much has been raised.
3) A quick thanks to my sis who's a marketing prodigy so I'm thinking I'll need to be putting in another order of books soon, which was unplanned, but I don't want to run out before Comic Con!
4) Word on the street is broccoli tag is sweeping the nation. (If you read the book, you know exactly what I'm talking 'bout. Buy the book to get the 411)

Thanks again for all of the positive feedback! Ultra word!!!

Definition of Super Awesome

There is no written definition of Super Awesome. Webster's only has the photo below.


What is it, you ask? My good buddy at work, Ted, purchased the book for his sons and one of them, Lucas (who apparently asked for an art desk for Xmas), LOVED the book so much (those are Ted's words!) started illustrating the book. You can tell from the bold, confident strokes of the marker, he's truly capturing the raw emotion, the ups and downs, of the book.

Great job Lucas! It's people like you that make the hard work worthwhile. Since I am making no money on the book, that right there is payment enough. Keep up the awesome...no, SUPER AWESOME work!

What's the Story Again?!

So I've been asked to post a quick synopsis of the story.

It's a story about a boy, Dewey, and his best friend, Blue (a super cool glob of water). They do everything together. Dewey finds out that friendships aren't all about giggles, sometimes tough decisions need to be made.

When I set out to create this book for charity (providing water to those who don't have it), I wanted the story to reflect the nature of the charity so the undertone is the importance of water (Blue).

Also, since you've been asking I'm looking to see what the best solution to sell online. So stay tuned!

Thanks folks!!!

Plush!!

A quick update:

So far things are going far better than expected. In less than a week we've (yes, I'm including you) managed to raise a little over $400. I was expecting maybe $100 or so, but you guys have been AMAZING and super generous...and I love you. Shhhhh. Just follow your heart.

ANYWAYS, here's a tid bit of exclusive info - For Comic Con (Wizard World) I'll be taking some Blue stuffed plush. Here's a sneak peek of the design. Enjoy!!

You can't get any more doner than done!

So after a year of concepting, re-writing, illustrating, re-illustrating, playing video games, proofing, the books are 100% done and delivered!


HUGE thanks to all who've helped along the way either with the story, critiquing, or proofing. I realized I should just stick to drawing, which defeats the purpose of this whole blog thing, huh? The English language is waaaay too complex. I had about 8 folks proofread the book and nobody was consistent. I'm not saying they're not smart, I'm just saying...dang, I'm glad my career doesn't involve too much writing. I'm sure you're glad too.

I'm sure the entire interweb is buzzing about how they can get their hands on this piece of amazing. Unfortunately for right now you have to be at Comic Con in Chicago in August or know me personally. I think choice A is ultimately more rewarding in the long run.

Thanks again to all who've been along the ride this long. Sadly (or fortunately, depending on how you view this blog) this will be one of the last few postings since all of the work is gone, but I will check back in to let you know how much money was raised and if there are any great stories to share. If you are having withdrawals, you can check out my personal blog here: http://idothedirtywork.blogspot.com/ where I'll post stuff I'm working on.

Have an awesome life!!

I'll have a little blood with my water

Ok, I know that sounds a bit disgusting. Well, man up. So after much deliberation, the charity chosen to receive the all of the $$$ from the book is Blood:Water Mission.


I did my research and there were a number of great charities I could've chosen, but in the end it came back to this group (it didn't hurt that graphically we're on the same page. One of their posters has a similar look to something I'm doing for the Chicago Comic Con this August. More on that later). They're fairly small and a little bit of money goes a long way. Their focus is not only providing a sustainable solution to the water crisis in Africa, but also the HIV/AIDS crisis as well. Hospitals sometimes lack CLEAN water to treat patients, so I'm hoping whatever we can give them, will really help out. So I encourage you to check them out and even if you don't get a book, consider what you can do to help them or a similar charity.

Thanks for listening! Word!

Mucho Needed Update!

Ok folks! It's been a while, I know. Here's what's been up:

a) Book is done - 100%. I'm actually waiting for my proofs. I've been working with a great printer my nephew was working with. You may know Shutterfly as the online service that helps you create and print mementos, but they also have a business solution side that they don't advertise too much. I'm not sure why, but I had a great experience and they've been great partners thus far. Always there to answer a question and their awesome staff also helped catch a couple spelling errors (side note - that's why I'm an artist)!
B) Oh yes! Thanks for all who voted (either through the site or via email). THE FINAL book cover will be......................(pause for effect).............Option A! Some of you made great arguments for Option B, so I worked elements of that design into the back cover.

Stay tuned for info on the chosen charity! Thanks again! Word!

Pick your fav

So the book is done and I designed the cover today, but I'm not sure which one I like the best. Here are the 3 I've narrowed it down to. I have my fav, but I wanted to give you guys the opportunity to vote a cover off the island. Thanks! Word!

Stick a Fork in it

'Cause she's done. Sorry it's been a while since I've last posted, but for the last few weeks I've been telling myself, "this is it! I'm gettin' this sucker did." Well, here's what happened. I was done so I wanted to run it by my wife and JP to get their opinion on the finished product. They both liked it but had some suggestions. JP had suggested I add a few more pages for MAXIMUM IMPACT!!! Those weren't his words, but it makes it sound that much more intense.

Anyways, so I added a couple more pages. Below is a page of thumbnails trying to figure out how to best elaborate where the fixing needed to happen. Try not to look directly at my awesome thumbnail skills, it may cause blindness and I don't have insurance to cover that.


So after that was done I just need a few more things: acknowledgments and cover. I did the acknowledgments (which I referred to as "BIG UPS") and then moved onto the cover. Here's a sneak peek. Try not to vomit. URRRP. I think I did. A little in my mouth. Ugh, beans and feta cheese. OK, I'll leave you with that for now. Word!

The White Light

There it is. It's drawing nearer. I can taste it but I'm not quite there. Between work, snow and the book, this is how I'm feeling (just like Dewey).

I've got just 4 pages left then some minor revisions, the cover, choosing a charity (which I have one in mind) setting up some sort of online shop so I can sell the books unless someone at work is willing to buy all 300 (well, 298. I'll keep 1 for me and 1 for my mom) and I'm sure I'm missing some minor yet HUGE details.

Anyways, I do have a little more of my process to share. Remember how I had one file with all of the pages? I then created individual files for each page then threw them into InDesign so I could see what the pages would look like next to each other. In some cases, I didn't like the flow, so I needed to edit a page out, throw a new one in, or play with the story a little so I could flip a couple of pages. Here's a quick InDesign screen capture.

By seeing it all together like this I realized I had too many static poses. It is the look I'm going for, but I still needed to mix things up. I also realized I needed to change the color of one of the secondary characters because I am using certain colors to define certain characters. It sounds deep, but trust me, it ain't thaaaaat deep.

That's where I'll leave you with for now. Good night! Word!

All This Work for Nothing

So I have been working on this book for quite a while now. I technically could've been done a little while back. What happened? Video games? Kinda. Friends? Hmmmm, I guess a little. No, what really happened was I wasn't happy with what I had. I had the whole book illustrated and I didn't feel like looking at it. And if I don't want to look at it, why should you? I stepped away from it for at least a month or so. It was flat, boring and lifeless. See for yourself.

I wanted it to be minimal, but there's minimal good and minimal bad. This was leaning heavy on the latter. However, I was determined to do this. I had a moment where I could almost hear the Rocky music playing in my head and I felt like punching slabs of raw meat and getting back in the ring and finishing this dang book. So I may have had a burger instead, but I came back. I took a second look at what I had done. It needed something else so I grounded the image.

Ehhh. Better. I was getting closer, but it needed a little bit of texture so I gave it some. Actually, a lot.

Ok, this is a little too much, so the final illustration is a little more scaled back, but you get the picture. It has somewhat of a painterly and aged look. I'm happy with it. I was actually hesitant to show you guys because I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I like you. I feel like we have a connection. I don't know, I mean, I was thinking maybe we should move in together. Just think about it. We'd save so much on our utility bills. Sleep on it.

This is where I'll leave you for now. Oh, yeah, remember how I said I was going to add a T-rex? I did.

Word!

This is how the story goes

Happy New Year folks!!

Sorry it's been a while but you know how it goes, holiday gatherings to go to and post-apocalyptic mutated insects to kill (an Xmas video game present. I'm itching to go back for more.).

So where were we? Oh yes, I had just introduced the main characters. So by now I've made tweaks to the story line, finalized the main characters and story boarded the book on post-it notes. So next I laid out the book pages in Illustrator and began drawing each page as seen below. I don't know how other folks would handle this stage but I like to see all of what I'm working on in one place so I can make adjustments as needed. The same goes with anything else I work on, EVERYTHING is on one file and nothing gets deleted. I'm a digi-hoarder because you know you'll eventually need to go back to the ONLY thing you deleted. I usually have a layer in Illustrator called UNUSED or TRASH.

Anyways, without further adieu, here's what the book looks like laid out.

We are almost caught up to where I am presently. Of course I blurred out the image because I don't want to fully ruin the surprise. I've since made a few more tweaks but that's for another time.

Thanks y'all and have an awesome awesome crazy new year!!

Word!

Quick info

Hey folks! Two quick notes:

1) Thanks mucho for all of the support so far and ideas on how to get this out. It's super appreciated, especially since this is my first time in the book world. Ultimately it's you who will make the difference between me selling two copies to my mom or you guys shooting over some ideas and you telling your people about the book/blog (and hopefully picking up two copies for YOUR mom).

2) Also, my email is locked up at the moment by Google (apparently it's too much awesome for their servers to handle. Well, they said "suspicious activity" but that's just the same thing) so I have not been able to receive emails since this this launched. So if you sent me a message, I'm not ignoring you, I just can't get to it.

Thanks again! Word!

I need a Hero

Every story needs a hero. Ours has the greatest dynamic-est duo since Kanye West and himself (if you ask him) - I'd like you to meet Dewey (Get it? Dew-ey? Water. Dew.) and Blue. I won't get into the details, but I thought I'd share a few sketches of their conception:

Above is first sketch of the duo once I had an idea of what I wanted the story to be. Notice the crazy amount of work that went into this. I must've spent at least 3 hours on blue's legs. I HAD to get it right.

These next two are a little ways down the line after some more exploration and refinement. Blue is not too far from the final. Dewey however looked like he deserved a wedgie so I went back and reworked him.Which bring us to:

Now there's a kid who deserves a high-five. And this is pretty much where I'll leave you today. Word!

It's not you, it's me.

Editing your story can be hard. Even painful. I look at it like this: You know when you go to a buffet and you're walking past all of the food on the way to your table? Then in your head you have already mapped out what you want on your first plate. Easy - fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, bread, green beans, ham, rice pilaf and chicken pot pie. Then you grab an empty plate and step up to bat and realize, man, there's a lot of great food (or however you view Old Country Buffet. Yeah, I said OCB. Don't judge.) but it all won't fit on my plate. So I need to choose only the best items that are the most cohesive and will tell the best "story" in my gut. Make sense? I just made that analogy up. I kinda like it. Mainly because I like to eat.

Anyways, there's a point to all of this (Can you tell I have ADD?). I thought I'd share a page that made it to the post it note stage, but didn't pass the Wife Test. First the original sketch (from the very first pass).

And now the post it page.

Sometimes editing is like breaking up with somebody. But instead of saying, "It's not you, it's me" it's more like saying "You're not fitting the story of my life right now...and your left eye is slightly higher than your right." Ok, nix that last part. I leave you with a sketch of the break up. I need to get a scanner or a new iPhone.

So I'm leaving you guys for now. It's not you, it's me.
Word!

Successful (?) Surgery

No stories about the story today. Rhymeswithfun had made a comment about my sketch from the "The Wife Test" blog. She said my arm was coming out of my head. Thought it was weird. She's obviously never been to Mexico. Totally normal. Well, thanks to American culture I was left self-conscious about my arm, so I had it surgically placed to be aligned with my other arm at the shoulder. Now all of my Mexican brothers will point and laugh. I hope you're happy Rhymeswithfun.

Also a quick note about my wife. She, too, is a designer/illustrator so her input is credible and valuable. She's also seen every Pixar movie at least 3 times so that almost makes her an expert. It may be worth noting as well, X-mas is coming up soon and I would like a few video games. Just sayin'.