3rd Time's a Charm

Loverboywith a new 'do/costume?

This week's blog post title is particularly fitting because 1)  it's the third week in a row that I've been updating, and 2)  "Charm" was actually Loverboy's (pictured above) original working name when Keith and I created The Switch.  One of those "Did ya knows."  

Of course, I'm not complaining at all about updating; Keith has been dealing with his broken leg the last couple of weeks, and taking care of that is much more important than fooling around on the information superhighway (if you're old enough to even remember that term!).  More on Keith's woes in a bit...

If you know us, you know we LOVE getting fan art/cosplay of our graphic novel The Switch.  So far it's been only of our lead character, Electricia.  That's understandable as she's been our poster girl for our entire campaign.  And she's hot.  But of course we will always welcome other characters--not that you've really seen too much of anyone else.  But here is a cool, sexy sketch sent to me by James Bui (thank you, James!):

Electricia by James Bui

Next up, we have an exclusive look at the generous sketch reward contributed by none other than Jerry Ordway for one of our lucky backers during our campaign:

Awesome sketch by the legendary Jerry Ordway!  THANK YOU, Jerry!

Finally, I'd like to end this with a serious note.  Last week, I mentioned that Keith had suffered a broken leg.  Today he undergoes surgery after over a week of delay while being completely immobilized and on medication to control his pain.  I have taken the initiative to set up a GoFundMe to help ease the burden of the medical expenses he will undoubtedly incur, especially during a time where he will still be physically unable to work while recovering.  So if you will be so kind as to take a look at the GoFundMe campaign and consider making a contribution.  There are actually rewards that Keith will send your way--including an exclusive, signed Switch print just for this campaign--based on the contribution.  If you can't contribute, no worries--if you consider sharing the page, that is just as appreciated!

Oh, by the way....Keith sent us a message:

Wait, what was that....??!!!!!  ;)

Oh Noes! Prayers for Keith Huhu :(

Here's a shirt I picked up from Switch fan Joey whilst in Knoxville, TN--thank you Joey!!! :)

I'm filling in for Keith for this week's update because--if you've been following his social media like YOU SHOULD, ahem-- he is out with a broken leg (tibia and fibula all in one fell swoop) whilst hiking last week.  Needless to say, he is out of commission for a while and is currently awaiting surgery.  Makes my neck problem from a few weeks ago seem like a little boo-boo in comparison.

Although it seems like the Switch team is bouncing around the DL list, have no fear.  These are just little hiccups and I assure you we've been plugging away.  And without further adieu, here's your Switch art sneak peek for this week:

What's Electricia doing here?

If you remember from our campaign, Electricia owns a cat named Doctor Hate.  Here is a closer look!

And here is a Switch/Old Man Neighbor sketch commission for a fan! :D

That's it for this week, have a great weekend!  :)

Happy 4th of July Weekend (Tom)!

As I still recover from last week's crazy and fantastic Fanboy Expo in Knoxville, TN, I am very excited and humbled at the in-person reception I've gotten from various fans at the show regarding The Switch!  I even got a bootlegged t-shirt out of it!  Meanwhile, Keith was at MASSive Comic Con in Worcester, MA.  

As of this writing this will be the first time this year that I'll have an extended stay at home (i.e., not on the road hitting conventions and doing photoshoots).  This will be great in the sense that I can be less distracted by road obligations and just drawing.  

I'm hopping around layouts on the first quarter of the book, and in July I'll be aiming for the halfway mark.  I'll be tight, but I'll do what I can.  Speaking of art, here are your teases for this weekend:

Have a Happy 4th of July weekend (for those in the States!).   

Keith needs steroids

At the moment, I'm being flooded with error message upon error message from my printer (which is perilously close to being thrown through a wall. Or at least thrown towards a wall. It's a pretty big, wide-format printer. I'd need steroids to throw it through the wall).

Anyway, before I tear my hair out, it seems an ideal time to distract myself with the weekly blog post for The Switch.

Tom and I appeared together last weekend at Mighty Con in Missouri. While there, we shot some video for the behind-the-scenes documentary all the kickstarter backers will receive. The docu is Tom's project, I really don't know what it's going to be like any more than any of you do. It's probably a safe bet that there will be bikini girls in it, knowing Tom. All I know is that a couple of times, I looked up from sketching at the convention (or working on Green Lantern in my hotel room at night) to find Tom filming me. 

It's just as creepy as it sounds. 

I'm from Connecticut, where we don't even look at each other as we pass one another in the street. So I was caught off guard by how friendly the people of Missouri are, so much so that I broke my own rule about shaking hands with strangers at conventions many times. You're almost guaranteed to get sick and sure enough, I've been cursed with the plague this week. I'm finally starting to feel human again, thank Dayquil, just in time to drive up to Worcester, Mass tonight for Massive Con this weekend. If I see you there and don't shake your hand, don't be offended. Just say thanks. I'm done with conventions until November after this. 

In the meantime, our plucky pal Tom is down in Knoxville, Tennessee at Fanboy Expo. He's pulling double duty as the celebrity photographer and a comic book guest. So if you get a picture taken with William Shatner or The Dukes of Hazzard, that's Tom behind the camera. Enjoy him, he's a national treasure.

In the meantime, between all these conventions and plagues and the such, we've continued to plug away at The Switch. The script is complete (although I continue to tinker/fine tune dialogue for the second half) and Tom is producing some beautiful pages. I'm happy with the story; I feel like tonally, it takes a reader on a full roller coaster ride of emotion, all the highs and lows of Electricia/The Switch's journey. I'm anxious for all of you to get to read it.

Anyway, here's some art to hold you over until next week. This page features Kickstarter backer Christopher Gerber in panel two.

 Hope everyone is doing well out there lately!

Thanks,

Keith

Update #13 (Tom)

I'm typing this update from the airport as I prepare to meet Keith in St. Louis for St. Louis Comic Con this weekend!  So come on by and get your autograph from the Switch creators, maybe even a print ;)

Here's another sneak panel from The Switch, with Electricia in full rage mode!

Keith and I love getting fan art, so here is Knoxville area artist Joey Gossett 's cute take on Electricia: 

We'd love to have a print of this!  Anybody can send fan art to us, we'll post it here!  And here is Joey sporting a Switch shirt:

Since this weekend will be the first (but not last!) time Keith and I will see each other since we created The Switch, we'll be filming some behind the scenes stuff for the downloadable, 1-hour movie that you Kickstarter backers will receive! ;)  Until next week....

A little color (Keith)

I'm in the middle of a super-hectic day so this won't be the most in depth blog post of all time. Still, anything is better than nothing. At least that's what I usually tell myself when I look at my 401k.

Anyway, you might remember this page from the Kickstarter campaign, Tom and I had it posted. But here it is for the first time with the flat colors filled in. Flat coloring is just pretty much basic colors without any rendering; it kinds looks like 80's comic book coloring. I've been doing the flatting on the project and, while it's a bit tedious, I am enjoying learning a lot about the coloring process in this day and age. FUN FACT: my first professional gig (aside from background inking) was as a colorist at Valiant Comics in the early 90's. I was only there briefly, I decided to return home for the summer instead of staying in Jersey where I was living for school at the time but I remember coloring with watercolor dyes onto photocopies of the original art.

Coloring is a little different these days, what with photoshop and all. 

So from here, Tom will eventually take this page and do the color rendering and special effects and add all the bells and whistles that he does so well. 

Next week, Tom and I will be in Missouri kicking off our Switch tour at Mighty Con. We're both travelling on Friday but one of us will get the blog updated regardless. If you're in the area or at the show, please stop in and give us a hug.

See you soon!

Keith

Update #11 (Tom)

Howdy.  Tom here.  Before I begin, I'd like to thank Keith for taking over for last week's update while I was out with a freak/severely strained neck injury that prompted me to go to the doctor.  I'm in better condition now (thanks to all on my social media for the well wishes--really made my week!) and can get back to being more active and productive again (I was very much bedridden for most of the past week or so).

Last time Keith showed you a little of his writing process along with one of this page layouts, and contrasted it to my own layout.  I'm just as fascinated with how he sees things in his mind's eye as he's writing.  Being an artist himself, his vision is not to be discounted.  Sometimes our layouts will end up very similar, sometimes quite different as you saw.  There's really not much of a rhyme or reason; usually I don't even see his layouts.  So that is a good reason why there's a difference.  Differences in how artists see things can be for a variety of reasons which I won't bore you here.  The point is that Keith just goes along with whatever I put down because he's just that easygoing.  Or too trusting.  Or a sucker.

Anyway, since Keith already kind of spilled the beans with a sneak peek at one of the pages, I thought I'd give you guys another peek at that same page, this time in a more advanced stage:

That's me inking at a restaurant because I am that dedicated!  By the way, this is one of many clips that will be incorporated into the 1-hour Switch behind-the-scenes movie that all you awesome backers will receive ;)

In two weeks, Keith and I will kick off our Switch tour in St. Louis for St. Louis Comic Con!  He and I are trying to see if we can do something special for Switch fans that weekend.  Hope to see you guys there!