The Art of Matthew Warlick

Sorry for the short notice, but thanks to the generosity of my Space-Gun Studios brother-in-arm Evan I’ll be setup tomorrow for the second day of Dallas Comic Con.

I’ll have prints and copies of Senryu for sale, and will be doing sketches and headshots on the cheap, so come on out. Mention this blog and I’ll give you a free head sketch!

Also, starting September 1st I’ll be posting the complete Senryu online. After learning the ins and outs of ComicPress I’ll be offering it up as a webcomic starting next month.

It’ll run from Sept. 1st until October 7th, so add it to your RSS reader of choice now!

So a while back thanks to the power of Twitter I was able to con the guys over at Red 5 Comics (namely Brian Clevinger) into letting me throw down on an Atomic Robo short story.

After sitting on the details for several months I can finally do a little bragging and inform you that the strip is now live!

Click the image to check out the entire short over at NuklearPower.com.

Big ups again to Brian, Scott Wegna and the entire Red 5 Comics crew for the opportunity to play in their sandbox, it was a blast and I hope I get to do it again in the future.

Wow, what a crazy month it’s been. My apologies for neglecting the blog but the new day job has taken it’s toll on my free time and after working on freelance, finishing up commissions, and the constant connection to Twitter and Facebook there’s not much room left for blog posts. I guess the new research is true, blogs are going the way of the Do-Do.

But have no fear, I won’t be neglecting you beautiful internet masses, and have several cool bits of news to announce.

First off, my new employer Rockfish Interactive has moved into its new Frisco office (photos on my Flickr account), and I’ve settled comfortably into the role of a senior designer/art director.

I can’t say I don’t miss working from home and drawing all the time, but it’s nice to design again, get back up to speed on interactive work and produce storyboards and spot illos while getting a nice salary and bennies to boot.

The other bit of news is the official commencement of my next project, Lights in The Sky. Friends and family have long known about my fascination with UFOs and this summer I’m going to share my thoughts, theories and personal experiences on the matter.

The plan is to offer it up for free as an ongoing webcomic, and if all goes as planned my fellow Space-Gun Studio mates will also have projects kicking off. You may even see Space-Gun webcomics in the near future.

That’s it for now, below is the first promo image (and possible cover) for LITS. I hope you dig.

This time my out-of-state co-worker Michael Green won the random drawing, and chose Batman as his character.

Congratulations Michael!

I’ve got one more sketch to go then I’ll be having another twitter-based contest for more free art and sketches,  so be sure to follow me and the hashtag #followme4freeart for a chance to win.

Ciao.

This was a piece I did as a gift for a coworker’s son. I tried to keep it simple and cartoony yet dynamic, and I’m really happy with the result.

Happy Birthday Julian!

From the Metrosketchual blog. This week’s theme: Dead Presidents.

A new Metrosketchual piece is up over at the blog. This weeks theme: The Crow.

Click the image to check it out.

Another piece for the Metrosketchual blog. This week’s theme; Street Fighter!

Click the image to check out the blog and a larger version of the image, you’ll be glad you did!

Today’s Twitter free sketch winner is Scott Fogg.  His character of choice,  The 10th Doctor.

Enjoy Scott!

Follow me on twitter and check out the hashtag #followme4freeart and you might be the next winner!

My friend and fellow Dallas area comic creator Samax Amen threw up a sketch on Twitter yesterday that got me inspired. With his permission I threw down some inks and colors and made a wallpaper out of it, the first wallpaper I’ve made in a year or two.

It’s always fun to ink/color other people’s pencils. It’s nice to not be so attached to the original lines or the outcome and just have the freedom to improvise and do what feels inspired.

You can download the wallpaper below. And be sure and check out Samax’s site GhettoManga for all things comics, hip-hop, art & pop culture.

Ghetto-Core Wallpaper

Download the .zip file, which includes the following resolutions.
Standard: 1600×1200 | 1280×1024 | 1024×768
Widescreen: 2560×1600 | 1440×900

This time our winner is lucky follower #300 leo_depsky.  Leo chose one of my favorite childhood villains, TrapJaw, from He-Man for his character!

Enjoy your sketch Leo.

I tried a little something different with this one. I let the pencil under-drawing from the scan show through and then did white tones over a grey background. I really dig how it came out.

Follow me on twitter and check out the hashtag #followme4freeart and you might be the next winner!

I’ve been doing a free art promotion on my twitter account where I give one out of every ten followers a random sketch of a character of their choosing. Today’s winner is twitter user SnapPop who chose Clark Kent/Superman as her sketch subject.

Be sure and follow me on twitter and seek out the hashtag #followme4freeart, you might win some art for yourself!

So a few of us Dallas folk got together and started a weekly sketch blog called Metrosketchual. Below is my piece for our first weeks’ theme, Ghostbusters!

And here are a few rejected sketches that I just wasn’t feeling. They’re decent enough, but I wanted something that better captured the vibe of the first movie. Plus Slimer was a straight-to-ink warm up sketch.

So I’m giving away free sketches to random twitter followers, including a full blown commission to #400.

Congrats to the first winner, lucky #290,  ArtbyAdora. She chose She-Ra as her sketch.

Follow me on twitter or check out the hashtag #followme4freeart and get yo’self some free bling!

Atomic-Robo 4.0 The Revenge of The Vampire Dimension #1 hits your local comic shop tomorrow (February 17th) and I’m lucky enough to have a pinup featured in the book alongside Armando Batista and the late, great Dave Simons.

Atomic Robo is one of my favorite comics at the moment, hands down. It’s a sci-fi/pulp extravaganza that doesn’t take itself too seriously yet manages to feel smart AND entertaining at the same time. It’s always reminded me of Hellboy but with a pop-culture action-science twist. It’s damn entertaining and if you aren’t reading it you’re missing out.

I’m also hard at work on a 4 page short that will hit the web first then be collected into the trade for volume 4.0. More on that to come when it’s complete and ready to launch over at Atomic-Robo.com.

So get out to your local funny-book store tomorrow and give Atomic Robo a try, you’ll be glad you did!

Day two of DCC was pretty awesome. The lines weren’t nearly as bad but business was jsut as good as day one, with most of that business being in the form of sketches.

This cool kid asked me to do a female Iron Man sketch and I tried to rock it out as best as I could.

Got a nice Two-Face request as well.

Plus a rare appearance by King Bender.

Deadman. Who is dead.

Plus a little Predator action.

And to top it all off the little lady got to meet one of her most favorite actors, Sean Patrick Flanery. Priority pass line-cutting FTW!

All in all it was another very positive convention experience (except for the con-contagion Beth and I came down with Sunday night). Senryu didn’t do quite as well as I had hoped, but I made plenty of profit doing sketches and selling prints, so it was a win. Hopefully Staple will treat the book a bit better come March 6th.

Ciao!

Adam Hughes and Tim Sale drew a huge crowd, and we got to tap the overflow for books and prints.

I forgot to take a picture of the Emma Frost sketch I did early in the morning, but Beth got this pic of Mistress Doom as requested by a convention goer.

I also did what I think is a really nice piece in a Deadpool themed sketchbook.

Afterwards The Space-Gun Studios crew and friends descended upon Freebirds in Richardson. It was epic. And delicious.

I only sold a couple of copies of Senryu but folks were eating up the prints. In just the first day I’ve already made my costs back and then some, so here’s to a successful day two!

Nrama: Going back a little bit, what’s your background? Tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got to this point.

Warlick: My professional background is in interactive design but I?ve been drawing since I was a little kid. In 4th grade I discovered comics and I?ve been hooked ever since. When I graduated I took an apprenticeship with a web design firm and eventually moved up to the position of interactive designer and then art director. The past few years I?ve freelanced doing interactive art direction and illustration work.

Nrama: In terms of organizing the event, was there an overall structure to who you teamed up with? Or are you hearing from people who published who you had never spoken with before?

Warlick: The main ICBW team is Vinh-Luan Luu, Jake Ekiss, Paul Milligan and myself; It?s basically our Space-Gun Studios entity minus Evan Bryce. We?ve been responsible for putting together the website and organizing the blog, but have had a lot of help from creators and retailers in spreading the word and helping the event take off.

So head on over and give it a read.

And if you’re in Texas come out to the Dallas Comic Con tomorrow. It’ll be the first time I’ve had Senryu for a convention and I’m really excited to see how it’s received.

Mention this post and I’ll give you a sweet limited edition Senryu print. While supplies last.

Karen O’Brien from Comics Buyer’s Guide interviews me about Indy Comic Book Week and Senryu. Click the pick to check out “The O’Brien Factor” on page 12 of the April 2010 CBG.

Transcript:

Diamond Comic Distributors announced that no new comics would be delivered Dec. 30, 2009, an enterprising idea was hatched by Space Gun Studios (a Dallas/Ft. Worth?based studio featuring members Evan Bryce, Jake Ekiss, Vinh-Luan Luu, and Matthew Warlick) to use the week to celebrate independent comics. The initiative caught on across the country, as the idea spread via the Internet, and comics shops and creators joined in to put on events. I spoke with co-founder Matthew Warlick about Indy Comic Book Week. CBG: How did you come to co-create Indy Comic Book Week?

Warlick: We (Space-Gun Studios) had heard the news through an e-mail chain that itself was inspired by Kyle Latino?s ?December Deadline ?09? post at www.pulpmessenger.com. From there, we decided among ourselves that it was a great opportunity to spotlight our books and began talking to local shops about the idea. I set up the website (http://indycomicbookweek.com), Luan started the blog, and, through the magic of Facebook and Twitter, it took off from there.

CBG: What were some of the most interesting or creative events that shops, creators, and fans held to celebrate Indy Comic Book Week?

Warlick: I think the sheer number of events is the most outstanding thing about the event. There were signings and mini-cons popping up all over the country, as the event got closer and closer. I know Spaz Dog Comics in Phoenix, Ariz., had a huge 30+ creator signing, and Midtown Comics in New York went all out when it came to purchasing books and had the widest selection of new comics from independent creators.

CBG: What did you do on Dec. 30?

Warlick: I was at my home store, Madness Games & Comics, signing copies of my ICBW release, Senryu.

CBG: Anything else you?d like to share?

Warlick: More than anything, I?d like to thank the retailers for supporting Indy Comic Book Week. They really took to the idea and helped us out tremendously with moral support, promotion, and ? most importantly ? shelf space.

Comic’s Buyers Guide No. 1664 will be out in early February.

2010 is in full swing and with it comes Con Season! First up on the docket for 2010 is the always popular Dallas Comic Con. DCC is now the largest comic con in Dallas (thanks to the demise of Wizard World TX) and is attracting some great guests this year including Tim Sale, Adam Hughes Adam West, Sean Patrick Flannery and more.

I’ll be out Saturday and Sunday selling super cheap prints ($10 or 2 for $15), copies of Senryu, doing sketches and taking commissions. So if you love comics and sci-fi and enjoy supporting local artists come on out and get your geek on.

Dallas Comic Con is at The Richardson Civic Venter, 411 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson TX this Saturday @ 11am-6pm & Sunday @ 12noon-4pm.

Be there or be square.