Recently I’ve been changing up my podcast listening habits. Keeping some old faithfuls but dropping a few and adding some others. Working out of the house allows me to keep about 12-15 different ones. Some update once a week. Others maybe just once a month. One of the newest additions is Kevin Smith’s SModcast. Hosted by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier the show has been on for about two years with over 50 shows. It’s all pretty random talk with these guys with the only formula being that they try and talk out a screen play within the hour about whatever the subject matter they choose to discuss. If you’ve ever been to a comic convention and seen Kevin speak, or seen his movie “An Evening With Kevin Smith” you know the man knows how to work a room, or in this case a podcast.

I’m posting some art I did last winter that was for a skateboard company that had the license to the View Askew properties owned by Kevin, they were going to do a soft launch of boards to see if there was interest in them. The wanted some new art and I was contacted. I did this piece with the hope that the project would take off and there would be more to do. I’m actually not aware of the current status of the project but hope that there is more work to do on it down the road.

Brent

Here is another commission off my list, this time of the Red Sonja. I didn’t read too much Red Sonja growing up but always enjoyed her when she showed up in Conan. Sort like Wonder Woman for me, never would pick up the monthly, but liked it when she was a supporting character. Also I added grey tones to the Planet Hulk piece that I did earlier.

Brent

Yesterday I received my set of Marvel Masterpiece series three cards in the mail. I’m doing another 100 cards for the third and final set. In the box I also got my ten “Artist Proof Cards” for series two. I can turn around and sell these as commissions. If interested you can contact through the website. There are some general rules for the cards as I need to turn them in for approval since they are a licensed Marvel product.

1. No movie version of the characters

2. No zombie version of the characters (I did a zombie version of the X-Men last year before they made this rule, you can see it below with the rest of my cards)
3. No smoking

4. No licensed properties like ROM, G.I. Joe, Stephen King, etc..

Here are the ones I did for series one.

Brent

Got back last night from Chicago and was pretty beat. Decided to refresh my memory of Batman Begins so we could go see The Dark Knight this week. Did some more pieces on my commission list. Pretty good weekend.

1. PAINKILLER JANE

2. PLANET HULK

Brent

I’m off to Chicago for a quick trip. So enjoy this nice piece by Michael Birawer. He’s a local artist who does great scenic paintings of the Twin Cities. He also does some nice Chicago paintings from time to time. Here’s one that I have a print of in my studio.

Brent

Recently Astronaut Dad writer David Hopkins wrote and interesting blog post about What to Write When Your Not Writing. It discusses his situation being a teacher and having summers off. Most people would think that with three months off of work that this would be the a prime time for getting some writing done. When actually, it’s just the opposite.

I believe this could be the same for me and drawing this year. It hasn’t been the greatest year as far as freelance goes. Last year was the best year I’ve ever had, this year will be quite a drop. A lot of people will say it’s the economy and while I believe that to be true to some degree, I also know other illustrators who are doing great and keeping busy. So it really just comes down to riding the tide. It happens every now and again, and while you prefer it not to happen for long periods, sometimes there isn’t much you can do. Now most would think that with it being slow I would have a lot of time to do new work and finish up comic projects. I have done some new pieces to freshen the portfolio and I’m also planning a tweak to the website to make the illustration work more present. As far as having more free time it almost seems like the opposite. Looking at job postings, searching for new clients, sending samples, and updating artwork can be very time consuming and also sucks the life out of you. It’s very different than when you are working on something creative. Thankfully I have an art rep that can help with this as well.
Another factor is living here in Minnesota. The summer comes and goes so fast that you really need to get out and enjoy it. Last winter was really brutal and I usually don’t mind it but this one really got to me. Nicole and I really love baseball and we’ve made it a point to take some time and go see some. So far we’ve seen about seven ball games between the two of us and are going to Wrigley Field this coming weekend for a quick trip.

This time last year I was considerably farther ahead on Astronaut Dad book 1 than I am now with book 2. I still hope to get it out by the end of the year but we shall see. Recently my brother sent me some information on a project we’ve been kicking around. It’s a short story and I think it’ll be fun to do. I just need to get time to do it.

Finally here are two more pieces off my commission list.

1. Ronan, The Accuser

2. War Hammer Character

Brent

Two more commissions done for the September Super Show convention in Pennsylvania. Still got twenty more to do. Have a good 4Th of July.

1. Jonah Hex

2. Morro from Green Lantern

Brent

Yesterday I went over to Dreamhaven Books & Comics. This is the first comic store I went to when I moved up here and it’s probably one of my favorite stores of all time. It’s big and has a little bit of everything. From old pulp novels to vintage monster merchandise. It has so much so that you never feel like you have enough time to see everything you want to look at. In fairness, I wasn’t always blown away with some of the customer service, they aren’t rude, they just don’t seem to care if you find what you are looking for sometimes. Dreamhaven is also great cause they carry more genre books than comics. There isn’t a store in the Twin Cities that has what they have and it makes them very unique. I was sadden to hear they are moving to a smaller location and are unsure what they will be carrying through the move. I was told that most of their comics will not make the trip and they are going to try and only carry current stuff. Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of the end for the store as we need places like this to stick around. Plus it’s the mailing address for Neil Gaiman. That alone should make it stick around. I was once walking in through the back door as a tall man in black was walking out and when I got in, a friend from my comic class at MCAD informed me I had just missed Neil Gaiman walking around the store. A short brush with fame.
One gem I picked up yesterday was this sweet pocket book from 1962. It’s a humor novel by Hank Searls called The Astronaut. I wish I knew who did the cover cause it’s fantastic but so far, no luck finding out. That logo is amazing.

Brent

It’s been a little busy here lately at Brent Schoonover Illustration, which is just the way we like it. Got some fun stuff coming up work wise, and in my own spare time that’s been fun. We are going to be in Chicago in a few weeks to take in a Cubs game, which should be a blast. Wizard World Chicago is this weekend. This is the third year in a row I haven’t gone, next year I’ll go for sure. I actually miss it now as oppose to getting bored with it a few years ago. I’ve been going to that show since before I could drive.

Recently I was asked by General Mills to do some artwork to go on a cycling shirt for a charity function. I was really hoping to get some to hang onto. I’d never wear them but still it’d be fun to have. Sadly I don’t think it’s going to happen.

The idea of having the monsters on bikes is kind of wacky but I think it’s kinda funny and think people would get a kick out it. I wish they’d do more with these guys but I’m just happy they haven’t faded into obscurity quite yet.

Finally, I’m posting more illustration work lately cause in a few weeks you might be seeing some changes to the site. Some slight updates. More on that to come.

Have a good weekend,

Brent

Earlier this year there was a competition to design a new mascot for the Phoenix based store Bookmans. Mainly to be used for their online website Bookmans.com. The character they had no longer worked, it was a little dated. The winner of the competition would receive two tickets to the San Diego Comic Con, along with hotel stay and transportation money. You would also get a deduction in plane tickets that would be equal to a trip to San Diego from Phoenix. I figured with the due date on the contest several months away and having some time I would submit a new design in hopes of winning. Here is my submission.

Sadly, I did not win. Which is totally fine, I got a nice piece out of the deal and anytime you submit work to something like this you can never tell how the judges are going to go. It’s like when I was in fifth grade and made a totally kick ass poster of a Reebok Pump stomping out drugs on a side walk, but lost to some chick who basically copied the cover to Poison’s Motley Crue’s Dr. Feelgood. Thanks a lot Beloit, Wisconsin Fire Department for crushing my dreams. Anyway, if you want to get a look at the new mascot for the website, you can see it here. If you scroll down in the link you can read comments by other people and I think some of the other artist who submitted designs are totally bitter about losing to a 14 year old kid. It’s awesome.

Brent