Most of you on the web know me best as “that guy who draws the ADDANAC CITY comic strip series“. Although I totally love Hank and his pre-adolescent gang of dysfunctional misfits, I’m an artist at heart and there are other things that I do in the visual realm.

A few years ago, I became involved with my local theater group, Halifax County Little Theatre. These nice people gave me an opportunity to act for the first time (I’ll have to blog about that on another occasion). I played Walter Lee Younger in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin In The Sun”. Anyway, being that I am a well-rounded artist, I enjoyed my time as a thespian (no, I don’t have a lisp). Also, being that I am a controlling megalomaniac, I had to design the playbill, too.

I began a wonderful relationship with the directors and producers of these plays and they started requesting my artistic skills to promote their performances. One recent project that I worked on was designing something eye-catching for “Escanaba In Da Moonlight”. This was a play originally written, produced, and directed by Jeff Daniels (yeah, that Jeff Daniels). “Escanaba” is a play about a man and his three sons who journey to their camp for the opening day of hunting season in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. Strange things happen during their excursion. I came up with a pretty nifty design that they loved. This is it.

I stopped by the rehearsals with my trusty digital camera and took photographs of all the actors in the production. I wanted to create something that was true to HCLT’s unique performances, so I made each character resemble the respective actor. I think I did a competent job. Most of the organization’s play posters are printed in black and white, so I had sorta limited creative freedom. It was different without having all of the magnificent, vibrant colors that I get to play with while creating my ADDANAC CITY comics.

The local theatre group that I do a lot of graphic work for recently held a production of the 50′s-style musical Forever Plaid.

I attended a performance this past Sunday, and I’ve gotta say, the Halifax County Little Theatre did a bang-up job. I really enjoyed the music, and the acting was superb.

This is the playbill I designed for the production.

I’ll be posting some more samples of the work I do for them in the near future. I’ve completed three other posters for the organization, and hopefully, there will be another coming soon.

I’m thoroughly excited about this all-new comic story! It’s almost finished, just a few more pages to ink and color.

The comic book is all about two days in Hank’s life as he tries to make the most of his suspension. All of the major characters are in this story, along with a few cameos by supporting ones.

The story’s 32 pages long and will be in full-color! I’m in negotiations with a publisher but, more than likely, I’ll be self-publishing like I used to do with the previous AC comic books.

I hope you enjoy this 2-page preview. Let me know what’cha think!

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A lot of you have been asking about the other kinds of artwork that I create. Truth be known, I do just about anything.

The pics above showcase a few wine glasses that I was commisioned to paint to commemorate the musical play “Forever Plaid”. These glasses were presented as a gift to the play’s director, Chris Jones.

Each glass depicts a caricature of the actor who portrayed the role. I also attached a pic of the actual actor so you can see whether I captured them or not.

I painted these pieces in acrylic. I like that medium the best because it’s no-fuss, easy clean-up, and it’s quick. I’ve got a daily webcomic to do, f’r pete’s sake!

If any of you want to get something like this done for yourself or for someone you know and love (they make absolutely great gifts!), then just hit me up via email and we’ll work out a price. Capiche? Hope ya like the art.

I just wanted to share something I painted back in 2006. I call it “Peering Through The Jungle“. I’m working on a few acrylic paintings these days when I’m not creating ADDANAC CITY (which is rare). It’s a good way for me to relax and break up the monotony. Let me know what you think of this piece.

This is another acrylic painting that I created a couple of years ago. Yeah, I was on an animal kick for awhile. I’m just trying to up my skills a lil’.

I designed this poster for the play “Lying In State” which held performances in February ’08. I like pen and ink cross-hatching and drawing on paper. Most of my clients who request art like this are surprised to find out that I also create a webcomic. I guess the joke’s on them, huh? I hope you like this design.

This is another design I created for the play version of the popular Frank Capra holiday classic film. I really dig working with the theatre. Maybe, one day soon, I’ll blog about my stint on stage.

See? Told ya I was versatile.

Hot Addanac-City-Comics Graphics!

The fine folks at SparkleTags have collaborated with yours truly to create some eye-popping, tongue-wagging ADDANAC CITY graphics that you can use on your website, Myspace, Fubar, and whatnot.

There are a few designs already “Sparkle-ized”, and plenty more are on the way. Go check ‘em out and choose the ones that suit you best.

If you don’t see one you may be searching for, drop me a line and I’ll see if I can get it included in the collection. Have fun!

Hot Addanac-City-Comics Graphics!

The month of September was fantastic in ADDANAC CITY, gang! During those thirty days, the comic strip series broke an all-time personal record by welcoming over 31,000 visitors who read over 115,000 strips and assorted ramblings.

That’s a far cry from its timid beginnings when I would jump for joy and marvel at the fact that at least 35 people were reading AC each day. I’m proud to watch this lil’ baby grow, and I thank each and every one of you for stopping by to spend time with Hank and the rest of the crew.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am offering a FREE Addanac City desktop wallpaper. It’s not much, but it’s my way of saying thanks. Hopefully, I’ll have other free stuff in the future.

If you’d like to have this exclusive wallpaper design, just click on the image above. Then right-click and select “save image as…” and voila, you have a design all ready to choose as a desktop image on your display panel. Enjoy!

I wanted to share with you guys a few of the Christmas ornaments that I sold for the holiday season. When I’m not drawing ADDANAC CITY, I create all sorts of artwork and craft projects. The ornaments did really well this year, and all of my customers loved them. I’ll be sure to offer these custom-made classics for order through the internet next year so you guys can get one (or several) too. Let me know what you guys think, and if you need any custom artwork completed, just send me an email. I paint on virtually anything, and I customize to your preference.

Here are a couple more ornaments that are intended for a Baby’s 1st Christmas.

This is another short clip I created for my Final Cut Pro Video class. It’s harsh, rough, and very amateurish. It’s only part of what would be the first scene, too. Hopefully, I’ll get better the more I keep at it.

I wrote the script for this on the fly and got my kids to act in it. I filmed it practically on the spot at my friend’s house with me spoon-feeding the lines to the kids one at a time. I tried to write relatively short dialogue and I feel they did a great job based on what they had to work with.

We were limited as a far as set location, time, lighting, equipment, and weather constraints. Remember, this was just a class assignment for non-professionals. I merely wanted to share my progress and excitement with you guys. Be oh-so-gentle.