Scott Neely's Scribbles and Sketches!

Some Props...

2012-01-12T20:14:00.001-05:00

Here's some props I did for Bratz back in 2004. A lot of the work was almost like doing an animated cel with the character art being on a separate layer from the background so you could create different layouts. Above is a full background plate and the prop was a set of lockers that was for a high school hallway. I did everything separately and so you could take the lockers off and just have the hallway. Then I could add a clock or some other high school themed prop I would then create to redress it. I've done a lot of my professional work in this nature to get more out of a background. I normally don't want to spend a lot of time working on a background only to just use it once and then move on. In some cases, you can reuse them, or just use the perspective of the background and build something new.

Here's the original rough I did of the lockers. I originally did only three and then added two more to make it more of a wall of lockers. When I did the original color file of the locker art, I kept the original three lockers on one layer and the added two on another. I also left it open to go back in and change the colors at some point if I wanted or needed to. Also, all this work was done in Photoshop with the pen tool. Not sure why I didn't do it in Illustrator at the time but nowadays I probably would build it there and then add the color enhancements in Photoshop. Now once I settled on the look I wanted, I save the file in layers and then flatten the locker art and drag it over to the main background file where I compile all the different elements into one final piece. All my Strawberry Shortcake art was done this was since the character art alone could be around 20-25 layers in Illustrator, and that was just one character!

This I thought I would add as a little extra to this post. I had to create a soda can for the lunch room tables in the high school cafeteria backgrounds. I also created brown paper lunch bags, chairs, lunch trays, etc to make the lunch room seemed "lived in". I was and am quite proud of my little soda can. I had this done in about 15 minutes or so and then just copied and pasted a bunch to add throughout the scene. This is fairly big though as they were maybe a 1/4-inch to a 1/2-inch in the final piece. But again, it's a prop that is built and I could reuse again.

Professor Pericles Sketch!

2012-01-06T13:47:00.002-05:00

This week I did 3 art comps and a variant for the possible DVD cover to Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated - Season 2 and thought I'd post a separate element that I made as a variant to one of the designs I did, and it was for Professor Pericles who is a villian in the series! It may not be used in the end though. For those who don't know the process, you do several art comps based upon notes of how they want the DVD cover to look (or what story angle they want to pursue) and you do some roughs. When submitted they may like one a lot and then they'll add revisions to them, or possible they may not like any of them or the direction since they changed their minds, and you then do a round 2 (or 3, or more) of sketches till you arrive at a final rough that everyone likes. Once that's approved by all parties, you then do the final tight rough which is put "on model" and everything is locked down. Then it goes to the final color art stage after a light color theory preliminary is submitted so they can see how you imagine the color theory going for the final art.

And I'll be working on Tom and Jerry's DVD cover this weekend as well, which is a round 3, since I now have the new title logo to work with and new art direction.

Starting 2012 With Scooby-Doo!

2012-01-02T17:55:00.002-05:00

Actually, I finished my last P 'n F jobs on Friday, December 30th around 3pm and went into my email to let Disney know that they were done (even though most corporate people were off this week) and saw a new email from the agency in LA with a new job!

So now I'm doing the DVD cover art for Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated - Season 2! So I'll be doing the first round of concept sketches this week! The second season doesn't start airing episodes till May this year, but they are starting early to get this work done and in the can so I'm guessing this will come out next fall. So I'm excited. So excited, I forgot to email Disney that the P 'n F work was done! Ha! So we start yet another year drawing Scooby and the Gang! If my math is correct, I guess this is my 12th year straight now!

Also, as an aside, DC Comics is using one of my Scooby comic covers for the first Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? trade paperback collection coming out this winter! It collects comic issues 1-6! I'll post it when it comes out. I did one story as well that should be in it.

Slaving Away... Or "Sorry! I Was Really Busy This Past Fall!"

2012-01-02T17:42:00.001-05:00

Well, it's been so long I almost forgot how to post through Blogger! I know some may have given me up for dead or onto some other social platform since I've not posted since August! I've never had that much of a lapse go by without posting, but the work was flying off the drawing board just as fast as new gigs landed on top of it! Any contractor (or freelance person) can tell you that it's feast or famine when you are a freelancer so you tend to take a lot of jobs as you don't know when the slow times will hit. There's always a natural ebb and flow to things but this past fall from September on till December 29th was jammed! I've been very fortunate since there are a lot of talented folks who are struggling to get anything right now.

I've had the joy of being in Phineas and Ferb's backyard for most of it all and the work has been so constant that I've had to turn down some work since I can't draw three big P 'n F jobs at once. I can usually make it work but some deadlines were the same exact date and hence there would be an issue, so I'm back to trying to figure out how to clone myself.

As I say, most of the fall was spent with Phineas and Ferb, creating inators, and Agent P battling Doof in his lab, but I did do other cool side jobs as well!

1) A Scooby-Doo DVD cover for a repackaged collection coming out in 2012. I'll let you know when it's close to release and what it's called.

2) The new Tom & Jerry movie DVD cover (which we are in the 3rd round of sketches and waiting on them to decide what the actual title of the film will be since the design will be affected by the size and look of any title logo.) This one is Tom & Jerry meet Robin Hood (working off the classic 1938 'Flynn' Style) and is following on the heels of Tom & Jerry and The Wizard of Oz which is in stores now. The Wizard of Oz one is really well done and a lot of fun mixing the two IPs together.

3) Madagascar 3 licensing work, which is still being drawn, redrawn, re-redrawn and then finalized and should be done by February sometime.

4) A housing development sketch for Odyssey Design. Got photos of a building development being rebuild and refurbished and had to do artistic color art for a sales brochure that will show off what the property will look like when it's done. It's a mess still right now so you do art that will help sell it based upon the final look.

5) Odds and Ends - Did some original sketches, commissions, and other small job commercial work here and there and sold all the original Scooby art for the Mystery Incorporated book I did this time last year! (Thanks, Jim!)

As I say it's been hectic but all the work has been done on time and on schedule. From November into December I was working on P 'n F and had to get two jobs done by the 12th and then the 19th of the month. I did and thought I'd have off till January but then got another P 'n F job offer on the 20th that would have had me working through and on Christmas for a due date of the 28th. I've worked the last two Christmases so I turned it down only to get an email 30 minutes later with three small P 'n F jobs due on January 2nd! So I took them! Hahaha! Hard to turn down work, but these were rather simple and didn't add any stress to the holiday season. But I tell you all that to show how busy it has been. Luckily I did mostly all my Christmas shopping and had it wrapped the night before Halloween. I know you are laughing at that but I do shop early and get it done while I have disposible cash and that way I have no holiday debt ever to pay off during the winter.

Let's see, what else, I've had no social life and my birthday in late November was rather low key this year with a nice meal. But I'm hoping to change all that this year as 2012 has now begun... with another cool job! Read the next post for more!

As a New Year's resolution, I will be posting reguarly, though some stuff I can't post till they get closer to coming out, but I will be posting new art and sketches.

Doof Sketch

2011-08-05T00:33:00.001-04:00

As I wait on P and F approvals, I did a sketch today (and threw some quick color on it) of Doof who found his Teddy Bear when he was little. Who knew he had a soft spot... then again, maybe it's a Teddy-inator!

The View From The Backyard...

2011-07-31T22:19:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posts! It's been busy in the back of Phineas and Ferb's backyard of late! After my last post I did a job for it and then got the following weekend off and then got three new jobs right after that! I just finished the roughs for the first one and will start on the second gig tomorrow while that goes through approvals. This summer, while it's been hot as hell here in the suburbs of Philly, has been really busy for the most part as I toil on P and F stuff and also as I finish up the last of my Puss In Boots stuff this coming week as well! It will be good to get that off my plate... or rather, my drawing board as it's been going on for a while and approvals were sllllooowwww at DreamWorks. I'll post more this week and on a regualr basis as I finish this work up.

SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY INCORPORATED Book Art Is Up For Sale In My Store!

2011-06-30T22:47:00.000-04:00

Since the book has come out, I thought I'd post to you that the original rough sketches I did in laying out the book are now for sale at my online store! I put the best ones up or ones which had no real production damage done to them such as redraws and paste overs or tons of white out. All the ones up for sale are really clean sketches and suitable for framing. Plus, this is the only existing art since from this point I did all the final art digitally. Check out my store link and go to the Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated catagory.

SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY INCORPORATED Book Is Now Out & Needs Your Support!

2011-06-30T16:36:00.001-04:00

My new Scooby-Doo book is now out (or comes out officially on June 1st!) Based on the new cartoon series and this is Book 1. If sales are good, they will do a book 2 and possibly a series as I was told today. If you can, please support it and buy a copy or two for any little ones you may know or else this could be a one and done! I'd like to do more of these as they are fun and this work is some of the best Scooby work I've done over the 11 years!

Scholastic.com has a cheaper price for buying directly from them!

OR...

Amazon.com!

Barnesandnoble.com

Borders.com (Also has a little Google preview)

And since they changed the cover and just used Shaggy and Scooby, I thought I'd post the original cover version with the whole Gang!

New Stuff Available At My Online Store!

2011-06-20T18:45:00.004-04:00

I made up two new mega packs now on sale on my online store! One is a 20 comic Scooby-Doo Mega Pack! More info at the link! Plus, you get a Free Scooby-Doo Print with the purchase and Free Shipping! ALL FOR ONLY $50.00! 15 sets available!

SCOOBY-DOO MEGA PACK + FREE PRINT!

And I made up one 9 comic Cartoon Network Mega Pack as well! It comes with a Free Cartoon Network Print featuring some of the characters and free shipping as well! ALL FOR ONLY $25.00! 15 sets are available! For more go to:

CARTOON NETWORK MEGA PACK + FREE PRINT!

A Tribute To JAMES ARNESS (1923-2011)

2011-06-08T18:26:00.003-04:00

Sadly, James Arness left us this past weekend. He was 88. Due to my deadlines I had to wait to post this till today. Plus the piece of art above was framed and I had to take it out of the frame and scan it so it took some time. I did this piece of art in the late 90's. I think it was 1998 or early '99. One of my originals that I've kept and it's been framed and hanging in my studio since 2000 or so when I framed it. The original still looks more beautiful than this scan but that happens sometimes with scanning.

Before I begin to talk about James Arness, I think a little backstory is needed, so bear with me.

As most who well know me know, though some of you do not, I've been collecting radio dramas now since 1986. I was at the local comic store on a Friday when new issues used to come out and saw Howard Chaykin's comic version of The Shadow. I bought the first issue and it had a nice backup feature by Anthony Tollin who wrote a history of The Shadow. That weekend I was at the mall and went into Sam Goody Records and saw audio tapes of The Shadow, Green Hornet, and The Lone Ranger hanging on the wall. I bought The Shadow one and went home and listened to one of the early episodes of Orson Welles in "Devil From The Deep" (which aired on 10/3/1937) and I was then hooked on old time radio! I went back the next day to the mall and bought the Green Hornet and Lone Ranger ones!

My love for audio dramas started when I was little and I had all the Power Records comic book and record sets and I listened to them so many times that I wore out the vinyl records and had to buy another. I'd play with my Mego Superhero figures and listen and reenact the story I heard. I'm still a fan of Power Records and have them all to this day. But with Old Time Radio I was introduced to a world of more sophisticated and serious actors who were doing all kinds of dramas ranging from westerns, scifi, mysteries, horror, and romance. This was a step up and a great transition from kids records where things were exaggerated but fun. Hollywood actors lent their skills to radio as TV wasn't around then and you got to hear Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes on the radio and then got to see him on the big screen that weekend as Sherlock Holmes as well. What a thrill that must have been back in the day! The audio effects and environmental sounds were incredible to me and I was able to listen and form my own pictures in my head as to what was going on. TV and movies still can't rival the power of a good audio drama and I think listening to mostly all the shows I now have in my collection for over 20 years (around 34,000 shows and still growing both on CD's tapes, and MP3's) has made me better as an artist since now I have to read a script and visualize what's going on and how to show it. I used to go to bed with my Sony Walkman and listen to a show. If I fell asleep during it, I'd listen again the next night, and the next night. But before sleep came to me, I listened and I kept changing my shots and working through my storytelling as a movie director would work through his camera moves. If I didn't like a shot in my head I hit the rewind button a few seconds and go back and reshoot. It may sound weird but many artists would agree with me on this working method.

One day in the mid-90's, after ten years of collecting, I got a new catalog to order old radio shows from and so that night I went through the pages and circled the ones I wanted. They had a sale going and I'd thought I'd try something new. I loved The Six Shooter starring Jimmy Stewart and so I saw a few tapes for what was hailed as "The Greatest of all Westerns"... Gunsmoke. If they hyped it like that, I figured it must be good. I ordered two audio tapes and that was four early episodes of the show from 1952. It even featured the very first show called "Billy The Kid." I got the tapes in a few weeks and one night as I was organizing my comics in their boxes, I put one of the tapes in my stereo and played it. It wasn't long before I stopped filing the comics and just sat there and listened to the show as the quality of the sound patterns and the time that they took to just let sounds play painted such a picture of Dodge City that it sounded incredible to my ears. The sound of spurs hitting the plankboards going into the Marshal's office or the piano playing in the distance as you stood across the street from the Long Branch Saloon was simply magnificent and added to the drama. For a lot of radio shows, the rule was to keep actors talking, but Gunsmoke (and radio director Norman MacDonnell) was after more and it exceeded on every level. You could feel the grit of Gunsmoke. The scripts were more adult in nature and the acting was first rate all around. The violence of the old west was portrayed as it was and some of the early scripts that were used on radio had to be changed when they did them on TV as they could never get past the TV censors at the time. John Meston was the voice of Gunsmoke and wrote most of the radio and then TV scripts. It was his stamp of authenticity that made this show what it was. If it's not on paper, it just doesn't work most of the time. Meston's scripts about morality were never in your face but accented the message he was trying to send to the audience. William Conrad stood tall as US Marshal Matt Dillon and his voice had such a presence that you knew he was the hero. Conrad had such great range with his voice that you could really say his voice was truly an instrument, and he knew how to use it from soft scenes to loud ones. With William Conrad as Matt Dillon, Parley Bear as Chester, Georgia Ellis as Kitty, and Howard McNear as Doc, this western show made me a fan and I soon would go on to collect the whole series run from 1952-1961 when radio was fazed out as sponsers then put all their money into the blossoming arena of Television.

For some reason, it was a year or two after I got intially started with Gunsmoke that I found out there had also been a TV show as well! I kind of started the way it was really introduced, from radio to TV. I got a catalogue from Time Life one day (the ones that sell all the old TV shows) and it had Gunsmoke across the front cover. I was blown away! They made this into a TV show... and it was on for 20 years?! How could I have not known about it? Well, I was mid-20s and some things you do find out about decades after they are gone. I ordered the first tape and watched the first 4 shows! I was thrilled how well they adapted the radio scripts to TV format and the cast once again, though different, was first rate! In the first episode that aired called "Matt Gets It" I was introduced to James Arness who played Marshal Matt Dillon and who then gets shot down on Front Street in the early scenes! He survived his wounds and got better with the help of Doc Adams to only go back and kill the bad guy who gunned him down in the end. That first episode was good enough to hold me as it was character driven and I watched the other 3 that night. It wasn't long before I subscribed and got a new tape every month, and sometimes bought several tapes if I had some extra money. The first 156 shows or so used all radio scripts and it was fun to see how it was visually shown as I had pictured them differently from their radio counterparts.

I think most Gunsmoke fans will say that the first 10 years of Gunsmoke on TV was it's "golden age". Those early half-hour shows were my personal favorites and they could pack more story and drama into a half-hour than MOST of the one-hour TV shows that are on today. Watch the episode "Never Pester Chester" and you'll see what I mean. I also loved the medium of black and white as well since it seemed to focus your attention on the characters and drama more than color allows. Orson Welles has said this about black and white film as well. When they moved into color, and Festus replaced Chester, it carried on for another 10 seasons! Fans note that in the first ten seasons, Marshal Dillon was almost in every scene and so after 10 years they changed the dynamic and focused more on the people of Dodge (or people coming into Dodge) and their stories and the Marshal would show up in the middle and the end to help out if he could and tie it all together. This allowed Arness to have more family time as well since he didn't have to be on the set every day. Gunsmoke focused mainly on character development and kept an economy of dialogue to it so that you saw what you needed to and could form your own backstories in some cases without being distracted from the main plot. It never wrote down to the audience and in 20 seasons it only produced 4 bad shows. James Arness stood tall for 20 years (and with the spin-off Gunsmoke TV movies that he made in the late 80's and early 90's) and was a real man's man for the entire run and his life. If you were in the Long Branch Saloon and some kind of fight was brewing as some dude you didn't want to mess with was taunting you, you'd be praying Marshal Dillon would walk through the door and save your ass. And he did it with style. Not the kind of style that Paladin would use on Have Gun, Will Travel but a style that was true to Arness and how he lived his life. I can see how he was a role model for the youth of the time in the 50s and early 60s and how families loved the show. It's popularity spawned a bunch of books, comics and toys; many that I have in my personal collection as well.

James Arness had some great moments on the show and Dennis Weaver who played Chester was so incredible that he could save a slightly weaker script by having a great scene at the end of it that would turn it into a superb show. He deserved his Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in 1959. His acting was genuine and sincere and he worked well with Arness who had the same sensibilities. The main difference between the radio version of Dillon and the TV version of Dillon was that both actors played it differently though some aspects were in both. Both had the commanding presence and tone of authority, but with the radio version Dillon would make mistakes and people would sometimes die or the bad guys would get away. When Arness played the part, he played it that Dillon was always right and he would somehow know that they bad guys took the right path down a crooked road instead of the left one. Both actors were successful, and I think Arness' choice to do it the way he did was correct, hence we wouldn't be talking about the show today. The good things always stand the test of time.

And so... to James Arness, I thank you for work and standing in the middle of Front Street in Dodge City and facing down our fears for us. A double-edged dagger for Arness as well as many actors would never have played a character for as long as he did for fear of being typecast. In the end, Arness became an icon and was the star of the GREATEST Western TV show ever produced, and that's certainly not a bad thing. In fact, I'm sure Marshal Dillon is walking the clouds right now keeping the universe safe... it's how he would have wanted it. (Cue the opening Gunsmoke music)

Memorial Day Weekend Working On DOOF N' PUSS

2011-05-30T23:14:00.005-04:00

Got a rush job with a tight deadline around two days before Memorial Day Weekend and so I spent the holiday working on Doof N' Puss while others frolicked and relaxed in the ocean surf. Doof N' Puss is a segment on Phineas and Ferb and it's a lot like what the Itchy And Scratchy Show was on The Simpsons, meaning that it's a show within a show. Doof N’ Puss was an 80’s-style TV show that Doof pitched to a network exec at the Science Fiction and Fantasy convention in the Phineas and Ferb episode “Nerds of a Feather.” So once I got the model sheets, I was off and running drawing Agent P battling the zombie pigs and aliens I created. I'll be working on it till mid-next week. More as I go along...

Monster Attack - SCOOBY Style!

2011-05-24T01:00:00.001-04:00

Here's a Scooby Mystery Incorporated piece I did called "Monster Attack", and it's a teaser for you all! Pencilled on paper and then scan as a guide and then all digitally created from there to the end. I forget how many layers it wound up being but it was a lot. Hope you enjoy!

ALFIE Sketch

2011-05-23T15:03:00.000-04:00

After I finished up my Phineas and Ferb work Sunday night for a Monday deadline, I drew this Alfie sketch before I went to bed last night. It was done in about an hour and was easy to draw since Alfie was tired and curled up to sleep. He occassionally kept raising his head to wonder what I was doing while looking at him. It was drawn with the Micron Pens and I used a PITT Brush Marker for his back body hair.

PUSS IN BOOTS On The Drawing Board As Well...

2011-05-20T02:24:00.000-04:00

And also just started working on some Puss in Boots stuff, which I'm working on at the same time as the Phineas and Ferb work. Yes, Puss in Boots is getting his own spin-off movie and it's been in the works before Shrek 4 came out. There is a tease for it at the end of Shrek Forever After, where Shrek closes the book at the end of the movie and puts it up on the shelf and right next to it was a smaller book with "Puss in Boots" written on the spine, meaning that Puss has his own story as well. Anyway, it's feast or famine being a freelancer... so you grab it when you can. Still in the early stages of it so I'm not sure how long I have to get the work done yet before Puss comes out.

And Some Graphic Design This Week As Well...

2011-05-20T02:07:00.001-04:00

Since the economy is still chugging along slow, I've been doing some graphic design as well. Below are three concert banners that I did earlier this week and they'll be 7 feet wide by 3 feet high when they are printed. I did one banner each for Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, and Zac Brown. They were made for WYNK radio for some concert thing that Clear Channel is doing. The basic idea is that fans will sign these banners and then the radio station will give each banner with all the signatures to each country star as a token gift from the fans, hence, why there's plenty of open space around them for signatures. The hard part was separating the characters from the backgrounds in their original photos and creating crisp edges. It takes some time to do it right and I think they came out pretty cool in the end. The Kenny Chesney one also had a small mic on his shirt collar and so I had to digitally paint that out as well. I sent the files to Vivid Ink who did the printing job on them and so I had to add their logo to the bottom as a final touch.

And right after that I did a business card design and two ads for Rima Akoum at Mai Mira Salon in Baton Rouge. The first ad I did was in black and white for some charity publication and then I did this full color one that will run in City Social Magazine. It's a half page ad and took me a little time to figure it out since I was given the five smaller pics to work into the design that weren't in the black and white ad. I kept the background white since from the specs I was given there was no bleed and I though that it would look better with a bit of separation to it instead of adding a solid color in background which would box it more. I'm happy with how it turned out as it was a bit of a jigsaw puzzle to get it to work. It's just like the previous post with Phineas and Ferb, you have to have all these elements in a drawing and make them work. Design is 95% of the job no matter what I'm working on.

Working With PHINEAS AND FERB Again!

2011-05-20T01:42:00.000-04:00

I've been bad about posting stuff of late but allergies have been killing me this year and it's hard to draw when you sneeze 15 times in a row. But I have been working on some stuff here at Casa de Neely. Since the 12th of May I've been working with the boys again... the boys being Phineas and Ferb! Above is a rough layout that I drew with a blue ball-point pen on some better than average art paper. Those of you who follow me know I draw mostly on cheap copy paper when I do my rough sketches but for this one I somehow started drawing it on good art paper. Can't remember why at this point but I think it was because I was too lazy to go and grab the cheaper paper in the closet at the time. I was probably too tired from sneezing to get up and get it. I'm posting it since it was one of the rare times that I actually had this layout really well thought out in my head and was able to put it on paper. I also drew it with a ball-point pen to change it up; plus not having an eraser on the end helps you draw faster. I sometimes do sketches with just a pen as it forces you to get the image out and not worry about fixing it as you go along. It's kind of like being a writer and banging out a first draft and then going back and fixing it after it's done. A lot of times, I create in pieces and then move the elements around the get the best position for stuff to make a better design. This one kind of came together a little easier than normal and once I had it pretty well etched in my mind I put it on paper. The work was approved and I've been doing the final art the last two days and will be working this weekend on it to get it done.

Spoke To The Graphics Class At DCCC Today!

2011-04-15T00:34:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, around 2:30pm, I spoke to the graphics class at Delaware County Community College. My former Photoshop teacher, Robert Jones, had asked me to come in and speak to the class and tell them what I do. I've done this before for him in the past years as well so I offered this time since I had some down time. So for this talk I showed the class some of my layered art files since I think they would've given them a good idea of how work is done in licensing since it has many concepts that are used in graphic design and how to keep thinking in layers even from the initial sketch. I think I talked for about and hour and a half and took questions. Hope it wasn't too long 'cause I can ramble on! Ha! They seemed to have liked it so that was good. I took this pic of the school when I was leaving around 4:15 or so.

Life, Taxes & Hard Drives

2011-04-10T15:54:00.001-04:00

Kinda stuck in a holding pattern of sorts this week. I did an audition last weekend, turned it in Monday, and then haven't heard back about anything yet... so it may have collapsed as a project (since even if I was approved they could pull it for time since the deadline was super tight) as it would have been slapdashed together to get something out. So who knows... work on Puss In Boots is coming soon though.... plus I did my taxes to get them done in case the government had shut down since who knows what part (if any) of the IRS would still be working if it did.

Other than that I've been sketching, digital painting and mostly backing up my external hard drives, reorganizing my files, and deleting old ones that I don't need anymore. It now seems that even 2TB drives aren't enough. Ha! Backing up my work and other files I've collected onto my Back Up drive (a smaller 500GB drive that sits next to my computer for immediate things that I'm working on or need to pull from) and then after about three weeks or so I back them up to the Back Up-Back Up drive (one of my main drives with mostly everything on it) and then again onto, not one, but TWO Back Up-Back Up-Back Up drives (two clones of the previous drive with everything on it, BUT with much more including comics scans, audio stuff, teaching stuff, etc. And I have two drives in case one fails. These two are the main drives that I can't lose though.) is an several hour process and I usually wait till the weekend at night to do it since you just have to sit and do it. It's a long and boring process but has to be done.

I seem to remember when I used to burn CD's and DVD's with data on them but now it's all about the external hard drive since they hold much more stuff and tranferring files over is much faster than burning. There was a time back in 2004 or so when I'd go to the computer store (no longer in business either) and buy 9 or 10 spindles of CDs or DVDs on sale so that I'd have them, but in the last two years alone I think I've only burned 3 CDs total! Technology is rapidly changing so fast that even the flash drives (or thumb drives) that were the rage for about a year have fallen by the wayside as hard drives have surpassed them in terms of speed and space, as well as keeping the physical dimensions of the drives down to a nice compact size that you can put in your pocket. 2TB drives are a little bigger in most cases but are about the size of a hardcover book.

It may seem excessive to some with all the backing up but I laugh at those who lose all their stuff when their systems crash and they didn't ever think to back anything up and have now lost it all. It's a large peace-of-mind to fire up a drive and back up the day's work and then go to bed knowing it's safe. Once you accumulate a large amount of stuff you don't want to lose it. Even working from the hotel room from my previous trip I would back up the night's work onto a flash drive and then a small external hard drive as well since I didn't want to rely on my laptop though I'm sure it was safe. Laptops can get man-handled going through the airport security and being thrown in the bins as they go down the conveyor belt.

I'm the Back Up Kid!

Captain Blue Hen's Mascot - Bucky Blue!

2011-04-08T19:01:00.003-04:00

Thought I'd post the original sketch I did of Bucky Blue who is the mascot for Captain Blue Hen. Captain Blue Hen is a comic store in Newark, Delaware and I was asked a couple years ago to come up with the character as a way for the store to promote comics. Above is the actual raw sketch I did on copy paper with ball point pen. Once I scanned it in I then wanted to do the final art as vector art in case they wanted to blow up the art for something big. Bucky is a little kid (and like most of us did) is dressed up in an Adam-Westy-kind-of-costume and using homemade props as weapons. I used a clothes hanger as a grappling hook once or twice myself as I scaled the picnic table growing up.

Below are the two main sayings that they wanted to incorporate with the character for a poster and t-shirt.

And here's one of Bucky swinging by for their Christmas Card...

So for process junkies, it was a pen and ink sketch and then the rest was done in Adobe Illustrator.

LANESCAN Tri-Fold Brochure Design

2011-04-06T17:20:00.001-04:00

Here is a tri-fold brochure I did for ARCM Corp. back in September of 2003. There was a lot of information to tell and only so much space to do it in as the client wanted the mailing card added to it as well at the bottom. I think it's one of my best design jobs and one where the art and text all worked together. It's like a puzzle most of the time trying to get the pieces to fit. Art was all done in Adobe Illustrator and then assembled and laid out in Photoshop. The art of the cars, trucks and roads were done as vector art since the client needed the art also blown up to trade show banner size as well. The backside of the brochure is a little bland since it's a mailer but I'm still happy with how it all came out. I did a bunch of stuff for the company that year before it was sold to another company who then took it over.

From The Sketchbook: Mexican Jumping Bean!

2011-04-06T16:52:00.001-04:00

Some things defy explanation. They just pop in your head and the hand draws it.

From The Sketchbook: Crazy Banana!

2011-04-06T16:50:00.002-04:00

Don't ask...

The DINING & ENTERTAINMENT Magazine Logo & Planning With Thumbnails

2011-03-31T22:25:00.000-04:00

When I found the Family Values logo sketches I also found thumbnails for the other magazine I had to edit/design called Dining & Entertainment Magazine. These thumbnails I did after I had designed the final logo and then had to work up some designs for a letterhead and business card. The two sketches on the second piece of scrap paper were for interior story layouts as I wanted to get an idea of how the text, headers, pull quotes and pictures would look as a whole. Even from these simply sketches you can get a clear idea of what I was going for at the time though they would change over the years I did them.

Here is the black and white version of the logo (for letterheads) and then the color version...

I added the color bar behind it to make it pop more as we always kept the text white as it always popped more as white than as another color. The color bar color itself was changed though every month depending on what we were doing. Below is one of my favorite covers I did and it was jam-packed with a lots of interviews that I did for that month, which was great since I really got to play with the design and layout of each interview as well as the cover. I try to give my covers room to breathe as well. Some magazines jam way too much text onto them and it makes them harder to 'read' at a certain distance.

BONUS: Here's a mock up cover with the super rare logo that only last two issues before we changed it. This was the second issue I worked on and this was the last time we used this logo. It was actually the first logo that I designed though and I really liked it as it had some tooth to it and looked like a steel-cut piece of metal and it had some energy to it. I went this way as originally we were shooting for a young and hip demo but that would change. Maxim was hot at the time and a lot of publications were trying to mimic the look. I got the idea from watching old episodes of Dragnet 1967 where after the credits ran at the end of the show there was a hand that came down and pounded out the Mark VII or something in the steel with a hammer. It stuck with me and so I thought a steel look would work well.

Looking at it again after all this time, it's hard for me to call it a failure though. While everyone in the office liked it, it became somewhat of a designer's nightmare for me as it limited me in terms of the space I had to layout a cover. I had to run the photo flush left all the time to make it work and most press release photos simply weren't shot with enough bleed and it would have been a hassle each month to have to separate the person from the background and put a new background behind them that would fit. It was easier to simply run the logo straight across the top and then have a full square below it in which to play within. As the cover above shows, even by moving the logo down a 1/3 I still had some decent ratios to play within.

Hope you found this post interesting!

FAMILY VALUES Magazine Logo - Original Concept Sketches Found!

2011-03-31T21:24:00.001-04:00

While cleaning out the studio I found my original layout sketches for the Family Values magazine logo that I created back in 2002 when I was hired to be editor/designer. The publisher had wanted to come up with something new for a look and he wanted a new logo as well. Above are the sketches I did with a ballpoint pen on some scrap paper. I did some other designs as well (but this one struck me as working well with the area that it would have to occupy on the cover and I liked it best) and then played with this one to get it to the next level.

Here's the final logo that I did in Illustrator as I wanted it to be vector art in case they ever wanted to make it bigger for something like a banner. I used these colors for the first two issues as they complimented the photos and text but then I would change out the colors to compliment the overall color theory or even to celebrate a certain holiday or seasonal theme. It also works well as a black and white image and could be easily converted if need be. I usually always design a logo with the idea that it must work in black and white first. Scott's Rule: If it works in black and white, it will work in color.

Here's a November cover for Thanksgiving where I changed it up so you have an idea of how it looked. The month before I changed it to black and orange for Halloween and it popped really well off the cover. It was kind of cool to find those original sketches still laying around here. Usually I don't save that stuff as thumbnails are mostly for the artist as a guide, but I have been saving more of it lately as scans just so I have them.

A Piece Of Digital Notebook Paper... Who'da Thunk It?!

2011-03-25T12:33:00.003-04:00

Here's an interesting thing I found on my hard drive that I created back in 2003...a blank piece of notebook paper. Seems weird that you'd have to create something like that but I was doing a cover and art spread for Family Values Magazine for an article about safe schools for the August issue and I needed to create some props for the cover and for the main story interior spread where text would lay on top of it to give it a school time feeling. So I created a digital composition book cover since I didn't have one to scan and then I scanned some actual pens, pencils, erasers, and a ruler I had lying here so that I could use them in my design. I could have created those digitally but it would have taken time that I just didn't have. I remember scanning a piece of actual notebook paper and finding that it just didn't 'hold up' for actual use as the blue lines were so light and washed out. Even trying to save time and play with the levels in Photoshop was a waste of time so I created a sheet of digital notebook paper using the scanned page a guide. I kept the holes black for this look but I can pop those out and you'd be able to see through them if this page was laying on a table as you can see below from the final printed art.

This was some of my best design work at the time and somehow it really came together during the rush of the deadline to get it done. This is the two-page spread as I just wanted to give you an idea of how it was actually used. Even the wood table was digitally created as well. I haven't had a chance to use the notebook paper for anything else since though but I have the file so I have it in case I do. It might look good as a backdrop for some sketches as well to create a sketchbook feel. Anyway, I hope you all like this mini 'behind the scenes' process post!

HELL PLANET!

2011-03-25T12:19:00.001-04:00

Hello all! I haven't been slacking here in the studio, just slacking on posting stuff. I've been doing quite a few backgrounds of late and making some new brushes in Photoshop to paint with. I would post some of the new backgrounds I've done but I'm afraid after I post it and then possibly use it a few months later, some would call me a hack or something. Haha. With most of them I can tweak to make them work for other stuff or situations but it's nice to have the work already built and up and running.

Here's a painting I did in an hour yesterday playing around. I call it Hell Planet. The main work was doing the planet as a star field and cosmos took about 2 minutes to create (literally if you know how to do it) in Photoshop and from there I decided to make it a planet that was on fire and possibly burning itself out from the inside. Came out pretty cool as a concept piece. Hope you all like!

Creepy Cave Of Mystery!

2011-03-08T21:39:00.006-05:00

Here's a new background I painted this week for fun where I tried to play with the environmental elements a bit more to create a sense of mystery while having a touch of realism to ground it. I like doing caves (and other outdoor scenes) as they're organic and easier to paint than doing a city which is built with exact lines and perspective. These have perspective as well, it's just looser in terms of depth as I like to work with foreground, middle ground and background. The cave hole in the center is a separate piece so I could pop it out and put another background there if I wanted it to have more depth. Like if I added a city scene in the hole to show we were nearing the cave entrance. I do like the color theory for it and it has a nice warm feeling to it. Kind of like autumn fall season in mid October as the leaves are falling off the trees.

Some House Drawings...

2011-03-08T21:15:00.005-05:00

After I finished cleaning up Scooby, I had to do two house drawings for someone and I took a pic as I was doing some final touch ups. The people I did them for had moved around quite a bit due to work and had around 8 houses total over the 15 years that I've done these for them. Since I draw differently in many respects now, I had to pull copies of the older house drawings I did like ten years ago and try to go back and match the style so that they would all look like they would fit on a wall together in unison.

Cleaning Up Some SCOOBY...

2011-03-08T21:10:00.001-05:00

Pic of me slapping some Pro White over some recent comic pages so I could then scan them and do less digital fixing.

Back In The SPRINGFIELD PRESS For My St. Eugene's Elementary School Appearance!

2011-03-02T13:55:00.002-05:00

Just got the new edition of the Springfield Press in the mail today and saw my pic from my second appearance at St. Eugene's school so I thought I'd post it here. I posted other pics for it in a previous post.

One Door/ Two Views - Background Art

2011-02-20T23:10:00.003-05:00

Here's two angles of a door to a storage closet. Once again the characters covered most of them so it's kind of nice to see them unfettered by other elements. Both took about a little over an hour and a half each and most of that was figuring out a color theory that worked for it since it was nightime and an interior that basically had no lighting. I also changed the inside of the closet's main lighting to reflect a story element hence why one is green and the other is a tannish brown. I also kept it clean and crisp as opposed to the underground scenes which are murky, misty and spooky which I kept a little looser. I love the slight bird's eye view of the bottom door though.

Another Background - Exterior Shot

2011-02-19T12:50:00.004-05:00

As with all my backgrounds they usually start in Illustrator and are drawn with the pen tool. Once it's all built to a certain degree and I have everything that I will need, I send it to Photoshop where I then paint the rest using my build layers as a guide and to help me select certain areas. The hard part is matching the look of the show, so I had to create a bunch of brushes that would give me different effects to get it as close as I could. The show had a sponge brush effect all over it and it was hard since each sponge effect had a different texture to it. I now have a certain way to paint and a workflow where I can create this kind of shot from start to finish in about 2-3 hours or so. Also, I painted this originally in day time colors and saved it that way as well. If I take a few overlays off of this piece it would be a daytime scene and hence could be used again! There also isn't a lot of overall detail to the store front as character art mostly covered the lower part of the piece. As with all backgrounds, they're just meant to ground and give placement to your characters, since in the end it's all about the characters!

Creepy Caves...

2011-02-17T00:53:00.008-05:00

Here's some more of my creepy cave backgrounds. The top one was wider in the final version and I had to paint more to it to extend it but this was the original paint job which I kept. I keep it all. What's a little less hard drive space...

For the bottom one, each of the foreground rocks on the bottom one were on separate layers so I can make them visable or not, or even move them around if I want, by clicking on their layers. I made it a full painting without the rocks just in case I needed another generic cave setting. I also added the green night fog on it's own layer as well in case I didn't want it. That's the beauty to have all these layers for each painting. I can change things easily without much muss or fuss. This background took the worst hit as for all that work that no one will ever see. Maybe 10% of it was left to see once all the characters were added, but like I said, I can change the color of the cave to blue or something and it could be the Batcave!

How To Get The Most Out Of Your Backgrounds...

2011-02-16T22:03:00.011-05:00

Thought I'd post some background paints I did and how I try to plan in the initial sketches of a background to create it in layers so that by clicking off some layers I have a different background that I can use for something else at some other point in time. I try, if I can, to design it and work it so that I can get multiple uses out of it be it a week later of three years later. It's kind of like being a set decorator on a TV show and having to make do with a small budget. With a couple simple changes you can save a lot of time and money. I bring this up as I've been watching the first season of Starsky & Hutch this past week at night and if you watch 3-4 a night as opposed to once a week, you can notice the set redresses and some of the same background props like a painting pop up in different scenes a lot more. All shows and movies do it to save money. Most Star Trek fans never noticed that the bridge of the Enterprise in Star Trek II (Khan!) was redressed and relit to become the Reliant! It was so well done that even hardcore Trek fans never noticed. The only reason I know it is because Shatner mentioned it in his book Star Trek Movie Memories. It's an interesting study and to see how with just a few simple changes, a set becomes completely different. Hanna-Barbera would do the same thing as well in their cartoons and create a long panaramic background and use it for many scenes to save money animating. They would do all their planning in the storyboarding stage so they could figure out how mnay backgrounds they would actually have to commission to be done.

Below is a big painting of mine that is around 11 x 17 in full size when I did it and was the original base painting that could be used for something for sure... BUT it had to be tweaked a lot for what I actually needed it for so I then saved a copy of the file as it was and then resaved it with a new file name and repainted it part of it. Character art will kill a lot of the work actually so no one will ever see the full background hence why I'll be posting some of them here. Some of these were really a lot of work and there's a lot of detail that got lost in the final image from being covered up. But they did what they need to do and that was to create a sense of tone and mystery to the story.

And above is the final after I did some 'digging' and made a hole that was used as an entrance and as an escape. I can also take out the blue room above and put whatever else I would want there as well. Possibly the hole leads to a desert landscape... or a spaceship! Just so long as it's in persepective to the rest of it, I can redress it anyway I want. The object is to keep it all separated in layers so that changes can be slipped in and out. It can also be changed color wise as well if I wanted it by moving the levels in Photoshop to lighten or darken it, or the saturation/hue to change the overall color tone! It was also cropped a bit as well to suit what I needed it for but as I mentioned, I have the original file to go back to if I needed it. One painting = Two uses... or More!

MYSTERY INCORPORATED - Another Teaser!

2011-02-14T21:55:00.006-05:00

Here's a pic of the print that I gave out for a Christmas Gift to a lucky few this past holiday (you know who you are) sans the show logo and my blog tags. It was about 11 x 15 with a white border around it and it looked super sweet on gloss paper. Very happy with the painted backgrounds and color work I did on my Mystery Incorporated work, and since I was busy working on it and didn't have time to shop, I decided a week before Christmas to get some quick prints made and I just signed and handed them out as a gift. I thought I'd post it here for everyone else to see! Hope you enjoy!

The Best $130 I Ever Spent...

2011-02-12T16:55:00.006-05:00

I normally don't recommend stuff on my blog but I feel compelled to for this great item. I bought a TomTom XXL 540TM 5-Inch Widescreen Portable GPS Navigator (Lifetime Traffic & Maps Edition) on Black Friday weekend after this past Thanksgiving and I have to say that this was the best money I've spent in a looooonnnnnnnng time. I got it at Staples (on their Black Friday sale which I saw in the sunday paper) and it only cost me $130 on sale. They retail it for $250 at most places, though you can find it cheaper online, but $130 was the best price around here at the time and it's one of the most popular TomTom GPS devices bought today.

It's incredibly easy to use and I had it up and working rather fast right out of the box. I downloaded the software and plugged it into my computer so I could download the current set of maps that it has and this TomTom version has FREE lifetime support for new maps, which is great since the roads in this country can change up to 40% per year. It's been a big help to me driving to different events recently and has made my life easier and less stressful as I used to hold printed out directions from MapQuest, which were sometimes faulty. The problem was constantly looking down and reading the directions, which was especially tricky at night when it's hard to see in the dark. I have mine stuck on the windshield next to the rearview mirror so it's pretty much in front of me but doesn't obstruct my view of traffic. I shall sing the high praises for this new gadget in my life! I've used it at night while driving back from some places and it's fantastic with it's night vision look. Just follow the red arrow. Greatest invention since the iPod in my mind! This is the TomTom product that I would recommend to anyone if they want to get to where they are going to in a fast and safer manner.

The only other thing I could say is that after you take it out of the box and want to start using it, try driving around town locally using it and see how it works and how it directs you on the roads that you know. Program some favorite places that you go to and then go driving. Deviate from its planned path several times and see how it replans and corrects itself so you get to see how works first hand. It's really quite amazing to see. I say this as you don't want to open up the box and plug it in and drive to Florida without knowing how it works. It is pretty easy to use but you have to learn what little icons are when they pop up for gas stations, phones, etc. I give it 5 stars out of 5!

MYSTERY INCORPORATED Teaser!

2011-02-11T18:09:00.006-05:00

Here is a teaser piece for some of my Mystery Incorporated work I finished up and will be out this summer or late summer I think. Enjoy! For the process junkies, this was drawn on paper and then scanned and then inked in layers in Illustrator and then all painted in Photoshop. Backgrounds were painted in Photoshop too. Everything is layered and I think it's about 37-40 layers total for this file. Took about two days from initial concept to finish.

My Scooby-Doo Drawing Video Is Now Up On YouTube!

2011-02-11T17:45:00.006-05:00

Here is one of my drawing videos that I just loaded up to YouTube. I've been running it at my speaking engagements of late and so here it is for the rest of you out there in Internet Land. It's speeded up and cut to Scooby music which was all done by John Tatarelli for me. You can check out the real time, higher quality videos of it on my vimeo page (click here). They don't have any real soundtrack to the real time ones though so you can play your own music to it. This was just a teaser to get some advertising for myself.

Here is a direct link to the YouTube as well! Click Here

My Appearance At The ALFRED G. WATERS MIDDLE SCHOOL Tonight For Their "Real Men Read" Event!

2011-02-11T00:51:00.016-05:00

It seems I'm on tour this week with speaking engagements but this is the last one for a little while. Tonight I was at the Alfred G. Waters Middle School in Middleton, Delaware for their annual event called "Real Men Read", which is an event to promote reading in general but also for men to get their sons into reading by showing them that it's fun. Apparently, there are a lot of kids who don't like to read on a daily basis unless they are forced to for school or for homework assignments, so any program where families can come and see writers and illustrators and then purchase some new books is a good thing.

I did a shortened version of my usual talk for two workshops which ran about a half-hour each. There was a lady there who was working the event named Patty Brown and she took these pics with my camera. She did a great job so I'm posting a bit more photos than usual. Thanks Patty!

Here's me talking and to a packed house as well. They said they had over 600 people who came last year and I was busy so I don't know how many attended this year. There was great traffic coming and going. UPDATE: Was told today that there were around 900 attendees this year!

Me being witty... because I am! Wooo!

Me drawing my 30-second Bart Simpson which kids and adults seem to love...

Showed one of the drawing videos I made that was speeded up so they could see how I draw from start to finish.

It was a great mix of families and age groups!

Me talking about construction theory and how characters are built from the ground up...

This picture I thought was funny. Look at the guy in the middle tugging his kid to leave and the kid doesn't want to go yet... Can you blame him for wanting to stay? I'm a compelling guy (no, really)... plus I was only half done my Scooby sketch!

Throwing some quick inks down on Scooby as I had to then set up my store in another room and sell some product to my breathlessly waiting crowd of fans... Hope they had a good time and enjoyed my workshops!

By Popular Demand, My Second Appearance Was Today At ST. EUGENE'S Elementary School!

2011-02-09T21:47:00.005-05:00

After my appearance last week I was told that the younger students and their teachers were upset that they didn't get me to see me in their classes, so arrangements were made early this week and I went back today and spoke to six classrooms filled with the little ones. I mostly sketched for them and just answered questions and didn't do any slide shows since I was moving between classrooms every 30 minutes and their attention spans are shorter. It was a long morning but they seemed to enjoy it a lot and a little girl in the kindergarden class gave me two thumbs up, which was pretty funny. They all agreed my Scooby jacket was awesome, which of course it is. Each class kept all the sketches I did and I signed one for the class to hang if they wanted to. I'm a hero to the six-year-olds! The harder ones to draw for were the kindergarden class as they really don't know any of the characters (since they were so young) that I do outside of Scooby, Phineas and Ferb, Mickey and Winnie, and a Charlie Brown sketch I did.

My Appearance At ST. EUGENE'S 'Career Day' Last Week!

2011-02-09T21:36:00.009-05:00

Last week, on February 4th, I was invited to appear for 'Career Day' at St. Eugene's Elementary School in Primos, Pa, which is close to where I live. I spoke to three different classes and talked about what I did with slide shows, my drawing videos, and then did some actual sketching to show them how I draw.

Daphne Blake From MYSTERY INC!

2011-01-28T00:24:00.006-05:00

Here's a new pic of Daphne I did. She looks all perky and sweet! I like the background colors as well. They seem to go well with her character colors. The colored pupils have grown on me and I do like them as they really do make the character design distinctive and different for the new show. All digital from start to finish. The only boring part I kinda of hate is the inking end of it as you just have to strap in, put your headphones on and get it done. But the end result is really solid! Enjoy!

Print Out Your Own SCOOBY-DOO Valentine's Day Card!

2011-01-27T00:15:00.006-05:00

A gift for readers of my blog!

I created a Valentine's Day card out of the art I posted yesterday! I called it a Scooby Valentine's card even though Scooby isn't on it, but it works so well with Daphne and Fred since they have a relationship of sorts on the new series. I think it came out pretty cool and you can now download the two files and print your own out card! When you click and download the file, you'll see that it's a zip file with two PDF files in it: one is the outside art of the card and the other is the art for the inside of it.

To keep it simple I took the crop marks off of the files so it's just the art that you'll see. Open the inside art file first and print it out on letterhead sized paper (8.5" x 11") and then flip it over when it's dry and put it back in your printer. Then open the outside artwork file for the card and print that on the blank side. It should match right up fine! You may have to do a test paper to be sure that you have the paper turned the right way or else it will be screwed up when it prints. Otherwise it came out fine on my printer as long as the piece is centered. You can use card stock too if you so prefer. I kept it at a pretty universal size for a card so any card envelope should be able to fit it. Enjoy!

Click Here: Scooby-Doo Valentine's Day Card!

DAPHNE LOVES FREDDIE - Final Color

2011-01-26T00:43:00.003-05:00

Here's the final color art for yesterday's sketch I posted. I added a lot to it to jazz it up. I'm happy with it and it was shortly after I finished it that I got a great idea to take it ever further! I'll post it in a day for you and it will be something you can download and print out!

Something I'm Working On...

2011-01-25T01:14:00.002-05:00

Something I'm working on here for fun in-between Scooby. This is a hand drawn sketch for an idea I am pursuing in full color. Sketched on letterhead-sized copy paper and inked with a Micron Pen marker to give me a good solid line to trace in Illustrator. It will be digital from this point on as I ink it and color it. Some things I already know I want to change like Daphne's mouth and lips.

Monday With SCOOBY!

2011-01-24T01:36:00.003-05:00

Here's Scooby in the Mystery Incorporated style. Though he's not really different from how he was done before. It's basically the dead weight inking style that makes it the newer look. That and the slightly bent look to his collar instead of the perfectly round one I normally do. This piece and Shaggy from yesterday were inked together in the same file in Illustrator. Background was done in Illustrator there too. A complete digital piece for you computer people out there. Enjoy!

Sunday With SHAGGY!

2011-01-23T13:24:00.005-05:00

I went back into my original inking sample of Shaggy that I did and decided to make a portrait piece of him and so I thickened the lines a bit to make them look more consistent with the final work I did and to match Scooby's lines for a portrait I'll post tomorrow. The basic idea was that if I printed these out at the same size they would all work together and look correct. If one had thinner or thicker lines that the others, it would stand out apart from the others and we don't want that. I was going to draw them together but opted to draw them separately as portrait style. I added his shading to him and made a cool little background that frames him. I draw that little framing thing behind him by hand usually when I do sketches at conventions but here I created a digital version. I love the background color and it pushes him forward. It's also amazing now that I go over some of the early pieces I did for Mystery Incorporated and see the little errors I made and fixed before I started by main project. It does take a while to hone the look and how things work so that you can get consistency out of your drawings. Velma seems to be the biggest hurdle as her glasses are thicker and she out of all of them was tweaked the most. As I said, the hardest part is the inking process since you are trying to make the lines thick but not too thick. Especially on the inner face lines and Daphne's lips always seem to be the worst thing to do. Sometimes you just have to eyeball it and print it out and look at it and then refix. There was one piece that I kept going back into and refixed three times before I was happy with it. Thankfully it was all digital so it made life easy. I can't imagine doing it with ink on paper.

More DAPHNE From MYSTERY INCORPORATED!

2011-01-22T13:29:00.005-05:00

Here's another finished piece like my previous post. More Daphne and all digitally created. You can see all of her head on the original art and some more body but I cropped it more to work with this background. It came out looking cool. I like my roses on it. Remember you can click on the pictures to see them bigger. Enjoy!

DAPHNE From MYSTERY INCORPORATED!

2011-01-21T22:22:00.003-05:00

Here's a pic I did for fun of the new version of Daphne from Mystery Incorporated! I did it inbetween working on stuff for it as a warm up and then finished it up with a pretty background that has a Valentine's Day feel to it. She's so sweet!

For you artsy people, she was drawn completely in the computer. She started as a sketch in Alias Sketchbook Pro and then inked in Adobe Illustrator and then colored with the background done in Adobe Photoshop.

Some MYSTERY INCORPORATED Stuff...

2011-01-20T21:42:00.007-05:00

Since I've been working on Mystery Incorporated I thought I'd start posting some stuff here. Above is a mock up showing an action scene. I did this around my 4th or 5th piece in of initial sketching the new look. The first couple pieces were just single characters and figuring out where changes were made and then I did some group shots. This was one that I thinked worked pretty well being that it was pretty confined in a given space. I didn't pursue it in color though.

After I drew a bunch of stuff for it, the next thing I had to do was master the ink line style and how I was to match it. It was fairly simple since the style guide is inked in Adobe Illustrator with the pen tool and you keep the setting on the pen tool so that you keep a rounded end on the end of every line you do. It's a dead weight line all around. It's a little bland with no depth but it works well for this look. Above is a test piece I sent to WB to show them what I did. The left piece is from the new style guide for Mystery Inc and the right is my sketch I did and inked to match the line thicknesses. It's a little tricky at first trying to get the right thicknesses so that they aren't too thick or too thin especially on the face details and especially on Daphne's lips, but since it's all done in Illustrator and every line is separate, it's fast and easy to fix. I make the nose lines and mouth lines just a hair thinner than the exterior lines so it doesn't make the line art too "muddy" or unreadable. I colored mine with Shaggy's base colors just to make him pop a bit more. Also I adjusted the chin hair a bit and made them slightly bigger. The style guide has the classic turns for the characters which are pretty standard and then some original poses which are much more exaggerated so I had to find an 'in-between" so that I could draw the thing with some kind of consistency. The exaggeration of the style guide is much different from the actual show so I found a middle ground that uses both that I think works pretty well. Enjoy!

2010 - An Interesting Year Of Work

2011-01-17T00:37:00.004-05:00

As I replaced my calendar for 2011 on the wall, I looked at all the crossed off x's on the days for 2010 and went back and noted all the stuff I worked on this year. It was certainly a diverse year for art and had some high points for me personally. In this order, I worked on:

Shrek 4

Phineas and Ferb

Scooby-Doo (Classic Version)

Megamind

Strawberry Shortcake (New Version)

Scooby-Doo (Classic Version)

Winnie The Pooh (Classic Version)

Kung Fu Panda 2

Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated (New Show)

with some odds jobs in between. All in all, it was a slow summer but Spring and Fall were very busy. I could have had some more Phineas and Ferb work in early December but Scooby's deadline prevented me from taking it. 2011 is off and running and it's been all Scooby thus far and one new Scooby project I'm about to start in 2 weeks!

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #5 Was Released This Past Week!

2011-01-11T01:48:00.005-05:00

Lots of stuff going on around here so I'd be remiss if I also didn't mention that this past week, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You #5 was released to your better comic stores. I just scanned a copy of the cover for this post since I got my copies from the printer last week. Has a cover by me (posted here before) and the first story in it is drawn by me. The second story in it is a reprint from the old DC series. Thought I'd share since it's a new release and the last two issues of the book have been nothing but reprints from 1997. So it's good to see fresh material again. I drew the story back in... September of last year as I recall...maybe it was August actually... the months seem to blend together.

I'm Listed In The New 2011 Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook!

2011-01-11T01:24:00.006-05:00

I wanted to mention as well to any of my blog readers that I got my complimentary copy of the new 2011 volume of the Pricing & Ethical Guidelines Handbook from the publisher just after Christmas. I got my free copy as I helped out by giving them some pricing information way back in early 2010. I answered questons and pricing for about 4-5 things. My name is printed in the acknowledgments at the front of the book among all the other artists that were asked to participate so you know you get real artists who can give real on the job info and numbers. Members of the Graphic Arts Guild get a free copy with their paid membership (as I recall) but any artist, or anyone, can buy it at any decent book store in the art section. It's a great starting place for designers and illustrators to get a starting place as to how to price their work and also has a lot of great information for the artist as well. It was a great help to me when I was starting out on my chosen road.

SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERY INCORPORATED Has Kept Me Busy This Past Christmas...

2011-01-11T00:57:00.004-05:00

Hello all! I have not been neglecting my blog on purpose but work here has been busy as hell of late. I am still working on Kung Fu Panda 2 work and that is getting close to finally being done and I have been working on the FIRST licensed project for the new Scooby-Doo show called simply Mystery Incorporated. The first 13 episodes have aired and the early phases of WB getting the new show and it's new look out to the public in other venues is moving along slowly. This piece above is from the style guide, which is around 70 pieces and is pretty much the only thing out there right now besides the actual cartoon. This show has a slightly different art style from the classic look but it's kinda the same in spots when you start working on it. I will say that the style guide art is more exaggerated than the actual look of the cartoon so I've been finding a happy medium trying to combine the two. I got the gig back in late August or knew it was coming, but didn't start till late November (the week of Thanksgiving actually and after I did an audition piece for it) and it's been a deadline rush from the first day since there is no real set direction for the look of the license and I'm kind of creating the look for it since it's the first thing being done for the show. I am trying to keep it as faithful to the look and tone of the show as possible and I'm mighty happy with the results thus far and feel it's some of my best work I've ever done for Scoob. Also, after the initial pencil roughs that I drew by hand, everything after that stage is completely digital! The backgrounds have been the most fun to digitally paint and I've been moving between Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop in creating the work.

I had to work on the project as well while I was away down south for the Scott Innes event so that I could stay on my tight schedule but I've created a workflow that makes it easier to pump the stuff out now and it's moving along rather quick. I should be done by the end of January and I'll post some stuff then.

Also, since I had no time to really shop for people for Christmas I created a beautiful 11 x 15 print that's a piece that I've done for the gig and gave that out to a lucky few that I know as a Christmas gift. I kept it simple this holiday season... so the deadline rolls on and I'm back to Crystal Cove and getting some gas for the Mystery Machine as I approach the end of this adventure.

After that, I have another Scooby project lined up... Booyah! I've been so busy that I had to turn down a Phineas and Ferb job a few weeks ago. I hated to do it but it was another tight deadline and I just couldn't get it in. I hope to do some new work with the boys soon though!

Pics Of HOLLYWOOD HAL & RHINESTONE AL In The 2010 Baton Rouge Christmas Parade!

2010-12-30T02:07:00.008-05:00

As I posted previously, I was down in Louisiana for a Scooby-Doo event in mid-December and the day after I got there (which was December 11), we had to do the 2010 Baton Rouge Christmas Parade. Hal & Al were once again the grand masters of the parade and we had a truck right behind the Mayor's car, which Mayor Melvin "Kip" Holden rode in. It was a three-mile parade that went through the main streets up to the Capitol building. As you drive it slow, you throw out treats, toys, trinkets, etc. to people who are all over the place. It was packed once it got moving. As we got there a little early to set up, Scott [Innes] and I went to get some coffee to kill some time and wound up at the Belle of Baton Rouge Casino, which is a HUGE place just around the corner from the parade start! Here's six pics of it here!

The main lobby as you walk in.

The hotel check-in

And just past the check-in for the hotel it looked like a mall!

It was huge and seemed to go on forever. It was a long walk to get some coffee once we got in there since the restaurant was on the other side of the place.

About 5pm, we walked back and starting getting ready for the parade and these are some pics I took...

After this float/car and the Mayor's car, we were in the maroon pick-up truck.

Some pics of the other parade cars...

LSU is so big in Baton Rouge that these two shaved the sides of their dogs with LSU TIGERS! Talk about team spirit. I hope the dogs were happy.

Hal & Al ready to do a TV spot for the parade for the news as it kicks off!

Scott Innes talking to Mayor Holden

Some more pics before the parade started...

Hal & Al pose with Mayor Holden and some kids for a photo op!

Hal & Al with Mayor Holden!

How My Week Went In Louisiana... And Met An Old Friend!

2010-12-20T01:53:00.004-05:00

I was down in Louisiana for a bit and last Tuesday I was at Scott Innes' Scooby-Doo event where he showed Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders, since it was the 10th Anniversary for it and I was there as a special guest. They played a drawing video of me drawing Scooby right before the movie. More pice will follow in the coming days. While I was there, Scott had a great haunted house built by Scott Thomas and Elizabeth Lynch who did a superb job building a great facade that was 16 feet high and looked like it was right out of Scooby-Doo! Of course, Scooby & Shaggy were there as well as Velma and Daphne and I got some pics of me and the gang!

Here's two pics of me with Scott Innes, Scooby and Shaggy!

And one of the whole gang: (Back Row) Daphne, Velma, Scott Innes and Scooby (Front Row) Elizabeth Lynch, Me, Shaggy and Scott Thomas.

A great time was had by all and we thank the 600+ people for showing up and sharing the evening with us!

Still Working On KUNG FU PANDA work and a New Project!

2010-12-20T01:48:00.004-05:00

Been busy here in the studio since I lasted posted with Kung Fu Panda work and a new project I'm working on. A little teaser for those who may figure it out. I'll be posting more about it very soon! Since I just got back from a trip down south, I'll be working non-stop on it to finish it for a late January deadline. I had to work on it at night while I was away as well to stay on schedule and it's turning out to be some of the best stuff I've done. I'm pretty happy with it all.

My Tribute To Halloween (Or "Ah, The Good Ol' Days!")

2010-10-29T14:49:00.006-04:00

This started out to just be a simple sketch that I was going to post on my blog but then it seemed to take on a life of it's own and I got more involved with it. This is a Halloween tribute to myself or rather my childhood. I looked at a pic of me when I was four in the classic Ben Cooper Spider-Man costume and decided to do a cartoon version of me on a typical Halloween back when I was little. This piece got even more personal when I added the same 'Trick Or Treat' bag that I used as a kid and added my Spider-Man Web-Shooter toy on the wrist. I used to run around with one on each wrist as a kid so it made the piece all come together in the end.

Here's me at four years of age (and just about to turn five) wearing the costume in 1975!

Here's an ad from one of the comics I read back then to advertise the Halloween costume!

And here's an ad for the Spider-Man Web-Shooter, with an ad for the classic Power Records super hero records just below it! It's a perfect memento of two key things in my childhood!

And here is a pic of the Spider-Man Web-Shooter that I found on eBay several years ago and I bought it. It's hard to find in this kind of shape now still being mint on the card and it's one of my prized possessions that I have.

All in all, this is one of the most personal pieces of art that I think I've done yet to date. Hope you like it and my tribute to the holiday as Halloween 2010 is this weekend!

And Now... KUNG FU PANDA 2 Is On My Board!

2010-10-26T14:50:00.005-04:00

After finishing Winnie the Pooh work, I moved right into some Kung Fu Panda 2 work... and I will be doing that for maybe two months? Not sure yet... I knew the Panda stuff was coming when I finished MegaMind work but it does take some time to get the ball rolling.

Some Work With Winnie This Weekend!

2010-10-17T23:12:00.004-04:00

I got some quick work this week (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday) doing some Winnie the Pooh art so it was a nice four days working on it as I was waiting on a late check from another company which had gotten lost. It was a small job but Winnie is always easy and a pleasure to work on!

S.H.S. "Arts Hall Of Fame" Plaque Is Now Hanging In The Courtyard

2010-10-17T14:30:00.007-04:00

I got an email on Thursday that the SHS Arts Hall of Fame plaque was finally mounted in the courtyard right outside the lunchroom in the courtyard. It was bad weather here with the wind and rain so I waited till Saturday to go down and take some pics. Looking at the first pic, if you walk through the doors behind the column there's the cafeteria and on the right is where the wood shop is. If you turn around 180 degrees from this view, you can see the track and football field so it's a prime location! I can have lunch in the courtyard and say "Hey, that's me!"

Alfie was with me but I don't think he cared. He was busy watering the lawn...

PHINEAS AND FERB - Color Art For Fun!

2010-10-01T22:16:00.003-04:00

Here's a new color version I did today of Phineas and Ferb of some work I did back in February! Some exciting stuff going on with the boys of late... hope to have some news to post about it soon!

Another New PHINEAS AND FERB Book Is Out (Or Soon Will Be)!

2010-09-27T12:37:00.014-04:00

Just got a box from the publisher today with some more copies of the previous Phineas and Ferb book I posted a little while ago and also got a few copies of a NEW Phineas and Ferb book called "Game On" that used some art I did. It looks like another fun book! The last one I posted I think is my favorite but this is pretty cool too as it's all in glorious full color! Should keep the kids busy with several hours of P and F fun!

Here is the previous book I posted about!

My Interview From This Summer's DCM Magazine!

2010-09-21T21:20:00.005-04:00

Since quite a few of you have asked about the interview I did for DCM a month ago on here and in emails...here it is! I forgot about it till I was reminded and then I had some problems tonight trying to copy and paste the Word Doc text into Blogger since you can't do it using Explorer apparently so I had to go back to use my old AOL browser to post this. Go figure. I hope the formatting works ok for this... and away we go!

SCOTT NEELY
Springfield’s Own & Professional Artist For Scooby-Doo & More Talks About Art, His Induction Into The SHS Arts Hall of Fame, And His New Drawing Videos.
By Jennifer Faith Stiefel

For years, I bet you have been enjoying Delaware County Magazine’s comic strip feature The Adventures of Alfie. The signature of artist S. Neely is neatly displayed on the artwork. Did you know that Scott, a Springfield High School graduate, is also a licensing artist for Scooby-Doo! Last November was the 10th anniversary of Scott drawing the curious canine. He has also worked on other licensed properties such as Johnny Bravo, Powerpuff Girls, Winnie the Pooh, Pokemon, Strawberry Shortcake, Shrek, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and many others. His client list includes Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, and Disney! He is currently doing art work for MegaMind, which is a new film from Dreamworks coming out this fall.

Since 2006 he has been the visual creator and production designer for the Hollywood Hal & Rhinestone Al live-action TV and stage show. It is a project that he co-created with Scott Innes (the voice of Shaggy, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo) and musician Jim Hogg. To learn more about Hollywood Hal & Rhinestone Al, visit http://www.halandal.com/. Check out Scott’s website at http://www.scottneely.com/ to see more of his work, listen to his podcasts, read his blog, and watch videos of Scott in action drawing! The site is jam packed with great info! His online store is up and running as well and he sells original art, comics and other things he’s worked on.

Scott has also been the editor, head designer and writer for NMA Magazines, Inc., which includes Delaware County Magazine!

DCM: Did you attend a formal art school?

Neely: I'm self-taught. I learned everything at Springfield High School from two years of mechanical drawing and two years of graphic design. That was all I needed really. Never got less than an A+ and I had a teacher, Mr. Robert Preston, who pushed me. I think watching movies and reading comics helped greatly in shaping my artistic eye towards design as well. I did go to a local community college in 2001 to learn the digital end of art by taking Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark classes.

DCM: What teacher at Springfield pushed you to succeed?

Neely: Mr. Preston was mostly it. He was my graphic arts teacher in 11th and 12th grade. He didn’t push as much that you would notice it or be bothered by it. I think my own desire made me push as much as he gave. I would walk in and he’d hand me the new assignment and it’d be like “Well, this is what they’re working on and this is what you’re working on.” Now, I’d look over and it’d be the same thing as everybody else, but the inference that I got was that Yoda wanted me to lift four rocks with the Force when everyone else only had to lift two. I never got less than an A+. It got to a point in my mind where I couldn’t get less so I had to make it good.
He also got me a job working in the graphics room during the summer before my senior year after I did great at “Celebration of the Arts”. I think winning several ribbons in competitions showed that I had the chops or work ethic so he asked me if I wanted to work there that summer. It sure beat washing dishes or some other lame job so I took it. I did all kinds of design work and printed stuff up for the local schools. There were like 3 or 4 students who worked there and we did stuff like letterheads, notepads, calendars, etc. Whatever forms or materials that the school needed to use during the year we made. They always get the students to produce that kind of work instead of sending it out to be done. It’s a true “in-house” department.

DCM: Was it Delaware Community College where you learned how to do the digital end of art?

Neely: I went to DCCC for one year back in late 2000 to about the end of 2001 to learn the digital end of art. Then in 2007 they gave me a ‘Rising Star’ award! Another kind of cool moment since I only went to college for a year and I got an award. I took Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Quark. Back then it was all about Quark and now it’s Adobe InDesign. I worked with a designer in New York City at that time and her name was Monicka Clio Sakki. I worked with her a lot and she kept after me to learn the digital end. She always kept saying, “I’m telling you, once you learn it, you’ll never go back.” She was right, so I have to credit her with that. We worked so much together that people thought we were dating as well. I do pretty much all my stuff digitally nowadays, as that’s what the industry requires in most cases. She also gave me the best piece of advice I ever got… but that’s another story.

DCM: Do you remember what your very first art project was in high school and do you still have it?

Neely: Amazingly, you ask this question… I still have the binder with all my graphic design work from 1988-1989. Never threw it out, though the heat and where it was kept, has hurt some pieces in it. I still have all my first place ribbons in mint condition from “Celebration of the Arts” from that time too. They were the first real awards I was ever given, or rather, earned. I guess they were special to me in a kind of subconscious way and I kept them safe. Now this was graphic design and not art per se, but my mother has saved a bunch of my old art from when I was little. I don’t remember much about the work I did in art class in high school since I kind of screwed around and didn’t take it too seriously, but I think I did okay there. I never saved any of it and comic or cartoon work back then was kind of put down by teachers in general as not being ‘real’ art.

DCM: When you first found out you were being inducted into Springfield High School’s Arts Hall of Fame, how did you react?

Neely: When I got the envelope, which I kept as well, I got it on February 27th. It sat in front of me as I worked on the computer and I didn’t touch it for hours. It sat there with some other junk mail and I thought maybe it was a donation envelope or something since my mother is part of the Springfield Historical Society, and I thought the school was hitting me up to donate! Ha! When I finally did open and read it I thought it was nice. It was a pretty big deal once I found out more details about it and how out of 75 years of the school being there, I was one out of 14 former students who were chosen to be inducted. There were 7 people who were faculty or teachers that were also chosen. So you had 75 years and thousands of students and only 21 people who I guess made something of their careers and then gave something back that made the final cut. So that alone made it a bigger deal. It was kind of like an ‘American Idol’ type of ratio. There was a lot of scrutinizing that also went on with each inductee and they had to be defended as to why they should be there from the people who had put forth their names. There were only two people who were inducted from the graphics section and I was one of them. So it was cool.

DCM: Before the ceremony, had you been back to the school since you graduated?

Neely: Quite a few times actually. I was a judge for about two years at “Celebration of the Arts” and then I also spoke numerous times for the students in the graphics section over the years. About every two years or so, I’d go in and do a talk. If Preston called and asked me to come in, I did it for him. Plus, I spoke at other schools, libraries, etc.

DCM: Have you ever taught your craft?

Neely: I have taught many classes of all ages in cartooning, drawing, or animation of some sort over the years. It was extra filler for my resume and it looks good to have it. I enjoyed doing it, but then I do get burned out on it and need to take a break from it for a couple years and recharge. I do a lot of speaking engagements for schools and libraries and that has been nice for promotional reasons as well as soup for the soul.

DCM: What was your very first paid artist position? And do you remember how you found the position?

Neely: This is hard to remember. I think it was around 1991. It couldn’t have been very important to me so I guess that’s why I don’t recall it as well. I did some drawings for an air-conditioning unit turned into a cartoon character. I think that was the start of initially trying to get work. I can’t remember that stuff as well, since I was looking towards the future. When it really started to happen in 1993 for me, that’s the stuff I remember like it was yesterday.

DCM: What would you tell our current art students within the Delaware County School Districts if you could reach out and give them advice?

Neely: Stick with it and if you want to do it that badly, nothing that I say will change your mind. You have to be happy in life and if you don’t enjoy your job, what’s the point? You will find your niche eventually and what you do well. You either can make it happen or you don't. It's all on you whether or not you win or lose.

DCM: Out of all of the characters you have illustrated, which one do you wish could jump off the page and actually come to life?

Neely: Hmmm… a naked Daphne and Velma would be interesting. Most male artists I’m sure would like a sexy naked woman drawing to leap off the page at them. It’s a movie scenario for sure. I don’t know. I never really thought about it. If I did, it would definitely be something that I own and not something that someone else owns like Scooby or Yogi. It would probably be my cartoon character of Moochy Munk who’s a monkey character I created for a story I wrote and drew that was in a Hanna-Barbera style. I’d say my cartoon version of my dog but he is based on my real dog, and even Hollywood Hal & Rhinestone Al whom I designed became real in the end when the full costumes were made. So I’ve already had it happen!

DCM: Have you ever thought of getting into animation?

Neely: It’s amazing how many people think we still animate in this country. Pixar and Dreamworks still do it here. Everything else is shipped out to Korea or some other place overseas. We do pre- and post-production over here and that’s it. We get it up and running and they do all the real work over there, and then it gets shipped back and we tweak it, and fix the pacing and tighten it up, and then air the shows. It’s been that way since the mid-70s when they started sending it out since it used to be way cheaper than paying an American to do it. All the WB, Cartoon Network and Nick shows that are on right now are all shipped out. Some stuff is done in Flash and kept over here, but very few exceptions. I’ve thought of doing pre-production, pre-visual or conceptual design work but the economy has a lot of talented folks out of work right now, so I’ll bide my time and stay in licensing…unless another opportunity arises. You can’t predict where life will take you.

DCM: You’ve also posted videos of you drawing Scooby-Doo and Ed, Edd ‘n Eddy on your website. What were these done for?

Neely: I had just bought the new HD Slide Flip Camera and thought it was a simple way to get some other promotion for myself. So I built a rig that hangs over my light table and I can record myself drawing when I feel like it. It’s more pressure to do good drawings when there’s a film crew over you waiting, so this makes it easier to just hit play when I feel in the mood. I’ve recorded some stuff at 2am so it’s nice to do it on my schedule. There’s really no editing at all since I’m still learning the software for cutting the files. It’s all in real time and not sped up. A lot of drawing clips on YouTube are sped up and you don’t get a lot out of them other than seeing someone draw really fast and if I want to see someone create something, I want it in real time to see the way they do it. There’s not any audio lessons though on mine since it’s hard to talk and draw at the same time, but it’s always neat to see an artist create something on a blank piece of paper. I may record some audio and insert it overtop of the videos where I explain what I’m doing and how I’m doing it. It’s gotten a lot of hits on Vimeo.com so I’ll be doing more. Some will be more educational as well.

DCM: How did you meet Alfie and how long have you had him?

Neely: Alfie 1 died in 2000. He was 17 years old and his body failed him. He was a great dog who had a long life. I waited for a few years since the work load was huge for me and then in 2002 my mother was the one who instigated getting another dog. I got a new Yorkie on April 13, 2002 from a breeder in Delaware. He came up to me and never left me alone when all the other Yorkies were doing their own thing so I knew he was the one. I was going to call him Scrappy since it fit him and his attitude, but I called him Alfie whenever he did something and it just kept slipping out, so I said the hell with it and he became Alfie 2. He will be 8 years old this year.

DCM: Finish this sentence: When you are busy illustrating, Alfie can be found…

Neely: …lying next to me or chewing on his bones and waiting till his next walk.

The Evolution Of A Scooby Comic Cover - Final Color Version!

2010-09-21T18:23:00.006-04:00

Here's the final color art for the Scooby cover without the logos and UPC. It came out cool! Not sure what issue it's for yet. I thought it was for Issue #2 but it may have been pushed back. I'll update as I find out.

UPDATE - I just found out that this cover will be on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #5!

The Evolution Of A Scooby Comic Cover!

2010-09-20T14:28:00.015-04:00

I was sent an email from my editor at Wildstorm and he asked me about doing some cover sketches based on a Scooby story I just drew. I love to do covers so I readily jumped on it! Since I've been asked on this blog (and other places) about the process and the steps of what I do and how it happens, I thought this cover would be good for doing a step-by-step of the creative process.

The first thing I do is ask the editor, or art director, if they have any specific thing in their mind that they want to have portrayed or the main focus of a cover. A lot of times they will leave it up to the artist but I've had some who wanted to convey a theme or idea. This cover is based on a story I just drew and not to give anything away but the story was based in a circus setting and a locked door was a big part of the mystery to be solved. The only real dynamic to doing a Scooby cover is to make it fun and a bit spooky, with possibly some humorous overtone to it.

So, in terms of drawing, the first thing I do is work up some thumbnails of ideas, which you see above. My editor said I could write down concept ideas in an email and see if those ideas would work in a verbal pitch and sometimes they do, but for this cover I thought a verbal description wasn't as "readable" as a visual thumbnail. There was a lot going on and a visual guide would be more helpful. For doing my thumbnails, I have a small layout page (8.5" x 11") I made based on the DC Comics grid and there are four of them on a page. The grid is 30% of the original art size but it's all proportional. It has all the bleed and live area marked out and as you can see from my thumbnails there is a mark on the outside of each of the grids (on each side) and this lets me know that the top 1/3 of the cover is where the logos and other company info will go and I can't have any important information go up higher on the cover since it may be covered up. I also plan where the UPC box code will go as well.

I came up with six ideas and drew them that night and the editor had them the next morning. He liked them and submitted them to Warner Bros for approval. They came back four days later and ALL the cover ideas were approved (WOW! That's cool to hear! It doesn't happen all the time!) but WB liked Cover "E" best. So my editor asked me which one I liked best and (as noted on the thumbnails) I liked Cover "C". My editor then said to do "C" but to add some creepy hands reaching out for Shaggy and Fred and to possibly add a spider dropping down on a web to add a spooky or comedic feel to it. I was happy with all of them really so any of them would have been fun to draw.

As an aside, I want to mention that I also wanted the door to be as part of the main focus as well as working with the character (or characters) as the initial focus or "read". A lot of covers are much more effective usually with just one or two characters on it as opposed to a lot of them all vying for the attention of your eye. Rule #1 of a comic cover (or any cover or poster) is that it has to "pop out" on the comic stand from all the others and work at a distance. If you can "read" it from about 5 feet away, and everything is well designed and it catches your eye, it stands out. This is what you strive for when designing a cover. I had that success with the Scooby "Earth Day" cover I did. Also, one of the thumbnails I did is more action-oriented and has the characters running from the circus wagon and the locked door. I try to have some kind of kinetic energy to my covers instead of them just being a static image. Some art directors and editors like a more action-based image to sell something. I do think action-based covers draw a viewer in a lot more than a static one, but it depends on the mood and feel that you are going for. It's hard to do that though when the main mystery is based around a locked door. If there was a monster at the heart of it, there is always a chase involved and you can do that scenario in an unlimited amount of ways visually.

As I said, WB liked "E" which I can see why since it was a focus on Scooby (our hero) and the shadow on the door (K.I.S.S. or Keep It Simple, Stupid). I liked "C" as it had focus on Scooby and the whole gang and encompassed the feel of the story best (in my mind).

Now once I got the final additions from my editor I then roughed out the cover and worked out the details worrying about design, positive/negative space, readability of the shadow on the door and other little details when it gets printed smaller. In an effort to please, and to see if the Cover "E" was also a viable option, I did two roughs. The roughs are done at full comic cover size, which is around 11 x 17 varying the DC art board. I do the roughs at full size just to be sure that the specs are correct and my bleed is accurate. And here are my two roughs:

As you can see on the rough of Cover "C", I left off the Spider on the web since I thought it may be overkill and too much detail to look at and digest. There was enough pulling for your attention as it was. I did have to cheat the angle of the door just a bit to be sure that the shadow cast on the door would work and be readable. This is something that the color will also add to it.

These sketches are inked as well. It's just how I work. I like things to be tight enough and I experiment with the ink to figure out how I will do it on the final version sometimes. It helped to ink these as I was working out how I wanted the wood work shadow lines to run and how thick I wanted the lines to be. I try to nail down as much as I can in the rough stage so that the inking stage is just some spit and polish.

I think Cover "E" works well too. It reads great and the shadow on the door is very readable! I liked the spider but wasn't sure how far to bring it into the picture since Scooby is reacting more to the doorknob twisting than the spider or the looming shadow. Plus you get a great view of the circus. In the 11th hour, lighting strikes me (pun intended) and I thought it would be cool to add a looming storm in the background as well since I added lighting bolts in the background of the story as it progressed. It's another aspect that color will enhance.

Once both these roughs were submitted the next day, it was agreed upon to use Cover "C". The only thing was that the UPC symbol would have covered up part of Scooby and that's kind of something that artists and editors hate. You never try to have anything cover up the main character, let alone the star of the project! The editor asked if he could get more bleed on it so we could move Scooby a bit so the UPC wouldn't hurt the art. So I immediately got the great idea of how to fix it in a minute and rescue the piece from any redrawing! This is why I love Photoshop! I grabbed a portion of the lower inside of the door and the doorknob itself and raised it up with a simple copy and paste. I moved it up and then placed a scanned version of the UPC symbol that I use for my layout grid and then emailed it back to the editor in about 2 minutes! He loved it and told me to then go and finish it! Problem solved! I didn't even have to tweak the eyeballs of the characters as they were all looking that way anyway. Talk about an easy fix!

So I lightboxed and inked the final art onto DC Comic art board and I do this as well instead of digitally inking since I can then sell the artwork after it's done. The main reason why I do all my comic work still by hand is for the sale of the original art. At this stage of the final art I make little tweaks and finalize the art and make sure my line quality is sharp and strong. Fans may not notice any difference between my roughs and final art sometimes but I try to make sure the quality of the final art is as high as I can do it. As you can see I also tweaked the shadow on the door's hand a bit to make it more readable, so that's a noticeable fix. Once this is done and inked, I scan the art at 600dpi and save a copy at full size for my own records and then load the art into a DC Layout Cover Grid and then save it to their settings and emailed it to the editor! If it's small enough I can usually email it instead of loading it up to my folder on their FTP.

Since it was somewhat of a rush, Wildstorm will be coloring it and I'll post it when I get a copy of it! I hope this post was informative to you all! Here's the final art!

WONDER WOMAN Art For Charity Event!

2010-09-19T19:03:00.004-04:00

I was sent an email from Andy Mangels to participate in the Wonder Woman Day V charity benefit for domestic violence programs and apparently this year is a hard sell to get artists to do some art for the event, mostly from any of the main DC Comics Universe (or DCU) artists. Since I felt bad about that I decided to do a piece for it today before I go back to Scooby work tomorrow.

Since I mainly do comic work for the Johnny DC line (what's left of it and now moved to Wildstorm) I decided to do a piece of Wonder Woman from the Justice League Unlimited cartoon series. I thought of doing my version of her but decided to keep it simple for a fan who may buy it. Drawn on 9 x 12 paper and inked with a Pitt Brush Marker and some Microns for the small details on the face and the stars.

You can find out more about the upcoming event at http://www.wonderwomanmuseum.com/

SCOOBY At The Beach Sketch! - Plus, A Work Update!

2010-09-16T21:44:00.004-04:00

Here's a sketch of Scooby at the beach that I did way back in 2000-01 from my records. Probably should have posted it on Labor Day but I was deep into drawing my portrait of Kristy that weekend. Pretty tight pencil work here and all my pencils seem to be this tight on everything. New people I work with are usually shocked at how tight they are compared to other artists they may deal with but doing a lot of licensing has made me this way so it's hard for me to go real loose after 10+ years of etching the final work "in stone" as it were.

This past couple days I've been working on a new Scooby-Doo comic cover for Wildstorm. I believe it's for issue #2 where there is a story I drew as well. I will be posting the cover in steps so that you can see the process I go through in creating a cover from concept to finish. I will be doing the final clean up and inks tomorrow for it and then I shall post it as it is and then post a color version when that part is done. People have asked about the working process and I think this cover gives a great idea of how I go about it since there were some artistic choices that I made and some I was asked to draw from the editor. All in all, it's shaping up nicely!

KRISTY McNICHOL Portrait - Or How I Spent My Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-10T02:21:00.009-04:00

This past week, when I was working on Scooby, I had a pet project that I was doing in bits and pieces. I worked on it mostly on Labor Day though and finished it the other day after tweaking it for the 15th final time. I've been drawing cartoons for so long that the realistic look that I've used before back when I worked at the Franklin Mint hasn't been used in many years now so I decided to try to get back to using those art muscles... and it was a fight!

I decided to do a portrait. Then I decided to pick a subject that had easier hair to draw as opposed to something more difficult. Always good to start with something easy. I was going to draw Amanda Bynes as she's cute and has the most perfect flowing hair I've seen in a long time, but then I thought if this thing was going to take a long time I'd better pick a subject where the interest won't be waning on it a couple hours in so I thought I better make it something even more personal to my liking if I was in for a long haul. As so, I decided to draw a portrait of Kristy McNichol somewhere around 1978-79 I guess when she was making Little Darlings. I've always liked her and she has the best eyes and smile and I also knew that it would be like drawing a caricature and if you don't get the eyes or mouth just right the likeness falls apart pretty quick.

I had plenty of photo reference for her face but then I picked out a picture of her in a sweater that I thought would work better for the mediums and contrasts that I was going to do the piece in, so in the end I "Frankenstein'ed" the piece in a way, which is what most artists do, and I used the sweater pattern which has dark and light tones to it. The piece overall was done on 11 x 14 paper and was done with pencils of varying hard and soft lead (most of the piece is in pencil), some charcoal on a sponge for the background, a white colored pencil, a black colored pencil, and a white conte crayon in spots. I used a kneaded eraser to help lighten the tones in spots to help with highlights such as the ones on her face. And a normal white art eraser for massive erasing when it got away from me. Also I used some rubbing sticks made of the rolled paper (I can't remember what they're called) to blend some of the gradients together. I added the background as an afterthought as I finished the piece and then thought a contrasting background would push the sweater forward. I wasn't sure how I would do the gradient or how high to take it and so I made a copy of the art and then practiced on how I wanted to the background to look. In real life, you don't have an "undo" button as you do working in the computer so I like working on copies of the art first and then when I'm happy I go and do it on the original art.

I worked on it in bits and pieces mostly and I do have to say that I don't recommend working that way since it's harder to pick when you'll be in the right mood to do the best work. I think it's better to work on it straight through if you can and not have to go back and forth between it and something else. All in all, it took me like 4-5 days of playing with it and working it, erasing, reworking it, and then erasing some more. It was a fight in some areas and I spend a loooooonnnnggggg time on her hair than anything else. Hmm, Her face took a long time too actually. The whole thing took a long time! Most of the work was done last Sunday and Monday on it. It looks great when you stand about 3-5 feet from it, since like a painting, you can see all the sketch lines and such when you're right on top of it. I kept stepping back every couple minutes as I was doing it to be sure it was working.

In the end, I think it came out great! Better than I thought it would and it's a pretty satisfying piece to me artistically. I'm sure I'll look at it tomorrow and find something I can tweak but at some point you have to let it go or you'll go crazy. I don't know if I could do it as a paying job on a regular basis as it takes sooooo long and I'd have to make it economical for a client so I'd have to get faster at it. So here is how I spend my Labor Day Weekend... Enjoy!

"The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" - Maltese Falcon Sketch

2010-09-09T18:15:00.006-04:00

As I was waiting for an approval on some sketches today, I did a still life drawing of the Maltese Falcon. I have a replica prop of it that I bought back in the mid 90's and it's a great conversation piece in my studio. Always been a fan of the movie as well so I thought why not sketch it. It's always better to do a still life of something you like as opposed to organizing a bunch of fruit on a table. It was penciled on cheap 11 x 17 copy paper and then lightboxed and inked onto good 11 x 17 art paper with a Pitt Brush Marker. After I scanned the artwork I then used a Photoshop brush to create a light gray background behind it to give it some push. Possibly I'll color it later on but it looks kinda cool in black and white.

Did I Mention That I Have A PHINEAS AND FERB Book Out?

2010-09-09T13:13:00.004-04:00

By the way, did I mention that I have a Phineas and Ferb book out in stores that I did work on? It's a way cool book and jammed with a lot of fun stuff! I got my copies of it a month ago and forgot to post about it here! Yikes! I hope to work with the boys again soon! I sold some original sketches of P and F in my online store the other day and then remembered the book was out! So better late than never.

Another Scooby Sketch and Update!

2010-09-09T13:01:00.005-04:00

Here's another Scooby sketch I drew for a warm-up so I thought I'd post it for you to see. I've been working on the Scooby project I mentioned last post for two weeks and it's now done, though I'm now sketching some Scooby for another gig I got yesterday, which is cool. Also, there is some Scooby work coming somewhat soon based on the new cartoon "Mystery Incorporated" but I don't want to jinx it and talk about it yet.

Other than that, work has picked up after a slow summer and I should be doing some KungFu Panda 2 stuff as well in another month. In the other time, I've been trying to flex my art muscles by drawing realistically again as well since I've been stuck doing cartoons for a while now so I tried my hand at a portrait. My first one in many, many years! I'll post it later today or tomorrow!

Quick Scooby Sketch!

2010-08-18T22:36:00.004-04:00

Here's a quick Scooby sketch I did in about 20 minutes (whipped out on copy paper and inked with a Pitt Brush Marker) as I'm prepping to start a new Scooby project tomorrow where Mystery Inc. goes to yet another carnival and finds yet another mystery that needs solving. Who'da thunk it?! Is there ever a slow day in Coolsville?

HAL & AL "ALL-STAR CONCERT" Poster!

2010-08-18T22:27:00.003-04:00

Since I posted the cover with Hal & Al on the new issue of City Social advertising the concert, I thought I should post the actual concert poster ad!

HAL & AL On The New Cover Of CITY SOCIAL Magazine!

2010-08-17T16:15:00.005-04:00

Hal & Al are on the new cover of City Social magazine this month advertising the Hal & Al All-Star Concert this fall! Saints quarterback Drew Brees will be there as a special guest as well! I had to go back into the photo and add the flesh tone to the Hal & Al costumes for it. From previous posts, I've talked about the steps that I have to do to fix any photos of them since cameras always make them look more white than flesh color. The flash on the camera and the lighting setups keep whiting them out even in the most professional of photoshoot conditions. There are always touch ups to do afterwards. This was fairly easy work as opposed to last year's free CD cover art (posted here last year), which required a lot of work done to it. This cover is a great shot though!

My Cover Art Used On A Scooby Comic In Russia!

2010-08-16T20:47:00.009-04:00

A Scooby collector named Jim emailed me recently and told me that he saw one of the covers that I did for Scooby-Doo used on a Russian Scooby comic! Wow! I'm truly global now! I think this is the furthest I've ever seen my art go. Thought I'd post this as it's neat to see how Scooby is written in Russian. The cover was originally used here in America on Scooby-Doo #132. I've heard there is an Egyptian Scooby comic series as well, so maybe they'll use one of my covers too!

It's Strawberry Fields...For A Little While...

2010-07-24T12:55:00.003-04:00

Oooooohhh! A blog post with a good title that works for it. I had the Beatles song going through my head as I was uploading up the pic. This past Thursday I found out that I was approved again (or re-approved?) to draw Strawberry Shortcake. I had to do a new audition for it since they changed the look for her in 2008 and they aged her a smidge more than the version I originally drew back in 2004-05. I guess to compete with the newer version of Dora the Explorer as they both now look like they could almost exist in the same universe. I like the newer face and head shape designs and she's just as colorful as she ever was. I did several pieces for an audition and there were little tweaks here and there, with only two major complete redraws. It takes a bit to get the female body language down and the ultimate feel of it again, but once you figure out how to do it, it's not hard. I've done so much male dominated work the past few years that you do lose something when you go back to a feminine one.

I'll post some of my sketches, and the changes that were made, since some like to see the process of how this all gets done.

DelcoMag Has An Interview With Me This Month!

2010-07-08T16:33:00.006-04:00

I was the main feature story in the July 2010 issue of DelcoMag, which is a newspaper magazine that covers a large area in these here parts! It's got a pretty full and meaty interview... It should be in the surrounding Delco areas today or tomorrow depending on how it's delivered to the different zip codes. It was going to have the picture of me with the stuffed Scooby as the cover, but the publisher wanted a pic of me with a Scooby drawing, so I now use the other pic for my FaceBook profile. Also has a Scooby coloring contest in it as well for the little ones...

State Representative William F. Adolph, Jr. Gave Me A Nod!

2010-06-25T23:41:00.005-04:00

After the tornado that we just had here in Delaware County which left us without power and shut down businesses for over a day, I got a nice little happy moment today in the mail! State Representative William F. Adolph, Jr. sent me a little note in the mail over seeing my pic in the Springfield Press this week! Thanks, Bill!

SPRINGFIELD PRESS - Third Time Is A Charm!

2010-06-25T23:35:00.003-04:00

Being the "King of All Promotion", I made it into the Springfield Press a third time in three weeks! This time, the pic is of myself and my graphics teacher, Robert Preston. I gave it to them the week after the award but they ran it now since they had a lot going on. Can't have enough promotion though so it's always great!

My Online Store Is Up & Running!

2010-06-19T17:28:00.003-04:00

My online store is up and running right now and about 100 pages of comic art, 58 sketches, and 36 comics or so ready for purchase! More stuff will be added when I get it scanned and ready! Anything purchased also get a certificate of authenticity with it as well so you know it's signed by me as well.

Back In The SPRINGFIELD PRESS!

2010-06-16T19:03:00.021-04:00

The Springfield Press printed my little article of sorts on my thoughts that I wrote a few days after my SHS - Arts Hall of Fame induction! I gave them a picture too but they just ran the article in this week's paper. I originally gave them a photo and the article as filler if they wanted it, so they were nice enough to print it. I was going to post it here as text but now I can post the actual printed newspaper instead. Click on the image naturally for the readable version.

This Weekend I Met Julie Newmar - Still The BEST Catwoman!

2010-06-15T23:16:00.007-04:00

Since I posted my pics of Adam West and Burt Ward way back in the archives, I'd thought I'd post these as well. This past weekend I went to Wizard World Philly and met Julie Newmar on a rare east coast convention appearance! She was, and still is, the BEST Catwoman ever! I got three pics signed by her for my collection and they now reside next to my Adam West and Burt Ward ones! I now have Batman, Robin and Catwoman from the cast of the original 1966 Batman TV series. My goal of meeting all three is now complete! They had a nice set up for them as Adam and Julie were in two booths side-by-side and across from them was the Batmobile from the show. Luckily I got better shots of the Batmobile when I first met Adam and Burt at a show in New Jersey so I didn't bother taking any this weekend since the convention hall had lousy lighting.

Last year, I met Erin Grey who was Wilma Deering on the 1980's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series and she was great! I didn't post the pics, but maybe I will add them to this post. Anyway, at this year's show, was Buck himself: Gil Gerard! Got to talk to him and he signed this pic for me. Other than that, I bought 4 comics and got outta Dodge. My main and only reason for going was to meet Julie and there's wasn't much that I was looking for in terms of comics or toys so I left early. It was crowded though and the dates for next year are set.

WARNER BROS CONSUMER PRODUCTS - Hanna-Barbera Concept Gallery Art

2010-06-12T02:25:00.006-04:00

I think I posted these on my other places like FaceBook but never here where they should be. So here we go... Last September I was invited by Warner Bros Consumer Products to participate in "The World of Hanna-Barbera" Gallery, which was a selection of artists who were asked to come up with new takes or new styles based on the HB characters. You had to do at least one of these three: Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry or Yogi Bear. These were the licenses they were pushing for this year so they wanted some new ideas. After you did one of these, you could then do anything else from the HB catalog.

You could do them in any style or medium. They didn't have to be on model and they wanted you to express yourself. You could make a Scooby-Doo out of bottle caps or Atom Ant out of matches if you wanted. The main idea was that these might inspire some new products or style guide art that could be used at some point. Being that I always kind of look for something that might sell or something that I would buy if I saw it, I went to the young kiddie route and came up with Baby Yogi and Baby Scooby! I think they came out great and WB seemed to love Baby Yogi so who knows... I thought the baby line would be great for these characters since Disney has had such success with their Baby versions of Mickey and Winnie the Pooh.
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For process junkies, these two were penciled and then scanned and just colored under the pencils to keep the clean rough look. It's a nice look for concept art.

Now L'il Scooby was actually the first thing I did and took the most time as I was thinking it would be cool for maybe a line of beginner reader books or something. I know he does seem like a Scrappy-Doo clone, but Scrappy is crappy and this is more of an ideal way to go. Even WBCP won't let you draw Scrappy for a job since they kind of disavow him. I never liked Scrappy's design either and thought Scooby "jumped the shark" when they started introducing Scooby's family in general. I had a young kid version of Shaggy to go with this as well. I wanted something cute and something that would appeal to women or mothers and that was what I aimed for.

This one was penciled, inked and colored with a painted background.

I'll post some of the other pencil roughs soon.

BEST CONSUMER CONTRACTORS - Graphic Design Work

2010-06-07T17:55:00.017-04:00

Joe Valentino from Valentino's Beautiful Home Center wanted to form a group for contractors who could network and find new work as a unit instead of as separate contractors. So the first thing I had to come up with was a logo design for the group.

He liked the ribbon design best, but here is another version that didn't get used. I thought I'd post it for people who like to see the process...

Here's some alternate ideas that I was thinking of while trying to keep a simpler corporate look.

Here's yet another logo with just text that locks together. We liked it and decided to use it for some things and you'll see it on the tri-folded brochure.

Here is the design for the group's letterhead... we kept it simple.

Then the art for a No. 10 envelope...

Here's the final design for a tri-folded brochure mailer... I like the design a lot and wanted to add some punch to it so that it would grab you. All the text was given by the client as to what they wanted to say so it was just a job or organizing it all and making it pop...

And here's the inside of the brochure. I like this design a lot as well and the way it grabs your eye! It came out great! It has the feel of a mission statment or a diploma with the border and logos working together.

Then finally, the client wanted a simple two-folded informational brochure that could be printed quick at a local printer as a teaser while the one above was printed on high gloss paper stock at the high-end printer in California that we use normally for everything else. I like the cover of it and how it grabs your eye. It should always attract the eye from a few feet away. If no one picks it up, it's a bad design in my eyes.

VALENTINO'S BEAUTIFUL HOME CENTER - Graphic Design Work

2010-06-07T17:35:00.004-04:00

Here's a bunch of design work I did for Valentino's Beautiful Home Center! Starts with a business card design and then a letterhead.

Then a flyer for the grand opening...

Then a coupon/ad for them. I like this one as a design since if you cut the coupon and the picture off, the right side of the ad still works, which makes it a good layout.

Then they wanted a two-sided letterhead flyer to advertise what services they offer. I had to add to the illustration as it was just a house before and then wanted to have a commercial type of business building next to it. I think it came out great and the colors really pop! The illustration was all done in Adobe Illustrator as well. The rest was done in Photoshop.

And then I did a little two-sided mini-flyer that could be inserted into something like a brochure.

Business Card Designs For Small Businesses

2010-06-07T17:30:00.005-04:00

Here's some business card designs I did about last year for some small business ventures.

INVENTOR TO INVENTOR Logo

2010-06-07T17:25:00.004-04:00

Some logo designs for a new service... I liked the color one for the sense of fun that it has, but the client liked the first black and white one.

VALENTINO & SONS - Graphic Design Work

2010-06-07T17:16:00.007-04:00

Here's some design work I've done over the past months and so I'd thought I'd post the work. The first two images are both sides of a letterhead flyer with a clip coupon.

Next is a tri-fold brochure...

Then the client wanted a black and white logo design that could be used for letterheads and ads.

And then I had to design a letterhead flyer...

SPRINGFIELD PRESS Features The S.H.S. "ARTS HALL OF FAME"!

2010-06-06T00:34:00.008-04:00

Here's the first two pages to the June 2nd edition of the Springfield Press! The Arts Hall of Fame induction made the front page and was the main story! There's me in the pic! My blue tie sticks out! The article talks about the event and then does a mini, mini bio about each person inducted. The funny story that I told about my art teacher must have made an impact as the writer for the article mentioned it! Ha! The center of the paper had focused on the S.H.S. "Celebration of the Arts" show! I love free publicity! You can click on the images for the big readable copy!

My 'Thank You' Card for the S.H.S. "ARTS HALL OF FAME"!

2010-06-06T00:15:00.007-04:00

Being that I was just inducted into the S.H.S. Arts Hall of Fame, I thought I should design my own 'Thank You' cards to send to the Arts Committee at the school. I was inducted under graphic arts and it would have been a bad move to buy something at the mall and send it since graphic design is what I do. I didn't have a lot of time to spend on it, but I got an idea and took this pic of my large stuffed Scooby and my certificate with some of my bookselves as a backdrop and I think it came out great! The angle of the shot and how the bookselves run along the back makes for an interesting design. Plus, it makes it so much more personalized than some store bought thing. I designed a whole card but this was the cover image. I used a Scooby font for some of the generic text inside and then hand-wrote some thanks in some dead space that I left open. Personalized stuff is always better!

My Induction Into SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL'S "ARTS HALL OF FAME"!

2010-06-05T22:33:00.027-04:00

Back in February, I received a letter that I was to be inducted into Springfield High School's Arts Hall of Fame! I had graduated from the school in 1989 and now was being honored, among others, for the work that I've been doing since I graduated and for the giving back that I've done in the community over the years for the local schools and libraries. I thought that it was a nice honor after I read the letter, but I later found out how big a deal it really was since this was the 1st inaugural induction for the Arts Hall of Fame and that all of the past 75 years of the school's history were looked over to find the right mix of people for this inaugural induction. Out of the thousands of students, faculty and teachers, that had been there over the course of decades, only 21 total people were picked to be inducted. It was 14 students and 7 faculty members that ranged from the 1950s to around the mid-90s. There were only two that were picked for the graphics section and I was one of them! So it became a greater thrill as I knew more. The odds of being picked were the odds of getting on American Idol or winning the lottery.

On May 27th, the event was held in Springfield High School's LMC at 1pm. It was also the day after "Celebration of the Arts", which is held every year, so the school's hallways were packed with artwork and sculptures and the gym was packed with all the wood-working projects that students had done. These pics are from the event that I or family had taken. These first two pics are of my certificate that I was given after my name was announced and I went up to accept it and said a few words. It's about twice the size of my High School Diploma!

You also get a wall plaque as well that will hang in the Arts Hall of Fame display. After you said a few words after accepting the award, you got your picture taken and that would be inserted later, but I took a pic of it as it was.

And at the end of the awards, we were also presented with an engraved wall plaque that will hang outside the school somewhere that had all the inductee's names on it. This was really quite cool and my father seemed to like this the best. It was sitting on a table there but for this photo I had photoshopped a wall background behind it just to give an idea of what it might look like hanging up on display on a wall. Not sure where it will go though in the school. I'll go back and take a picture once it's mounted. They have several athletic ones hanging up next to the football field in the back but this is the first one for the arts. I can now go there and look at it and say, "Hey, that's me!"

Here is the cougar in the lobby that you see as you walk in the main front door.

Here is the cougar on display in the LMC where the awards were being held.

The cake that we had for dessert.

People arriving...

The certificates and wall plaques were neatly laid out...

The program that was handed out and it had all the inductee's bios in it.

The luncheon started at 12 noon.

At 1pm, the induction ceremony started with Stanley Johnson giving the greeting.

Bios was read and the award was given out by one of these three men: Mr. David Ash, Mr. Robert Preston and George Trout, Jr. They run the main arts section of the school and were on the commitee.

They went alphabetically so it took some time to get to the N's, but when they got to me, Mr. Preston had introduced me and presented me with my certificate! He was my graphic arts teacher so it was special to have it present it to me all these years later.

I went up and said a few words...and told some funny stories...

After the awards were over, my mother took a pic of me with the outside wall engraved plaque. She also had a hard time with my camera it seems since she cropped the picture wrong and my forehead got cut out. My father was taking better pics thankfully...

This was the group shot taken for the local papers of all 21 inductees!

My graphic arts teacher, Mr. Robert Preston, and myself after the awards.

A pic of my father and myself. My mother did better with this picture!

My high school art teacher, Mrs. Wilson, was inducted that day as well! Their was a funny story about her that I told and I'll write that in a later post.

And finally, I gave Mrs. Wilson the drawing of Scooby that I drew in one of my drawing videos that I posted here as a memento!

So all in all, it was a great day and an honor to be inducted into the S.H.S. Arts Hall of Fame!

ED, EDD 'N EDDY - More Sketches!

2010-06-01T23:24:00.006-04:00

Here's a bunch of new Ed, Edd 'n Eddy sketches I did in for warm ups here and there and kept saving them. All drawn on copy paper and penciled with a 5h pencil and then inked with a Pitt Brush Marker. Enjoy!

COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG - Col Erase Sketch!

2010-05-31T01:01:00.002-04:00

Here's a Courage the Cowardly Dog sketch that I did today with a purple Col Erase pencil on copy paper just to change it up! Enjoy!

SCOOBY-DOO - The Video Drawn Sketches!

2010-05-30T19:01:00.005-04:00

Here are the four final Scooby Drawings that I shot video for. I gave the Scooby Head Shot one to my old high school art teacher as a gift at my 'Arts Hall of Fame' Induction at the school this past Thursday. More on that to follow...

ED, EDD 'N EDDY - My Video Drawn Sketches

2010-05-30T18:56:00.005-04:00

Here are the three final Eds drawing that I drew in the videos. I scanned them for the record and will place them in my sketch portfolio to sell at some point. Possibly on my soon to be online store...

PHINEAS AND FERB! Some New Sketches!

2010-05-30T18:46:00.005-04:00

Here's some new Phineas and Ferb sketches I did of late! Just pencil and then inked on top of cheap copy paper.

Scooby Artist Scott Neely Draws Shaggy!

2010-05-01T22:46:00.000-04:00

Scooby Artist Scott Neely Draws Shaggy! (Close Up) from Scott Neely on Vimeo.

A close up head shot of Shaggy I drew in real time. It's a bit light at first since I use a 5H for initial breakdowns but it gets darker when I tighten it up.

Scooby Artist Scott Neely Draws Scooby!

2010-05-01T22:45:00.000-04:00

Scooby Artist Scott Neely Draws Scooby! (Close Up) from Scott Neely on Vimeo.

A close up head shot of Scooby I drew in real time. It's a bit light at first since I use a 5H for initial breakdowns but it gets darker when I tighten it up. I can usually burn one out faster than this but I slowed down a bit when inking it.

Scott Neely Draws ED, EDD N EDDY!

2010-04-30T02:27:00.000-04:00

Scott Neely Draws ED, EDD N EDDY! from Scott Neely on Vimeo.

Here's a drawing I did of all three of the Eds from the Cartoon Network cartoon Ed, Edd n Eddy! The hard thing about doing this kind of group shot is trying to make each Ed unique with their facial expressions and staying within their distinct personalities. Penciled with a 5H, then tightened up with an H lead, and then inked with the Pitt Brush Marker on cheap letterhead copy paper.