I have been toying around with this idea for a while now. Like a lot of cartoonists, I do ‘warm-ups’ before I begin inking for the day. I have a book on my art desk (28+ pages!) and to get going in the morning I’ll quickly sketch something and ink it before I move on to the pages. Usually it’s some doodle that I just ink and play with for a bit. The doodles range from monsters to ‘Antman’ to some random movie character. And what often happens is that I take these drawings to finished inks.
I was at a con at the Free Library of Philadelphia recently and I had a visit from a former student, now illustrator and cartoonist, Perry Santulli. Perry handed me his comic ‘Fire on High’ (see image below) and asked that I read it and let him know what I think. I read it and loved it. And it got me to thinking, “Why don’t I draw characters from creators making new stuff, stuff that I admire and like?” I have a lot of extremely talented friends and I find inspiration in so much of their work it’s about time I pay homage to them in the best way I know how.
So the “Phan Art” blog post have begun. They will focus on posting artwork inspired by some of my favorite new creators, doing some awesome stuff. These will be artists that are members of the PCS or local or both. Hence the “P” and “H” in Phan Art. It is my hope to promote new stuff by people I like and admire.
If you like anything you see posted, be sure to click on the links and lend your support to the creators. As a fan of the medium of comics I am extremely interested in what’s new and I hope you are too.
ABOVE: Is the character Bog from Christine Larsen’s ‘Orc’ comic. I read this the other night and I love the world Christine is creating. These are characters that you can see filling book after book with adventure after adventure. Just the right amount of humor, action and fantasy. The artwork is gorgeous right down to the map of the ‘Known World’ as drawn by one of the books main characters. I’ve known Larsen for more than decade, this is some of her best and most inspiring work to date. You can see more of her stuff here:
ORCS the tumblr
Christine’s art tumblr
Christine’s Patreon (show some love)
Larsen’s blog (awesome demos and info)
ABOVE: Here are the two main character from ‘Fire on High’, Eva and Glint. Perry Santulli’s work is pitch perfect fro this new fantasy comic series. Perry’s bold lines, great pacing and sense of humor come to the forefront on every page. The character designs really compliment each other. I’m a sucker for diversity in character shape and styling. It’s going to fun to see how this characters move forward, they’re so different yet so perfectly suited for each other. I’ve known Perry since he was a high school student in my Saturday art class and I couldn’t be prouder of his first self-published comic. You can check out more ‘Fire on High’ and more of Perry’s illustration work here:
FireOnHigh.tumblr.com – is a new tumblr he made to focus only on the comic itself. FauntasticComics.tumblr.com – will be where he posts sketches and other short comics. SantulliIllustration.tumblr.com is where he posts finished illustration pieces.
I just want to take this opportunity to thank both Christine and Perry for the opportunity to play in their sandbox and interpret their characters. Check back often for more ‘Phan Art’ in the future and if you know of some awesome comics be sure a send me a message. Cheers!
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