A Pep in the Step

Hey friends.

Its been another up and down week. Went through some shit but then I let myself back into a bad old habit. For the first time in 3 months: I had caffeine. And I gotta say, it was fucking awesome!! It resulted in me being awake until 6am drawing new STARSLAM 3 pages! So yeah, it worked out great for me!

And earlier in the week I was blessed with slinging ink on three more pages for the book. Thank you art Gods. Been reading "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron and that is certainly helping a bit.

I cannot share too much of the pages because a lot of it is NSFW but here is some brief proof:

Some interesting stuff happening there for sure! Its mostly pages from the first sex scene of the new book. Like I said before: STARSLAM 3 will be the biggest book with the most superhero action, fights and erotic action. Like both the other two books combined. We're really ending the series with a BANG! The excitement is ramping up.

I also got a few new colored pages from my colorist Andy, who is really knocking it out of the park! Here is a look at some stuff he's doing: 

Some unanswered questions from last issue still linger...

Some movie homages...

Yeah folks. Seeing the good stuff Andy is tossing my way and my newfound love of an old friend in caffeine is making my pencil lead thicken! (gross)

Life is full of stress and craziness. Lord knows I got a few grey hairs from all the insane shit that has happened to me over the years....

See? (But its know well that "its not the years baby, but the MILEAGE!")

But, in the end, I'm okay and it all seems to work out. I get down and I seem out, but I do still have the ability to bounce back and quiet the amplified BS in my head. Then I get the pep in my step where I can comfortably write and sling lead again. Its a vicious rotation sometimes, but its how it goes.

Now I'm off to a long night of inking up these pages, pulling reference and penciling more. Production continues and so do I.

Rock it.

---T

Unpacking it All

Hey friends.

Well the house is about 85% where I want it. There's still a few things to find new homes for and just random stuff laying about that needs to be put away. But overall, we're pretty much done with what we needed to do. We're back to work and getting into a new routine around the new place. I have a list of shit I gotta get done and then its back to book making.

I'm getting excited to for a few reasons, but I got a new one this week and I might as well go ahead and tease it here...

I hired a colorist.

The story in a nutshell is that a longtime listener of the podcasts I've been a part of decided to reach out and offer his services on my stuff. I thought a lot about it and after seeing his skills, I gladly accepted. I mean, check out what he did:

A page from STARSLAM 3! Wowza!!!!

A pinup I had laying around. He added the entire background! Man does it look killer or what?!?!?

To be honest, I was hesitant because I didn't know who he was and I'm so used to just doing everything myself that I didn't want to accept help. But I remembered times in my life where I reached out to people I barely knew and it developed into friendships and sometimes projects together. So I learned to just accept the help.

I've never collaborated before on any of my own personal work. But after seeing the work Andy did on my art, I just had to take him up on his offer. It really lights a fire under my ass to get this book done and see what we can come up with. I think he will make a wonderful partner in this and who knows, maybe more in the future! I got plans/schemes.

So everyone welcome Andy to the Starslam world. I got a feeling its going to be a good thing! MUCH more awesomeness to come!!

Lately in my mind I've been trying to revert to a state of mind where I was happier. I notice that I have been enjoying music I liked back in the 90s to early 2000s. I've been on a big Metallica and Pearl Jam kick lately. I'm reverting back to the times when I didn't think so hard about stuff and just did what came natural. I pursue the purest action I would take when presented with something. Its a refreshing thing to clear the cobwebs and just get things rolling like it used to be. I'm sure its not going to be an overnight process, but I will strive to continue the upswing I am on. Who knows where it will lead? To good things, I am sure.


Next weekend I will be at HORRORHOUND INDIANAPOLIS to help with the Caleb Stevens Memorial Fundraiser! On Saturday at the show from like 2-7, I will set up at the 12 Gauge Gore booth and do commissioned art for donations. 100% of the money earned will go to the fundraiser. There is a silent auction as well for many awesome collectibles as well as raffles to win prizes. To learn more about it check out the events pages right HERE - Horrorhound mentioned the event on their recent podcast and over their site, so they are heavily supportive of the fundraiser. And that's why Horrorhound is the best fucking magazine in the world.

No other appearances or plans beyond that at the moment. Just focusing on getting shit done. I got a long list to do and now I got some help. We're gonna rock this muthafuckin' party out!

Cheers, T