Dead Charlie and zombie bob: Sketches and Development

I'm working on a short story for an upcoming horror anthology to be released in October. It's an original story written and illustrated by me called, "Dead Charlie and zombie bob." Here's a little tease...These are some developmental sketches for the project. This is an example of me trying to figure out how the characters move and interact, what they're expressions are, etc. Sketches like this are a great tool for me as a proof of concept. Usually they're small and incomplete. If I can determine how the characters "work" (or don't work) at this stage, it makes it a lot easier when I do final art.

Stay tuned for more updates on "Dead Charlie and zombie bob."

Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob vs. The Zombie Brothers

A few years ago, I wrote and illustrated a short story called "Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob", which I first posted in Aug 2011 here:

http://durkinworks.blogspot.com/search?q=dead+charlie&max-results=20&by-date=true

It was featured in the horror comic anthology "Dark Mischief volume 2" available here:

http://indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7724

Recently, an animated short was produced for Nick called "The Zombie Brothers", and the character designs look awfully familiar…

Loving tribute, blatant ripoff, or mere coincidence? (I'm guessing the latter).

I'm going to let this one go. The short is funny and well animated. I wish the creators the best of luck

 (but if they ever make Zombie Brother action figures, I'd love a set…) 

Dead Charlie and zombie bob: Sneak peek, Page 6

I'm almost finished with Dead Charlie and zombie bob. Here's a sneak peek at page 6.

Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob

Meet Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob, a couple of undead buddies just trying to make their way in the land of the living.


Just a little story I'm working on. Look for it this October!

Dead Charlie and zombie bob: Sneak peek, Page 3

Here's a sneak peek of Dead Charlie and zombie bob, a story I wrote and am frantically illustrating for the upcoming horror anthology Dark Mischief. This is page 3.

Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob: Color and Logo

"Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob" is a short story I'm writing and illustrating for an upcoming project. Here are the characters in color and their logo.

Getting there...

Right. So I've been working NON-STOP on Dead Charlie and zombie bob for the past few days and I'm definitely making progress. I'm going to take a break and go do some retail caricaturing tonight and then pull another marathon tomorrow and finish the story.Okay Charlie, okay. Back to work. I get it.

Dark Mischief

I'm involved in a new project coming out in October called Dark Mischief. It is a collection of short horror stories. It's meant to be PG-13, so no over the top violence or nudity etc. Just a bunch of creepy, spooky tales. My contribution is a story I wrote and am feverishly illustrating called Dead Charlie and zombie bob.

A Kickstarter campaign to fund the project is underway, and you can visit the blog of Dark Mischief that features work from some of the other contributors (who have their act together way more than me) right here.

Zombie Bob art.

Here's a painting I did for Orlando's Zombies Attack Art Show. It depicts one of the characters Zombie Bob from a story I wrote and illustrated called "Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob."  I wanted it to be reminiscent of those cool, funky black light posters of the '70's, so I painted it with florescent acrylics. 

 

The final piece is 14" X 18". Here it is under black light.

Dark Mischief is HERE!

At long last, the horror anthology book Dark Mischief is available for purchase!

Dark Mischief is is a full color collection of the spooky and supernatural, featuring stories and art by some of the best creators in independent comics! 

I count myself fortunate to be considered among that group. I contributed an original 16 page story which I wrote and illustrated myself called "Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob". You can purchase your copy here, and I'll be adding it to the column on the right soon.

Zombie Bob: Pop Star.

I'm up in Wisconsin right now, and I've locked myself in a room of my parent's house to finish my short story Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob.

Like the movie poster I blogged about a few days ago, this bit of artwork also appears at some point in the story. It's an album cover during Bob's short but significant career as a recording star.I've got a lot of work to do. See ya!

Busy...very busy....

My work load is overwhelmingly full right now. I have to finish illustrating Dead Charlie and zombie bob, I have t-shirt designs due by midnight Sunday night, I have turnarounds and color schemes for four product sculpts, I have art pieces in various stages of completion for the art show coming up...

I gotta get back to work!

Zombie Bob: The movie

I'm still knee-deep in production on my short story Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob, but I thought I'd take a little break and show you a bit of artwork from it.This is a movie poster that appears at some point in the story. It's supposed to be a parody of the animated movie posters from the past few years. You know the ones, with the character looking straight forward, the saturated blue sky with white wispy clouds, the shock-green grass. You know, the movies that try to be all things to all people. Of course, it MUST be in 3-D. Ugh...

Welcome to 2012!

That's it. 2011 is over. If you've been following this blog for a while, you know what a bad 2010 I had. In contrast however, 2011 was a phenomenal year full of growth and opportunities. I went back and looked at my daily posts of the year and found that I had accomplished far more than I intended and experienced things I had never dreamed possible. Here's my 2011 year in review:

I started the year off with a broken computer. But thanks to my good friend Chris Brown who repaired it, it's still working today. The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl. I updated Durkin's Dragons: Parodies and Tributes and created a whole new book, SCRAPS, both of which I sold at Megacon. I started the Blog Buttons you see on the right and participated in Toon Challenge over on Facebook. I lost my wallet and got it back two weeks later. I attended Star Wars Weekends several times and rode the new Star Tours over and over. I participated in the Threadless Muppet T-Shirt Design Challenge. I debuted Geeky Friday on the blog. I also began Muppet Monday. I started my new comic Durkin Droppings. I wrote and illustrated my story Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob for Dark Mischief. My aunt Theresa passed away. I went to Wisconsin to attend the Kenosha Festival of Cartooning. I turned forty. Three of my art pieces were displayed in my first art gallery show. I went to the screening of The Muppet Movie at the Orlando Puppet Festival and had the honor of meeting Heather Henson, one of the highlights of my year. I entered a design into the Mighty Fine Muppet t-shirt contest where I placed and had my design printed. I briefly attended the ISCA convention. The Muppets triumphantly returned to the big screen. I drew a LOT, created a LOT and had one of the most productive and artistic years of my life.

So I ended the year on a high note, but my journey is only beginning. There are already major plans in the works for 2012.

For starters, I am finishing up a piece for the Throwback Video Game Art Show in January and will have a piece for the Pee-Wee Herman Art Show in February. Also in February, I will be going to New York to draw at the Fierce Fun Toys booth at Toy Fair! It will be my first time to New York and I'm super excited!

That's about all I can tell you about right now, but when I'm able to share more, you'll be able to see it right here on this blog.

And speaking of the blog...

For over two years I have posted EVERY SINGLE DAY. It's been very fulfilling for me and has proven that if I commit to something and set my mind to it, I can do anything. But the popularity of blogs is declining and the new focus is on online networking sites like Facebook. I've been increasing my presence on Facebook for the last few months and I really enjoy the instant feedback and wide-ranging audience of friends, family and fans. It's an easier interface for people and makes me more accessible. My focus going forward is to continue posting more on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. 

That means that I will no longer be posting on this blog every single day. I will be posting as much as I can, and when times are busy it may in fact be every single day. So if you're on Facebook or Twitter and haven't linked up with me, you can click the links to the right and get up to the minute info from me that you may not get instantly right here.

Thanks to every one of you for a fantastic year. I look forward to 2012. It's going to be amazing!

Dark Mischief Kickstarter: Only a few hours left!

There are only a few hours left to contribute to Dark Mischief's Kickstarter campaign!

Dark Mischief will be released soon and it's a collection of short, spooky comic stories. "Dead Charlie and Zombie Bob", an original tale that I wrote and illustrated, is one of the stories featured in the book.

The Kickstarter campaign has been put into place in an effort to raise some funds to pay advances to the artists and writers who have contributed to this project. 100% of all proceeds from this campaign (after paying for the rewards themselves) go directly to the creators who contributed stories as advances on their royalties.

So as I said, there are only a few hours left, so if you have some extra change, go to the Dark Mischief Kickstarter page and donate, won't you?