Thursday, July 1, 2010

Whoa!

I have a blog!

I completely forgot!

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Freecon Wrap Up

Well 2010 Free Con has come and gone. Show traffic was pretty steady throughout the day. The morning passed by quickly as I was doing sketches, selling books and working on the Astro Kitty jam piece.

That afternoon was spent shopping, visiting, and working on character sketches for Gentleman Jack issue 2. I also spent a lot of time listening to comic book conversations between fellow creators and occasionally offering my two cents. It was great seeing folks like Mike Sullivan, Dale Martin, Tara Avery, Lee Leslie, the Three Trees crew, and many others.

I forgot to use my camera for the most part, but I did snap some pictures of some of my customers with their purchases. Mike Sullivan took some pics too and I may post them when I get a chance.







I don't know if we will be invited back again next year, but I would be more than willing to do it again.

Well that is all for now. Stay tuned in the near future for updates on the next Gentleman Jack chapter, a bunny book, Thunderdawg, Garrrgh, and my possible job as a promo artist for a comic publisher.

That's all for now.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Friday, May 21, 2010

Phew!!!

Well, the book is done. It is not what I hoped it would be, but it is done, I learned a lot, and I am ready to make more. Plus I won't look like a fool at Freecon sitting there without a book to sell.

Much thanks to my wife Pam for putting up with me being locked in my office working on this book non stop for a week. For not giving up on me, and for not letting me give up on myself. I am so lucky to have you and Deon in my life. You are my best friend and my greatest source of inspiration. I love you! Thank you sweetie!

Also, thanks to my little boy Deon. For going days without seeing Daddy but still greeting me with a smile and a kiss on those days when I was lucky enough to have a short visit with you. Thank you son, Daddy loves you.

Thanks to my best friend Doz for always supporting and encouraging me and for stepping up with a credit card when the printer rejected mine. Still not sure why!! Anyway, I give you a lot of grief, but I really do appreciate you.

Lastly, I would like to thank Mike Sullivan. For years now he has been giving me advice, encouragement, and support in my efforts (or lack thereof) to complete another comic. He stepped in and made this book happen at the last minute. Mike did thumbnails for me, pencilled a panel, wrote the dialogue, did some graphics, assembled the print files, inked and shaded some panels, and lettered the entire thing. He is such a good friend and collaborator.

I may have been able to do this book without you all, but I probably would not have done it on my own. Thanks again to you all.

That's all for now, below I have posted a preview of the cover. Hope you like it and hope to see you tomorrow at the con.



Thanks for looking,
Bill

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Update/Preview

I have been working hard at getting my book ready in time for Freecon. I don't know I will able to finish it in time, but I am having fun with it and the next few chapters of the story are practically writing themselves. Since he is so good at drawing tech and crazy gadgets and because I so far behind on my book I asked Mike Sullivan to draw out a panel for me that was very tech heavy. I also asked him to indicate the best placement for the characters in that panel. Then I would flesh it out a bit and do the inks and shading myself.

Here is what he did for me.



Because of all of the tech and crazy stuff in his pic, I thought it would be fun to take a shot at inking and gray-scaling it digitally.

Here is what I came up with.


I may do some more digital inks in this book. Mike will also be pitching in to get the book inked int time.

Oh well, I hope you liked the preview image.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Monday, May 3, 2010

Free Comic Book Day

Hi Guys,

As planned, I spent the FCBD at Pop Culture Comix in Lenexa. This was my 6th year appearing there and it was the best one yet. The store next door to Pop Culture was empty and the people who manage the strip mall let us set up in there. So Mike and I set up in the empty space along with the guys (Kevin Dilmore and Kurt Gaulke) from Hallmark. Cameron Cooke and the Geekvolution guys (Captain Logan and Vince) set up out on the front walk. There was quite a bit of traffic throughout the day and everyone seemed to have a good day.

We had free books at our table and we were trading "How to Draw" comics for sketches from our visitors. It was so much fun encouraging the kids to draw, there are some talented young artists out there. We had some adults that participated as well. Mike is going to scan their work and post it on his blog. I will post a link as soon as they are up. We even collaborated on a sketch or two.

The Hallmark guys were doing comic book trivia all day and giving out Marvel, DC, Star Wars and Star Trek ornaments as prizes. They also had some prototypes on display which were just amazing.

The Geekvolution guys were giving away comics and recording some video throughout the day that will be posted on their YouTube feed in the near future. Captain Logan conducted an interview with myself and Mike which I will post here as soon as it is available.

Cameron was giving out free comics from Blue Water Productions and his wife spent time entertaining all of us along with many of the visitors to the shop.

Mike and I spent some time discussing Thunderdawg and some of our individual projects. Our next stop will be Freecon and the next couple of weeks will be spent trying to get our books ready in time. Should be interesting!

Well there is not much else to report right now.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Friday, April 30, 2010

FCBD

Hi Guys,

Well it is here, Free Comic Day is tomorrow (May 1) and I will be at Pop Culture Comix in Lenexa from 10am to 4pm. Come on out and say hi. Sid has a great shop and if you have not been there you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Here is a list of the folks that will be on hand for the day:




1) - Podcast by YouTube's Geekvolution: Capt. Logan & Vince will do a remote broadcast featuring guests, creators and comic reviews

2) - From Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments: See how all those cool super-hero ornaments are created. Free give-away collectible, full-size Hallmark figures. Hosted by Hallmark Production Development Manager Kurt Gaulke & Hallmark Editorial Strategist Kevin Dilmore

3) Cameron Cooke - Bluewater Productions Comic Book Writer

4) Mike Sullivan - Virtual Infinity Comics Owner/Creator

5) Bill Hook - Cartoonist, Illustrator & Graphic Designer

6) Various Star Wars costumed characters from the 501st


Well that is all for now, I hope you make it out tomorrow.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Freecon

Just a couple of things to report. I have been in contact this week with a comic book publisher that is interested in hiring me to do some promotional art for them. I am very excited about this and I hope to have some news in the near future.

Sadly it looks like another year without a book for Free Comic Book Day. I will still be there helping out in any way I can. Hope to see you there.

Also, still working on my book so it will be ready for Freecon. If you come to the show, please be sure to come by and get a sketch or pick up a book from me. I hope to see you there.

Here is the flyer for the show.



That's all for now.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Thursday, April 15, 2010

More Progress

Hi Guys,

Things are progressing slowly with the "remastered" Gentleman Jack mini but I am starting to gain some momentum. It may not be realistic to say I will have it before Free Comic Book Day, but it WILL be ready before Freecon. As I work on this story the future stories seem to be developing, which is what you hope for as a creator and it is more than a little bit exciting. I have quite a bit of new art in process and I will post a sketch or two later this week. I may even post a whole page for you to see.

In other news, Mike Sullivan and I got to work on our new Thunderdawg story. At the beginning of the conversation we were not optimistic about getting anywhere with our story. Roughly an hour and lots of laughs later we had the basic story structure and we had a plan to get this thing moving forward. I can't wait to get it started. I may have some concept stuff to show you in the next week.

That is all for now.

Thanks for looking,
Bill

Monday, April 5, 2010

Is anybody out there?

Hi Guys,

It has been waayyyy too long since my last post. Some time last fall I decided to srtip this thing down to nothing and start over. I have not been motivated to get it going again until now. I have been working again and I hope to start posting new artwork again on a regular basis.

There are a couple of things coming up in the near future that you may find interesting.

First, I will be making a Free Comic Book Day apprearance at Pop Culture Comix in Lenexa or Overland Park, Kansas (it just depends on who you ask). Details may be found when you follow those links.

Second. I will be a guest at this years Free State FreeCon in Lawrence, Kansas. I should have a Gentleman Jack mini comic in time for this show. So stop by and say hello and pick up a copy of the book and a sketch while you are there.

That's all for now. I will try to be more regular in my posts and I may have some art to show you next time.

Thanks for looking,
Bill