12142011

violence. so christmas is coming up, and as usual, I am brooooooke. sweet. here's a panel from a page im working on... at least I'm working digitally, so I don't have to buy bristol boards anymore.

12122011

I'm still up in the air about the new slew of tablet computer coming out. Anyhow, I've seen some new colors coming in for metal locus, and I am so excited to see the project coming together so well. I am always amazed at what colors bring to the page. I've attached a sample, not the actual dialogue , fyi.

1252011

so more drawings. I'm still working on Metal Locus- I'm really having a fun time on the current issue I'm working on (not pictured). The pages posted above are from issues 2 and 3, and below that is an updated sketch of elona.

11082011 - my son

SO WOW!

long time no update - sorry everyone - My son Larry Eugene Watts III, or lew for short, was born on July 5th- and it's been awesome! I've been drawing a lot as well, and have a lot of cool stuff coming out - Most recently, I had a pinup in the sold out The Pound- Horror Business TPB through IDW/Frozen Beach/Desperado. Metal Locus is on track for a 2012 release, and I've been making tons of t shirt designs for ASAP Screenprinting. Pictured above is my son wearing his first halloween costume- he is only 4 months old in this pic, but he is HUGE.

6272011 - wip

6202011 - screen grab - digital inking.

quick crop of a screen grab- i've been inking and trying out different textures and brushes in photoshop- have to be careful - I have a tendency to mess around with that kind of stuff for too long instead of focusing on the whole piece. hazards of working digitally.

6192011-pheonix in progress part 3

getting there. think I'm gonna set this one aside for a bit to get my eyes fresh - back to the pages.

6192011 - pheonix in progress

Heres that drawing from earlier today - I've been paintin it up in photoshop in between pages - im likin where it's going.i try and paint everything on seperate, named layers, so i can adjust values as I go along.

6192011

been working hard on metal locus - i did however get a chance to do some sketching this weekend while waiting in line @ AT&T - you know how long it takes at a phone store- anyhow I liked this sketch enough I think i'm going to finish it in photoshop. I'll post updates throughout the process... I've always thought jean from x-men was a cool character -much more interesting as pheonix tho.

5272011

HOLY CRAP ! It's been a long time since I've posted anything... been working on concept art for a film while pencilling and inking Metal Locus (and making t shirts)... AAAND my wife and I are expecting a baby in like... 5 weeks? craziness. Pictured above are some crops of things I'm working on. The first thing is ny stab @ Danny Husk

4192011

daredevil quick sketch.

METAL LOCUS!! SEQUENTIAL STUFF.

thought I would post some preview art for Metal Locus - Charlie is pretty much a big bad ass mofo. The colors by Romulo Fajardo really are great to me... it's a bit new to me to have someone color my work, other than myself, so it's been interesting to see how the black and white art gets treated by others. I enjoyed this process a lot, when I received the color proofs back from Rom, it was like looking at completely new pages... a nice contrast to my black and white finished pages. For me, when I look at the only inked pages, I see every brush stroke and have a hard time separating myself from the process. Looking at someone else coloring my work gives me enough distance to gain a different type of perspective on the whole creating comics thing... for example- I see areas I need to improve in, and conversely- I see certain elements that may have been unnecessary in the line work...

I really need to update my blog more.

MEGACON 2011 recap

I had an awesome time- It was nice seeing familiar faces and catching up with olf friends. Also was nice meeting all the cool people that stopped by the table this weekend. Pictured above, is a wonder woman commission i did during the con -

I was very very fortunate that Egg Embry was kind enough to give me space at his table in artist alley, as I was originally supposed to be at a publisher's booth that overbooked my space with a few other artists. I won't go into detail about the debacle.

I got to catch up with good old Wilfredo Torres and Egg Embry, as well as the ever talented Zach Basset, the encouragable James Whynot, the peculiar Patrick Sessoms, Mighty Mikey Alexanderopolous, Mike Perkins, Terry Cronin... I could go on and on... maybe later....

It was especially nice, cause since I've been working on comics mostly at night, my social life has really taken a back seat - It was a nice reminder of the people in my life, and a great chance to take a step back and see how things have changed since my first con back in 09. I had stumbled upon my first portfolio ever packing for the trip... and looking back at how my art has changed over the last two years, I'm pleased with the progress I've made. On another note, it really is amazing to see other people's work as well, and have the oppurtunity to see them grow over the years as well.

metal locus crop - some ramblings about letterers.

so i'm still working on breakdowns for the next issue of metal locus - and I doubt anyone wants to see my scribbles... so i thought I'd crop a bit of a panel from issue 1 - once again - i have to say, romulo makes my work look better than I could have imagined... I am really looking forward to seeing this project once it's made it's way through everyone's hands. Charles Pritchett, is a great letterer, and I'm pretty sure he will be putting the finishing touches on this book. I think most people would be most familiar with Charle's work on Dynamo 5. Comic books are crazy, particularly because of the collaborative nature, and the finished product (to me ) is always more than the sum of the parts.

On a side note, I think letterers are completely undervalued. Bad letters can ruin an otherwise good comic book. I've been told that great letterers go unnoticed because they keep you immersed in the story... anyhow, I guess I'm lucky cause I've had mostly good experiences with letterers... Jim Campbell comes to mind... I'm not trying to name drop here, I just think, the 5 of you that read my blog should also check out what these unsung heroes are laboring over... and THEN send them millions... and then maybe they might send me an andrew jackson...

However, the one bad letterer story I do have goes as this : One of the first books I was published in, misspelled my name in the only two places it appeared? However, is that an editorial issue or just a common mistake... i dunno. larry wats signing out. wats. like tatts. nope. no good. talk about a let down - I even had to special order the book to see a printed copy of it... sigh.

metal locus teaser & a bonus sketch

Up top is a promotional image for the book Metal Locus - Harddrive - Frozen Beach Studios -penciled and inked by yours truly - the colorist on this piece, romulo fajardo, is an amazing colorist. The second image is some sketching...it's been a while since i've posted anything- i am currently working on breakdowns ... which are the most brain intensive part for me...back to work...

sketches!

i've mostly been working on sequentials lately, so i haven't had a lot of time to just mess around - i finished up my pages for the day so I decided to mess around a bit with photoshop and tryout some stuff - Top image is a sketchareeno of my wife - and the second is some default post apoc stuff. enjoy!

otb - metal locus

I've been trying to ink with a more organized process... starting with contour lines... and working through the details...