Above image from Graphic Novel X, which I finally feel like I'm rounding third and heading home on. I chose that image because honestly I enjoy drawing stuff where the "camera" wanders and finds the little moments as much if not more than anything else. I hope it doesn't sound too pretentious but I feel like that's where most of any good story is.

Speaking of story...



That Mad Men finale... whoo boy. I wish I had time to just do Mad Men fan art all day. Utterly satisfying. Scratched every itch.Best show on TV these days by miles.

Anyways, more soon...

The first couple (out of ten) of these always stressful but always educational sketch cards I'm doing for an IRON MAN 2 card set. Rules preclude that the characters be Marvel Comics versions of the characters, which is fine by me.

Kind of a funky crop at the top of his head on this one, I know. I ended up having to black that area in because the pen bleed as I was writing "MARK V ARMOR" there.

(EDIT: Oops, gotta take these down until they're officially approved. Be back up soon)


Big thanks to Brunner for his eyes and sage advice. That guy is the master of the sketch card... hope I didn't let him down. I'll trickle more of these out when I find the time to do them. I really hope these are the worst of the bunch.

More soon...

I'm pretty slammed but I took a minute to do some overdue life studies...



It's business as usual here at the casa. I'm approaching the final sprint on this Graphic novel gig, which causes roller coaster bouts with relief and stress. In the next month or so I'll be contributing some sketch cards to the Iron Man 2 set, so I may post some progress stuff here as I churn it out.

Anyway, more soon...

I'm back from this past weekend's trip to Baltimore Comic Con and finally (seemingly) readjusted to normal life. Big thanks to Marc Nathan and the guys who run the show for having me, as well as to colorist extraordinaire Rico Renzi for showing me around. I didn't get my lake trout but I did experience the calorie explosion that is the Pollack Johnny's #1 special (loaded sausage dog, fries and a chocolate shake). Then on Saturday night myself and my fellow Growling Commandos crossed the breech into a Brazilian Meat Storm at Fogo De Chao , which was such an experience it should probably either be kept a secret between our band of carnivores or immortalized as a comic strip. I can't decide. There was much more fun had but to avoid the risk of leaving something or someone out I'll wrap it up and just say it was a real blast. I hope my third trip up wasn't my last.

Today's art post is actually the piece I donated to the Con Auction. The previous night I had a long, friendly, debate with Jason Aaron about who the best Linebacker in the NFL is. Despite being a die hard Steelers fan Jason suggested I draw Ray Lewis for the auction. So I ran with that idea and the excuse to draw NFL SUPER PRO.



I have no idea what it went for, but it was fun and the people browsing the auction seemed to like it, so mission accomplished.

Anyways,hope you dig it. More soon...

So just a heads up.. I'll be visiting the home of lake trout, Ray Lewis and David Simon this weekend for Baltimore Comic Con.



I believe I'll be seated in booth 2101 next to Jason Aaron. I'll have copies of my sketchbooks for sale and I think I'll be doing a limited number of con sketches. So if you're in the area come by and say hi!

Speaking of con sketches and since this is still, despite it's disrepair, a art blog...

I've been trying to work my way through a few overdue ones. I really like drawing women quite a bit but I don't think my real strength is "cheesecake". That said though,here it was sort of the assignment, so I tried to do a good job and bring some enthusiasm to it. Even threw in a couple of cartoon characters for my own gratification. The end result? Well strikes and gutters as the saying goes..





The color never quite scans right on marker, blah, blah, blah, enough excuses. That fulfills the art quotient of our post. I hope you dig. I'll be trying to get at the rest of my "to do" list as time permits. So if I owe you one... check back soon and you just might see it.

Anyways, more soon...

THE DESTROYER (MAX) by Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker was a really wild ride of a superhero book. I quite enjoyed seeing the guys go a little nuts on what was essentially a creator owned book under the Marvel banner.

Cory's a real art stud, and I've owed him a trade for quite some time. So I started this sketch of the Destroyer a while back, but as you can see it never moved past much more than planning.



Anyway, thought it was worth posting. Especially since I've let things fall to ruin here.

8 Tracks

I've been messing about with internet music. 8 tracks and Blip.fm. To call it a "mix" is a bit of a stretch given the limited options, but it's fun to share.

So here is my first 8 tracks attempt, DOOM AND GLOOM VOL. 1 a set of mostly Alt Country songs centering around that theme.

(note- probably plays out of order)
1. A Gringo's Tale- Steve Earle
2. Tobin- Ben Nichols
3. Down the River- Chris Knight
4. Cotton Seed- Drive-By Truckers
5.Just Can't Let You (Say Goodbye)- Willy Nelson w/Emmy Lou Harris
6. Long Black Highway- Chris Knight
7. Loving County- Charlie Robison
8. Cold Irons Bound- Bob Dylan

http://8tracks.com/jasonlatour



Also posting stuff on Blip FM as the mood strikes:
http://blip.fm/jasonlatour

Anyways, more soon.

Is less more? I dunno. I can only hope it is when I got weeks without posting anything. Anyways, y'know that superhero book I'm always talking about doing next?



Feels like lately some significant strides were made on that becoming real. I know it's what I want, but you guys know that old Stones song right?

Anyways, thanks to everyone who tweeted (hate that word), emailed or posted birthday wishes. I guess 32 is a fitting age, seeing as how I generally alternate between feeling 16 or 64. Hopefully it's the best year yet.

More soon...

I feel like ink... or rather black is a rather essential element to my work, both in it's presence and it's absence. I say black because I don't consider myself to be a great inker by the standard of the traditionally great comics craftsmen. To call the way I finish my drawings "inking" is likely not only a misnomer but likely an insult to inkers everywhere. I exhibit very little precision, my skill with a brush is iffy at best and generally my desk and pages look like someone murdered a squid with a tack hammer.

But as I move through my current project, and sort of move toward what I feel is a possible second (first?) phase of my career, I'm starting to believe that in inking, much like in drawing, less is often more. I'm becoming less considered with tightening and polishing and more focused on hunting for the drawing that's in there. I want to find the parts that need to be tight and let go in the places that need to be loose. That's what I find to be most essential in the inking step, it's the part of it I feel the work needs, and often what makes or breaks it.

The side benefit of that is speed, inking is becoming the fastest part of my process, but with that speed comes a lot of dangerous curves. It's in fact a bit like playing basketball or most sports... in that furious, raw speed is not often good. What I want to develop is is a pace. Controlled, well placed energy. The skill to move full speed then stop on a dime for a feathery jump shot.

Easier said than done right?

I bring all of this up because today's piece is one I don't even want to ink. Unfortunately I feel like there are very few times my work can float by on just pencils, and thus you get the title of today's blog:




It's a cop out but I probably won't post the inks of the images above. Mostly because I've posted so much of this story I'm worried my editors are going to get pissed. But if you're curious you can pick the book up (in a year or so when this project finally gets printed) and see how it turned out.

Okay I've babbled enough. More soon...

On the side I'm working my way through some commissions and overdue consketches. Here's a pencil and grey test for a BLACK PANTHER piece:



So MOS DEF is on the cover of the latest FILTER magazine and inside is a great interview. This byte in particular was really inspirational:

"It’s one thing to be the greatest; it’s another thing to be necessary. The best are the most necessary: those who take less than they give and love more than they hate."

No sooner did I post that quote on Twitter/Facebook did I find out that the man himself was playing here in Charlotte at Amos' Southend this past Wednesday night (who says those sites are good for nothing). I hemmed and hawed and worried about missing a night of work before I finally gave in and went to see the Mighty Mos:



Worth every penny. I honestly don't know how he could have been better. Rap shows can be really hit or miss but Mos proved to be a real performer. From the jump he came out super energized and the previously tame crowd fed off it. His rhymes seemed impeccable, his singing voice was full and resonant... but what made the show was how he incorporated playing the drums live into the set. It was nothing complex but it added a element of real performance to the show, the perfect piece of controlled chaos to bounce off of the clockwork precision of his DJ's. Hell the guy even did an inspired cover of Billy Jean (sort of like this one)

All in all a great night that only cemented me further as a fan.

Anyways, hope everyone has a great weekend. More soon...

Back home after what feels like a million miles and a few years on the road. Los Angeles is always at least filled with great company and Chicago Comic Con turned out to be a lot of fun. There were several highlights, including a fist bump with Billy Dee Williams (I'll have to get into that some other time). Really glad I got to see friends new and old. Especially good to see B. Clay Moore and Tony Moore and was lucky enough to spend all con chatting and sharing table space with that finest of southern gentleman, Jason Aaron. All in all too much to get into at the moment, but it was the somewhat surprising capper on a productive con summer.

I'm going to try and spend the next couple of weeks really cranking and hopefully catching up on the blog and overdue commissions as well. So if I owe you and you haven't dropped me a friendly reminder then please do so either here or at jaslatour@gmail.com

In the meantime here is a little bit of pen and ink life drawing I scribbled down while in transit:



ALSO...SIDEBAR interviewed my boys Chris Brunner & Rico Renzi. It's a well deserved spotlight on the guys, with a tad of LOOSE ENDS talk thrown in for good measure. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

More soon...

Hey guys, long time no post.

Things have been hectic in the past couple of weeks. Currently out in Los Angeles in the wake of San Diego Comic Con, which was it's usual overwhelming, exhausting, yet really fun time. Honestly, I tried to write a con report but it was just waaaaay too much to encapsulate.

Anyways, I wanted to make a quick post and let everyone know about my plans for CHICAGO COMIC CON. I doubt I'll be in the official program but if you're looking for me I will be sitting with my pal and fellow hillbilly Jason Aaron in artist's Alley at table 3522. Jason is a much much bigger deal than I am so if you're there looking for him be careful, because you'll likely get a side of me.

I'll have copies of my sketchbook volumes 2-4 on hand, some remaining POP NOIR prints and will be doing con sketches. So stop by and say hi if you're in the area. This may be my last show for a while, but if it goes well enough that I'm going to try and make it back to Chi-town in September for WINDY CITY CON and possibly do BALTIMORE COMIC-CON in October.

In the meantime here's a panel from the current project to (hopefully) make this page less boring:



More soon...

So last week the blog fell off a little bit as I scrambled toward a deadline and the next couple of weeks may be just as inconsistent due to San Diego Con. I'll be there most of the show, when I'm not ducking back to the hotel room to work, mostly just floating. I suspect the best place to find me would be around the 12 Gauge booth (look for the LOOSE ENDS Banner). I don't know if I'll be sitting officially, but I will be hand selling copies of my new sketchbook for $5 if you happen to catch me or want one just make an inquiry. I'll also be taking a handful of con sketches, so if anyone is interested in that and wants to line one up ahead of time just let me know (jaslatour@gmail.com). I have a few outstanding ones left to do but the immediacy of extra cash in SD will likely insure you get it done on the spot. Anyway, that is the loose "plan" for SDCC. I'll be at WW Chicago a couple of weeks after that, but more on that later.

In keeping with the spirit of the art blog, here is a little quiet panel from the current book:



More soon...

Just walked in from 5AM basketball, which is going much better these days thanks for asking, and I thought I'd make a quick update before I crash.

A trip to the coffee shop on Saturday led to some impromptu overdue life drawing:



Not superheroes or anything fun like that but waaay more important. All this is basically contour stuff done with an ink pen. I like to use pencils now and then but I notice that I tend to concentrate on stuff that's not important or doesn't translate as much to my comics work. Plus it's a nice shake up, since I don't draw that way left to my own devices. Hope I can get to some in California.

-I'll be making some announcements about convention stuff soon. I am going to San Diego and Wiz Chicago. But as to where I'll be... thats still in need of being squared away. Info as soon as I get it.

Anyway, more soon...

3 posts in a row! Bow down for a Boss Playah!

I haven't posted anything even remotely related to the current project in a while (or anything non-superhero for that matter). So here is a panel:



Bad news is that this book is going to have a mega delay even if I finish it tomorrow. I'm not thrilled by that, but it's just how the wheels turn. I hope they announce it soon, maybe SDCC.

Thanks to everyone who's made comments, here, on Dev Art and via Twitter or Facebook. It's a lot of places to check but I appreciate the feedback. I'm going to try and keep this pace up but we'll see.

Anyways, my copies of WEDNESDAY COMICS and ASTERIOS POLYP are waiting on me...

More soon...

Blog posts on consecutive days? Thats right true believer!

I was recently asked to contribute to an auction to help benefit comics writer BILL MANTLO . The theme of the book is centered around his association with the series ROM , which I believe he wrote almost all of.

I was flattered to be asked and more than happy to contribute. I didn't have much time so I hope my final piece ends up okay. Here are the early pencils:



I had one issue of ROM as a kid. And though I never read much of the character I knew his whole story thanks to MARVEL HANDBOOK. Always thought it sounded like a cool concept, I should try and find the time to check it out one day.

LEARN MORE about the auction here and see other great pieces here .

Great collection of ROM COVERS here .

Anyways, wish me luck. More soon...

Woke up the other day and decided to doodle the HULK. I wish there were a reason, sometimes you just gotta draw the Hulk I think:



I went really cartoony with it, but I wanted to push it more. For some reason I just couldn't commit to the full scale Jamie Hewlett hands. I'm a wuss.

I've made no secret that it's one of my long running favorite characters, and in just doodling this I came up with about ten ideas for stories (see the doodles in the margins). I have old sample pages around here somewhere that I'll have to dig up. Maybe I'll post them this week.

Anyways, hope everyone had a great Fourth. More soon...

Found a scan of this 2009 Heroes con sketch I did online:



Hope everyone has a great 4th.
More soon...

I'm my "spare" time I've been helping a buddy out with some concept and character design stuff. This is roughly the direction it's headed in...



It's sort of a sci-fi pulp influenced thing at present. Not planning on drawing it, but I might have few fingers in the pot. More on that as and if it develops.

-Also, If you're looking for copies of my current sketchbook the good folks at HEROES AREN'T HARD TO FIND here in Charlotte currently have it in stock.

-Saw PUBLIC ENEMIES last night. Still processing it... but I think it was worth seeing for academic purposes. Lots of food for thought on presenting a story visually. The (next to) last scene in particular is sort of an amazing little feat. Not my favorite of his films, but if you're into Michael Mann it's definitely worth a look. You know I'll blabber more about it if I feel it warrants it...

More soon.

-J La

A couple of goings on with my art blog posting...

About a week ago I started a Deviant Art page to supplement the regular blog here. Right now it's mostly finished stuff, and nothing I can think of that's not been posted here. But if you prefer Dev Art to the RSS feed blog kinda deal then here is your heads up.

Also, since life has to have some rules I just wanted to let everyone know my intended post routine. I'm still going to update this blog with new art a couple of times a week (hopefully). It will remain the mix of finished art with sketch and process sort of stuff. The Dev art page will be sort of a sketchblog greatest hits until that's all uploaded and then will start to carry much of the same content as this page.

If you do go over there I really encourage you to go check out Chris Brunner's page, especially the stuff he has up for our book LOOSE ENDS. And while you're at it peep our superstar drummer/colorist Rico Renzi's page. I think they also plan on continuing to update their regular blog as well.

And finally, a reminder that if you waste your life on Twitter then feel free to add me: @jasonlatour
I usually announce comics and art stuff there, as well as talk a bunch of nonsense.

Anyways enough B.S. This is an art blog,so here is a little Spidey doodle that's the first step towards an overdue commission



More soon...

-J La

Once upon a time I was a very avid reader of superhero books. That's not to say that I don't enjoy the them now and then. A little chunk of my reading is always set aside for them every month and I don't see myself ever quitting them completely. Without getting too high minded about it I'd say some of the fascination is that I still believe that superheroes at their best challenge and reinforce the beliefs of those who most need to be reassured and challenged. Couple that with the energy and imagination and bottled up sexual energy and it's a potentially powerful mix.

Talk of old comics is inevitable at comic conventions, and as that most people I know who do comics have at least cut their teeth reading a super hero book or two they end up being a big topic of discussion. A couple such post-HEROES CON discussions (particularly one with Dean Trippe and Cliff Chiang over beer and pizza) coupled with an interview with BRUCE TIMM about his influences gave me the urge to go down memory lane. So aided only by my memory and the internet I spent an hour or so compiling some of the issues that really wound me up as a kid. I have a bunch of modern favorites, and my superhero reading has become a lot more esoteric over time (as it did with anyone who's stuck with it at all), but to focus it I decided to go with stuff from before I graduated High school. Some of these are chosen purely for art, some for the stories, others for the ideas. I in no way present this stuff to serve as a defense or condemnation of my taste. This is just stuff I was into, and stuff I still carry around in my skull. If you think it's crap or creamsicle then so be it.

BACK BINS
By the time I opened my first comic I was well aware of superheroes as a genre. 60's BATMAN, SUPERFRIENDS, SPIDER-MAN CARTOONS, you can't be a child of the 80's and not have some memory of this stuff.

A box of my Dad's old books, mostly DC HORROR and WAR comics, was handed down to me and in it were a handful of superhero books. I was completely torn between terror and morbid curiosity with those, and to this day seeing some of those covers sets me off a little inside. But again, the superhero stuff was the key to my comics addiction most notably this MACHINE MAN Jack Kirby issue and a handful of issues where MACHINE fought THE HULK.






Over time I became really interested in all the moving parts, so in that regard MARVEL SAGA and THE OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL U were invaluable. I still credit those books for inspiring my creativity, helping me to gain an appreciation for some of the artists who were out of favor at the time, and in creating this damnable encyclopedic knowledge of pre-90's Marvel history. Hell most of the time the journal entries and condensed storylines were better than the real thing:






CONNECT THE DOTS
The first major contemporary comic I can remember getting into was X-FACTOR. I'm sure it was because of the MARVEL SAGA stuff which featured the old-Lee Kirby X-MEN. But it was also because I was instantly hooked on WALT SIMONSON.

X-FACTOR


And of course X-FACTOR lead me to the back bins and THOR:
THOR


which also lead to BYRNES FF, which I think really does account for a lot of my interest in Kirby MARVEL. I was really into BYRNE or some time. He was a great torch bearer, even if some of it nearly qualifies as bad fan fic.



CLASSIC X-MEN was not only educational but it had great ART ADAMS covers (Later on early MIGNOLA)


FALL OF THE MUTANTS
X-FACTOR obviously lead to X-MEN. I could post X-MEN covers all day, but the first stuff I really flipped for was FALL OF THE MUTANTS but I really enjoyed a lot of the art around the AUSTRALIAN X-MEN era.

I was a particularly big fan of RICK LEONARDI. This issue still exists in the back of my mind as a great stand alone story:


Silvestri at the top of his game:


Jim Lee on his way to superstar status:


X-MEN lead to NEW MUTANTS. This issue was (I believe) more great LEONARDI interiors wrapped in ART ADAMS


I'm not sure but I think this issue tied into that X-MEN cover by LEONARDI.


I couldn't find any Bill Sienkiewicz that was representational of my memory, but he really sorta blew my mind and freaked me out. I could have posted a ton of ART ADAMS as well. Particularly ASGARDIAN X-MEN and X-BABIES.

EXCALIBUR is a no brainer. This stuff was sort of a tepid introduction to the wild ALAN MOORE Captain Britain stuff. I still love WARWOLVES and TECH NET and ALAN DAVIS drew some mega saucy ladies.




ODDS AND ENDS
Seeing red and silver IRON MAN still makes synapses pop. Great BWS cover (which lines up in my mind with that Wolverine story he did)


This second IRON MAN is notable for the STEALTH armor and also because in 4th or 5th grade I was allowed to do a comicbook for a final grade. So I wrote and drew an issue of IRON MAN that essentially ripped this off. The funny part is that I thought I could do it better. 4 foot boy. 20 foot ego.



More HULK. I think I own more HULK issues than nearly anything else. I'd still love to get my hands on that book someday.





I missed the boat on FRANK MILLERS DAREDEVIL. But the LEONARDI issue where WOLVERINE shows up and they hunt BUSHWHACKER stands among my favorites. JOHN ROMITA JR'S issues also stick out because I loved the rough quality they had.





COSMIC ODYSSEY is maybe my favorite old school superhero book pound for pound. And was the book where I really flipped for MIGNOLA for life.





Not a great SPIDEY COVER but memorable for the interiors being LEONARDI and featuring X-FACTOR. Plus I think I still aesthetically prefer the black suit deep down.



This was kind of old school to my taste but I still responded to the drawing:


Could have picked a dozen McFarlane Spideys. They don't do as much for me now, but I can't deny they're exciting. Really remember loving his Sandman.



BYRNE sort of MARVELED up DC and I was a nut for his SUPERMAN. These are the first two issues I remember buying of it. The second one is MIGNOLA, and was probably my first look at his work:



DARK KNIGHT is the book that I didn't love but couldn't put down. It's a favorite now. I'd be remiss not to post the cover of the trade I had.



Probably the CLASSIEST comic I was into art wise was the MOEBIUS take on SILVER SURFER. I got into MOEBIUS thanks to an article in COMICS SCENE magazine, which was this great (for the era) mag that had lots of raw art in it. There was an article on MOEBIUS with all kinds of movie concept art, looks at Euro comics, and his new foray into some stuff for MARVEL. Blew my mind. These issues are still near my art desk today.




And finally the 90's came and I sort of stepped away for a while. I sort of missed the IMAGE boom for the most part but the Batman Cartoon and books like MADMEN kept superheroes accessible and sort of provided a gateway drug to other stuff.



Anyways, I could have posted ten dozen more covers, and I will admit there was much much more junk in the diet. But this is the stuff that's still in me, actively alive and refusing to let go.

MOre soon...