Friday night I’ll be at the hotel next to the con to attend the Heroes4Heroes Live Art charity auction.

Lots of comic pros in attendance will produce some wicked cool artwork to be auctioned off.

The money raised goes to send troops overseas comics and pop culture stuff to keep them motivated and entertained.

It’s a great cause and one which I feel very close to as a former Marine!

Come on out! I hope to see you there.

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

You can reference any gun from any film. Useful for ordering movies and getting good shots of the guns and the guys using them.It sure beats those static gun shots from handgun ref books where you can’t even look at it from both angles or even see how a dude holds one while lighting a cigar.

You can also look up your favorite film and check out every gun that appears in that movie.

This handgun was used in HARD BOILED…

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Image:ThompsonCenterContender.jpg

Or this Extremely Short Barreled Mini Gun from Last Action Hero

http://www.imfdb.org/index.php?title=Image:LAH_M134.jpg

Check it out!

If you are going to be at the show stop by and see me at Artists Alley table KK-13. I’ll be drawing original art, doing some sketch caps, signing prints, and I have signature cards for $1. I know the show is crazy expensive, and if you come up short on cash, come over to my spot and get yourself some fine looking prints for a huge savings!

I’m going to be on the WILDSTORM BREWING panel with Jim Lee and a host of other artists on Saturday Night at 6:30 in Room 8. Come down and check out the panel, and hear all the latest X-Files comic news and more from Wildstorm. They’ll be talking Gears Of War, Lost Boys, Wildcats, etc.

If you want to commission a piece of art before the show I am opening a sketch/sketch cap list for Comic Con. I have only 20 slots for pre-orders. I will also be taking a limited amount of requests at Comic Con. It will be first come first serve. If you come by the show I’ll be doing quick-hit, 5-minute sketches for just $5 bucks during the show. These are on specially made sketch-cards that measure 5.5 x 8.5.

So, if you are going to be attending and would like a sketch and/or sketch cap, please feel free to send any request or question to art@briandenham.com

All communication will be through email. Please do NOT send any emails to any other email address or through Myspace. This is to keep the requests organized and fair to all. Once received I will follow up with an email confirmation.

Hope to see you guys there! Bring your X-Files #0 to get signed, it ships that week!

I use the dash line tool so much it appears on almost every one of my pages, especially those with tech, or set in a sci-fi setting. Whenever I need to make interesting computer displays or GUI (Graphic User Interface) I make a bunch of random lines in the horizontal and the vertical way, and then I apply the dash line tool to some of these, randoming the settings in the Dash Line box. I make lines with small gaps and long lines, and long gaps and small lines, and all sorts of random goodness.

When I have something extremely cool looking with dashes and gaps, I go in on a Layer above that and create a few more random dashed lines in white to break up the randomness even more.

Once I have all that foolishness in hand, I ground it and then draw a box around it like a computer screen and place it on whatever open computer wall I have drawn on my page, and i use the Free Transform tool to stretch that yummy goodness into perspective to line-up with the “monitor” I have drawn.

NOW-this problem has come up before, ( I talked to Adobe about fixing this, and they finally did in CS3), the dash lines will not look right in perspective because they keep the horizontal and vertical line around the dashes that were right when I made them. AND THERE IS NO WAY AROUND THIS IN ANY VERSION PRIOR TO ILLUSTRATOR CS3! You can’t fix it by expanding or making outlines or nothin’!

But IN CS3 you select your dash line and presto, hit OBJECT>EXPAND and through the magic of little pixels Illustrator makes each dash you have created their very own individual item. You can now UNGROUP them if you wish, and delete one or two, or make some bigger, or smaller, OR THE BEST THING OF ALL, you can now use the FREE TRANSFORM tool to distort these items into perspective and it will look correct!!!

I’ll post another entry tomorrow with a bunch of examples of where I did this in Iron Man and it was wrong, and how I got around it in Illustrator 10. I’ll put up some version done in CS3 so you can see how cool this tool really is.

Try it on your own right now, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

Years later I was fortunate to meet Mike at a con, and he was just a guy. A pal to everyone he met. A few years later, in 2000 I was just recovering from surgery for a tumor on my drawing hand, and was invited to come work out the kinks at Top Cow. This was right after Mike’s 1st operation. He was already recovering pretty well and was getting around on crutches. He told us in the bullpen about his operation, and the skiing accident that led to the discovery of his cancer, with all the mirth and dignity anyone could hope for in that situation. we all felt for Mike but he was not one to take that sympathy. It happened…shit happens…move on and keep moving. That was his attitude. It helped me through my recovery, it helped fortify me for my future.

Mike’s like that. He inspires. He blazes and we just watch in awe. A few years later I was able to do a creator owned comic called Killbox, about my fellow Marines. While I served in the Marines and met many heroic people, I have never met anyone like Mike. My dedication in Killbox #3 reads “Dedicated to Michael Turner, comic book artist, visionary, and the bravest man I’ve ever known.”

To paraphrase one of Mike’s favorite movies… “The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long - and you have burned so very, very brightly, Mike”

And he could still kick your ass at foosball hopping on one leg leaning on the sticks.

Goodbye, Mike

• by Jeffrey Renaud, Staff Writer

Hard at work finishing the visual and sound effects on “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” Frank Spotnitz, the co-writer and co-executive producer of the highly anticipated sequel, slipped away from the editing room for a few minutes to speak with CBR News about his upcoming Wildstorm comic book special illustrated by Brian Denham, due in stores July 23.

Spotnitz told CBR News, “We’re working on a very compressed schedule to complete the film. But it’s very exciting.”

Exciting, yes. But it’s also cramping his style a bit too.

“It’s really fun but I wish I didn’t have this movie distracting me from writing comic books,” laughed Spotnitz. “I never tried my hand at this before obviously, and it’s really nice actually.”

Spotnitz said when Topps Comics was producing its 42-issue run of “The X-Files” during the heyday of the cult television series in the late nineties, it never crossed his mind to write one himself. “Back then, I was so completely consumed by the [television] series,” explained Spotnitz. “I barely had time to read the comics, let alone write one, so this is a real pleasure. I still don’t have that much time but I have more time then when I was doing the series.”

The filmmaker said while he’s new to the medium as a creator, he has become an instant fan of what working in comics means creatively. “I know I am not the first person, nor the last person, to say this, but [comics] is so different than doing television or a movie because you don’t have to go through all of the layers,” explained Spotnitz. “It’s just you and your editor. It’s very pure. And it keeps you connected to what you love about the process instead having to deal with all of the politics that inevitably surround filmmaking.”

Asked how the comic book spinoff came to land at Wildstorm, Spotnitz acknowledged he had a little help from his friends. “It’s interesting,” he said. “We were talking about re-launching X-Files as a comic book series or a graphic novel series and the people at Fox were trying to figure out what to do and I just said, ‘I am going to call some of my friends and see what they think.’ And I called Brian K. Vaughan and I called Brad Meltzer and both of them ended up pointing me to Wildstorm.

“So I actually contacted Wildstorm and said, ‘Hey, do you guys want to do X-Files?’ And they said, ‘yes.’ I actually thought there would be some corporate conflict because they are part of DC, which is part of Time Warner and we are a part of 20th Century Fox, which is part of News Corp and I didn’t know if these corporations got along. But it ended up not being a problem and it’s been great.”

Unlike the movie sequel, set six years after the final episode of “X-Files” aired in 2002, the comic book returns to the scene of the crime, smack dab in the heart of the television series’ storyline. “My thought was that it made more sense to set the comic series in, I hate to use the word but, the classic period of the X-Files,” explained Spotnitz. “Mulder and Scully are both still at the F.B.I. working in Mulder’s basement office. The Lone Gunmen are around. Skinner is around. It’s the heart of what everybody knows and loves about the X-Files.

“It would just be too difficult to address how fluid the world of the X-Files is at this time. So it just made easier to set it in the past.”

Spotnitz revelead the special scheduled for July is a stand-alone, ‘monster of the week’ story set somewhere between Season 2 and Season 5. “It’s in classic X-Files mode. Mulder the believer. Scully the sceptic. And scary,” said Spotnitz. “It’s simpler than an episode would be because it’s shorter than the length of an episode. It’s fun to be back in that world and have Mulder and Scully investigating a new case. It’s a different mode than the mode of the movie, which is set six years after the series ended. They are both in very different places in their lives in 2008 then they were when the TV series was going on.

“It’s like revisiting Holmes and Watson when they were at the peak of their adventures, as well.”

Spotnitz sums up the major difference between writing comics and writing for TV or film with one word: precision. “It’s being very precise with dialogue, saying less and showing more, which I love to do,” said Spotnitz. “There is a reason why comic books translate so well to the big screen. It’s because they are cinematic and it’s telling stories with pictures instead of words. And I love that. The challenge is saying things so succinctly that they fit. You don’t have tons and tons of dialogue. I have to say it hasn’t been painful at all. It’s been really enjoyable. It’s just finding the time to do it.”

And if the idea of X-Files returning to comics isn’t enough for you, Spotnitz said wait until you see the artwork by Brian Denham. “It’s so beautiful. I was just blown away when I saw the first couple of pages that he’d done,” teased Spotnitz. “They came to me as a file on my computer. And I just opened them up and it was like, ‘my God, this is gorgeous.’ I just can’t wait to see it in print.”

Spotnitz has signed up to write three specials for Wildstorm in the coming months, and while the first one is a stand-alone, the second and third will tie-in more directly with the X-Files mythos of aliens arriving, and eventually invading, Earth. “The idea now is to make stand-alone specials but the next ones that I am going to write tie into the mythology of the show not in a way that changes the path but deepens it a little bit,” said Spotnitz.

And while an ongoing series is not likely at this point, Spotnitz said there are lots of X-Files remaining to be solved. “I think I’d like to keep doing them,” said Spotnitz. “As my time allows and then bring in other writers to do them. That’s my hope that we can make this a vital enterprise.”

Those other writers don’t include Brad Meltzer and Brian K. Vaughan just yet, Spotnitz said it would be worth the call to see if there is interest. “I’d be thrilled if they would [come on to write a special]. I haven’t asked them yet but I’d be delighted if both of them would. They’d be awesome. And I am going to make some calls to old X-Files compatriots too and see if I can rope any of them in, as well.”

“The X-Files Special” is scheduled for July 23, two days prior to the release of the movie, “The X-Files: I Want To Believe.”

THIS ARTICLE WAS TAKEN FROM WWW.COMICBOOKRESOURCES.COM

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Instead of making birthday wishes, I’ve decided that me and my family will start making birthday goals. Goals are more attainable than wishes and I want to teach my kids to set goals.

So my new goal, besides losing 40 pounds before my next birthday, is to get some more content up on this site. I’ll post at least once a week. Starting every Tuesday!

Let me know what info you want and I’ll start posting the blogs and tutorials again. I’ll get more art posted up here and I thought about doing a webcomic as well.

Should I post the webcomic here or on it’s own site?

Do you want this site to remain focused on tutorials or do you mind seeing other content like drawings, my comic pages and possibly a webcomic.

Thank you all for coming to my site for the tutorials and if you come because you like my art I appreciate your interest in my work! It means a lot to me.

Take care, I’ll see you soon!

Brian Denham

P.S  Besides my birthday it’s also the day the original Star Trek series left the airways in 1969, AND William Shatner filmed his final scene as Capt. Kirk on June 3rd during the making of Star Trek Generations.

I’m drawing the X-Files comic series and here’s the solicitation for the first issue! It’ll be on sale the week the movie is released and the same week as Comic Con! How awesome is that!

Order it already! It’s from Wildstorm/DC Comics!

THE X-FILES SPECIAL 0
Written by Frank Spotnitz
Art by Brian Denham
Photo cover
Variant cover by Brian Denham

The hit motion picture and television franchise returns to comics! With July’s release of the brand-new X-Files blockbuster, WildStorm joins Mulder and Scully in a previously untold story from the film’s cowriter and producer Frank Spotnitz! Don’t miss this supernatural epic so large it will leave you screaming for more!

Retailers please note: This issue will ship with two covers. For every 10 copies of the Standard Edition (with a photo cover), retailers may order one copy of the Variant Edition (with a cover by Brian Denham). Please see the Previews Order Form for more information.

Retro-solicited; on sale July 23 • 40 pg, FC, $2.99 US

I just started using them and I love them for a lot of different purposes.

Here’s the link…

http://verucasalt82.deviantart.com/art/Hair-Strand-Brushes-85035633

Another set that looks cool. I haven’t used them yet but they sure look neat.

http://r2010.deviantart.com/art/conetix-78945110

Download the Template here…(make sure you RIGHT CLICK and SAVE AS) then load it into your templates folder to use. Comic and Manga Template

This is a Template for creating comic and manga art in Adobe Illustrator.

It’s preloaded with standard American comic and manga sizes like…

American standard
American standard Double Page Spread
American Standard DPS on one page

TokyoPop standard
TokyoPop standard 1.5 x up
TokyoPop standard 2 x up

TokyoPop standard DPS
TokyoPop standard 1.5 x up DPS
TokyoPop standard 2 x up DPS

I’ve also loaded this document with a bunch of cool brushes that are all color-coded with a directory for what each color brush does.

The brushes are colored in the brush menu but can be assigned a new color when in use. I noticed it’s hard to keep track of dozens of black brush icons so I created the color code.

The page is set to 11″x 17″ dimensions but you can easily change the crop marks.

This document is set for use in Adobe CS3, but I’m sure you can use it in earlier versions.

If you load this document as a User Defined Brush Pallette you can use all the brushes in other documents.

This is version 1. I’m sure you may find errors in the brushes or typos, if you do please write me and let me know. I’ll fix them up as soon as possible.

Let me know what you think!

Take care,
Brian Denham

EDIT–
Some of the brushes used in this document were taken from the web. I’ve included a few of several different people’s free brush palettes but they have a lot more to offer if you visit their sites. I didn’t include whole palette’s just the best of the best for what I liked.

JOE WEBSTER–JW INK BRUSHES
First up is Joe Webster who has some awesome comic style inking brushes. Be sure to adjust your stroke to change the look. I like using a very low stroke of his detail brushes. Here’s where you can find out more about Joe, his awesome art, and cool tutorials and brushes…
[link]