MCC wrapup, old-and-new

The Montreal Comic Con this past weekend was another big success. Montreal fans are the best, they never fail to come up with peculiar things to keep me busy. I will get some pictures online this weekend after I finish up some deadlines... Some personal favorites include Grimlock devouring Michael Bay, and Galactus devouring the earth.

Some old-but-new stuff here... I'm sifting through work I've done in the last year or two, and I found this group of expressions I did for The Mask. I am a huge fan of The Mask. I discovered the comic after the movie came out in 1994 (?!) and it blew my doors off. Great writing from John Arcudi (who is writing BPRD over at Dark Horse, which is my absolute favorite book right now) and stupendously hilarious art from Doug Mahnke. The book ran a couple of mini-series past its sell-by date but The Mask, The Mask Returns, and The Mask Strikes Again! are classics, I recommend them vociferously.

The reason I have a cluster of Mask expressions is simple: I would love to do a Mask mini-series. It's on my to-do list and I really hope that I'll get a chance to re-introduce the character to a new generation. Got me hooked on comics and also taught me, "The world of man is not this world, the world of man is the human consciousness, and is therefore infinite," which is great to pull out if you want to sound like a five-dollar man in a two-dollar room.


If anyone happens to have any copies of Walter: Campaign of Terror (a four-issue spinoff of the original Mask series), could you send me a message? I haven't read it and I cannot find it around town.

I also found this adorable, half-finished devil girl. I might have started it for a Hellboy jam some years ago? Regardless, I gave her a spit-shine and here she is.


More after the weekend. Cheers!

Montreal Comic Con!

Here are a few sketches I drew today to loosen up for the con tomorrow. It'll be at Place Bonaventure and I believe it opens at eleven (?). Should be a lot of fun, come say 'hi.'






If anyone is interested in any of these drawings (and I have any left after the show) you can always email me at: kelly at kelly tindall dot com

All inquiries are welcome and appreciated.

November babies, Montreal Comic Con

Apologies all around for my radio silence. Working very steadily on a brand-new project that I hope to get off the ground early next year. I have not decided if it will be inkwash or watercolour paint... So, I have been practicing steadily with both to see what I can see.

Poison Ivy:
Hellboy:

And Batman, a present for my friend Quinton who works on the new show FlashForward. He is a top man. It's his birthday today, actually.
I will be a guest of The Montreal Comic Con this coming weekend. Do come around and say 'hello', I will have much to sell and I will be excellent company.

The Joker! Expozine! Etc.! Etc.!

It was my great pleasure to spend much of this past weekend at Expozine 2009 here in rainy old Montreal. The headliner for the show, in my opinion, was webcomic darling Kate Beaton. She's doubtlessly amongst the most gifted webcomickers working today, so it was a no-brainer to get a drawing from her. Her sketches were Wicked Cheap, I was tempted to buy a few except her crowd was persistent as all get out.

I had to settle for the world's greatest Nikola Tesla sketch.


You should see the Commissioner Gordon that Kate drew for my pal Rebecca Stacey. In a theme sketchbook groaning with awesome drawings, Kate's takes the cake.

I also had a great time chatting with Billy Mavreas (of the legendary Monastiraki which is currently exhibiting some great James Kochalka paintings), Young Adonis (infamous Montreal artist), and the amazing Jasper whose mini-comic "Crabs in My Room" is one of the greatest comics I've read all year. Jasper is a tremendous talent, I cannot wait to read more from her.

Meanwhile, back at the drawing board, I'm doing a lot of art that can't be shown (working on a new book). I have been working with my watercolours, and I finished a Joker the other night that I think is pretty neat. Here it is. I've also finished a Hellboy commission that I rather like, but I must wait for permission to post it.

B. A. Baracus pities the fool

It is my goal to finish the whole A-Team by the end of the year, in anticipation for the movie. It's also my goal to pitch a comic series in watercolour, and this seemed like a quick, no-pressure way to practice with my new watercolour paints.

"Ain't got no time for your jibber-jabber!" Were truer words ever spoken?

Interviewed by Donna Mei-Ling Park on EP Daily

Donna Mei-Ling Park interviewed me for The Electric Playground television show a few weeks ago, and here it is. Lots of shout-outs, and the first preview images of my new book Squeak!: Werewolf! with Alex.

Thanks, Donna and Leland, it was a blast to chat with you.

EDIT: If this doesn't work for you (it's been funky) you can check the interview out by ==> CLICKING RIGHT HERE <==

Dearly beloved

Many happy returns to my friends Tara and Timo, who got married a couple of weeks ago. I took a blank sketchbook with me when I went to their wedding, and some of the drawings I did are showing up on Facebook.

I started leaving sketchbooks of drawings at friend's weddings a few years ago, back when I was often going to them alone. It was a good way for me to avoid having to make awkward introductions, and passed the time.

Now I just do it because it's fun.

STINK

I must admit to a little guilt for posting without adding any of my drawings. What a horrible thing to do. Here's four pages from Stink, my 24-page minicomic, which I will have available at the show I mentioned below.

Looking back at Stink, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out... It ends with action and it's predicated upon a contrivance, but I like the Stephen King-like story trope of presenting a normal, likable guy with a horrible situation and watching him try to wriggle out of it.

I will definitely have to work out another idea like this one. I really enjoyed making a little weird thing... Photocopying and stapling and selling it seems like the less fun part than sitting down with some cardstock and a brush pen and just going.

The girl in the story had to be re-drawn... She was rocking the side ponytail (which I will use in a future story, I love that look) but the design was not right. I re-drew her based on Michelle L'Amour, the burlesque dancer, who is coincidentally appearing at the Montreal Burlesque Festival this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to find time to go.

If you would like a copy of Stink, please email me at kelly at kelly tindall dot com. I shall have to put a link on my site, I think. Good night.

Montreal Comic Con, September 19th-20th

Hey hey hey,

I will be a guest of the Montreal Comic Con this coming weekend. I will have pages, prints, mini-comics, comics, a preview of Squeak!, and I'll be doing commissions as well. I'm looking quite forward to the show, it's a local one and the last one was a lot of fun.

See you there!

Take your sketchbook to the rock show, son

I went out to a heavy metal concert at Metropolis last week. The bands were Nashville Pussy, Reverend Horton Heat, and Motorhead. All three bands have been on my to-do list for quite some time and the club is very close to my apartment, so that was a no-brainer (literally! not a bad thing tho').

And, of course, I took my sketchbook.





One of the more fun experiences I've had since I moved to Montreal. It's one of my goals to get out and experience more things for myself, really get into the nuts and bolts of my life and try to extract experiences from it to lengthen and deepen myself as a person and an artist.

Notes: Deaf for 36 hours after, first mosh pit, first metal concert in the pit, first time at a concert in Montreal that wasn't headlined by Alicia Keyes (long story), first heavy metal t-shirt, and first time at the awesome Metropolis nightclub, which is more impressive than any of the churches I've visited since coming here.

Labour Day

Extra 'u' due to Canadianism. I'll be spending most of the day on Squeak! pages.

I've had a week to chew on Hobbystar Fan Expo '09 this year. Generally a very positive experience, I'd say. The fans were great, the commissions were a lot of fun (I get Hellboy a lot, which makes sense), and sales were surprising. My two regrets: no time to shop on Sunday (so I still don't have a copy of Age of Reptiles 2 AND missed Jeff Lemire completely), and I didn't get a chance to rectify my oversight from last year and buy a piece of art from Eric Talbot.

I did, however, buy a Turtles commission from Jim Lawson. Jim was a hero of mine when I was a kid... The turtles were a massive part of my childhood and Jim was a massive part of the turtles.

Thanks, Jim.

I also bought a Lobster Johnson page from Jason Armstrong, who was the first to welcome me out east and has been a constant source of support and advice. The jewel of the show, bookwise, was Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuentes's wicked Patsy Walker: Hellcat. My wife and I both loved how surreal and crazy and clever it turned out to be. I've also got the most recent Ultimate Spider-Man trade (with Stuart Immonen's tasty artwork) on my nightstand. Kathryn and Stuart both have a tremendous amount of talent, wit, and integrity and it is always a pleasure to speak to either of them. I always wear out my welcome.

Big thanks to Riley and Alex (and their girls and little ones) for coming out east. I miss them both. Other folks for whom credits are due: Cameron Stewart (he's going to have an unbelievable 2010), Ray Fawkes (his growth as an artist embarrasses me with its fullness), Gibson Quarter (a good man to share a table with), and Kim Belair & Rebecca Stacey (for drawing a crowd and preventing me from talking with them for even one second).

Enough of this business. Who else is thinking about Batman today?

Toronto Fan Expo, August 28 - 30th

Big news! Just under the wire, I was able to put together a brand-new 8.5"x11" Archie Snow print for Fan Expo. I am selling a very, very limited quantity... For availability and pricing, email me at kelly at kelly tindall dot com. Do it ASAP, when they're gone, they are gone.

In other news, I am thrilled to be going back to Toronto for the weekend. I love this town!

Fan Expo, roller derby, etc.

I love roller derby! My girl and I went to the finals a couple of weeks ago and saw our new friend Heidi (AKA Beater Pan-Tease) co-captain Les Filles de Roi to the championships! I'm so proud of them. I'm also stoked that there's a team sport I like to watch. It's taken me decades to find one I like!

Congrats, girls!

In other news, I will be at the Toronto Fan Expo this weekend, kicking it with Proof bros Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo. We will be at tables P56-P57 (by the Rue Morgue section) so come see us and say 'hi'. I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun.

"Savage Dragons" colors

Just before my wife and I left for our vacation in June, Alex emailed me and had me take care of a couple of jobs. One of them was the colors for the backup story in Proof #22. It was called "Savage Dragons" and featured my favorite supporting characters: the Cottingley fairies.

I'm quite happy with how the colors turned out. It was a fun story and Wes Wedman's artwork was a joy to play with. Proof #22 is on stands now.

Sketchbookstravaganza

I'm gearing up to do about fifty things at once this week, so if you don't hear from me... I'm really busy.

I have been toying with doing more inkwash work (especially since the Let the Right One In inkwash I tossed off last November got crazy attention) so I thought I'd try drawing Parker, from Darwyn Cooke's unbelievable gangster comic.


I had enough fun with it that I thought I might as well do the other two comics on my nightstand: Proof

...And Ojingogo (which was my secret favorite book I bought at TCAF. Sorry, Kate Beaton!).



I'm trying to figure out a wordmark to help brand my sites a bit better, and I also like to splatter ink and make a mess, so that's what all that's about.

(Hey, did you guys like Proof #22? Wasn't that crazy? Baby murder, and not the Ray Bradbury variety.)

MILAREPA preview

Matt Schuler was kind enough to post a preview of "Milarepa", which I did for his upcoming Legendary anthology. It's an adaptation of one of the legends of Milarepa, a Tibetan poet-saint who could shapeshift and survive for months on prayer alone. Later in his life (he was supposedly a real person!) his skin was said to have turned green. Awesome!

==> Click here to check out the preview on the LEGENDARY blog. <==

I did a lot of research into Tibetan culture for this story; Archie Snow's secret origins are steeped in the myths of Tibet. I am very proud of it, and I cannot wait for you to read it.

In other news, I will be appearing with Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo at the 2009 Fan Expo in Toronto at the end of August. Like Seattle, I will be doing commissions before the show and I will also be sketching at my table. Email me at kelly at kelly tindall dot com to set something up.

I will also be selling copies of my mini-comics Archie Snow: The First Fifteen Hours (which ties tightly into "Milarepa") and Stink, and I will have a preview of my upcoming AiT/Planet Lar book Squeak!. More to come.

Archie Snow

Just finished this bit. To be published in Proof #23.

July July

Lots to do this month. Just put down another chapter of Archie Snow, and then there's work to be done on Proof #25, more Archie, another backup story and a pitch. Plus, mothers and fathers and all of that.

Here's some sketches from Rome and Barcelona. It was a magnificent trip, thanks to the patience and wisdom of some really excellent friends. I love you all!