Steve Butler

The Art and Stories of

Steve Butler

I am a pen and ink junkie and creator of Cuckoos Wear Black.

Although having spent most of my life addicted to the joy of ink,

my entry into the world of comics was a late one.

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Before that, most of my work tended to be single page commentaries

 on whatever caught my mind at the time.

Mostly incomprehensible ideas but I know what I meant.

Waiting for an asteroid.

The inequity of global warming.

Soapbox Schadenfreude

That all changed when I read Strangehaven by Gary Millidge.
A soap opera written in comic format. It just sort of clicked and
triggered all the bells that perhaps, just perhaps,
 the ideas floating around in my head would work.
 And from there Cuckoos Wear Black began to evolve.
 The idea was to create a series of individual dramas
 set in a fictitious English town.
Richard and Julie's story
 is the first in the Cuckoos Wear Black series.

The artwork for Cuckoos Wear Black is traditional
with the exception of the dot tones and lettering
which are added later using Manga Studio.
I guess you can still get zip tones
but I wouldn't trust myself with anything sharp.
 The technique changed slightly during the comics development.
The early pages were primarily brush, which I love,
but the latter pages have tended to all be drawn with
 a Deleter G pen; an awesome pen, although it does
lay down a lot of ink so inky forearms and smudges
are always waiting in the sidelines to grab me.

I'm not saying where the change occurred and hopefully

 it's not obvious.

If anyone is interested, I pencil in reverse on the back

of the Bristol board and then ink on the other side

 using a homemade drawing board

with built-in light box; sounds much grander than it is.

Who paid the ferry man?

Although primarily working in black and white for comic work,

I will often work in colour for other illustration work.

Most of my colour work is undertaken using vector colours.

Alongside the comic illustration, I have also undertaken

a number of illustrations for

presentation and promotional literature...

 and of course, new commissions are always welcome.

Contact me at

http://cuckooswearblack.com/blog/?page_id=183

Follow me on twitter
http://twitter.com/henspace
Facebook of course at
http://www.facebook.com/henspace
Cuckoos Wear Black and links to other stuff over at
 http://cuckooswearblack.com/

And then there is this......

So much great work. Thanks Steve.

We can't get enough of the inking style you've crafted.
We want to see more and will follow the strips progress.

About your "Mostly incomprehensible ideas"...

Please keep 'em coming.

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The Art of Maurice Love

Maurice Love

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“Say What” is the brain child of self proclaimed

cartoonist Maurice Love.

 He’s been drawing as long as he can remember, but it’s been about

 eighteen years since the birth of his comic strip “SAY WHAT”.

 Although he loved comic strips the idea for the comic strip

came from such TV shows as What’s Happening and Good Times.

Nothing would have more influence than

the 1970’s movie Cooley High,

 but Charles Shultz served as his idol and inspiration of quality

and where he wanted to go in the business.

Maurice believes he is the standard of comic strips.

Upon graduating high school he began to send submissions

 to the various syndicates, such as United Artist, King Features,

 and the list goes on.

 After years and countless rejections, he and two of his brothers

 would form Gettosake Entertainment.

A media company geared to all forms of entertainment,

 such as cartoons, television, movies and comic books.

These were for a pitch we did at Disney.

 A boy with an imagination. Seen with his imaginary friends.

 I designed the look of the characters and the style we were using.

Gettosake Entertainment would go on to produce

comic books and graphic novels through such companies

 as Dark Horse and DC comics.

 Fierce and Shadow Rock, are some titles to name a few,

 Maurice would aid in some coloring and lettering to the productions.

 One part of the design we did for the pitch at Disney.

 A cartoon about my family,

which had a mother and father with nine children, and a dog.

Later the company would move into flash animation,

 producing many animated shorts.

He would design many of the characters, the look,

and style of the cartoons. His favorites were the two

animated shorts they produced for

 the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio

 entitled The North Star.

These are designs I did for the

North Star animated short we produced,

about the underground railroad.

The animated shorts can only be seen

at the Under Ground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.

 Disney considered their animated short

 Fearless Grasshopper for the network,

 ...but would later pass because another

 project in development they claimed was similar.

They would also do things with BET.com.

As of today his focus is, as he calls it, his eighteen year old child.
 Becoming a household name is the primary goal for the comic strip.
There are plans for monthly comic books and
 comic strip collection novels, with new as well as old comic strips.
 Cartoons are also in the plans, but he won’t get ahead of himself.
 He’s also looking to start illustrating children’s books.

Maurice is always open to taking on commission work.

You can contact him at Maurice@saywhatcomic.com.

Wow. A great new comic strip and awesome

artwork, animation and design work.

What's next from Maurice and the Love brothers?

We can't wait.

I suggest checking out their "Chocolate Thunder"

animation too. (a link can be found in the above video window)

We'll be watching and hope to have you back soon.

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Denver Brubaker – Cartoonist

Denver Brubaker Presents

Denver Brubaker is a freelance cartoonist from Ann Arbor, MI.

 He is the creator of the Tales of a Checkered Man comic strip

 which made its internet debut on April 6th 2010.

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TOACM is Denver’s love-letter to everything he loves about comics –

 mixing the 3-4 panel humor strips with the pulpy adventure serials.

 His main character; a caped, mask-wearing mystery man,

 has just begun his life as a crime-fighter and is learning

the ups and downs the hard way with the reader looking on.

Denver has drawn comics for as long as he can remember.

 This included a weekly comic strip in his college newspaper

 called Alligator Man on Campus.

 He actually drew the sketch that would later develop

into his patterned-protagonist way back in 1989!

He self published a handful of TOACM comics

 in the late 90’s and mid 2000’s.

Denver uses a mix of traditional and newer digital methods

 to produce TOACM. He typically writes full scripts,

 then pencils and inks his strips by hand on Bristol board –

 he colors and letters his work in Photoshop and Illustrator.

 Denver thinks digital tablets are neat and all,

 but doesn’t see himself switching to them anytime soon.

 He likes the tactile feel of paper and pencil

 and enjoys ink-stained hands.

Some of Denver’s favorite comic artists are

Mike Allred, Jeff Smith, Sergio Aragonés,

Mike Mignola, Bruce Timm, and Jack Kirby.

TOACM has gained some kind words early on:

“This work is just stunning and I cannot wait to see more.”

-BRIAN DOUGLAS AHERN (Bumpkin Buzz)

"I really dig The Checkered Man!
Solid art with fun puns! That's the best and rarest team-up going!"
-CHRIS YAMBAR (Bart Simpson Comics / Mr. Beat)

“…off to a great start!”
-DAVID PETERSON (Mouse Guard)

“LOOKS fantastic--very cool style, crisp and clear work…”
-TODD DEZAGO (Perhapanauts / Tellos)

“Great stuff!”
-RICHARD STARKINGS (Comicraft / Hip Flask)


Currently, TOACM runs twice a week with
 new comics posting on Tuesday & Thursday.



Denver is always open to taking on commission work
 and suggests that you contact him at
 thecheckeredman@gmail.com
 for more information.

What can we add that the experts haven't already said...

swoop in with new artwork any time you're ready.

CCU is quite down-to-earth so heights won't be a problem.

Thanks for sharing this fine toon and come back soon.

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William Agosto is "Knot Rite"

William Agosto's

"Knot Rite"

I'm a graphic artist with a flair for cartooning.

 My cartooning work has been published in the UA Journal,

 Lighthouse Digest, and cgmagazine (Celebrating Greyhounds).

My work has been seen in corporate and union newsletters.

 I've worked in a variety of companies in their respective art departments.

 Working on corporate presentations, web site design,

 interactive presentations, animations, and general production work.

My current original cartoon is called "Knot Rite".

 Knot Rite was born from my warped quirky sense of humor.

 Some have called me "not right" due to my sense of humor,

 thus the title of the cartoon. It's subject matter is about anything.

Animals, humans, relationships, puns. Anything that finds

its way into my cranium looking for release in a humorous way.

I continue to sketch ideas for my "Knot Rite" cartoon.

 Currently Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine is running some

 of my greyhound related cartoons. Rhode Island Monthly

 has an article slated for publication in the July 2010 issue

 about me and my cartooning. And I'm always on the lookout

for that next interesting project.

My Web Site:

http://www.agostographics.com

MY BLOG:

http://fromtheinsideofmycranium.blogspot.com/

CARTOONIST FOR CG MAGAZINE:

http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/cgmagazine/

Thanks William for giving us an inside look at a pro in action.

We want you back, but not any saner...it wouldn't be right.

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Reynard City

WELCOME TO...



Reynard City is a collaborative project of
 Polycomical and Nudge Productions.

A basic description would be a surreal spin on cartoons

 like Ninja Turtles and Thundercats

(albeit starring a psychic vixen who inflates on contact with caramel!)

Reynard City can be seen as a webcomic on

http://www.reynardcity.co.uk/,

 we are also working on a cartoon pilot,

 with a view to producing a cartoon series.

People can check out the comic at

http://www.reynardcity.co.uk/

 and can see some short animation tests here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfmYTp9Lar4

 and here-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_UGozxy_l0&feature=related

All the very best,

Rob Turner

Polycomical

Thanks Rob. We're psyched for Reynard City's future.

Who wouldn't want to see a psychic vixen in a

surreal cartoon. We'll see you in the screening room.

Come back and give us an update.

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