No show and tell....yet.

Hey gang,

Sorry about the lack of posts. I've been up to my eyeballs in work lately.

For those who don't know, I've finally left the world of retail. Hopefully it's for good this time.

I've recently gotten into story-boarding to make some extra money. This is a path that I had thought about taking in the past but I was guided away by a few bitter illustrators who either didn't like the business or were burnt out on it.
I made some contacts in the field by way of the comic industry and these guys are fantastic artists, contacts, peers, and friends. They've been very welcoming and generous with their time to show me the ropes.
Unfortunately, the nature of the business requires me to sign a lot of Non Disclosure Agreements which keep me from talking about and/or showing you the stuff I'm working on.

Two hints I can give you about who I've been working for:
1. One of the top two Soft Drink companies in the world.
2. One of the largest Sub chains in the midwest.

Don't worry, I'll be posting some art soon. I'm working on several new samples for my new story-boarding portfolio and I will show everyone as soon as they're done.

I'm also gearing up to work on some sketch cards from a company in the UK, Strictly Ink. I will be illustrating 30 sketch cards for the upcoming 3rd set of The Avengers (1960's British TV Show). So, look forward to lots of Emma Peel drawings soon.

Happy Holidays,
Kyle

Windy City Comicon 2009

My friend and official photographer of The Windy City Comicon, Jen Santrelli, took this pic mid sketch. This is pretty much what my day looked like, hanging out, drawing and having a good time.



Cheers,
Kyle

and then....

Hey folks,

Sorry for the long delay in posts. The Windy Comicon and family stuff have kept me pretty busy lately.

The con was great! I had a blast hanging with all of the comic guys from near and far. I managed to sell some sketches, prints and sketch cards.

For now, here are some photos I took recently while on a trip down to Champaign, IL. I was out hunting for landscapes to paint. Unfortunately, the entire time I was there Champaign was having some sort of infestation of soybean aphids all over the town. Also, due to the damp weather, there were also great hordes of mosquitos roaming about looking for fresh fools to drain.

Needless to say, I didn't get any painting done. I did however manage to snap some photos while dodging insects in the wee hours of the morning.

The mornings in Champaign at this time of the year are covered in fog and haze. I tried to capture this and a combination of my memories of where I grew up and spent a lot of time playing as a kid.








Next time I head home I'm taking bug spray and hiking boots.

Cheers,
K

crunch time

These posts seem to be few and far between lately. Sorry about that.

I'm at the beginning of a 4 week sprint to get a few projects wrapped up in time for The Windy City Comicon where my good friend Skyler and I will be hanging out and selling preview copies of our creator owned book Bokken.
I'm hoping to get that done along with several sketches and a few prints. Everything has been started but due to a nasty case of strep throat I'm a week behind.

So, if you can't find me and I'm not answering the phone you now know why.

Below is a caricature of Marvel artist Skottie Young. He is in the midst illustrating The Wizard of Oz books for Marvel. Skottie is a real nice guy and talented artist. When you get a chance check out his site and his books.




If you're going to be in or near Chicago on September 19th, come out to The Windy City Comicon. It's their second year holding this con and it's grown into a beast of a show. They've managed to get over 80 local and international comic book artist into one room along with several publishers, distributors and vendors. The show is going to be amazing!
Click here to view all the guests.

2009 Windy City Comicon

Saturday Sep. 19th, 2009 - 10:00am to 6:00pm

Center on Halsted - 3656 N Halsted, Chicago, IL 60613

See ya there,
K

Chicago Comicon 2009

Hey gang,

I just wrapped up a very long but fun weekend hanging out at The Chicago Comicon . I met a lot of fantastic artists, walked around until I was too tired to walk anymore and drew caricatures for my alma mater, The American Academy of Art.

Photo courtesy of my friend Garrett Bowhall.
Thanks man!

I hung out with old friends from the Chicago area and made a few new ones too.

Three amazing artists I met that are super talented and incredibly nice:

Wizard of Oz artist - Scottie Young
Hercules artist- Ryan Stegman
Aliens artist - Zach Howard

I also got to spend a good chunk of time with inker Christian Alamy and his lady Michelle. They are two of the sweetest people I've met in awhile. Christian doesn't seem to have a website but he is a super talented inker on Green Lantern-Blackest Night, one of the highest selling books at DC right now.

There are many more artists that I met but didn't get to spend a lot of time with. They were all amazing and gave me tons of inspiration to fuel me on for awhile.

Right now I am busy gearing up for the next convention, The Windy City Comicon. I'll have a small table and a preview of the book I'm working on. I'll hopefully have a couple of prints and sketches for sale as well. I also be signing and sketching the preview book. More news on that soon...

On a side note: Mike Norton and a few others have brought to my attention that I need to be painting more. He and a bunch of other artists think that I could easily make a living at it. So...as soon as the next few projects wrap up I'll breaking out the paints again. I'm going to try and teach myself to paint in acrylics to get the same effects as oil with a much faster drying time. I'm also going to try my hand a watercolors again too.

As usual, I'll be a busy bee for the foreseeable future but I'm really enjoying everything I'm doing. It has been an amazing year so far and I can't wait to see what's around the next corner.

Thank you to all the people who have helped and continue to help me make my dreams come true. You guys are the best.

See ya soon,
Kyle

P.S. Sky and Garrett, thanks for keeping me company and keeping me sane throughout the weekend.

Spiderman WIP

I started this drawing as a warm up a couple days ago and I haven't been able to put it down. I'm adding a background right now and should have it inked by next week.
Also, for anyone interested, I'll be doing caricatures at the American Academy of Art table at Wizard's Chicago Comicon Sunday, Aug. 2nd.

And....the food blog is in the early stages of formation. I'm trying to get another artist to share it with me.

That's all folks.

Question: blog or book?

Over the past year or so I've been thinking about doing some sort of illustration project based on my favorite recipes. I recently picked up a few cooking magazines that had some fantastic drawings and paintings in them and now I really feel the need to get this project moving.

Here is the question for anyone reading: Should I do an illustrated food blog, an illustrated book of my favorite recipes or maybe some combination of the two?

Feel free to comment here or e-mail me at kyle@kylebice.com

Thanks,
Kyle