Ultraist Studios Blog Journal

This morning I began painting the background for the cover of SPY GUY #1!

While the family was away today, production migrated upstars into the temporary Kitchen Studio.  Click to see the tag labels (on flickr).

The last time I painted anything like this was way back in 2001 when I did the cover for SPY GUY: Bootleg.  Crikey, that was a long time ago!
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Not long ago I received this great sketch in the mail by none other than Troy Little; creator of Chiaroscuro (now a hit graphic novel published by IDW) and co-creator of Angora Napkin (not only a graphic novel, but also a new cartoon by Teletoon).

Be sure to check out his stuff over at Meanwhile Studios.

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New Years 2009, we celebrated in my childhood home.  Before the countdown I ventured into the attic and found all sorts of old Spy Guy art from my high school years a lifetime ago.  Among these ancient artifacts was this sculpture – the only 3 dimensional physical representation of Spy Guy in existence.  It now exists on my mantle. Behold retro Spy Guy.

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Thank you Jim Lee for the original pro tip recommending the Pentel Correction Pen.

I couldn’t find the original article to link to, but I did find this clip instead.

On the drawing board in the pic above:  Page 14 of SPY GUY #1.
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After 22 years of drawing Spy Guy, I think I finally figured out how to draw his hat.

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Last Sunday was the annual Word On The Street festival in Toronto, and despite calls for rain, the day ended up being warm and sunny. Once again Ultraist Studios was in attendance with Possum Press, and this year we debuted the SPY GUY and The POSSUM Superhero Movie cut-out stand-ups for the first time ever, which got a lot of attention (and photos).

An interesting side note:  I noticed all day that I was drawing a disproportionately large number of sketches with children robbing banks.  Must be a sign of our times.

Click to enlarge.

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This sketch was inspired by the amazing drawing style of artist Mike Kitchen!

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Click for slide-show.

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Below is my piece for The 2008 Shuster Awards Visions Of An Icon exhibit on the drawing board just before I sent it off to the Lillian H. Smith Library Auditorium, 239 College Street, Toronto.

If you’re in the neighbourhood, be sure to drop by this Saturday June 14th and see the original art, along with work from all the other fine contributors! Blair Kitchen (of The Possum fame) and myself should be making an appearance for the first hour of the show. Room B Exhibit opens at 10 am and runs until 4-4:30 pm.

Click the image above for more details.
Maybe we’ll see you there.

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Here is a glimps of what’s currently on the drawing board:

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