FanExpo Canada: Thursday

I’ll be sitting at P16A beside the always incredible Leonard Kirk, between 4 and 9 (I think the con starts at 3pm but with traffic and lineups and having to get my passes, let’s play it safe!). I will have Star Trek books, sketchcovers, Batman 66 issues and lots more. I’ll be doing sketches (Keiren will have a list). I don’t charge for signing books but I will be asking people to donate to one of my absolute favourite charities, Hero Initiative so they can keep up all the good work they do to help out comics people in need.

I’ll be spending all my time at my table except when;

I will be part of a sketch duel against…TOM GRUMMETT at 5:45 pm in Room 716.

I will be teaching a workshop, Comic Writing/Storytelling:  How to tell a story in pictures at 7:15pm in Room 703. (If you can’t make the workshop or would like to take my entire course on Layouts, called HOW TO DRAW COMICS, there are still a few spaces open. Info is HERE.)

And don’t forget! My Kickstarter for OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL BOLDLY GO! Check it out now and see the list of great rewards (even I don’t know who the voice will be on the audiobook…although I do know who they were talking to…). Click on the angry Gorn to be taken to the link:

Ty the Guy OUT!

 

 

Montreal!

No conventions or appearances this June for family reasons, so my next convention will be Montreal Comiccon. It’s one of my favourite cities so I’m always happy for a chance to visit.

As with my other appearances I will be doing pre-con commissions. Info is on the page:  COMMISSIONS. I have to update the list of available sketchcovers when I find ’em all…if there’s one you’re interested in let me know and I’ll see if I can find it at my LCS.

 

Ty the Guy OUT!

Nepotism Nerd Alert!

So, I’m married, I have kids and cats, and even a daughter-in-law.  Naturally, the family considers my interest in comics and pop-culture a weird novelty that they want nothing to do with.  I just have to compromise with them, and keep the Doc Savage posters in the basement and the Simpsons McDonalds Cups out of the kitchen.

Yeah, right.

My family is as deep into this stuff as I am.  Sometimes, MORE.

My daughter-in-law, Jessica Costley,  has set up a site to show off her mastery of the cake in general, and the geek-cake in specific.   Since I am Master of the Land of the Internet, I get to show off some of the special cakes that arrived at my house as beautiful artwork, which I then had to watch as they were EATEN RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!!

Enjoy.  Envy me my world of exceptional baked goods!

This is a cake Jessica made for my teen son Taylor’s birthday earlier this year. He’s a huge fan of the cartoon show Archer. This not only has the tinfoil swan but (not shown in this angle of the photo, unfortunately) there are tiny little fondant ants surrounding it. I’m not sufficiently up on my “Archer” to know, but I am told that this will make Archer fans giggle with glee.  

Archer cake from Taylor’s 17th birthday, February 2013

I get to eat things that look like this all the time.  Best eaten after defeating the Kang/Darkseid team-up that threatened two universes!

Superhero cupcakes done for an event at The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery, my local comic shop, downtown Toronto.

This isn’t a hobby, by the way, Jessica is a professional baker, so when she goes in to work, this is the sort of thing she does:

Doin’ it like it’s no big thang.

It’s the ‘geek’ themed cakes, especially for kids birthdays, that she likes to do though.

Flash birthday cake

My sons are all huge video game fans and sometimes their birthday cake will reflect their latest favourite. Last year, Sean was all about Skyrim and Jessica was happy to oblige with this cake. The horns were primarily layers of fondant–Sean tried biting into one and his eyes crossed from the sugar rush.

Not sculpture, but cake.  Skyrim cake for Sean’s 13th birthday, September 2012

This year, Sean is all about Dark Souls. Jessica made this cake topper of Solaire of Astora for his cake.

Solaire of Astora done for Sean’s 14th birthday, September 2013.  A Solaire this cute, you don’t eat all at once.

And now…for her latest piece de resistance! My pals Hope Nicholson and Rachel Richey just met their fundraising goal for their Kickstarter project to reprint Nelvana of the Northern Lights comics. They had originally planned to have a party to lobby for funds–it ended up as a celebration of their success (although the Kickstarter is STILL going. Check it out and see what you can contribute–I think they might be adding in some extra goals as it continues). The highlight of the party (I’ve been told) was Jessica’s amazing cake.

Behold Nelvana, Cake of the Northern Lights.

So check out Jessica’s site, Jess Costley:  Cake Decorator.  And here’s the bestest part!  If you live in the Toronto area, you can order one of these delightful edible objects through her site!  Don’t stampede all at once, she’s only one woman.  All are served on a first geek basis.

Why should I be the only one getting to swallow Thor’s hammer every now and then?

(Straight line delivered…internet responds in five…four…three…)

And now, for further nepotism:

You guys already know my wife, Keiren is a comic book colour artist, and it’s always a joy to get to show off her latest work.

There’s quite a bit of storytelling that the colourist is responsible for.  Getting your eye to move to the right spot, the right detail, takes as much skill as the artist drawing the page.  The lady is good at this stuff.

These are preview pages from the new series “THE FIRST HERO”, from publisher, ACTION LABS.  The book was written by former Bootcamper Anthony Ruttgaizer, with art by Phillippe Sevy, covers by Lee Moder.

I’m lucky, I got to read the comic complete with word balloons, and it’s a heck of a ride.  You guys have to wait, and tap the floor nervously with anticipation.

The series launches in the new year, but I’ll come back to whet the appetite now and then.  There’s too many fun pages in this book to keep them ALL to myself, while I have access to the files….heee heee. The book is in the last hours of an IndieGoGo campaign so check out the link here and see what you can contribute ($5 gets you a digital download of all four issues) The F1rst Hero on IndieGoGo.

Heck…while I’m promoting…here’s a link to TY TEMPLETON’S COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP,  my one-room schoolhouse teaching tomorrow’s comic book superstars.  New classes in pencilling start in a couple of weeks.  If you’re in the Toronto area, we’d love to have you!

Click here to be taken to the Bootcamp site for a description of the next classes.

There might be cake.

Ty the Guy, nepotism promotions OUT!

Holmes for the Holidays! Well, Labour Day, anyway!

It’s that time of year again!  When the stunningly skilled graduating class of my Comic Book Bootcamp courses show off their scriptin’ and drawin’ Bona Fides  in another ALL NEW 80 page GIANT issue of mystery-solving Holmsian magnificence.

Ya gotta love that cover by Mississauga neighbour, and bouncing Bootcamp Alumni Adam Gorham (artist for Big Sexy Comics’ TEUTON series, when not knocking a Holmes cover out of the park for the team!).

Like Game of Thrones, only better.

But back to these characters:

art by Daniel Wong, colour by K.T. Smith

Issue three is heading to the printers as we speak, and I’ll be showing off some pages from the delightful contributors in the next few days.  Check back often and be the first on your interweb to see these new creators before anyone else finds ’em and hires them away to run Marvel Comics.

And if you’re interested in joining the all-scriptin’, all-drawin’ elite team of artists and writers,  classes continue in September.  All ages, genders, orientations and and sizes are welcome, but we allow only one attitude past the door:  You must be willing to participate.

Click on the magic logo, and find about the next courses being taught at the school! We’d love to have you join.

Who knows, maybe next ish, you’ll have a story in the fourth book of the series?  We’ve already helped launch a career or two around here.   Stay tuned for the next batch of stars.

Holmes Inc. art by Gibson Quarter, colours by Keiren Smith.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Holmes Incorporated Moment:

Last Year’s striking cover by Marvel X-Factor artist Leonard Kirk!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY and…

Saturday May 5 is Free Comic Book Day ! It’s like Christmas with less nog!

Christmas is RUINED. If only there was something to read with Batman in it, some time in May...

But just in case FREE COMICS aren’t enough for you ravenous T-Dot funny book fans–it’s also the weekend of The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, where the best of the indy creators gather together and just commit art all over the joint. Bring splash guards for all the flyin’ ink and paint.

You want MORE?  Free Comics and a great comics convention isn’t enough?   How greedy are you guys?  Okay, just to calm down the insatiable maw I sense out there, The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery ( conveniently located at the same address as the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop) will be crawling with lots of great comics creators including Stuart Immonen, Kathryn Immonen, Gibson Quarter, Marco Rudy, Raffaele Ienco, Mike Del Mundo, David J. Cutler, Karly Macdonald and this long eared Ty-Bunny, signing autographs, doin’ sketches, and making FREE COMIC BOOK DAY the magical adventure that it is.

According to the plans I’ve heard, there will be face painting for the kids, a mini artists alley, and obviously–free comics!! And word has it that Toronto Batman might make an appearance.

There, I hope that satisfies you folks for a day of comics fun.   After that exhausting day is over, I’m going to put my feet up on the couch at the Comic Book Lounge…and…

WAIT!  THERE’S MORE?!?!?

After the Free Comic Book Day events are over,  starting at 8pm, I will be sitting talking with my guests about Canadians and the comics industry exploring the idea of “As Canadian as possible under the circumstances.” in a LIVE talk show.

The first person I thought of to be my first guest ever was Mark Askwith. I’ve known Mark for thirty years now? Wow–long enough that I’ve lost track. I met Mark back when he was manager of The Silver Snail comic shop. When Mark created the much-beloved and much-missed Prisoners of Gravity for TVO, I did the art for the opening sequence, and guested on it frequently. These days, Mark is a producer at Space:  The Imagination Station, producing Inner Space. That’s only some of his comics cred–there’s so much more!

And we’ve got Will Pascoe, director of an upcoming documentary about the Golden Age of Canadian comics superheroes. And we’ve got Scott Chantler, the award winning creator of Two Generals and Towers of Treasure! Not enough for you? We’ve also got Ken Lashley–as he says in his bio “[he’s] worked for them all, Lucasfilm, lucas arts, Hasbro, Mattel, Dc comics, Marvel comics, Fox sports..etc..” In the midst of his many projects, he’s doing covers for DC Comics at the moment.

We’re planning for roughly an hour–but if we’re having too good a time, we might go longer. And the audience isn’t allowed to be shy, as we will be taking questions! (But keep your questions relevant to the conversation.  No one gets to bring up our Mayor’s weight problems or the price of gas.).

When On the Couch’s inaugural episode is over, there will be an announcement of the Joe Shuster Award nominations. Then–

–an Industry Night Party to celebrate comics, Canadians, the Shuster Awards and anything else we can think of.  We will make you ACHE with fun.

Come join us for some of, or all of the day–and the night! We’re excited about everything we have planned for Free Comic Book Day and for On the Couch with Ty Templeton. (This will be the  first of hopefully many On the Couch episodes–unless there’s a death in the audience, or an armed rebellion, we’re coming back).

Ty the Guy OUT!!

Here now, your BONUS FREE COMIC BOOK MOMENT:

Isn't this cool? And it didn't cost you a dime.

Nepotism Friday! Keiren Smith edition!

I always talk about how busy I am around here, creating fine comic book based entertainment for the masses with all those crazy knucklehead characters I get to write and draw….

Like my wildly hysterical script for Avenging Spider-Man #8, (cover by Shane Davis, interiors by Matt Clark), due in stores in just eleven weeks! Silver Sable and Doc Strange Guest Star! Order yours today!

…but my wife has been doing so much colouring work around the funnybook biz lately that this month, she’s got more to read out there than I do.

So, because you should love her as much as I, I’m showing off some pages from her most recent work, with links to where you can read it online.  Who says my home in Toronto isn’t the House of Ideas?  Oh, this Cease and Desist order from Marvel  does.    Well, OTHER than this legal restraint?  Who?  Who?

First up:  A few teaser pages from a HEROES OF THE NORTH story about their characters Nordik and Eightball, available as an online comic book before the print edition comes out later (from Ardden Entertainment; the first omnibus collection sold out, so grab the second one as soon as you see it!-kts).  Read it while it’s free, fans, it just went online a few days ago.

I LOVE the blues she chose.  The pencil and ink artwork is by my friend David J. Cutler, who did the fun-but-hard-to-find-a-copy-of Johnny Canuck and the Northern Guard comic book with me last year.  I just can’t seem to quit David J., but one look at these pages and you can see why I’m a fan.

The lesson of this tale seems to be:  Ladies, dress warmly for cold weather.  Either that or it’s a thrilling murder mystery with cool action sequences and gunfights and stuff, like a good comic book should be.   All in glorious colour for LESS than a dime!  Beat that!

I dig the first panel on this page!

So click on over and read this story and show our Canadian comic book creators a little love.  It’s even better with the word balloons, though it covers up the pretty drawings and the pretty colours.

Keiren also just finished colouring a project called “Taking Flight” for writer Stephen Sutherland and artist Garry McLaughlin, who hail from Glasgow, a town with even more foreboding weather than Toronto.

If you're getting a "Frank Quitely" vibe, you're not alone.

This is the just the first three pages.  It’s available for pre-order at Laser Age Comics, but it won’t be printed up until April 9, so you’ll have to pace and bite at your nails until then.  I really like the colour work my one-and-only did on these pages.  The sense of quiet and peace as this character learns what it’s like to fly is really brought across by the palette she chose.

Here’s a page from a YMCA comic book project Keiren finished a few weeks ago…

The Adventures of Y Guy, written by another Holmes Inc. alumnus Kathleen Gallagher

Pencil art by Christopher Yao this time around…an alumnus of the Holmes Incorporated comic books I put out every year with the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.  You can read the story here, and pick up the comics at local YMCAs in the Toronto area.

Just so you don’t think I’m a completely lazy sod, I have an issue or two of Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures coming up that I’ve done script and art chores for a story, as well as an issue of the Simpsons I wrote and drew, due in stores any time.  And my OWN Heroes of the North 12 pager in the pipeline for early summer.  Oh, and don’t forget tasty, tasty BACON!! (more on this as it crisps and develops).

But you guys get enough of me around here.

Check out the work of my own personal comic book colourist (her deviantART site), and let her know she’s pretty good at this gig.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Keiren Templeton-Smith Bun Toon Bonus Moment:

One of Keiren's first appearances as a bunny in a Bun Toon from the early 90s!

Convention Sketches I don’t hate.

I always hate my convention sketches.

1)  I don’t draw particularly well to begin with, and

2) I’m always seated near Leonard Kirk, the KING of the con-sketch.

Both of those factors lead me to cringe at almost every convention sketch I see scanned and put up online.  But this last weekend, I actually did a handful that didn’t suck.

The above shot of Indiana Jones was done for a fan named Derek Jagt, who went around the convention asking all the artists for a drawing of Indy.  Obviously, I couldn’t draw one out of my head, but when presented with a reference photo, I did this in about fifteen minutes, with two grey markers and a Faber-Castell artist pen.  I’m not sure I completely caught Harrison Ford’s likeness as perfectly as I would have, given another hour or so, but what I like about it is the very casual line work all through the sketch.  When I do a portrait, I tend to tighten up, but this has some of that easy movement one might see in a Mort Drucker piece.  I’m not in his league, but every now and then, I can see what I’m doing to get there.

On the more whimsical side of things, here’s a sketch cover  I did for Jason Truong, a friend of the blog.  Whenever I do Wolverine, The Thing, Nick Fury or Howard the Duck, I always insist on the cigar, since they’re not allowed to smoke in the comics any more.

Even if it’s Chibi Baby Wolverine.  He’s a mutant, he’s got the healing power for when he starts coughing up the phlegm.

There were one or two others that didn’t suck from the weekend.  I did one with V for Vendetta that wasn’t awful.  But I don’t have a scan of that one.

Back to drawing in my home studio…where I get to use an eraser and white out if I don’t like how it’s going.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS Con Sketches:

I’m serious about not sitting next to Leonard Kirk at a convention if you have any pride.  Look at the sort of thing Len considers a “con sketch”.

It makes you want to break his fingers, except he’s a very nice guy.  GRRR.

2012 Convention Schedule and more…

Ty promised himself that he was going to be posting more on the blog this year and was getting frustrated that he hasn’t had the time–until I pointed out that it’s that he has so much work to do, all of which he’s excited to be doing.  But I did promise that I’d pop in to mention a few things, so here ya go…

The official start to Ty Templeton’s 2012 Convention Season is next-next weekend. Usually, Ty only does the Toronto shows but after doing the wildly-successful wildly-enjoyable Montreal Comiccon last year, he’s agreed to do more for 2012.  There might be a few additions to the list later in the year but for now, this is it:

Formerly known as Fan Appreciation and now Toronto ComiCon as presented by Fan Expo. And expanded to two days– Saturday March 10-Sunday March 11.

Toronto Cartoonists Workshop will be there, sharing a booth with The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery. (You might be able to register for the upcoming workshops at the show…but classes will begin the Monday after the show, so best to not take any chances and sign up now for WRITING FOR COMICS LEVEL TWO and Ty Templeton’s COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP PART ONE.) If you’re not able to get to the show, but need to get some comics, make sure you check out The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery in it’s permanent space (shared with TCW) at 587A College Street West. Our oldest son will be holding down the fort.

Been waiting for Calgary Expo to announce this–now, we can confirm that Ty will be attending, for the first time, the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. The show runs Friday April 27-Sunday April 29, and features an amazing list of guests.

Our buddies, Heroes of the North will be there as well, showing off all their books, posters, figurines and some of the actors! Artist Gibson Quarter (Holmes Incorporated, Undertow #2) has finished pencilling a new 8-Ball story for HoTN and will be there, too. (Ty just finished a script for HoTN, to be pencilled by Richard Pace. Like Ty, Richard divides his time between teaching and drawing comics. He’s an instructor at Durham College, and is currently hard at work on Ashes written by Alex de Campi. AND he just announced that he’s drawing a 3-part adaptation of a Robert E. Howard story for Dark Horse’s SAVAGE SWORD (#5-7), written by Ian Edginton.)

In June, Ty will be off to Austin, Texas…but that hasn’t been “officially” announced yet, so I’ll wait to put up all the info.

In August, it will be The Big One–the biggest comic convention in Canada, that is. Fan Expo Canada runs Thursday August 23-Sunday August 26 this year. It was wildly busy last year–slightly overwhelming by the last day, butgreat to spend time with so many other creators and to talk to so many fans.

Toronto Cartoonists Workshop and The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery will both be at the show as well. Heroes of the North will put in an appearance as well. Their second omnibus collection will be published by then. And the HoTN comic story drawn by David J. Cutler (artist for The Northern Guard) will be out by then as well.

Montreal Comiccon is the little comic book convention that didn’t so much grow as EXPLODE!! It was such an enormous, unexpected success that they’ve moved to a bigger location this year, Friday September 14-Sunday September 16. Ty and I really really enjoyed the show last year…had a very brief twenty minutes when we thought it was going to be quiet, when we first arrived at Ty’s table. That was the last twenty minutes of peace for the entire weekend! Got to meet Dan Parent, have dinner with Dan, Gibson Quarter and the Heroes of the North crew.

That is currently the extent of Ty’s convention schedule…

At the same time that all this fun is going on, and as Ty is busy working, he will be continuing to teach at Toronto Cartoonists Workshop.

WRITING FOR COMICS LEVEL TWO begins Monday March 12, 7-10pm. Completion of Level One is a requirement.  Wednesday March 14, Ty starts COMIC BOOK BOOTCAMP Part One 7-10pm.

Rob Walton will be teaching CREATING YOUR OWN GRAPHIC NOVEL starting Thursday March 15, and Walter Dickinson will be teaching CARTOONING RODEO for kids 8-12 years of age Saturday mornings April 14-June 16.

                                                                                              Keiren

Comic Book Bootcamp–A look at some of the ‘graduates’

It’s time to register for the next session of classes at TCW!   Writing for Comics Level Two is only available for students who have finished Level One. New and returning students can enroll in Ty’s Comic Book Bootcamp Part One!! Yayyy!

When Ty created Comic Book Bootcamp, it was  such a popular class that the first group of students begged him to continue–and he created Part Two.  After a student finishes Part One and Two, as Ty tells them, they’re able to take all the skills he’s taught them,  go off and create on their own.

Holmes Incorporated by Christopher Yao

Ty is helped in this belief by a lot of evidence…over the years, many local Toronto creators have taken his Bootcamps. They came in with varying abilities and backgrounds but with an enthusiasm for learning, and a drive to practice practice practice until their skills got to where they could look for professional work, or start creating on their own.

Eden Bachelder was one of Ty’s first students. She’s an artist who works in oil and acrylic paints, leather and many other mediums.  After taking Ty’s Bootcamps  she participated in  Bootcamp Comics (writing and pencilling The Three Kinds of Sex), and  Holmes Incorporated #1, (pencilling Nightclubbing with writer Kathleen Gallagher).

Holmes Inc. #1 Nightclubbing pg 7, by Eden Bachelder

Eden does other freelance work (she illustrated a government colouring book I lettered for her!).  Here’s a sample of Eden’s cartooning work (this one is called Citizen Chauvelin Adjusts Himself“).

Eden Bachelder

Christopher Yao is at work on his creator-owned comic Fauntkin. He has participated in both Holmes Incorporated comic books,

Holmes Inc. #1, Welcome to Holmes Incorporated, art by Christopher Yao, story by Greg Dunford, letters by Keiren Smith

and recently, drew The Adventures of Y Guy, a mini-comic that Toronto Cartoonists Workshop produced in-house for the YMCA of Greater Toronto (which is currently being reprinted).

The Adventures of Y Guy, pg 3, art by Christopher Yao, script by Kathleen Gallagher, colours/letters by Keiren Smith

3

The Adventures of Y Guy is the first paid comics work of another former Bootcamper—Kathleen Gallagher. Kathleen wrote stories in each of the Holmes Incorporated issues (Night Clubbing with Eden Bachelder on art, for #1, and Eight Seconds to Mayhem for #2 with Danny Setna on art).

Adam Gorham was an artist on Holmes Incorporated #1 after taking classes with Ty (The Fingerless Prince with writer Heather Emme).

Holmes Inc. #1, The Fingerless Prince pg. 3, art by Adam Gorham, script by Heather Emme, letters by Keiren Smith

Adam’s first work was The Vampire Conspiracy and he is currently working on Teuton, an ongoing comic series he co-created with  Fred Kennedy.

Teuton, Vol. 2 Trolls attack, art by Adam Gorham

Daniel Wong took Ty’s Bootcamp a couple years ago and signed up for Fit to Print’s Holmes Incorporated when he was finished. His story, The Family Name was chosen as the first story for the issue. Pages like this were the reason why:

Holmes Inc. #2, The Family Name by Daniel Wong, script by James Cooper

Daniel is busy working as a freelance illustrator, recently finishing a commissioned story written by his Holmes Inc. collaborator, James Cooper (who is continuing to write comics, write and direct short films and writes Bagged and Bored for Tdot Comics). That work isn’t published yet–but I’m sneaking in a page here.

Old Haunts pg 4, art by Daniel Wong, script by James Cooper

One of the hardest working students to ever grace a Bootcamp has to be the one, the only Gibson Quarter! When other students were asking how to find their first work, Gibson was busy networking and finding his own here and abroad. He’s worked with Alan Grant for his Wasted Magazine, pencilling Grant’s War on Drugs. (Grant started Wasted Magazine through his company Bad Press; sadly, it’s now defunct).

Wasted, California pg 5, pencils by Gibson Quarter, script by Alan Grant

Gibson was one of the first students to take a Bootcamp course, and one of the very few who got to take all three versions. Having finished Parts 1 and 2, he was able to join in on the fun with Holmes Incorporated. He pencilled Flight Plan (for writer Robert Pincombe) for Issue 1, and Polarized for Issue 2 (written by Sam Ruano).

Holmes Inc. #2, Polarized, art by Gibson Quarter, script by Kathleen Gallagher

Gibson is a workhorse, so I couldn’t possibly list everything he’s done.  He’s worked for FutureQuake Magazine, producing both a cover and interior work for Issue 15. He pencilled The Gutters with Ryan Sohmer, drawing #244. He’s in the current issue of Undertow #2 from 7th Wave (which is on the stands NOW. Review HERE. You can buy a copy from The Comic Book Lounge & Gallery, the comic store sharing space with…Toronto Cartoonists Workshop!). Gibson’s currently finishing up the pencils and inks on a story for Heroes of the North–to find out what’s next for him make sure you check out his art blog.

Deadpool Breaking Bad, pencils by Gibson Quarter, inks by Guillermo Ortego, colours by Keiren Smith

You’ll notice that all those mentioned have participated in one or both issues of Fit to Print’s:  Holmes Incorporated. The next Fit to Print will be starting up soon (looking at end of April/beginning of May?); in order to participate students have to completed at least Comic Book Bootcamp Part One.

Holmes Inc. art by Gibson Quarter, colours by Keiren Smith

This is just a quick list of some of the creators who’ve taken Ty’s classes–just think, next time I write this list up…YOU could be on it.

Keiren

Sketchbooks! We got Sketchbooks! Yay!

Last Friday, the school I teach at (Toronto Cartoonists Workshop) had an open house for students to come meet the instructors – which include the tremendously talented Leonard Kirk, Dave Ross, and Eric Kim amongst others.

A big part of what I teach at the school involves the rough work of comics, the layout, the thumbnail, the sketched figure on the page, and I wanted to have something to show to students that involved sketch work and ideas in progress, so they can see the more candid side of an artists life.

To that end I edited together some warm-up drawings, some rough work, some scribbles and doodles and bears (oh my!) from from a small sampling of my sketchbooks, and put them into a never-before-seen 48 page collection.

We printed up a small box of ’em to sell at the open house, and did a lovely brisk business, thank you very much…but we’ve got a handful left over.

It looks like this, with a wraparound cover.

A few of you asked me to make the book available on the blog here, and that’s what I’m doing today, but to be brutally honest, I’m not sure what the methods involved will be…Paypal?  Barter?  A pound of flesh?  I’m fairly sure we’re asking twenty dollars for the book, but my wife Keiren is by FAR, the better person to ask these vulgar details of.

I’m assuming Keiren will pop on the blog in a moment and supply some of these details below. **  If you’re reading this before she’s come on to finish this blog post, please come back in an hour or two, and it’ll all be solved.  I’m off to my bed.

**(send an email to tybunny@gmail.com, with your mailing address–books are $20/Cdn plus shipping. We’ll email you shipping costs, confirm purchase, send you a PayPal invoice).

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your BONUS sketchbook moment.

I'm fairly sure his legs are broken.

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Don’t forget to pick up Mad Magazine this week:

Including a few pages featuring Spider-Man by Ty the Guy.