Frank Stockton Art

Hey guys,

I don't have time for a more elaborate post this week, but here is something that might be somewhat useful to you.

April 16-18, I'll have a table in Artist's Alley in the upcoming Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo. I'm looking for someone to split the table with, so if you or someone you know is a comics illustrator get in touch with me soon!
fstockton@gmail.com

Also, I did this cover for an upcoming Serenity one-shot. Still waiting to see it with the final logos on it.
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Have a good week,

frank

Several weeks ago, Justin Long of Orange Coast Magazine emailed me to offer a feature in the magazine about the relationship between drugs and surfing culture. I grew up in the part of Southern California where the story takes place, so I was pretty happy to do the job.

These first two images are of the amazing layout that Justin did with the illustrations. I think it's one of the finest jobs someone has done laying out my artwork to date, and am happy that he's given me the OK to post them here. You can click on either one of the spreads to see the illustrations enlarged.



I wanted to be a little more subtle but still have an emotional impact on the opening illustration. This can be a really tricky thing, since people are usually flipping through a magazine pretty quickly. I was pretty adamant about not wanting to show any obvious drug references, but was also concerned that the surfboard leash wrapped around the figure's wrist would be too subtle. Fortunately, Justin agreed that this solution would work.



I re-drew this basic pose several times, but it wasn't working. I could have just toughed it out, but I decided to totally scrap this pose and start over. It's a tough thing to do sometimes, because you usually want to stay somewhat close to your initial sketch, and it's easy to get lost in trying to make it work. You have to art direct yourself a lot of the time, though that's sometimes very hard to do.



Finally, I came up with a pose for the underwater figure that I was happy with. The illustration before this point was starting to make me really anxious, but when I had the insight to switch it up, I knew I could do a good job on it, and could focus on the colors.



Lastly, here are some screen shots I took while trying to work out the color.

Thanks for reading!


frank

Labels: justin long, orange coast, poses, surfing

Howdy!

The recent release of the Star Wars Galaxy 5 card set means that I'm officially allowed to post my other contribution to the set on my website!



Here's the text I wrote up for the back of the card:

Between ESB and ROTJ, Luke withdrew to his former Master Obi-Wan's hut in Tattoine to complete his Jedi training in solitude. For this piece, I chose to illustrate the moment of him completing the construction of the light saber he would eventually use to defeat Darth Vader and rescue his father with.

It's been months since I did this piece, but I've grown to like it more and more as time goes on.

By the way, I'll be at the Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo this April 16-18 with a table at Artist's Alley. If you can make it, be sure to stop by and check out all the cool stuff I'll have to offer there.


Take care,

Frank

Labels: c2e2, lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, star wars, topps

So, I'm not sure what's going on exactly. I guess something funky is going on with Blogger, so I've been hesitant to post anything until I see what the deal is.

But it's been a hectic last couple of weeks.

Last Thursday I was in two of Chang Park's illustration classes at Pratt giving a presentation/pep talk to the Seniors, and a presentation/critique of the Junior level work. Lots of fun. I have to say, that school has a ton of energy and talent.

Also, I've hit up figure drawing workshops a bunch of times over the past few weeks to get myself primed and ready to give a lesson in "drawing form with line" with Jillian Tamaki's drawing class at SVA. I spent all weekend working on a 6 page handout, which I hope they all read. Class was this morning and went pretty well. Great model, fun class.

Tuesday 2/23, I'm supposed to be giving an online presentation of my work for Rocky Mountain College of Art. I've been told this is going to be available streaming on the world wide web, but at this point in time I don't know what the URL is. All I know is that it's supposed to be at 11am Eastern time. Tune in to hear me massage your ears with the sweet, sweet sounds of success. Email me if you want me to give you the URL when it becomes available.

Wednesday 2/24, I'm doing a signing at Jim Hanley's Universe for the unveiling of the new Popgun 4, featuring (but not limited to) Hamburgers for One. Be there from 6-8pm if you dare, pick up the new book, and get ready to feel copasetic for comics.

Best,

Frank

Labels: figure drawing, hamburgers for one, lectures, signing

Recently I signed on to doing covers for IDW's comic book adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's classic, The Last Unicorn.



After reading the book, I felt that a more classical fantasy illustration approach might be appropriate. Specifically, I started looking at the work of Edmund Dulac and Arthur Rackham, who both worked primarily in ink and watercolor. Each of them tend to have an degree of realism, while maintaining the graphic quality I strive for in my designs.





Maybe this is just in my head, but for some reason I thought it would be my job to attract boys to a book with "Unicorn" in the cover, as it seems to be a given that girls would be willing to pick it up (sexist, I know). At any rate, it lead me to try to focus on making the unicorn much less cartoony while emphasizing the terror of the world around her.



And I haven't done this since college, but I did a whole bunch of color comps trying to figure out what would look best for the final. I even did some in watercolor to see if that would give me any good ideas.



In the end, the color comps were helpful, but I didn't wind up going with any one of them specifically.


The final is going to be sold as a variant cover for the first issue of the series, due out in April of this year.

For collectors, the original drawings can be purchased here. There's also a prints section with some new additions.



Have a great week,


Frank

Labels: cover, IDW, peter s. beagle, the last unicorn

Hello,

A few months back, I did two pieces of art for the new Star Wars Galaxy Series 5 trading cards by Topps.

I've been anxiously waiting for permission to be able to show these images to you, but have had to wait until they hit stores on February 20th to post them publicly.



Last week, I was surprised and honored to learn that one of my illustrations was chosen to be used for the promotion of the set, and so was given permission to show it to you a month early.

The scene illustrated takes place in the Star Wars Radio Dramas, which are available to listen to for FREE on Youtube -- I highly recommend them to you.

Almost as cool as doing the card itself was the opportunity to write my own quote for the back of the card:

While listening to the Star Wars Radio Dramas, I was struck by what is perhaps the most intense scene in A New Hope; Darth Vader's interrogation of Princess Leia Organa. The scene, which explicitely conveys the sick and twisted evil that had overtaken Anakin by that point, foreshadows some of the pivotal events that would leave us aghast in forthcoming episodes.

I've been really fortunate in the last several months to be doing some really fun assignments like this one. I promise there's more awesome stuff to come!



May the Force be with you,

Frank

Labels: cards, darth vader, leia, star wars, topps

Hamburgers for One, an original story I wrote and illustrated a while back, is going to be in print this February in Image Comics' Popgun Vol. 4.


There's a nice write-up on the Comic Book Resources website about the Popgun 4 anthology here.


The following is a quote about my story from the series editor, D.J. Kirkbride:

"'Hamburgers for One' is one of the centerpieces of the book," Kirkbride described of Stockton's contribution. "At 24 pages, it stands on its own and could be a one-shot. Frank has an amazing style, and this one surprised me after his very action-packed and humorous contribution to volume three, 'The Swordsman.' 'Hamburgers,' to me, is a great illustration of pacing. It's all very deliberate, and as a reader and writer myself, I learned a lot from it. A very subtle and interesting character piece with great visuals — Frank knocked it out of the park."

Read the entire article here.


Popgun is a XXL anthology of comics published by Image. It's a super-eclectic mix of different genres and stories that are calibrated to blow your mind. Volume 3 included my story "Swordsman MonsterSlayer: Monster Revenge." I highly recommend it.

Popgun Vol. 4 is available for purchase on February 24, 2010.

Best,

Frank

Labels: anthology, comics, hamburgers for one, popgun

The end of the decade is upon us -- WHAT?!? It seems like only yesterday I started stockpiling food, firearms, and gasoline in anticipation of the implosion of life-as-we-know-it called Y2K.
Well anyway, here are some pictures I did last year, but never blogged about. Perhaps I'll go more in-depth about some of them later. At any rate, I've got some really cool pieces I can't wait to show off in the coming months.


Best of luck 2010!

Frank

Quite often, I'll do a sketch or two that doesn't make it to final. Here are a bunch of sketches I did for jobs last year. Most made it to final, but some did not.
Edible San Francisco; Playboy's Advisor column.

Commander in Chief; Spot for PC World Magazine.

Bottom panel of INC comic.

Men's Health; Fast Company; Men's Health.

The Last Unicorn; The Grim Reaper.

Avatar for the New Yorker.



--Frank

Labels: pencil, sketches