Hyperactiveart: The Blog of Artist Steve Ellis

Two ravens in a tree

2011-12-07T06:54:00.001-08:00

A painting I did for a friend of mine's wedding. Chuck is one of my favorite people so I hope they like it. I'm happy I got to give it to them. The wedding was a blast and seeing all the guys from Syracuse dressed up was great.

Early werewolf

2011-12-07T06:50:00.001-08:00

Here's a sketch of a piece that I might want to turn into a sculpture soon

Full text of Occupy Wall St. Declaration

2011-10-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post this so it won't get changed and distorted by the media

Make A History
October 1st, 2010

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.

We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.,

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *
To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

Frazetta Museum POSt from a couple of years ago

2011-08-03T23:37:00.000-07:00

The bus pulls up to the side of the road. There is a driveway there with no signage or any indications that this is anything but someone’s home. Steve, Paolo, Fred and I stay back a watch as the people at the front of the bus gather their things and wander out. I follow trepidatiously.

It ‘s long driveway in the middle of the woods. There is a giant gecko creature climbing some rocks…a ten foot tall giant gecko. Beyond it there is another driveway which separates itself off. It is blocked with a Do Not Trespass sign hanging on a rope between two posts on either side. ( Obviously some evil wizards castle…)Around us is lush foliage, greens, greys, browns, mixed together. They remind me of the kind of foliage a buxom nymph might sit upon. I ponder this as the area opens up around us. There is a field and a pond to the right side, birds swoop around and crickets sing. Large trees overhang the road, the road curves, my traveling companions chatter amongst themselves as two buildings are revealed. The museum and a smaller companion building (an entrance to subterranean catacombs, perhaps?) stand before us. As we stand awestruck, a beam of opalescent light cascades down from the heavens and alights on the red Spanish tile. Suddenly, we are at an ancient castle awaiting some onslaught by monstrous lizard creatures. There is only I and my powerful broadaxe to separate my companions and certain doom….

Anyway, we head on up to the front door. Others have gotten there first and are pouring through. There are a few gentlemen on the trip who must be more art collectors or fans than artists who immediately drift off to locate favorite pieces.
Steve, Paolo and I, slowly approach the first wall of paintings directly to the left of the door. There are pieces here I remember from collections of works, and I immediately move to stick my nose up to the surface of a painting, like any good artist would when approaching a piece, looking to understand the brushstrokes, read them as if they were a book which holds all the secrets of painterly success. Most of the pieces are small. Around 18 by 24 painted on masonite in oils. His drawing style is clearly and admittedly influenced by the fact that he started out working in comics and has a fantastic grasp of composition and in placing light and dark shapes, and painting directly off that structure. Most of the pieces feel like they would have been very complete well constructed ink drawings before they were painted. Exactly as I had suspected all these years.

As a young guy (high school and into college) I wanted to be like Bernie Wrightson….solid black and white compositions, beautiful balances between light and dark. He could make a werewolf slaughtering a bunch of frightened hunters into a blood soaked ballet of shape and pattern and black and white, figure and ground. It was after Bernie that I discovered Frazetta. In one of Bernie’s collections( A Look Back) there is an image from Wrightsons’ high school years with a Conan like character standing amongst some trees. The legend scrawled across the top….” Frazetta Forever.” Frazetta I wondered? Who was this guy? I started looking around and found Frazetta everywhere. MIdnightstation my then studio-mate and BFF showed me a book of poorly reproduced prints of his work which I devoured. Wrightson’s earlier work was clearly driven by this stuff, Later he would break with his Frazetta influence absolutely and do his Frankenstein which is phenomenal and a seminal work. I could see influences here, Howard Pyle, NC Wyeth and the whole Brandywine school in the compositions and in the loose brushstrokes. The detail on these prints was bad so I had no idea what the originals had for clarity.

Looking at his work in person, you can see how he was interested in speed and economy of detail . This is not to say that he was slacking, but that he recognized the importance of focusing detail into places of maximum interest in a composition rather than painting everything with the same level of detail. Composition is a game of controlling the eye of the viewer, in this case using detail to draw the eye to the area chosen by the artist of most interest this is mostly employed in illustrative composition where there is a quick and speedy point to be made, but on my trip to the Louvre, I saw that David employed the same idea on his 16 foot tall canvases. All of the detail of say “Liberty leading the People” is at the top of the compositional triangle where lady liberty holds the flag. The mounds of people following here and or being trampled by the onslaught of her companions are loosely detailed, more drawing with washes of color than fully painted areas. They get less detailed in relationship to their distance from the focal point of the picture. This is Frazetta’s best game. Even on paintings like the Death Dealer, the paint is loose and thin in the background and even a lot of the horse is more drawing than paint. But there on the helmet and shield and on the chain mail on the main figure is all the detail in the world. Little marks and crenellations in the metal, nicks from former battles, rivets holding the plates of armor. The horses head is insane , but still looser than other areas.

His color is also crazy, he used color in every aspect of his paint. So many people now, looking for some kind of realism or too scared to try it, keep their color toned back, dulled down or tonal avoiding the whole issue. But Frazetta puts out of the tube purple into green compositions, bright reds in skin areas. Very bold stuff.

WE wandered around the museum. Everyone was inspecting analyzing trying to understand the hows and whys of each piece. It seems like Frazetta still has his best or most memorable stuff, all the Death Dealers where there and many other pieces I would have figured would have been sold to some gallery.

There were some giant pieces of African warriors on the savannah fighting lions that were among his first pieces (1949) on the walls. It was clear that he was learning on these but his learning was fast. There were the three giants on the hill, the scary guys riding the polar bear sled fun stuff.

Ellie, Franks’ wife and inspiration, came out to tell us a little about Frank and his work. He apparently had recently had a stroke which made it difficult for him to paint with his correct hand. But now he was learning to use his other hand and was getting pretty good at it.
Ellie said that Franks first love and interest was Baseball, which made all of us artists for lifers groan. It’s funny how many of us work and work to create strong pieces and you turn around and there’s a guy who is a phenomenon unto himself and who just thinks of it as a side gig, or a fall back career . She went to the art store section of the museum and started selling prints and books.

We wandered around for a while until Frank himself appeared. His walk was a bit stilted, but he had the swagger I associate with someone born in Brooklyn. He walked in like he owned the place( he did) but everyone gathered around to ask questions. He has a brash bold way about him. There is no trepidation, no uncertainty about his presence. You could tell he was as bold as his paintings.

He signed a few books and such, I had a chance to talk with him. I always feel weird asking people for autographs, so I didn’t. I asked him who his biggest influences were when he started painting. He boldly exclaimed “ No one I make it out of my head…all of it!” asked a more pointed version of my question. And Frazetta looked at me and said, “Michelangelo, all those guys, I looked at everything…”

We head back on the bus discussing what we’d just seen. We sat around at the society hours later drinking beers and talking art and business. Rusty wanted advice on how to trick...I mean ask a girl into modeling for a painting. Fred, the"I only paint the naked girls honestly" master gave sound advice.

Fred and I later went to a gallery opening for some students graduating from NY Art Institute's graduate program. The work was solidly painted, mostly attempting realism, but none of it was very dynamic or powerful...just very accurate. I pondered the question of whether the new focus on Atelier drwing won't kill the soul of expressive paint. I hope it doesn't. Even when painting Geckos fighting giants, a good painting is a good painting. I had a great day...I left Fred at a chinese fish sandwich stand off Canal St. and boogied down to the subway. another bus ride and I would be at my Mom's house for a late Mother's day, then home with my family to Syracuse...to obsess over my next painting....

PS- I want giant Geckos on our front yard too....I wonder if Mila could work them into her garden design...maybe crawling up our Silver Maple tree....hmmmm

Wow, amazing prints!

2011-06-21T12:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! I've just gotten a bunch of amazing....truly amazing prints for the upcoming signing tour of Deadlands this weekend in New England! I can't wait. It's amazing to see your work look like it should on huge paper! Wow.....Thanks Automated Direct and Kimberly! These prints are all over 17" tall and are printed on beautiful shimmery thick paper stock. They will be sold first this weekend at the NEW England tour, and if there are any left( I'll be surprised!) I'll offer them on my site at Etsy or something....

I'm totally blown away by these.

Deadlands:The Devil's Six Gun, Alternate cover!

2011-06-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

http://hypersteve.deviantart.com/art/Deadlands-Alternate-cover-212243714

HEy, Here is the alternate cover for the NECRA tour of NEw England later this month. David Gallaher and I will be hitting four separate stores in a whirlwind of comics. This is probably one of my favorite images that I've done recently. I've been playiing around with using the computer to enhance the rendering in the ink drawing without overwhelming the ink which I think this piece does well.

I'd love to get some thoughts from the other artists out there...

We got a ton of great reviews for the book so I'm hoping people will pick it up. Deadland: the Devil's Six Gun is a sad but powerful tale and I really love the story and I hope people will love it as well.

Rocket Shark to the Rescue!

2011-05-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Woo HOo! Thanks to Simon Fraser and the Drawbridge guys for the inspiration this morning...This is an hour long piece!

Another Pen and Ink Elric Illustration

2011-05-10T09:32:00.000-07:00

This piece was done with pen and ink and then toned in photoshop. It was great to really get into mixing those mediums up for the tonal effect. THis is a much different approach than I have for most of my other work although I think it might be something I need to pursue in the future.

IT's difficult to create the kind of mood you get with this piece from pure pen and ink, and I was considering watercolor for the tones, but watercolor over ink can be risky with smearing and I wanted the lines to be clean and sharp.

Chris Moeller gives illustration advice to young artists

2011-05-10T09:22:00.001-07:00

Chris Moeller gives amazing advice to anyone looking to get into illustration or comics as a career. I never had a day job, I was lucky or stubborn enough to not have to work in an office or anything. When i've been asked by younger artists how I made it, I feel sometimes like I had it pretty easy( although the months of eating beans every day between gigs was tough) here's Chris' advice! http://muddycolors.blogspot.com/2011/05/life-after-art-school-five-years-to.html

Devils Six Gun Weird West Steampunk Horror and comics' style thoughts

2011-05-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Well the news is out, I've just completed a one shot for visionary comics/Image comics with my oft co- conspirator David Gallaher called Deadlands: The Devil's Six Gun. I'm really happy with both the story and the art. David and I collaborated on a story outline ahead of time and then David delivered an awesom, heart wrenching script. I'm happy with the fact that the art returned with all the grit gristle and deadliness of High Moon. I kind of thought of this as as a child of High Moon for me artistically with a lot of nods to the process of the weird western I cultivated there.

After working for so long on giant projects( I just got off of Box 13: The Pandora Process www.box13comic.com which was over 100 pages long and in a more restrictive format. It was great to stretch my legs and see what kind of things I could do.

I've been very lucky to have found a style of working that suits me. Its hard when I'm working in the traditional penciller role because I never know what to expect from an inker, but with the work I ink my self I can let loose and trust that I will pick it up in ink and colors.

I can' wait to see what everyone thinks of the book!

Elric of Melnibone: HIgh Fantasy Battle Scene in living Black and white ink!

2011-04-28T11:15:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite scenes in the Fantasy world. Elric is battling his half brother Yrkoon chasing him around the world. His Brother has hidden out in the city which has a mirror which can control your mind. Elric's warriors fight with blindfolds to avoid being felled by the mirrors gaze.

This piece took about a week and a half and it is completely pen and ink.IT was done for Random House's reissuing of Elric of Melnibone and other books in the Multiverse. I hadn't read Elric before I started the project, but as I read the books I had such a good time reading that I went on to read some others in the series. Elric is a great brooding character in the high fantasy heroic tradition.

When I took the job I decided I would try something a bit different. Previously my ink lines were thicker and more fluid. I was more like a regular comic inker with smooth perfectly designed lines. Elric broke me of this. I decided I would move more toward a older more traditional art style. I felt that looking backward at earlier inking styles, like those of Dore, Franklin Booth and Joseph Clement Cole I could find a gravitas that matched the grand qualities of the Elric stories. I swithced to brush and quill pen, alternating between the two to get the line effects I was seeking. I was able to get more texture and shading and create far distances and close-up figures, shading and even suggest colors. Rather than inking I was painting with ink.

This piece really started a change in me. Soon after I began High Moon and the influence has moved into other work of mine. Even my current work on the Deadlands comic has a lot of texture and ink lines.

I hope you enjoy it. I will be placing more of these up here soon.

2000AD Covers Uncovered: Steve Ellis - "Go Team Uriel!"

2011-03-04T08:24:00.000-08:00

2000AD Covers Uncovered: Steve Ellis - "Go Team Uriel!": "Catching up a bit, here's the cover painting of Prog 1720 by Steve Ellis. The cover features Necrophim's Uriel leading his hellish horde on ..."

George Romero's 71st Birthday

2011-02-07T12:54:00.003-08:00

This was for Drawbridge's blog today! I jsut thougth I'd share it around!
http://draw-bridge.blogspot.com/2011/02/georgeromero.html?showComment=1297111730909#c8850890148712845767

Tom Robbins and Dorian Vallejo on not being a victim of your times

2010-11-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Dorian Vallejo, the amazing painter and all around cool person clued me in on this amazing quote form a Tom Robbins book that I'd like to share with everyone who feels like the world isn't going their way.

Don't let yourself be victimized by the age you live in. It's not the
times that will bring us down, any more than it's society. When you
put the blame on society, then you end up turning to society for the
solution. Just like those poor neurotics at the Care Fest. There's a
tendency today to absolve individuals of moral responsiblity and treat
them as victims of social circumstance. You buy that, you pay with
your soul. It's not men who limit women, it's not straights who limit
gays, it's not whites who limit blacks. what limits people is lack of
character. What limites people is that they don't have the fucking
nerve or imagination to star in their own movie, let alone direct it.
Yuck....It's a wonderful time to be alive. As long as one has enough
dynamite.

Rocky Horror

2010-11-04T19:49:00.001-07:00

Watching the Rocky Horror Glee episode. It has given me a new yearning to get the real music on my computer and go see the show again. I didn't realize I still know all the lyrics and the call backs. It's been a long time. Unfortunately, the Glee version changes half the lyrics and get rid of the best parts of the musical....It's Sweet Transvestite from Transexual Transylvania! Dammit! Making Frankenfurter a girl ruins the whole thing...Oh Well.

Plus, Richard O'Brien cannot be replaced....either as Riff Raff or as the Lips

Maleficent day!

2010-11-03T13:46:00.000-07:00

This was for the Drawbridge blo. I wanted to share it here. Maleficent is one of the greatest villians which I loved as a kid.I never saw the movie till I was older, but wseeing the ads with her as the dragon inspired my imagination as a kid....

Steve Draws Nosferatu for Halloween!

2010-11-02T15:20:00.001-07:00

Awesome fan created Box 13 video.....

2010-11-02T15:16:00.000-07:00

Pandora Process at full tilt`

2010-10-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

The newest installment of Box 13 Pandora Process is up on comixology! You can get it online, on the iphone or on ipad all for free! This episode, Dan Holliday and his mysterious companion are being hunted through Paris by the Law, lots of action and explosions here!

This demon wants to eat you!

2010-10-26T10:49:00.001-07:00

This piece was a blast. All digital, not even a pencil sketch on this baby! I had a lot of fun dealing with all of the different color reds I could get in one piece.

Here is one I've been working on just in time for Halloween!

Happy Holiday!

Steve

NYCC HIgh MOON Print!

2010-10-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

HEre is the print that will be available at NYCC for fans of High Moon. It's a High Quality PRint on Semi Gloss Paper at 11 X 17" I look forward to seeing you at booth 2641(Comic Social Club) or K-15 Fred Harper's table so you can buy yours! Only $10 a piece...

NYCC

2010-10-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

NYCC

I'm going to be at NYCC this weekend! It's going to be a fantastic show and I'm really psyched to see all the fans.

David Gallaher and I am going to be sitting at the Comic Social Club table which is at Booth 2461! Please come by say "Hi" and pick up some awesome books and art! We also might have some great new announcements to make public!

I will have a schedule of my signing times up at the table and hopefully posted here as well. Since I'll be sharing the table, I'm going to be jumping over to Fred Harper's table at K-15 in artist's alley to hang out at other times.

I'll have these items on sale-

High moon trade paperback
Box 13 trade paperback
High MOon, Box 13 and other Prints
Scream(How to draw book)
Darkstar and the Winter Guard books
Wolfs teeth
2010 Sketchbooks

Sketches/Commisions?

I will have ten slots available for the Convention for detailed comissions! I'll only be working at the convention and these will go quick, but if you want to make sure you get one, send me an email with what you want here: steve@hypersteve.com

I'll be doing 10 x 15 or 8 x 10 pieces in your choice of 3 mediums: watercolor, pen & ink, or pencil. If I think I can handle more at the con, I'll open more up, and if you won't be at the convention, I can mail them out!

Keep On Howling!

Steve Ellis

Thor/Sif drawing

2010-09-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

Here's a drawing I just did last night. It was based on the poster in my living room in theme only. The piece in my living room is a giant neon colored poster of Thor and Sif kissing in extreme closeup as done by JAck Kirby. Mine is a bit more melodramatic but based on the same quote which is
"And yet, None but thee can calm the fury in my soul."

Baltimore Comic Con and Commissions!!!!

2010-08-19T00:38:00.000-07:00

Baltimore Comic Con is going to be a big blast! I'm up for two Harvey awards, Best Inker of the Year and Best Online Comic!

I'm going to be there promoting High Moon and Box 13 at an exhibitor table with a few of my "Zuda Crew" friends, (The talented creators Dan Govar of Azure, Bobby Timony of Night Owls, Kevin Colden of I Rule the NIght and Matthew Petz of War of the Woods!)

I plan to have my 2010 sketchbook on sale as well as some prints from High Moon and Box 13 as well as original art from the series.

Commisions! I will have ten slots available for the Convention! I'll only be working at the convention and these will go quick, but if you want to make sure you get one, send me an email with what you want here: steveart1@gmail.com

I'll be doing 10 x 15 or 8 x 10 pieces in your choice of 3 mediums: watercolor, pen & ink, or pencil. If I think I can handle more at the con, I'll open more up, and if you won't be at the convention, I can mail them out!

Box 13 the Pandora Process just started jump on for free at Comixology!

Also, there is a sale on HIgh Moon, Box 13 and The Silencers on the Comixology apps( web, iphone, ipad) go read them adn enjoy!

Dragon!

2010-08-11T03:37:00.000-07:00

Something I whipped up yesterday...

I used watercolor, goauche, and colored pencil. Not my usual combo, but nice anyway!

Last Rites Show art

2010-08-02T19:50:00.000-07:00

This here is one of the three piece In the Last Rites "NEw Breed " show....
I'm very exited to see what kind of reaction these pieces get.

NEw Breed 2 Gallery Show

2010-08-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

I have 3 paintings in a gallery show at Last Rites Gallery! The opening is this Saturday night! It would be great to see everyone come by and check out the pieces.

The picture on the left is a detail from one of the pieces entitled Mr. Mysterio's Enlightenment Machine.

The New Breed Show runs from this Saturday the 7th to August 29th, 2010.

Here's the info:

Last Rites Gallery
511 W. 33rd St.,3rd FL., NY, NY 10001
212.529.0666
7 - 11pm.
www.lastritesgallery.com

I'll be posting images from the other pieces over the next coupld of days!

Steve

Harvey Awards! Ballots Due August 7th!

2010-07-28T01:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone-

As you may have heard, I was nominated for two Harvey Awards!

The Harveys are a prestigious award within the comics industry and I am honored to be nominated.

As you vote for the Harvey Awards, please consider voting for HIGH MOON www.highmooncomic.com for BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK and for me (Steve Ellis) as BEST INKER

You can either download a ballot from the link or use the ballot provided below. If you use the ballot below, please cut and paste the ballot portion, ONLY, in a new email to the Harvey Awards:

harveyballots@hotmail.com

[make sure to omit this top portion of my email] and please be sure to vote, as soon as possible.

The deadline is next week, August 7th!

http://www.harveyawards.org/2010ballot/Harvey_2010_final_ballot.txt

Thanks a million!!

SteveE

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HARVEY BALLOT

Thank You For downloading this text version of the 2010 Harvey Awards

Final Ballot. This is provided for voting only. More complete

information about the awards may be found on the pdf ballot, also

available at www.harveyawards.org.

Ballots are due by Saturday, August 7, 2010.

Please edit this file and email votes to harveyballots@hotmail.com.

Voters may vote in as many or as few categories as they like.

Mark your chosen category with an X in the voting space.

You may include this text in the body of the email, or attach it.

All ballots must include professional verification information.

Name :

Address :

City :

State :

Zip :

Email :

Brief List of Work in Comics :

Please contact baltimorecomiccon@yahoo.com with any questions.

Harvey Award Nominations : Mark your choice with an X in the voting space.

BEST WRITER

____ Jason Aaron, “SCALPED", Vertigo/DC Comics

____ Geoff Johns, "BLACKEST NIGHT", DC Comics

____ Robert Kirkman, "THE WALKING DEAD", Image Comics

____ Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books

____ Mark Waid, "IRREDEEMABLE", BOOM! Studios

BEST ARTIST

____ Robert Crumb, "BOOK OF GENESIS", W.W. Norton

____ Guy Davis, "BPRD: BLACK GODDESS", Dark Horse Comics

____ Brian Fies, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", Abrams ComicArts

____ David Petersen, "MOUSE GUARD : WINTER 1152", Archaia Entertainment

____ Frank Quitely, "BATMAN AND ROBIN", DC Comics

____ JH Williams III, "DETECTIVE COMICS", DC Comics

BEST CARTOONIST

____ Darwyn Cooke, "RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE HUNTER", IDW

____ Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books

____ Roger Langridge, "THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK", BOOM! Studios

____ David Mazzucchelli, "ASTERIOS POLYP", Pantheon

____ Seth, "GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", Drawn and Quarterly

BEST LETTERER

____ Chris Eliopoulos, "FRANKLIN RICHARDS: SON OF A GENIUS” stories, Marvel Comics

____ Brian Fies, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", Abrams ComicArts

____ Thomas Mauer, “RAPTURE", Dark Horse Comics

____ David Mazzucchelli, "ASTERIOS POLYP", Pantheon

____ Richard Starkings, "ELEPHANTMEN", Image Comics

BEST INKER

____ Oclair Albert, "BLACKEST NIGHT", DC Comics

____ Steve Ellis, "HIGH MOON", Zuda/DC Comics

____ Klaus Janson, "AMAZING SPIDER-MAN", Marvel Comics

____ Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books

____ Mark Morales, "THOR", Marvel Comics

BEST COLORIST

____ Brian Fies, "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", Abrams ComicArts

____ Steve Hamaker, "BONE: CROWN OF HORNS”, Graphix

____ Laura Martin, "THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES", IDW

____ David Mazzucchelli, "ASTERIOS POLYP", Pantheon

____ Dave Stewart, "BPRD: BLACK GODDESS", Dark Horse Comics

BEST COVER ARTIST

____ Jenny Frison, "THE DREAMER", IDW

____ Mike Mignola, "HELLBOY: THE BRIDE OF HELL", Dark Horse Comics

____ Michael Avon Oeming, "MICE TEMPLAR: DESTINY, PART I", Image Comics

____ Frank Quitely, "BATMAN AND ROBIN", DC Comics

____ JH Williams III, "DETECTIVE COMICS", DC Comics

BEST NEW TALENT

____ Kevin Cannon, "FAR ARDEN", Top Shelf

____ Rob Guillory, "CHEW", Image Comics

____ Reinhard Kleist,"JOHNNY CASH: I SEE A DARKNESS", Abrams ComicArts

____ Nathan Schreiber, "ACT-I-VATE: POWER OUT", http://act-i-vate.com

____ Matthew Weldon, "NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY", Image Comics

BEST NEW SERIES

____ "BATMAN AND ROBIN", DC Comics

____ "CHEW", Image Comics

____ "IRREDEEMABLE", BOOM! Studios

____ "SWEET TOOTH", Vertigo/DC Comics

____ "UNWRITTEN", Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES

____ "BEASTS OF BURDEN", Dark Horse Comics

____ "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID", Amulet Books

____ "GANGES", Fantagraphics Books

____ "INVINCIBLE", Image Comics

____ "SCALPED", Vertigo/DC Comics

____ "THE WALKING DEAD", Image Comics

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS

____ "AMULET: THE STONEKEEPER'S CURSE", Graphix

____ "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books

____ "GROWN-UPS ARE DUMB", Hyperion Books

____ "THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK", BOOM! Studios

____ "NEW BRIGHTON ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY", Image Comics

____ "3-2-3 DETECTIVE AGENCY", Amulet Books

BEST ANTHOLOGY

____ "ACT-I-VATE PRIMER", IDW

____ "FLIGHT # 6", Villard

____ "POPGUN # 3", Image Comics

____ "STRANGE TALES", Marvel Comics

____ "WEDNESDAY COMICS", DC Comics

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC ALBUM

____ "ASTERIOS POLYP", by David Mazzucchelli, Pantheon

____ "BOOK OF GENESIS", by Robert Crumb, W.W. Norton

____ "GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly

____ “FOOTNOTES IN GAZA”, by Joe Sacco, Metropolitan Books

____ "STITCHES", by David Small, W.W. Norton

____ "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", by Brian Fies, Abrams ComicArts

BEST PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED GRAPHIC ALBUM

____ "A.D.: NEW ORLEANS AFTER THE DELUGE”, by Josh Neufeld, Pantheon

____ "COLLECTED ESSEX COUNTY”, by Jeff Lemire, Top Shelf

____ "GRAVESLINGER", by Shannon Denton, Jeff Mariotte, John Cboins& Nima Sorat, IDW

____ "MASTERPIECE COMICS", by R. Sikoryak, Drawn and Quarterly

____ "MICE TEMPLAR VOLUME 1", by Bryan J.L. Glass and Michael Avon Oeming, Image Comics

BEST SYNDICATED STRIP OR PANEL

____ "CUL-DE-SAC", by Richard Thompson, Universal Press Syndicate

____ "FOXTROT", by Bill Amend, Universal Press Syndicate

____ "GET FUZZY", by Darby Conley, United Feature Syndicate

____ "MUTTS", by Patrick McDonnell, King Features Syndicate

____ "PEARLS BEFORE SWINE", by Stephan Pastis, United Feature Syndicate

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT

____ "THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY", by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books

____ "HUMBUG", conceived and edited by Harvey Kurtzman and created by Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis,

Will Elder, Al Jaffee and Arnold Roth; edited by Gary Groth, Fantagraphics Books

____ "RIP KIRBY", by Alex Raymond; edited by Dean Mullaney, IDW

____ "THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES”, by Dave Stevens; edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW

____ "THE TOON TREASURY OF CLASSIC CHILDREN'S COMICS", edited by Art Spiegelman and Francoise Mouly, Abrams ComicsArt

BEST AMERICAN EDITION OF FOREIGN MATERIAL

____ "THE ART OF OSAMU TEZUKA: GOD OF MANGA", by Helen McCarthy, Abrams ComicArts

____ "MANGA KAMISHIBAI", by Eric P. Nash, Abrams ComicArts

____ “THE PHOTOGRAPHER”, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier LeFevre and Frederic Lemercier, First Second

____ "PLUTO: URASAWA X TEZUKA", by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, Viz Media

____ “20TH CENTURY BOYS”, by Naoki Urasawa, Viz Media

BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK

____ "HARK! A VAGRANT", by Kate Beaton, http://harkavagrant.com

____ "HIGH MOON", by Steve Ellis, David Gallaher and Scott O. Brown, http://www.zudacomics.com/high-moon ,

____ "POWER OUT", by Nathan Schreiber, http://act-i-vate.com ,

____ "PVP", by Scott Kurtz, http://www.pvponline.com

____ "SIN TITULO", by Cameron Stewart, http://www.sintitulocomic.com

SPECIAL AWARD FOR HUMOR IN COMICS

____ Evan Dorkin and Jill Thompson, “BEASTS OF BURDEN”, Dark Horse Books

____ Jeff Kinney, "DIARY OF A WIMPY KID #3: THE LAST STRAW", Amulet Books

____ Roger Landridge, "THE MUPPET SHOW COMIC BOOK", BOOM! Studios

____ Bryan Lee O'Malley, "SCOTT PILGRIM #5", Oni Press

____ Andrew Pepoy, "THE ADVENTURES OF SIMONE& AJAX: A CHRISTMAS CAPER", ComicMix

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION

____ "ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS", by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, Abrams ComicArts

____ "THE BRINKLEY GIRLS: THE BEST OF NELL BRINKLEY’S CARTOONS FROM 1913-1940", edited by Trina Robbins, Fantagraphics Books

____ "GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly

____ "THE ROCKETEER: THE COMPLETE ADVENTURES", by Dave Stevens, edited by Scott Dunbier, IDW

____ "SECRET IDENTITY: THE FETISH ART OF SUPERMAN’S CO-CREATOR JOE SHUSTER", edited by Craig Yoe, Abrams ComicArts

____ "WEDNESDAY COMICS", edited by Mark Chiarello, DC Comics

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION

____ "ALTER-EGO", edited by Roy Thomas, TwoMorrows

____ "ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN: THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS", by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle, Abrams ComicArts

____ "THE BEST OF SIMON AND KIRBY", by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby; edited by Steve Saffel, Titan Books

____ "THE COMICS JOURNAL", edited by Gary Groth, Michael Dean and Kristy Valenti, Fantagraphics Books

____ "UNDERGROUND CLASSICS", by James Danky and Denis Kitchen, Abrams ComicArts

BEST SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY

____ “ALEC: THE YEARS HAVE PANTS”, by Eddie Campbell, Top Shelf

____ "ASTERIOS POLYP", by David Mazzucchelli, Pantheon

____ "GANGES #3", by Kevin Huizenga, Fantagraphics Books

____ "GEORGE SPROTT (1894-1975)", by Seth, Drawn and Quarterly

____ "JONAH HEX #50", written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, artwork by Darwyn Cooke, DC Comics

____ "RICHARD STARK’S PARKER: THE HUNTER", by Darwyn Cooke, IDW

____ "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?", by Brian Fies, Abrams ComicArts

Thank you for your time.

Harvey Awards Committee.

More retouches...

2010-07-16T09:13:00.000-07:00

Ok I lied, I wasn't finished yet...here it is again after talking it over with my good friend Donato Giancola...

Finally!

2010-07-15T07:28:00.000-07:00

So here is the final all said and done...I had to move the lag around to make it work better and I altered the colors....I could probably work on it for a month more, but time is of the essence. I like the hero, but the monsters are my favorite part of this one...! Thoughts? Questions? Wisecracks?

Thor Sketch

2010-07-08T22:45:00.000-07:00

HEre is a relatively quick sketch I did today for Warmups....lots of fun...what do you think?

Steve

CD cover part 4

2010-07-08T22:35:00.000-07:00

I've been tooling around with the piece. I realized the legs didn't work for me and i wanted to give the main guy more "air" so I reworked soem things along the way. Getting closer to a finish....

more on Deadman cover

2010-07-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

Heres is an update on that album cover...I've been using corel and photoshop together to get this one done...don't have a lot of time to devote so I've been taking my time nbetween other things, getting it right...If you have comments suggestions or wise remarks I'd love to hear them!

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:10:00.003-07:00

I have mixed feelings about the changes at Zuda Comics. (see http://zuda.blog.dccomics.com/2010/07/01/the-future-of-zuda/). Even though some of the comics will continue into the future (including my and David Gallaher's High Moon) under a Zuda banner on PlayStation Network, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and on the web at comiXology and soon at DC online, approximately 30 ongoing series will be coming to an end.

Zuda was a bold experiment put together and administered by the crew at DC Comics to expand DC Comics into the webcomics world. It ran as a competition to bring in new talent, expose talent that had been on the sidelines of the comics biz, and allow that talent to shine in an environment that preferred new, original, creator-driven projects.

Some great new projects joined the world of comics, earning many awards and accolades for the creative teams. It created a community of supporters, readers and friends many times outside the mainstream of the comics reading public.

I have met and learned about creators from around the world. I got to enjoy their projects, be inspired by their creativity and drink their booze at con after-parties.

I have had a creative renaissance working on High Moon and was inspired on a daily basis by the support of the fans who posted regularly even though I was terrible at posting back. The fact that I was paid to create a project and be able to give it all of my time and effort to make it the best project possible and have an instant feedback community was a fantastic way to forge my skills as a storyteller and artist. Zuda has also facilitated the creation of a creative partnership with David Gallaher which has moved past High Moon to other projects like Box 13 from Red5 and Comixology as well as Darkstar and the Winter Guard from Marvel.

Now we are moving onto a new era of Zuda and a new era of High Moon. (see Kwanza Johnsons post from today http://zuda.blog.dccomics.com/)

It's bittersweet as we leave some friends to continue on their own. I look forward to seeing them continue these projects elsewhere or move onto new creative projects altogether. I expect Greatness from all of you guys.

There is a bond between us all forged by the common experience of having been through the sometimes gruelling competition process.

If I may speak for the other creators who will be moving forward with DC, we will always be Zudites together.

Thanks for everything, and to steal a line from David Gallaher, Keep on Howling!

Steve Ellis

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:10:00.001-07:00

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:08:00.001-07:00

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:07:00.005-07:00

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:07:00.003-07:00

An Open letter to Zuda creators and Zuda Fans....

2010-07-02T14:07:00.001-07:00

sketch progress battlesscene

2010-06-29T08:44:00.000-07:00

HEre is the progression of a piece I'm working on for a CD cover for an australian band. I have a few more ideas to throw at this but I thought I would post it so you could see the progression.

Soon I'm gong to sit down and start to put color to this one....

Babysitting sketch

2010-05-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

I worked on this "Phoenix" Saturday night while watching a friends kid( he was asleep at the time) It was nice to just sit and doodle for a bit with no hope of doing actual work. It was great to try out my new Lycra giant colored pencils....

HEroes Convention

2010-05-22T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm getting myself all set up to go to HEroes COnvention and I'm setting upa sketchbook for the show and I'm trying to figure out which piece would make a great cover for the sketchbook. It has a mixture of hero art as well as fantasy and horror work, so it might be a bit all over the place but I like it. I'm debating whether it shiould be a simple black snd white or a color cover. Something that I can pilfer from some older work or if I should use something brand spankng new. If so, what kind of image....

Thor Sketch

2010-05-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Warm up sketch for today! Ink and pencil and white ink on tinted paper.

Blog situation

2010-04-28T10:26:00.003-07:00

I'm getting myself all set up to really be able to use these blog things with an RSS feed through Blog it on Face book...I dont know if I'll be able to post images through this so we'll have to see what happens