More Sketches!

Hey all, here is some other artwork I've done lately...

When I'm not doing High Moon art.

HIGH MOON: Zuda Promo!

Oooooh .... check out the mad Zuda promo action!

Nothing to do with HIGH MOON

... But, when nobody is looking, I sing this song to myself.



And, if anyone wants to contribue a HIGH MOON theme song, we'll be happy to post it on the blog.

New Zuda News

Good morning,

It's Monday, and I thought I'd take a moment to spotlight some of the more recent Zuda highlights before getting back into the heart of production stuff.

• The Horror Of It All, your place for all things good and scary, wrote a a small little piece about some of Zuda's horror titles, including HIGH MOON.
  
  
• A Comic A Day reviews THE NIGHT OWLS and describes it as 'seamless ... blending humor and supernatural intrigue in a concise, entertaining way.'
  
  
• A HIGH MOON / FIVE FISTS OF SCIENCE / ATOMIC ROBO crossover? Sean Kleefeld thinks it's possible.
  
  
• The guys over at Beer and Comics also took a moment to spotlight BAYOU and HIGH MOON, and had some nice things to say.
  
  
• And speaking of BAYOU, the entire HM team would like to take a moment to congratulate Jeremy Love [and Gettosake] on their recect nominations for the 2008 Glyph Awards.

So, there you go. This week, between deadlines, we've got some neat things planned, so stay tuned!

HIGH MOON: Spoilers

If you haven't read the latest installment of HIGH MOON, please do so now, because what follows are the thumbnails (and spoilers) for Pages 17-20.

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I think that's a suitable amount of SPOILER SPACE ... so here goes.

Before I write the scripts that get sent off to Steve and the Zuda team, I spend several hours composing several doodles and tons of thumbnails. Usually, my thumbnails are just glorified stick figures with sample dialogue floating around their heads. These thumbnails have become an important tool it making sure I hit all my essential plot points, while giving Steve a very vague idea of how I think the page should look.

So, without further ado, the thumbnails for Pages 17, 18, 19, 20.

HIGH MOON Rising

Two weeks ago, Mac and Jeb were facing a field full of dead cattle.

Tonight, something wicked this way comes!

Join us, won't you!

Scott O. Brown's THEY DO NOT DIE

Our letterer extraordinarie, Scott O. Brown, is a Man of Comics. Writer. Editor. Letterer. And, all around swell guy. His latest original graphic novel, THEY DO NOT DIE! is available for pre-order in this months' Previews from Ambrosia Publishing.

Order Code: FEB08 3435

Use the order code at you local comics shop and acquire your copy of this creepy little B-movie horror feast! And it's only $7.95!

So, go order yourself a copy already!

New Zuda Promos

Plus, if you picked up your DC comics this week, you may have seen some of our recent print ads.

I'd love to hear you thoughts?

Remember HIGH MOON returns with new screens this coming Tuesday!

Weekend Webcomics Round-Up Rodeo

Huzzah, the weekend is here. And, while we usually use this space to talk about all the keen stuff going on with HIGH MOON, I thought I'd take a minute to spotlight some other fantastic webcomics, so here goes:

• Over on the Twin Comics Blog, Bobby Timony, co-creator of THE NIGHT OWLS, talks about how he letters his Zuda strip. It's a great tutorial.
  
  
• Molly Crabapple and John Leavitt have just completed the first act of BACKSTAGE over on Act-I-Vate. Steve and I totally dig on Molly's work and you should too! To get caught up on all of the BACKSTAGE-y goodness, head over here to read the archive.
  
  
• Another talented Act-I-Vater, Kevin Colden, creator of FISHTOWN, has made his mark on Zuda with a very twisted strip called STRANGLE/SWITCH. Kevin's work on this project has been called reminiscent of Paul Pope's. So, go check it out!
  
  
• IN HIS LIKENESS creator spends some time talking about his comedic influences over here. First on the agenda: Jim Henson!
  
  
• And starting Friday, Warren Ellis' wicked-slick webcomic series, FREAK ANGELS, goes live! Be there!

And if there is something you'd like to see us cover in the Weekend Webcomics Round-Up Rodeo, please let us know in the comments section below!

HIGH MOON: Page 13 Layout

While i am awaiting a proof on my latest script, I thought I share with you layout Steve used for Page 13 of HIGH MOON. Feel free to compare and contrast it with what you see on Zuda!

At Sundown, There'll Be A Showdown At HIGH MOON

That's right, folks ... it has been just about an entire fortnight since we last saw Mac smack dab in the middle of investigation. And tonight, at sundown, you'll start to learn just what in tarnation is going on in Blest, Texas.

Join us, won't you!

For Your Consideration: The Harvey Awards

While you are nominating, please consider any number of Zuda projects for BEST ONLINE COMICS WORK or BEST NEW TALENT. (Including HIGH MOON, BAYOU, or THE NIGHT OWLS). Some of our other per

( Ballot Information Behind The Cut )

The Ballot Deadline is March 21, 2008

Thank you for your time and consideration.

HIGH MOON on THRILLINGDETECTIVE.COM

THRILLING DETECTIVE, the internet's most popular crime-fiction site, put together a pretty slick profile of HIGH MOON's Matthew 'Mac' Macgregor for their fantastic and totally comprehensive website.

You can check out the full profile here and read why Mac may have some shades of Dashiell Hammett. While you are there, be sure to check out the exhaustive, but awesome resource that is THRILLING DETECTIVE.

Steve Ellis on art for HIGH MOON

Wow, Busy Times

I have to apologize to those guys who wanted some art up here showing how I do my process. Literally this week I was moving from my former home in Syracuse NY to my new home in Brooklyn. This entailed three days of actual packing and moving as well as a day rebuilding a kitchen. That said I was almost late with my High Moon pages.

So here I am excuse in hand, the dog ate my homework. Here is a sneak peek into how I do things:
First I pencil and ink( I can get more into layouts and such in another post because that's pretty fun stuff) then I scan this into the computer. on some pages I do a lot more drawing in the computer, but this page was mostly figured out in the original pen and ink. The next step is to scan it in and tone it. Notice on the black and white piece there are a lot of scuffs and pencil scratchings along with the cleaner ink. I like keeping those. Being left handed I always smear my pencil and make a mess of the originals and have to go in with a big eraser to fix stuff. with High Moon I wanted to turn a negative into an asset. I thought that if the world is supposed to be dark and gritty lets keep the grit in the art. One way of doing this is to keep the pencil marks in the final work.
After this step of toning the art ( which is done in photoshop with photo filter and color adjustments) I make this a top layer and create an under layer which has all the color fields on it. Color fields are simple color shapes that when placed under ink lines pull together to create the colors for the artwork.
When placed under the toned inks, it will create the desired colors and mood.
The last step is to add color on top of the art on a new top layer.


Without the other layers under it this layer doesn't look like much, it's mostly just highlights and such which add depth to the art. But this is the last step before declaring the art finished...

Any questions?

Steve E

HIGH MOON: A Sneak Peek

Some of you may have seen this piece in our recent Newsarama article. No, I'm not telling you what it means, but you can post your guesses down below.

And if you haven't had a chance to check out the new HIGH MOON pages, you can do so now!

HIGH MOON Returns (and a surprise!)

That's right folks, HIGH MOON has started it's regular run on Zuda!

Fortnightly, you'll see new pages, new twists, and new surprises for Matthew Macgregor exclusively on Zuda!

But, as an added bonus, HIGH MOON is also re-running on MySpace, with an exceptional cover you won't find anywhere else!

Go check it out HERE!

Reminder: Web Cartoonists Choice Awards

Just a reminder that the nomination round for the Web Cartoonists Choice Awards ends Wednesday, January 23, 2008.

If you have a webcomic, and like awards, now is your chance to send in your nominations for the upcoming Web Cartoonists Choice Awards. Any webcomic that was active between February of 2007 up to the present is eligible to win as many categories as they qualify for.

HIGH MOON begins Tuesday, January 22nd!

Grab your wolvesbane and silver bullets and check us out at ZUDA!

Steve Ellis on High Moon finally

I've been moving back to Brooklyn( my hometown even though I wasn't born here) for the last month and so things have kept me from keeping up with the blog.

I'd like to make the offer that If anyone has questions about art,design drawing comics or drawing for the web, to please feel free to ask here and I'll do my best to answer with pictures...

here's an image from my HM sketches to get the conversation started....

HIGH MOON Influences: Werewolf

Starpulse has named 'Werewolf' one of "Five Television Remakes We'd Like To See, But Probably Won't." I was 12 years old when this series first aired on FOX back in its halcyon days. Featuring Chuck Conners (of 'The Rifleman' fame) and John J. York, the show told the story of Eric Cord, who was searching for a way to end his horrific werewolf curse.

I was forbidden from watching the show, like the troublemaker I was, I saw it anyway ... and it forged a very vivid impression on me and what would become HIGH MOON.

I have included for your edification a Werewolf promo clip: