Harley and Ivy

Working on a set of chibi-styled Batman ladies for fun. I plan on doing 6- Batgirl, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Black Canary and Huntress. So far I have completed Harley and Ivy and have sketches for Catwoman and Black Canary! Check em out!

Bitty Bettie and Mini Marilyn

Working on a bunch of 'chibi' styled character drawings for fun and possible future merch, and started with two of the biggest icons of pinup art, Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe.

Heroescon 2013 commissions are now open!

Heroescon (June 7-9) commissions are NOW OPEN. $100 gets you a single character inked on vellum, toned with grey marker and spot colored. 8.5"x11". Payment in advance. Pickup at the show only. Email me iampaigey(at)yahoo(dot)com for further info.

I will have an Artist Alley table alongside Little Asian Sweatshop and we'll have lots of new and exciting merch for you to check out! Lots of original pieces! Hope to see you there!

More examples of my commissions:

Studying Up on Retro Cartooning

Always looking to keep my work fresh I'm constantly keeping my eyes peeled for new inspiration. Like a fancy new liquor I can splash in the martini shaker of my brain, sometimes I find something in the back of of my cabinet shelf that's been there all along, hiding in plain sight, covered in dust and cobwebs. I mix it in with my regular favorites and holy crap- where was this deliciousness my whole life? 

'Gee, willeckers!'
Self portrait in the pie-eyed
style of 20s-30s animation.

I plan on doing a whole 'family portrait' in this style
for eventual 2013 Christmas cards. 

So hey guess what- that thinly-veiled analogy I just used of liquor is actually about retro cartoons, particularly those of the 1920s. I've always been a fan of old cartoons, especially since my first artistic interests laid in the animation industry. I fortunately have SUPER supportive parents as well, who were totally feeling my artistic obsessions (especially since these interests were nice and quiet and solitary when I was a kid) and would point me in the direction of pretty much anything animation-related they came across. In particular the old Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies and Fleischer cartoons of their youth and then eventually I moved on to the more obscure works including those of Osamu Tezuka (Unico), Richard Williams (Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure) and Nelvana (Rock & Rule). Even during vacations to Disney World as a child my parents would enroll me in children's animation classes while they were getting to ride Splash Mountain. 

'Cutie Patootie!'
A flapper pinup in the 20's style.

As I got older my interest shifted from animation into comics but I still wanted to keep the clean aesthetic and line economy of traditional 2D animation and I've been chasing that look ever since. And being a big fan of the concept of 'climbing your artistic family tree' for inspiration, I've been researching the works of Ub Iwerks and Max Fleischer, two of the founding fathers of animation. I remember watching so many of these cartoons as a kid and being engrossed in the adorable creepiness.

Fleischer's Bimbo in "Bimbo's Initiation"

Part 1 of "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story"

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story... by CarlStallingEnthusiast

I hope these inspire you as well! I hope in the near future to have my pie-eyed portraits available as a commission option!

Surrender, Dorothy! and new Miss MJ

Finished the pencils for the Wizard of Oz piece on Cortes's Art Studio Livestream last week! You can see the archived footage from the evening here on the site! Fair warning: there's a lot of footage, split between several videos and I think if you want to start at the beginning you have to start at the bottom and work up.

Here's the first segment where I go thru my sketchbook! You can see the rest of the night here!

Was super-duper fun, can't wait to be on again!

I also drew up a BRAND NEW pic of Miss Mary Jane, finally! :D

Heads up! Livestream with CortesNYC on 2/12/13

Hey guys! I'm gonna be drawing LIVE on the internets with CortesNYC and TameekaTime next Tuesday night! Be sure to drop by and say hello!

CortesNYC’s livestream channel HERE.

Boot the Foot: Mondo Gecko

I was recently invited to take part in my art pals Beast Wreck and Skummie's new art blog Skumm Beast presents Boot the Foot, which has several artists interpreting their favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle characters in their own unique way. My first piece, of April O'Neil is up and now my second, of Mondo Gecko the 80s-tastic skateboarding lizard is posted as well. You can check it out along with a small quesstionnare regarding my history with the beloved franchise.