ScottChantler.com

New Stuff

2008-04-29T15:10:00.004-04:00

Here at last is the second of the pieces I created for the Nelson Education's illustrated dictionary. I won't walk you through the whole process on this one, because it really changed very little from concept to rough to final art. They seemed to feel like I got it pretty much right the first time. Enjoy.

NWP on Attack of the Show

2008-04-24T13:30:00.005-04:00

I'm on TV again! Well, not me, personally. But Northwest Passage got a nice mention/review last night in Blair Butler's "Fresh Ink" segment on G4's Attack of the Show. Click the image for the video (though you'll have to listen to a minute and a half of stuff about Secret Invasion first):

Thanks for the coverage, Attack of the Show people!

Northwest Passage Nominated for an Eisner Award!

2008-04-14T13:53:00.003-04:00

On the heels of last week's announcement about being nominated for a Joe Shuster Award, comes this week's news that The Annotated Northwest Passage has been nominated for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the new category of Best Publication for Teens. This is the big one, the "Oscars" for cartoonists. And Mr. Eisner himself was a hero of mine, so it's a most surprising honour to be among the many exceptional nominees.

The Beat has a full list of the nominated books and creators, which are an impressively diverse bunch this year. The winners are announced at a ceremony on July 25th in San Diego. Again, wish me luck!

Joe Shuster Award Nominations Announced

2008-04-10T12:44:00.008-04:00

The 2008 nominees for the Joe Shuster Awards were announced today...and, well, I wouldn't be mentioning it if I hadn't been nominated for one, now would I? I've been nominated in the new category of Outstanding Cover, for my work on The Annotated Northwest Passage, an honour I really ought to share with designer Keith Wood, who really nailed the "Robert Louis Stevenson" look that I wanted. As in previous years, I'm up against some amazing competition. But win or lose, the Shusters are always a good time, so I'm looking forward to the big ceremony on June 14th. Wish me luck!

I Sure Wouldn't Want Anything Nailed Through MY Five-Hole

2008-04-09T15:16:00.010-04:00

It's been a few weeks since I last updated with new illustration work. Mostly it's because there hasn't been any. I've been up to my neck in researching and scripting Two Generals, which is coming along nicely (thank you for asking) but which hasn't really given me much to show as of late.

That changed in the last couple of weeks, though, as I briefly changed gears to participate in a project that the fine folks at Nelson Education have been putting together, an illustrated dictionary for kids that features comics by a virtual who's-who of Toronto-area comics artists.

The page I was asked to do illustrates the word "jargon". Here's each stage of the process:

First, a quick rough based on Nelson's script:

You'll note that I showed all the players on the ice in the first panel. This was because the script made clear that it was important to demonstrate that one of the teams was short-handed (down a player). They liked the rough, but felt that panel one was too crowded with so many characters in it. I suggested that we show the scoring team as being short-handed by putting one of the players in a penalty box, which they agreed was a good solution. I made the change in the tight pencil version:

That got approved, so it was on to inks:

Then, finally, colours and lettering:

I'd always intended to put some kind of brand name on the goalie's stick in panel 2, but when it came down to it the client found it distracted from the dialogue in that panel. I agreed, and replaced it with stripes that don't draw the eye as much.

The client was happy enough with this one that they asked me to a second one for the same project. I'll save that for later in the week, just so that it won't be another month and a half between posts!

Original Art Auctions on eBay

2008-02-25T21:06:00.005-05:00

I just put a couple of original art pieces up on eBay: page 7 from the just-released Hawaiian Dick #3, and page 18 from the third volume of Northwest Passage.

These auctions end March 3rd, so get in there and get bidding! And don't forget that a large selection of my original comic art is always available in my art store over at ComicSpace.

Hawaiian Dick #3 on Sale Now!

2008-02-20T15:03:00.002-05:00

New month, new issue of Hawaiian Dick! Issue #3 hits the stands today, so go pay your three dollars and buckle up for yet another colourful blast of investigative Pacific island mayhem!

Recent Illustration Work

2008-02-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some images I've cooked up recently, the first for an article on "green homes" in Seattle Magazine, the other for a Design Edge Canada article about the unintentionally insulting language that clients sometimes use with designers and other creative freelancers. Enjoy!

Hawaiian Dick #2 on Sale Today

2008-01-16T09:27:00.001-05:00

After a brief delay at the printer, Hawaiian Dick #2 is in stores today...go get one!

"Two Generals" Lands at Tundra

2008-01-05T17:26:00.000-05:00

It's now official: my next creator-owned comics project will be the graphic novel Two Generals, which will be published in November 2009 by Tundra Books.

Two Generals will be my first time trying my hand at non-fiction. Based on my grandfather's 1943 diary, it depicts his time in England with his best friend training for the invasion of Normandy as officers in Canada's Highland Light Infantry. While not entirely accurate to describe it as a "war book" (my grandfather didn't see action until D-Day in '44) it will detail the intensely personal experience of going to war, the humour of young men abroad for the first time, and the preparation, both mental and physical, for what they know will happen next.

I'm looking forward to my collaboration with Tundra Books (who have published some Canadian classics, including The Hockey Sweater, a favourite of mine and my son) who so far have been nothing but enthusiastic about the project. I'll post updates throughout the process of the book's creation so that fans can see how it's shaping up...and don't forget to circle Rembrance Day '09 on your calendars!

2008 Off to a Good Start

2008-01-04T09:22:00.000-05:00

A couple of nice surprises in this first week of the year:

First, twelve pages of Hawaiian Dick #1 have been reprinted in the comics section of New York Magazine. I have no idea what the circulation of New York Magazine is, but it's got to be, you know, big. A nice piece of mainstream media exposure for our little indie-comic-that-could.

And as if that weren't enough, The Annotated Northwest Passage has just been named one of Comics Worth Reading's Best Books of 2007. An honour, indeed.

Hopefully these are a sign of things to come in the year ahead!

Original Art Store Updated

2007-12-04T15:22:00.000-05:00

It's been some time since I updated my art store over at ComicSpace, but I've finally added not only a bunch of pages from Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1, but also the entire 16 pages from the newly-released Hawaiian Dick #1. So go do some Christmas shopping for the comics fan or art lover in your family!

HAWAIIAN DICK #1 Sells Out

2007-12-04T12:55:00.001-05:00

Good news...HAWAIIAN DICK #1 has sold out at the distributor level. If you're looking for it and haven't been able to find it, a second printing (with a snazzy new cover by Jason Latour) is on its way. Many thanks to the retailers and fans who had faith in the book's relaunch. And be sure to keep your eyes open for issue #2, which is even better than the first!

HAWAIIAN DICK #1...On Sale Now!

2007-11-21T09:57:00.001-05:00

Hot off the presses! Byrd, Kahami, Mo, The Thinker...the whole gang is back for the new series, along with a half-dozen new characters, just for good measure. So get thee to a comics store, or anywhere else smart enough to stock Image books...you won't be disappointed!

More New Illustration

2007-11-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

While I wait for a couple of new comics projects to gear up, I've been taking a lot of magazine illustration gigs that have come up recently. Here's a couple of favourites, including a holiday-themed piece for Baltimore Magazine:

...and a few retro-style spots for the popular Canadian children's magazine, OWL:

Yes, I Draw Motorcycles...

2007-11-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

Sometimes good illustrations come from the most unlikely concepts. Carpenter Magazine recently asked me to come up with an illustration for an article about union negotiations with the new Harley-Davidson museum that resulted in the high-end mill-cabinet work being done by a UBC signatory.

Clearly the most interesting thing about that rather dry business concept is the fact that it was for the Harley-Davidson museum...so I took it as a perfect excuse to draw a motorcycle! The resulting illustration is one of my recent favourites, and was a good way to add some much-needed drama to the story.

Look Ma, I'm on TV!

2007-10-11T20:57:00.000-04:00

The fine folks over at Space: The Imagination Station (Canada's answer to the Sci-Fi Network) ran a nice spot about The Annotated Northwest Passage throughout the day today on their HypaSpace news segments. Those who missed it can click the link above for the online version. They did a really nice job cutting together panels from the book (with some heroic music over top) with interview segments filmed at The Toronto Comic Arts Festival back in August to create something that should really help promote the book.

Thanks for the airtime, Space!

Tek Jansen Original Art on eBay

2007-10-03T09:18:00.001-04:00

I managed to get through convention season without selling all of the original art pages from Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #1, so I've decided to put one up on eBay. If this page (the third page of the story, with Tek kicking in the door, stroking the kitty--*not* a euphamism--and getting his finger bitten by the six-inch villain) goes for an appropriate price, I'll try putting the other remaining pages up, too. Go take a look, and if you like the page, throw down a bid!

And don't forget that I also have dozens of pages from Days Like This and Northwest Passage vol.1 for sale at my art store on ComicSpace. I'm trying to clear my office of the unsold artwork that's laying around, so you'll be able to find some good deals there.

Creating a Cover

2007-10-02T13:11:00.000-04:00

When I began this blog, I wrote that I'd be posting more sketches and work-in-progress stuff, and so far I really haven't been doing that much. In attempt to change that, here's the step-by-step process of how a recent magazine cover assignment went down:

The cover was for an issue with various Christmas-themed articles, so for my initial sketch I went with a classic--if somewhat generic--holiday image. While the client liked the feel of it, they decided they wanted something a little more focused on gift-giving.

Sketch #2 focused more on the gift...but the client wanted something even more overtly about the gift, and less overtly Christmas-y.

Sketch #3 was the winner. I managed to avoid the more obvious trapping of Christmas (the tree, stockings, etc.) while still making it clear that it wasn't simply a birthday by keeping the boy in his pyjamas. With this sketch, I finally had an approval to move on to the final art.

As always, I enlarged the approved sketch, tightened it up significantly, and inked it.

Then, it's onto the scanner and into Photoshop for colour and effects. One more assignment down!

Even More "Dick"!

2007-09-27T13:39:00.000-04:00

Image Comics has released a 6-page preview of the new Hawaiian Dick series that I'm working on with B. Clay Moore. Pencils and inks are by yours truly, colours and letters by series co-creator Steven Griffin:

The series debuts in November, so start the countdown!

Hawaiian Dick Update

2007-09-26T15:14:00.000-04:00

The first issue of the new Hawaiian Dick series lands in November, and just to prove that we are, in fact, intending to keep a monthly schedule, here's a sneak peek at some pencils from issue #3:

In the Media

2007-09-26T14:54:00.000-04:00

The Annotated Northwest Passage got a review early this month in The Toronto Star. The author's main criticism of the book seems to be that it isn't Chester Brown's Louis Riel (which to me seems perfectly clear by simply glancing at the cover, and akin to criticizing oranges for not being grapefruit.) Still, it's some big-time mass media exposure for the book (The Star has the highest circulation in the country,) and the reviewer seems to have liked it well enough, so I'm thankful for it.

More recently, my new friend Rachelle Goguen interviewed me for her blog Living Between Wednesdays ahead of my appearance at Halifax's Word on the Street festival last weekend. It's a good interview, and covers lots of stuff, so go give it a read.

The Word on the Street!

2007-09-20T14:34:00.000-04:00

For my last two appearances of the year, I'll be taking part in the Canada-wide Word on the Street literary festival. Thanks to their being held on different weekends this year, I'll be signing at both the Halifax (Sunday, September 23rd) and Toronto (Sunday, September 30th) festivals.

I'll also be giving brief presentations at both shows:

In Halifax, I'll be speaking on the subject of Historical Comics at 3:15pm on the Graphic Novels and Young Adult Readers Stage.

And in Toronto, I'll be on a panel called "Creating the Great Canadian Graphic Novel" which also features cartoonists Jeff Lemire (whose Tales from the Farm is a must-read) and Zach Worton. That's at 3:30pm in the Comics and Graphic Novels Tent.

Come out, enjoy the festival, and say hello!

"A Modern Classic"

2007-08-30T11:01:00.001-04:00

Reviews for The Annotated Northwest Passage continue to appear, and most have been almost embarassingly positive. Here's a quick round-up of some of the most prominent links:

Ain't It Cool News calls it "a wild, crazy frontier ride. It’s fun, thrilling, and smart."

Earlier in the month the book turned up on the "Top Five Books of the Moment" lists of four of the five reviewers at Comic Pants.

And over at Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson calls the book "a modern classic." I'm blushing!

TCAF this Weekend!

2007-08-15T12:20:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which is, in my humble opinion, the best comics-related show in North America. It's not your standard flea market nerd-fest with William Shatner and people dressed like Sailor Moon. It brings out the entire Toronto arts community, and really celebrates the ART of comics, not the commercial side. It's a bona fide cultural event.

I'll be signing there all weekend in the OWL Kids tent, with plenty of copies of both THE ANNOTATED NORTHWEST PASSAGE and STEPHEN COLBERT'S TEK JANSEN for sale, along with original art, bookmarks, sketches, etc.

Oh, yeah...did I mention that it's FREE? You've got no excuse now but to come and join the fun.