LINES ON PAPER

King of the Unknown.com Is Live!

2012-01-08T14:17:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! The King of the Unknown webcomic just wrapped up it's first week, so if you haven't checked it out yet go do so now at: http://www.kingoftheunknown.com/

Remember to check back every Tuesday and Friday for new comic pages too!

Mark Your Calendars!

2011-11-14T16:48:00.003-06:00

The official webcomic launch date has been set for King of the Unknown, so everyone mark their calendars for Friday, December 30th when the cover for the first story will be posted, followed by the first four pages of the comic on the following Tuesday through Friday. The regular schedule will then resume after that with new comic postings on Tuesdays and Fridays. Until then, follow along with the countdown clock on http://www.kingoftheunknown.com/ and follow us on our Facebook page for the latest updates: http://www.facebook.com/KingoftheUnknown

Run, Piggy! Run!!!

2011-10-21T13:42:00.001-05:00

I might make some prints of this one one of these days.

Avengers Redesigns

2011-10-14T14:37:00.007-05:00

I had these up on my deviantart gallery for awhile now, figured I'd post them up here since I don't post on here that often. Some of these are more redesigns than others.

A Cool Story

2011-10-07T14:12:00.004-05:00

If you've checked out my blog before you'll probably recall me mentioning something about a story I worked on along with writer David Tanh, for a futuristic fairy tale themed anthology. Well, yesterday Bleeding Cool ran a very cool (yes that was a very dorky pun) article about it and how some publisher needs to get on the ball and publish this awesome and amazing book already! Check out said article here: http://http//www.bleedingcool.com/2011/10/06/once-upon-a-time-machine-the-greatest-story-never-told/

And you can check out (actually I demand you check this out) the Once Upon a Time Machine Facebook page setup by editor extraodinaire Andrew Carl here: https://www.facebook.com/onceuponatimemachine

Now go spread the word so we can see this thing in stores sooner than later!

The King Has Entered the Building

2011-10-01T13:02:00.002-05:00

After a long delay I've finally got my $*!@ together and decided to launch King of the Unknown as a webcomic. So some time within the next couple of months (still working on the first story, want to make sure that's in the can first before I launch anything) the comic should go up, but in the mean time check the Facebook page for the latest updates and previews: http://www.facebook.com/KingoftheUnknown

ReBooted

2011-02-24T14:04:00.003-06:00

Hey look! It hasn't even been 6 months yet and I'm already putting up another post! Anyway, here's a pinup I did for the ReBoot tribute artbook that Beach Creative Studios (http://www.beach-studios.com/reboot.html ) is putting out this year. Yeah, I know I forgot to put Frisket in there, I didn't notice that until I was almost done with the colors so he got left out. Sorry Frisket. Also, you may notice the background in this pinup looks familiar, that's because I liked it so much I used it again for the background on my blog header. Recycling is good for the environment ya know.

Neglecting My Blog

2011-02-05T12:56:00.013-06:00

Well, it's been about 6 months since I last posted something on here so I figured it was about time to do just that. Also, I've had this thing for over 3 years so I figure the look of it was due for an overhaul, which was pretty easy to do with the new page design tools blogger has now than when I originally started posting on here. Hopefully people will like the new look.

Anyway, besides the new look I updated some of the links so that my gallery link will now go to my gallery on deviantart and the links now go to the most current website the artist has.

I finished up the artwork for the Future Fairy Tales anthology before the holidays and have posted a few more pages here (which can also be seen on my deviantart gallery,) and have started back up on the creator owned mini-series I had taken a break on to work on the FFT anthology. I have made a New Years resolution of sorts not to take on any major new comics projects until this one is done, only minor stuff like pin-ups or designwork while I work on this one. I had a good talk with the writer on the project where we hashed out some of the story details and I'm feeling pretty excited about the project, it probably won't be out until the end of this year but I'll post some artwork as soon as I can. In the mean time I'll try to post some other stuff a bit more often and try not to post only once every six months.

Tortoise and the Hare Update

2010-08-31T14:49:00.005-05:00

I figured I'd post these up here since I've had them up on my deviantart account for a while now. Here is the first 3 colored pages from the Tortoise and the Hare story I'm working on with writer David Tanh for the Future Fairy Tales project that was started on Digital Webbing.

The Tortoise and the Hare

2010-04-18T13:36:00.005-05:00

Here's some designs from an anthology project I'm a part of. Chris Stevens got a bunch of the talent from the Digital Webbing website together to put together a themed anthology book with a futuristic take on classic fairy tales, and I was lucky enough to be a part of it and work with writer David Tanh. Anyway, the story I'm doing artwork for is the Tortoise and the Hare and it has a kind of Mario Kart/Speed Racer feel to it.

Happy Holidays...

2010-01-24T14:59:00.003-06:00

...well, better late than never I guess, heh. I was, and still, extremely busy over the holidays so I didn't get a chance to post this up. I've been doing some artwork for a local Thai Cuisine restaurant called the Happy Elephant since this past summer, and for the holidays this year they had me make up some logos and flyer designs. So here they are, a little late but better than never I guess. You can also check out the Happy Elephant website at http://www.happyelephant.net/

Hamster Animation

2009-05-07T16:55:00.003-05:00

Several months ago I applied for a job at a local mobile phone game company. Unfortunately the wanted ad on their website was outdated and the position had already been filled some time ago (update your websites people!) So anyway, here's part of the test artwork I wasted my time on...well at least I can throw it in an artbook some day. The artwork is for some key frames of animation that I made that I then converted to pixel art while using a character I had to come up with based off of guidelines given to me from their website. Yeah, I know that was a bit of a run on sentence, I'm bad with those.

Working Class Zombie

2009-01-02T19:21:00.002-06:00

Being the shut in, lonely, nerd that I am, I spent New Year's Eve at my computer coloring stuff. On the plus side, not having a life means I get more artwork done like this piece. Enjoy my misfortune! heh.

Abraham Lincoln: Space Commando

2008-11-02T17:55:00.002-06:00

In honor of the upcoming presidential elections (or rather, in honor that they're finally going to be over with I should say,) I figured I'd post up my take on one of our country's greatest presidents. So here he is, Abraham Lincoln: Space Commando! Hopefully I'll get the chance to do a comic of this some day (or a cartoon would be even better.) I'll be posting more colored art on here more regularly now that I have a new (well, somewhat used) computer in my little work station and have been practicing coloring more.

Anyway, I also went back and edited the "Granny" post from a while back with the colored version my brother did before the summer.

Battle On!

2008-10-30T19:06:00.004-05:00

I like to do warm up sketches to loosen things up a bit and take off any pressure of working on a page. So, since I was sick of doing the same old superhero stuff, I decided I should sketch something of the non-cape variety from comics.

Back in high school I was a big fan of Joe Madureira's Battle Chasers comic, and since, to my surprise, I never even once attempted to draw a character from that comic I figured I'd take a stab at it. I figured the sketch turned out alright so I'd do a clean copy of it and color it (because I needed the practice.)

Looking back at those comics for character reference for this image, I was surprised by how well those comics hold up even today (especially those last 2 issues which look pretty great.) They were pretty fun reads too, it's just too bad there's not really anything coming out in the fantasy genre nowadays.

King of the Unknown Short Comic

2008-07-15T16:50:00.002-05:00

With the upcoming release of Muscles and Fights vol. 3 "Muscliest & Fightiest" at this years Fallcon, I figured I would share my previous Muscles and Fights comic entry for those that may have missed it.

It involves some trouble in the south (in a trailer park no less) between the King and a redneck Skunkape and has a rather odd ending to it. Enjoy!

Also, for more information on all things Muscles and Fights be sure to check out my links section at the side of the page. Also, while you're checking out the links, feel free to click on some of the newly added links like Mark Rickett's side splitting, twice weekly comic strip, MOOSE MOUNTAIN. "MOOSE MOUNTAIN revolves around Ranger Todd, a nature loving do-gooder, and the wildlife that resides at Moose Mountain National Park. There's a brooding, love-sick blackfly, a New Jersey squirrel family relocated to the park by the wildlife witness protection program, a self-centered, passive aggressive black bear, and a moose whose four husbands were all killed in tragic car crashes. Most of the strips are set in the park, which, in many ways, resembles Maine's Acadia National Park, but sometimes the action takes place in the coastal resort town of Bar Harbor where Todd reluctantly shares his house with a beaver named Orson.
New strips (and more) every Tuesday and Thursday."

Also, check out the link to Alberto Rios' (A.K.A. Ponbiki) blog. Alberto is an amazing artist that I've known for a while now, and every time I see what his newest project is I'm just blown away by the imaginative things he comes up with. His latest sketchbook is no exception, so swing by his blog and see if you can snag a copy.

Granny

2008-07-01T18:02:00.001-05:00

One of the things I like to do is just draw different types of people in my sketchbook for practice. I came up with this granny that I thought looked decent enough, so I penciled a clean version of her and thought I'd post it up here. Watch out, she's a tough cookie.

Pumpkin Decal

2008-06-30T19:37:00.001-05:00

To pick up some extra cash I've been designing some motorcycle decals for a few people my brother works with. The style is not done in my usual one (which is very animated and with minimal, if any, line weights) so I figured I would post one of them here for those that may be interested. Colors by my bro Michael Roanhaus.

Also, over the weekend I went to the Wizard World Chicago comic con, this year purely as a spectator and not stuck behind a table for three days (I feel your pain my artist brethren.) And while years of going to these things has left me pretty burned out, I still managed to have an okay time and pick up some cool stuff and talk to some friends I don't see too often. Still, I think most of the enjoyment from the con came from not having to sit behind a table for three days.

Grand Theft Artwork

2008-04-13T21:09:00.000-05:00

I'm going to change gears for a minute here and rather than posting artwork (which I usually only get around to doing like, what, once every 3 months) I'm going to post about something that will directly effect every artist should it come to pass. What I'm talking about is the "Orphan Works" bill that our government is trying to sneak into law.

This bill first came to my attention after I read an article by Mark Simon on AWN's website (check it out here: http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3605&page=1 )
Basically, if passed it would require all pieces of artwork to be registered or else it would become an "Orphan Work" and would be up for grabs for anyone to own or even register themselves. It is a truly evil bill with some big supporters behind it (including non other than Bill Gates.)

I'm not really sure what I can do about it, but if anyone has any ideas or wants to get something going to stop it, please contact me and I will help out in anyway possible. Nothing pisses me off more than someone trying to make money off of someone else's hard work.

Hulk Smash!!!

2008-03-02T17:32:00.001-06:00

Wow, I really need to update this blog more. Anyway, when I'm not busy working on projects I've been trying to get a handle on photoshop more (with my brother helping me out when I don't know what I'm doing.) So I figured I'd try my hand at coloring something for practice and thought this old Hulk illustration I did some time back would do the trick. I'm still trying to find my own coloring style, I don't want to do anything too fancy that could kill the linework I put down or anything that has that plastic look to it. Basically, I just want to color in a simple style that has a traditional animation look to it.

Anyway, I'll keep practicing when time allows but I've included both the linework sans colors so you can get the before and after effect.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! HO, HO, HO!

2007-12-23T19:46:00.000-06:00

I felt like I should probably post something holiday related but really didn't have anything done that fell under that catagory. Fortunately I have this one character design for a project I'm working on that does meet those qualifications. So I hope everyone has a happy holiday and hopefully you'll dig this battle hardened, warrior version of Santa. Peace.

Alien in Color

2007-11-19T19:44:00.000-06:00

Lately I've been trying to expand my bag of tricks, so with the help of my brother, I've been learning to color in photoshop. Yeah, I know, what took me so long? You whippersnappers have it easy, back when I was in high school it wasn't as common place and when I tried to learn it I totally sucked and was turned off from trying to learn it for a while.

Anyway, I figured I'd try to color something simple so I colored that little alien bugger from a few posts back. I'm still trying to find my coloring style but I think I'm getting there.

Blaaah! Happy Halloween!

2007-10-27T19:09:00.000-05:00

Some people may remember I posted a pencil sketch a while back of a creepy looking Dracula, well, I did a cleaned up version of that and my brother (Michael Roanhaus) put some colors down on the count. So, with out further a do, here he is in all his creepy colorful glory! Hope you enjoy, and oh yeah, have a Happy Halloween (and hopefully you won't get any crummy apples while trick or treating.)

Please Fill This.

2007-10-24T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is just some little alien guy I sketched up and I figured he turned out good enough to put up here. He's asking for a specimen of some sort, but of what only he knows for sure.

Street Fighter IV

2007-10-20T18:20:00.001-05:00

While I normally use this blog to just post artwork, I came across this bit of news the other day and had to post a link to it: http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3163721

Now lately I haven't been playing too many video games, but when I saw the trailer for the long awaited Street Fighter IV I was definitely floored, and aside from maybe the next installment of Super Smash Bros., this is the game I've been waiting for. Hopefully Capcom will keep the newest SF traditional to it's pixelated roots and not make it 3d (they already did that with the EX games and those weren't so great) but judging from the trailer it looks like they may take it into 3D which may not be so bad if they can actually make the graphics look as cool and stylish as they do in the trailer. Anyway, Capcom is supposed to be releasing more info on the game within the next week but for now the trailer will do as Street Fighter fans can only speculate on how the game is going to play.

Oh yeah, for fun and because the trailer got me so excited about the game, I just had to do a quick sketch of Ryu getting ready for battle. The first image is a cleaner version done in my regular style, while the one after that is a grittier version that I played around with a bit in photoshop.

It's the Batman!

2007-10-04T19:15:00.001-05:00

Man it's been awhile since I've updated this thing. I've been pretty busy working on a bunch of different projects and kind of wanted to hold off putting anything on here until I had something other than a half assed sketch to put up. Anyway, since in my previous post (which was like 2 months ago) I had Marvel characters posted, so I figured I'd try my hand at some DC characters and who better to draw than Batman and some of his rogues?

Anyway, looking back I probably wouldn't have drawn Batman so bulky, sure it makes him look kind like the DKR Batman but still he's probably a little too big there. For Mr.Freeze I tried to give him more of a retro looking deep sea diver look, and while looking for reference on that I also came across some astronaut gear that I mixed in with the design. The rest of the characters I just tried to give them a twisted kind of Nightmare Before Christmas look, and the Joker is more of a cross between a messed up marionette puppet and something from Prince's wardrobe.

Hopefully it won't be another 2 months until my next post, but I recently started putting up some of the linework to these colored pieces on my deviant art account at http://www.marcusmuller.deviantart.com/ for anyone that once to see that stuff.

Oh yeah, colors on the Batman characters were done by Michael Roanhaus too.

Marvel Adv. Avengers

2007-08-01T19:12:00.000-05:00

Most of the stuff I draw is non superhero related, so I figured I would put some stuff up here lately that falls into that category.

For this rendition of the Avengers I went by the lineup that's in Marvel's kids line of comics (I believe it's called Marvel Adventures) since the roster for that usually stays pretty consistent and isn't always changing. I just went with pretty simple standing poses for the figures to get a feel for them but it was pretty fun to draw nonetheless.

As always the linework is by me and the colors are by Michael Roanhaus.

ConEdison Kids Characters

2007-07-28T19:39:00.000-05:00

Here's the last of the ConEdison Kids stuff that I talked about in my last post. Mostly it's just the ConEdison Kids characters that they used for the back cover and some character sketches of Supergirl, Krypto, and the family featured in the 2 page comic I penciled. I also penciled the 2 safety activity rooms in the book but I figured I'd just focus on the characters for this post. Overall a pretty fun project.

ConEdison Kids Comic

2007-07-27T19:35:00.001-05:00

This past fall I did some work for a ConEdison Kids safety comic that featured DC comics characters in it. It was one of those things that was handed out to grade school kids to teach them electrical safety and all that jazz. Anyway, unless if you're in gradeschool I doubt you've seen it so I've posted up my pencil work for the sequential pages and poster I did and I will probably post up the rest of the artwork I did for it later this week.

Also, kind of a funny story too (okay maybe not funny but more interesting...at least to me anyway,) back when I first got this gig I was asked if I could pencil the pages in an animated style but one that did not look like it was from any of the DC animated series cartoons that are out there(for some type of licensing reasons I guess.) I figured that wouldn't be too difficult since I already draw pretty animated, I would just simplify things a bit. Anyway, after I'm done with the sequential pages and I'm working on the poster, they send me some artwork to reference for Superman that another artist did for an earlier story in the book. To my surprise the artwork was done in the exact same style as the animated series Superman cartoon and then I later find out that so was everyone else's artwork too! So now I feel like a complete goon and wish I had just drawn in that style because then the artwork would have been consistent throughout and my stuff wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. Ah well, at least it was a fun project to work on and it helped out the children too! Electrical safety! Now that's the important thing folks! Don't you forget it!

Kung Fu Grandpa

2007-07-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

Uh, I think the title is pretty self explanatory but just incase you don't get it, it's a quick sketch of a kung fu grandpa.

Monkeyin' Around

2007-07-21T19:51:00.000-05:00

Here's another colored piece for those that may have enjoyed the last one.

Linework by me, colors by my brother Michael Roanhaus. Check my gallery link somewhere on this page if you want to see the uncolored version.

I've been trying to post updates on a bit more of a regular schedule incase anyone didn't notice.

I'm Back and In Color

2007-07-11T20:27:00.000-05:00

Wow, to anyone who actually checks out my blog I'm sorry it's been so long since I've put anything up here. Anyway, I have something kind of new ( I say kind of because the image has been up here before just not in color) and this time it's actually colored. So all those lineart haters can shut up now here's a colored piece of artwork just for you.

The colors were done by my brother Michael Roanhaus and since this one turned out so good I'll probably have him color a few other things too.

Critters

2007-03-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

I've been slacking off and it's been awhile since I've posted anything new on here. I've been busy working on some projects and my scanner has been crapping out on me lately but I'll try to post up some of the newer stuff I've been penciling in my sketchbook lately. In the mean time, here are some random critters I sketched one day. The one in the bottom right probably turned out the best.

Batman Legos

2007-02-12T20:48:00.000-06:00

Over the summer I had the chance to work on my first project for DC Comic's creative service department. This would also be my first project for one of the major comic publishers and it was quite an interesting experience, mostly because the creative service department deals with licensed properties and the company DC was creating the project for (Lego) had to oversee and approve everything (end of run-on sentence.)

This led to some interesting hours at the drawing board, as apparently, because of certain copyright and legal jargon, the Lego people can only be depicted bending their arms and legs a certain way according to whatever the design model was that was copyrighted. So I had to redraw and revise pages several times because of this and also, because some times when they'd get back to us with notes on corrections and whatnot, the corrections would either be incredibly vague or contradictory(the whole situation is kind of funny now that I think about it.)

Finally, the Lego people were in New York for something or other, and met up with the editor on the project and we got things straightened out. Overall though I had a blast working on the project and I got pre-built Batman Lego toys to use for reference out of it too. Though I'm not too sure that many people actually got to see the final product, as it was given away at last year's San Diego Comic Con at the Lego booth. The only way I got copies of it were from some friends that attended the con. To anyone that did get a copy of it, I hope ya liked it. I'll probably put the final colored pages up in the gallery page eventually.

Old Samurai

2007-01-25T19:29:00.000-06:00

If you can't tell by now, I like to draw samurais(which will become even more apparent in the coming weeks as a post more sketches up.) There's something about feudal Japan and that culture that I just find cool and fun to draw. I have a creator owned comic book project of mine that I've been working on, but will have to wait to be finished until I can clear out some other projects that have been piling up. In the mean time I hope ya dig this feudal doodle of an old samurai warrior enjoying a smoke.

Belated Holidays

2007-01-23T17:53:00.000-06:00

This first sketch was penciled back around Halloween. I kind of like how Dracula turned out looking both creepy and goofy at the same time(not unlike myself I've been told.)
This second illustration I penciled around the winter holidays for my brother who's in college and obsessed with zombies. Originally, I was thinking of having some undead reindeer behind old zombie claus but I figured it would be best to just have the main focus on him. So, I just penciled in some arctic terrain back there.

Dino Frisbee

2007-01-19T21:52:00.000-06:00

Pandas and Samurais

2007-01-16T20:24:00.000-06:00

I finally decided to get with the times here and get in on this whole "blogging" thing. It should be interesting since the extent of my computer skills are pretty much limited to checking my e-mail (and I still have problems with that some times).

Anywho, for my first post I've got some scribblings I pulled from my sketchbook of what else but of a samurai/bushido looking dude and a panda snacking on some bamboo (because samurais and pandas rule). I'll try and get around to posting a few sketches a week inbetween working on stuff (keyword being "try").

Also, a big thanks to Mr. Bernie Gonzalez for creating the banner thingy (or whatever it's called, I'm not too hip to what those crazy kids are calling things these days) at the top of this page and for helping me set up this blog and creating a gallery page for me. Check out some of Bernie's groovy artwork by clicking on the link at the right side there and you can thank me later (I'll take cans of grape soda and bags of Doritos if you have any).

Later-Marcus