...WIZARD WORLD CHICAGO: Aug 3rd-6th, 2006...

Gonna' be there this year with the rest of the

HYPERTHETICAL

Crew, Rafael Nieves, Jonathan Knipping, and Nick Muntean... We'll all be at Table #3117 in Artist Alley, Sellin' Stuff, Previewin' Projects, and havin' Loads of FUN... I'll also be doin' Comission Sketches... So, stop on by and say "Hi" ...

Rafael will also be at the

Transfuzion

Booth, with Transfuzion Co-Founder Gary Reed and the rest of his crew at (( Booth #3085 ))... All you Artists with a strong portfolio, and desire to be workin' in the Comic Industry, stop by this booth cuz' they might be lookin' for you...

And just when you thought you might not get enough of Rafael, that's right, you stand corrected... Cuz', he'll also be signin' books and meetin' his loyal fanbase (( You know who you are )) at Moonstone (( Booth #246 ))... So bring your Hellstorms, Mr. Motos, Phantoms, Vampire:The Masquerades, or whatever Rafael Nieves titles you might have, get them signed and meet the Man yourself... Hell, maybe even give him a hug...

Hope to see you there...

Peace!!! I'm Out!!!

Tony

Hey Friends,

Just lettin' you know about my friend's (( Johnny G ))

BLOG...

... He 's one of my very Best Friends and unbelievably talented... So, when you get a chance, check it out...




Also, keep and eye on

Rafael's Blog...

, where He'll keep us up to date on his SDCC Adventure... Hope you're havin' a Great Time Raf...

Later For You All,

Tony

Good Thursday to you all...

NEWS GALORE!!! Are you sittin' down??? Good, here we go... Best Friend and Partner in everything Artastic "Rafael Nieves", is gonna be at the San Diego Con this year (((SUPER EXCITIN'!!! I'm goin' next year, by Hook or Book)))... And it sounds like he's gonna be "Busier than a one-legged cat tryin' to bury a turd on a frozen pond"... He'll be hangin' with Tom Negovan and his Century Guild/Olympian Publishing peeps... Who by the way, will be sportin' some Sweet-Ass Art Nouvea, available for human consumption... Then do yourself a favor and look for Him at the Moonstone table where He'll be signin' books and meetin' his fans, who have followed his career from Hellstorm, Mr.Moto, Vampire:The Masquerade, and The Phantom... If you're missin' any of these, get up off your ASS and go get them now... Also, check him out at the "Phantom Panel", where he'll answer questions about his Phantom Stories, and maybe relinquish a few more juicy tidbits of future Phantom Goodness... Check out his

...Blog...

for more info... GO!!! The Lonely Rice commands it...

But wait, there's more... Back in May, Rafael, Nicky, and I were at the Motor City Con spreadin' the Goodness like we do... We hung out with Gary Reed and his crew... A Fabulous time was had all three days... It was also the first appearance of

www.transfuzion.biz

... A group of some of the industries best writers, lookin' to hook-up with some artists in order to bring some Sweet Projects to fruition... Check out the site and spread the word to any artists who are lookin' to be a part of something Fantastic...

I'm not done yet... We also met the Guys of

Fist Full of Comics

... Who interviewed Rafael and Me for

PodCasts

that they posted on their site... Check it out...

And now for some Sketchilicousness ((( Like my Made-Up Word??? Yes you do...)))

I received some positive comments on my last art post, about the Barbarian Sketch... So, I'm postin' a couple more of those per request... Before divin' headlong into a project, I like to shake any cobwebs loose with some Warm-Up sketches... So, I figure why not have those be for one of my future projects... Y'Know, build a pile of characters to chose from later on, that'll inhabit that world... These first few sketches are for a Barabrian story I hope to get to someday...

This guy will probably end up someone's muscle... I'm thinkin' that he'll have some secret attack that'll involve that crazy belt he's wearin'... We'll see...



There would be more of this Meanie, but I ran outta room on that page... He might end up bein' one of my Barbarian's main enemies... I think it'll be fun to work out their "Sword Battle" ... I hope to involve hardcore Bladin' and some Mystical Aspects in that fight...


And what would a Sword and Sorcery story be without it's Beasties... This one is a little generic, but I like it nonetheless... I might make it a little more deformed, playin' around with the shape a bit...


These two are from a ton of Alien Sketches I did one night... Same thing about buildin' a treasure trove of different characters to inject into stories... When I get a chance, I'll post more of these...






Well, I did it, I came back while havin' my first Cup O' Joe and put some comments for this round of sketches... I think I'll treat myself to another cup and some mornin' grub...

Tony

Bad, Bad Tony!!! Let another month go by without postin' anything... I should be thrown into the center of an enormous Kickin' Circle, and booted into Oblivion for my Bloggin' Transgressions... "What, you're givin' me another chance"??? Well far be it from me to let an opportunity like this go unappreciated... These 2 posts will be another edition of "BLASTO FROM EL PASTO"... While I was in Puerto Rico visitin' my famliy last month, I was able to scan a "LOT" of pictures of them... So, here we go...

While over in P.R., we celebrated my GrandFather's 93rd Birthday, and a good time was had by all... There was cake and people comin' over to wish him a Happy One... In the back row, from the left we have Mom, Titi O, Grandma, Priscilla, Titi Alicia, and Angelica... In the first row, Nicole, Gramps, and me... Look at that cake, it's huge... There was still cake when I left 5 days later...


Back row, Mom, Titi Alicia, Grandma... Front row, Nicole, Gramps, and Alexis...


Next we have a few oldies of the Womens...

Here's my dear GrandMother when she was just a Teenie Bopper, posin' up a storm with her bad self... You know it's trippy to look at old photos like this of family you've only known as long as you've been alive... Personally, I wonder what she did that day after the photo was taken, or what she was thinkin' while it was bein' took... I'd ask, but I'm not sure that she'd remember and would feel bad about havin' no recollection of that day... Maybe I'll ask her the next time I see her... Con Mucho Amor Abuelita...


Here's Momma lookin' like a little doll... She was a cutie as a kid, huh??? She's always been kinda' shy, even as a kid... Sometimes I wonder what Mom woulda' been like if she had been more outgoin'... If she were the template of the person I'd turn out to be... Or the need to be so practical wasn't so prevalent in her life, how different she woulda' turned out... Then, I think of the person she turned out to be, and I smile... Despite whatever arguments or hardships we've been through, she has been the one consistent source of support my whole life... As I was growin' up, I started to notice that my Mom felt more like a Big Sister while my GrandMother felt like the Mom... Some people told me that wasn't normal, but I think it's a big part of why we are the way we are with each other... And, I wouldn't change that for anything... If you wanna' know how I feel about my Momz, listen closely to Kanye West's "Hey Mama"... I Love You Momz...


Here's Titi O... If they would've had latinos on the Little Rascals, she would've been a shoe-in... Everyone I know has a favorite Auntie... I on the other hand lucked out here, cuz' not only is she my favorite, she's my only Titi... Now, I do have another aunt on my father's side, but I didn't grow up around her, so there's no real relationship there (No Disrespect Mildred)... However, Titi O was very Attentive and Lovin' with me my whole life, even after movin' to Puerto Rico when I was a kid... She's always Happy to see me and Anxious to hear what's goin' on in my life... She even comes here to my blog to check and see what I'm up to... (One of my few fans) I Love You too Titi, never forget that...


This little beauty here is Nicole, my cousin Alexis' daughter... At 8 she already has the makin's of a star in whatever she wants to do in her life... She's Sooper Smart, Beautiful, can Sing and Dance... Spendin' time with her while visitin' P.R. was a real joy... She had me tappin' into Paternal instincts I didn't even know I had... Hell, she's even got me convinced that I can handle havin' a daughter some day... If you know me, you know that the thought of havin' a daughter frightens the shit outta' me... And, she killed that with how Wonderful she is... I'd wish her Good Luck, but I don't think she'll need it... Watch out world, cuz' when she hits, you'll fall in Love too...


That's it for the Womens in my family... Next will be the Gentlemen...

Later,

Tony

Here go the MenFolk, or at least 1 man and 3 chillins'... How I Love these old photos...

Here's my favorite guy in the whole wide world, my GrandFather... This one was way, way, way back in the day... Back when people actually interacted with each other... No internet, no cell phones or any of the stuff that has managed to separate us as a people... I only mention it cuz' when Gramps and I would go for our walks, there wasn't anywhere we'd go that a bunch of people didn't know him... It was, "Hey Don Tono" here, "Goin' for a walk Don Tono" there... Now, don't misunderstand the "Don", he wasn't a gangster... It was a show of respect and admiration for a man well liked... And let me tell you, "Like" doesn't cover it, He's LOVED by everyone who knows him, then and now...


On my trip to Puerto Rico, I scanned so many old photos of my family... Two of the people that I didn't have too many photos of were my two cousins... Which, I thought was a shame, since I love them like Brothers... When my Titi O and Ricky moved to Puerto Rico, I was devastated... I lost my Titi, who has always been like a second mother to me... And Ricky, who was the closest thing I had to a brother at the time... Which is why I was always so excited at vacation time... I wish we were all closer to each other... Anywho, this one here is Ricky when he was cruisin' around on a Go Cart...



Here we have Baby Alexis... I scanned a grip of his baby pics, since I had so little of him to begin with... I mean c'mon, look at that grill, he was so Adorable... It's funny, after Alexis was born, Ricky and I would fight about who would hold him... He would say, "He's my brother", and I would say, "But you see him all the time"... Eventually leadin' to my Titi or Mom takin' him away, and us fightin'... Ahh, good times... On this last trip, Ricky wasn't there (Miss You Brotha'), so I got to hang with Alexis more, and his beautiful daughter Nicole... He's a good soul, I wish I woulda' been around him more growin' up...


And then there's me muggin' for the camera... I don't remember what I was thinkin' here, but doesn't it look like I'm about to say one of my Dumb-Ass comments???


Well that's it for this round... I hope you enjoyed the trip down "My Memory Lane", I know I did... Catch ya'll laters...

Tony