Originals!

This Friday I'll be making available many of the originals from Menagerie (and some from The Hidden People) right here on the blog!

Menagerie! Now available!

I'm terribly excited to show you the project I've been been working on for the past four months: my 2012 sketchbook, Menagerie.

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$15, color printing, 44 pages, soft cover, perfect bound. 6" x 9"

You can find it on my shop, here.

Here's a video tour of the work, every spread of the book :

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Thank you for supporting my work! By picking up Menagerie you help to fund this and other personal projects like it. I can't thank you enough for that.

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All books are signed. The first 50 I'm doing as a sort of "artist edition" and will have a signed sketch drawn on the title page.

The Spoils of #SFAL

I've recovered from @SFantasticAL (mostly recovered).

Here are some of my acquisitions from the show. For the most part I bought books and small originals.

Behold, the collection.

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Omar Rayyan watercolor.

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Scott Gustafson drawings!
We also got two books.

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No kidding, this is the Source of Imagination.

This is a real live drawing.

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And prints, sketchbook, and book by Paul Bonner! 

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Links:

Scott Gustafson
Omar Rayyan
Petar Meseldzija
Paul Bonner (book, sketchbook)

#SFAL

Back home from @SFantasticAL, Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. 

My expectation were absurdly high. And I'm in no way exaggerating to say they were blown away, destroyed, absolutely devastated the first evening. It was, hands down, the best. 

I split a booth with Justin and we had the good fortune to spend some time with some of the most brilliant artists working today. It was humbling, inspiring, and exhilaratingly fun.

Unfortunately, we didn't take too many pictures. Here's a quick look at some of our time. 

Erin caught some Instagram action.

I love doodling in books. For real.
Gives me something to do at the booth.

Tragically, the only shot of the booth we got. Wahhh...

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Kansas City style.

The Spectrum awards!

Justin won a Silver!

Two of my large drawings from Menagerie sold!

Justin, Paul Bonner, and me.
I'm not at all kidding: we were seriously talking about motorcycles.

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I loved SFAL. An inexpressible thanks to the Fenners. Without you guys, there'd be none of this. 

Thank you from the bottom of my fantasy loving, monster drawing heart.

Spectrum Live!

Hey, come visit me and Justin Gerard this week at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live!

Menagerie! Coming soon!

Hey, it's been a whirlwind last few months; juggling regular projects, working on Menagerie, and (unfortunately) dealing with computer issues. All the same, I'm so pleased to show you guys where I'm at with my 2012 sketchbook, Menagerie.

Cover.

I've got the books in and they look PERFECT. I'm very pleased with them.

The books will be available at Spectrum Fantastic Art Live May 18-20!  

And then available online in my shop June 1.

Fox-bird

This is (a detail of) one of the final "main" pieces (in progress) for the book.

All of the studies and character portraits serve as planning for these main pieces. See, up to this point I haven't really posted many of the "main" pieces. Mostly just the studies. I want those to be a surprise.

I'm putting together the last few pieces tonight and tomorrow. Then it's off to the printers!

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When I have sent this sketchbook off to the printer, so help me, I will take the longest bike ride. I've hated not having the time to go. Yes, some of these projects are self-inflicted but still, I've missed not being able to go ride. I've been juggling a lot of projects and haven't felt ok to take the time to leave.

Menagerie: foxes

Moving through my ideas for this new sketchbook I've touched on tigers, bears, lions, dragons, gryphons, and now I've arrived at foxes.

I'm very close to wrapping up the work on this yearly project. Hard to believe this will be the fifth such sketchbook (sixth! ...if you count Ticket as the first sketchbook.)

To see all the collection of Menagerie posts, click here.

The Upstart Crow

Above. Stills from the animation.

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The Upstart Crow. 

A creative scholarship project.

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For this animated short I used my digital stop-motion, paper cut-out method. Essentially, this means creating fully layered finished illustrations, nudging everything slightly, and taking a screen capture. If you do this enough times and string the images together, you get this handmade quality of movement that I find pretty appealing.

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Help my friend Micah pursue doctoral Shakespearean research!

He’s been offered a place for doctoral research in English and Shakespeare Studies (at Oxford, Cambridge, AND the Shakespeare Institute) and we are proud of him.

But it’s expensive. A bunch of us got together and set this project in motion to help him. See how you can help!


The Upstart Crow.

Patrons of the dragon opera

The patrons!

Here's the drawing in progress. Essentially the first pass at the drawing.

I've had this particular piece in the series planned for months. It's a part of a three piece set within the sketchbook. Click here to see some of opera.

Click here for more Menagerie posts!

Cory Godbey: The Musical

I don't even know what to say, you guys. I just got a theme song, an honest to goodness theme song written about me.

I'm doing an album cover. And the band wrote and recorded this song after I sent them the drawings. I am with out words.

"When he sits at an easel, he makes the canvas blush / With his brush of adamantium dipped in magic fairy dust."

I'll never have to write a bio ever again. Any student wanting to interview me will simply be directed to this song.


I'm afraid I can't embed the song here so you'll had to click over to the band's page to hear it.

Enjoy!

Progress

Gryphon drawing in progress.

From “Menagerie” my upcoming sketchbook! May 2012.

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I might have mentioned it before here but as usual the release date goal of these sketchbooks coincide with my major conventions. Menagerie is no different though my first big show of the year is in May, Spectrum Live, rather than SDCC in July, so I'm adding more coal to the fire these days to make sure I meet my self-inflicted deadline of a late May release. 

Most likely the way it will work is I'll debut the book at Spectrum and I'll have it available online in early June.

Pressure washed

The work on the tree house continues. This entry details the pressure washed stage.

Before. The oldness and the grayness.

Robert, my co-conspirator in this endeavor pressure washing.

Above, check out the 3DS wiggle pic of this event.

And one more!

Disorienting cleanliness.

And finally, the result of all the washing: the clean, cabin-like look new wood. Enjoy.

Hard to believe the difference!

OPERA DRAGON

I'm keeping a steady pace on my 2012 sketchbook, Menagerie. I'm juggling projects and other things but still, managing to keep on track.

Here's a peek at the finished drawing for one of those aforementioned, operatic dragons.

The rough.

The finished drawing.