I’m grateful to Vicki Wong, co-creator of The Octonauts for not only reading an early version of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, but for her lovely blurb that you’ll find on the book. Which you can preorder here!
Praise from the co-creator of THE OCTONAUTS Read More »
This Saturday, August 3, marks the one-month countdown to the release of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, and I’m celebrating with live streams where we can collaborate to make some spooky drawings!
For those who are new to Doctor Baer, he’s a dealer in occult objects. My middle-grade graphic novel is the story of how this spooky archivist learns to become an adventurer when his collection is released into the world. So the objects we make could be items in his collection!
I’ve been making these drawings at various events this summer. All I ask is that you show up with the following:
You can use the form below to send me the info I need to draw your custom cursed object. You can tune into the live stream to watch it come together, and I’ll even mail you the drawing when it’s done.
Let’s Make Cursed Objects Together! Read More »
It’s time to talk about another character who shows up in The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. But this time I turn to talking about one of the villains, who happens to be the character I relate to the most viscerally.
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TPD 345 – Characters: Wilhelmina Read More »
In early July 2024 my old friend Rob Stenzinger visited me in Columbus, and we found ourselves having the kinds of discussions we recorded for the Lean Into Art cast. Particularly topics surrounding our projects we’ve been working on for the past two-to-three years and how we’re thinking about marketing them. So we turned on a mic and captured some of the thinking we’ve been doing.
We set up pretty hastily, so the audio quality isn’t what we had on Lean Into Art. But the gentle, thoughtful approach to art-making topics is all there. I hope you enjoy it!
Links mentioned:
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TPD Special – Marketing Your Personal Work Like a Pro, with Rob Stenzinger Read More »
https://www.youtube.com/@madebykokoro
A piece I worked on during my trip to San Diego for the American Library Association Annual Conference. It was a fun trip where I got to promote Doctor Baer to librarians, reconnect with friends, and check out the San Diego Padres’ baseball park (sadly, they weren’t playing at home that weekend).
It’s feeling like book tour/promo mode is officially underway, and it’s a wild feeling. I’ll have more reflections to share in text and in future Fabulous Secrets microcasts.
My thanks to Chloe Cordero for the color assists on this piece.
Pickles is Ready for Promo Read More »
It’s time to talk about the most cheerful adventurer in The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. But is her joyful presence performative, and is there more to her than laughs?
Here are the first drawings of Pickles from October 2014:
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TPD 344 – Characters: Pickles Read More »
I’ve always been fascinated by sage heroes, but my relationship with them has changed from childhood to adulthood. In this Thunder Punch Daily I explore how these characters influenced the character of Doctor Baer himself.
Links mentioned:
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TPD 343 – Characters: Doctor Baer Read More »
Here’s an introduction to the general concept of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, along with a brief history of its development and some of the influences behind the book.
One of his earliest appearances on PPV: Pay-Per-View #2
If you look super close, you’ll also see him in the monster’s left hand next to the lady and the black cat on the cover of PPV #1.
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TPD 342 – What’s Doctor Baer About? Read More »
As the school year came to a close, and my full-time residencies ended, I excitedly began ramping up development for the next Doctor Baer story.
Here’s our monk leading us to the abbey (formerly a church) hiding a dangerous secret.
I’m continuing to look for ways to streamline the drawing process, and leaning on 3d models seems to be the way to go. Here’s the model of the abbey:
I didn’t build this one, though. I hired a Blender artist to create it and the entire town where the story takes place:
This low-polygon representation won’t be useful for making an animation or video game, but it’s exactly what I need to streamline the process of drawing various scenes in Clip Studio Paint.
I’ll say more about the influences behind the locations as I make more development drawings.
Walking up to the Abbey Read More »
I was given the gift of a thought experiment via the Doctor Baer AMA form:
Indiana Jones grew much larger than its creator. How do you think you’d feel about being an artist and about Dr. Baer if it found great success and the Dr. Baer intellectual property grew beyond your control of it?
While I like to think I’d be able to let it go and see it turned into derivative works, I know I haven’t always felt this way. So I take a survey of my WHY over the last 30 years.
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TPD 341 – What if Doctor Baer’s Success Exceeds My Grip? Read More »