Drawing Otto

My good friend Rosemary captured me on video drawing Otto at the launch at Little Island Comics a couple of weeks ago. It starts about halfway through my drawing (I was taking my time because I had a captive audience) and she ran out of memory just as I finished!

Thanks for this, Rose.

Everyone Was Talking about the Elephant in the Room

Crackers' appearance at the launch was well known ahead of time, but we all thought Otto was having his nails buffed at an up-state elephant sanctuary in California. So you can only imagine our collective surprise when Otto walked into Little Island Comics last Saturday!
It was a great day, and surrounded by some of my original art, friends, family and at least one fan, I was able to send off Big Top Otto with style! Here are a few photos from the launch at Little Island Comics in downtown Toronto.

Me and two of my favourite animals.

Crackers and Otto give their trademark salute!

I had a chance to do some drawing, which was fun. A friend shot a video of this which I will eventually post.

Otto presents!

It can be hot in a mascot suit, so the pair went out on the sidewalk to cool off and hopefully lure passersby into the store.

Launch Scheduled for Big Top Otto September 28

It has just be confirmed that Big Top Otto will be launched on September 28 at 1 p.m. at my favourite comic book store, Little Island Comics in Totonto. The good folks at Little Island have offered up their space and support for the event, which seems fitting as it is the only comic book store in all of Canada that specializes solely in comics for kids! If you haven't discovered it yet, give yourself a treat and go check out their remarkable selection of titles for kids of all ages.
Peter Birkemoe at The Beguiling (Little Island's parent store) has very kindly offered to represent me in the sale of my original comic art, so in conjunction with the launch a dozen or so pieces of art from the first two books will also be there for show and sale. Prices are still to be set but they should be around or below the $100 range for a page of original art - so you can take home a bit of Otto!

On the home front, I'm now pencilling page 35 of Big Star Otto, having inked and coloured up to page 22. Here's a sneak peek at one of the pages I have just finished colouring, a big double page spread of Otto and Crackers' tour of Super Nova Studios. Needless to say, it ends in chaos.
Check out my Elephants Never Forget Facebook page for up to date information on the launch times. Hope to see you at the launch!

Pages 21-22 of Big Star Otto, where Otto and Crackers go on a tour of Super Nova Studios.  Click on it to see it larger!

Big Top Otto Has Arrived!

It's been a week of excitement on the Otto front. My advance copies of Big Top Otto, the second in the Elephants Never Forget series, arrived on my doorstep this week. Yea! Although not available in bookstores until mid-July or so (the publishing date is August 1, but copies are usually available before then) at least I have one copy in my hot little hands.
Here's what it looks like:

Jealous?

At 88 pages it's a bit longer than Book 1, Big City Otto. This time the boys go on a road trip through the American south in pursuit of Georgie.

Thumbnails for Book 3 Done!

Also this week I finished and sent off the thumbnails for Book 3, currently being done under the working title of Big Star Otto. This is the culmination of a couple of months work, breaking down the manuscript page by page and figuring out what I want in each frame. I feel that pacing and story flow are something I'm getting better at as I begin work on the third of the series, and it has given me a new appreciation for all of those who practice the arcane art of comic book making.
Now the thumbs are packed off to my editor, Stacey Roderick, for her feedback, so I'm on a brief hiatus before the gruelling twelve month marathon of drawing, inking and colouring that will see this book (and series) through to the conclusion.

Not wanting to give too much away, here are my thumbnails for pages 4 and 5 of Big Star Otto.