Meet Kubcake

Kubcake is the mascott for a new clothing line DURTY BEAR that my partner and I are developing.

Ink Indian Figure

Figure illo for a CD commission I just completed.

New Orbiter Artwork!

It's been a minute I know. But I'm back, stay tuned for all SORTS of stuff!

Gritz N Gravy Artbook on sale!

Gritz N Gravy is the brainchild of Paris Cullins, and at it's core was always a place for creators with progressive urban sensibilities to express themselves. It started off as a template for a magazine but quickly morphed into what could best be discribed as a lush coffee table art book. The initial print run was extremely limited and sold out quickly. As a collective we've dragged our feet somewhat in terms of getting the project back to print. Mostly due to the fact that most of us have moved on to other projects. But the wait is over. The book is back into print.

The book features the stories, artwork and interviews of African- American creators, most of whom reside in Philadelphia Pa. Works by Mike Leeke, Sky Owens, Eric Battle, Isreba Aiken, Clive Arno, Paris Cullins and of course me, Christopher Taylor.
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/gritz-n-gravy-magazine/4469715

Christopher Taylor inks Paris Cullins

For the uninitiated Paris and I go waaaaay back. For years I helped him layout and complete backgrounds for all sorts of comics. Too many to mention here. More recently, Paris approached me to design his magazine which in turn morphed into a coffee table artbook entitled Gritz n Gravy. Probably the most daunting creative endeavor I've done to date. Besides logo design, page layout, and computer coloring I finally got to do something I always wanted to do... ink Paris Cullins! Here's a few pages I worked on from a comic he created called Marcus Arena. I'd love a opportunity to do more...

More Sketches!

2007 Sketches

Taylor Made Book one cover

Page 10

Page 9 [Overdue]

And I was doing so good too... Now look at me. Completely OFF the f*%$cking horse. And I HATE excuses...excuses are for whiners. You either do the work or you don't. Anyhoo... enjoy the freaking page and pray for me that the next page doesn't sit on my drawing board for weeks 95% done. UGH.

Page 8 revisited

Okay, still some minor tweaking to be done but here's the illo, pretty much how I envisioned it. The black gutters were a afterthought but I think it works, especially in light of the crew's predicament. It adds a sense of foreboding, signalling their bad times are just beginning...

Page 8

Okay, I'm rather excited about this page. Oh I know it looks rather incomplete, but in actuality it's about 85% percent done. Remember the new illo of the Orbiter space station? [If you don't just scroll down, I'll wait.] Well it's going to placed in the initial big establishing shot. The story calls for the station to hide out in Ganymede's shadow. Ganymede is a moon that orbits the giant planet of Jupiter. Well as luck would have it, I ran across a really cool image online focusing on Jupiter from Ganymede's perspective. I'm going to modify and enhance the image and place it in the first panel and then impose the space station in the proper position. The fifth panel will be a re-purposed image of Commander Mead from page 6.

Page 7

As promised... scant hours later! LOL! Recently scanned pencilled pages for your viewing enjoyment. At this stage I've only begun the "digitally inking process" and I still have a lot of cleaning up to do. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, NOTHING beats traditionally inked pages. But both TIME and MONEY are prime motivators to go the digitally inked route, and if done well can at least adequately represent the base pencils.

Another shot of... SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99!!

Long overdue for a post here, but I guarantee awesome pages [at least to me anyway!] are only scant hours away. But here's a little something to whet the appetite. I almost didn't post this but I remembered... the whole point of this is to peak behind the creative veil so-to-speak. It shouldn't always be near to completed digitally inked pencils I'm showing. Here's another shot of the Orbiter space station. I won't lie, it's a bitch to draw... so it's easier for me to draw it separately, scan it, clean it up and re-size it and place it exactly where I want it on the actual page. God, I love photoshop... it's so forgiving. Make a mistake? So what...you don't even have to erase it, just fix once it's scanned in photoshop. Wheeee...

Page 6

Well finishing this page almost makes up for not going to NY Comic-Con.

Almost.

Truth is, it wasn't in the cards for me to go no matter what, as my Grand Mom Stroman's 90th birthday was on Saturday. No way was I going to miss that. And it was a wonderful time and a blessed day. No regrets on that front.

But more to the point, I just didn't have enough of Orbiter as a whole to present to the public. Although I do have a rocking 86 page illustration collection of my work [ I wouldn't call it a "sketch book" 'cause frankly, there aren't any sketches in it! lol!] that I could have sold... but I just wanted to have "more".

So moving forward I've decided The Philadelphia ECBACC Con will be my coming out party for Space Station Orbiter: Cloud 99. You read it here first, and now it's in virtual print so I'm commited! Exactly how I present it at this point is up to two major factors. One, how many pages are completed by April [the con's in May but I have to give a potential printer a few weeks time to do their stuff]. And two, how much money will I have to print the damn thing up. Something tells me I'll be combining Orbiter pages with my MARK NEMESIS: THE AVATAR work. That should make for a rocking package, along with the illustration book and some prints my bases should be well covered. Will keep all five of you posted as the date draws nearer!

As for the page. VERY happy with it. I'm showing my age here, but does anyone remember that awesome issue of Marvel Fanfare where Michael Golden pencilled, inked, and colored the battle between the Hulk and the Flu-induced Spiderman? THAT my friend, as they say... was the shit! Well I especially loved the Shield war room scenes and that's the vibe I was channeling for this page.

Our Story So Far...

Well folks, I'm back. Finished off another page and lettered everything so far. Please forgive me, this is actually my first attempt at comic lettering and it's a little more tricky than I anticipated, but I'm learning quickly. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. Up until this point the pages and images have been disjointed although I made every attempt to include the appropriate copy to give everyone a basic idea of what Orbiter is about. I take this one step further now by letting folks read the first five pages for themselves. In addition, I've included another snippet from my press release which further explains the Space Station Orbiter: Cloud 99 mythos.

Enjoy!


Welcome to the universe of SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99: a massive Mars orbiting station, which serves as the first and ultimately the last line of defense against an encroaching alien confrontation. The core inhabitants of SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99 is the elite force Sanction 7. Paranormals that were genetically enhanced and specifically chosen from each of the twelve settled city-states on Mars.

In addition to their myriad paranormal abilities all are psi sensitive able to psionically activate various machines, hardware and spacecraft. The most impressive mechanical constructs under their mental command are Towering space worthy mobile suites designed for short-range space warfare.

These enhanced individuals find themselves thrusted into the theater of intergalactic war where the inhabitants of Mars can no longer remain on the sidelines¼


What is SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99? A science fiction space opera first and foremost. Mix the pacing and tension of the EMPIRE STRIKES BACK with the angst and unique mecha design of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION with the futuristic optimism and super-powered youth of the LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES and you have SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99.

What is SPACE STATION ORBITER: CLOUD 99? Orbiter Cloud 99 is a experimental space station with technology to fold space, making instantaneous long range teleportation possible. That technology along with the Ape-like mechas known as Dreadnaughts and the genetically enhanced paranormals entrusted to pilot them makes Orbiter Cloud 99 the linchpin of New Mars military forces.

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Finally! Again!

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Finally!!!