Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog

Thanks to Drawn! for the spotlight (and to Colin for the heads-up on my blog). Needless to say, this site is a wonderful resource for illustration. I have discovered some great artists here that I never would have found otherwise, so I am very pleased to see my stuff here as well.

Paper, if the story must persist, let's at least get it right: Quite simply, 8 years ago, I self-righteously and ruthlessly attacked my employer, not my fellow artists. Although I never paid enough attention to know anything about key plot points or trade secrets, I did manage character attacks, peppered with the occasional attempt to perpetuate internet rumors, and even digs at the entire Tampa region. At one point, I may have attacked an armadillo.

It isn't worth going into the details, especially since the tired story of CrossGen's collapse was so well-documented so many years ago and I am still here, happily having worked with every major publisher since. However, this is the rare instance where I felt the need to address it, out of respect to the many friendships I still enjoy with the fellow creators I met during my first tumultuous year in comics.

Indeed, I am friends with each and every one of the artists I worked with back then, and count several amongst my closest friends. Our mutual respect for each other has been demonstrated countless times over the years.

I've been a rotten employee more than once in my career, but I'd like to think I have been a good friend.

Thanks Colin and t8trtot for the compliments. t8trtot, the image posted here is from my cover run on New Mutants several years back, and was drawn without reference, which might explain the wonky proportions. I work with reference, but I try to draw first to capture what I think I see first, then correct things later with reference. I believe that helps to preserve the energy of a sketch while refining the details. In this case, I probably drew the figure and decided it was close enough, or ran out of time and just went with it.

Thanks to all for looking.

All the best,

Joshua

Heh, I wonder what the source image was for this cover.
The comic industry is FULL of Pros and Publishers who have made serious mis-steps...either you move on or get out, I guess. As a pro, with a monthly book, it's best to just keep your head down and do your job if you can. Only when there's a direct threat to your work and livelihood do you have warrant for bitching. Trust me, Editors have very little tolerance for drama. If you're not the source for the drama (being late, making excuses, sucking at your job) then you're golden. I'm not a Superhero fan either, but Middleton's work is some of the best in the genre.

Whoa. I didn't know about that early history. It looks pretty unprofessional of him, but maybe he's grown out of it? One can only hope.

I can't help but like his work, though. His blog is a regular stop for me.

Josh has something of an odd past in the industry. I first heard of him back when he started work with the now-defunct CrossGen Comics as a penciler. He used an alias on the company messageboards to post insults and derisions of some of the other artists, and even managed to reveal some key plot points and company trade secrets before the admins were able to figure out who he was. His actions were made public and he was immediately fired. Maybe actions like that aren't enough to keep someone out of work in this industry, though it certainly made a lot of people lose respect for him.