I want to share some of the visual development of Red’s Planet from time to time here in the blog and today I’m posting a quick color key I made for page 7 of the prologue. I bring a bit of my experience and knowledge in animation to my comic book process and one aspect of animation visual development that’s very helpful is the extensive planning of the color structure.

Color keys are paintings — usually small and loosely painted— made to plan the color themes and beats of the story. A color key is less about the specific details of the shot and more about expressing the emotion of the scene in color and lighting.

I told you recently about the big cartoon/animation art and memorabilia auction on eBay, to help the family of animator and director Tim Hodge. Tim’s son Matt was left in a coma when his car was struck by a train in their home town of Franklin,Tennessee. At this point, the Hodges have exhausted their medical insurance and are continuing to rack up high bills in the care of Matt (you can read more about Matt’s story at helpthehodges.com). A few friends of Tim’s decided to ask other artists to donate art for an eBay auction and, before long, the auction list read like a who’s who of the world’s famous cartoonists and animators! So far, the Help the Hodges campaign has raised thousands of dollars from the generosity of the cartooning and animation community.

Being a relatively unknown artist, I know that my original artwork wouldn’t bring much in an auction, so I have been banging my head to think of what I can do to help raise money for this cause. But it turns out that I have something that you, the readers of Red’s Planet, just might like to have.

Several people have asked where they can get a printed copy of Red’s Planet. Well, it happens that there are some in existence. Last September I had a limited run of the Red’s Planet Preview printed by the awesome Ka-Blam comic printers here in Orlando. I gave these copies as gifts to friends, family and colleagues. They have never been available for sale and will never be re-printed in this format.

My daughter Ginny with the Red's Planet Preview Issue

I am making available 20 copies of the Red’s Planet Preview Issue for Help the Hodges. Here’s how you can get one:

• For a donation of $10 or more, you get a signed copy of Red’s Planet Preview Issue.
• For a donation of $25 or more, you get a signed copy of Red’s Planet Preview Issue and a pencil sketch of Red.
• For a donation of $35 or more, you get a signed copy of Red’s Planet Preview Issue and an ink drawing of Red.
• For a donation of $50 or more, you get a signed copy of Red’s Planet Preview Issue and an Ink drawing of any two Red’s Planet characters of your choice.

So that’s it. If you are interested, here’s what you do:

• Step 1: Drop me an email (click here) and tell me you are interested.
• Step 2: I’ll send you an email and let you know that a book is reserved for you, with a link to make your donation via Paypal. Don’t make your donation until I have confirmed that copies are available (unless, of course, your joy of giving is uncontainable).
• Step 3: After you have made your donation, forward your Paypal receipt to me to verify your donation. I will then get your book into the mail within a day (if you have requested a drawing with your book, please allow 1-2 weeks for shipment). And don’t worry, there’s no private information on your Paypal receipt.

The printed edition of the Red's Planet Preview

Though this is not an official Help the Hodges offer, I have cleared this through Chad Frye, the coordinator of the Help the Hodges auction. All donations will be made through the Help the Hodges PayPal account, and no money will be transferred through me. Help the Hodges is a fund raising effort of the National Cartoonist Society Foundation, so all donations are tax-deductible. Please follow the above instructions, and type carefully.

Thanks everyone for your interest!

UPDATE

Thanks so much to everyone for the great response! There are still plenty of copies available, so don’t get left out!

UPDATE #2

As of today, we’ve raised $120 $155 $310 for Help the Hodges! There are still 12 11 8 books available in case anyone is interested. Thanks so much to everyone for your donations!

FINAL UPDATE

There are no more copies available. Thanks to everyone who donated to Help The Hodges!

From the the studio vault, a Valentine’s card from 1993 featuring my college comic strip characters (from right to left) Gladstone (the strips namesake), Spivey Earhorn, and Tawee. For those who have read the preview, you know that Tawee will play a part in Red’s Planet as well.

Life drawing has been a passion of mine since the days of building my portfolio to get a job at Disney Animation. I can’t recommend more to up and coming cartoonists to learn how to draw the world around them. Lucky for you, the web has opened up such a wide resource of inspiration and learning that you have no excuse now!

Mark McDonnell has been posting some awesome videos on drawing the figure. His approach and style remind me greatly of the legendary Disney artist and teacher, Walt Stanchfield. Mark also has a great looking book titled, The Art & Feel Of Making It Real, and though I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, if it is filled with the wonderful drawings and instruction that are in the videos, it is a must have.

On a side note of irony, I believe I have met the model that Mark is drawing. He refers to him as John Tucker, and he just might be veteran animator John Tucker who worked with us for a short time here in Florida. It’s a small pirate world after all.

All of the real cartoonists must have been on vacation last week, because I had the chance to be interviewed by Tom Racine of Tall Tale Radio!

We had a great chat for over an hour and Tom did an amazing job shepherding my tendency to ramble on in directions seemingly unrelated to the question. I’ve be a fan of BIG radio through the years and keep up with a few podcasts as well, but I have to tell you, Tom Racine is one of the most professional guys out there! If you haven’t checked out his interviews with big dogs like Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Dan Piraro (Bizarro) and the Legendary Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine), you’re really missing out!

Thanks Tom for the honor to be on your show!

With so many new additions, social media is getting tough to keep up with. I imagine somewhere there’s some sort of American Idol scenario where wannabe social media concepts step up an pitch their concepts and supposed usefulness. There would be many laughable rejects, right Simon?

But Formspring looks kind of fun. Formspring’s gimmick is “Send and receive anonymous questions, and learn more about people you find interesting by following their answers.” I’ve always enjoyed Q&A interviews, so, ok, I’m in.

So now you get your chance to ask me questions (rather than some expert). You may have even noticed the widget on the left hand side of this page that allows you to submit a question with out even leaving the comfort of the Red’s Planet site. Ask me anything about drawing, cartooning, animation and Red’s Planet. I’ll even entertain other questions (like the recent “What kind of shoes do you wear?”) if I think they are fun and interesting.

So if it sounds like a worthwhile click for you, then ask away!