What's your interest level in paying to get a critique on your colors?

I'm not going to lie, I actually like giving critiques.  There's something satisfying to me about helping others understand what they're doing right and wrong in their work.  I guess it's because I craved such valuable information as I was learning to color, and now that I actually have some insight to share, it feels good to help others.  The problem with that is that I also need to feed the family and a good critique can take 15-30 minutes to think about and write up.  There's only so many of those chunks of time in a day so you can see how quickly they can add up.  Since time spent critiquing is time spent not working (which equals time spent not making any money) a lot of artists won't give critiques.  But what if they were "commissioned" to give a critique?  Ah-ha!  I think we might have something here.

So, what do you think?  Would that be something worthwhile to you?  Would $5 for a 15 minute critique be something you'd be interested in to help you learn?  What would you be looking for in a commissioned critique?

Just what the title says, folks!  Youngblood is back!!!!  Get out there and pick up the most anticipated of all the Extreme Studios relaunches!  With art by Jon Malin and Rob Liefeld and colors by yours truly and Matt Yackey, this is going to be an intense book!  It WILL sell out, so be sure to get your copy early!

Stop back in and let me know what you think!!!

Ross

Thank you, DA for allowing screen name changes to premium members!  I've been wanting to change my screen name ever since I go serious about wanting to make coloring a full-time profession.  So gone is "thebdc" which for those that must know was the name of mine and my best friends' bowling team.  You'll see it creep into my work from time to time though as an Easter egg.    I figured going with my actual name was both more professional and more recognizable anyway.

Big changes since my last journal entry!  I was laid off from United Space Alliance.  Which was the best and most surreal thing ever.  I spent 12 years with the company and was fortunate enough to do important work for both the International Space Station and Space Shuttle programs.  For those that don't already know, I was responsible for the preparation and delivery of a lot of the equipment used by the astronauts during flight.  I've provided hardware ranging from laptops, to communications, to cameras, and batteries.  It was a great time, but with the end of the Shuttle program, the writing was on the wall for USA and it was time to get out and make the jump to coloring full time.

Long story short, I'm available DC and Marvel (if you're reading this )

May 23rd will mark the return of Youngblood and yours truly will be there providing the colors!  Issue #71 will see a couple different artists and colorists coming together on the issue, but Jon Malin and I will be taking over fully with issue #72 and you're going to LOVE where we're going!

I'll be celebrating the release of Youngblood at Comicpalooza from May 25-27 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX.  It'll be my first con with a table so I hope that if you're in the area, you'll stop by and say hello!

Exciting times are ahead!!!!!!


Ross

Since DA won't allow prints of copyrighted characters to be sold on the site, I've created this section to highlight the prints that I have for sale.  If you're interested in purchasing one (or more) either send me a note or e-mail me directly at hughescoloring@comcast.net and let me know what you'd like.

Prices:

8x10 - $5

Prints are done on 100# Glossy Card Stock paper.

SPECIAL SALE!!!!!  Buy 3 and get the fourth for FREE!!!!

Please add $4 for shipping.  I'll place your print(s) in a photo envelope and ensure it's stamped "Do Not Bend".

I accept cash, check, or Paypal.

        
    
    
    
  

I've joined the wonderful world of Twitter.  Actually, I joined it a few months ago, but I figured I'd make sure I was going to use it before I bothered asking for followers.  

If you'd like to follow me, I'll try to make it interesting:  [link]

I always kind of laughed that the "Sorry, I haven't been around much lately" posts in people's journals, but now I can actually kind of understand them.  My day job threatened us all over our internet activity so things have been REALLY scaled back.  My internet presence has dwindled to next to nothing over the last couple of months.  But that doesn't mean I don't have news.

First, it still needs to be approved, but I took my first official step towards being a full-time colorist last week by self-nominating for yet another round of lay-offs at United Space Alliance.  My last day with the company (again, if it's approved) will be April 13th.  I'm so excited about doing this I can hardly stand it.  I've been working towards this for the last couple of years, and it really feels like now is the right time to make the switch.  USA is circling the drain and there's just no future here any longer to take into consideration.  So when April rolls around expect me to come out of the gates with guns blazing because I've got a LOT that I want to do.

Comicpalooza will be coming up on May 25-27, and yours truly will be making his convention debut.  I really looking forward to being involved and getting my feet wet on the convention circuit before branching out to other cons out of state.  I've still got a lot of work to do between now and then to make sure I have everything ready, but I'll have prints for sale and hopefully some original artwork.  There will be more information on that to come.

Comicpalooza will be hitting right about the same time as my mainstream comics debut (not counting my Hi-Fi work here because it felt more fill-in than mine) in the pages of YOUNGBLOOD #71.  Along with Jon Malin, we'll be bringing an old favorite back to life.  I just finished the pages for issue #72 and I've got to tell you, that you guys are going to love it.  I sure hope so anyway.  Jon's art is just intense!  Again, more to come on that as we get closer to the date.  I'm also hoping to wrangle my way into a couple other books as soon as my schedule allows me to take on more, so be on the lookout.

I've still got some commission slots available to anyone looking to get some pin-ups or covers colored.  E-mail me with some details and we can definitely set something up.

I'll get some preview images and other items up in my gallery as soon as I can!  Until then, see ya!

I'm looking to get some prints made and I thought it would be a good idea to pick you guys' brains to find a good AND inexpensive printing company to have the work done.  Can you guys give me some suggestions?

Things took a complete turnaround with my schedule in pretty much a single day.  LOL  I went from having nothing on my plate to looking like a buffet-buster on sirloin steak night at the Sizzler.  

First the BIG news!  I'll be coloring Rob Liefeld's Youngblood over Jon Mailn for Rob's Extreme Studios relaunch!  I can't tell you what an honor it is to be doing this.  Youngblood was the first Image title and I know Rob holds it very dear, so I can't thank him and Jon enough for trusting me to color it for them.

I'll also be coloring Marat Mychael's Blindside.  I've been getting pages in for this book and it's going to be all-out action at it's finest!

To top it all off, I've got more commissions to take care of that are going to blow you all away!  I should be able to show some of those pretty soon!

I'm still a couple of weeks from nailing down exactly when I'll be leaving my day job and making coloring my full-time job.  It will either be mid-January or mid-April.  When I do, I'll be begging everyone I know for an opportunity to work, so you still have some time to set your e-mail filters to block me.  

More to come!!!!

Ross

I've got room in my schedule to take on a few commissions at the moment.  Anyone interested in having a piece, or several pieces colored, please e-mail me at hughescoloring@comcast.net and we can work out the details.

Some previous commissions include:

I'm going to forgo my usual attempts at good humor for a minute.  Just got done looking for the one person I knew would appreciate me having the opportunity to work on some George Perez New Teen Titans pages.  His name was Chad Simo and he unfortunately passed away back in 2008.  Chad and I were best friends as children and we both lived and breathed comics.  We both collected as many comics as we could.  We would ride our bikes several miles across town in Orlando to go to our favorite comic shop.  Of course we never told our parents we were making the trip because they would never let us ride that far if they knew about it.  Chad and I both dreamed of drawing comics for a living.  What kid into comics doesn't, right?  We wrote and drew comics together and on our own.  Chad gravitated to a more cartoonish style and eventually became the cartoonist of our high-school newspaper, much to my chagrin since I wanted to do it too.  (I ended up drawing things for some of the articles in the paper when I joined the journalism class as a senior)  By then, Chad and I had had a falling out.  I don't even remember what it was about, just petty high school stuff I would imagine, but we ended up never speaking again.  

In an age where you can connect and reconnect with pretty much anyone you've ever known, it really sucks that I've lost a connection to such a major part of my life and I didn't even know about it until 3 years after the fact.  Savor your friendships.  All of them.  Someone you haven't spoken with in more than 20 years could end up being the person you want to speak to more than anything to share something you've wanted all of your life.

RIP Chad.

Everyone mark your calendars for next week and rush out to buy Justice League International #1.  The artwork is AMAZING!  Aaron Lopresti may just be my new favorite artist.  Colors were done by Hi-Fi and I was privileged enough to get a couple pages from them to color.  It's my best work in my opinion, and I'm really hoping that it will lead to bigger things.  Go get it and tell them I sent you for your free no additional cost discount.  

Ross

Hey guys!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I've got some time in my schedule to accept paid coloring commissions.  If you've got a project you'd like to have colored, or a cover, pin-up, or convention sketch for that matter, then send me a note letting me know what you have in mind and we can get everything worked out.

Thanks!

Ross

I started a group.  [link] like to highlight the various disciplines in comic book making and encourage feedback from members and contributors on the pieces being submitted so that we can all benefit from each other.

Anyone interested in joining, hop on over and see if it's something that might interest you.  It's a little sparse at the moment, but give it some time....

This morning (weather permitting) is the final launch of the Space Shuttle program.  I have worked for United Space Alliance, the main shuttle contractor to NASA, for the last 12 years.  USA basically runs the Shuttle program for NASA.  We provide the hardware, the astronaut training, and the logistic work for each shuttle flight.  I started working in the Class III Bond Room, where I issued the space suits to the lab that were used in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab.  The NBL is a gigantic pool where the astronauts do their training for the shuttle missions.  

I then moved to Shipping.  While there, I was personally responsible for shipping all of the hardware, flight suits, clothing, food, and experiments that were to be used on the Shuttle to Kennedy Space Center.  I was able to hold some of the most expensive things in the world in my hands.    I once held a piece of equipment that cost $20,000,000 in my hands.  I then put it down VERY carefully after seeing the cost.  LOL  I even shipped the flag that was atop the World Trade Center after it had been recovered from 9-11, although we weren't allowed to know what it was at the time.  It was really strange to have that come through.  We normally inspect everything that comes into Shipping, but this was just a box and we were told we weren't allowed to open it or know what was inside.  After the Shuttle landed and everything was unloaded, they finally told us what it was.

I moved back to Florida for a time and worked in the Vertical Assembly Building, which is where the Shuttle is attached to the rocket boosters and the tank.  I can't begin to describe how awesome it was to watch a launch standing outside of that building just a couple of miles away from the launch pad.  The sound was incredible.  I grew up in Orlando, so I was able to see every launch from my bedroom window, but nothing compared to being THAT close.

I returned to Texas and have been working as an Industrial Engineer (although they don't call us that anymore so they don't have to pay for the "Engineer" title.  LOL) and have provided everything from laptops to electrical and photo/TV hardware to batteries for Shuttle and Station use.  I've been doing this for the last 9 years or so.  It's always cool to watch certain things going on during the launch or during the mission itself and be seeing it through the video camera that I sent there.

People that I've talked to outside of the space industry have been somewhat in awe of what I do.  I've never really gotten that.  Kind of like coming from Orlando, Florida, and listening to talk about Disney World and how people save for months and even years to be able to take their family there on vacation.  I knew, dated, or was married to people that worked for Disney and one of the perks to that is getting in to any of the parks for free.  That and my proximity to the park meant I, my friends, and family could go there just to kill a couple of hours on the weekend.  It was no big deal until I got away from Orlando and talked to people that spent much of their lives wanting to go there.  My job is much the same.  My job is essentially like any other office job, but the rewards for doing it are vastly different.  I helped put people into space.  That's just a cool thing to think about.  And it's something that am trying not to lose an appreciation for, especially with everything winding down.

Once the Shuttle lands, we'll be in full program shut-down mode and looking forward to nothing but unemployment most likely.  Lay-offs will be massive.  Thankfully, I think I'm in the position where I can make a go of coloring full-time, but it's something that is going to be so unfamiliar to me.  I've spent over a quarter of my life working for USA, and it never dawned on me (except for the last few months) that I wasn't going to be working here until I was ready to retire.  I'm ready to move on, but today is a day for celebration of the program that brought so many cool moments and experiences to my life.

Have a safe flight STS-135.  Come home soon.

Ross

P.S.  Anyone wanting to watch the Shuttle Launch can do so at www.nasa.gov  There is still about and hour or so before the launch.