Episode 96---WonderCon and just plain wondering...

This episode begins with our man in the street, Patrick McEvoy, who was doing the rounds at WonderCon this year!

Patrick is joined by creators:

Jeremy Rathbone

Chris Knight

Jules Rivera ( though the interview was devoured whole by sad circumstance.)

Laura Edwards

Adam Schmidt

and Cameron Hathaway ( Geeky Talky, Cammy's Comics Corner)

This segment is followed by freely roaming banter between Patrick, Socar, and Jeremy.

Enjoy!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_96.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast or we'll send Patrick to your home for an impromptu interview. He will pull no punches with his hardball investigatory journalism.

We are proud members of the Visual Artist Podcast Network.

...And if you have any Wondercon memories to share, stop on by the comments section of this episode!

Also---do you have any thoughts on fan art to share? Perhaps some most excellent examples to boot?! Share them with us!

Episode 95--Waiting for FaceBook...

In this episode Drew ( with evil goatee), Socar, Eric, and Jeremy discuss the recent uproar in the comics community surrounding copyright infringement and a certain artist that will go unnamed ( unless you totally want to name him in the show notes...that's cool).

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_95.mp3

If you don't subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast, then you are a hating hater...but we'll not judge you. ;)

If you've an anecdote you'd like to share or a convention experience that went awry--we want to hear all about it!

*Note--

We have recently changed the rating for this show to "Explicit".

This just means that most naughty language will no longer be covered with a "BLEEP".

We hope this doesn't harm your sense of "bility".

The show will remain otherwise unchanged for your listening pleasure. :)

Thanks for joining in the fun!

Patrick news

Hi, faithful listener(s)! Patrick here to say I'll be at Wondercon in San Francisco this weekend, Saturday and Sunday only (4/2/11 and 4/3/11) in the Small Press area, table SP-53. I'll be sharing the table with the talented Jules Rivera of the wonderful Marsh Rocket web-comic series (which I've mentioned on the show in the past).

I'll have the always awesome Ninja Mountain digital recording device with me, so if you stop by and mention the show I'll record your voice for the next program! How's that for an exciting reason to come to the show?

I'll have plenty of stuff to sell too - my graphic novel Starkweather: Immortal, postcards, prints, and a brand new poster: "The H.P. Lovecraft Rules of Survival". And of course sketches at popular prices. :)

In addition, I'll have a charity postcard with art from my new comics project "World War Kaiju" - all proceeds for that will go to Doctors Without Borders, who are currently doing great work in Japan and worldwide. Find out more about World War Kaiju here.

See you there!

-Patrick

Episode 94---Magic Poo!

On this week's episode Kieran, Patrick, Drew, and Jeremy field a listener question from Eggowaffles ( whose art can be found at his deviantart page as well). Our listener asked about setting up at a comic show for the first time.

It made for fun discussion and a brief reference to "magic poo'!

Enjoy!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_94.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or a bag of burning magic poo may find its way to your doorstep!

Apologies for the late posting of this episode, but the editor had himself some paperwork to get caught up on. Tax season!! UGH!

Visual Artist Podcast Network

Patrick on DeviantArt (Lots of new stuff!)

Episode 93--Todd Lockwood and listener questions for the team.

Episode 93 opens with an interview with Todd Lockwood recorded at Illuxcon.

Next we have group discussion of listener questions with Ralph Horsley, Drew Baker, Socar Myles, Patrick McEvoy, Kieran Yanner, and Jeremy What's-His-Face.

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_93.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will send a nude Barber Shop Quartet to your home to sing "Sweet Caroline" on your front lawn. ( Apologies to Neil Diamond).

Special thanks to Chantal Fournier, Smugbug, Jora Thompson whose questions we had fun addressing.

Listener Tommi ( Aka Tom Hermann) had an interesting question about the future of publishing and I may have a guest lined up for a future episode who can really offer some insight on the topic. I'll make sure to announce that when it comes to reality. :)

Enjoy the show!

Ninja Mountain is a proud member of the Visual Artist Podcast Network

Episode 92--The MacDougalls and...other stuff....

This episode starts off with an interview with Larry and Patricia Ann Lewis MacDougall.

Many thanks to this kind pair of extremely talented artists for joining us.

This high-brow discussion is followed by the usual Ninja Mountain banter on a variety of subjects from caffeine to gaming to the things that affect our work.

Many thanks to Alonso ( aka monotremedreams on Twitter) for sharing a couple of topic ideas with us.

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_92.mp3

If you don't subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes then you probably spend too much time gaming...we will have to send ninjas to your home to make "Indian Yellow" all over your favorite sofa.

Patricia Ann Lewis MacDougall

Larry MacDougall

Art Renewal Podcast

Monotreme Dreams

VAPN

Episode 91--Christopher Moeller and what's new with the crew.

This episode opens with an interview with illustrator and comic artist, Christopher Moeller.

Chris is known for his work in games and mainstream comics along with his own series of graphic novels, Iron Empires.

Afterwards, many of the Ninjas have gathered to talk about the changes taking place in their work in recent months---amongst other topics....

Thrill to the voices of Patrick, Socar, Ralph, Andy, Kieran, Drew, and Jeremy as they all shout to be heard over one another.

Another smorgasbord of podcasty goodness lies ready for the listening!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_91.mp3

Subscribe to this show on iTunes and become one of the beautiful people.

Visual Artist Podcast Network

Christopher Moeller

Santa Prof

Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter by James Gurney

The Book of Genesis Illustrated By Robert Crumb

Horace Spiegelman Gets Made Redundant

Episode 90--Interview with John Jude Palencar and self -expression

Express thyself!

In episode 90, Jeremy first sits down with award-winning illustrator, John Jude Palencar, to discuss his work as a cover artist on many popular titles.

This is followed by high-browed discussion between Ralph, Patrick, Socar, and Jeremy on the heady topics of self-expression, dragons, and well...just listen in....

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_90.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or suffer the wrath of Puff the Magic Dragon.

John Jude Palencar

Visual Artist Podcast Network

If you have any questions you would like to hear discussed on future episodes of the Ninja Mountain Podcast, post them here in the blog comments section! Likewise you can weigh in on this episode's topics.

Episode 89-Interview with Steve Prescott and more Ninja Chat...

This week's episode begins with an interview with Steve Prescott. We learn about his latest goings-on and the release of his successful new sketch book entitled, " Aggregate".

This is followed by conversation between Patrick, Socar, and Jeremy, about goals for the new year, web comics, and technological obsolescence.

We hope the episode gets you back in your studios and hard at work in 2011. :)

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_89.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will break your new year's resolutions across our knees!

Visual Artist Podcast Network

Steve Prescott

Socar's comic, "Horace Spiegelman Gets Made Redundant"!

Webcomics:

http://www.gunsofshadowvalley.com

http://www.freakangels.com/

http://www.shadowgirlscomic.com/

http://www.lildepressedboy.com/

http://marsh-rocket.com/Comic.aspx

http://dmd.comicgenesis.com/

http://www.menagea3.net/index.html

Resources:

http://illustrationage.com/

http://www.adbase.com/Blog/Buyer-Interviews

http://www.artofbusinessblog.com/

http://www.hollydewolf.com/book.html

To our fellow Ninjas--

We hope you enjoyed the holiday season!

If you care to share your goals for 2011, please post right here in the comments section!

If you happen to read web comics, please share some links with us.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 87--Illuxcon3 Wrap-Up!

This episode begins with an interview with monster designer and illustrator, Christopher Burdett.

He and Jeremy are resting after a frenetic four days of Illuxcon madness.

Afterwards Ralph Horsley, Drew Baker, Joe Acone, and Jeremy compare notes about their experiences at the symposium.

We hope you will enjoy the show.

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_87.mp3

You can also look forward to a number of interviews Jeremy was able to get while in Altoona.

They will appear in future episodes so stay tuned!

Make sure to subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will send Joe on an epic quest to your studio with his trusty battle axe. He'll chop up your Spectrum Annuals before your tearful, disbelieving eyes!

To get more details of Jeremy's experiences at Illuxcon, head on over to the following post found on his blog site.

Some links of note:

Illuxcon

Sam R. Kennedy

Lars Grant West

Christopher Moeller

Michael Phillippi

Paul "Prof" Herbert

Erik Gist

Don't forget to post links to your blog write-ups about Illuxcon, if you have them.

If you have photos to share, please do!

Listener questions are always encouraged! Drop them in the comments section, if you have some!

Episode 86--A year gone by... where are we now?

In this week's misadventure Patrick, Drew, Socar, Kieran, and Jeremy take a look at some of their very latest work and compare it to the work of a year ago as featured in Episode 44!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_86.mp3

Be sure to subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will send Jared McNewcastle to your house with a copy of "Ishtar" that you will be forced to watch over and over. He so loves "Ishtar"....

Thankfully, our latest efforts somewhat outshine those discussed in episode 85....

It is one more episode with a strong visual component, folks.

We hope you will follow along and enjoy!

Don't be afraid to share your latest efforts in comparison to your work of a year ago as well.

We'd love to see it in the comments section!

We are a proud member of the Visual Artist Podcast Network.

Kieran made a mention of Animation Backgrounds--Behind the Scenes in The World of Animated Films

It is well worth checking out!

And now, the art...

Larger version

larger version

larger version

larger version

larger version

larger version

Episode 85---Bravery in failure.

First off--Many thanks go to fellow Ninja, Kieran Yanner, for his musical contribution to the changing sound of the Ninja Mountain Podcast.

Kieran, besides being an amazing artist, is also a talented musician and has developed new music for this program.

We know you will enjoy it!

In this episode Socar, Patrick, Drew, and Jeremy take a look back at some of their worst printed work. The stuff of failed legend.

The skeletons in our studio closets have swarmed the Mountain!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_85.mp3

These are not those cute little high school doodles that every artist shares with fond memory.

Oh no.

These beasts were produced after spending thousands of dollars on education and were part of our respective burgeoning freelance careers.

Each of us had done better work prior to these examples and continue to now, but they represent those moments where work simply fell flat on its face for any of a variety of reasons in the early days of our careers.

The light of experience and hindsight allow us to look at these examples with objectivity... and humor.

Okay--mostly humor....

The images below appear in the order that they are mentioned on the show.

Where a larger version exists, a link has been provided beneath the title.

In the Comments Section of this blog post ---

We encourage you to have fun with these by offering captions for them.

Also--Give us your vote for the worst of the worst!

If you have a failed piece that you feel brave enough to share, then join in the fun and share a link with your fellow Ninjas.

Make sure to subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will paint your studio walls yellow, purple, red, and green....

And now--the artwork:

Port of Entry-- Jeremy

http://mchughstudios.com/portofentry.JPG

Autopsy-- Drew

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/autopsy1.jpg

This piece is actually an example of Drew's more accomplished work from the same period. It is offered in stark contrast to what follows...

What followed:

Zako -- Drew

Kyrga -- Drew

Everyone -- Socar 

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/everyone.jpg

Zheoljhe -- Socar
http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/zheoljhe.jpg


Weird Wild West -- Patrick

An Alien Land -- Patrick

A Single Glimpse -- Jeremy
http://mchughstudios.com/asingleglimpsefinal.JPG

Imbalance ( aka. The Stars) -- Drew
http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/imbalance.jpg

Gone Fishing -- Socar
http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/Gone_Fishing.jpg

Bad Moon -- Socar
 

Lucky -- Patrick
http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/ninjasketches/Lucky3.jpg
 

Before the Fall -- Socar
 

Pavilion ( apparently an experiment in minimalism) -- Jeremy
http://mchughstudios.com/pavilion2.JPG
 

Tubeway Entrance ( aka. "Two Boy" Entrance) -- Jeremy
http://mchughstudios.com/tubewayentrance.JPG
 

Thank you for joining us this week. 
Additional links:
Visual Artists Podcast Network
The latest debacle in Copyright ignorance ( this is one hot topic right now).
Kieran Yanner

A few changes and announcements. Aidan's Monsters.

Hello fellow Ninjas.

We wanted to let folks know that the show will be seeing some changes in future episodes.

Nothing too drastic.

Our work schedules and collective sanity oblige us to alter the show release schedule to a more leisurely bi-weekly calendar.

This will allow us more time to produce a fun show and give people more time to catch up on the 84 episodes we've so far released!

For episode 85 we are considering the topic of "How has your work improved in the past year?"

Please post in the comments section about your artistic experiences of the past year, or links to blog posts about it, and share with the Ninja Mountain community. Next week, several of us will be sharing our own stories as well on the podcast.

We would also like to let you know about the bravest little artist you will likely ever meet.

His name is Aidan.

He battles a monster right now called Leukemia.

His weapon of choice? Paper and anything that will leave a mark.

He is drawing monsters and the family is offering his pictures for sale to help offset the costs of his high medical bills and lost wages as they oversee his daily care.

It has been a success so far we are pleased to learn.

If you would like to learn more about Aidan, please head over to:

http://aidforaidan.wordpress.com/

You will be inspired.

Episode 84---Illuxcon is nearly here!

This week Drew and Jeremy interview Illuxcon organizer, Patrick Wilshire.

They discuss the upcoming 3rd annual Illuxcon event to be held in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

The conversation also winds its way various topics such as The Illustration Exchange, art collecting, the value of doing personal work, and the challenges of procuring beer in Altoona!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_84.mp3

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or we'll tell the security guards in Altoona to turn you away at the door. You will be forced to experience Illuxcon by pressing your nose to the gallery windows. Your warm tears will fog the glass and steal even that small pleasure from you. Bwahahahah!

Illuxcon

The Illustration Exchange

Matthew Stewart

ASFA

Jimbo's Art Shack!

Other episodes dealing with this exciting show are:

Episode 41a

Episode 41b

Episode 42

Will you be at Illuxcon? Let us know!

Episode 83---Sketchy ain't it?

In this week's episode Drew, Patrick, Socar, and Jeremy discuss their use of the secretive discipline of sketching for fun, profit, and sanity...

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_83.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we'll burn your sketch books as you look on in tearful horror!

The sketches and their progeny for your viewing pleasure...

Patrick's sketches:

You may recall the confusion we shared over which sketch I was describing...

I was talking about these sketches---

Patrick was actually talking about these lovely pieces of work!

It eventually led to this most excellent finished illustration:

Here are Drew's sketches for your viewing pleasure. His thumbnails are a great way to tackle tough assignments!

Below is the finished Einhorn piece based on the man sketches that Drew developed.

Below are sketches for a piece of card art featuring a large serpent.

And the finished piece based on the many sketches the artist produced as he wporked out the composition...

Here is Socar's contribution to the discussion. We can't wait to see the finished piece when she can share it...

Here are a few pages from Jeremy's sketchbook. You can see what he means by using it for his own entertainment...

Jeremy does sketch for his contract work as well. Thumbnails are usually scanned into the computer and refined to roughly what you see here...

After about five minutes extra work Jeremy delivers this to the client...

The same routine was followed for this second assignment as well...

I think this one took ten extra minutes of work to finish after the rough was approved.

Jeremy stopped for a coffee....

If you keep a sketchbook, we hope you will share a few pages with your fellow listeners here in the comments section!

Don't forget to check out the Visual Artist Podcast Network for other great shows!

See you next week!

Episode 82---The Future of Publishing Royalty...

In this week's episode Socar, Drew, Patrick, and Jeremy discuss digital publishing and the topic of royalty agreements along with the true purpose of the iPad.

Not to be missed!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_82.mp3

Subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we'll let everyone know what we found downloaded to your iPad!

We are a proud member of the Visual Artist Podcast Network!

Jeff Menges

Ed Beard Jr

Camelot Legends

Ninjato

If you have ever worked under a royalty agreement, please share your experiences with us!

What do you see as the future of publishing?

Do you currently own any game titles in digital format? What do you think of how it compares to printed materials?

Where do you see things headed for rpgs and board games?

And -- give Patrick a good experience with royalties and buy Starkweather: Immortal, available for immediate shipping from Amazon.com and other wonderful retailers everywhere!

Episode 80---Motivation, Mentors, and Money...

This week, Socar and Jeremy join up to discuss a listener question from Stuart Hatt regarding motivation and the role of family and friends in getting past the challenges of painting.
This leads into discussion of Jon Schindehette's recent Art Order Blog post regarding mentoring.
Later, the dynamic duo discuss that most frustrating creature of all--the flaky artist---only this one took the money and ran!

We hope you enjoy the show!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_80.mp3

Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes or we will send Jeremy over to throw spaghetti at your drawing board!

A link to the article we discussed today...
Art Order's talk about Mentorship
APE

A question for publishers--Have you encountered an artist that left you high and dry? How did you deal with the situation?
Do you have a mentor? What impact have they had on your life?
Are you a mentor to someone?
How do you stay motivated in the studio and how do family and friends help you get over the bumps in the road?

Episode 78--Drew and Jeremy catch up with copyright , board games, and extensions...

In this week's installment, Drew and Jeremy kick back and chat over hot topics of the day.
Copyright and fandom
Board game slavery
Extensions ( for deadlines...not your bangs)
And anything else that occurred to them as they carried the weight of this week's episode on their brittle backs.

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_78.mp3

Subscribe to The Ninja Mountain Podcast or we'll turn your entire on-line portfolio into free wallpapers for folks to download! Yes--even the quarter-pagers featuring headshots of goblins!!

Check out other great shows at The Visual Artist Podcast Network!

Names we shamelessly dropped this week--
Joseph Acone ( no link---I just put this here to shame the poor man...)
Heather Kreiter
Piya Wannachaiwong ( He solved the URL challenge quite handily)
Franz Vohwinkel

Questions to listeners--
What is your policy on fan requests to post your work to the net?
How have you dealt with infringement of that sort?
Have you taken steps to make infringement difficult on the web?
Are you headed for DragonCon? Share your experiences with your fellow artists.

Episode 77--Ink Bloom, Steve Ellis, NDA's and Zombies

This week features the final two interviews that Jeremy was able to cram into his trip to GenCon.
First we are joined by Chris Seaman and Jim Pavelec to discuss their innovative book, Ink Bloom.
Then Steve Ellis joins the fray to discuss his comics work and digital distribution and Comixology.
Finally, Socar and Jeremy are joined by talented illustrator, Mu Young Kim to talk about Non-Disclosure Agreements, video games, Zombies, and haggis. Not to be missed!

http://mchughstudios.com/ninjamountain_podcast/episode_77.mp3

Make certain to subscribe to the Ninja Mountain Podcast on iTunes or we will unleash the zombie hordes upon your sleepy, unsuspecting town.

Don't forget to check out the Visual Artist Podcast Network!

Also, feel free to tout your zombie survival skills right here in the comments section.
If you've read Ink Bloom, Box 13, or High Moon let us know what you thought of them!
And don't forget to post your listener questions or favorite topics for us to discuss on future episodes.

Episode 75 - This place is bugged!

While Jeremy is away at Gen Con, we have a return visit by the long lost Ninja Kieran Yanner! Kieran, Socar and MC Patrick answer some listener questions and spend way too much time talking about various bugs. It's a strange and beautiful exploration into the minds of three human illustrators, none of whom has the slightest idea of the horrors that await them...

http://www.megaflowgraphics.com/NinjaMountain/NinjaMountain075.mp3

Subscribe now on iTunes. That is all.

Other great podcasts can be found on the Visual Artist Podcast Network!

And, Patrick says: Starkweather: Immortal is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com!



The date listed has been pushed back another month, but we have it on good authority that it will probably be out in just another 2 weeks or so!