Happy New Year

December 31, 2014

#clause #happy #ho #santa #year #new #sketchbook
Dont think I posted this... was a goofy cool down/ warmup from before christmas and then I probably fell asleeep or something before getting a chance to post. silly stuff. just messin w/ tools in sketchbook pro.
hohoho
everyone have a great new year!

EWGs goals for the next year

increased health

draw faster

draw better

more time off

See everyone in 2015!

Rat Creature - Warmup

#ratcreature #rat #creature #troll #imp #sketchbook #sketch #warmup

A warmup sketch, a character I randomly had in my mind during lunch so I was compelled to sketch him. Sketchbook Pro about 15 minutes

Cold Sick SKetch

December 30, 2014

#cold #sick #horizons #sketch

Well, hope everyone had a great christmas/ holiday heading into the new year. I did, was with the wife and my family for christmas and it was wonderful. I knew I was getting sick but held it at bay till later christmas day. Then have been in feverish, nauscious and plugged up hell since. But i'm like 90% better. That annoying better where you have the gumption to do stuff but then sit down and realize you have no energy or ability to do so. But damn if I aint trying to push through it.

So for that reason I apologize for absense or delay in things. Priority this week will definitely just be the 'must completes' and the rest pushed back to next week when i'll hopefuly be 100% again and rocking and rolling on the arts.

I was just sketching in sketchbook after a pencil proof was sent out to a client. I couldn't get it past a sketch proof and decided to try to work through that with this. This ended up bein a reflection of how i feel haha. But with gian tlooming robots. Yay.

Bah... this crap is for the  birds. No way to start the new year. Hope to be better by then. Working on it!
This week priority: TnC, UTMNT, TFSG.

Snowman Warmup

#snowman #sketchbook #sketch #sketchbookpro #autodesk #warmup #hobo #pipe #carrot #scarf #winter #newyear

A snowman with attitude character i've sorta played with over the years. Probably can still find the first time i drew him 'snowman vs yeti' in the gallery somewhere.
Sketched as warmup in sketchbook pro w/ pencil tool before doin some work.

Happy Holidays from EWG

December 23, 2014

#Christmas #bagoftricks #mascot

EWG will be out for Christmas until Monday.  Any messages will be checked then and all orders currently in progress will be resumed then as well. Order tracking will not be updated until then as well.  Thank you and have a happy and safe holiday!

The Grinch - Sketch Dailies


#TheGrinch #Sketch_Dailies #Sketchbook #SamsungGalaxyNote10_1 #galaxynote #christmas

A warmup sketch of The Grinch, for sketch dailies. I'd never drawn him before but had fun sort of rendering him in more my style than the cartoon style from the movie. That feisty grinch!
Illustrated in sketchbook mobile on samsung galaxy note 10.1 on 11x17 canvas.

Gettin a few things done here and there before checking out for the holiday. But I definitely already feel like I've mentaly checked out haha. 

Art Is Lifestyle

December 19, 2014

A quick 'Gonzo' style notebook entry:

Interacted with a fellow on Deviant Art, who ranted in a journal post about how they have been trying to be a good artist and I guess they are 20? Cause they said they realize it wouldn't happen even if he tried for another 20.  My first thought was, hes not drawing every day for 20 years if he feels hes not doing anything worth while. And that, to start with is subjective. Everyone's style, approach, interest, strengths and weaknesses are different. The point is, if you are truly trying to be an artist, there's two different kinds. There is those who wait for the right lighting, temperature and 'vibes' every other 3rd sunday of a month. Then theres the kind that live and breathe this stuff, it IS a life style. Even when this type is not drawing they are observing stuff as they're out and about, getting ideas, soaking in stuff. Absorbing exciting stimuli to apply to their daily discipline. Thats the most important point I believe which I'll make next as well, is the daily discipline. This fellow, for 20 years, would see a steady increase in ability, if he was actually drawing every day or every other day for 20 years.

I replied saying 'practice, trace, study, draw and practice over and over for 33 years THEN and only then if you actually do that and still feel that your not adequate, THEN you can give up... but not till then should you give up.'

He replied with a self-pity laden 'In this day and age, I shouldn't have to practice for so long I shouldn't have to [ put in the work ] - we have endless information and knowledge at our finger tips on the internet and with technology I should just be good.

I took a moment to chuckle to myself. There is no way, NO WAY anybody would be a 'good artist' from the tools alone and by the 'information' alone.

I replied with the following:

'Its more about muscle memory and brain understanding. Anybody can whip a pen around a paper, but takes years for your brain to develop the understanding of it all. And the muscle memory, the more time in between drawing you go without drawing, the more it degrades.

Art is kung fu. A daily discipline. You do not acquire anything by not practicing for at least a few minutes of sketching or more a day. Not a thing.'

And I re post here cause I felt this was important words to bestow upon anybody and everybody regarding being an artist, or anything your trying to be good at.

Do the work, you don't NEED computers, and stylus, and you can watch all the you tube tutorials you want. But in the end, you will not get better, if you do not practice, EVERY DAY. And when you are not practicing, you must STUDY the world around you, notice forms, shapes, depth, shadows, designs, type styles.

Art is lifestyle. Art is kung fu. Kung Fu literally translates as Chinese words for: Skill, Accomplishment.
Skill, and Accomplishment. These are developed with muscle memory and conceptual evolution of the mind through repetition and time.

Take it to heart. 

Zombies Can't Climb - from HnHShow and EWG - OWN IT!

December 17, 2014


#zombies #posterart #poster #tshirt #tee #graphic #fence #zombiescantclimb #ewg #digitalart

Go by this art on stickers, tees, posters and more at the HnHshow Redbubble site http://www.redbubble.com/people/stevehnh/works/13372889-zombies-cant-climb

Wanted to post this finished artwork of 'Zombies Can't Climb' this morning. This was commissioned for a tshirt by the fine folks over at HnH Show - based on a debate on one of their recent episodes regarding whether or not zombies climb. I, like them, believe they do not have the mental capacity to decide to climb, they just try to push there away into places through fences and doors and only by crawling and heaping up on each other do they form a pile that spills over a wall.

This is a humorous take on that, with the top of the fence right there, but none of them have the capacity to pull them selves up over it, and no doubt, will instead try to push their way through the fence. Capped off with the fact that instead of drawing random zombie people, I decided to personalize it for them by making the zombies the two hosts, their mascot and myself in the background backed up by a few random ones. I also enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with a limited color palette of muted reds and green-grey tones. The only other colors are white and black.

Go by this art on stickers, tees, posters and more at the HnHshow Redbubble site http://www.redbubble.com/people/stevehnh/works/13372889-zombies-cant-climb

Below is some work in progress shots:



1 and 2 of 4 layout ideas

3 and 4 of 4 layout ideas
finished pencils combining idea 1 and 4 but in a new way. Penciled in photoshop

Finished black and white inks, inked in inkscape

Thanks for checking out this client work process post!
Go by this art on stickers, tees, posters and more at the HnHshow Redbubble site http://www.redbubble.com/people/stevehnh/works/13372889-zombies-cant-climb

The Journey of EWG - Day 4 of 5

December 14, 2014




The Journey of EWG - Day 4 of 5
By Eryck Webb and Kristina Webb

Today we look back at the personal difficulties that I faced and how they spurred increased creativity and productivity.

2012-2013: Hardship and Motivation

Fall 2012 and through the end of 2013, was one of the most difficult, and ironically one of the most fruitful years for both the business as a whole and myself as an artist. Creativity flowed in the form of client work, improvements in the business model, and also in personal works. This was the year that Eryck Webb Graphics really displayed a creative presence and showed signs of real stability and progress. New avenues for public exposure and new ambitions were the theme heading towards the 4th anniversary of this business. EWG was presence on the web, continuing to get new commissions daily, offering up fun sales and specials whenever an opportunity would arise, and continuing to offer a variety of commission types within 3 main categories: Character Art, Comic Art and Graphic Design. 


2013 saw the face logo became much closer to where it is today. The splash was gone, the circle shape was emphasized and the overall look was enhanced to appear more aggressive and exciting. Eryck Webb Graphics became more prominent as the official name of the brand. This was done by adding a type-logo for the name to the face logo.

I enjoyed a second story studio with two big windows looking out upon the town around me, inspiring each new morning as I got to work. In the summer the sun shifted and made the room far too bright and hot to work in. This led to me moving my studio downstairs to the backroom by the back sliding doors to the back porch and yard. This proved an inspiring location also. I enjoyed the backyard view, watched the distant train go by, and let the family dog, Wally, go out and play in the yard.

Soon the ideal setup would get moved again around Labor Day 2012 when my wife, Kristina, was hospitalized and it became obvious it was going to be at least a year long recovery. For help with the care-taking during her recovery, we moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania to stay at her parents' house. EWG has since been run out of my bedroom / work space at this location. This hardship was ironically one of the best fuels for my creativity over the last decade. The work and the personal projects helped give me something else to focus on in between care-taking duties. It motivated me  to provide for my wife and work towards the life we would be getting back to after her recovery.


Almost three years later, EWG continues on concrete as ever and has learned how to thrive through difficult circumstances and less-than-ideal work settings. Not to mention I'm happy to say Kristina is all better and we even took care of her mother for the following year, and are now on the hunt to pickup where our life together left off before the illnesses. We are a little stronger and a little wiser. As my wife and I emerged from this several year challenge a lot stronger, so too has EWG emerged as a more solidified brand and the doors continue to open to accept yet unknown possibilities for new growth and success.


"I've been working with Eryck Webb for almost 2 years now.  And it has been the easiest relationship I've ever had.  LOL.  First as a customer, and now as a collaborator.  The last year and a half working with him on TnC Comics has been a blast and gone by so quickly.  I enjoy working with Eryck because he makes the process go so smoothly, from answering emails in a quick fashion to doing artwork online to allow the customers immediate input on the art.  It's been a pleasure the last two years and I can't wait to add many more years under our belt."
Cory Matthews
TnC Comics



2012-2013 Notables:

 Labor Day, 2012 - Kristina became sick and we moved from our rented house in Ohio into her family's home in Pennsylvania so they could help with the care taking. This is where I setup shop and have been staying/working through 2015. I credit much of the abundance in creativity and production to EWG being 'my escape' during this time and helping me get through a year (2012-2013) of care taking for my wife. Then after she was healthy again, spending a year (2013-2014) taking care of her mom who had become ill. Heading into 2015, I'm happy to say both have fully recovered and are doing well. Now we're in the process of looking for a new house to call home. Perhaps this next home will see EWG have a dedicated studio/ work space to crank out epic arts for the next five years and more.


Winter 2013 - 'Ungrounded Kickstarter Sampler' -  EWG was approached by Patrick Gerard to be the artist on a 4 page sampler for his comic Kickstarter. He also commissioned a couple character art pieces to go with it. The Kickstarter was a resounding success and the book moved forward to become paperback, eBook and hardback editions.



Winter 2013 - This year was the beginning of Livestream use to provide a more real-time interaction with clients and to help demonstrate and exhibit my workflow and style. The first ever Livestream commission sale was a Fundraiser to help offset cost of Kristina's hospital stays. Later, this evolved into several specials and live sketch nights. Similar to an online convention table, I drew each piece before the client's eyes as they placed orders. A convention commission without the convention. Weekly streams can be seen on the EWG Livestream page here: https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1065426


● Winter 2014 - Chibis -  This stylized art form option for character art commissions was introduced as a non-regular, special-only item. This came about because of the encouragement from client and friend Cory Matthews.  The EWG style chibis would be a repeat success in every event/ special offered. They personify the true attitude and personality of each character they are done for and continue to be a blast for EWG to create and for the clients to enjoy.

Summer 2013 - Eternals Assemble - This was the largest character art commission done to date, beating out 2012 Vangaurdians 18 character piece. It was an 11x34 inch 300 dpi fully inked and colored work featuring 25 champions online characters from the online MMORPG clan called 'The Eternals'.  This is also the largest group of individuals to commission one piece from EWG ever. Each of the 25 character owners all chipped in on the payment and give input on changes throughout the process of this piece.

Summer 2013 - 'Ungrounded' - The Kickstarter ended and work began on the 56 page graphic novel in full color. This proved to be one of my best published works to date and one of the biggest challenges in maintaining quality art and story telling despite other personal life challenges during this time. The Kickstarter was nothing short of a success and I was brought on as the main interior artist and character designer for the rest of the book. Other artists contributed pinups and covers and there was even a cameo by the Bare Naked Ladies, with their consent. Ungrounded was Created/Written by Patrick Gerard with character designs and interior story art by Eryck Webb Graphics. It is available in eBook, trade paper back and hard cover forms! Check the book out here: http://patrickgerard.wix.com/ungrounded-comic


Summer 2013 - '80sTees.com' -I was commissioned to illustrate a Transformers related piece to use on apparel under their Hasbro license. I also designed and produced a mouse-pad graphic featuring dozens of 80s pop-culture cartoon, live action tv show, movie and video game characters that went on sale around Christmas 2013. The mouse pad was released twice and sold out both times. Be sure to visit www.80stees.com !


Summer 2013 - 'TnC' (Tia And Cory) - This webcomic series primarily posts on its Facebook page and features a fresh comic-geekdom take on the family comedy. The character designs are by Eryck Webb and it is Created/Written by Cory Matthews. The strip started bi-weekly then went weekly. Interestingly,  if I hadn't had the Bump On A Log comic strip going and Cory did not become a fan, TnC may never have even been conceived. This reaffirms the continued importance of putting my own work out there. Read, laugh, like and share on Facebook  www.facebook.com/tnccomics  or on the web at www.tnccomics.com !


Fall 2013 - Weekly slot commissions became a regular item (when extra space needs filled on a given week). This became a useful new item for clients who wanted their art faster. This would often be anywhere from 5-10 commission slots available for grabs, and not at a discount price. Their appeal was that they were guaranteed to be finished and in the client's hands by the end of the following week.


Fall 2013 - Official www.EryckWebbGraphics.com web domain was  purchased (It was a .blogspot URL up to this point.) It soon became the main headquarters of EWG, with links and posts on all satellite sites linking back to it.


 Winter 2013 - Chibi Monday - First official Chibi Monday Sale is held. A successful take-off of 'Cyber monday' and held on the same day.  It involves a 24 hour chibi-only order special. It is Intended to be an annual occurrence, if workload allows


● All the while regular weekly art commissions and sales continued.

[Day 3][ Day 5 ][5th Anniversary Posts]

[Come back tomorrow for the last in this 5 day look back celebrating the 5th Anniversary of EWG and the journey so far! And please, feel free to share your comments and own experiences along the way!] - Eryck 

Ultra Mammoth Warmup

December 12, 2014

#sketchbook #sketchbookpro #dailysketch #transformers #ultramammoth #beastwars

Warming up with some Ultra Mammoth from Transformers Shattered Glass this morning before tackling some transformers pages. Want to be close to done with the current batch of pencils as I can by the weekend. And got a slew of other stuff to do as well. A great way to get going on it though. Penciled in sketchbook pro on my windows desktop this morning. Look for new warmup sketch additions to my online sketchbook on this site. Click the 'sketchbook' listing or gallery on this site to see the rest. Going to make a point to start each day with some freedrawing to get the ol' groove going. Starts each day off with 'fun drawing' that'll translate to better work throughout the day rather than immediately starting with 'work drawing'. Don't get me wrong though, often times the work drawing is fun as hell too.
About 30 minutes from start to post. Onto some pages! Bookmark this site to keep up with daily sketch warmups and more! And hope everyone's enjoying the 5 days of ewg's history. Its a retrospective i figured a lot of folks might find interesting but is also half for me as I kinda often don't think about how different everything used to be.

The Journey of EWG - Day 2 of 5

December 11, 2014

 

The Journey of EWG - Day 2 of 5
By Eryck Webb and Kristina Webb

Today we look back at the many changes that occurred with EWG in its second year, both professionally and personally.

2010-2011: Business Booms

Refined the original
'splash logo' for a
more 'corporate' look.
By the second year, I was enjoying the weekly purchase of my art and commissions on ebay, as well as having some success advertising for work on Deviant Art forums. This year I also attempted to clean up the quickly-done hand drawn 'splash logo' in Photoshop and make it more professional looking. At the time it was simply called EWGraphics - embracing the EW with an exclamation point and creating the slogan 'EW! This art is sick!'
EWG's first 
Tshirt graphic 
commission.

I slowly began penciling directly in Photoshop instead of on Bristol board and inked in Photoshop as well. The coloring style improved as I explored new techniques for rendering shades and highlights. Unless specifically requested by a client, artwork was done digitally and the client was emailed an 8.5x11 300 dpi piece. During this year, EWG was posting ebay auctions and deviant art job ads everyday. When a new artwork was finished, and the client didn't object, I posted the new art on deviant art, Facebook and used it as examples in future ebay auctions. Almost daily something new was posted and this eventually got the attention of comic writers and people who needed t-shirt graphics. The capacity of Eryck Webb Graphics went from simple pencil drawings to providing a much bigger variety of creative services.

EWG's 200th Ebay 
commission piece.
While late 2010 saw me still doing pencil art sales and custom art commissions on ebay, early 2011 moved me into working on comic commissions, t-shirt commissions and more. This expansion of commission services all happened while migrating away from ebay entirely with digital art leading the way over traditional.


"I've been commissioning artwork from Eryck since 2007, in that time I've been lucky enough to get some really spectacular and inspiring pieces of art, but I've also gotten the privilege to see him evolve as an artist. I've gotten amazing logos from him, some neat character designs and a lot of imagination and creativity. I'm an Eryck Webb Graphics customer, but first and foremost I'm an Eryck Webb fan."
-Gary Buettner
Author of Monster Pets.

A year working on Possessed, my first webcomic commission, led me to  move towards digital art production techniques that I use to this day.
2010-2011 Notables:

Winter 2010 - This year saw EWG's first t-shirt graphic commission, from Horseshoes and Handgrenades for their trip to Dragon Con, dubbed the 'Face Melting' shirt.

Winter 2010 - Commissioned to illustrate first two chapters of the graphic novel Cartel, adding to the previous 5 pages. These new pages were penciled/ inked digitally and the previous 5 that were done traditionally were digitally touched up.

Winter 2010 - DeadStar Publishing in the UK wanted a short 8 page story in their anthology comic, 'Rising Stars Vol. 1'. The comic was "Accusations Among Thieves" - and it was my first published comic work. This project was penciled, inked and lettered digitally.

Winter 2011 - The first two chapters of Cartel were completed and shelved, and a new graphic novel called 'Rayfield Scott' was commissioned by the same author. Within a few months of production on this project, it was canceled because the script had been bought by a film company.

Spring 2011 - With Cartel shelved and Rayfield Scott canceled, the room was available to take on a new project with the same writer, a new graphic novel project called Lake Michigan Blues. It was a 120 page crime comic that would take about a year to draw start to finish.

2009-2011 - We lived in North Carolina from 2009 till Summer 2011. During this span I ran EWG from my bedroom in North Carolina.

Spring 2011 - I proposed to Kristina a week after Easter and we moved to Pennsylvania. EWG was now run in my future in-laws basement in Pennsylvania during our engagement.

Fall 2011 - 'Possessed, Collected Vol. 1' - My run on the webcomic 'Possessed' ended a couple months after the release of this collected volume of its first year. Creative differences ultimately led to the end of my run on this comic. But before that happened I was published for a second time in this very nice collected publication that I designed front to back. This 50+ pg compilation of the Possessed web comic spanned Eryck Webb's run on the series from 2010-2011. It was available in print and Ebook through Lulu.com. Though my run on this series lasted only a year, the influence it had on me digitally producing works would continue.

Oct 22, 2011 - I married Kristina, my wonderful companion in love, life and business. We moved into our own house in Ohio from fall 2011 through fall 2012. I enjoyed an ideal second story corner studio space through fall, winter and spring. Then due to sun angle and heat in the summer moved to a back room on the first level which had its own nice views out the back windows. I worked here till 2012.

● I worked on Lake Michigan Blues graphic novel in North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Ohio until it was published later in 2012.

● All the while regular weekly art commissions and sales continued as the back-bone of EWG.

Thank you for 5 great years

#anniversary #thankyou #friends #sketchbookpro #samsunggalaxynote10.1 #sketch #warmup

Thank you to the clients, the friends, the fans over the last five years. It was five years ago on this day (December 11th, 2014) that EWG was willed into existence by a desperate-for-work fellow relying on his resources and creativity to get him by. Today EWG is a well oiled graphic art machine and would not be where it is without all you who provided the means, the work, and the inspiration to carry this business for 5 years. Heres to 5 more. And hope folks will continue to join us for the next couple of days on the 'Journey of EWG' series, taking a retrospective look at the last 5 years.

The Journey of EWG - Day 1 of 5




The Journey of EWG - Day 1 of 5
By Eryck Webb and Kristina Webb

Today we look back at the idea that would become EWG and the first year of trying to make that idea a business

December 11th, 2009


In August 2009, I accompanied my then, girlfriend to the Raleigh-Durham triangle area in pursuit of a new teaching opportunity she received. I had racked up a good 3+ years of experience at an advertising agency and was doing well at that point. She had struggled in the Pennsylvania job market and it was high time she got her foot in a door and on her way down the ol' career path. So I left my job in Morgantown West Virginia and moved south with her. A couple months had gone by, and I absolutely relished and loved being in North Carolina with time off from July through September, but come November I had had enough. I ramped up the job search. I went on interviews, cold called print shops and design agencies, and sent resumes and portfolios everywhere.

Unfortunately, my girlfriend lost her teaching job at the end of the first quarter due to budget cuts. This left us without an income. As my girlfriend took whatever mundane call center jobs she could to get us by, I was still without work and saved up funds were running low. Towards the end of November, with Christmas coming and the toll of working at a very poorly run call center wearing on my girlfriend, the final straw was plucked. I was no longer able to pay my way. I had gone on several more fruitless job interviews where they wanted to meet me but had no open positions or actual work for me. Then my girlfriend had to pay December's loan payment for my truck. This was a moment of clarity for me. From that moment on, I was determined to at least make enough money to pay for my own truck, and as much of my portion of the rent and bills that I could. But the truck definitely.


I spent another week or so cold calling every place that would be able to use my talents and experience in the graphic design field. But a 4 year degree and almost 4 years of experience in a fast paced advertising agency did not help me get any job at all. Finally, after an epiphany, due in part from our financial stress and the impending expenses of Christmas coming, I rallied myself to think outside the box. I knew I had experience from college and the years working at the advertising agency. I was talented, resourceful, and smart. I had to be able to come up with something.


I remembered that in college, I did the occasional commission through ebay about once or twice a month to create some extra spending money for miscellaneous things. After college, I still did it every so often for some extra pocket money. As a result, I already knew how to put up an ebay ad and how to sell and ship items. Ebay and PayPal were already all setup. On Friday, December 11th, after a long and fruitless final week of job hunting, I experimented with something else. That day I drew a couple pencil art pieces on 8.5x11 Bristol board and put them on ebay for auction.

First 'EWG' piece sold.

The first of these, and the first official piece EWG sold, was an original fan art piece of HellBoy. It sold for $10 + shipping. That officially started me on the path I'm on today. Everyday after, I tried to do 4 to 5 finished character art pieces a day. I researched popular trending characters and what other pieces were selling on ebay. It was slow beginnings, and it took a while to get my girlfriend (now wife)'s confidence. I eventually gave up job hunting all together and focused 100% on pushing this makeshift commission business as far as I could.


Little did I know that five years later, Eryck Webb Graphics would be an official tax paying small business recognized by the U.S. Government, with dozens of clients and thousands of works to its name. It is a successful creative business with consistently more work than I can handle and a handful of clients that provide work on a weekly basis. I'm making the latest truck's payments just fine on my own and my now wife even helps me with finances, job coordination and is my go to voice of wisdom and reason in EWG decision making.


Now as we head into 2015, that same hand penciled work on Bristol that started this business for a mere $10 would be closer to $25 dollars and done completely digitally via Wacom stylus and Photoshop on an 11x17inch, 300dpi canvas.



2009-2010:  From Idea to Work

The beginnings of EWG were simple, and 2009 existed only long enough to launch the venture. The business model was simply draw as many pencil drawings, as good as I could, from the point Kristina left for work in the morning till the point that I stopped to make dinner before she got home. I would work on a daily quota of 4-5 pencil drawings. At the end of the day, I would scan them and clean them up in Photoshop. These digital images would be used to create ebay auctions and sell the artwork. Previous auctions ended daily and new ones were added daily, each running 7 days. The ones that sold would be shipped in a group the next Friday. If a buyer didn't pay until after Friday, that piece would be pushed to the next week. Any artworks that did not sell were renewed for another week of auctions on Ebay.


After a month of refreshing the auctions, the piece would be put in an envelope and filed away. I setup a folder on Deviant Art showing ones that were not sold and offering them for a few bucks less so that folks could buy directly from me via paypal without going through Ebay. Every once and a while I would reevaluate the filed away pieces and determine if it was worth putting them up for auction again or if it made more sense to toss them and come up with new ones that would sell better. 



Original Ebay Listing Ad Designs
Regular customers developed on ebay and occasionally I'd get a request to upgrade an already drawn pencil art. Requests to send an inked version or to color it digitally and send a hires file would pop up every so often. A customer would like a pencil work but want to see it fully inked and colored. Ocassionally, clients wanted a picture of one character to include another complimenting character so they can frame or display them together.

Heading through 2010, the main revenue was still the pencil character art, but the requests for custom orders or completely original commission orders were increasing every month. Every day I would make sure to post something on ebay, and post one 'available for commissions' ad on Deviant Art forums. Posting something every day, showed I was working, and helped maintain interest and daily traffic. That was the idea at least, and it seemed to work at the time.


Times were a little different then. Based on my preexisting graphic design knowledge in Photoshop, I taught myself a quick and easy way to flat and shade using a single flat shade effect for my works, not like the highly rendered look I go for today. Ebay was different then too, at that time you could have ebay's TurboLister put up 20 auctions of the same item. So I'd be able to control what I was available for in a coming week, (4 drawings a day 5 days a week) and I'd design a listing for that item, and put up 20 of them. Then, if people wanted to commission me for more than one, all they had to do was bid on more than one auction. Fortunately my business has evolved to where I no longer depend on this multiple auction format, since they no longer offer it, or ebay for that matter. These Ebay auctions began including more options, with a set base price for custom pencil drawings or inked drawings and then additional fees could be added on at checkout for inking and coloring upgrades. At this time I was still selling the occasional pre-drawn pencil art piece but more and more the popularity of the custom art auctions began to sell more than the pre-drawn art.



First logo I used. Also note the different name.
There was no main website, just ebay and deviant art at the time. Later in the year, Facebook and Twitter became incorporated into the array of sites I used to promote the business and draw attention to auctions. As the one year anniversary of what was then named EW!Graphics approached, pencil art was less the emphasis and the digital colors were catching the eye of onlookers scouting out an artist for their projects. Taking on this new type of work would ultimately move EWG to work exclusively in digital artwork and the end of the traditional ebay auctions.

On my start down the self-employment path, I would always be reevaluating myself as a brand. EWG was my brand, but the brand's main product was me. My own original projects would assist in getting my name out there. Within this brand, I began to recognize two important aspects. My own personal projects that would get my name out there more publicly, and the continuing customer commissions that would make the money. The personal projects help to practice and develop my skills for use on client projects as well as serve as existing examples of comic and illustration work that have, in many instances, inspired clients to hire me to work on similar style projects of theirs.



"I started buying Eryck Webb's pieces from E-Bay before I started to buy his commission slots. Over the years, I have requested short comics, single character, and group pictures. The artwork has improved with each passing commission. However, the pictures truly shine when you allow Eryck to be an artist. For example, his series of 'What If *character* joined Cobra.' Let his imagination run loose and you’ll be greatly satisfied; he never disappoints. "
- D.M.



I credit Bump On A Log to the inspiration for several webcomic jobs I've gotten over the years.
  
2009-2010 Notables:

    Winter 2010 - Bump On A Log - First in-house webcomic. Originally a 12 strip pitch to newspaper syndicates, it failed to get picked up and went on to be a regular web comic for many years. The webcomic stopped in 2013. This original production would go on to inspire Delusions of Normalsy and TnC Comics in years to come!

    Spring 2010 - Possessed - My full color commissions caught the eye of a comic writer looking for an artist. 'Possessed' was both the first comic strip commission and webcomic commission EWG took on, and is cited as the main influence on moving to digital work. After the first two strips were drawn/ inked traditionally and the results failed to be as professional looking as I wanted, EWG made the jump to inking digitally for a cleaner more professional look. This would later lead to all works being done digitally instead of traditionally.

    Summer 2010 - Cartel - A 5 page pitch of Cartel, with creator/ writer Drew Miami, was commissioned. This would be the first comic EWG would be commissioned for. And was penciled and inked traditionally.

    ● Regular weekly art commissions and sales were the main source of revenue this year.




    The Journey of EWG - Prologue

    December 10, 2014



    The Journey Of EWG: Prologue
    by Eryck Webb and Kristina Webb
     
    Self employment is a journey that starts with an idea. From the moment of conception, you begin a trek down a intimidating and uncertain road in pursuit of an ever elusive ideal of work and lifestyle that is never quite within reach. It is a process filled with trial and error.  It's easy to accumulate unnecessary extras that need trimmed away to keep the goal in focus.

    Whether you are one person or a staff of employees, you are a brand. This brand is your identity. More than that, a brand is a living entity that grows and matures. You must tend and nurture it or it may never see  its potential realized. It needs refined, changed, and adapted to new situations. All the while, simplifying and keeping  it focused and profitable and improving the product and the relationship with clients. You grow it steadily like a bonsai tree, clipping this brand's leaves ever so decisively and carefully. The seeds of this tree will drop into new areas that bud new opportunities. You never know what seed will land where and how big the tree will grow. The more you put into the business, the further it will grow and become more and more sustainable. Every time you make a decision you never know if it will  work out 100%, but it will always ends productively.

    Whether a decision works or fails, you will learn and move forward. This is why, after a time, it is essential, to stop and look back at your journey. It's important to observe and remember what you've been through, so that you can better appreciate where you are.

    With this in mind, we will begin a five day journey tomorrow to commemorate the five years of EWG in business. We will remember the changes that have been made along the way and where we have come from, beginning with an idea, to where we are today.

    To prepare us for our journey, Nick Arganbright shares his opinions about working with Eryck Webb and EWG in the following article.



    Working with Eryck Webb
    By Nick Arganbright

    When you think of big names in comic books and sequential art today, you think of names like Humberto Ramos, Ramón Pérez or Chris Samnee.

    Why though are they big?

    It's not just because of their artistic ability.  You also need to think about individuals who are also good collaborators. See, at the end of the day, as a writer or even 'executive producer' of something, (however you wanna look at what you do when you produce a book either as a 'monthly' or graphic novel,) it really is not about just how 'amazing' the art is. It really comes down to something else. Something that in some cases is very much overlooked today by people looking for artists.

    And what is overlooked is how good a "collaborator" that person is.

    While the writing may be superb, or the art may be spectacular, if two individuals or more are not in synch with each other (read: a good collaborator), well, I have to break it to you pal, but your project is doomed. D-O-O-M-E-D.   Because while it may start off looking unique and great, the relationship will not last.

    Yeah, so do you remember all those nifty names I threw out before hand? Samnee, Ramos and Pérez? Yeah, well one should always be thrown in there with them, and that is Eryck Webb.

    Back when I was scouring DeviantArt for someone to help me with my Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing art-wise since my time was starting to become scarce, I stumbled upon Eryck's deviant art page. His art was amazing. But in the indie scene, the almighty dollar, at least to me, is very sacred.  Beyond sacred.  I want to pay an artist well worth their time, but I want to make sure that it is 100% what I'm looking for. How good a collaborator they are is another huge and important piece of the puzzle. Now, it is funny to note I was merely 'toying' around, I believe, with the notion of doing a Tales of the TMNT-fan based comic book. And when I saw an image of his for Thanksgiving-based 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turkeys' image, I realized instantly that I dug this dude's art and his humor.

    I remember hiring him to do art for our Live Show for my podcast The Good, The Bad, & The Geeky and also got him to draw a caricature of my character of Tales of the 8th Grade Nothing. So far, so good. And then I stumbled upon yet another piece of art that just sealed the deal with Eryck. He posted a warm-up pencil sketch of the characters the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His style was reminiscent of both A.C. Farley and Michael Dooney, but yet unique to himself.

    Remember that Tales of the TMNT-fan based comic book? Yeah, that would eventually become Ultimate Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that I do with Eryck. That warm-up sketch sealed the deal.

    And working with Eryck has been a dream, and truly is the very definition of a collaborator. I enjoy our process, I wallow in it like a pig who enjoys mud.  It makes me thrive creatively. Eryck makes the things I give him thrive and grow; if you suggest things as a basic look for the page by giving thumbnails to work with, Eryck builds upon that AND what I have on the written page. And when I give him more sewer bricks to draw, he never once complains. He is meticulous, hard-working, very communicative with me during our process and one hell of a dude.

    At the end of the day, that just translates thusly: Eryck Webb is an fantabulous artist by every definition of the word and more importantly, Eryck is one hell of a collaborator. I hope you see how great Eryck is not just as an artist but as a collaborator. If Michelangelo was here he would say "Eryck? Dude, COWABUNGA!"

    Cowabunga, indeed.





    Decree - Sketching

    December 8, 2014

    #skull #decree #zerotolerance #beheard #tellittothehandwiththeskull

    Sketching in Sketchbook pro

    Thursday Night Stream 12-4-14 Dinobots

    December 3, 2014

    #livestream #dinobots #transformers #commissions #digitalart #digitalinks #digitalcolors #photoshop #inkscape #EWGthursdaystream

    All are encouraged to come hangout, talk shop, chat with other watchers or just watch the live digital inks and colors production on a massive G1 Dinobots commission. Kicks off 8pmEST goes till at least 10pmEST but more likely midnight. Only at EWG Livestream.com channel. Grab a seat early, and look forward to having you out!
    https://new.livestream.com/accounts/1065426/events/3633462

    Happy Start To Holiday Season

    December 1, 2014

    #cybermonday #blackfriday #holidayseason

    As the holiday season kicks into high gear, so does the production over here at EWG. As deadline-urgent production on the TnC year one book took priority over personal works like Run Of The Mill, TMNTurkeys 2014 edition, much less most any client work, so will the final followups with the printer, and so will taking care of all order Dec1st and earlier to get them out by the New Year.

    So respectfully EWG will be bowing out of black Friday, and cyber Monday which it celebrates as 'chibi monday'. There are just stacks and stacks of orders to get out and i'm making them priority till the new year. So EWG will seem a little quieter amongst all the various websites but be assured, we're working hard as ever. Will be taking christmas eve through that following sunday off, celebrating something very specially on December 11th, and taking most of Dec 1st to finish up the family's Christmas card get that underway during cyber monday deals. So besides those key days off (oh and new years) will be workin it up steadily

    Priorities will be the big projects like (in no particular order) transformers shattered glass, knightstalkers, 80stees, utmnt, tnc, and mr MiD  and everything else will be fit in around those. Thanks for your patience as I pushed stuff back to this week, hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and heres lookin to kick some ass all the way up to Christmas and the New Year!
    Hope you'll stay tuned!

    TnC BatFamily Surusly - Warmup 11-24-14

    November 24, 2014


    #batman #tnccomics #tnc #jokergotaway #jinglebells #batmansmells
    Random sketch thismorning getting warmed up before working on some new TnC illustrations and also randomly batman and crew.... uh... wha?

     
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