Bookmarks!!!

Introducing the first ever Orchard Heroes Bookmarks! Two designs are available for multiple characters. Just visit the site or click here.

The bookmarks are just one of the crafts that I'll be making available for free. Just a simple download onto cardstock and then cut them out.
-GH

Tributes

When I first started to brainstorm the whole Orchard Heroes idea, the first person I bounced a lot of these ideas off of was my old college roommate. I'm not sure how we did it but we somehow were able to create a bunch of comics, draw multiple pieces of art, and even write and animate movie trailers and STILL graduate college. Anyway, I figured if HE hated it, I'd just toss the idea. Turns out he kind of liked it and even created some of the first Fan Art for Orchard Heroes. Below is a piece of his work he did in tribute to the Action Comics #1 cover by Joe Shuster. You can check out his other work at http://www.freewebs.com/roninpro/. Cool stuff.

Sometimes you just have to bounce your ideas off of a friend, just to to see if those ideas come back...I don't really know what that meant. Maybe, if your friend didn't like them, I guess he wouldn't throw them back? Anyway, enjoy.

-GH

Issue 26: Kiwi's Got a Plan

Issue 26: Kiwi's Got a Plan is up on the site. I tried to play around with perspectives a bit on this one, showing different angles of viewing the scenes. Hopefully after reading this issue, you get an idea of how musty, damp and...moldy the Mold Forest is. I also tried to use a "focusing" effect in that scene where Moldman stares at the "special" vial, an inspiration from movies.
Anyway, enjoy!
-GH

Free!

Been brainstorming a few ideas on what I could put on the "Fun Stuff" section of the site that would be fun and ...free. I kind of would like that section to be a place where fans could pretty much print out activities, or crafts and have cool little products. I worked out a few ideas and have been busy designing them so that the activities and crafts are both easy to do and create.

So look forward to seeing Orchard Heroes bookmarks, facemasks, coloring pages, and other crap!

I'll post some designs as well as rejected ideas here soon.
-GH

Reading Material

Just read "How To Write For Animation," by Jeffrey Scott, and I have to say it was a really enjoyable read. I bought this book for some insight on how dialogue is written and how character is developed, and I really learned quite a bit. The author writes in a casual tone that makes the more technical aspects of the business more understanding. I'll be trying to apply the things I've learned into future issues of Orchard Heroes and hopefully it'll be noticeable. Even though its written more for those writing scripts for cartoons, a lot of the things discussed are totally applicable to me.

If you need something to read, check it out.

-GH

Drawing Beyond Lines

Below is the first of many graphics of the Orchard Heroes that I've been working on. Sometimes, what's considered basic knowledge to most artists can be like an awakening to someone like me with no artistic background or training. I've recently discovered how great things look without the restricting black outlines after I started playing around on Illustrator. I felt like I had discovered something awesome until I started to realize that a lot of art out there avoid black outlines. Either way, I'm kind of eager to see how other designs turn out with this new discovery.
-GH