Turra Opening Scene Teaser

Turra: Gun Angel becomes live action!

[random somebody]:  so, janet, what did you do over the weekend?
[moi]:  oh, you know, watched a live-action movie short get made of 1 of our comic book characters.  *shrugs*

... i mean, who gets to really say that???  well, yeah, me.

we went from this...

inked cover

full blown colors. Turra: Gun Angel - "Utsu" (which means 'to shoot' in japanese)

to this...

from our indygogo campaign in march 2013.

& then to this... 

Turra Gun Angel - "Utsu" live action promo poster w/ actress rachel alig.



greg gray, the man w/ the camera.



pop!  pop!  pop!

dance scene.

montrel grant as a heavy w/ Turra creator martheus wade.

our cosplaying Turra & Jetta, micah & sara, add to the club scene's ambience.

Turra & uber-Toshigawa fan, michael armstrong.

this is interesting. zach wheeler (the hacker/hostage), john dylan atkins (a nervous baddie), & rachel alig (Turra).

hostage scene!

Turra (rachel alig), marcus kent hamson, alexandra wolfe.

eric crimmins (the skinny pimp himself) & Turra.

getting a touch up from blake.

uh oh. someone's about to get shot.

of course the car's white.  can't break up the white theme we have going, sheesh!

so much fun was had.  no egos.  no attitudes.  no mishaps.

& now a few words of thanks & appreciation from mr. wade:

"We want to take this moment to thank every donor, every supporter, every single person who helped us make this past weekend a success. Shooting this weekend was exciting, adventurous, and very fun. Without Team Turra behind us, none of this would have been possible. But don't think the Turra ride ends here, folks. We will be packaging up incentives this week and shipping them. As well, Marshal Pictures will be editing and prepping the scene for release! Be on the lookout for that one!! We still need the excitement and enthusiasm that you brought to this project when the release of the short hits the web in order to turn heads for phase 2... FEATURE PRODUCTION. With that said, tell everyone you know about the awesomeness of Turra: Gun Angel. We will need everyone to spread the word! Thanks guys! There is more to come!"

Turra: Gun Angel indygogo campaign

 

my husband & i have launched an Turra: Gun Angel indygogo campaign.  spread the word.  check out our site.  & don't forget to donate & help us out.  :)

Short Summary...
Marshal Pictures and MAW Productions are teaming up to bring the comic book character Turra : Gun Angel to a screen near you!

Turra has been raised as a ninja assassin and is burnt out on the endless training and constant killing. She leaves Japan to become a bounty hunter in America.

After the particularly brazen extraction of a target from a night club, Turra is visited by an elder member of the Japanese Mafia who offers her a job she can't refuse.

Being Turra, however, she does refuse and she soon lands in the middle of Yakuza Civil War!

Press Release: The Comic Studio

Hey! Here is the official press release for the Comic Studio. If there is anyone interested in signing up for classes, let me know. Any media outlets that would like to post this up, please feel free. As well, anyone that would like to share this on their pages are welcome.

OFFICIAL COMIC STUDIO PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact Persons for The Comic Studio:
Martheus A. Wade
martheus@toshigawa.com
www.mawpro.com

INDEPENDENT COMIC CREATOR PUTS A COMIC BOOK SPIN ON ART CLASSES
September 5, 2012

Indy comic book creator, Martheus Wade, creator of the hit graphic novel series Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa and Turra: Gun Angel and art director for MAW Productions Studios, is proud to announce the formation of The Comic Studio, a series of classes that specialize in the art of comic book and graphic novel creation.

The Comic Studio will be art classes with a comic book twist. The classes take an innovative approach to creative design that combines fine art, writing and graphic design skills and team them with goal setting techniques that will empower students to see projects through to completion. Courses will cover everything from photoshop techniques, to illustration techniques, to writing all from the perspective of comic book and graphic novel creation. "I've always wanted to give back to the Memphis area," Martheus said. "The idea for the Comic Studio began when I taught comic illustration in the penitentiary system. There were some extremely talented individuals there that could have contributed so much to the art world if someone would have reached them early and helped develop their talent. I want to find that child before it's too late." Thanks to fellow artist and prolific painter, Adam Shaw, classes will start at his studio in November at 2547 Broad Ave, Memphis TN. "The revitalization of Broad Avenue as an arts district fits The Comic Studio perfectly," said Martheus. "It's the perfect place to open minds to the arts and the power of the graphic medium."

Classes start in November and will meet Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. More information on times will be available in the coming weeks. Anyone interested in enrollment should contact Martheus Wade at martheus@toshigawa.com or join our facebook page, keyword: The Comic Studio. Free art tutorials are also available online at www.mawpro.com.

-more-

Martheus Antone Wade

Optioned for motion picture, Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa was created in 1985 by Martheus Antone Wade, a graduate of the University of Memphis. Martheus' love for martial arts, along with his talent as a graphic artist, was a natural fit for creating exciting characters and imaginative storylines. He then began his carrier as an intern at Signature Advertising. After completing his internship, Martheus worked as graphic designer. After two years, Martheus struck out on his own as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator working with companies such as the Radison Hotel, Trust Marketing, Senior Services, The YWCA, The Girl Scouts Council of the Mid-South, and Special Olympics.

He has illustrated for Maximum CNG, Bloodstream for Image Comics, Shooting Star Comics, Chaos Campus for Approbation Comics and Andrew Dabb's Slices just to name a few. Recently, he has worked on such titles as Action Man and Nanovor for IDW, Bad Girls Club for the Oxygen Network, and illustrated, wrote, and produced a comic book crossover with his title character, Jetta, and William Tucci's, Shi. His work has been used for the movie Role Models from Universal Pictures as well as the instructional DVD and book, Hi-Fi Digital Color for Comics available from IMPACT Publishing.

Visit www.mawpro.com to see more of his work and artistic process .

superman celebration 2012 & 10yr anniversary

2 things happened over this past weekend.

the 1st was superman celebration. 

each & every summer we look forward to attending superman celebration in metropolis, il (or as 1 friend calls it, "the trop".  seriously.).  this yr was no different, except...it was...different.  this time, the boy came w/ us!  (dun dun duuuuunnnnn!!!)

because of this, i had to trade in most of the MAW Productions booth time for mommy duties.  which was ok, except for the times anakin got a little too excited &, well, let's just say he got into more trouble this past weekend than in the whole 3 yrs of his life.  :/  but it's ok.  he's only 3 & has the attention span of a cat.  there were times i had to take him away from the celebration & go to a park down the street so he could run around & get it all out of his system.  as long as he had fun, rt?  rt!

but we were all happy to see old friends & hang out & eat deliciously bad consession stand food & appreciate all the cool costumes & get sunburns.  let's take a gander @ the festivities, shall we?

the boy & i @ lambert's, on the way to "the trop".

outside lambert's. put more quarters in it! it'll go faster.

an updated pic on the horsey. in 2009, anakin was on this same horse. i'll have to find that pic...

yeah, i don't know either...

the riley's w/ george perez.  gotta love his seizure inducing shirts.

richard, superman, & Turra.  1 of these things is not like the others...

Super Mule!!!  in front of the MAW Productions booth.

marco, choppin it up.

kevin & a sketch for a fan.

eating artery clogging consession stand pizza. mmmmm.

w/ wonder woman (margie cox) & green lantern (michael cox).

w/ green arrow.  this guy's the BEST green arrow i've ever seen.

you know we had to be in front of the huge superman statue.

& what about the 2nd thing that happened?

antone & i celebrated 10yrs of marital bliss.  that's rt.  on june 8th, 2002, @ around 2:30 pm, me & the flavor o' my life sealed the deal in a hot church (ac broke down) in front of family & friends.

& how did we celebrate?  on june 8th, 2012, at around 2:30pm, my husband & i were performing in a Super Mule puppet show w/ the guy who should've been the best man 10yrs ago, kevin williams.  that may sound corny & strange to some, but i thought it was perfect.  we were together (how many couples can even boast THAT, huh?), we were happy, we were doing something we liked doing, & we were w/ friends.  & bam, there ya go.

06.08.02 - "i promise to love, honor, cherish, & ink whatever it is you pencil."

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!!!

so aside from may 5th being cinco de mayo, it was also what's known in the realm of comic books as FREE COMIC BOOK DAY.  yes, that magical time of year where comic book fans bumrush their local comic book shops & score free books, maybe meet an artist or 2, & make geeky purchases.  :)  it's almost like christmas, except there's not pesky wrapping paper to keep you from your stuff.

mr. wade & i were invited to lexington's collectibles etc for their fcbd event.  we got to hang out w/ Action Lab Comics' very own shawn pryor (always fun) & met w/ some awesome fans.  well, here, i'll let the pix do the talking...

the cool kids' table.

princeless!!!  i <3 this series.  :)

free cd w/ 200+ pgs of previews from Action Lab

they had cake!

we had a staring contest.  i won when i ate him.

dawww!

young & spry cap'n.

tressa bowling & her Jetta chibi sketch.

packed!

vector pin up tutorial - lum-chaaaaaaaan!!!

i love animation of all forms.  2d, stop motion, rotoscope, cgi.  i've always been fascinated by how an inanimate picture/object becomes animated.  traditional 2d cel animation is my favorite.  my vector style art is heavily influenced by the look of a cel, w/ the defined outlines & wide washes of solid colors.

i spent my early childhood growing up on an air force base in okinawa, japan.  there was 1 english speaking channel run by the base which ran from 7am - midnight.  after that, you got to stare @ a boring test pattern.  the rest of the stations were straight japanese gold.  it was here that i became aquainted w/ what is now known as anime.  after dinner, my little sister & i would take our baths & wind down for the evening.  1 of the shows we watched before bed was "urusei yatsura" but we didn't speak a lick of japanese, so we just called it the cartoon w/ the green-haired girl.  it wasn't until i was in my 20s that i found out the actual name of the show & the green-haired girl.  her name was lum.

what was it about lum that i loved?  she was pretty, & what girl doesn't idolize a pretty character?  i mean, disney makes a killing on little girls looking up to pretty princesses, rt?  lum had so much confidence, she'd walk around in a friggin tiger-stripped bikini & go-go boots.  oh yeah, & she could fly & shoot lightning from her fingers.  hell yeah.

so you can see why i chose lum as the subject of this tutorial.  anime = animation = cel art = vectors. & lum = tiger-stripped bikini = pinups.  see the connections?  great!  well ok, here we go!  

step 1...i do a quick sketch of what it is i want to render. i even add swipes of tones & shading. scan it & take the sketch into adobe illustrator & keep it locked on the bottom most layer. 

lum sketchy sketch

step 2...i start breaking up the image into shapes & use the pen tool to create the shapes' outlines. everything is a shape. the hair, the body, even the little horns & the pupils of her eyes. i arrange the shapes in separate layers, 1 on top of the next, according to what shape appears at the forefront. for instance, lum's body is 1 whole shape, & her boots are shapes themselves that go on top of her body. you gotta think of it kind of like a paper doll w/ different outfits or hairstyles you can place on top of a template body. it's kind of tricky to do, but once you start thinking of things as shapes & layers, you begin to get the hang of it. **i was lazy so i used brush strokes for the tiger stripes.

now you don't want too many layers because that can the file too big to work on, so it might be easier to tackle 1 thing @ a time. like rendering her eyes on separate layers (the blue eyeshadow, the whites of the eye, the green iris, the black pupil, the black eyeliner & eyelashes). once you've got that done you can group these objects together & keep them on a single layer

outlines, outlines, & oh yeah, outlines.

step 3...add in the shading.  remember, even the shading can be seen as shapes.  you can either fill the shade w/ black & lower the opacity or pick a darker shade of the base tone.

shading outlines done.

step 4...pick your palette to fill your shapes & color your outlines.

yay, colorz!

i know this was a VERY simplified tutorial.  & i know you probably still have TONS of questions on how to do a vector piece.  i wanted to give an overview of how i render.  i'll be going into more detail w/ the different adobe illustrator tools is use, how to use them, complete w/ screenshots & all.  so stay tuned...

go, power rangers go go gooooo!!!

i don't know what i'm gonna do w/ myself this weekend.  the hubby will be in lexington, ky for a comic book & toy convention...& because of my non-art related job, i'll be here.  working.  do non-art related stuff.  :(  i'll just have to keep my mind off his absence by working hard & sleeping away the pain.  *siiiiiigh*  well, if you read this & will be attending the con, drop by the MAW Production's booth & pick up a few Jetta books, some Muley prints, & maybe even a green power ranger print.

& tell Martheus his wife says, "I MISS YOUUUUUU!!!"

go go, power rangers!  green ranger print by martheus wade.  i laid down flats.  :)

intros & such

1st brand spankin new post!  woohoo!

h'lo there.  my name's janet, but i'm also known on the internetz as "saltygirl", the comic book pinup artist.  my husband & i work on the Jetta: Tales of the Toshigawa graphic novel series where he mainly pencils & i ink & we both collaborate on storylines.  sound fun, yeah?

i'm starting this blog to help me get back into expressing myself w/ more than just a quick & clever sentence (facebook spoiled me). i'm into comic books, cartoons, taking naps, art, so this blog will house a lot of my musings or original creations, me enjoying fam time w/ my husband & son, & maybe the occassional geeky/nerdy rant about star wars or batman. that ok?

on a more narcissistic note, this blog is also to help me fight the frump. oh you know what the frump is.  don't pretend you don't. i don't know how it happened, but i've slowly become that woman, the 1 that looks too tired to care. i was never a gal who was into girlish things; i might be missing a girly gene or something. but i did know how to put an outfit together & look halfway decent.  then 1 day i looked up & i was dressing like my almost 3yr old boy: sweatpants & a hoody. & it didn't help that my husband was 1 of the 2012 hotties for the memphis flyer.  :(  so yeah, this blog will have the occassional "look @ me! i can look purtty too!" post.

what you most likely won't find on here?

• posts of hair &/or makeup tutorials.  i have never figured these out.  my hair is usually wash, comb, & go. 
• & i can't wear makeup because my rosacea makes my skin flip the frak out @ the oddest things (the cold/hot, the sun, the air...).

aaand that's pretty much it for the bullet pts, until i think of things to add that i won't post about.