Hey Greg, I always loved your process threads on Twitter, a peek behind the curtain on what inspires you is such a treat. I never would have guessed 101 Dalmatians would be an inspiration to you, but it made total sense. I hope you'll post more of these inspiration/process threads here for your future projects. Happy Holidays!
I was very pleased to see this newsletter from you, I'm glad you're back at it.
Is Batman Barbarian still happening? I was very excited when I heard the announcement so I made sure to preorder the 1st issue, but the book never came out. I hope it's just a delay and not a cancellation.
Would love more of your #comicprotips and showing your processes for compositions. Will absolutely be interested in your next round of commissions. Would you be able to post all of the prior #comicprotips on here?
Your process videos on X inspired me to get into digital art (mostly doing still life or plein air type stuff from photos). I had no idea that Photoshop brushes could do that (leaf brushes and such). I only remembered the old symbol brushes from Paint Shop Pro that kind of sprayed symbols or patterns. I think I'm slowly getting better and am enjoying it.
Any chance of absolute or "artist" editions of Human Target? I have about three sets of the issues, plus parts one and two of the hardbacks. You could add your X posts to an extras section with more process shots.
Thanks, Josh! Always happy to hear that I've inspired someone - thank you for sharing that!
I have no idea what DC is planning in terms of future editions but I'm sure there will eventually be something that collects all 12 issues in one volume.
Hey Greg. It's always great to hear from you! I hope we get lots of future updates about your process and upcoming projects. There is never enough Smallwood art out there in the world, imo.
So good to find you here! Looking forward to future updates!
I'm curious what you use for the textures in those beautiful ink commission examples. I love the textures you use in your digital work and am happy to see them in the traditional work, too!
Glad I caught you at many of the Air Cap shows before you got too busy for cons right now, and have all your amazing poster prints from those shows! (And even that short story you did for Bill Hook's book, too!)
The texture comes mostly from the paper - I work on vellum bristol, 400 or 500 series. I use the pigment ink Pentel brush pens (totally waterproof) and keep them a little on the dry side. They have the pens in a few different sizes on Jet Pens:
I just discovered your work and am absolutely in love with it. Glad you're here! Substack feels like the best best place for artists to hang out and post, yet so many choose to stay on twitter or instagram or threads or bluesky. Really looking forward to seeing what you do here!
Thanks, Jake! Your videos have been really instructive and encouraging over the years so that means a lot. I agree about Substack - feels like the art blogs/forums from the late 2000s/early 2010s, but now woven together. I'm still exploring but I already find it to be a huge step up from the rest of social media.
Fantastic! And welcome back! Very curious about the news of your future projects! And in addition to the commissions, I hope you will soon give us the opportunity to purchase some original pages! :)
Great to see you online again. I have to say, i've screengrabbed most of your process posts from Twitter and refer to them regularly - thanks for not gatekeeping your knowledge. (And i'd be happy to pay for a "process post" tier, if you wanted to do more, or repost the old ones)
Hi Greg! It's nice to get an update from you and know you're okay. Busy but okay. Would you consider doing smaller commissions in the future? I would also love to see more posts about your process. Nonetheless I am excited to read more posts from you!
Greg! Great to see you over here on Substack. I was wondering if we could request a commission for one of our own characters? Still would really love to work on a MAN-CHILD cover with ya!
I'm totally cool with anyone reprinting these as pinups for the interior of a book but covers always need to be designed as covers. Drives me nuts when I see Marvel run variants with pinups or splashes that were never designed to be covers. I should probably specify that the next time I open my list because that's certainly a gray area and can be confusing.
Makes sense! I dislike when I see that, too. Are you good with me securing a commission as a cover (I can pay extra) or would you prefer that be handled at a different time? Sorry to be a hassle! 😅
A while back you were offering some cover style commissions, did anyone take you up on those? Did you ever share them online? Can we see 'em? Am I making this up? Have I gone INSANE?
lol you haven't gone insane. I actually never finished them. After Human Target started consuming every minute of my time, I gave up on commissions and refunded everybody.
Hey Greg, I always loved your process threads on Twitter, a peek behind the curtain on what inspires you is such a treat. I never would have guessed 101 Dalmatians would be an inspiration to you, but it made total sense. I hope you'll post more of these inspiration/process threads here for your future projects. Happy Holidays!
I was very pleased to see this newsletter from you, I'm glad you're back at it.
Is Batman Barbarian still happening? I was very excited when I heard the announcement so I made sure to preorder the 1st issue, but the book never came out. I hope it's just a delay and not a cancellation.
Thanks, Nicholas! Batman the Barbarian was delayed so I could have more time to work on it.
*phew*. That's a relief! I look forward to it's release and I'll keep an eye out for it's resolicitation.
Would love more of your #comicprotips and showing your processes for compositions. Will absolutely be interested in your next round of commissions. Would you be able to post all of the prior #comicprotips on here?
Loved Human Target, loved Moon Knight. Thank you for being authentically you, Greg!
Thanks Greg. Love your work!
Your process videos on X inspired me to get into digital art (mostly doing still life or plein air type stuff from photos). I had no idea that Photoshop brushes could do that (leaf brushes and such). I only remembered the old symbol brushes from Paint Shop Pro that kind of sprayed symbols or patterns. I think I'm slowly getting better and am enjoying it.
Any chance of absolute or "artist" editions of Human Target? I have about three sets of the issues, plus parts one and two of the hardbacks. You could add your X posts to an extras section with more process shots.
Thanks, Josh! Always happy to hear that I've inspired someone - thank you for sharing that!
I have no idea what DC is planning in terms of future editions but I'm sure there will eventually be something that collects all 12 issues in one volume.
Hey Greg. It's always great to hear from you! I hope we get lots of future updates about your process and upcoming projects. There is never enough Smallwood art out there in the world, imo.
So good to find you here! Looking forward to future updates!
I'm curious what you use for the textures in those beautiful ink commission examples. I love the textures you use in your digital work and am happy to see them in the traditional work, too!
Glad I caught you at many of the Air Cap shows before you got too busy for cons right now, and have all your amazing poster prints from those shows! (And even that short story you did for Bill Hook's book, too!)
Hey, Jerry! Good to hear from you!
The texture comes mostly from the paper - I work on vellum bristol, 400 or 500 series. I use the pigment ink Pentel brush pens (totally waterproof) and keep them a little on the dry side. They have the pens in a few different sizes on Jet Pens:
https://www.jetpens.com/Pentel-Quick-Dry-Brush-Pen-Pigment-Ink-Medium-Black/pd/33699
That combo results in most of the texture you see. The rest is just plain ol' china marker.
I just discovered your work and am absolutely in love with it. Glad you're here! Substack feels like the best best place for artists to hang out and post, yet so many choose to stay on twitter or instagram or threads or bluesky. Really looking forward to seeing what you do here!
Thanks, Jake! Your videos have been really instructive and encouraging over the years so that means a lot. I agree about Substack - feels like the art blogs/forums from the late 2000s/early 2010s, but now woven together. I'm still exploring but I already find it to be a huge step up from the rest of social media.
Glad to see you here, Greg!
Fantastic! And welcome back! Very curious about the news of your future projects! And in addition to the commissions, I hope you will soon give us the opportunity to purchase some original pages! :)
It's great "hearing" your voice again!! Hopefully I'll see you at planet comicon in March... It's been too long!
Great to see you online again. I have to say, i've screengrabbed most of your process posts from Twitter and refer to them regularly - thanks for not gatekeeping your knowledge. (And i'd be happy to pay for a "process post" tier, if you wanted to do more, or repost the old ones)
Hi Greg! It's nice to get an update from you and know you're okay. Busy but okay. Would you consider doing smaller commissions in the future? I would also love to see more posts about your process. Nonetheless I am excited to read more posts from you!
Thanks, Arie! I will definitely be doing a wide range of commissions in addition to periodic art drops.
Great to see you are working just as hard at being a great husband/dad as you are at being a great comic artist. Looking forward to more updates
Greg! Great to see you over here on Substack. I was wondering if we could request a commission for one of our own characters? Still would really love to work on a MAN-CHILD cover with ya!
Hey, Nandor! Requesting a commission with your own character is fine by me!
Awesome! If you’re cool with me using the commission as a potential cover, let’s do it! I’ll try my best to be in the initial 10.
I'm totally cool with anyone reprinting these as pinups for the interior of a book but covers always need to be designed as covers. Drives me nuts when I see Marvel run variants with pinups or splashes that were never designed to be covers. I should probably specify that the next time I open my list because that's certainly a gray area and can be confusing.
Makes sense! I dislike when I see that, too. Are you good with me securing a commission as a cover (I can pay extra) or would you prefer that be handled at a different time? Sorry to be a hassle! 😅
You're not a hassle at all, Nandor! Covers are a ton of work so let's handle that at a different time. Thanks for checking in advance!
A while back you were offering some cover style commissions, did anyone take you up on those? Did you ever share them online? Can we see 'em? Am I making this up? Have I gone INSANE?
lol you haven't gone insane. I actually never finished them. After Human Target started consuming every minute of my time, I gave up on commissions and refunded everybody.
Oh OK good, the work is more important than private art for someone to tuck away in a folder never to be seen again. Glad I didn't miss anything.