Frog Eat Fly

2009-07-26T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here's another fun warm up piece, this time Po from Kung Fu Panda. i love this movie and the cover art for the 2nd issue of Tom Corbett Space Cadet...
Still time to preorder it :) Jul09 0736 Tom Corbett #1!

More Tom Corbett- the press release!

2009-07-06T15:41:00.001-07:00

1950'S ICON, "TOM CORBETT: SPACE CADET" BLASTS OFF AGAIN IN NEW COMIC MINI-SERIES

Long before Kirk and Spock were schooled at Starfleet, Tom Corbett: Space Cadet trained at the Space Academy. Now, Washington-based publisher Bluewater Productions is set to reintroduce a new generation to the iconic 1950's space adventurer with a brand new comic mini-series.

Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, a staple in the early days of television from 1950-1955, follows the adventures of the titular hero and his friends Astro and Roger Manning as they train to become members of the elite Solar Guard.

"Although it's been many years since his last adventure, Tom and his crew are still appealing characters with strong chemistry and a dash of retro fun," said Bluewater president Darren Davis. "The series is not just for baby-boomers looking for a walk down memory lane, but promises to be a fun rollercoaster ride for any fan of space opera."

The four issue mini-series, scheduled for release this September, is penned by veteran genre writer Bill Spangler (Alien Nation and Robotech and a 1990 version of the Tom Corbett series) and features a brand new storyline. The dynamic art style by John DeCosta gives the book a fifties retro feel, but also adds a spark of modern flavor.

"I grew up in a town in Western Pennsylvania where the original Tom Corbett books by Carey Rockwell made up roughly one-half of the science fiction section of the children's' library. So I was a Tom Corbett fan long before I saw an episode of the TV show," Spangler said. "I enjoyed doing the Tom Corbett comic for Malibu Graphics, and I'm very excited about writing the characters again."

During its original run on television, TC:SC sparked a craze of novels, comic strips, comic books, lunchboxes, toys, space helmets and dozens of other merchandise. Today there are several web sites dedicated to Tom Corbett.

Tom is the charismatic leader of the team; Roger is sharp-tongued navigator and Astro controls engineering. In the inaugural issue the cadets have their first encounter with a dangerous new enemy with a surprising origin. "As roaring rockets blast off to distant planets and far flung stars, we take you to the age of the conquest of space with Tom Corbett...Space Cadet!"

To order this comic book through Diamond comics use the code: JUL090736 TOM CORBETT SPACE CADET #1

High-resolution images, preview pages, review copies and interview opportunities are available upon request.

Tom Corbett Space Cadet

2009-06-24T21:29:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks- I haven't posted these up yet, but I believe this book was just solicited in Previews, so I thought I'd put out a little preview of the 1st issue. this is Tom Corbett: Space Cadet, written by Bill Spangler, drawn by me, letters by Digital Caps (dont know his real name, oops ) and will be published by Bluewater Prod!
C&C always welcome! pre-orders definitely appreciated :)
TIKI!

2009-05-27T20:28:00.001-07:00

Fun drawing of one of my favorite movies as a kid

2009-05-19T21:51:00.000-07:00

Had a new warmup to show off- hopefully the anatomy works better in this one than the spidey piece. I tried to incorporate some of the armor from the movie, not sure it fits the style..

C&C appreciated!

SPLAT!

2009-05-12T21:58:00.001-07:00

Here's a new practice piece/warm up drawing playing with more coloring style in illustrator and experimenting with some new brushes.

C&C most appreciated!

Dragon- Savagery

2009-05-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

New post- this is the start of a new leaf- more posting
Warm up drawing from tonight- all done in Illustrator CS3

funz

2009-04-28T18:33:00.001-07:00

Just a couple quick fun pieces to show off- mostly warm up stuff in between pages

BlueWater Prod

2009-03-27T16:16:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while since posting- but I've been super busy working on a new book coming out from BlueWater Productions. It's a licensed title called Tom Corbett: Space Cadet. I just finished up the art to issue # 1 and am already working on the 2nd issue as we speak- but I wanted to share the cover to number 1! I'll post up a few preview pages when the first issue has been solicited. Thanks for checking it out

Past commissioned artwork

2009-02-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

Long time no post- but I've been busy drawing up a storm- here's a few piece I can show off now. C&C always welcome!
First up is for a card game- not really sure when these are due out

And these were some character designs for a local restaurant- note the superhero chef theme :)

and of course, no superhero chef is complete without his secret identity civies. These are actually 4 versions of the same guy.

2009-01-03T21:20:00.000-08:00

Yowzas!! Way too long since we made an update..
Well, I've been super busy working on a new comic with Blue Water Prod- more details on that later.. in the meantime, enjoy a link-
www.cafepress.com/frogeatfly

I started a new webpage here for selling my little designs on t shirts, aprons, etc. I think you'll enjoy the quality of the product, I've been a customer for years and now I'm designing them.

Whelp

2008-09-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's been way too long since I've posted anything here- my apologies- lots of whirlwinds going on, but needless to say, I'm back to drawing again.
This was done slightly more traditional- pencil drawing, but inked in Illustrator, and colored in Photoshop.

By jdacosta at 2008-09-27

Whoosh

2008-07-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

ok, so let's be honest, that last Wintergate piece just wasn't working. Hopefully the new version works better

Make with the clicky to see it larger

New works

2008-07-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Wow, so it's been a month since I last posted.. sorry about that.

Here's a couple new pieces I've worked on, a new Wintergate cover-mock and a recent commission.

new Wintergate piece

2008-06-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

So in my effort to streamline my style, push line weights and utilize shapes as color in Illustrator, I came up with this new piece of the Wintergate cast.

Wintergate Crew shot

2008-06-25T17:19:00.000-07:00

From left to right- Kintaro, Eli and Raiko. These are the 3 main characters in Wintergate, my creator owned story. I'll be updating the blog with pages from the comic soon.
This was drawn and toned in Illustrator, with a few textures from Photoshop.

WINTERGATE updates

2008-06-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

So, the Heroes Con is 2 days away, and I am so excited to meet up with all my friends at the show.
I'll just be attending as a guest this year, but I have a few samples I'll be showing around, including the cover to my next creator owned comic series- Wintergate. This was done in Illustrator (lines) and Photoshop (colors). Wintergate Logo designed by Cary Kelly.

Whose there, Pookie?

2008-06-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

This was a combination of Illustrator (lines) and Photoshop (colors)

Raiko is one of the lead characters in the Wintergate story. Expect more updates, and expect them frequently.
Wintergate and Raiko are copyright 2008 John DaCosta

Turtles Page 3

2008-06-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

This is the last page of the Turtles sequence. I think the graytones makes Splinter really pop out.

Mr Lune

2008-06-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a collaboration with Eraklis Petmezas- his lines
my colors. This is Mr Lune

Mr Lune is copyrighted by Eraklis Petmezas 2008

Turtley goodness

2008-06-03T18:02:00.001-07:00

One more page to add to the Turtle sequence. One more page to go in this set.

AVATAR

2008-05-28T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, I was inspired to draw a character from Avatar tonight, been on a nickelodeon kick lately...
Another image done in Illustrator.

SPONGE BOB!!

2008-05-27T17:13:00.000-07:00

Another fun warm up sketch.. I put a little more thought than normal into this even though it's just a warm up. Still kept it at about 30 minutes.
Hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as I did drawing it.

TMNT

2008-05-21T17:39:00.000-07:00

I used to love the cartoon as a kid and it's one of the reasons I picked up the pencil. This lil' illo was a warm up sketch tonight. Done in Illustrator CS3, my weapon of choice.

And a fun page, also done in Illustrator. Just a WIP for now. I'm working a few more of them which I'll post over the next few weeks in between other jobs.

New work

2008-05-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Hey there,
So I've had this blog a few days now, but I've yet to actually talk in any of my posts about any of the jobs I've posted up. That's all changing now.
This job is for the local AMSN chapter. The AMSN is the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses, and the local chapter is called the Metro Carolina Chapter. I was approached to fine tune the logo and came up with the below. They're going to be using it on all of their future publications and upcoming website, which I'll be heavily involved with.

Comments always welcome

Newer commissions

2008-05-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Commissions

2008-05-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Fox and the Crow Commisions

2008-05-17T19:42:00.000-07:00

Sketch cards and Commissions

2008-05-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

And an evil gingerbread man

2008-05-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

2008-05-17T19:21:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Frog eat Fly- the professional portfolio of John DaCosta