SDCC HERE WE COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello El Grande Fans,

Elio is finally back from the jungle, and he's brought with him 14 new penciled pages from Chapter One of our book. I got to salivate all over them yesterday, and I have to say, they are some of his best drawings to date. I don't know what they were feeding him in that village, but I hope he brought some home.

As you all know, next week is San Diego Comic Con, and Elio and I have decided to use these next seven days to let you all know that we will be there, and we will be showing original pages and designs at the entrance of HALL A on Friday and Saturday of the convention. We will be there from 2:00PM to 4:00PM on both days and we would be happy to talk with any of you about the project and even do a quick sketch or two of our characters for free if you'd like. We will also have some never before seen art to show, so come check us out. We'd really like to meet some of you guys and gals.

Make sure to look for our shirts with the EL GRANDE logo on the front, and the WORM in his space suit on the back; as seen above.

The image above is of our limited edition postcard that we will be passing out for free as well at the show. So you can't beat that right? Come and see us, and you get to check out some sweet art, get a free postcard, and a free sketch.

We hope to see a bunch of you there,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

Hey Everyone,
Elio is still south of the boarder for another 5-6 days, but I've got some cool stuff to you show you. This is a partial page from chapter two. I think these will be the final panels I show you from this scene before it's published. I feel like we may have shown too much as it is, but you guys have really only seen the tip of this iceberg believe me.

I get so excited when I think of all the things we've been able to keep secret so far. When you finally read the book next year, you will think we're magicians the way we've disguised so much of the plot from you.

I personally think it's a cooler experience to see the book this way first. It really lets you all use your imaginations and try to piece together what could possibly be happening. Then, when you read the book, you'll be able to way your own theories against the actual information.

Cool stuff right?:) I hope you're all doing good out there. I'm going to post a page later in the week that you haven't seen completed yet, and as an added bonus, it will feature the first word balloons to be shown on the blog.

Peace,
Joe y Elio
www.joekarg.com
www.elioguevara.com

HAPPY 4th of JULY EVERYONE!!!!

Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

CREATURES! CREATURES! CREATURES!

Hi Everyone,
Elio is still in Venezuela for another two weeks, but I'm back, and I thought now might be a good time to share some of Elio's other design work with you. Before we started working on El Grande, Elio had already done tons of design work; both for hire and for fun. It was these creature designs and concepts that first got me excited about working with him, and I have since been floored by literally everything that's followed.

Many of these designs were done as DEMOS for Elio's Art Institute students. He is notorious for using a multitude of different tools and papers when he is opening the minds of his students to ever expansive possibilities that the world of art has to offer. "MOTHER OF GOD!" and "SWEET SWEET HELL!" are only two of many exclamations frequently heard during the frenzy of these demonstrations of creativity and skill.

I truly hope you enjoy this earlier work of Elio Guevara, and take away from it the same excitement and fascination that I once did.

Peace,
Joe y Elio
www.joekarg.com
www.elioguevara.com

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY!?!

I know. I know. I couldn't believe it myself, but it's happening baby. This is just a little taste for next week. Elio and I are getting ready to take our first vacation from the blog since we started it in February. Elio will be traveling to Venezuela for three weeks and I will be in North Carolina for some time myself visiting family. Don't worry though, we are both going to be traveling with our supplies, and the production of the book shouldn't slow down at all.

This creature is a design that Elio did for much later in the story, and we will be posting a ton of creature designs, both related and unrelated to the book, next week before we leave.

Also, I don't know if you guys noticed, but we have designed a brand new banner for the blog above using our finished title for the cover and a spankin cool painting. I think it would be a great image for some promotional stickers in the future, and Elio agrees, so keep your eyes peeled gang.

Peace,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

TRIBUTE TO CHRIS BIVINS!

For all of you who don't know who Chris Bivins is, this is your opportunity to check him out. I met Chris about 4 years ago at the Art Institute of Atlanta, and it's been a pure pleasure working side by side this dude ever since. Never before have I seen someone SO infused with raw and unadulterated talent as Chris. There is absolutely no disconnect between his imagination and his hand. Watching him draw is akin to watching a master chef cook or a fly fisherman manipulate his rod and line in the air like he's conducting his own fish symphony. You all get the idea:)

Recently, Chris posted an image of one of our characters named Laura on his blog, and we promised in the past that anyone that did such a thing would receive a special treat and praise on our blog, so...roughly one week ago, Elio and I asked Chris if her would use his super graphic design skills to help us clean up our title design for El GRANDE, and he took on the challenge in stride. We couldn't be more happy than to be working with such a supreme talent as Chris, as well as present to all of you our official title design for the book accompanied by Chris' rendition of Laura.

Thanks so much Chris. You're a champion, an amazing artist, and a true friend.

Peace,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

REJECTED PAGES

Hola a todos,
Elio and I are back with some layouts for you all. These pages were part of our original opening for the book, and they have changed considerably from the time we came up with them. Things kick off with a slightly bigger punch now, but we thought you may like to see some cruder drawings from the land of wastebaskets:)

We truly hope that all of you out there are doing well in all your efforts. We know a lot of our friends are preparing for San Diego Comic Con right now, and we wish you luck in hitting your deadlines.

Sorry for not posting nearly as often as we were in the past. My hope is to catch up with a ton of stuff for you after San Diego has come and gone. Things are far too busy for two posts a week at the moment. Once a week we can handle though, so no worries. Your weekly El Grande needs will be met.

Gracias por el apoyo,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

El Nacimiento (THE BIRTH)

In all the time I've worked on El Grande, I've never felt the way I did when I layed eyes on this image. This is the heart and soul of our book. I wish I could tell you all the many splendid ideas and images we have in store for you, but at the heart of it all I can say that this is one man's journey from the ordinary into the extraordinary. From darkness to light. And most definitely and without a doubt, El Grande is a journey of rebirth. Seeing your world through new eyes.

From the very beginning of this book, Elio and I decided that it would resonate with a message of love and hope even though the world it's set in is completely dystopian and bleak. I think we all feel, at times, like our world is dark and twisted, and we just have to see things through a new lens to gain a little perspective. Some of us need a little push though, and that is the sort of thing we have occurring to THE WORM in El Grande. He's a guy that just needs a little push, and boy is he going to get it.

Thanks
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

NEW AVATAR

We updated our Avatar image to spice things up. Hope you dig it.

Peace,
Joe y Elio

"NO BREAKS!!!!"

Things are getting pretty thick over here in EL GRANDE country. Elio just took a vacation down to Savannah over the long weekend to recharge his batteries, and I got some sun and fun out by the pool.

Unfortunately, these amazing activities set us back a little bit in terms of our schedule for San Diego, so Elio and I are working overtime for the next eight weeks. No more breaks.

Sorry to only show you half of the page above, but the bottom panel reveals something a little too big to show before the release of the book. I'm sure you're more than happy with the images though. That first one has something truly special doesn't it?

Anyway, be sure to check back on FRIDAY for the coolest SPLASH PAGE YOU'VE EVER SEEN!

Peace,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

3 IN A ROW!?!

Welcome back faithful viewers. Elio and I just had an amazing meeting at a printer here in Atlanta, and it looks like the stars are lining up for EL GRANDE to hit shelves in early 2009. We are only 8 weeks away from San Diego Comic Con and we are really starting to sprout some gray hairs in preparation for this event. T-Shirts and postcards are in the works as well as an official EL GRANDE title image and brand.

For those of you who don't know, creating your own comic and self publishing it is an incredibly time consuming venture full of surprises and pitfalls. Neither Elio nor myself could have ever imagined the amount of work involved in such project, but around every turn we find two more reasons to justify it. We are learning so much about the process that gives us much more control over our final product. We couldn't imagine doing this any other way now.

The three pages above are from CHAPTER TWO: THE WORM of EL GRANDE: VOLUME 1. This is one of my favorite scenes in the whole book because it truly personifies our protagonist and pores a solid foundation for that character for the rest of his adventure.

Come back this Friday when we'll be posting another finished page. I think you're really going to flip over this one.

Ciao,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

ALL THE KINGS (WO)MEN

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

-Christopher Reeves-

What an amazing guy. This post is dedicated to Christopher Reeves, and the countless other human beings that summoned, and continue to summon, the will to make this world a better place.

The character above is the special security for the president of BRAMACAS. They are the ELITE BRAMACIAN ARM, and they are all women. Notice that their suits utilize some of the same technology that's used by the prostitutes. These bubbles behoove them with the ability to fly with the added complement of awesomeness.

Check back next Tuesday for three penciled pages. This will be the first time that we've shown any sequence of pages, so it should be a treat for those of you like storytelling as well as stuff that blows your mind.

Thanks,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

PANELS AND PENCILS

We're back! Sorry for the late post everyone. I had a gallery exhibit this last Friday, and Elio and I have been social butterflies this whole weekend; spreading the word of EL GRANDE all over Atlanta. No worries though, because we're back with a bunch of new stuff to share. Above are a handful of random panels I like as well as a finished penciled page from Chapter 2.

Thanks to all of you who continue to visit this blog, and all you newbies too. We're only nine weeks from San Diego Comic Con now, and Elio and I are really feeling the pressure to finish as much as possible before the show. We've got some T-Shirts in the works as well as 1000+ flyers, 25 more pages, word balloons, and a video interview to edit in that time. Not to mention a handful of layouts as well as a strategy for the show, so say a little prayer for us if you have the time:) JA JA JA (SPANISH LAUGHING).

Come see us this Friday to see EL PRESIDENTE'S elite guards. They're suites consist of a bizarre mix of a couple different technologies we've already shown, and I think you'll get a real kick out of them.

Ciao,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.com

LAST CALL FOR ALCOHOL.

Another Amazing page everyone. Elio is really cranking these things out at high speed now. Every day I come over to post or scan or fill some blacks, Elio's usually got about 4-5 pages at various stages of production. This one was just one the many he finished this week, and it one of my favorites as well.

This moment of the story is crucial to understanding the painful addiction THE WORM struggles with as well as his attitude towards it as well as himself.

SPECIAL NOTE: I (JOE KARG) will be participating in a super cool gallery event this FRIDAY MAY 9th in the Virginia Highlands with Inhabit Atlanta and Kool Kids Foundation. It starts at 7:30PM and runs until 1:00AM. Admission is free, but you must RSVP to get on the list. If you are interested in attending, please follow this link to RSVP. Directions are on the site.

Hope you enjoy. Please come back this Friday and check out something really special.

Ciao,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

EL PRESIDENTE

Hey Gang,
What a week it has been. First my computer completely died on me, and then I realized what an amazing amount of work goes into building your own cradled frames. All on top of school, work, errands, and EL GRANDE!

Thanks God I've got Elio here getting my back. He has been super busy too, but nothing keeps this man from his pages. Just yesterday Elio was drawing on four different pages at once. What a monster!

This character is one of our final characters that had to be fleshed out for the book, and I think he's one of the most interesting as well. EL PRESIDENTE is the ultimate authority in Bramacas and he is not to be trifled with. In the world we've created, the more ornamented and layered your appearance is, the more power you wield. It was with this in mind that Elio took "EL PRESIDENTE'S" design to the max. Be sure to keep an eye out in the "FUTURE" when Elio and I post a ton of the designs for the rich and middle class people that live in the city. You will see much many more of these design themes as well as a multitude of others.

I'd also like to take moment to send out a big congratulations to our friend Kevin Chambers for putting together his first drawing and painting gallery exhibit. Kevin is a supremely talented sculptor that studied under Elio and was a peer of mine in school, and he continues to push his art in a variety of mediums. We are so proud to call him our friend, and we greatly anticipate his next move. It will surely be something bold. Congrats Kev!

Be sure to come back next Tuesday when Elio and I will be posting another finished page.

Ciao,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

INKS and DRINKS

Welcome back everyone. This week's installment of "EL GRANDE BLOG PRESENTS" features an inked page from the second chapter of our book.

Elio is pulling out all the tricks on this newest round of pages. It seems like he is discovering something new on each one that just has to make it's way into the future images. If fact, I can't think of the last time I entered the studio without hearing, "Joe! You'll never believe what I discovered on this page. It's fu$@ing unreal!"

It's very exciting to say the least. Please check back this Friday to see a boatload of designs for a character we're calling "EL PRESIDENTE."

Ciao,
Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

EL GRANDE'S BLUE PERIOD

Surprise everyone!  Our first SPLASH page has hit the blog.  I know I said that we were only going to share a few finished panels this week, but I managed to twist Elio's arm a little bit so we could share a really dynamic image with you guys.

I don't know if you remember, but a month ago, we posted a series of pages and layouts from last year's San Diego Comic Con. This page is our redo of that splash page, so feel free to follow this link and see just how much we have changed this project in one year's time.

Those pages last year were very well painted, and looked really interesting in my opinion, but they just weren't what we were going for.  The storytelling was muddy, and the imagery was a bit over-rendered.  After we returned from the con last July, Elio and I destroyed most of our layout and retired our 8 finished pages forever.  We drank heavily for a couple days, detoxed, showered and hit our layouts again with the vigor of a thousand rabid dogs.  It was then that "EL GRANDE" grew from 150 to a whopping 450 page count.  We knew that we wanted to create something really special, and we wanted to do it right.  No matter the cost.

So here we are nearly one year later, and we're creating a book that will surely go down in history as something really bold that'll put some hair on your chest:)

Please come back next Tuesday for a look at a fully inked page just quivering to be splattered with gouache. 

Ciao,

Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com

www.joekarg.blogspot.com

A TRIBUTE TO WESLEY LOUIS

A few days ago, our good friend Wesley Louis posted an "EL GRANDE" image on his blog and encouraged all of his fans to check out the project. Elio and I were completely blown away. What an honor that was. We wanted to do something special for Wes this week on the blog, so we collaborated on an illustration of the guy.

It was a little difficult to track down some good photos of you Wes, so I hope you like the image. It was drawn by myself (JOE KARG) and then inked and painted in the style of "EL GRANDE" by Elio Guevara. We had a lot of fun doing this, and we encourage everyone to go visit Wes' blog. He is a supremely talented artist living in Scotland and working in the field of animation. Just like us, he wears many hats and always brings something interesting to the table.

Anyone else out there who wishes to shine a spotlight on "EL GRANDE" with a special post on their blog, please let us know, and we will do something special for you as well.

Please come back on Friday and see a bunch of painted panels from "EL GRANDE."

Thanks a million Wes,

Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com

www.joekarg.blogspot.com

THE STACK COMPLETE

I'm sure you all remember seeing this image right?  Well here is is with all the panels.  This is the moment that we send the Worm out into the world for the first time.  It's sunrise in the city of Bramacas and all is not right in this dystopian society.

Thanks for visiting everyone.  Come back next Tuesday when we'll be showing you guys a brand new character.

Ciao,

Joe Y Elio

www.elioguevara.com

www.joekarg.blogspot.com

MY LIQUOR!

Take a good look at the page everyone, because once Elio unloads his ink and paint on this baby, it’ll never be the same again.  We will be showing a lot more work from the pages now that we are in full swing on the book.  So expect plenty of pencils, inks, paints, panels, people, and sweet sweet SCI-FI goodness.

It’s been a really wild week, I have to tell you.  They say we humans are 75% water.  Well call a scientist, because I have undeniable proof that Elio and I are officially 99% pollen and still 1% Awesome:)  As environmentalists, we love the trees and flowers, but as miserable human beings, they can go to hell HA HA HA.

Please come back on Friday when Elio and I will be posting another finished page.  You won’t want to miss it.

Ciao,

Joe y Elio

Tome una buena mirada a la página.. todos!!, porque una vez que Elio descargue  tinta y  pintura en este bebé, nunca volverá a hacer la mima. Estaremos mostrando mucho más trabajo de las páginas ahora, ya que el libro  esta mas avanzado. Así que esperen muchas mas paginas en lápiz, tintas, pinturas, mas paneles, mas caracteres, y mucha mas dulces creaciones de CIENCIA FICCION.

Les cuento, Ha sido una semana realmente salvaje. Muchos dicen que los humanos somos 75% de agua. Pues llamen a un científico, porque tengo la prueba innegable de que Elio y yo somos oficialmente 99% de polen y un 1% de increible:) Como ecologistas, nosotros adoramos los árboles y las flores, pero como miserables seres humanos que somos, queremos que estos nos dejen respirar y se vayan al infierno JA,JA,JA

Regresen por favor el viernes cuando Elio y yo enseñaremos otra página terminada. Créanme  ustedes no se lo quieren perder!!.

Eva esto es especial para ti!!!!!!

Chao, Joe Y Elio

www.elioguevara.com

www.joekarg.blogspot.com

LA CIUDAD

Thanks for coming back to see the rest of Bramacas everyone. Elio and I are officially fighting tooth and nail through allergy season to bring you these images, so we hope you like them:)

You might recognize the top image as our very first post on this blog. Elio revisited it with a fist full of color pencils and delivered one hell of a KA-POW of color. The boards that follow are all directly pulled out of our layouts, so expect to see them all again in the future. At the very bottom are designs of how the city will transition as you move from lower altitudes up into the higher and more destitute areas of the city.

BRAMACAS has a flipped social structure from what most of you are used to. Instead of the wealthier population living higher, and wretches below them, it's the opposite. All the cleanest air can be found closer to the floor, so the rich people inhabit any building south of 6,000 meters above sea level. Everything above that mark becomes more lethal and therefore requires more special breathing apparatuses.

Please come back next Tuesday when we'll be posting a fully penciled page from the first chapter.

Peace,
Joe y Elio

http://www.elioguevara.com/

http://www.joekarg.blogspot.com/

BRAMACAS

Lat week Elio and I posted our first finished page, and we received a huge amount of feedback from a lot of you here on the blog, and also through our FACEBOOK community. Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

We know that you all want to see more pages, but you're going to have to be patient. EL GRANDE isn't getting published until the beginning of next year, so we can't reveal new pages every week, or the book will be a web comic instead of a printed one:)

This week, the blog will focus on our beautifully filthy and polluted city of BRAMACAS. It is the final vestige for human life on this planet, and Elio and I have done an amazing job of filling every nook and cranny of this place with bizarre people and unique structures.

Come back on Friday for all of our developmental images of the city.

Peace,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

THE FIRST PAGE!

You've all waited so long and now it's finally here. A PAGE! This is what our comic book looks like everyone. EL GRANDE.

'Nuff Said,

Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com

www.joekarg.blogspot.com

THE STACK

LOCATION! LOCATION! LOCATION!
Here we go EL GRANDE fans. Finally a little atmosphere. The only location we have revealed up until now has been "THE ROACH" (The headquarters of the Worm and his team), so Elio and I decided it was time to reveal a couple more BRAMACAN locals for you guys.

The first series of images are Elio's visualization for THE STACK. Nearly every single building in Bramacas is equipped with one of these Stacks. Using a complicated system of filters, these giant machines clean the heavily polluted air out of the city and spit it into the mesosphere. This is why you see so much heavy smoke pluming out of them.

As you can all imagine, this is a far from effective method of pollution control, and these stacks are constantly malfunctioning. So it is the job of the Worm and his team to travel from stack to stack, making repairs and upgrading machinery.

The second environment below is THE WORM'S apartment. Since Worm lives in one of the poorest areas of the city, his living space is tiny. All he has is a living room/bedroom and a bathroom. Both are, of course, scattered with empty bottles and garbage. Hopefully this will start to give you more a three dimensional idea of who this character is, and why he's such a grouch.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!!! This FRIDAY, ELIO and I will be presenting our first fully finished page on the blog. We have completed nearly 25 pages at this point, but we wanted to wait until we gave everyone a really good sensation of the characters and the world before we sucked you into the story. Don't miss it! We hope to blow some minds:)

Ciao,
Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

TRAGES ESPACIALES

Benjamin Franklin once said, “At twenty years of age the will reigns, at thirty the wit, and at forty the judgment.”

It has been an incredible journey working on “EL GRANDE” for the last year and a half for exactly this reason. My indomitable will and Elio’s informed judgment battle it out in every panel of this book (Special Note: Elio is not yet 40, but he almost is, so it still counts:) HA HA HA.)

It became crystal clear to me as I was scanning these space suit designs just how much we consult one another at every stage of this project. Every design, layout, penciled panel, line of dialogue, and color pallet is brought before the council of Joe and Elio to be judged. I can’t even imagine how spoiled I’m getting from this partnership. I only hope that just one more project in my career goes this well.

Most of these designs did not make the cut, but that’s just part of the process. Lots of images have to hit the cutting room floor before the right ones are chosen. I love how weird and alien the original Toto design was (the orange guy in the second to last image.) I think I’m going to ask Elio to use that for one of the people on the streets of Bramacas, or maybe someone in the bar scene. It’s just too cool.

OK everyone, that’s it for the Friday post, but be sure to come back Tuesday when we’ll be unveiling some more BRAMACAN environments.

Peace,

Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

ARTE Y PICO

Our good friend Eva Barranco informed us some time last week that she placed us on her top 5 blogs for the “Arte Y Pico” promotion. Gracias Eva y muchos besitos! My understanding is that these people are trying to promote new and interesting blogs on the internet by having us bloggers post our current favorite 5 blogs. So without further delay, here are the current favorite blogs of EL GRANDE.

Gipi

Eva Barranco

Jorge Gonzalez

Sylain Marc

Claudio Acciari

Each of these artists brings something really fresh to the field of art in our opinion, and we really enjoy the images they have been sharing. Elio and I only wish that this was a top 100 list of artists so we could add everyone else that we enjoy.

Ciao,

Joe y Elio

www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

BATULIO

This busted up native is named Batulio. He comes from a borough of Bramacas called "THE PIPES," and I won't get into the nasty details of that place, but I promise it's nowhere you'd ever want to visit.

He is the fifth and final member of the Worm's team, and he's also the youngest. Batulio is also the only member of the unit without a specialty; rookie.

Something that was really important to us when designing this guy was that we wanted him to look like he had a native ethnic background. I haven’t gone into much detail about the location of Bramacas in the past, but it was built on top of the Amazon Rain forest, so it is for this reason that we wanted a good representation of South American and native indian looking people in the book.

Also, El GRANDE will have a strong SPANGLISH representation in it’s dialogue, and Batulio is one of our chief spanglish speakers.

Be sure to come back this Friday when we will be posting all of our space suit designs for our main character “THE WORM.” Elio painted a ton of these things, and I don’t even know how we landed on using just one. They are all so damn cool.

Ciao,

Joe y Elio
www.elioguevara.com
www.joekarg.blogspot.com

THE PROSTITUTE