New Program for Kids

It seems working full time, raising three kids, moving, and trying to finish my book just isn't enough stuff to pile on the mountain that is my "to do list".  So I decided to start a kids art program. I have been working in Oncology for awhile. I have limited contact with patients, but every day I am inspired by their strength, and spirit. I feel very fortunate in my life. God has blessed me with three healthy kids and an incredible wife, so figured it was time to give back a little.
I wanted to do something for the cancer patients I see everyday. I feel so helpless sometimes watching them fight this disease. So, I developed an art program working with kids who's parents have cancer. The program is still in development. I ran my first "pilot' a few weeks ago and now I am working out the kinks. I developed a character just for this program. His name is Blue, and hopefully I will be able to tell you more about him soon. For now, here is my first full color image of my buddy Blue. Hope you like it.

Joe

Rocket Raccoon

I just finished reading the new Guardians of the Galaxy and loved it. Here is quick sketch of Rocket Raccoon. Love drawing this little guy.

Character Concept

Here is another character concept I am working on for my book. I love creating these characters and telling their story,  but sometime I struggle to get the right colors. So I have officially turned this little guy over to the very talented Jeff Balke to work his magic. I can't wait to see what he comes up with. I figured I would post this to give a little glimpse on where this guys starts off and what he will end up looking like down the road.
So here is a sneak peek at a quick color sample I did on him. He still needs some development, but he is getting there.

Later,

Joe

Crazy Busy

Alright, I haven't posted in awhile. Been really busy with work and fam stuff. I am knee deep in the story have been working on over the last few months. Trying to get back into a groove. Here is one of the characters that will be in the story. Originally I had a slated for a different series, but I fell in love with the big guy and decided to debut him in my first book.
He is my own take on a Unicorn. Hope you like him.

Joe

Hannah has made it to Print!!!

Healthy Hannah's Fitness Fables has finally gone to print! Jay, Hannah and myself couldn't be happier! This was a major learning process for all of us considering it was our first time putting a book together from scratch. This is a Health and Fitness book geared towards kids. We are trying to promote an active and positive introduction into a healthy life style for kids! As a former Sports Med grad and personal trainer I am really proud of what we are trying to do!!
Soooo, now you can check it out at www.Healthy-Hannah.org and get your kids up and moving!

Let us know what you think!!!

Where has all the sleep gone?

I have some really cool things going on right now. I had an awesome opportunity to talk to Paul Jenkins and have him review some of my work. What an incredible guy. Can't thank him enough for all the feedback and getting me moving in the right direction.

I've basically shelved all of my projects except one. It's a story I've wanted to do for about six years. Thumbnails are done, the 500th draft of the script is done. I'm sure a couple hundred revisions are still looming in my future. I start the penciling tomorrow and can't wait to get it rolling.

In the mean time. Here is a Black Adam pic I penciled and inked and my buddy Jeff Balke colored for me. Jeff agreed to do the coloring for my book and I am pumped to have him on board. Keep you posted.

Later,

Joe

SHAZAM!!!

Here is a Captain Marvel pic I did with Jeff Balke. I did the pencils and inks and Jeff worked his magic on the color.
I have always loved Captain Marvel! Come on, be honest..... how cool would it have been as a kid to be able to turn into one of the most powerful superheroes in the world? SHAZAM!!!!
Hope you like it.

Later,

Joe

Super Heroes with Jeff Balke

Here is a fun little print I did with the very talented Jeff Balke. I did the pencils and Inks and Jeff worked his mad coloring skills. Hope you like it!!
Later,

Joe

The Incredible Makeover

Alright, if you are not doing anything and really want to help a couple guys out, feel free to mossy on over to The Incredible Makeover contest and vote for me and Rob Gervais. We submitted one of the pages from our Seeds of Change project for a before and after contest hosted by Photoshop and Wacom. Rob wrote the story and I did all of the art work. Even if we don't win we are hoping people will get a chance to check out some of the art work for our project.
It will give you a little peek into how I start with simple inks  and then digitally color it in photoshop.

So take a look and give us a vote. The name of our submission is "Seeds of Change" by Joe Romano II. Thanks everybody! You ROCK!!

http://www.photoshopuser.com/makeovervoting

Oh, and feel free to give it 5 stars if you like!! Just a humble suggestion.

Healthy Hannah's Fitness Fables

We are off to the printers! I just sent in the final illustrations for "Healthy Hannah's Fitness Fables" a children's book I worked on with my buddies Jay and Hannah England! Jay and Hannah have created a really fun, health and wellness book for kids and I had the honor of bringing their characters to life. We have been working our butts off for quite awhile and are really pumped to finally send this out to the printers today. We should have a sample copy in two weeks. Hopefully everything looks good and we can start getting this book out and helping kids live a healthy life style. Super pumped. Here is a sneak peek at the cover and back wrap around!!!

Balkenator Promo

Here is a little sample of a project I am working on with my buddy the very talented Jeff Balke. I did the pencils and inks and Jeff did all of the color work. It's really cool working with someone and seeing how they color your images. Jeff is amazing at what he does. I'll post some more on our project soon.

Later,

Joe

Seeds of Change Cover

Well, I just finished the cover for Seeds of Change. Rob Gervais has written a really cool story that I am having so much fun working on. We have officially submitted to two publishers and have our fingers crossed. Here is a mock up of the cover we sent to Image. We have not been picked up yet, but hope to hear some good news soon!!! Hope you like it.

Later,
Joe

First Submission for Seeds of Change

Rob Gervais and I have finally sent in our first submission for "Seeds of Change". We sent in an 8 page submission that we are really excited about. Now the hard part.....waiting.

Here is a little clip from one of the pages we submitted.

Been Awhile!!!

I've been crazy busy the last few months. Having three kids will do that to ya! Quick update. The Children's book I've been working on should go to print some time in March!!! I'm really pumped. Can't wait to Share a little more soon.

Rob and I are almost done with our graphic novel submission for "Seeds". I'll post some pics and the full name soon as well.

I'm also really excited to announce I'll be working with the very talented Jeff Balke on an Ashcan that we are putting together. I'll be doing all the pencil and inks and Jeff his going to throw down some awesome color. Can't wait! So many cool things going on right now. Here are a couple of sketches that I threw together for our character concepts. The project is call "Balkenator" Should be a light hearted fun story for all ages. Hope ya like it.

Later,

Joe

Work Assignment.

Been crazy busy. Started and new job back in Oncology. Very happy to be back and love the new company. We have a meeting coming up soon and I was asked to design a BBQ sauce label for our team as well as a shirt. I love doing this stuff. Here is what I came up with, let me know what you think. Go Buckeyes!!!!!

Later,

Joe

Children's Book Update

Well I finally finished the illustrations for the Children's Book I am working on with writer Jay England. I have a few things to tweak and touch up, but everything has been submitted to an editor. Jay is going to self publish and is working his tail off to get this thing to print. In the mean time I attached two sneak peeks.

I'm back to working on "Seeds" and a few other little things. My progress has been a little slow since my wife and I welcomed the third member to our crew on Feb 23rd. Little Sean Patrick is doing great and is a perfect fit in our little family.

Hope you like the pics.

Later,

Joe

Sketch Dump

Haven't posted in awhile. Just finished up illustrating a children's book for Jay England. I'll be posting some of those later in the week. The new banner is one of the two page spreads from the book.

In the mean time, I've been doing some sketching when ever I get a few minutes. These are all rough sketches, some are for my kids, some are characters I plan on using somewhere down the road. Either way, I thought they where fun and I love doing just simple, mindless sketches. Nice way to decompress after a long day. Hope you like them. I'll post some more later in the week too.

Later,

Joe

2011 Logo

My Regional Director at work asked if I would do a logo for our region again this year, well.....you can't tell the big man no. Right? Just kidding. I love this kind of stuff. Our "Mascot" is a White Tiger, and I did a realistic version of it last year. This year I figured I'd do my own version and add a little bit of my own flare (without crossing the corporate line, don't want to ruffle any feathers) So here is my slightly edgier version for 2011.

Let me know what you think.

Later,

Joe

Lil Uni Dragon

Been awhile since I posted anything. I've been buried behind my sketch table trying to get my first book done that I am working on with Jay England. Dead line is January, and we plan on going to print in Feb. Keep you posted.

In the mean time here is a quick sketch I did while hanging out with my kiddos. Simple ball point pen. I've been doing these quick 10-15 minute sketches and then making copies of them so my kids can color them. They love it....so do I. I'll try and post some more next week. I'm putting a bunch of them together as a coloring book for my kids and nephew's and nieces for Christmas this year, something simple and fun.

Hope you like it.

Later,

Joe

Up Coming Project with Rob Gervais

Been awhile since I had a post. I've been buried in the basement at night trying to finish the Children's book I'm working on with Jay England. I should have everything done by the end of October and we hope to have it to print by Dec.

In the mean time, I needed a night off the shut my brain down and just mess around. I've been working on character development for a graphic novel I am working on with Rob Gervais. For right now I refer to it as "Seeds". I wanted to just do a full digitally colored image with this style of art for a long time. Here is my first crack at it. Let me know what you think. Starting to get more comfortable with the digital stuff. I changed up my inking style and tools a bit for this project. I'll be diving in full go to "Seeds" in No

vember so Rob and I can get this thing going. He wrote an amazing story and I can't wait to visually put it to print. Hope you like it. The original inked sketch is below.

Later,

Joe

Hanging with the Captain

Here is quick sketch I did of Captain America. I did the original sketch with pen and white colored pencil on the back of a note pad. Liked the way it looked so I did a quick color with some Prisma Color pens while I was doodling with my kids.I messed around with the background digitally just for some practice.

Thing

My buddy Jay got me some cool new colored pencils. Figured I'd test them out. I did a quick sketch of Thing while my kiddos where sitting on my lap doodling with me. Doesn't get any better then that.

They both love to draw, so I'm loving it.

Later,

Joe

Bring on the Bad Guys....and Girl!

Here are some character concepts for another project. Just got the green light to post some of the images. These are for a book and possible movie treatment. Really excited about this one. There is something fun about drawing the bad guys. I love the challenge to make them evil....yet...somewhat cuddly.....sort of. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Later,

Joe

Seeds Sample

Here is glimpse of Page two Panel for Seeds of Change. I have been slammed at work and trying to juggle about 5 art projects at once. So, it is as crazy as usual, but I love it. Here's a little peek of Randy looking out his office window. This is just a small glimpse at Page two.

I've been trying to pick up the pace lately, but unfortunately I need to sleep. Hope you like it.

Later,

Joe

Photography Contest

My wife is an amazing photographer, (and I'm not just saying that because she's my wife and I'm afraid she'll make me sleep on the coach if I don't) I'm really blown away by what she can do. It's been a blast to watch her grow in her craft and see where she started to where she is now.

She just entered a photography contest for a magazine. Please log in and vote for her, you can win a camera to boot! Her name is Bonnie Romano with Design 489 photography. She submitted a pic of a newborn laying on an American flag, next to her dad's Fireman's helmet. (come on, tell me that doesn't pull on the heart strings) The link is listed below. Check it out.

http://www.ppmag.com/cover-contest-2010/vote/37455/

If you want to see more of her work check out her site at

www.design489.com

Thanks for the support.

Later,

Joe

rough sketches

Here are some random rough sketches. I do these for my kids and hang them on their door in the morning before I go to work. I've been posting them on facebook, figured I'd throw a few up here.

These are just some quickies I did with a ball point pen.

Later,

Joe

My Logo

I've been messing around with the idea of a logo for my artwork. I love tattoos and symbols and that kind of stuff, so I wanted to come up with something simple that had a personal meaning to me.

This is the image I came up with a few months ago and I have been sitting on it for awhile and thinking about it. It's simple (kind of like me I guess), but has some meaning behind it.

I combined a few basic elements. The universal symbol for courage is a circle, with an arrow pointing up inside of it. (you will see this show up in some of my artwork down the road) I didn't connect the circle, but added an arrow to show a continuous circle to represent constant motion in one direction. Lastly I added the number 4.

OK, what the hell does all this mean. Well the symbol for courage is important to me because I want to teach my kids not to be afraid to live life and stand up for what they believe in. Believe it or not I was a shy kid and had a hard time forcing myself outside of my comfort zone.

The outer circle is the fact that I want to teach them to never give up. To keep on moving and keep on chasing their dreams. That is why it is continuous and just keeps going. The number 4 has a few personal meanings too me (some things I have to keep to myself), for now I'll just say that I like the number 4.

Put it all together and it kind of sums up what I believe in. Never give up, have the courage to chase your dreams and live life to the fullest. Always look up, and focus on the positive things. It's the simple little things in life that are really important and keep you moving no matter what life throws at you. I hope I can pass that on to my kids. This logo kind of pulls that all together for me in one simple little image. Let me know what you think.

Later,

Joe

Unanswered Dreams of a Dead Man Final Cover Preview

Here is the final cover Preview for Unanswered Dreams of a Dead Man. Ted and Kenyon made some suggestions that I am really happy I listened too. Some subtle changes, but I think it works.

Ted and Kenyon's book should be available soon. I"ll keep you posted. Good luck fellas, and thanks again for giving me the opportunity.

Later,

Joe

Concept Art

Here is some character concepts and page layouts I did a few months back for a potential project. Just got word today that this one probably isn't going to happen so I figured I might as well post some of the work I did.

Bummer, when these things don't take off. But the good thing is I sti

ll have a lot of irons in the fire. Plugging away on my first children's book with writer Jay Saiz and the Seeds of Change Project with writer Robert Gervais. I should have both of those completed this summer. Keep you posted. In the mean time, hope you like these pages. Let me know what you think.

later,

Joe