Jeff Stokely

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I‘ve been on a healthy break from social media lately but felt like sharing this short comic I did back in 2019.

It won the Original Work selection of the Kodansha Sirius & Light Novel Editorial Dept Manga Award, and I’m very proud of it. You can read it and find my work compiled in a better portfolio here: http://artstation.com/Jeff Stokely

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Terminator: Sector War (2018) #4 art by Jeff Stokely

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A quick and dirty Eileen the Crow for #Inktober day 4!

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I forgot to post these here yesterday. Some Eileen the Crow Inktober sketches. More to come!

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Mindless.

Did some experimenting with grey ink here, though it’s probably hard to see. I think I’ll be back to hatching tomorrow.

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Ring.

I’ll likely only do a handful of #inktober pieces this year, but I’m looking forward to them!

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It’s been awhile Tumblr!

Here’s my variant cover for Bloodborne issue #9 “A Song of Crows” marking the start of a new chapter in the comic series staring my favorite character of the whole franchise, Eileen the Crow.

The book is written by Ales Kot and drawn by Piotr Kowalski and published by Titan Comics. Get your hands on it for some amazing work by all parties involved.

A true love letter to the Bloodborne world and lore.

[jeffstokely]

Dark Crystal Tribute

Here’s my piece for the DARK CRYSTAL TRIBUTE book, in stores now from @archaiaentertainment-blog!

I’m very fortunate they invited me to contribute and be side by side with such incredibly talented folks.

Sold wherever books are sold I think!

[jeffstokely]

Just announced today so I get to share it! Here is my variant cover for CODA a new series from my good friend Simon Spurrier and @matiasberg coming out this MAY from @boomstudios. Be sure to pick this up because it looks like some insane dystopian fantasy fun! I’ve been in quite a funk lately, dealing with some personal issues and realizing that I’ve been struggling with a serious case of burn-out, so art has not been the most enjoyable thing... But this piece really was a blast, I normally like to take my time with covers but I pencilled and inked this in a day because I was so amped up on it. The whole time I imagined @morenodinisio coloring it and I was lucky enough to work with him once again. Just look at those gorgeous colors! I hope you all pick up a copy of this book, it’s going to be a stunner!

[jeffstokely]

Hello! I am an illustrator and I've been offered to illustrate a graphic novel. The people who will be hiring me wants to know if that's something I can do alone. I don't know much about how to illustrate a graphic novel, and they don't either. Is this feasible? I'd like to learn more about the process before agreeing or disagreeing to work on the project. If you've got any advice, I would appreciate it so much! Sincerely, Maggie J.

Hey Maggie,First off congratulations on the gig! We might as well dive right in... I’m not sure if I can tell you whether or not you can do it, only you can figure that out. However, I can give you some general hints and tips to help see how much work you have ahead of you. I’m going to get payment out of the way and assume it’s a paying gig, if it’s not a paying gig and they’re only promising exposure: Don’t do it. There’s nothing wrong with working for free, but a graphic novel is likely going to take 6 months to a year out of your life, chances are you don’t want to put that much work into something for free unless you yourself are the Writer/Creator/Artist. And no publisher or writer worth their salt is going to ask you to do a book for free, for exposure, or solely for a percentage on the backend.More to the point: A publisher only promising exposure = a publisher without money to pay you which = a publisher who won’t actually expose your work because they don’t have the overhead to properly market a book. Save yourself time and stress and avoid this. It’s easy enough to say “Yes, I can do it, for X amount per page :)”Time tables. First off, you need to know how long the book is. Most OGN’s are anywhere from 90-120 pages. In standard comics that’s 4-6 issues (or 20 page chapters) in length. Speaking of chapters, you might want to divide it into chunks like that if it’s not already split up that way. This will help you keep track of your work flow.Hire help. Most people can’t do a full graphic novel by themselves, some can, but most can’t. This is completely normal so don’t beat yourself up if you can’t. If you need to, hire or tell the publisher to hire a Colorist and Letterer. Taking on those two responsibilities on top of having never drawn a graphic novel is likely too much work for your first time. It’s almost too much for me! Plus there are really talented professional letterers and colorists who are far more adept at that kind of work than I am. Think about it this way too: The better your team, the better you look in the end. It’s a weird but wonderful truth in comics.Communicate honestly. Part of this goes back to time tables. Figure out how many pages you can finish a day, a week, a month, and be honest about that with your writer and editor. One of the most important parts of this job is communicating with your editor and being honest. If you can’t finish X amount of pages by Friday, let them know so they can plan accordingly. Don’t feel too bad, you’re only human and it doesn’t impress anyone or help you at all to kill yourself pulling all-nighters to get the book done.If you want tips on art and that sort of thing, I highly highly highly recommend the books: Framed Ink, Framed Perspective Vol. 1&2 by Marcos Mateu-Mestre, all of which are available on Amazon and are some of the most helpful books I’ve ever purchased.I hope that helps!

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Can’t post anything new right now so I’m digging through some older work. I’m not sure if I ever posted the full cover set for The Spire. Well here they are, all eight covers! #1-4 by me, #5-8 by me with colors by the awesome Tamra Bonvillain. In case you never got your hands on it, it was created Simon Spurrier & myself, written by Simon, art by me with colors by Andre May, letters by Steve Wand, published by Boom Studios.

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Here are some designs I needed to get out of my system. Vin and Kelsier from Mistborn. I was going for an animated vibe with this by way of Miyazaki via the mistcloaks and simplicity, but I also wanted to tell a story through simple means utilizing posture and color.

Vin’s colors align more with her introvert and guarded nature, they’re darker or dirtied, leaning closer to blue and black on the spectrum. Her posture/build hopefully show her potential as a strong and driven individual while her hair and clothing should let make her able to pass as a boy at a glance.

Kelsier’s extroverted nature should be apparent through his colors and stance, red feels more alive to me, more vibrant even if it is desaturated. Plus he loves to flaunt those scars.

Traditional sketch, then inked and colored in @procreate on iPad Pro.

I’m really pleased with how this turned out and will post more of the full team!

[jeffstokely]

Found some really fun older character designs on my computer. Did these for Mattel a few years ago. The top two are obviously some He-Man & Skeletor redesigns, the bottom we’re Elementor designs for the Max Steel show. I really love doing stuff more cartoony and flexing my style muscles a bit sometimes. Hope I can do more soon!

[jeffstokely]

Here’s the full Mr. Freeze commission. I really like how this one turned out!

[jeffstokely]

Detail on a #MrFreeze commission I finished last night... — #batman #dc #dccomics #chillout #takeachillpill #thedarkknight #illustration #comics #artist #artistsoninstagram

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Jim Henson’s Labyrinth 2017 Special #1

Publisher: Archaia, an imprint of BOOM! Studios Writers: Adam Smith, Katie Cook, Alessandro Q. Ferrari, Jeff Stokely, Curry Ross, Delilah S. Dawson, Roger Langridge Artists: Jared Cullum, Pius Bak, Sas Milledge, Katie Cook, Jeff Stokely, and Roger Langridge Colorist: Dan Jackson, Heather Breckel Letterer: Jim Campbell, Nathan Pride Cover Artists: Main Cover: Derek Kirk Kim Subscription Cover: Jeff Stokely Variant Cover: Ryan Sook Price: $7.99

Celebrate Jim Henson’s Labyrinth with an all-new collection of short stories celebrating the various characters and creatures from the world of Labyrinth.

Includes the never-before-told story of how Sir Didymus met his trusted steed Ambrosius. Also includes the story of a goblin running late to the famous “Dance Magic Dance” sequence from the film.

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth 2017 Special #1 preview. Short stories from the world of Labyrinth #comics Jim Henson’s Labyrinth 2017 Special #1 Publisher: Archaia, an imprint of BOOM! Studios Writers: Adam Smith, Katie Cook, Alessandro Q.

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IN STORES NOW! :)

[jeffstokely]

OUT TODAY! The LABYRINTH 2017 special!! This is my first official writing & drawing credit so it’s a very exciting day for me. The story I co-wrote with my long time pal Curry Ross is called “Run, Goblin Run” and it’s about a goblin running late for the famous “Dance, Magic, Dance” sequence from the film. You can see a page from it here! With colors by the awesome Dan Jackson and letters by the incredible Jim Campbell. I also did a Variant subscription cover! The main cover is by Derek Kirk Kim and there’s another awesome variant by Ryan Sook. You can see all 3 covers on the final image. If you get a chance pick it up and let me know what you think!