“X-Men 49” (2020) | Brian P Coppola

“X-Men 49” (2020)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- )
7 x 10 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

You Don’t Know Jack: Two-Fisted Comic-Store Manager is a 48-page comic-book collaboration between legendary Cerebus creator Dave Sim, real-life (now, former) comic-store manager Jack VanDyke, and artist Carson Grubaugh.

During the kickstarter for “You Don’t Know… Jack” (July-August, 2020), Carson, a terrific master of brushwork, offered original 7 x 10 inch straight-to-ink Google-Image Grab-Bag sketches. Here is how that works. You are asked to provide a word or phrase (and obviously you can game this a bit). Carson then searches this word or phrase using Google Images. The first photographic image listed by Google Images will be the source material for the straight-to-ink sketch.

Carson has got a great eye. In fact, it freaks me out. He can use a brush (or pen) on paper with NO underlying outline, lay down lines or brushstrokes all over the page, and in about 20-30 minutes he produces a sketch. And all without the training wheels! He records it live. There are videos at his Instagram site and at the original kickstarter site.