Pirates and Productivity

I'm very excited to announce that Pirates of Padre Tiempo now has it's own site (and blog):

www.piratesofpadretiempo.com

As such, expect to see less PoPT on this blog and more artistic process. This blog will be returning to its original function: an online portfolio of my artwork. Sure, there my be some pirates occasionally-- but if you're looking for updates on Pirates of Padre Tiempo-- those can be found at the new site & blog. OR you can check out www.facebook.com/piratesofpadretiempo

Keep your pencils sharp!


...no? Sorry. I need some kind of sign-off for this thing.


Uh... bye? Yeah okay lets go with that.

A Pirate By Any Other Name...

"Oxen and wain-ropes would not bring me back again to that accursed island; and the worst dreams that ever I have are when I hear the surf booming about its coasts or start upright in bed with the sharp voice of Captain Flint still ringing in my ears: 'Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!'"

-Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

These final words from Treasure Island inspired the title of the comic book I dreamed up over six years ago.  The name seemed perfect: it had a connection to pirate lore and it was relevant to the story which centered around a magic time-traveling coin.

Now, after consulting a number of people-- I think it's in the best interest of the book to have a name that's a little more distinct, a little more unique, in short-- something a little more original.

Effective immediately, Pieces of Eight will now be known as Pirates of Padre Tiempo. It was a difficult decision to make, but ultimately, I think it's the right call.

What does this mean for people who bought issue #1? NOTHING! I'm still working on the same story with the same characters and I can't wait to continue the adventures of Blackjack and Flynn! The only difference is the title!

So what's coming next? I'm working to release issue #1 digitally, there'll be a Pirates of Padre Tiempo website soon, and then this summer I'll be working hard on issue #2 trying to get it out ASAP! 

For now, keep an eye on the Facebook page HERE!

Change is good. 

FCBD 2016! Thank you!

©2016 Tim Murphy

Free Comic Book Day 2016 was awesome!

Thank you to everyone who came out to see me today! It's so awesome to be so supported. Thank you to everyone who bought a copy of Pieces of Eight #1! Your patronage keeps me going! And as it says on the last page of issue #1-- We're just getting started! Thank you to Cosmic Comix & Toys! I look forward to FCBD every year!

I drew so many sketches I lost count! What a great day!

If you didn't get a chance to pick up Pieces of Eight #1 today-- don't fret! Keep an eye on this blog for forthcoming updates on how to purchase it!

For now-- THANK YOU!

FCBD Countdown: 1 Day!

©2016 Tim Murphy

My pencils are sharpened and I'm ready to go! 

Come see me at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville for Free Comic Book Day TOMORROW, May 7! I'll be there doing FREE sketches and selling the first issue of my pirate adventure comic, Pieces of Eight! 

Cosmic Comix will have all sorts of fun and awesome stuff going on too! CHECK OUT THE DETAILS HERE! It's always a fun event and as always, I'm happy to be a part of it! 

It's going to be a blast, so I hope you'll come out and join the fun! SEE YOU TOMORROW!

FCBD Countdown: 2 Days! Sketchity Sketch Sketch.

Only two more days until Free Comic Book Day 2016!

I'll be sketching for FREE on Saturday at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD! Come say hi and let me draw something for you!

More updates coming, but for now-- I'm heading out to see Captain America: Civil War!

FCBD Countdown: 3 Days! Special Delivery!

©2016 Tim Murphy

Today I took delivery of the first printing of Pieces of Eight #1! I spent the evening bagging and boarding!

I'm psyched to have it available this Saturday at Free Comic Book Day at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD. I'll be there doing free sketches and selling stuff! Come on by!

Oh-- and May the Fourth be with you!

FCBD Countdown: 4 Days! ENTER: THE ART-MAN!

©2016 Tim Murphy

Free Comic Book Day is only 4 days away!

When you come get a free sketch from me at Cosmic Comix in Catonsville, MD on Saturday, you can pick up a copy of my self-published pirate adventure comic, Pieces of Eight, for $5! When you buy Pieces of Eight, you can pick up one of my previous prints OR a copy of my superhero parody, "ART-MAN" absolutely FREE!

Art-Man was invented when I was an art teacher. I would use comic books in my instruction wherever possible. When I was asked to appear on the morning announcements as a superhero, I grabbed my Superman costume (from Halloween 2009), put on my Captain America gloves (from Halloween 2012), and threw on a Ninja Turtle mask (from... okay there's no way around it. I just... happened to have a Ninja Turtle mask.) And so was born... ART-MAN: A two-dimensional "you'll-never-get-away-with-this" parody of all the familiar superhero tropes through the eyes of an Art teacher. (One of Art-Man's villains is Rip Crumpler, who wants to destroy everything and start over--a perfectionist-type habit of many students!)

The comics are short, simple, and hopefully as fun to read as they were to draw-- and you can get one FREE with your purchase of Pieces of Eight #1!

Free Comic Book Day Countdown: 5 Days!

©2016 Tim Murphy

5 more days until Free Comic Book Day 2016!

I'm so excited! Pieces of Eight #1 is being printed right now and I should have the finished issues in my possession in the next few days!

Pieces of Eight now has its own Facebook page! If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check it out and give it a "like!" You can find it here!

As I mentioned yesterday, when you buy Pieces of Eight #1 for $5, you can pick up one of my previous Cosmic Comix prints for free-- OR-- you can pick up a copy of my goofy superhero parody, "ART-MAN" for free!

What is Art-Man!? THAT will be its own post-- tomorrow!

FCBD Countdown: 6 Days!

©2016 Tim Murphy

We are six days out from Free Comic Book Day 2016!

Come see me at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD next Saturday, May 7 for a FREE Sketch! I will draw any character you want! Superman! Spider-Man! Captain America! Your Grandma! YES, even your grandma.

As you're probably aware, I'll also be selling the first issue of my self-published pirate adventure, "PIECES of EIGHT"

But wait-- there's more!

When you buy Pieces of Eight #1 for $5, you'll also be able to pick up one of last year's Cosmic Comix prints absolutely FREE! Quantities are limited!

Hope your week is off to a great start!

The proof is in... my hands!

Hi, everyone! Just a quick post to let you know-- I got the proof for Pieces of Eight #1 today!

I'm so excited to share it with you on Free Comic Book Day, May 7, at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD!

Pieces of Eight #1

As I mentioned in my previous post, Pieces of Eight #1 is finished!

For those who don't know, Pieces of Eight is a passion project of mine. It's a time-traveling pirate adventure that I wrote about 5 or 6 years ago. Last year at Free Comic Book Day I released a "preview edition" that was essentially the first half of issue #1 in black and white and in a smaller format.

This year I'm very excited to offer Pieces of Eight #1 in its entirety! On May 7 (FCBD 2016), I'll be at Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD doing free sketches as usual, but this time I'll have Pieces of Eight #1 for sale (along with some other comics and artwork)! 

For $5, you'll get 28 bagged-and-boarded pages of story in full color! I'm super-psyched to have completed this first chapter and it's only going to get better from here! Stay tuned for more updates on future installments!

Here's a look at the cover for Pieces of Eight #1:

©2016 Tim Murphy

I'm Still Here!

Holy cow! It's almost been a year since my last update! I haven't quit-- I'm still here!

What a year it's been! I've been working on a variety of projects and I've made the career jump from Art Teacher to Creative Director! It's been a very exciting time in my life, but unfortunately it left me little time to update my blog.

Here's a brief recap to get us caught up:

PIECES OF EIGHT is coming! I'll have the COMPLETE issue #1 available on FCBD 2016! That will have its own post with more details soon! I'm very excited about it!

Over the last year I did a few prints for Cosmic Comix & Toys in Catonsville, MD. I did two for FCBD 2015, and one for Batman Day over the summer. I'll be there again on Free Comic Book Day doing FREE sketches and selling Pieces of Eight as well as some other art work! Here are the previous prints:

 




I did a number of murals this year including a Star Wars nursery! The nursery was seen on Twitter and got the attention of the likes of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, David Prowse; and the starwars.com blog, Fully Operational Fandom even did a post about it! Super cool! See the blog post here!

But the mural was actually part of a bigger project: a Star Wars nursery for my baby girl! My wife and I welcomed Evelyn in March, and she's hands down my greatest work of art-- which I know is a corny thing to say-- but she's pretty great, you guys!

So it's been a crazy year! In the future I'm going to be a lot more present here and post a lot more updates! For now, just know: I'm still here!