Beach Baby & BaliHa'i

I am currently working on a Wonder Woman Canson Cutie (WWCC?) but that is not done so I can't share it yet. So first up is a sketch for my next batch of CILM pin-ups. I am planning on doing a series of Bathing Beauties through the ages. More sketches to come.

Now here is an exciting bit of news. The BaliHa'i shirts are here!!! The BaliHa'i shirts are here!!! Below are some shots I borrowed from the BaliHa'i Project website. These shirts are great! I am so happy with the reproduction of the artwork I did for them and the quality of the shirts is outstanding. How do I know? Well, Chris at Tiki Trading Company, LLC (The BaliHa'i folks) sent a nice care package of shirts for me, Deena and Dakota!
If you could use an extra t-shirt and wouldn't mind a bit of my artwork on your back, please head over to the BaliHa'i Project web site and click on the Accessories and Ts link.
And thanks again Chris for the shirts!

Poison Ivy - Canson Cutie

Just for fun I did a Poison Ivy on Canson Paper today. This was done on 11" x 17" green Canson paper with ink and color pencil. I have also put it on eBay. If anyone is interested in Batman characters or redheads or a combination of both, you can find it here: Poison Ivy. :)

HERCULOIDS - Progress and Final

Above is a series of digital photos of my progress on the Herculoids commission I have done for Clark. This was a big piece, 15" x 20" with a lot of characters and a movie poster feel. I think it came out nicely.

To summarize the process: I did a complete pencil drawing with graytones to establish the values (lights and darks) of the piece. I then did a digital color comp as a road map for painting. Both were posted a couple of months ago. What I did today was start painting. I am using fluid acrylics and laying down the color in transparent washes. Building layer after layer until I get to the color I want. When I was finished painting, I went in with color pencils to help define edges different parts of the piece. The last part was hand lettering around the painted logo. (Side note: The digital photos lean a little too much to the green side and are not showing how strong the yellows are at the bottom.)

Thanks to Clark for this fun and challenging commission. It was a lot of fun!

Sketchbook Monday

Another page of sketches today. Still working out the character, getting to know her, as it were. I decided to put some color to this page. I think it makes it stand out more.

Spent most of the day doing business stuff. Making calls, getting quotes on projects, and doing paperwork. The really boring but necessary part of my work. Tomorrow I will actually be able to get back to the boards and get some real, fun work done.

Sketchbook Sunday

I am working with my buddy, writer J.C. Vaughn on a project. It is in the development stage at this point. Still trying to find a "voice" for the art. I am determined to take my art in a different direction for this project, but still keep enough of me in it. Above is one of the pages from my sketchbook where I am working this all out.

In other news:

I am starting to put together art for my next PIN-UPS & SKETCHES books. Though that will probably not be the title. I'm doing this one in full color, but in order to do that, I have to make some decisions about page count and cost. The main problem is trying to keep the price point at $10.00, the same as previous books. But in order to do that and do the book in color, I have to go with saddle stitched (staples) and not perfect bound like my other books. Also the size would be 8" x 10.5", just a little smaller than before. Decisions, decisions.

Annnnd, I will be doing some posters for HeroesCon too. More decisions as to what images to use. 

Also I am going to purchase a banner for conventions. I have found several companies that do these so I just have to pick one. I do like the self contained canister type. Much like a projector screen. So I need to design that as well. :)

Herculoids is still sitting on my board, that will be finished this week. I will be shooting pictures of the progress to share. And two Canson Cuties for Tim on the board for this week.

Going to be a busy week, hang on everyone!

Sketchbook Saturday

Just a page from my sketchbook today folks. Did these this morning over coffee. I hope everyone is having a good weekend. :)

ShadowKnight - Commission

Happy Friday everyone!

Jonathan commissioned a sketch of his own character ShadowKnight. He wanted it in the same style I did for the Speedy commission posted here a while back. Thanks again for the commission Jonathan! This was done in ink, and graphite on 11" x 17" Cason Bristol Board.

Have a good weekend!

Plastic Pink Flamingos

One of the things that screams "Florida" is the plastic pink flamingo. So naturally we bought a pair when we bought our house. The couple reside in the jungle of our backyard. A while back my lovely wife Deena bought herself a Nikon D-80 digital SLR camera and I took it in the backyard to try it out. Below is one of the many pictures I took that day. Now fast forward months ahead to this morning...

Last week we bought new furniture for the living room and finally painted the living room and kitchen this week. The painting I did that hung on the accent wall in the living room just didn't fit the feel of the room anymore. Around 9am this morning, I was in the garage looking for something when I noticed I still had a 30" x 40" blank canvas. I brought it into the studio, went though my photo library on my Mac looking for something that might be fun to paint and found the flamingos. I filled my computer screen with the photo, set up the canvas, laid out the acrylic paints and two and a half hours later, the finished painting is hanging on the accent wall in the living room. Cheap home decorating.
After I finished, I had to get back to work. :)

Gaming Cage! Final Art

It's a double scoop today folks. First up is The Gaming Cage art I did for Fanfare Sports and Entertainment, Inc. This is the final art I sent in yesterday and there were no revisions required. This was a joy to do. The final are will be printed at 5' wide by 2' tall. Should look real cool hanging over the opening to the gaming cage itself.

Second up, is Josie. This is one of the sketches I did in my sketchbook of her. This was the direction I was going but switched to the more sexy pose I posted yesterday. But I still like this pose so I wanted to share it. FYI, the guitar in both images is based on the guitar Rachael Leigh Cook used in the movie JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS.

Neat, Sweet, Super Cool, Don't You Know These Kitties Rule!

This commission is for Gary. I think his fan ranking for Josie and the Pussycats is higher than mine. But I do my best. While working on this piece I had the Josie and the Pussycats movie playing on my computer. As it is one of my favorite movies, it really made working on this piece extra fun. Thanks again Gary!

This was done with ink, color pencil, and a touch of acrylic paint on yellow-orange Canson paper

FX Show! - Post Game/Sketchbook Monday

Because everyone seems to like the rough stuff (oh you know you do) and because today I was working on stuff I can't share, I am presenting some sketchbook pages from the show. :)

First up is the rough I did for Karen's Magik commission. Since I didn't have her book yet and I wasn't working on any other sketch, I figured I would work out the idea in my sketchbook. Karen refers to my drawings as "happy" and she likes them that way. So she wasn't sure she wanted me doing a dark, tough Magik. But she really wanted Magik's Soul Sword in it. :) I convinced her I could do it. I think I pulled it off and still made the piece fun by hacking off a demon hand. Yes folks, nothing says "fun" like a hacked off demon hand. Tell your friends.
The rest were done while I was bored. I was trying to come up with some generic action poses in case I needed them. Didn't need them at this show after all, but they will probably show up somewhere down the road. I like to keep these kind of sketches around to refer back to when I am blocked from ideas for sketch poses. The finished piece might not look exactly like the sketch, but the sketch does provide a jumping off point. And sometimes that is all that is needed. :)

FX Show - Bomb Queen!

Let's start this post with the fact that after a full day at the con and a 1.5 hour drive home, I am now at a local Panera Bread using their free WiFi. We had internet service at home for about three hours yesterday which enabled me to upload my post, but today it is dead. Sigh. Service is supposed to be coming tomorrow between 10am - 12. We will see about that.

Today I present Bomb Queen. Sorry, this is just a digital picture. When David asked for her yesterday, I knew I would need references. So this morning he dropped off a graphic novel and some other materials. Wow, what an over the top character. Great design to her too. As you can probably tell, I had a lot of fun with this. David was pleased and he promised to drop by here some time. I know everyone make him feel welcome.

If you followed my tweets on Twitter, you may have seen the Namor-Sue Storm piece I was working on. Bad news. There was an unfortunate act of fate and ink that destroyed that piece when it was finished. No I didn't spill my ink. It's a story I might be able to tell another day but not now as the piece was a gift and I don't know when it will be given. I did start over and redo the entire piece today and it came out nice and the person who asked for it was pleased. And I forgot to get a picture. Fate. :)

For anyone counting, you might have noticed we are going to hit the 500th day of posting next week. Though I did post a few times in December of 2007, I consider the beginning of this blog January 1, 2008. Blogger actually counts each post I make, not the days. So because of some double posts I have past the 500 mark already. But I count the days and 500 seems like a pretty cool milestone to hit.

It's back to work tomorrow. I have Fanfare's gaming art to finish tomorrow, a modification to a piece of art for a client that shouldn't take too long and two commissions to get done with this week. (Honest Gary and Jonathan!) :) So for now, good night and good luck! 

FX Show! - Bats and Magik!

I did this Batman headshot on 12" x 18" Charcoal paper with black and white Prismacolor and China Markers at the show. I was waiting for the sketchbook to do my Magik in and was killing time. I thought it had a bit of a Nick Cardy Batman look to it. Or maybe I'm just wishing. :)

The main event was doing Magik for Karen. We both wanted to put in the in same sketchbook that is home to the Kitty and Lockheed sketch I did for her last year at MegaCon. She seemed to genuinely like it. She even was using it to entice more people around my table to get a sketch. I might have to pay her a percentage. :)
All in all the show was busier today. I did get to wander around a bit thanks to Craig Zablo and John Beatty watching my table when I did my walkabout. Chatted with Casey Jones, Joe Pekar (who was doing some incredible watercolor paintings. Gotta get me one!) and Mike Perkins. It's funny, Casey, Mike and I go way back to our earliest work with Caliber Comics. Picked up a cool book from Stuart Immonen titled CENTIFOLIO and discovered the art of Laurie B. And best of all was chatting with all the nice folks who stopped by my table. I love meeting new people and conventions are a great place for it. More tomorrow!

FX Show! - Zatanna

Pretty slow today at the show. Consensus seems to think that tomorrow will be the packed day with the appearance of Leonard Nimoy. But as today went, I think exhibitors outnumbered the attendees.

I did this Zatana today and was able to bring it home to scan because it wasn't picked up by the end of the day. I'm sure it will be claimed tomorrow though. First sketch for tomorrow will be Magik. I will be posting Tweets from time to time at the show. The links are on the side bar.

I sat with John Beatty and Craig Zablo. Fun pair to hang with at a con! I even sang a little tune for Craig. :)

More tomorrow!

FX Show! - PreGame

Barely have internet service so this will be quick. (I'm actually typing this while on my cell phone with support. They were supposed to be here by 8pm and never showed. Then they rescheduled me for Saturday afternoon. When I found out, I pointed out to them I wasn't going to be here, they asked why would I schedule service if I wasn't planning to be here. Yeah, it's been that kind of phone call.) Anyway, I posted this Dejah Thoris before when it was just pencil on charcoal paper, but now I have added digital color and she will be one of many new prints for sale at the show. Actually, the original will be for sale there too. :)

Check back each night and I will post some of the sketches I do. They will be digital photos because I won't have an opportunity to scan them, but that's the best I can do. :) If you are going to be at the show, stop by and say "HI"! 

Gaming Cage! Part 3

Here is where I am at on the Gaming Cage for Fanfare Sports & Entertainment, Inc. I have established how the background color is going to work and the lettering. Now I am blocking in the characters with color. These are mostly temporary and used to create areas I can grab and change, mold, and play with. So far only most of the left side is blocked in. I will do the other side before I start doing the final colors and effects. The goal is to have this done by tomorrow because...

This weekend is the FX Show in Orlando and I will be a guest there. I will have prints, original art, comics, and some of my older sketchbooks. And I will be doing sketches. I didn't have time to put a new one together so it looks like it will debut at HeroesCon instead. I will be at Booth 22 in Creators Alley. Drop by and say "HI!" if you will be there too.

Gaming Cage! Part 2

Here is the finished inked art for the left side of the sign I posted about yesterday. There's gonna be a rumble!

This is ink and graphite on 11" x 17" Strathmore 500 series 2-ply Bristol Board. I will share the start of the color work tomorrow.

Gaming Cage!

This is one third of a commercial job I am doing for Fanfare Sports & Entertainment, Inc. Owner Tom Fleming has a section of his store set up for folks to play games and for gaming tournaments. The cool thing is you don't have to play anything in particular. If you and some friends want to play Monopoly, go ahead. So it's not just for hard core gamers.

Tom asked if I was up for creating a sign for the area and I thought it sounded like fun. The final printed sign will be in color and the size will be 5' wide by 2' tall. This image is the right side of the sign. There will be a left side with more combatants and a middle with the logo. Fun stuff! This art is ink and pencil on 11" x 17" Strathmore 500 series 2 ply Bristol Board.

Just a little sketch today

One would think that I would post some kind of bunny image today but no. Instead I was playing with some China Markers I picked up the other day. I haven't been doing anything on Canson paper for a week or so and wanted to try out the white and black markers I bought at the art store on Friday. I will be doing a Josie (of the Pussycats fame) on Canson Paper next, so I thought a warm up would be in order. If you are not familiar with China Markers, they are more like crayons then markers. More waxy than color pencils. I used the white one for high lights on the piece above. Though I could have been a bit more bold with it I'm pretty happy with it.

This piece was done using a orange/red Faber-Castell brush pen on a 9" x 12" sheet of Canson Paper.

Rocketeer to the rescue!

Dave Stevens created a great character in the Rocketeer. I remember when the back-up stories first appeared in Starslayer. I loved it. The American Comic Book Company had him in for a signing right around that time. I used to buy my books there and by accident I happened in on that day. I think Dave was the first comic professional I ever met. Him or Gerry Conway, I'm not sure. But I do remember talking to him briefly and let him know how much I liked his creation. I'm also a big fan of the movie. So when Andrew asked for a Rocketeer commission, I was all over it. This was done in ink and graphite. Thanks Andrew!

A Close Call

Sometimes the fates like to mess with a person. You know, that perfect storm that challenges you both professionally and personally. Nothing earth-shattering or life changing, just annoying and a pain. I present today: First day back to work and a lot of things to do. That is when my internet connection goes down. That wipes out my telephone too. The problem is the modem and it has done this three times in three weeks. The other two times the ISP reset it remotely. This time no joy. The support person apologized and stated that someone should have scheduled service for me when the problem happened a second time. So I was put on high priority and will get a service tech to my studio between 2pm and 8pm. Big window I think, should be okay. But at 8:20pm, still no sign of support and no call. So I pack up the laptop and head for Panera Bread and free Wifi. 

Not only was the blog threatened by all this, but I had revisions to send to a client. And I don't like not doing what I said I would do. The client was very understanding but I wanted to make sure they get the files tonight. (They are in California so the time difference helps). At 8:37, I was called on my cell and told that the support person was at my house. Swell. They are supposed to be back tomorrow between 8-10am. Any bets? 

Todays art was sketched in my sketchbook today and colored in Photoshop. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Take me out to the ball game...

First off, I must apologize for being absent on the comments side of the blog these last few days. I have read all of them and thanks for all the kind words!

Sunday morning I drove about 18 hours before a snow storm and whiteout conditions in Indiana made me stop about 1 hour shy of my destination. Yesterday I left Michigan at 8am and after driving 19 straight hours I was home. I got about 3 hours sleep after I got home. And then I sketched this out for today's post. Why the baseball cutie? Tonight we are going to the season opening game for the Clearwater Threshers! They are the minor league affiliate of the Phillies. Imagine the turmoil down here during the World Series last year. The Phillies spring train here in Clearwater so there are a lot of fans for both the Rays and the Phillies locally.

We love going to Thresher games. Fun, fun, fun! We have gone to a couple of Rays games, and while we enjoy that, we do like the intimate feel of Brighthouse Field. Smaller, outdoor, and not a bad seat in the place. You can even bring a blanket and lay out on the grass that over looks the outfield. Frenchy's (one of our favorite restaurants) even has a tiki bar out there! Maybe I will post some photos during the game through Twitter.

Our pitcher was done in pencil in my sketchbook with colors added in Photoshop.

Sketchbook Wednesday!

For some reason I had the Golden Age JSA on my mind. I've done convention sketches of the JSAers for someone out there. I wonder if I will tackle another one this season. :) These are just color pencil in my sketchbook.

Sketchbook Tuesday!

Random stuff from the sketchbook today. Sometimes I just draw without any thought of what I am drawing. Well, other than when I am drawing a sexy pose. :)

Lilith - Teen Titans

Another sketchbook offering today. Lilith joined the Teen Titans during their first run. I always thought she was an interesting character. I think that later she was linked to the original Titans of myth. But I'm not sure. Either way, here she is feeling groovy. :)

Green Lantern - Sketchbook

Just another sketchbook page today. I am actually going out of town today, so I will be attempting to post from the road. Wish me luck. :)

Aqualad

Busy doing house work: Cleaning garage, pool, lanai, etc. Since we had Kid Flash yesterday, I thought I would do an Aqualad today. :) Color pencils in my sketchbook.

Also, Lady Blackhawk ends tonight on eBay. If anyone is interested, here is the link.

Have a good Saturday everyone.

Just a little Kid Flash from the sketchbook today. Ink and color pencils. It's Friday, everyone go out and have a good evening!

Sketchbook Thursday

I was very busy today and the only thing I can show is this page from this morning. Just some warm up stuff before I really dug into the planned work of the day.

Lady Blackhawk! - Finished

Spent the bulk of the day inking 18 spot illustrations and iconic images but I also finally finished Lady Blackhawk. I also did a bit of research to use the right plane that she flew in the original series. Overall I am pleased with her. Still finding the darker paper tougher to work on but I still get the results I am looking for.

I have put her up on eBay for anyone interested. You can find her here.

I probably won't be doing anymore for auctions for a couple of weeks. I have commissions to get to and some other work that needs attention. So everyone might have to put up with sketchbook material for a few days. Please hang in there. :)