Batman

Batman © DC Comics

Just playing around with a 11" x 14" sheet of Canson Paper and some various mediums. Nice to just scribble sometimes. :)

This is Post #1151

Canson Cutie - Dream Girl (rough)

Dream Girl © DC Comics

Here is the second set of roughs I have done for the series of Legion Canson pieces I am doing. Dream Girl is the subject here, sister of yesterday's post of White Witch. Once again, this pieces will feature Legionnaires from the Curt Swan/Adventure Comics era. Which is a favorite era for me. Of yesterdays poses, "B" was selected and for Dream Girl, "C" is the one. Fun stuff ahead!

This is Post #1150

Canson Cutie - White Witch (rough)

White Witch © DC Comics

I have been commissioned to do five Canson pieces featuring Legionnaires from the Curt Swan/Adventure Comics era. Yeah, I jumped all over that one. :) Above are the sketch ideas for the White Witch. I don't know if any of these ideas will be used, but it is a jumping off point.

In other news, earlier today I finished the first round art for a large project. It's not due until tomorrow but I like being ahead of schedule. Tomorrow morning I will give it one more look and send it to all of the people that need to see it. Then I will be out of town discussing the art in person on Tuesday and Wednesday. Since I will be flying I will have to choose between the nude photo booth or getting felt up. Friendly skies, eh? ;)

And lastly I had a bit of a scare. I went to my site www.genegonzales.com and it wasn't there. Just a parked under construction page. Seems my domain registrar was using an email address I haven't used in about 10 years to notify me that my fees were due. It's pretty dumb because when I logged on to their site, my account information is up to date with my Florida contact info. I quickly paid the renew fee, contacted them and managed to get the site back up in a few hours. I know there are several other people that would like to have that domain and I'm lucky no one noticed it was available over the last five days. So my original site is back up and running and all is well. Except that I need to change registrars and need to do it soon.

This is Post #1149

Sketchbook Saturday

Zatanna © DC Comics

Another sketch for today. I have been working all day with a Monday morning deadline looming. Just got some more caffeine and I'm back at it. I won't be down to the wire with the work. I don't generally work that way. It will be done sometime early tomorrow. But I like to have the time after a project is "finished" to put it away and revisit it later. Any needed tweaks will stand out when I do that.

Okay, break time is over.

This is Post #1148

Sketchbook Friday

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just another sketchbook Friday folks. Hope your shopping day was a productive one. :)

This is Post #1147

Happy Thanksgiving!

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

I wanted to get this up earlier but work and food got in the way. :)

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving, for tomorrow we shop!

This is Post #1146

Moon Girl

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

I'm going to be working some long hours over the next four days, so I took a couple of hours off this evening to paint for fun. I think it's been a while since I painted anything in traditional mediums and this was a lot of fun to do. But it will be back to work early tomorrow.

This was done with color pencils and fluid acrylics on 10" x 15" sheet of Canson Montval Watercolor paper.

This is Post #1145

Digital Painting Practice — Pin-up

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just a digital sketch for today. I was playing with my digital line work and decided to slap some color on it. Sorry I haven't gone into any descriptions of my process or what I am attempting to do. I've had some really long hours lately and if I wait until the end of the day to post, I am just too wiped out for words. My brain is only working on lower levels. Simple thoughts like "Fire bad. Tree pretty." (Points if you get that reference without using a search engine).


Things will calm down a bit by the end of next week. I am working on a hard deadline of Sunday night. Job going to a printer in Arkansas for proofing copy on Monday. Flying to Arkansas on Tuesday, meetings Wednesday morning and then a lunch meeting. Fly back late afternoon Wednesday. It won't calm down by much as I have a new job starting next week and more illustrations needed for the yet another book in the series of grammar books I've been working on. Oh, and then there are always revisions. :) But it won't be as hectic. I'm not complaining at all, mind you. If fact I am very, very, very grateful for the work. It's nice to do what I love for a living. That is something I never lose sight of. :)

This is Post #1144

Batman!

Batman © DC Comics

Just playing around with a piece of Canson paper today while giving my eyes a break from the big ol' monitor.

Okay, back to work.

This is Post #1143

Digital Penciling - Color

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just a little bit of additional color added to this piece. Not much time for anything else today. The weekend was full of family and work. Going into this week I will be completely slammed until the following Monday. I'm exhausted thinking about it. Whew.

This is Post #1142

Any Landing You Can Walk Away From?

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

This is just a quick sketch of a idea. I drew it in my sketchbook and slapped some color on it in Photoshop.

This Post #1141

Black Canary

Black Canary © DC Comics

I had this in my mind for a couple of days and finally put it down on paper, digital "paper" as it were. Just a fun exercise with color and shapes done entirely in Photoshop.

Have a good weekend everyone. :)

This is Post #1140

Mr.Tawny - Canson Portrait

Mr. Tawny © DC Comics

I'm a big fan of the Fawcett Comics run of Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel, Jr. When I had a comic collection, I owned quite a few Mary Marvel, Wow Comics, Whiz Comics, Marvel Family, and Captain Marvel Adventures. And most of the early run of SHAZAM! that DC Comics published in the 1970s. The Marvel Family had some really fun supporting characters including our subject today, Mr. Tawny, the talking tiger. And yes, Mr. Tawny predates Tony the Tiger.

Mr Tawny first appeared in Captain Marvel Adventures #79 in 1947. Created by Otto Binder and C. C. Beck. (Otto Binder also co-created the Legion of Super-Heroes years later. Funny how this blog almost always comes back to the Legion.) So with Mr. Tawny, they placed a funny animal character in the middle of a super-hero comic. And it works. Several of those stories were reprinted in the SHAZAM! 100 Page Giants in the 1970s. Not cheap but they are a fun read.

This piece was something I was playing with today that ended up becoming a fully realized Canson piece. Not planned, but I'm happy with it. And it marks the first time I have drawn Mr. Tawny.

This was done in ink and color pencil on an 11" x 17" sheet of Canson Mi-Teintes paper.

This is Post #1139

Digital Penciling

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just trying some digital penciling using the Conte Pencil brush in Photoshop. I like the texture of the line. I put some basic color to this piece that I will try to finish up later.

This is Post #1138

Sketchbook Tuesday - Canson Paper Sketches

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

More sketching of some familiar looking guys. The sketches above were done on a sheet of Canson paper using Col-Erase pencils and white acrylic. Some of the color was done in Photoshop. I am trying different approaches for how I draw. I really would like to work on my own projects but I am not very interested in inking everything. There are several european comics that I follow that seem to print straight from pencils. Tight pencils that have been colored in a neutral shade. There are no stark black lines on anything and it looks really nice. I like the roughness and energy of pencils. Ah well, until I have time to actually devote to my own stuff, I will continue to play.

I have picked up another big project from a terrific client that will be a bit of a rush. I am working on one project for the same client and this one will tie into it a bit. I will be flying to Arkansas the first week of December and possibly late January as part of all this work. Needless to say, I will be pretty slammed through the first week of January.

My commission list is closed until February. I have taken on five Canson pieces and that fills my list. Whew! But these are going to be really, really fun!

This is Post #1137

And now for something different...

I've wanted to share these for a while and since the movie is out on dvd and Blu-Ray I figured it would be okay to share with all of you now.

Back in the spring, I was asked to join a small team of artists working for DC Licensing to do artwork for the JONAH HEX movie. I haven't seen the movie but I believe these were to be used for the opening credits. I was given very, very rough sketches done by Eduardo Risso and instructed to ink them in Adobe Illustrator, matching his style and using my best judgement to finish areas not sketched in. I poured through a lot of his work, studying what he does and why. And here are results of three of six that I did.

Another challenge to these pieces is that various elements had to be done on separate layers. For example, in the first one, I had to do the trees in the foreground in one layer, Hex and the horse in another, and the background in yet another layer. But here is the tricky part, everything you cannot see that is blocked by the foreground trees still had to be drawn out. This is where some pieces got trickier than others but it also gave the studio the chance to do limited animation with each piece.

It was a quick turnaround project and I did six of them. I'm pleased that the only change I was asked to make was to make the grass in the top image a bit fuller. My first pass at the grass didn't look as good.

Jonah Hex © DC Comics

It was a fun and I hope to be involved with more projects like this one.

New artwork tomorrow.

This is Post #1136

Silver Surfer & Deadpool - Commission

Silver Surfer & Deadpool © Marvel Entertainment

This piece was finished early last week but I held off posting it here until I was given the okay. This was commissioned by Paul as a gift and it wouldn't do well for the person getting it to see it here first. These two characters are his favorites so Paul asked for a piece featuring both. If you would like to see how Paul colored my line art, check it out here. He did a really nice job on it.

And just for fun, below are the three ideas I had for this piece. Thanks for the commission Paul! I'm glad the gift was well received!

That was the last commission on my list. Seems strange too, having no list. I have tried really hard to stay on top of my list so no one has to wait too long. I've heard some horror stories about artists, commissions, delays, excuses, etc. and I really don't want to be one of those stories. :)


This is Post #1135

Tiki Set to Stun

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Quick sketch today. Show of hands: How many of you ever thought about a Tiki with a ray gun?

This is Post #1134

Island Trio

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Rough day. I needed a little visit from the island trio. Onward to the weekend. Have a good one everyone!

This is Post #1134

Digital Painting Practice

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Work, work, work, today. I did take a bit of time during the day to play a bit in Photoshop. This was just an unfinished practice piece. Just trying different approaches to applying the color. Spent about 40 minutes on this.

This is Post #1133

More Tiki Sketches

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just a few more sketches from my sketchbook today.

Full day of commercial work, and I finished a commission today. It's a gift so I have to hold off posting until Sunday. That was the last commission on my list.

It was also a shopping day. I ordered a bunch of books and bought a couple of Bob Oksner Mary Marvel pages from DC's SHAZAM title of the 1970s. I am really on a big Oksner kick lately. I was planing to get a Bob Oksner SOOZIE sunday original, but the Mary pages showed up and I had to have them. And one of them has Tawky Tawny on it!!! How could I not get them? Guess I will have to start saving up for that sunday page. I know, I have a problem. :)

This is Post #1132

Tiki Torches at Twilight

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just the beginning of a piece I would like to do as a painting. I have posted several pieces that combine tiki and retro sci-fi elements. One day I hope to do something more with the concepts I have bouncing around in my head. In the meantime, commercial jobs and a commission that is still in the works is filling my days. And sometimes my nights. :)

This is Post #1131

Sketchbook Monday - Spidey Doodles

Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane, & Black Cat © Marvel Entertainment

I've been busy since 6:30am with commercial work, and now working on a commission I can't show yet. So it's a post of telephone doodles from earlier today. For some reason I had Spidey on the brain. I have no idea what that says about me, but I hope you will excuse my sketchy stuff today. :)

This is Post #1130

Sketchbook Sunday - Zatanna

Zatanna © DC Comics

Just a little sketch in my sketchbook today. Felt like drawing really long legs. :)

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend!

This is Post #1129

Canson Girl - Mary Marvel

Mary Marvel © DC Comics

This is a quick one for today. Had a full day of working and then running all around the Tampa Bay region with my family. :) As I did this face, I was also looking at the Bob Oksner Mary Marvel pages on my wall and somehow I was influenced. :)

This is Post #1128

Canson Girl Friday

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Another Canson Girl today folks. Have a good weekend!

This is Post #1127

Another Canson Girl

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Another warm up sketch from (much to) early this morning using my Pentel Brush Pen on Canson Paper.

This is Post #1126

Canson Girl

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

This is a warm up piece from earlier this morning. I just now got around to scanning it. I'm still playing with the Pentel Brush Pen. I like the dry brush effects I can get on the rougher side of the Canson paper. It creates a nice texture in her hair. There are a few issues of how slow the ink dries on certain paper, but that is something I dealt with before when I used a brush and have since forgotten because of using pens. Just have to make that adjustment in how I work.

This piece was done with a Pentel Brush Pen and white color pencil on a 9" x 12" sheet of Canson Mi-Teintes paper.

This is Post #1125

Sketchbook Tuesday

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just some warm up sketches from this morning. I've got a full day of drawing and thought I would "stretch" first to avoid any injury. :)

This is Post #1124

Captain America

Captain America © Marvel Entertainment

With Halloween over, the race is on to Christmas. I've been seeing the decorations, in moderation, in various stores for the last couple of weeks, but I bet today they will overwhelm the last bit of space the Halloween items had. On your mark. Get set. Shop!

I thought I would do an early post to kick off the new month. I was playing with the brush pen a bit. I am trying out different papers and drying time on those papers. I will post more about it later. For now I have a Captain America done with the Pentel Brush Pen, a bit of Copic Multiliner, and some gray Copic Markers. This was done on a 11" x 17" sheet of Strathmore Drawing paper.

This is Post #1123