Batgirl - Digital Rough

Batgirl © DC Comics

Tomorrow's subject on the 2-Point Perspective blog is Batgirl. I normally draw the Barbara Gordon Batgirl but someone (I don't remember who, sorry) said they would like to see the Cassandra Cain Batgirl.  Visually I don't find the character that interesting with her cowl on. At least the one where her eyes and mouth are covered. But I do like her face under the mask. Though I have no idea why she would be out and about without a mask.

I've been doodling the basic structure of this figure since last night. I wanted to do something different. All of this was done in Photoshop, so when I posted this, I thought it would be cool to show the layers. The purple lines are where I started. As you can see I was undecided about her arms. Should she be holding a rope, a staff? I didn't know. I refined some areas in red. And added the rough indication of hair. When I went to black, I had the idea of her forward arm holding the cape. After that I thought the other arm should be holding the other side of the cape. Okay, at this point I'm liking the sweeping motion of this image. It's a classic shot but looking at it from a different angle. Normally you would probably see this straight on, coming at you. But I am still not sure if it's Barbara or Cassandra. And this is why I like working digitally...their body types are different but I can adjust that easily. No erasing, tearing up the board and redrawing. I can just redraw what needs adjusting on a different layer. Also, I copied the head of the figure and pasted it right next to it. Working on the layer above it, I use it as a guide for the structure of the head and sketch my take on Cassandra without her mask. Now I have options to piece together for the final rough. Which I would print out and light table onto the final board.

Now, black and white or color? Hmmmm.

This is Post #1593

Red Lantern Bleez

Bleez © DC Comics

Over the last couple of days I was able to get the coloring done on Bleez. It took a little longer only because of the commissions I am working on and some commercial work that came in Friday. These 9" x 12" pieces are being done in between everything else.

I have listed Bleez on Ebay. You can find her here.

This was done in ink, watercolor and some color pencil on 9" x 12" Strathmore Bristol Board.

This is Post #1592

Gwen Stacy & friend

Gwen Stacy & Spider-Man © Marvel Entertainment

When I posted on Twitter that I wanted some suggestions for who I should draw, Little John suggested Gwen Stacy. So here she is, with a web-headed friend. Thanks for the suggestion LJ!

This was done with ink and watercolor on 9" x 12" Strathmore Bristol Board.

If you are interested in this Gwen Stacy pin-up, she is currently on Ebay. Click here.

This is Post #1591

Bleez - Red Lantern

Bleez © DC Comics

This is another suggested character for me to draw. I am not familiar with the Red Lanterns but I thought she was an interesting looking character. I will be adding some watercolor to it and putting it up on Ebay tomorrow.

This is ink on 9" x 12" Strathmore Bristol Board.

This is Post #1590

Work in Progress - The Big Commission Inks

The Kents © DC Comics

Anybody else remember this family? I sure miss them.

They were an older couple who adopted the boy and they ran a general store in a small town. Very kind hearted parents who taught their son the difference between right and wrong, how to help others in need, and to protect all life to the best of his ability. The boy had some close friends that he could always depend on. A cute red head who's curiosity sometimes got the best of her. A blond boy who could be trusted with the boy's biggest secrets and a faithful dog that would do anything in the universe for him. Sometimes there was trouble. People from way out of town would drop by and make a mess of things. Or that poor kid who lost all his hair. He was a troubled one. But the boy was always there to put things right.

Sometimes the boy had friends that came from way out of town. They wore colorful clothes that were in fashion where they were from. Sometimes the boy went to visit them. Adventures were had. Those friends always looked up to the boy because they knew his heart and knew he was destined for great things. And they were right.

Luckily I have many albums with images of this family and their friends. So when I really long to see all of them, I can still visit. And adventures are had. 

(This is a detail of the Big Commission inks. Big thanks to Royce for letting me share the progress of this piece I am doing for him.)

This is Post #1589

DCnU Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn © DC Comics

My day was filled with commissions today. Putting in a few hours on each. Then I started tightening up this piece. It started as a little sketch in my sketchbook. I will be inking it and probably paint it with watercolors. Then it will be Ebay bound. :)

Pencils on 11"x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board.

This is Post #1588

Sketchbook Wednesday

Over on the 2-Point Perspective Blog, the theme is the villainess Maleficent. Above are some of the warm-up sketches I did in preparation for the finished piece. Head on over to the 2-Point Perspective Blog to see the final art.

This is Post #1587

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel © Marvel Entertainment

Just like yesterday's Starfire pin-up, this piece is a result of the call for character suggestions I put out on Twitter a week or so ago. Mike suggested Ms. Marvel, and I opted for this version.

This is ink and watercolor on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board.

Ms. Marvel is on Ebay, ending Jan. 27th.

This is Post #1586

Starfire - Canson Cutie

Starfire © DC Comics

This is the first time I have drawn the new Starfire's uniform/costume. Actually this is the first of the DCnU characters I have drawn. I think. I had started sketching this out when I decided to do it as a Canson Cutie. I'm pretty pleased with how she turned out.

This is mix media on 11" x 17" orange Canson Mi-Teintes paper.

UPDATE: Starfire is for sale on Ebay - Ends Jan. 27

This is Post #1585

Phantom Girl

Phantom Girl © DC Comics

This is a fun commission I did for Vincent in his Legion themed sketchbook. I had to follow a brilliant two page spread of Sun Boy flying by a sun, with space and stars in the background done by Bob McLeod. Yikes! Well someone had to follow it. :) Vincent gave me the choice of a few Legionnaires and since this was going in a book, I thought I would take advantage of using the front and back of the page with Phantom Girl. I ran the concept by Vincent who gave me the go. Above is the front of the page. Below is the back of the same page. And yes, they line up. :)

Thanks for the commission Vincent!

This is Post #1584

MegaCon Advance Sketch List reminder

I will post some new art later today, but I wanted to post again that the MegaCon Advance Sketch List is open. I've been getting some cool requests already. And it's nice to have some Canson Cuties on the board again!

Advance Sketch List Details

So contact me soon. The show is coming up fast and I would like to be able to hand you a completed piece at the show. Even if you are not getting a sketch from me, drop by and say "HI"!

This is Post #1583

Supergirl

Supergirl © DC Comics

I did this as a digital sketch a couple of days ago and wasn't planing to do anything with it. But hey, it's Supergirl, I couldn't leave it alone. So I did this in watercolors on 11"x 17" Arches watercolor board.

This will probably end up on Ebay this weekend. :)

This is Post #1582

Batgirl

Batgirl © DC Comics

Just an ink and marker doodle of James Gordon's favorite heroine. Have a good weekend everyone!

This is Post #1581 

Dejah Thoris - Rough pencils

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Today: Work, work, work, lunch, draw Dejah Thoris rough figure, work, post, work, repeat as needed.

Graphite and blue Col-Erase pencils on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board.

This is Post #1580

Supergirl - Digital Sketchbook

Supergirl © DC Comics

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Supergirl is the theme over on the 2-Point Perspective Blog I share with Joe Pekar. I had finished my Supergirl art yesterday, early for a change. Since I never get tired of drawing Kara, I started roughing this out in Photoshop after I quit working yesterday. I have no plans to finish this piece. This was just a digital sketchbook type of exercise. I plan most of my work digitally. Much easier to make corrections and try different things. If I am going to finish a piece traditionally, I print it out and light table the image onto the final board. It's a clean way to work.

For this post, I left the structure layer visible. It's a scribble mess but it's always fun to see how it all fits. There isn't much of the structure work in the face though, somehow I nailed that in the rough and just refined it a bit. :)

This is Post #1579

Crabapple

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Just something silly today. Acrylic and ink on 8.5" x 5" Strathmore bristol board.

This is Post #1578

Sketchbook Monday

Artwork © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Just some doodles while working today.

This is Post #1577

Digital Sketch - iPad 2

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Overall this was kind of a relaxing Sunday. Actually I only relaxed for about 2 hours. And even then I was laying on the couch doodling this for half that time. (The other half was for kicking butt in Scrabble.) I also did most of a Supergirl painting today. This would be the idea I posted yesterday. I am now into the detail work.

So today's post is something I did on my iPad 2 in Sketchbook Pro. I wasn't too concerned with how this piece looked finished. I was concentrating on working on the iPad and learning the finger gestures for Sketchbook Pro that would get me around quicker than going to the main menu for everything. The other interesting thing was I noticed I could draw with my left hand. I'm right handed. I wasn't using my stylus for this piece. So sometimes when my left hand got tired of holding the iPad, I switched and drew with my left hand. Holding a pencil/brush/stylus in my left hand to paint or draw would be disastrous, I haven't developed that motor skill. But I guess because it was just my finger, and not trying to hold some kind of instrument, it works. Fun stuff.

This is Post #1576

Supergirl - Color Comp

Supergirl © DC Comics

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

This is a color comp for an idea for next weeks Supergirl theme on the 2-Point Perspective blog. If all goes well, the final art will be acrylic on 48" x 12" canvas. Fingers crossed.

This was done in Photoshop CS5

This is Post #1575

Cheetara - Canson Cutie

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

In response to my request for post suggestions on Twitter a few days ago, Karen chimed in with Cheetara. Seems that she and some friends were watching ThunderCats when they saw my post. I have never drawn Cheetara or watched ThunderCats, so since this is a first, I gave her the full treatment as a Canson Cutie. Thanks for the suggestion Karen!

This is ink on 11" x 17" Canson Mi-Teintes Paper.

Update: This piece is currently on Ebay and ends Jan. 16. (Link)

This is Post #1574

Elektra

Elektra © Marvel Entertainment

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

A few days ago I asked for sketch suggestions on Twitter. I got some great suggestions. Today's subject was suggested by Big John Beatty! Thanks John!

Ink on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board

This is Post #1573

The Chamuahau!

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

I was thinking of a chameleon crossed with a chihuahua today and ended up with this doodle. :)

Make sure you also click over to the 2-Point Perspective Blog for today's subject of Vampirella.

This art was done with Copic markers, ink, and white acrylic on white granite paper.

This is Post #1572

Shadow Lass / Night Girl - Work In Progress

Shadow Lass & Night Girl © DC Comics

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

This is a commission I am doing for Tom. Tom is another big time Legion fan, particularly the Cockum/Grell run. You can see his collection of Legion original art on Comic Art Fans. The idea behind this piece was to take a couple of Legionnaires and put them in a jungle setting. But instead of just doing a pose in jungle outfits, we came up with an illustration that could be part of a story. Shady and Night Girl have crash landed a Legion cruiser on a world with two suns. Shady can use her powers of creating intense shadows under such harsh sunlight for a little bit at a time. But that time is well spent, blocking out the sun for Night Girl to use her power of super strength to help clear a path to possible help. In case you didn't know, Night Girl only has use of her power in darkness. And yes, their Legion flight rings are not working. I knew that would come up. :) The final art will be painted.

Below are a couple of other layouts. In the first one the main difference is the cruiser position. And the second one explores doing the piece in landscape.

 

These were done in marker and Photoshop.

This is Post #1571

MEGACON 2012 - Advance Sketch List Is A Go!

MegaCon in Orlando, Florida is coming up fast. The dates are February 17, 18, & 19. I will be sharing a table with the one and only Joe Pekar, though it's not clear where that will be. From what I understand, MegaCon is expanding this year so that will probably change the size and location of artist alley. As soon as I know the location I will post it here.

MegaCon is my first convention of 2012 and it is time to open up the advance sketch list. I will actually work on this list leading up to the convention. Especially the more complicated pieces. Though the prices haven't changed, there are a few changes to the process this year so please look over the details provided below :)

It's a lot to read so email me if you have any questions. Please use the subject line "MegaCon Sketch List".

Prices:

Inked sketches: single figure, on 11" x 17" Bristol Board: $50.00

Acrylic painted: single figure on 11" x 17" (approximate size): 150.00

Canson pieces: single figure on 11" x 17": 125.00.

(Knowing the character request in advance will allow me to select the right color paper from my files.)

Payment: Here is the big changes this year. There will be three options for payment:

PayPal: You may pay in advance for your request using PayPal. Please contact me first with your request before you send money.

Credit Card at the Con: I will be accepting major credit cards at the convention. I have signed up with Square (www.squareup.com) in order to do so. Fast and secure.

Cash: You can pay for the art when you pick it up. I know, cash and carry, how quaint. ;)

If you were to ask what I prefer, Paypal would be my first preference for payment. It makes it easier to keep track of everything and it helps prioritize the work.

This advance list is only for those attending MegaCon 2012 in person. I do request that if you are on my list and are not going to make it, please let me know. And if possible, please pick up your artwork as soon as you can when you arrive at the convention. Or pay for your spot on the list, whichever applies.

I may ask for reference if I don't know the character or if I can't find it on the web at the show.

You can email me links to references before the show. I can alway print them out and take them with me if I need to .

An advantage to getting on the list early gives me some time to think about your request(s), bounce ideas around in my head, maybe doodle ideas in my sketchbook, and possibly show up at the con with your finished piece. There is a finite amount of requests I can take. I do not know what that number is because I don't know the requests. So sign up early and often. :)

I am really looking forward to this show. There are so many of you that I only get to see at MegaCon so it really is like hanging out with friends.

If you have any questions about the sketch list, please ask. And even if you are not getting something but will be at the show, please drop by and say "hi".

Other Convention Stuff

I will have other original art at the show, some you have seen here on this blog. I might have a new sketchbook. This book will feature commissions/pin-ups and roughs done on in a variety of mediums. I am still working on it but I will keep everyone updated here.

This was a lot of information to cover. If anything is confusing to you, let me know and I will do my best to clarify. And please excuse any typos. :)

Here we go!

This is Post #1570

Work in Progress - Pencils Complete

Characters © DC Comics

If you have been following me on Twitter or come here regularly, you have seen bits and pieces of this commission for Royce as I have worked on it. And now Royce has graciously allowed me to share the completed pencils as a whole.

This piece is measuring in at 14" x 17" and it is on Strathmore 400 series Bristol Board. The idea was Royce's. One that he has toyed around with for quite and while and when he mentioned it to me, I had to make this happen. There are some areas that are still pretty rough to the casual viewer but it's enough information for me to begin inking. (This was scanned in three sections so there is some variation in lights and darks) There are a lot of silver age references, a couple of bronze age ones too. I know I didn't hit every Superman Family landmark or supporting character, but I think Royce and I captured some of the best loved. Thanks again Royce. Onward to the inks!

This is Post #1570

Work In Progress Sunday - Commission

Perry White © DC Comics

I finished the pencils today for the EVEN BIGGER Commission today and thought I would share another area. If you follow my on Twitter, you would have seen a rougher version of the shot above. I have tightened it up a bit since then. And don't call him "Chief"!

This is Post #1569

The Blond Phantom

The Blond Phantom © Respective owner

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

I needed to take a break from penciling the even BIGGER commission and do something for this blog. But I didn't have any inspiration. So I crowd sourced it on Twitter, asking for suggestions. Sometimes you might feel like no one hears you in the din of social media, but wow I got some great suggestions immediately. Thanks everyone who tossed me suggestions! It was Little John's suggestion of the Blond Phantom that intrigued me today. I don't think I have ever drawn her and doing something noirish seemed like fun. And it was!

Keep watching, I may continue to use some of the use some of the suggestions over the next week or so.

Ink on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board.

This is Post #1568

Sketchbook Friday - Green Lantern

Green Lantern © DC Comics

I was up extra early today so here is an early morning warm up sketch that I colored in Photoshop. Below is the ink and marker version done on brown sketch paper.

This is Post #1567

Sketchbook Thursday - The Spirit

The Spirit © Will Eisner

Working on BIG commission and beginning to learn Sketch-Up today. This is a warm up sketch from this morning. Pencil in my sketchbook.

This is Post #1566

Sketchbook Wednesday - Bigby Wolf

Bigby Wolf © DC Comics

Artwork © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Just a doodle of everyone's favorite wolf from Fables. Done with a Tuscan Red Col-Erase pencil in my sketchbook.

Remember every wednesday, Joe Pekar and I post art on our 2-Point Perspective Blog. And since today is wednesday, check out this weeks theme of "Mermaids".

This is Post #1565

Sketchbook Tuesday - Deadlines & Commitments

Artwork © Gene Gonzales

A deadline was met today, a couple of others yesterday. And so at this moment, I have no work. (Cue the ominous organ music) This is how it goes sometimes when freelancing. Feast or famine. With any luck, the famine parts are short. :)

Still, I only had time to doodle a Rose and Thorn idea, just to get it out of my head. And I had enlisted Dakota to pose as Kara for the BIG commission. I was never happy with the original pose but kept it as a placeholder. This is more of a graceful pose than the first one. Oh and one of the nice things about no work is I have time to work on the BIG commission.

This is Post #1564

Sketchbook Monday - Bad Octopus

Art © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Just trying out some ideas today. This was done in my sketchbook during a few breaks in the day. It was a pretty full work day for me. Getting things done and out of the way. And I still need to put in some paperwork tonight though. End of the year and all that stuff. And finish reading a script.

You might notice at the top of this blog, there is now an "Art for Sale" tab. I have added another page to this blog to sale art. (Hence the tab naming). Right now I have two items listed on ebay. If you are interested in either piece, give the link a click and it will take you to the listing. I will be putting up more pieces for sale and/or auction over the next couple of weeks. We shall see how it goes. I haven't auctioned anything on ebay in a long time and not really sure how the response will be. Nothing ventured and all that.

This bad little octopus was done in my sketchbook with ink, Copic markers and white gel pen.

This is Post #1563

Happy New Year!

Artwork © 2012 Gene Gonzales

Happy New Year everyone! Thanks for all the support you have given me and this blog. I've said it before and it is still true...if you weren't here, I wouldn't be here. So let's start Year Five together now.

The piece above is a work in progress. Done in Tuscan Red Col-Erase Pencil on 9" x 12" Canson board.

This is Post #1562