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

Boots & Bulldog

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

This is just a quickie Photoshop piece I did today. I was inspired by a pair of boots my lovely wife bought recently. Below is the doodle from my sketchbook.

I will be getting back to the Conventionless Convention Sketches tomorrow. This has been a hell of a week on a few different fronts and I have had a hard time concentrating on getting things done. Going days will only a couple of 2-3 hour naps has taken it's toll. You would think with all that lack of sleep I would be really productive, but it's just the opposite. This weekend will be a busy one as I try to wrap up some stuff and do a digitally painted sample piece for a publisher due on Monday. But the CCS' will return tomorrow. I got a few more requests over this last week or so and I am excited to get to them. And the list is still open. :)

This is Post #1505

Elektra

Elektra © Marvel Entertainment

Back in the day, Elektra was a pretty popular sketch request at conventions. That's changed, at least for me. I can't remember the last time I drew her. But today I spent about an hour sketching and painting her in Photoshop. The process for this one differs from yesterday's Plastic Man post in that I didn't do any pencil roughs. I just started a digital doodle and ended up here. Rough and messy is how I would describe this piece. And it's subject for that matter.

Have a good weekend everyone!

This is Post #1412

Digital Sketchbook Wednesday - Supergirl

Supergirl © DC Comics

This one came to me in a dream. Almost. A few nights ago as I was drifting off to sleep I had this image of Supergirl flying. Mostly I saw her face almost exactly how I drew it above. I worked on that face for hours. Starting in my sketchbook, scanning that, redrawing it in Photoshop a few times on different layers till I got it where I wanted it.

The figure in my head was to be much larger. Her arms would be extending off the page, her body filling the board and her face being the focal point. But I modified that idea as I started to draw. The rest of the piece came to me as I was drawing it. Then I thought this would be a fun "variant" cover of Action Comics 285, buildings on each side of her, crowd cheering and Superman flying behind and to her left. Instead I went with her flying with birds. Egrets to be exact. I don't know if or when I will finish this, but I'm glad I got the idea down. And it spark other ideas.

While doing all this I thought of a couple of variant themes for comic covers. One being where you take the back up feature and make it the cover feature. Or take any cover and come up with a way to make it into a DC romance cover. I did a quick example below of the romance angle. It's a story where Matter-Eater Lad leaves the Legion. It new concept doesn't have to be a real scene from the story, just take the story and twist it a bit. Flopping the lead for this book would mean the Shadow Lass/Night Girl back up story would be on the cover. Fun idea?

Side note: This published cover actually did mix up the lead and back-up titles. "Last Fight for a Legionnaire" was the lead.

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes © DC Comics

This is Post #1410

Thursday, May 12, 2011 - (While Blogger was down)

Below is a reposting of the blog entry I did over at my website gonzoartstudio.com while Blogger was down. The idea of doing that was to preserve the daily posting of artwork. I'm moving it over here for continuity.

Looks like Blogger did what I was always afraid of...went down and left me in the lurch. One of the reasons I wanted to put my blog here is the never down nature of Squarespace. This post will be the absentee post for today on Blogger. Still maintaining my record of daily posts, just in a different place out of necessity.

Artwork © 2011 Gene Gonzales

I have been trying to find moments to work on my own projects each day. I only concentrate on one panel and only do one thing. Rough, or draw, or color. Never staying with it too long because of other work. So far this week it seems to be working for me. So I will try and stay with it. Looking at one panel at a time is not as daunting as looking at a whole page. The above image is a detail from my Moon Girl strip I am working on. I did the rough on paper and did the inks in Photoshop.

This is Post #1319

Santa Elf

Artwork © 2010 Gene Gonzales

Just one of Santa's helpers for today folks. I hope everyone has a good weekend!

This is Post #1154

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

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

Lil Timber Wolf & Guest Artist Dakota Gonzales

Timber Wolf © DC Comics

Still having fun with the Lil Heroes. They are something I can pick up and put down in between scanning and working. Today I wanted to try a Legionnaire. I know, big surprise. :)

Guest Artist of the Week

I thought I would try something different and special. As I may have mentioned, my daughter Dakota is an artist as well. Though her mother and I have encouraged her artistic endeavors from an early, early age, I have never given her any instruction. She is a self taught artist who specializes in digital painting. So with her permission I thought I would share something she finished last night. Done in Photoshop using a Wacom Tablet and her MacBook Pro laptop.

Artwork © 2010 Dakota Gonzales

This is Post #1100

Power Girl!

Power Girl © DC Comics

I still have Power Girl on the brain it seems. :) Thought I would post this before running down to the corner Starbucks to load up on a triple non-fat cappuccino - no whip. I have a VERY long night ahead of me.

(Yeah, I know that "WELL" probably should have had a question mark but I've already uploaded the art and I'm too busy to fix it right now. Need coffee!)  :)

This is Post #1097

Starfire

Starfire © DC Comics

While talking to my friend Tom, I asked him to come up with a few suggestions for the sketch today. He had a few good ideas but this character stood out. Many of you might not remember this Starfire. She did have her own short-lived book in the early 1970s drawn by Mike Vosburg. Fun stuff folks!

Above is the pencil sketch done on 11" x 17" bristol board. The bottom grays were done in Photoshop.

Starfire © DC Comics

This is Post #1054

Cloak and Dagger

 Cloak and Dagger © Marvel Entertainment

For this series I am trying to do characters that I don't normally get requests for but are fun to draw. I enjoyed the first  Cloak and Dagger series and loved Rick Leonardi's artwork. And I really liked the design of the characters. The tough part with this one was little Dagger and that costume. I downplayed it but I could have probably made the dagger shape of her costume white. Ah well, at least I didn't go all cheesecake with her pose. :) Below is the original line art before I got all wacky with Photoshop.

Cloak & Dagger © Marvel Entertaiment

Have a good weekend everyone.

This is Post #1052

Etrigan - The Demon

 Etrigan The Demon - © DC Comics

My friend Tom mentioned The Demon when he saw The Creeper from yesterday and I took off with that. The Demon lends itself easily to this kind of treatment. The top image is colored in Photoshop and the original line art is below.

Etrigan The Demon © DC Comics

I have two more of these cartoony versions of characters I want to do and then we will leave them for a while. Don't want to over stay the welcome. I will have to put the piece that features the entire Silver Age JLA in the drawer. There was just no time to finish it right now.

Have a good weekend everyone!

This is Post #1051

The Creeper!

The Creeper © DC Comics

Continuing what has become this weeks theme, I have done another little hero. This time the Creeper. He has been on my mind lately because I am reading the THE CREEPER hardcover collection that DC published not too long ago. I thought I had read most of the stories but it turns out I have only read a few. So far I have been amazed at how good the stories are. If you have even a little bit of interest in the Creeper, you might want to check out this collection.

Looking at the image now that it is done, I probably should have added some "HA! HA! HA!" to the background. :)

The top image was colored in Photoshop. And the line art below was done with Copic Multiliners on a sheet from a Canson Comic & Manga 9" x 12" Drawing Pad.

The Creeper © DC Comics

This is Post #1050

Martian Manhunter

Martian Manhunter © DC Comics

I was up a bit too early this morning. (Just an FYI, a bulldog pacing back and forth on hardwood floors sound like castanets at 4am). The plus side of getting up early is drawing early, so here is a warm up piece. After doing the Mxyzptlk and Batmite, I was still in a cartooning mood. I hope no one minds. The original line art is below.

Martian Manhunter © DC Comics

This is Post #1049

Worlds Funniest

 Mister Mxyzptlk & Bat Mite © DC Comics

Here is a quickie for this morning. This is my take on the mischievous imps. The line art was done in ink in a 9" x 12" Canson Comic & Manga Drawing Pad. Colors in Photoshop.

Mister Mxyzptlk & Bat Mite © DC Comics

This is Post #1048

Superman

Superman © DC Comics

Work, work, work today. Only time to sketch a Superman and play with some color in Photoshop. Very quickly done, so be kind. :)

This is Post #1047

Mary Marvel

I just couldn't help myself. After doing the Captain Marvel piece yesterday, I had to do a Mary Marvel companion. And yes they do fit together. :)

 Mary Marvel © DC Comics

Below is the line art I scanned and messed with in Photoshop. The line art was done on a sheet of 9" x 12" Canson Comic & Manga Drawing Paper.

Mary Marvel © DC Comics

Have a good weekend everyone!

This is Post #1044

Captain Marvel

I have an early post today. I am working on comic pages today and tomorrow and I felt the need to "stretch" those drawing muscles before digging in. Of course I got carried away and what was a 45 minute inked piece on the new 9" x 12" 150 lb Canson Comic & Manga paper, turned into a 90 minute color piece in Photoshop.

For this piece I wanted to make every color subdued with the exception of Captain Marvel. Maybe even a bit drab. But the good Captain? I wanted his colors bright. He is magic based and I thought the idea that even in the dirtiest, darkest battle, he is a bright beacon of good and to a degree, innocence. I did play around with the saturation of his colors. Dropping it down so he is not quite a bright and more balanced with the surroundings, but I didn't think it had as much of an impact.

Captain Marvel © DC Comics

Below is the original line art. The only Photoshop work done on it was adjusting the levels to get a nice solid and balanced black. This is normal procedure after scanning and cleaning up. I was right about the Canson paper I used for this and the piece yesterday in that a regular graphite pencil would work better than using a Col-Erase pencil. And the graphite erased cleanly. I didn't realize that the paper is a smooth finish and I usually use a vellum finish. The vellum having more tooth, or texture. Still the ink flowed nicely. No bleeding or fuzzy edges. Nice quality paper.

Captain Marvel © DC Comics

This is Post #1043

Black Widow

Black Widow © Marvel Entertainment

I listen to and watch a lot of podcasts while I work. Today I was doing some DC work and listening to Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcast. It was an older Q&A with the principles of IRON MAN 2. So I had Black Widow on my mind. I did a rough pencil sketch of the figure while working. Just the gesture really. When I quit for the day I brought it into Photoshop and just cut the shapes. Different? Yes. Cool? Maybe. Fun to do? Definitely.

I hope all of you had a good weekend!

This is Post #1025