Hela - Rough

One of the commissions I am working on is Hela on Canson Paper. In doing a Canson piece, I have to have the drawing down as tight as possible when I transfer to the Canson Paper in order to avoid excessive erasing. The paper just cannot handle it. This is especially important when I am drawing a character like Hela with tons, and tons of costume detail. Oy!

I did one little sketch on a post-it, scanned it and digitally roughed out the actual figure. Printed it out on tabloid size paper at 30% black. Then I start drawing the costume right on that. And I repositioned her arm as well. It's almost done for this stage. Tomorrow I will transfer and finish it.

Sketch Card samples

Today I thought I would share some sample art. I did these to submit to a card publisher who is putting together artists for a new set of Marvel sketch cards. I know that if I get the gig I would not be able to show any until the sets are released, but since these will never be used, I'm guessing it's safe to show. I had inked a total of 6 but I felt these four were the strongest. And the publisher asked for 3 or 4 images so this covers it.

All four images are done in ink and fluid acrylics. And each image is 2.5" x 3.5" on Strathmore Bristol Board.

Jocasta!

I started reading the Avengers around the time Jocasta was introduced. She was brought to the page by writer Jim Shooter and artist George Perez in 1977. Funny, but I believe that 14 year old that bought that issue of Avengers off the spinner rack would have been surprised to know that in his future he would work with Jim and have wonderful conversations with George at conventions, the latest conversation being at the Mini-MegaCon last weekend. Forget about telling that 14 year old that he would go to dinner with George and a few other comic creators after a convention in Baltimore! His head would have exploded. :)

This Jocasta piece was commissioned by Alex and is the second of four pieces coming up. This was done with ink on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board. Thanks again Alex!

Marvel Girl!

This one has been tucked away for a week. It was commissioned by Patman for his buddy Pat as a birthday gift. I was informed that the gift was given and I am in the clear to share this now. Patman had the idea of Marvel Girl with Phoenix's face in flames in the background. The background as a hint of Jean Grey's future. Even the pose for Marvel Girl was his suggestion. The bird-like pose reinforces the eventual change from Marvel Girl to Phoenix. Though Patman may not have meant it, I found the pose to have almost a crucifixion feel to it. Which would relate to Jean's sacrifice of her own life to save her loved ones. Hey, who says that these pieces can't have deep undertones? : )

Thanks again to Patman for this commission. And I hope that Pat likes it.

Daredevil

Not much today folks. Got busy on several fronts. So it's just a little marker sketch that I added some color to in Photoshop. Should have a Jocasta commission done for tomorrow! :)

Hawkman!

Today we have the first of four commissions for Alex, Hawkman about to bop someone on the head with a big, heavy mace. :) This is ink on 11" x 17" Strathmore Bristol Board. Thanks to Alex for this commission!

Catwoman and Dominique

This new Canson Cutie was done for Bill. Bill wanted something along the same lines of some other Catwoman pieces I have done, in that she is in the middle of a crime. Adding the safe, the cat, the mirror and Batman was me having fun. This was done in mixed media on 11" x 17" Canson Mi-Teintes Paper. Thanks again Bill!

And this one is from the flat files. Since buying a scanner that can handle tabloid size paper, I have been scanning old artwork that was never properly scanned. This one is from 1994.

Back when I was doing the art for DOMINIQUE for Caliber Comics I did this piece hoping we might use it for a cover. It was never published. Seems the piece didn't impress enough to be used, but I always liked it. This was one of my earliest attempts at painting with acrylics and as such it's a bit heavy handed.

Deena worked with someone who owned a Harley and we went over to have her pose on it. I took a ton of shots that day, and this was before digital cameras so you can imagine what that cost to develop. Or maybe not, if you are not that old. :) Then finding the right shot I started on the painting. Some adjustments had to be done in order to make Deena into Dominique, but not too much. I used Deena as my model for Dominique for the interior pages too. So this is just a semi-blast from the past that I just thought I would share.