Stormy Weather - Commissions

I just finished the second of these two commissions and got the "okay" to share here. Joe has had me do color sketches inside various hardcover comic collections before and I have shared them here in the past. Well, here are two new ones. I took digital photos of these because I didn't want to damage the spine of the books trying to force them down on my scanner. I also believe this is the first time I have drawn across the spine, making the image bigger. I hope Joe doesn't mind!

First up is a leather clad Storm drawn in the X-MEN MUTANT MASSACRE hard cover collection.

Then we have the hammer wielding Storm from the X-MEN THE ASGARDIAN WARS hardcover collection.

Though these both have colored paper to work on in the inside covers, they are not art papers, so sometimes working on them can be tricky. They have almost no texture and they want to suck up certain inks. So if the paper is too dark, it's hard to get a black line. But after doing several of these I have learned a few tricks and I think these came out pretty nice. Thanks again to Joe for these commissions and the permission to share them here.

Both images were done in mixed media including color pencil, black ink, white ink and white fluid acrylics.

This is Post #943

HeroesCon 2010 - Advance Sketch List

It's that time again. HeroesCon starts in 4 weeks and since I am already getting emails about my sketch list, I figure it's a good time to open it up .

Art and prices:

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

Canson color 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. I may ask for reference if I don't know the character or 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. There is a good chance that I will try to start them before the show. So if you are interested in a Canson color piece let me know as soon as possible so I can get the right color paper if I don't already have it.

Payment:

• PayPal - This time around I am accepting payment in advance. I understand that carrying around a lot of cash at a show can be difficult, and every show I get a request or two to pay with PayPal. So, if you want to pay in advance, that is fine. Contact me with your request first and I will give you my PayPal account information.
• Cash - If you would rather pay cash at the show, I am perfectly fine with that. You can pay for the art when you pick it up. I do request that if you are on my list and are not going to make it, please let me know as soon as you can.
• PayPal at the show - I can accept credit cards at the show if you have a mobile device that allows you to do PayPal payments. (Smart phone, laptop, etc) Someone did this at another show and it worked out quite smoothly. So this is an option as well.

An advantage to getting on the list early gives me some time to think about your request(s), bounce ideas around in my head and maybe even doodle ideas in my sketchbook. I doubt I will get any pieces completed before the show. My workload is pretty heavy and I do have three commissions that need to be done before HeroesCon.

To get on the list or if you have any questions, please contact me at gene_gonzales@mac.com.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the show!

This is Post #942

Sketchbook Wednesday - Wipeout!

Our island friends are back for the first time since New Years Day. Just a little doodle from my sketchbook with some Photoshop colors.

This is Post #941

Sketchbook Tuesday - Manhunter

While searching searching for some of the Dalgoda books that I know are still somewhere in the garage, I came across some books that didn't get sold off with the rest of my collection. The only reason why they didn't get sold off is they didn't fit in my Xterra. :) I may revisit these characters here just for fun, much like I did yesterday with the Dalgoda sketches. Today we have Manhunter. I remember picking up the copies of Detective Comics at the newsstand that the Manhunter back up series first appeared in. I thought it was pretty cool, but when he teamed up with Batman in the final story, that really was great! I won't spoil the ending of a comic run that is over 30 years old, but I will say if you come across any of the collections, check it out. Manhunter was created by Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson and was based off the golden age character by the same name.

This is Post #940

Sketchbook Monday - DALGODA & crew

A couple of weeks ago I bought two pages of original art from one of my favorite comic series, DALGODA, written by Jan Strnad and art by the incredibly talented Dennis Fujitake. DALGODA was the title character, a canine like alien, who comes to Earth asking for help to save his race from another alien race. The book had drama, humor, adventures on Earth, political intrigue, space adventure and so on. And in issue #4, Dal ends up on a south pacific island, surrounded by island girls. What more could you want? This is my poor attempt to draw the main characters, Dal, Gunner and Posey. This was done in my sketchbook.

This is Post #939

Sketchbook Sunday - Low Rise

Just another sketchbook Sunday. I did take a break to go to the Rays game today (They won!). I had to skip a game during the last week because I couldn't get away so early in the project I am working on. But today I even managed to catch a ball when Kansas City was on the field warming up. And I managed to get Rays pitcher Matt Garza to sign it, along with one of the relief pitchers. All in all it was a good day at Tropicana Field. But I am now paying for that time off.

This is Post #938

Sketchbook Saturday

Another sketchbook page today folks. Just some faces I drew this afternoon. I took a break and took Deena to the beach for a about an hour and a half. It was nice just to decompress a bit. Then came back and got to work again. :)

This is Post #937