State of the Art

Live Art: Zeus Comics

2011-12-12T09:42:00.001-06:00

Little distorted by the angle of the photo, but here's what I churned out for Zeus comic's live art show benefiting a local women's shelter.

Sketching 01

2011-12-05T00:00:00.000-06:00

Some sketching for a possible gig.

Character Process

2011-12-02T01:08:00.001-06:00

Character process for... a thing....

Invincible Redesign Final

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

And the colors for the final submission to Project Rooftop's Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue redesign contest. A couple of the costumes I worked up for Mark worked a little better for his father and brother, so I threw them in there. I also couldn't help but do a super swift and light redesign of Allen the Alien... because I love Allen. And you should too. Hope you guys like!

Invincible Redesign B&W

2011-11-28T00:00:00.001-06:00

Inks for my submission to the Invincible: Viltrumite Vogue redesign contect over at Project Rooftop. It's being judged by Ryan Ottley and Cory Walker, how sweet is that? Pretty sweet, I say!

Commissions for the Holidays

2011-11-25T15:50:00.001-06:00

Hey all, want to commission some art for the holidays? Check out my commission prices and drop me a message.

Commission prices:
$30- B&W, single character ($10 for each additional character) No BG
$40- B&W single character, with BG
$50- Full color, single character, no BG.
$60-Full color, single character, BG

Storm

2011-11-18T00:00:00.000-06:00

Sooo, I decided to color another one of those B&W commissions. Next week, some new pieces I think. Yes....

Invincible Redesign Process

2011-11-17T00:00:00.000-06:00

So I'm working on designs for the Project Rooftop: Viltrumite Vogue contest. I've been a huge fan of Invincible ever since I picked up the first hardcover on a whim several years ago so this contest was right up my alley.Redesigning Mark's costume is something of a trick, since it was so well designed in the first place. Keeping a simple superhero aesthetic simple, while still making it look fresh and nuanced is a tough tightrope to walk. Not quite a dozen designs here, ranging from space-man to Kirby to Best Buy salesman. Towards the end I realized that I wasn't so much designing for Mark anymore as I was for his father, as sometimes happens with design, occasionally you drift off topic. Most of this was about finding good shapes and refining them. I've decided which piece I'm going to develop into the final, but for now, you'll have to make due with the prelims. Until next time!

Honey Badger Color

2011-11-16T00:00:00.001-06:00

And I colored it. I wasn't asked to per se, but y'know, sometimes these things get away from you.

Honey Badger B&W

2011-11-15T00:00:00.000-06:00

Another commission for the Ideology of Madness crew, this time of the villain Honey Badger from their Knights of Reignsborough actual play series.

Portrait

2011-11-14T00:00:00.000-06:00

Another portrait, this time of my special Lady. She asked to be drawn in a bug suit, and how could I resist that? And oh yes, that pose is 100% her. You see why I'm with the Lady.

Devil Dinosaur Final

2011-11-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

Finished piece intended for the DC Fifty-too Blog (now Marvel-Too) This one of a mock Devil Dinosaur series pitting DD against his traditional companion, Moon Boy. Here's the flavor text:

On a world whole realities away from our own, Moon Boy rescues a dying lizard from the molten flames of a scorched landscape. Eight years later the beast has grown in size and hunger. It has become more than beast. It has become a devil. And the tribe of Small Folk now worship it as a god. Moon Boy must now defend his family from the very creature he once sought to save. But how can he triumph against the most deadly monster his world has ever seen. The devil is strong. The devil is ready. It is the Valley God, the Lacertilian King. It is Devil Dinosaur: Imperious Rex.

International Self-Portrait Day 2011

2011-11-10T00:00:00.000-06:00

I don't often work totally realistic or only in pencil, but for national self-portrait day it seemed appropriate

Devil Dinosaur B&W

2011-11-09T00:00:00.000-06:00

This piece was done for the Marvel Too blog, an outgrowth of the DC Fifty Too blog. Took for damn ever to ink.

Commission: Storm (Morlock version)

2011-11-08T00:00:00.000-06:00

A commission done for the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Aron Head over at Ideology of Madness. He's starting a commission series of comic characters enjoying a cigar and/or tasty adult beverage. As the first commission on this series I felt I needed to set the bar high. A fancy trick of sketch books and commission series is making the first few in the series very high end commissions. This works particularly well in a sketch book scenario. The next artist in line picks up the book and before starting typically takes a look through. The better the art previous the more subconscious pressure there is to make the next piece meet the rest in terms of quality. Yes, this is a subtle, horrible way to play on an artist's natural self-loathing, but it works. If it were me getting the commission, I'd do it, and being the first in a series I'm happy to set the bar as high as I can for everybody else. Good business practice: when a good customer comes your way (and Aron is absolutely the model case for "good customer") treat them right.

Alita

2011-11-07T00:30:00.000-06:00

This is an older piece, an anniversary gift for my Lady. I wanted to color it, but no matter what I tried it never quite went where I wanted it to. Maybe I'll revisit it later.

Portal Commission

2011-11-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Portal 2 commission for a friend. She's a cosplayer and the context for this image was actually taken from a fan film she put together for a Valve competition. Check the video out here. Yes, that is her as Chell, and yes, she made that companion cube herself.

24 Hr Comic 24

2011-11-03T00:26:00.000-05:00

At last! The end!

24 Hr Comic 23

2011-11-02T00:25:00.000-05:00

And it comes full circle.

24 Hr Comic 22

2011-11-01T00:23:00.000-05:00

Trick from the playbook of "things I used to draw a lot in high school". You can never go wrong with a mushroom cloud splash page.

24 Hr Comic 21

2011-10-29T00:23:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 20

2011-10-28T00:22:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 19

2011-10-27T00:21:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 18

2011-10-26T00:21:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 16-17

2011-10-25T00:18:00.000-05:00

Probably my favorite page(s) of the bunch.

24 Hr Comic 15

2011-10-22T00:17:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 14

2011-10-21T00:15:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 13

2011-10-20T00:15:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 12

2011-10-19T00:14:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 11

2011-10-18T00:13:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 10

2011-10-15T00:13:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 09

2011-10-14T00:12:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 08

2011-10-13T00:10:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 06-07

2011-10-12T00:10:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 05

2011-10-11T00:09:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 04

2011-10-08T00:08:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 03

2011-10-07T00:07:00.000-05:00

24 Hr Comic 02

2011-10-06T00:07:00.000-05:00

DC Fifty Too: Prez #1

2011-10-05T00:31:00.002-05:00

I participated recently in the DC Fifty Too blog. Here was my take on a possiblePrez #1 cover. Colors and title design by studio mate Paul Milligan.

DC Fifty Too: Weird War Tales #1

2011-10-05T00:29:00.002-05:00

I participated recently in the DC Fifty Too blog. Here was my take on a possible Weird War Tales #1 cover.

24 Hr Comic 01

2011-10-05T00:06:00.001-05:00

So for the rest of this month I'll be posting pages from the comic I put together for 2010's 24 hr comic book day. Yes, the entire 24 pages I'll be posting were in fact completed (penciled, inked, gray scaled and lettered) in a 24hr period (20 actually, who's counting?). Anyway, on with the show!

War Goddess #0 Retailer Cover

2011-08-07T10:21:00.005-05:00

Retailer variant cover for Avatar Press's War Goddess #0, in stores now!

Trekkers

2011-07-24T16:41:00.001-05:00

Quick sketch of some Star Trek related fun stuff. Ferengi are interesting to draw.

On Deck 01

2011-07-20T19:53:00.003-05:00

So I'm going to make a concerted effort, now that we're in the "new beginning" phase of this blog, to update as close to daily as I can. To that end, here's what's currently "on deck" for the next week or two of my arting. We've got the previously shown commission (now in progress on a board), an X-Men Danger Room pin-up, a(hard to see) Transmetropolitan pin-up, and yes, a new page for my webcomic! Lots to do lots to do.

Portal Commission: Prelim

2011-07-19T21:14:00.003-05:00

WIP of a portal commission for a friend. It's a pretty specific reference to a fan video she and others put together for a Valve competition. I post the second bit of business there to show my compositional guideposts. I don't always use the golden spiral and when I do I don't always use it exactly, but for basic balance it's a great tool. Here I sketched the base image and then overlayed the spiral just to tweak and nudge things into the right orientation to guide the viewer through the image. Anyway, more of this piece as the week moves on. TTFN.

New beginning....

2011-07-18T20:07:00.004-05:00

So, through a series of really unfortunate events, I accidentally deleted all the art that was previously in this blog. It's sad, but I take it as a new beginning. Let's start a new chapter in this blog. Fresh. A clean slate. I'll start by saying that I'm opening up commissions again this week, and stay tuned for details on that. Secondly, check out the new art! One piece is a commission for a co-worker and his fiancee who wanted to be rendered as a comic book couple, and the other is a group shot of all the characters in Ideology of Madness's Knights of Reignsborough series. Both are examples of color commissions, so if you like what you see and would like some of your own, let me know!