Saturday, December 24, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Sketch - A - Day 080
So here's a character I made up called One-Foot-Skippy. Inked with a brush pen and little stuff with a micron. Enjoy.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Sketch-A-Day fun with the DCnU 077-079
With these, I think Firestorm is the most divergent take.
Firsetorm
It's funny how his costume is frequently referred to as "classic" and "goofy" in the same breath...and I agree with both. I opted to kind of remove the costume element, having him go shirtless and head-dress-less in order to emphasize his atomic chest symbol and flaming head. I see this atomic symbol as actual big electrons (if that makes sense) orbiting the nucleus on his chest...I think that imagery gets lost on the costume quite frequently. I also took away the head-dress because it always struck me as a chimney no matter how it was altered over the years.
Superman
Using his current armor idea, I decided to emphasize the seems with a darker blue and repeat the diamond shape throughout...a little cheesier than anticipated.
Wonder Girl
Pretty bland take on it. Just spinning off the current Wonder Woman look.
So there you go.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Turner Studios panel
A few weeks ago I was invited to speak on a panel at Turner Studios on the subject of creativity and technology. It was a great discussion and hopefully of interest to the crowd. The other panelists included, Stephen Villante Turner's Director of Creative Services, Barbara Griffin SVP Turner Image Management and Mark Runco PhD Torrance Professor at UGA and author. Art David, Turner's VP of Animation and Creative Services gave us an introduction and Laurie Baird director of technology partnerships for Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. was our moderator.
Everybody was really interesting, intelligent and funny. I hope it was good for the audience.
I don't know why my arms are always in motion, but it makes me look like I'm saying something important.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Sketch-A-Day fun with the DCnU 071-076
As promised, fun with the DCnU. As we all know DC is relaunching their books in September and there are lots of new costumes to go with the books. So I thought I would take a stab at the re-envisioning of the DCU. These all started with finger doodles on the track pad for the colors.
Aquaman and Superman were surprisingly tough. I think that I'll probably end up doing a few more of each.
071 - 076
Here are some slightly more refined drawings with the new looks.
Superman
Again, I thought this was surprisingly tough. I'm not sure if the belt works, so maybe I'll do a more "pants" variation utilizing some different shades of blue. I did read a response to some of Cory Walker's sketches that argues that pants, simply look like pants and not very heroic. I'm not certain about that, but it is an interesting point to make. I may experiment with the segmented armor-y look that we've seen in the previews.
Batman
I went with pants. You can see in the doodles it's intended to be all black, not two shades of gray and black. I think the idea of the solid gray body suit Batman or the solid black Batman (that we've seen in the movies) both work fine. However, I'm not sold on a sneaky guy like Batman clearly wearing clearly visible body armor...wouldn't he try to hide that fact? I think so. Not sure why I did the big black bat versus the yellow oval...I do like the yellow oval. Guess I'll do another one.
Aquaman
Tough. I like the classic look, I liked the harpoon-hand look, I like the Young Justice cartoon look, so coming up with something different from that was tough. I think the current trend to draw every single scale on Aquaman (or Captain America) is a little silly. To me drawing every single scale defeats the suspension of disbelief that this is some crazy material that a normal person like me could ever have access to...having said that, yes, I drew a lot of scales. My reason for doing so was to try and do something different with them - changing the size and frequency of the scales as they moved from head to waist. My preference would to do with a shark skin where the denticles (yes, I've read stuff) are implied more than rendered out all the time. The more defined fins on the gauntlets are in line with the shark motif as well. I swapped the green for blue since it is a compliment of orange, although I do prefer the more modern approach to rendering his shirt "gold" versus orange.
Black Canary
The big challenge there is how to keep the fishnets when you get rid of the fishnets, at least that's how I saw the challenge. It seemed to me that the new design integrated more padding/armor into the look, so I went with that. I even co-opted the thingees on her sides, which I think help emphasize a waist.
Martian Manhunter.
He has a lot of colors to deal with and I think that I should have eliminated one or two more...yellow and/or blue. I see a few more version of this in my future. I wanted to keep his harness, but do something slightly different with it, hence the over-the-cape harness. Not so sure about the wrist bands.
Hawkman
Here's another character who has had too many colors. Just get rid of the green pants and he's way more intimidating and looks more like a hawk. I'm also okay with wings that look like artificial wings. Mine are a nod to the glimpse we see of Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) in the Young Justice cartoon. I kept his helment orange because I love his helmet as is. I can see it brown though.
When you put Hawkman and Martian Manhunter together...as they ended up here...it makes you realize that something has to be done with someone's harness, 'cause it looks a little odd to have the two of them walking around with a big "x" on their chests when they are together (and not in an X-Book). I decided to give Hawkman a few armor-ish nuances to his harness, but again I wrestle with not demolishing the suspesion of disbelief - having this amazing peice of technology that looks so simple and is uncluttered.
In general, I found this to be trickier than I thought...I should probably pay more attention to Project Rooftop. To me, the reason we label so many of these characters iconic is because, well...they are iconic. They are simple and easy to visually digest. I saw a tweet from writer B. Clay Moore who says, "I think every superhero costume should be simple and bold enough for a ten year-old to draw from memory." I think that is genius and 100% true...actually, speaking from experience and now seeing my daughter do it, I would amend that to say even a four-year-old should be able to draw it from memory.
Thanks for looking. I'll try and do more soon.
Aquaman and Superman were surprisingly tough. I think that I'll probably end up doing a few more of each.
071 - 076
Here are some slightly more refined drawings with the new looks.Superman
Again, I thought this was surprisingly tough. I'm not sure if the belt works, so maybe I'll do a more "pants" variation utilizing some different shades of blue. I did read a response to some of Cory Walker's sketches that argues that pants, simply look like pants and not very heroic. I'm not certain about that, but it is an interesting point to make. I may experiment with the segmented armor-y look that we've seen in the previews.
Batman
I went with pants. You can see in the doodles it's intended to be all black, not two shades of gray and black. I think the idea of the solid gray body suit Batman or the solid black Batman (that we've seen in the movies) both work fine. However, I'm not sold on a sneaky guy like Batman clearly wearing clearly visible body armor...wouldn't he try to hide that fact? I think so. Not sure why I did the big black bat versus the yellow oval...I do like the yellow oval. Guess I'll do another one.
Aquaman
Tough. I like the classic look, I liked the harpoon-hand look, I like the Young Justice cartoon look, so coming up with something different from that was tough. I think the current trend to draw every single scale on Aquaman (or Captain America) is a little silly. To me drawing every single scale defeats the suspension of disbelief that this is some crazy material that a normal person like me could ever have access to...having said that, yes, I drew a lot of scales. My reason for doing so was to try and do something different with them - changing the size and frequency of the scales as they moved from head to waist. My preference would to do with a shark skin where the denticles (yes, I've read stuff) are implied more than rendered out all the time. The more defined fins on the gauntlets are in line with the shark motif as well. I swapped the green for blue since it is a compliment of orange, although I do prefer the more modern approach to rendering his shirt "gold" versus orange.
Black Canary
The big challenge there is how to keep the fishnets when you get rid of the fishnets, at least that's how I saw the challenge. It seemed to me that the new design integrated more padding/armor into the look, so I went with that. I even co-opted the thingees on her sides, which I think help emphasize a waist.
Martian Manhunter.
He has a lot of colors to deal with and I think that I should have eliminated one or two more...yellow and/or blue. I see a few more version of this in my future. I wanted to keep his harness, but do something slightly different with it, hence the over-the-cape harness. Not so sure about the wrist bands.
Hawkman
Here's another character who has had too many colors. Just get rid of the green pants and he's way more intimidating and looks more like a hawk. I'm also okay with wings that look like artificial wings. Mine are a nod to the glimpse we see of Hawkman (and Hawkgirl) in the Young Justice cartoon. I kept his helment orange because I love his helmet as is. I can see it brown though.
When you put Hawkman and Martian Manhunter together...as they ended up here...it makes you realize that something has to be done with someone's harness, 'cause it looks a little odd to have the two of them walking around with a big "x" on their chests when they are together (and not in an X-Book). I decided to give Hawkman a few armor-ish nuances to his harness, but again I wrestle with not demolishing the suspesion of disbelief - having this amazing peice of technology that looks so simple and is uncluttered.
In general, I found this to be trickier than I thought...I should probably pay more attention to Project Rooftop. To me, the reason we label so many of these characters iconic is because, well...they are iconic. They are simple and easy to visually digest. I saw a tweet from writer B. Clay Moore who says, "I think every superhero costume should be simple and bold enough for a ten year-old to draw from memory." I think that is genius and 100% true...actually, speaking from experience and now seeing my daughter do it, I would amend that to say even a four-year-old should be able to draw it from memory.
Thanks for looking. I'll try and do more soon.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sketch-A-Day? HA! 066 - 070
Okay, been a while, so here's a handful of sketches that were done a while back and only recently scanned.
066
Hawkgirl was penciled and inked on a train.
067
This one is part character development and look development...same with the 2 below.
068-069
070
Elric, clearly unfinished...drawn a while after Hawkgirl, but in essentially the same pose...damn you subconscious.
Next up...having fun with the DCnU.
066
Hawkgirl was penciled and inked on a train.067
This one is part character development and look development...same with the 2 below.068-069
070
Elric, clearly unfinished...drawn a while after Hawkgirl, but in essentially the same pose...damn you subconscious.Next up...having fun with the DCnU.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Heores Con...I'm not going, buuut...
You can meet the future of comics at their own tables or at the Temple of Cartoon Mojo booth #228
Lily Cho
Wook-Jin Hunter Clark
Jeremy Cropp
Max Currie
Brandon S. Davis
Thaddeus Draheim
Jerell Drakes
Elizabeth (Liz) Enright
Clayton Forrister
Erin Gladstone
Maria Gomez
Ali Henderson
Robin Holstein
Jacob Hunt
Russell Jennings
Susan Kang
D.J. Kirkland
Falynn Koch
Michael Lavelle
Melody Ledford
Jackie Lewis
Elicia Mitchem
Audrey Morris
Rachel Ochoa
Nick Palmer
Brian Prince
Gabriela Santelices
Arielle Smith
Andre Joshua Smith
Chani Stanley
Irene Strychalski
Lisa Tolbert
Billy Wright
Jeffrey Yu
Carlos Nicolas Zamudio
Cara McGee
Remmington Veteto
Dominke Stanton
Follow 'em on the Twitter:
Check the Temple of Cartoon Mojo blog for blog addresses too!
...and of course the current comics rock stars Shawn Crystal, Nolan Woodard, Chris Schweizer and Doug Dabbs!
Lily Cho
Wook-Jin Hunter Clark
Jeremy Cropp
Max Currie
Brandon S. Davis
Thaddeus Draheim
Jerell Drakes
Elizabeth (Liz) Enright
Clayton Forrister
Erin Gladstone
Maria Gomez
Ali Henderson
Robin Holstein
Jacob Hunt
Russell Jennings
Susan Kang
D.J. Kirkland
Falynn Koch
Michael Lavelle
Melody Ledford
Jackie Lewis
Elicia Mitchem
Audrey Morris
Rachel Ochoa
Nick Palmer
Brian Prince
Gabriela Santelices
Arielle Smith
Andre Joshua Smith
Chani Stanley
Irene Strychalski
Lisa Tolbert
Billy Wright
Jeffrey Yu
Carlos Nicolas Zamudio
Cara McGee
Remmington Veteto
Dominke Stanton
Follow 'em on the Twitter:
xvortexbladex - jeff yu
DrillDrakes- jerell drakes
eglads - erin gladstone
ackimakescomics - jackie
audrey_woah - audrey
ohcararara - cara
ApollosFoxhunt - rachel ochoa
...and of course the current comics rock stars Shawn Crystal, Nolan Woodard, Chris Schweizer and Doug Dabbs!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Sketch-a-day? catching up? 039 - 064
Trying to catch up...no particular order...have mercy...
039 - 046
Above I got the not-so-wise idea that I should do 5 minute sketches to try and catch-up. Yeah...less than awesome. The Mary Marvel(s) I did will sitting outside Starbucks with my daughter, drinking our frappucinos and each drawing in our sketchbooks...say it with me, "awwwww."047-052
The first 2 on this page were done while lying on the basement floor with Ali. Next 4 are the first in the 5 min. drawing debacle.
053 - 062
Yeah, that's Rapunzel with the neck she would really need...as if it's all based in reality to begin with. White Goodman likes it.063
064
The above 3 were exercise-ish things to try different rendering techniques.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Studio tour
Okay, so been a while...I'm clearly a little behind on updating the Sketch-a-Day portion of this blog. In the meantime, here's a little studio tour. It's still a work in progress, but it's coming together. Thankfully, my wife Pilar is awesome and has let me consume a portion of the basement for this.
Above is the general layout. Yes, two recliners right there in the foreground. If you were to turn around 180 degrees there's a table, shelves, etc. for the kids.
Here's a closer look at the drawling area. Supplies are nearby and the table is an old architect's table with a hydraulic pedestal base. John Lowe found 4 of these tables his first week in Savannah way back in 2000, so a bunch of us got 'em for like $50 each if I recall correctly. The bar was left by the previous owners...the booze was put there by us.
Action figures, shelves, copier/scanner/printer, big printer, pin-up board and pen holder. I stole the basic pen holder idea from Chris Schweizer, but modified it to work better for me. Only downfall is that I'm a righty and have to reach lefty for the pens and brushes. Ah well.
To the right of the table, the bar is stocked with reference books, sktechbooks, boxes of old pages, and kitchen stuff that doesn't have any other home. I think you can see Kalibaks' feet on the bar top.
Here's closer glimpse at the "reading room" portion of the space. Shelving thanks to Borders. I've left a couple shelves for the kids, one row dedicated to books by my peeps and obviously the drawers are stocked with additional comics. Sadly, there's still about 30 comic boxes and a bazillion action figures in our storage area. They'll be out someday...someday...
Above is the general layout. Yes, two recliners right there in the foreground. If you were to turn around 180 degrees there's a table, shelves, etc. for the kids.
Here's a closer look at the drawling area. Supplies are nearby and the table is an old architect's table with a hydraulic pedestal base. John Lowe found 4 of these tables his first week in Savannah way back in 2000, so a bunch of us got 'em for like $50 each if I recall correctly. The bar was left by the previous owners...the booze was put there by us.
Action figures, shelves, copier/scanner/printer, big printer, pin-up board and pen holder. I stole the basic pen holder idea from Chris Schweizer, but modified it to work better for me. Only downfall is that I'm a righty and have to reach lefty for the pens and brushes. Ah well.
To the right of the table, the bar is stocked with reference books, sktechbooks, boxes of old pages, and kitchen stuff that doesn't have any other home. I think you can see Kalibaks' feet on the bar top.
Here's closer glimpse at the "reading room" portion of the space. Shelving thanks to Borders. I've left a couple shelves for the kids, one row dedicated to books by my peeps and obviously the drawers are stocked with additional comics. Sadly, there's still about 30 comic boxes and a bazillion action figures in our storage area. They'll be out someday...someday...
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sketch-a-day 028 - 038
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Sketch-a-day-update! 018 - 027
018 - 021
More sketches from the train...yes, counting all 4.
022
Inspired by Jerome Opena's work on Uncanny X-Force...so much rendering is so time consuming! That guy is blowing the curve!!! Not very happy with the wrinkles here....
023
more of that...
024-027
These 4....yes, counting all 4,...were just something for fun, comparing the side-kicks with their bosses as they currently appear.
More sketches from the train...yes, counting all 4.
022
Inspired by Jerome Opena's work on Uncanny X-Force...so much rendering is so time consuming! That guy is blowing the curve!!! Not very happy with the wrinkles here....023
more of that...
024-027
These 4....yes, counting all 4,...were just something for fun, comparing the side-kicks with their bosses as they currently appear.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Mystery pages
...okay, so not so much of a mystery since the title is written right on 'em..First 4 pages of a #1 issue that never saw print. Done for the previous owners of the Chaos! characters (not the current owners Dynamite) intended to be published through DDP. Cool script by Dan Jolley.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Blast from the Past - Phantom #7 pencils - the pages right before
Just wanted to get these in there too...so if you scroll down, these pages will be in sequence with the post below.
Blast from the Past - Phantom #7 pencils
These are the pencils that I did for Moonstone's Phantom #7. Fun story written by Ben Raab, which gave me the opportunity to design the return of the Aviatrix villain(s) to the Phantom lore. These were all drawn at about printed comic size, then scanned and sent off.
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