Update (3/2/14) Inks WIP
Inks done!
And finished with Copics.
Showing posts with label dc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dc. Show all posts
Monday, February 24, 2014
Harley Quinn commission in progress
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Holy SHIT! Something new!!!
Yeah, I'm fucking awful. I know it. I don't post anything for AGES, and just when you think I've fallen off the face of the planet...
Both will be available at my table at ECCC 2014, along with a whole lot of other stuff. =)
Monday, June 17, 2013
Why Wonder Woman is a Mess, and Why You Most Likely Have No Room to Bitch...
When you work in two comic book stores for a living, you get asked some questions that can be pretty hard to answer. Being a bit of a (read "bit of a" as "giant fucking") comic nerd all my life, I've plumbed the depths of my knowledge base to come up with answers to those tough questions. One of the ones that I get asked on the regular is, "What the hell is the deal with Wonder Woman?"
On it's face, this seems like it should be pretty easy, right? I mean, WW is one of the three pillars upon which the DCU stands on, is she not? Superman is pretty damn straightforward. Truth, justice, the American Way, got it. Everyone knows Batman. Dark Knight Detective, murdered parents, avenger of the night, got it. What's so different about Wonder Woman?
In a nutshell - she doesn't HAVE a core origin or motivation. Nobody knows what the hell she's about. She's been rebooted and retconned with the frequency that most of us change socks. If you ask 10 different comic fans what the deal with WW is, you will get 9 different answers, entirely depending which run the person was a fan of.
Are you into Marston's original bondage girl Amazon princess who was also the secretary of the JSA and worked as an Army nurse? Does your WW go completely powerless when she's bound by her own lasso? How about Kanigher's inclusion of the Gods? Or perhaps the Mod spy stories of the late 60's or 70's is your vibe with Diana all dressed up in white and running a "hip" boutique while dishing out street justice entirely powerless? Was she the one made of clay or was she born mortal? Maybe you got into WW post-Crisis, so the Perez run is your template, where they introduced Themyscira, and all the craziness involving Ares and the Greek Pantheon, where Diana was essentially a female Superman in terms of powers. Before that, she relied on her artifacts and sweet, sweet invisible jet. Maybe you preferred Artemis as WW instead of Diana. Some people actually liked the Straczynski temporary revamp starting in WW 600. Maybe you jumped onto WW at the New 52, because you were too damned confused with her dozen other origins, and wanted a fresh start.
Now if you can sort a core origin out of that mess, you're better than I, and I do this for a living.
Perhaps a better question to ask in light of all this is, "Why is Wonder Woman such a mess?"
Now the answer to THAT question, my friends, is simple. The answer is SALES. Wonder Woman has never been a hot bestseller for DC, regardless of the character's longevity. Right now she sells less than 40,000 copies a month, and that's NOT good. Sadly, the sales figures for her standalone title going back nearly 20 years show typical sales being between 25,000 & 50,000 copies a month. Ten years prior, less than 20k. In the 60's, she sold worse than Challengers of the Unknown.
In contrast, Batman typically sells about 150k per month right now, for JUST the core "Batman" title, not including Detective, Legends of the Dark Knight, etc, etc. What it really comes down to for the reason that WW is SO incredibly mercurial, is that creative teams have been desperately trying to throw shit at the wall for decades, over and over, in the hope that the new incarnation will stick. For the most part, none really have, although the Perez version is basically the baseline for what we think of her these days.
So tell me, which Wonder Woman is yours, that you will defend with your rancor and rage? Regardless of the answer, I will simply reply, "Well, you should have bought more copies when that version was in the comics then."
On it's face, this seems like it should be pretty easy, right? I mean, WW is one of the three pillars upon which the DCU stands on, is she not? Superman is pretty damn straightforward. Truth, justice, the American Way, got it. Everyone knows Batman. Dark Knight Detective, murdered parents, avenger of the night, got it. What's so different about Wonder Woman?
In a nutshell - she doesn't HAVE a core origin or motivation. Nobody knows what the hell she's about. She's been rebooted and retconned with the frequency that most of us change socks. If you ask 10 different comic fans what the deal with WW is, you will get 9 different answers, entirely depending which run the person was a fan of.
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| Diana does not react well to constant reboots. |
Are you into Marston's original bondage girl Amazon princess who was also the secretary of the JSA and worked as an Army nurse? Does your WW go completely powerless when she's bound by her own lasso? How about Kanigher's inclusion of the Gods? Or perhaps the Mod spy stories of the late 60's or 70's is your vibe with Diana all dressed up in white and running a "hip" boutique while dishing out street justice entirely powerless? Was she the one made of clay or was she born mortal? Maybe you got into WW post-Crisis, so the Perez run is your template, where they introduced Themyscira, and all the craziness involving Ares and the Greek Pantheon, where Diana was essentially a female Superman in terms of powers. Before that, she relied on her artifacts and sweet, sweet invisible jet. Maybe you preferred Artemis as WW instead of Diana. Some people actually liked the Straczynski temporary revamp starting in WW 600. Maybe you jumped onto WW at the New 52, because you were too damned confused with her dozen other origins, and wanted a fresh start.
Now if you can sort a core origin out of that mess, you're better than I, and I do this for a living.
Perhaps a better question to ask in light of all this is, "Why is Wonder Woman such a mess?"
Now the answer to THAT question, my friends, is simple. The answer is SALES. Wonder Woman has never been a hot bestseller for DC, regardless of the character's longevity. Right now she sells less than 40,000 copies a month, and that's NOT good. Sadly, the sales figures for her standalone title going back nearly 20 years show typical sales being between 25,000 & 50,000 copies a month. Ten years prior, less than 20k. In the 60's, she sold worse than Challengers of the Unknown.
In contrast, Batman typically sells about 150k per month right now, for JUST the core "Batman" title, not including Detective, Legends of the Dark Knight, etc, etc. What it really comes down to for the reason that WW is SO incredibly mercurial, is that creative teams have been desperately trying to throw shit at the wall for decades, over and over, in the hope that the new incarnation will stick. For the most part, none really have, although the Perez version is basically the baseline for what we think of her these days.
So tell me, which Wonder Woman is yours, that you will defend with your rancor and rage? Regardless of the answer, I will simply reply, "Well, you should have bought more copies when that version was in the comics then."
Thursday, August 30, 2012
My first new anything in a looong while. Took me a few days on and off, as I was feeling up to it. Wearing the wrist brace all the time seems to have helped a bit with the carpal tunnel and the new med is doing nicely to filter out a lot of the white noise in my nervous system. Still not fixed yet though, but working on it. =)
Didn't want to bugger up a paid piece in my long suffering to-do list, so this is up for grabs. Drop me a message if you're interested in this piece adorning a wall near you! Papa's been out of commission for a while and needs to start a Cintiq fund. ;)
There's some rough pencils and ballpoint under there, finished with Copic multiliner & sketch markers. Highlights with gel pen. 9"x12"
Didn't want to bugger up a paid piece in my long suffering to-do list, so this is up for grabs. Drop me a message if you're interested in this piece adorning a wall near you! Papa's been out of commission for a while and needs to start a Cintiq fund. ;)
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| "Recovery time makes Batman angry! Then again, so does pretty much everything else..." |
There's some rough pencils and ballpoint under there, finished with Copic multiliner & sketch markers. Highlights with gel pen. 9"x12"
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Sketch o' the Day - Sinestro Corps Iron Man!
I really like mashups. I'm not even really sure what it was that brought me in this direction, but I thought it was pretty cool. Sometimes with these sketches, I just sit down and let the drawing take me where it wants to go.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Sketch o' the Day - End of week wrapup 4/17/12
Knocked out a few more this week, usually on impromptu requests, or based on something that inspired me at the time. Enjoy! =)
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| Barry Allen Flash |
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| Doc Manhattan in mid-teleport |
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| Red Lantern Hal Jordan |
Monday, April 2, 2012
Sketches o' the Day, ECCC 2012 Wrap-up edition
Inspired & recharged by ECCC! I was introduced to Bill Sienkiewicz by a mutual friend, and was definitely a bit starstruck! Such an incredibly nice dude.
I wound up getting an impromptu sketchbook review, critique and encouragement from Philip Tan, which was an experience nothing short of awesome. How often do you get a chance to have your work reviewed by someone of that caliber? I have a lot of work to do, but I most definitely plan on taking his advice to heart.
I finally had an opportunity to talk with Darick Robertson again this year. Several years ago, I happened upon Darick at ECCC '06 at a moment when there wasn't any line at his table. This was when I was still unable to do my artwork, and I was slowly dying inside, working at a call center job doing collections. I was in an incredibly low spot in my life, even if I didn't necessarily let it on, but I'm sure everyone around me could feel it - especially my loved ones. The tension around me was almost palpable. I was in pain almost all the time, and every day only served to remind me of how I wasn't ever going to be right again. I loved Comicon, but it was also a painful reminder of unfulfilled dreams. Darick took the time to listen to my story, and we wound up talking for a little over a half hour. He gave me encouragement and told me not to give up, and that was my first step back on the path to being an artist again. He did a sketch for me while we were talking, of Spider Jerusalem flipping the bird to the world, and that almost personified my inspiration. I had the sketch tattooed on my chest, and it has become my best foot forward ever since, a secret "fuck you" to the world that told me that I needed to conform, that I could never draw again, or walk right, or be free of daily pain.
It was three years from then before I could actively draw again, and that first drawing took me nearly 6 months to finish. Since then I've been published in 2 books and a magazine, and things are definitely looking up. I finally was able to let him know how much his time and his words meant to me, and thank him for being such an inspiration. He passed along some more sage advice, which is now burned into my mind - Don't worry about what other people are doing. Don't compare yourself to them. There are always going to be people out there that are better that you, and worse than you. That's irrelevant. The important thing is that you find your own voice and do what YOU want to do.
Nervously, I presented him a Nightwing piece which I had done a couple nights prior at the ECCC kickoff dinner & finished up at home afterwards, as a token of my gratitude. He told me that he thought the piece was really good, and asked if I would make it out to him, which completely blew my mind. It would be like Jimi Hendrix telling you that he liked your music and asking if you would personalize a CD for him. It was a moment where it felt like the universe was telling me that I was doing the right thing, and moving in the direction I was meant to go. I doubt that you'll ever read this, but on the tiny chance that you do, thank you from the bottom of my heart, Darick.
OK, now I'm done being all maudlin and shit. Here's a sketch of a pissed off New 52 Darkseid ;)
About 90 minutes or so into this. Feel free to contact me if anyone might be interested in a purchase. I'll be doing my damnedest to do something along these lines on a daily basis from here on out.
I wound up getting an impromptu sketchbook review, critique and encouragement from Philip Tan, which was an experience nothing short of awesome. How often do you get a chance to have your work reviewed by someone of that caliber? I have a lot of work to do, but I most definitely plan on taking his advice to heart.
I finally had an opportunity to talk with Darick Robertson again this year. Several years ago, I happened upon Darick at ECCC '06 at a moment when there wasn't any line at his table. This was when I was still unable to do my artwork, and I was slowly dying inside, working at a call center job doing collections. I was in an incredibly low spot in my life, even if I didn't necessarily let it on, but I'm sure everyone around me could feel it - especially my loved ones. The tension around me was almost palpable. I was in pain almost all the time, and every day only served to remind me of how I wasn't ever going to be right again. I loved Comicon, but it was also a painful reminder of unfulfilled dreams. Darick took the time to listen to my story, and we wound up talking for a little over a half hour. He gave me encouragement and told me not to give up, and that was my first step back on the path to being an artist again. He did a sketch for me while we were talking, of Spider Jerusalem flipping the bird to the world, and that almost personified my inspiration. I had the sketch tattooed on my chest, and it has become my best foot forward ever since, a secret "fuck you" to the world that told me that I needed to conform, that I could never draw again, or walk right, or be free of daily pain.
It was three years from then before I could actively draw again, and that first drawing took me nearly 6 months to finish. Since then I've been published in 2 books and a magazine, and things are definitely looking up. I finally was able to let him know how much his time and his words meant to me, and thank him for being such an inspiration. He passed along some more sage advice, which is now burned into my mind - Don't worry about what other people are doing. Don't compare yourself to them. There are always going to be people out there that are better that you, and worse than you. That's irrelevant. The important thing is that you find your own voice and do what YOU want to do.
Nervously, I presented him a Nightwing piece which I had done a couple nights prior at the ECCC kickoff dinner & finished up at home afterwards, as a token of my gratitude. He told me that he thought the piece was really good, and asked if I would make it out to him, which completely blew my mind. It would be like Jimi Hendrix telling you that he liked your music and asking if you would personalize a CD for him. It was a moment where it felt like the universe was telling me that I was doing the right thing, and moving in the direction I was meant to go. I doubt that you'll ever read this, but on the tiny chance that you do, thank you from the bottom of my heart, Darick.
OK, now I'm done being all maudlin and shit. Here's a sketch of a pissed off New 52 Darkseid ;)
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| Darkseid doesn't like it when someone pisses in his cosmic Cheerios. |
About 90 minutes or so into this. Feel free to contact me if anyone might be interested in a purchase. I'll be doing my damnedest to do something along these lines on a daily basis from here on out.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sketch O' the Day...Clayface!
Starting to get back in the saddle, slowly but surely. Dicked around in the old sketchbook tonight, and this is the result.
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| I'd be angry about a skin condition like that too! |
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Sketch o' the Day...Mister Miracle!
Sketched this out in about an hour and a half while watching Project: Runway with my wife tonight. Don't know why, but I was in a Mister Miracle mood. I figured that his costume would be a really good one to test out my new contrasting warm grey copics vs my cool greys, since there a nice dark green to go with the bright red & yellow. With that being the ultimate goal of this, here are the pencils:
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Something goes horribly, horribly wrong with DC's redesign of "The New 52"...
LOL found this quickie sketch while going through saved artwork, looking for pieces to make into prints. =)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sketches o'the Day...DC Comics random happiness
Ah, gaming night, or as I'd prefer to call it, drawing night constantly interrupted by game 
LOL!
Thought it would be fun to just keep filling up a page in the old sketchbook until I couldn't reasonably fit much more on it. Supes was already on the page from the other day. I tightened him up a bit, then started the Red Lantern Guy Gardner, Flash and Nightwing. All in all, I sketched these out on and off over the course of 2-3 hours.
LOL! Thought it would be fun to just keep filling up a page in the old sketchbook until I couldn't reasonably fit much more on it. Supes was already on the page from the other day. I tightened him up a bit, then started the Red Lantern Guy Gardner, Flash and Nightwing. All in all, I sketched these out on and off over the course of 2-3 hours.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Sketch o'the Day...Superman
I was watching the first few episodes of Bruce Timm's Superman the Animated Series, and what can I say...I found myself inspired. =)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Sketch o'the Day...Drink n' Draw edition, part deux
OK, had some time this evening to throw about another hour into my unfinished Batman sketch from the Jet City Drink n Draw last Thursday. Did the final touches with a multiliner, white paint pen & Copic cool grey markers.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Sketch o'the Day...Drink n' Draw edition
Went to the Jet City Comic Show Drink n' Draw tonight @ the Pillagers Pub in Seattle, and it was really awesome. Got to hang out with some friends, and meet some new ones! A good time was had by all and I'll definitely be going to the next one! I gotta say though that if tonight showed me anything, it's that I'm slow as hell and need to speed up! I was sitting with Jason Metcalf, and he knocked out like 5 pieces, while I was dicking around with a pretty crappy Wolverine sketch for way too long. At least I was able to get one decent one out tonight. It's totally WIP with the beginning of some inks, so be kind. LOL ;)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Sketches o'the Day...Ultraman & Iron Man
Hey there, super limited audience! =)
Here's a couple pieces that I did tonight while hanging out with my friends and playing a rousing game of Arkham Horror LOL.
I finished the inks for Iron Man here first. Started the pencils as a second drawing during my last gaming session with the boys. Wasn't super happy with some of the shapes around the head, so I did a bunch of refining tonight, and finally worked out a design I liked. I always have a really tough time figuring out mechanical stuff. I swear it's my kryptonite. Anyway, decided to take my new Copic Multiliner SP's for a spin and inked away, and I have to say, I'm really happy with the result. About 1.5 hours dicking around with the pencils, and about another hour or so on the inks in between my turns in the game. I plan to hit this with markers next and see how it goes.
I felt like there was another one in me tonight, but couldn't figure out what the hell to draw for the longest time. I kind of just started doodling out out the shadows from a heavily down-lit face, and wound up with a drawing of Ultraman, Superman's evil antimatter universe counterpart, and leader of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. I really like his facial expression. I just imagine that he'd take great joy with being the last thing that you'd ever see. He's kind of a dick like that LOL. I plan on hitting him with inks and markers next. Got a solid 45 minutes or so into the pencils.
Here's a couple pieces that I did tonight while hanging out with my friends and playing a rousing game of Arkham Horror LOL.
I finished the inks for Iron Man here first. Started the pencils as a second drawing during my last gaming session with the boys. Wasn't super happy with some of the shapes around the head, so I did a bunch of refining tonight, and finally worked out a design I liked. I always have a really tough time figuring out mechanical stuff. I swear it's my kryptonite. Anyway, decided to take my new Copic Multiliner SP's for a spin and inked away, and I have to say, I'm really happy with the result. About 1.5 hours dicking around with the pencils, and about another hour or so on the inks in between my turns in the game. I plan to hit this with markers next and see how it goes.
I felt like there was another one in me tonight, but couldn't figure out what the hell to draw for the longest time. I kind of just started doodling out out the shadows from a heavily down-lit face, and wound up with a drawing of Ultraman, Superman's evil antimatter universe counterpart, and leader of the Crime Syndicate of Amerika. I really like his facial expression. I just imagine that he'd take great joy with being the last thing that you'd ever see. He's kind of a dick like that LOL. I plan on hitting him with inks and markers next. Got a solid 45 minutes or so into the pencils.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Sketch o'the Day...The Joker, Dark Knight style with a Copic twist
Hey all. So I finally had a chance to take my new Copic markers for a spin, and I gotta say, I LOVE them so far. I knocked this one out during my downtime working at the store today. Not too shabby for a first stab with a new medium. =D
If any of you guys are marker experts out there, feel free to critique and leave tips for my future endeavors! LOL
If any of you guys are marker experts out there, feel free to critique and leave tips for my future endeavors! LOL
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Two-Face, the second time around...
I love Two-Face. I think he's a fantastic, tragic villain, and I wish that he got used even more. We'll forget about Joel Schumacher's evil, evil Batman Forever, though. It was The Dark Knight that inspired my first big (and successful) piece since my car accident. My hands were working better, but I was so rusty from not drawing for so long on top of all the neurological damage and I could work for such short little bursts of time, that the drawing took me almost 6 months to finish.
Fast forward to 2011 with a lot of practice under my belt, doing the best stuff I had done in YEARS, and I really wanted to revisit that first drawing, and see what I could do with the subject matter. I have to say, I'm pretty damn happy with the results. =D
I posted my pencils the other day, which took me about an hour. The painting took me about 5 hours on & off over 2 days in Photoshop CS3.
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