Captain America Christmas

Sorry I have not been posting lately. I have been busy this month sending out pencil portfolios to different comic companies. I also lost a few days due to my birthday and Christmas shopping. Lately I have also been studying in order to better my graphic design and draftsmanship.

In between all of this I was able to squeeze in my newest creation, Captain America. I did not ink this due to time constraint, but it will be inked in the next weeks. I have been trying to challenge myself to create more dynamic and action filled poses. Also I am starting to try and fill in areas to be solid inks in the future.

This is my last post til after Christmas, so here is a little holiday doodle. Have a happy and safe holiday!

Muddy Colors

Just found the website Muddy Colors (http://muddycolors.blogspot.com). Christmas has come early for me! Please forgive the short post, I'm in information overload at the moment. If you are interested in creating art in anyway, be sure to check out the site!

Digital Dinosaur Head

I am starting an epic journey, and you are welcome to join me! It is to the magical land of digital rendering. Here is one of my first digital sketches. I am going to try and start making more of these along with actual sketch book works. These are not meant to be amazing complete works but more like fun homework for me.

Digital is really a huge skill to have these days and I really need to get with the times. I do have experience with painting but I am going to have to do a lot of research to get effects that I would like with digital painting.

Dinosaur Sketches

Here are some quick sketches I created yesterday. I am starting a sketch book so that I can experiment with new materials and methods with out any fear of messing up a illustration. For these drawing I focused on using the sable brushes and ink. I also used my ink pen. I was just normal sketch paper so the ink bled through the page. I think I will invest in a more heavy duty sketch book.

As for the dinosaurs, this is most likely not the last time that you will be seeing me draw them.

Birds of Prey - Page 6

I worked on this page this weekend. I would have liked to have finished it last night, but sometimes it's nice to take your time. I tried to keep this page a little cleaner and more presentable than the last few.

The story continues with the Black Canary receiving the news to bust up the meeting. Huntress and Canary talk about their strategy to take out the henchmen. The Huntress resorts to starting a massive rumble pitting all the gangs against each other. Hopefully this doesn't sound too much like gibberish. Enjoy!

Birds of Prey - Page 5

Here is my second attempt at loading this up, my power keeps coming on and off. Cross your fingers this works!

I was locked indoors today because of a epic ice over here in Dallas. So I basically spent today working on this new page for my comic book portfolio. There are two pages before this one here on my blog.

The story continues with Black Canary and Huntress undercover at a henchmen meeting. There is a lot of dialogue but mostly the thugs just talking about their henchman rights. The Henchmen are complaining about how the villains they work for are abusive. "The Joker burned my face", "The Penguin poked my eye out", and "I got frostbite on my butt". The last two panels show the communication between the undercover heroines and their dispatcher, Oracle. She's about to give the go ahead to bust up this meeting. Keep a look out for the nest page, it will have a lot more punching!

Birds of Prey - Page 4

Here is the next penciled page for my portfolio. Halfway through the page I decided to buy a decent eraser, notice the difference? I can clean it up with Photoshop.

The story continues where the last page left off with our two super heroes in disguise (see previous post.) On this page the Huntress (Riddler looking lady) tries to bribe the security guard with her sexiness. It doesn't work so she knocks him out. Next they meet another guard (it's in the script and it's kinda redundant) and they have to leave their weapons. They then enter the main area of the warehouse where Gotham City Goons are rallying to gain union rights.

I had a weird time with this page, just because of some of the things called for in the script. For example the fact that they have to meet a second guard and the challenge of making it look like they are not outside talking to the last guy. Obviously the most fun with the last panel. The script calls on the artist to draw various Gotham city thugs.

Birds of Prey - Page 3

I'm back to work after a delicious Thanksgiving break. I spent some time over the break and realized that I need to update my comic book page portfolio so that I can submit my work to publishers. Sequential art examples are most important, maybe even the only thing that publishers look at if you are trying to break into the comic book industry. Because of this is it always important to have a good representation of your current skill level.

With that being said, this week I will be hitting the pages hard and trying to create as many as I can. This means that I will not be doing my usual character drawings this week. My goal is to send in portfolio packets to publishers in a week or two.

The first page I have created is from Birds of Prey Issue #74 (a previously published comic). In the story the Black Canary and the Huntress disguise themselves as Gotham goons in order to bust a Henchmen Union meeting. The Black Canary is wearing a Penguin henchman outfit and the Huntress is wearing a Riddler Goon suit, I know it's confusing. I kept smudging my eraser...

Storm

I started out today by drawing Storm. It's kinda late now and I'm tired, so I am not going to give a too in depth history lesson. In short, she can control the weather and she's an X Men member. She was part of the second class that was recruited to rescue the original X Men after they went missing. In all she's pretty awesome.

My girlfriend has been begging me to draw Storm so it it looks better than normal its because it was made with love (awwww). As for the other materials I really wanted to focus on using my larger sable brush (size 3). I came to realize while practicing inking that I can get a wider variety of lines by using a thicker brush. All I had to do is wipe off the excess paint and I could make a very thin lines. For a thicker lines I just added some more pressure. I also spent some time watching Paolo Rivera ink on his blog and that helped me a lot as well. I'm going to sleep now.

Scarlet Witch

I figured because I talked about the Scarlet Witch so much in my Vision drawing I might as well just draw her. I am short on time, but here are the quick facts. She is a Avenger and daughter of Magneto (yes X-Men Magneto). She uses her mutant powers to cast hex spells and other magic. Its a little confusing and based off of probability or something like that. Hopefully the movies will clear this up, because in 2015 we will see her and her brother Quicksilver in Avengers Age of Ultron. It's going to be so cool!

Anyways for this drawing I wanted to have her doing some of that hex magic stuff. I inked everything black and white then I realized it would be a shame if the Scarlet Witch didn't have any red on her. So I used my only other color of ink that I own, red. I was very happy to finally have the chance to use it! next I used a little poster paint to block in the city and its glow. Enjoy!

The Vision

This is Vision. He is an android and one of the more famous Avengers. He was originally created by the evil robot Ultron to destroy the Avengers. Long story short he turns good and falls in love with the Scarlett Witch. He can phase through things by changing his density which also allows him to fly. Also he can shoot out energy beams. We have not seen Vision in the Avengers films yet. With next film titled “Age of Ultron” and inducing the Vision’s love interest, the Scarlett Witch, I have a feeling we will be seeing him soon. It’s just a question of who will be portraying him.

For this drawing I wanted to depict the Vision phasing through something. I added the wall in later after I realized that it looked like he was splashing out of a pool. The Vision has some unique costume colors so I wanted to try and bring those out with watercolor. I had a lot of fun painting. I would have keep layering the color in but I had to stop myself. Until next time! 

Weapon X

Weapon X aka Wolverine. This is what I remember him looking like in the 1990's comic books. This is how wolvie looked when I was first introduce to him. My friend would bring this action figure to preschool and play in the sand pit with it. I remember thinking he had weird hair, but awesome retractable claws. It was years later that I realized that that action figure and the guy who looked like Batman with claws were one in the same.

This drawing takes place after he escapes the military adamantium procedure (the thing where they coat his bones with unbreakable metal). His memory is wiped clean and he wanders the Canadian Rockies like a wild animal. To create this, I used my sable brush and quill pen. Enjoy!

Darth Vader

Today I drew Darth Vader. Some of the ink is faded because I inked directly on top of my pencils. I thought this would be an easy inking job, but Darth's all black. Enjoy!

Superman - Work in Progress

Lately I haven't been posting daily drawings as often as I would like. You will definitely see them soon, I promise they exist!

Its a bird, it's a plane, it's a Superman drawing! I must admit I am a fan of the blue guy. Some people might not be able to relate to him but I think he's the bee's knees. For me Superman reminds me of everything I loved in comics when I was a kid. I was not a fan of the new film sadly. I'm too tired to give a dissertation on why Superman is awesome and everything that is wrong with the new film. Maybe I will include that when I post the final.

For this drawing I wanted to focus on the technical skills as well as the fantastical elements of Metropolis. The man of tomorrow deserves a city of tomorrow. I wanted it to look like a place that you would want to explore, a place with hints of futuristic technology, a place where you could feel safe from giant sub-woofer terraforming machines of death.  I will tighten the pencil lines and ink later, so be on the look out for the final!

Hawkeye

Tuesday Daily Drawing - Hawkeye

I have always thought that Hawkeye had one of the coolest costumes. It just seems really bizarre compared to others and I'm not sure where the design comes from. Maybe it's medieval? This is what Jeremy Renner's character looks like in the comics.

Here is your Hawkeye history lesson. Originally Hawkeye worked at a carnival to pay the bills. It is there he became an extremely skilled archer. After witnessing Iron Man save some people Hawkeye became inspired to use his skills to fight crime. His first night out he stops a burglary but the cops think that he is the thief. Soon after, he meets the Black Widow and they become criminals. Eventually they fight Iron Man and Hawkeye decides to become a hero. He is then invited to join the Avengers.

Galactus

Mondays daily drawing - Galactus!

Galactus, for those unfamiliar, is a giant space man who devours planets. His sole purpose is to gain the life energy of planets so he can continue to exist. He employes the Silver Surfer to search out the juicy planets. The story goes, that he comes to eat the earth lead by his minion the Silver Surfer. After spending time with the Fantastic Four, The Surfer decides humans are cool and Galactus shouldn't eat the earth. The Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer then defeat Galactus saving earth.

For this drawing I just started drawing. I didn't think about composition or the final product. I just stuck with it. Towards the end I had a lot of fun with the piece. It is amazing how much better a little ink can make something look.

Ghost Rider

Happy Halloween!

Here is a Ghost Rider drawing that I created today.

I have been studying some illustration books and I am trying to create more interesting images. I used ink and poster white out. Fun!

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange, master of the mystical, Sorcerer Supreme. I haven't gone through a Doctor Strange phase yet, but I feel one coming on. Really my only exposure to him has been through Marvel vs. Capcom and The Doctor Strange Marvel cartoon. I'd like to get my hands on some Doc Strange classics soon. Hopefully a live action film will be made!

For this drawing I used a little bit of photo reference. I did not include the photos because they are pretty embarrassing. (think bed sheet tied around the neck and dress shirt) I used sable brush and ink and a larger flat brush for the textured background. I was going to watercolor this, but I used poster correction fluid to fix some mistakes and I was afraid it would bleed.

Outsiders Page 1 Pencils

Currently I am trying to update my portfolio with new work. I am focusing on creating a style that I enjoy working in. I am also trying to focus on techniques and compositions. Here is a page that I finished working on today. It is from Outsiders issue #42, a previously published comic. In the story an actor and his agent are in a trailer and talking about stuff.

Learning to ink

Today I spent the majority of the day practicing inking (That and fixing my scanner). I just finished reading The Art of Comic Book Inking by Gary Martin. It was extremely helpful! I wasn't realyl paying attention to line weights or even brush technique. In fact I wasn't even using a brush in most cases. Here a the three drawings I inked today, all with a sable brush. If they look familiar it is because they are old drawings. New inks though.

 I started out with Spider-man. I used my Sable #3 for the thick outlines and #1 for the thin. I was about to grab my quill pen to draw his suit webbing but I really wanted to challenge my brush skills.

 Next I inked one of my old Superman drawings. I used the same brushes but decided to experiment with some watercolors. I think that this would have been a great image to try feathering technique.

Last, I worked on Batman. I tried to focus a little more at the start so that I could make more fluid lines. The real fun started when I began to fill in the large black areas. I had the most fun with this drawing. Then my scanner started malfunctioning...

Prints and Postcards

Here are some of my old works, I've recently put up some new postcards.

A few years ago I was pretty set on painting for a living. I painted a lot of sci fi works that depicted cowboys, dinosaurs and robots. While in art school they really pushed us to be gallery artist, so much so that I forgot that I went in to become a comic book artist. Looking back a lot of my work really catered more to comics than painting. Recently I have been thinking about getting back into the whole painting thing again.  I'm totally going to make cowboys and dinosaurs into a comic book. here's the link to my etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/AtelierLambert

Second Color Page

Here is the second page of colors. My goal is to create a complete work, while focusing more on learning how experiment. I'm less focused on creating the best work of my life and more focused on actually learning a new skill. I think I said the same thing twice. Digital painting kind of fries my brain. This is just a mock up, there is a lot of little things that are bad craftsmanship that I will fix later, but sometimes it's good to show people where you are with an artwork.

First Page of Colors

Here is the first page of colors. It is super time consuming process but meditative as well. Let me know what you think!

Comic Book Coloring

Where are the daily sketches? Well let me explain, this is what I've been doing.

I am trying my best to learn how to color comic books. I figure I have a degree in painting so I shouldn't be too far away from being able to make something decent. I must say it's alot of trial and error, but I am not doing this blind. A few months ago when I worked at Half Price Books I picked up a used copy of Imagine FX magazine. This issue is the holy grail for me, it's jam packed with coloring tutorials from the professionals. For years my colors have been flat when I digitally colored...not anymore!

BTW this is just a work in progress images should get better, in theory.

Naruto

Naruto.

Endor Strom Trooper

So this is what I made today for my warm up. Am I happy with it? No, but then again am I ever happy with anything I make?

Usually I have the philosophy to only show my best work, but I guess I'd rather be honest. Making art can be a huge pain in the butt sometimes. Some times I really want to throw a drawing away, but today I stuck with it. The truth is you can't get better if you don't allow yourself to make mistakes. I am at least happy I got to use the sable brush for the first time! Woohoo!

Thor

Today is not Thursday, but it is Thor day. I started this drawing as my warm up at 9:30 and here it is 11. Of course this wasn't the only thing I did all day. I did work on some pages and watch Agents of Shield, very very good show by the way. 

As a kid my only knowledge of Thor was through "Adventures in Babysitting". I thought he was pretty lame and laughable with his Fabio looks. Then Thor the movie came out and I was blown away! Great character, cool armor, what else can I say?

Ant Man Sketch

Today I really wanted to draw Ant Man. Why, I dunno. I've always thought that he was a really interesting character, one of my favorites in fact. I think he's a gold mine waiting to be explored. Shrinking to the size of bugs and then becoming a giant! He's the most awesome superhero ever in my book. Oh yeah, there is this thing where he hits his wife the wasp....not cool.

I went all out with this one. I went ahead and used the crow quill pen and a brush, although I fear both. I like Hank Pym's original costume, but I also like how they took out the blue coloring in the Avengers Earth's Mightiest Heroes cartoon, so I modeled mine after that. Anyways enjoy!

Iron Man

Iron Man is a pretty fun character to draw. It's kind of mesmerizing to draw all the little geometric shapes. I think it's interesting to see how the movies have influenced the characters design in the comic books. I remember reading armor wars a few years back and being pretty surprised at how dull Tony Stark's personality was.

Today I started off with a pencil drawing then spent about an hour inking. I am happy with how it turned out for the most part. What do you think?

Captain America Sketch

This is my Captain America sketch. I wanted to draw a modern suit mixed in with a little WW2 looking stuff. Obviously I was heavily inspired by the films.

I'm not sure if I am happy with the inking of this sketch. The original drawing looks pretty cool. I had trouble trying to find out what to darken in because his costume is so colorful.

Boba Fett

Here is my newest drawing. I've always thought that Boba Fett is by far the coolest Star Wars character. He is a walking Swiss army knife mixed with a spaghetti western anti hero. There is also mysteriousness around him that makes him into an even more drawing of a character. (See what I did there?)

This is the first inking job that I've done in a while and I think I'm still trying to find my way around. I used a crow quill pen and some micron pencils to do the inking. Next time I think I will just stick to the micron pens and maybe a sharpie.

Wolverine in Japan

This is a drawing I made for an online T-shirt contest. My goal was to reenact my favorite Wolverine centered storyline by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller. I did not win the contest but I am glad that I got the chance to draw this image.

First Post!

Hello Blogosphere,
My name is Phil Lambert and this is my very first blog! I am a aspiring comic book artist for Texas and I am here to blog about comics. More specifically I am here to show my comic book pages and character sketches on a frequent basis. Hopefully as time goes on you will be able to see a progression in the work. Right now my Photoshop computer is out of service, so I will be loading old work, but keep an eye out for new work!