Dc Comics Aliens

Hey there! Long time no see! I've been super busy with alot of artwork over the past months and I am just getting around to sharing. I applied for the DC Comics Talent Search about a month ago. I should have those posted soon!

Here is today's drawing, featuring three of my favorite DC Comics heroes. Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkman; all of which happen to be aliens. I was inspired by the idea of them teaming up. Maybe they were illegal aliens or something and the government is coming down on them. In some ways I feel like Hawkman and the Martian don't get as much attention as other DC heroes. I guess maybe it has something to do with a convoluted story lines. I'm not exactly sure why, but I feel like they have a wealth of story potential and really cool personalities! Anyway here's the art.

I tried to push myself with digital coloring this time around. I'd like to become good enough to color my own work, but I've still got some more work to do. I couldn't decide which version to pick, so I will leave you with three. Enjoy!

Whosoever Holds This Hammer - THOR

Hello, I am back with a new drawing! The Mighty Thor, God of Thunder.

For years friends from everywhere have been telling me how awesome Thor is to read. For most of my life I have thought Thor was kind of weird. I just didn't understand what was so appealing about with character. Eventually I got my hands on some Jack Kirby comics and man was my mind blown. Thor was no longer a blonde pansy but an epic space action hero. While the stories and art were fun I still wasn't too interested in the Norse god of thunder, that was until I found...Walter Simonson's Thor! If you have not had the privilege of reading Simonson's run on Thor then you are totally missing out. For me it is a harmonious mix of art and story. It plays out like an episodic grand adventure and less like a villain of the week comic. It's no wonder that I am inspired! Now for the art...

For this piece I started out with just a quick ball-point pen sketch. I ended up using my light table to use my new sable brush. I have had that thing for about 5 months and it felt great to finally put it to use. Well that's about it and it's kind a late. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Batman Arkham Asylum Style

I decided to do a quick sketch on my day off work. This is just a pencil sketch on relatively cheap newsprint paper. I started randomly drawing the upper body then moved into filling out the rest of the figure. It is kind of unproportional, so I've cropped off the hands, it kind of makes it look better...trick of the eye sort of thing.

Anyways this is Batman, I think we all know who is so I don't have to give my usual trivia facts here. I tried to hint at his suit having little creases in it where his armor or pads link up. This is more or less his costume from the popular Batman Arkham series games. I have never played them but I have watched other people play them. Seriously, I don't play games anymore I just watch other people play them on youtube. Until next time!

Rocket Raccoon

This weekend I was lucky enough to see Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, a fun film about a group of heroic space bandits. It is one of the less known and outwardly bizarre Marvel franchises. The team consist of a human, an assassin, a man bent on vengeance, a talking raccoon, and a talking tree named Groot. While some of the characters have been around for more than twenty years, this incarnation of the team was first published in 2008.The film itself is one of the best times that I have had at the movies in awhile, and I highly recommend it to anyone, even if you are not a fan of superhero films. The music is great too! Enough about the movie, now about this little raccoon guy.

This is Rocket Raccoon. Don't let his furry looks fool you, he is a trained killer and weapons expert with a bad attitude. I'm not too sure how spoiler-y I should get here, so if you want to find out more see the movie of wikipedia. This is just a pencil drawing, hopefully I can get a inked version up soon.

Leonardo - Ninja Turtles Drawing

It has been awhile since my last art update, I know that it has been awhile, excuses, excuses. Anyways here is my latest work of art, Leonardo my favorite turtle!

I had a bit of time over the past few weeks and decided to watch the first episodes of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from 1987. I remember collecting the action figures as a kid and the fact that they were all named after Renaissance painters, but beyond that I didn't remember much. After the first 5 episodes, it all came back to me and I was hooked once again. I have not had the chance to check out the original Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird comic stories yet, but hopefully I can sometime soon.

I started this drawing on the computer and printed it out in blue lines so that after I inked it I could take out the blue with Photoshop. Drawing on the computer was a lot quicker that doing the original in pencils. I tend to get really frustrated with the original concept drawing and end up digging a hole into it. With the computer tablet and Photoshop I can at least hit "Ctrl + Z " as many times as I want. Next I moved on into the inking phase. This was odd because on the computer I had only drawn the actual character and vaguely hinted at what I wanted in the background. A lot of white out and frustration ensued. In the end I am happy with the final product. Turtle Power!

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.

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.

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.

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?