Happy New Year!

Squeezing one last 2009 post in before midnight. It has been one heck of a year. I'm still getting used to juggle the art career with a regular day job, and I have to say that I wish I could work full time on the art. Here's hoping that 2010 will be the year I can finally achieve that.
Onto the actual post now...

Ghostrider, Blue pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

U-Go-Girl, Blue pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Black Knight, Blue pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Gamorrean Guard, Copics on bristol, 14x17", 2009.

I've included some things that I have been working on as of late. Which is mostly commissions and one very special side project (that will hopefully get me out of said day job). To anyone who I have commissions from out there, sorry things are taking so long. I'm slowly getting them done and thank you for being so patient with me. I will try to post prelims of all the ones that I have started, so you know I'm working on them. As you can see above, I'm still in the planning stages on a couple pieces, (Black Knight you still need a lot work) but I thought I'd share anyway. I also posted up a finished piece of another Star Wars character, a Gamorrean Guard. I'm really starting to get into those and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Well, that's it for 2009. It was a great year, learned lots about this business of comics and hopefully will learn more in 2010. Hope everyone has a Happy and safe New Year. Later.

Baltimore Con wrap up

These are some of the commissions that I did at the Baltimore Con last month. Sorry if some of them are a little blurry, I was only able to get photos from my crappy camera.

Death, Copic markers on bristol, 8.5x11", 2009.

Chun Li, Copic markers on bristol, 8.5x11", 2009.


Mary Jane, Copic markers on bristol, 8.5x11", 2009.

Captain Nemo, Copic markers on bound sketchbook, 11x14", 2009.


Poison Ivy, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Captain America, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Fearless Dawn, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

I know it's a month late but I thought I'd share my experience of the Baltimore Con. All I can say is wow, the show was pretty incredible. Marc Nathan and crew put together one heck of a convention.
Some of the highlights for me were that I finally got to meet one of my favorite artist there, J Scott Campbell. Only had to stand in line for like 30 or 40 minutes, but it was worth it. I also got to hang out with Chris Uminga and Matt Fletcher, always nice to see those guys. Chris was even kind enough to suggest to Scott Adsit of 30 Rock to come over to the table and check out my art. That was a pretty exciting experience to be able to chat with him about his work in film and our love of comics. But the best thing was that he commissioned me to do a piece in his League of Extraordinary Gentlemen themed sketch book. I was dumb founded at this because he had a ton of other cool artist renditions in these books (such as Adam Hughes, Eric Canete, Darwin Cooke, Tim Sale, the list goes on). Lets just say that I did not feel worthy enough to be included. I sweated that pic the whole night on Saturday, but I finally came up with a Captain Nemo for him (sorry about the pic above, it was the only one that came out).
The con only being two days went by so quick, but I'm thankful that I was able to stay busy throughout the weekend. Thanks again to all those that came by and said hello. I had so much fun meeting everyone and I will definitely be attending next years show.

Well, that's it for the conventions for me this year. I'm still trying to decide which ones to go to for next year and if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to make a comment. I have a ton of new work to post up so keep checking back as well. Later.

Happy Halloween!

Frankenstein, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Dracula, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

I did these for my friend Chris Uminga. (Make sure to check out his art.)
I will try to update next with some of the art I did at the Baltimore Con, so keep checking back.

Hickory Con Fall '09

Rhino, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Batman, Copic marker on cardboard, 7x8", 2009

Here are couple of commission that I did yesterday at the Hickory Con. The pictures I took of these two are really not that good, but you get the idea. I tried out the card board thing again with the Batman bust and I love the tonal effect I got with it. Thanks again to everyone that stopped by to say hello.
Next up on the convention schedule is the Baltimore Con in October. Keep checking back for updates.

Hickory Con tomorrow

Tomorrow marks another fall edition for the Hickory Con. I will be there all day if anyone is interested in stopping by for a commission or print. Check the link to the right of the blog for info.

And again I'm sorry for the lack of updates on here, I have been super busy working on a new project. I promise that I will post something on it soon. Keep checking back for more info.

World's Finest

Superman and Batman, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Just a quick post of a new commission I finished up. I went with the New Frontier style Supes and Bats for this one.

Update... finally

Nightcrawler, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Poison Ivy, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.



Firestar, Rhino, X-23, Flash, Copic marks on sketch cards, 2.5x3.5", 2009.

Supergirl, Orange pencil on back of my sketchbook, 5.5x8.5", 2009.

Darkseid, Copic markers on bound sketch book, 8.5x11", 2009.

Sorry folks... I know it's been a whole month since I posted anything new on here. I've been busy trying to finish up a ton of commissions. Here are the ones that I've completed so far. Thanks again to everyone that requested work. I had fun doing a lot of these. I will try to start updating again more frequently than I have been.
As for other news I received conformation the Baltimore Con table, so that is all set up for October. This will be the first convention that I do outside of North Carolina and I'm super excited for it. I want to try and do more finished pieces to sell as prints, so any suggestions for new work would be cool. Hope everyone is doing well and keep checking back for new stuff. Later.

Heroes Con Aftermath

Blackcat, Planet Hulk, Gambit, Namor, Copic markers on Sketchcards, 2.5x3.5", 2009.

Joker, Copic markers in sketchbook, 9x12", 2009.



Enchantress, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Batgirl, Blue pencil and white china marker on cardboard, 8.5x11", 2009.

Hello! Wow, HeroesCon was so much fun this year and exhausting. Took me a couple of days to recuperate from it. I guess starting it out with lack of sleep really didn't help either, but I got through it. I was able to get through a good portion of the commissions that I took on, but I still have a stack to get through this week. For those of you that I said I will mail back, I'm working on them as fast as I can. I'm hoping to have them finished up by the end of the week to mail back to everyone. I can't thank everyone enough who came by the table and took a look at our art. We even got some professionals to come by and give us some pretty good feed back. I posted some of the better looking commissions that I did at the show. Sorry they are so blurry, I only had my camera to capture them. If anyone would like to send me scans of any of these please do. I would love to have a better record of them.

Since I was working pretty much the whole time I didn't get to walk around the con like I wanted. Which is probably a good thing since I didn't spend as much money as I usually do. I did however get around to see Dustin Nguyen, where I was able to pick up one of my favorite pictures that he did of all the red haired women of comics and he even did a small head sketch of Batman. I also met a really cool colorist named Rico Renzi, check out his awesome body of work. He commissioned the Batgirl picture (above), which is great because I was able to do some more shading work instead of just coloring it in with markers. I had a good mix of commissions this time around. Well enough talk, need to get back to work. I will post up the pictures as I finish them. Thanks again to everyone that stopped by the table to say hello. Can't wait for next years show.

Heroes Con this weekend

Thor, Photoshop CS3, 11x17", 2009.

I'm finished and ready to head out the door to Charlotte. Took me all day to finish this Thor up and get my sketchbook printed, but all is done and ready for sale. I only printed 15 books, so we will see how they do. Never done one before so I hope people will be interested in them. The con officially starts tomorrow at 11:00 am, so I'm off to the hotel now. Hope to meet a ton of really cool fans and artist. If you are in the area please stop by the convention and say hi.
(Artist Alley, table SP-340). Later.

Psylocke now in color

Psylocke, Photoshop CS3, 9x12", 2009.

Here is the final colors for my Psylocke piece. Wish I had more time to come up with a better background, but I needed to close the door on this one. I have Thor left to color up before leaving for the Heroes Con this weekend. I'm also trying to finish up a little 2009 Sketchbook for this years show. It will probably end up being 20 pages or so with mostly line art and some commission work that I've done from the past year or so. I will post more about it later.

The other exciting news, at least I think of it as pretty cool, is that my Nightcrawler piece was chosen to be on the Daily Devaitions page on Devaint Art.com. That blew my mind, never even knew about that before. I have gotten a ton of responses since they posted that up, it's amazing how many people are on that site.
Keep checking back for more updates. HeroesCon is just 3 days away and counting. Come visit us at table SP-340 in the artist alley.

Badonkadonk

Psylocke, Blue pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Been a week or so since I last updated, so I thought I'd share this Psylocke that I just finished up. I haven't decided if I want the glowy hand thing or not, I'll fix it when I go to color it. Hopefully will have this ready as a print for Heroes Con. (Just a week left yahh!) And just a reminder I will be set up in artist alley with a couple of friends of mine, Adam and Kim, table SP-340. Please come by and take a look at our stuff, we all have tons of new work to show off. And if you are looking to get any commissions done, shoot me an email so I know what references to bring with me to the show. I still have a lot of work to finish so keep checking back, Later.

Quick update...

O.M.A.C., Photoshop CS3, 10x15", 2009.

Here is the O.M.A.C. that I did a while back, finally in color.

And with just three weeks to go till the Heroes Con 2009 in Charlotte, the site has finally released our artist alley table number. That number is SP-340, so please come visit us if you are at the convention, we would love to meet you.

Animazement 2009

Superman Commission, Copic markers on bristol, 8.5x11", 2009.

Chun Li Commission, Copic markers on Stonehenge, 9x12", 2009.

Deadpool, Kid Flash, Flamethrower(GiJoe), Copic markers on bristol, 2.5x3.5", 2009

Animazement '09 table set-up and Adam.

Well as you can see this years Animazement was really successful and a lot of fun. I finished every commission that I took on and even sold out a print. I know that's not much but it was quite an accomplishment for me. I usually have to finish up commissions at home and mail them out. We also tried out a new set up for the table and it worked perfectly. Even when people were looking through the books on the table you could still see some of the prints hanging above. Probably the best set up so far. Each year we do this we seem to get more and more sales. Hopefully our Heroes Con will be even better and we can get even more exposure.
I included several blurry pictures of the commissions that I did. Wish I had a scanner to get that Chun Li image, it turned out rather nice. And I think that is the first time that I drew a decent looking Superman. I'm still trying to get used to drawing on those small sketch cards so those were not some of my favorite pieces this time around.
All in all this Animazement was the best so far and I think a lot of that had to do with changing the venue site to the Raleigh Convention Center. It had so much more space for all the people to run around and not feel so cluttered up being stuck against a wall. The artist alley was pretty much contained inside one giant ballroom which was nice being separated from all the chaos that goes on outside.

Well, I'm off to finish up a ton of work for the Heroes Con, which is in 3 weeks. I will try to post anything new as I finish up stuff. Keep checking back.

Next Stop Animazement '09...

Nightcrawler, Photoshop CS3, 11x17", 2009.

I have just few more hours before I get on the road to my next convention. If you are in Raleigh, NC this weekend, stop by the convention center for Animazement, I will be in the artist alley room with my friend Adam (check his site out). I will have prints of just about everything related to this blog available, plus I will be doing con sketches and commissions. This is one of the craziest cons I attend all year. Hope to meet some nice folks and sell some art. Please come by I would love to meet ya.

And I finally finished up the colors on this Nightcrawler that has been sitting around for a while now. Had to change up the color scheme a little bit because there was way to much pink and purple for my taste. I tried out a green and orange glow for the bamf smoke and it stuck so I'm quite pleased with it now. Keep checking back for more updates because Heroes Con is just around the corner and I still have a lot of work to be finished.

Wolverine sketchcard

Copic markers on bristol sketch card, 2.5x3.5", 2009.

Well, I decided to go ahead and finish that Wolverine sketch card I started at the con.

Hickory Con

Copic markers on bristol sketch cards. 2.5x3.5", 2009.

I had a great time at the Hickory Con this past Saturday. Met some cool artist and got to hang out with ones that I knew from previous cons. I tried my hand at doing some of these sketch card commissions for folks this con. I've never done them before and was curious to see if people would like them. I was working on a Wolverine to show as an example and before I could finish it people were already asking me to do them one. I posted three that I got pictures of before I gave them out (sorry for the blurriness). They are pretty tiny to draw detail stuff so I might keep them to just close ups and busts. But this is something that I will defiantly try out again.

Asgardian goddess of death, Hela

Hela, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

As promised here is the finished piece of Hela. I tried to represent her giant stature by elongating her a bit more than a normal person. I was going for a real alien look, long and thin. Took me a while to get into the classic Walt Simonson take on some of the Asgards, but they are a lot of fun to draw. The designs are so over the top, just what comics are supposed to be like.
One more commission and then it is on to sequentials. Keep checking back.

More Commissions...

Hela, Blue pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Here is a new commission I am working on. This is the death goddess Hela from the Marvel comics Thor series. Just finished up the pencils now on to inks and color.

Wonder Woman Loves Batman Commission

Wonder Woman, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2009.

Just finished up this commission of Wonder Woman. The client really wanted a romantic image of Wonder Woman with Batman's cape and cowl, a secret love affair maybe. I had a couple sketches that I couldn't decide between so I gave the client the choice and he chose this one. I enjoyed this because I was able to really focus on her face and convey that loving emotion between the two. My original idea for colors was to just do the black and warm grays for Batman's cape and cowl, but I've been reading Detective with Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen and I love his style with Bats where he uses the blue and grey. It is kind of like the old school colors that I grew up with watching the old Justice League cartoons.

The day after...

Batman, Copic markers on bristol, 8x10", 2009.

Well the Boone Comicon turned out to be a fun little con. For being such a small town convention, a lot of people came through. Saw people I knew from work and met some cool new artist that were local to the surrounding areas. I also found out from the guys running the con, that the next one will be in October, so hopefully they will keep it going for years to come. The only thing that bumed me out was that no one wanted any commissions. But I did draw up this Batman sketch while I sat there, thought it turned out pretty nice. I drew it on that semi-smooth bristol from Strathmore and I made a very cool discovery with it. No matter how much I saturated the paper with the markers, it did not bleed through to the other side at all. Very amazing stuff.

Boone Comicon Tomorrow

Hello, sorry for the delay in posts this week. I have been trying to finish up some stuff before the Boone Comicon tomorrow. If you are in the area, please come by and support the con. I will be doing 8x10 character head sketches in color for $10 if anyone is interested. I will also be selling prints and original art as well.

Captain Marvel, Photoshop CS3, 9x15", 2009.

Thought I'd share this Shazam drawing that I did last year for a commission. I've wanted to recolor it for awhile now because I was not very pleased with how the first version turned out. I spent a few hours working on it one night this week and was so into it that I totally forgot to save it from time to time (stupid mistake). Well, my computer decided to do an update, which resulted in a restart of my system and all that work disappeared. So actually this is the third version of this little drawing. But I'm finally starting to get comfortable with Photoshop again and hopefully I can produce more colorful and dynamic images this year. This image will be available as a print at this years cons too.

And in other news, I finally started up a Deviant Art account: http://sweatybuffalo.deviantart.com/.
So please feel free to visit there as well as here for more updates on my artwork.

Jocasta Commission

Here are some process shots of my latest commission, Jocasta. I have to confess I did not know that much about her. She looked familiar but had no idea she was an Avenger. Anyway, hope you enjoy a look into my work method.

Blue pencil on Stonehenge, 9x12", 2009.

I really like the softness of the blue pencil lead in my pictures and it's hard to ink over them all the time but it makes it easier to color over later.

Gray and black ink on Stonehenge, 9x12", 2009.

She was looking a little empty inside all that blank whiteness, so I included some wire work coming from her, like she was in the process of being created.
I like the effect it gave the picture as a whole, gave it a more balanced composition.
For Jocasta I inked her in a light gray Copic Multiliner which kept her softness and for the wires I just used a standard black.

Copic markers on Stonehenge, 9x12", 2009.

The metal look to her body was hard to render with the Copics. I started out with the lightest grays I had and slowly worked more blue tones into it. The color that I found to work the best with her metal skin was Pale Blue Gray (B60), light but just enough punch of color to bring her out from the white background. I wanted her to have a glow about her, like liquid metal, so I made the wire work behind her darker shades of blues and grays. They have a dirty rusty feel to them, where Jocasta is shiny and new.

I have so much work to finish up before the conventions so keep checking back for more updates. (Also if interested in commissions, I have a list of prices and formats to the right of the blog.)

I find your lack of faith disturbing

Here is a nice process look at one of my latest commission pieces. I always enjoy looking at the process of other artist work so I thought I'd share mine.

Blue pencil on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

To start out I usually do a few thumbnails to get the feel of the character. Most of the time its just a bunch of shapes to get the composition of a pose. Lately I found myself using the computer to do this process so I don't end up wasting a lot a paper. The next phase is just doing a small rough sketch to flesh out the character's costume and anatomy. Then I will blow that up on the computer and transfer it to another sheet of paper. This is mainly to get rid of any unnecessary marks and to have an overall clean drawing. I knew I was going to have to color over this one so the line work is not as tight as some my other drawings.

Ink on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

The next step for me is to just ink over it so the lines don't get lost in the marker. I never realized how much detail Vader had with his costume. This is probably my favorite of the three processes for him. The inks turned out better than I could have hoped. I left it fairly simple with the lines, no hatching or heavy blacks because the colors should keep him rounded out.

Copic markers on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

Last up is the coloring. Nothing really special here just finding the light source and have at it. I love coloring with markers so I always jump at the chance to add color to commissions. This one was a challenge because he is pretty much wearing all black. I did not just want to use black with white outlines, so I went the full gray scale on this one. The only part of him that is true black is the tech stuff on his chest and belt.

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did drawing it and keep checking back for more.
(Thanks again Laura and Chris for another great Star Wars commission.)