X marks the spot

Deadpool, Black ink and Col-Erase on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

Cyclops, Black ink on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

Dark Phoenix, Col-Erase on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

Rogue, Black ink on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

Beast, Copic markers on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

So I'm making some progress on some of these commissions.  I noticed that I had a bunch of X-Men related ones so I thought I would group them up in one post.  Hope you enjoy. 

Who wants some Deadpool?

Deadpool, Col-erase pencil on bristol, 9x12", 2011.

I'm currently working on some new prints for upcoming shows and it seems like everyone loves Deadpool these days so why not.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

Gangsta Doom

Dr. Doom, Blue pencil on Strathmore semi-smooth bristol, 8x11", 2009.

Just went with a simple mug shot on Victor Von Doom here. Took some liberties with his mask. I was going for more of an old school look but not that satisfied with it. Might redo it if I get some time. I got some new commissions so I will take a break from my work and focus on those. But keep checking back because I will post them as I finish and I have to say there are some pretty cool characters in the bunch. Later.

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler, Blue pencil on Strathmore semi-smooth bristol, 11x17", 2009.

Well this took longer than necessary to finish. but at least it's done. I tried out this new semi-smooth bristol board from Strathmore for this piece. I found it a little difficult to get used to at first because if you mess up a line or change your mind about something, there is no erasing it. I found myself using a lighter touch with it, which is fine, and I like the overall effect it gave to the final drawing. I guess the next test is trying out some ink pens and markers on it. Apparantly this is the same paper that Marvel gives it's artist to draw up their pages.
Next up on the list is Dr. DOOM.

The Mighty Thor

Thor, Blue pencil and white pastel on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

Here is the completed Thor piece. I think this turned out better than I could have expected. The redesign of his costume by Olivier Coipel is just fun to draw. (Oh and thanks again for the comments, it always helps to hear from people.)

Metamorpho

Blue pencil on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

A quick update on the Metamorpho piece. Drawing complete now to start painting.

The Demon

The Demon, blue pencil and graphite on Stonehenge, 11x17", 2009.

As promised here is the next picture in my new series of prints. I've been on a Kirby kick for the better part of a year now and this is probably my favorite character that he created called the Demon. Hope ya like and keep checking back for more updates.

O.M.A.C

O.M.A.C.,blue pencil, white pastel, and graphite on Rives BFK, 11x17", 2009.


For the next few months I will be posting a new drawing every Monday or Tuesday. These will become the new prints being made for the comic convention season this year.
So come back regularly to see some new work. If you would be interested in purchasing any of these, whether you would like the original or a print, send me an email at sweatybuffalo@yahoo.com and we can work out a deal.

First up is O.M.A.C., hope you like. I should have this one colored soon.