Quotes I Take to Heart #1

This is both a test of quotes that keep me going and testing the quote function of my blog. If this works, I may post more as the blog goes on.

Day 26: The Golden Age Flash #TZadvent

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Mine was pretty fantastic, even while fighting a cold.

Today's art is the Golden Age Flash. I always thought he was cool, and his costume was awesome. Though how that helmet stayed on his head at super-speed, I'll never know.

I started messing around with some of the ruler tools to do the running effect. Those things are going to be insanely helpful as things go forward.

Just five more of these to go. Who will be next?

Day 08: Plastic Man #tzadvent

Day 08: Plastic Man

Today's drawing is a mixed bag for me. I think it looks pretty good, but I wasn't able to do the thing that I wanted to with it:

I wanted to make custom curve rulers to ink the arms here. But I couldn't figure out how to do it, it was getting late, and I just decided to handle it traditionally. I did tweak some of the brush settings to make the arcs a little slicker. I'm not sure how well that worked.

I dig Plastic Man a ton, but stretchy characters like this are hard for me. Sure, it seems like you could do anything with them, but it's that freedom that makes them a challenge. If they can do anything, what do you have them do? And trying to get the right mass to stretch ratio isn't as easy as you'd think, either.

I'm sure I'll use the technique I didn't on this on something else, or someone will suggest Mr. Fantastic or Elongated Man or Metamorpho. It's just delayed for now.

"Rimbatmn!" That's Christian Bale for "I'm Batman!"

This was a commission for a friend of mine at Wizard Ohio. I don't draw a ton of Batman art, with most of my world being My Little Pony these days. It was fun to get into the harsher lines and stylized design of the Dark Knight.

I'll Be at the Akron Comic-Con

You thought my convention season was over, didn't you? Hah! Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends! I'll be at the Akron Comic-Con this coming Saturday, November 9th along with bunches of my friends and other cool people. I've got one more appearance after this, at Marc Bowker's excellent Alter Ego comic shop. More details on that soon.

Heroes Hanging Out, Drinking Coffee

One of the more interesting New York Comic Con commissions I had was this one: Draw Power Girl and 80's Disco Collared Nightwing hanging out the way Crusader and Darkblade do in Love and Capes. It was a lot of fun to figure out the staging. Power Girl, for instance, wouldn't hover or have the same standard pose as Crusader does.

A lot of you know that Love and Capes is on a break right now. I'm trying to get some new stuff out into the world this year. But there's something about this piece that makes me think "Wouldn't a Darkblade and Amazonia series be pretty cool?"

In Brightest Day

A quick one today: Green Lantern! This was done at the New York Comic-Con and I had fun stylizing the linework and the pose. I wanted to make it cool and graphic. I also used some Copics to shade, but used them sparingly.

1.21 Babywatts!

There seems to be a growing trend at comic conventions to trick out strollers and their occupants. I, of course, approve totally. Check out this Back to the Future themed stroller and kid. Of course, at that young an age, I don't think he understands the complexity of temporal mechanics. Then again, neither did Marty McFly. The blue piping here actually lit up, which probably isn't obvious in this photo. Also bonus points for the Einstein. (Or Copernicus.)

Happy Halloween with a Ghost Hunter Commission!

I've had a couple people come up to commission me at shows to draw an actor or actress who is appearing at the show and have them sign the art. They're certainly more unique than just the standard publicity shot. And it's been a blast for me, too. I got to meet Ian McNiece, who played Winston Churchill on Doctor Who because of it. At Wizard Ohio, I drew Ghost Hunter Grant Wilson hunting a different kind of ghost. Mariann, who commissioned it, loved it, and so did Grant.

Happy Halloween!

Pinkie Pie! Enemy of the Republic!

I was at New York Comic Con, and a gentlemen came up with his very Star Wars son in a stroller. I think he saw my Han and Leia piece in my display portfolio. He said that his son loved both Star Wars and My Little Pony and wanted a drawing. Immediately, my artist brain starting thinking of ponies with lightsabers and so on. "Who's your favorite Pony?" he asked his son. Pinkie Pie. "And who's your favorite Star Wars character?" General Greivous. He then turned to me. "Can you do a combination of Pinkie Pie and General Grievous?

Suddenly, the cute little Jedi ponies I had in my mind exploded. Pinkie Pie? Grevious? That's not a chocolate and peanut butter moment, that's a chocolate and wood varnish moment. How do those go together? But, I like drawing and I like money, so I said "Yes, I can do that."

What happened was not the drawing I expected, but it might be my favorite drawing of the show. When you get things thrown at you like that, the creative solution is something original and something you weren't capable of just a few minutes ago. So I figured out how to combine everyone's favorite party-obsessed wacky Pony with a killer four-armed droid with a breathing issue. And I loved it.

So did the boy. Look at how happy he looks!