When your special lady asks you to draw a tauntaun, you do two things:
1. Thank your lucky stars that you've found a lady that likes tauntauns and Star Wars.
2. Draw the hell out of that tauntaun.
Justice, Like Lightning
When I was young, I created my own superheroes. Now that I'm older, well, I still do. But way back when, Young Thom came up with the name for a crime fighting duo named Black Thunder and Black Lightning. Then, just a couple months later, DC must have sent someone into my bedroom, because they stole my idea and created their own Black Lightning.
Years and years later, I'm good friends with the creator of Black Lightning, Tony Isabella. I've gotten over our parallel ideas (or was he the one DC sent into my room?) and we've had all sorts of adventures together. At Wizard World Mid-Ohio we sat next to each other and Tony asked if I could do a commission featuring his character and mine, Darkblade.
I was glad to. It was fun to draw Black Lightning in his classic costume, and there were some cool lighting effects to play with. I pushed myself with Darkblade, too, interacting with his cape a little more than I usually have opportunity to draw.
Tony got the piece and pronounced it good. I wanted him to post it on his site first, which he did, and now I'm sharing it with you.
And incidentally, my commission list for 2012 is very much open. If you've been thinking of getting a piece done, now's a great time!
I Built This City Listening to Rock and Roll
Hey! Two posts in two days! It's a New Year's miracle! I've been working on a secret Love and Capes project, which I've variously called "Project Ghost Protocol", "The Project That Dare Not Speak It's Name" and "Project I Can't Tell You." The project is still very much hush-hush, but I thought I'd show some production art from it. I took the opportunity here to draw some new backgrounds for some of the scenes.
My LNC process involves having a library of backgrounds that I can reuse in a variety of locations. These also show a shift in style, as they are not precisely inked with a technical pen, as so much background work is, but instead are inked with brush so that it's a little more lively. At least I think so.
There's a city that, in this case, will be Darkblade's home city of Chronopolis, and a couple shots of buildings for the Downtown Willoughby/Wrigleyville inspired neighborood that Abby's bookstore resides in.
As always, click and embiggen!
Have a Yourself a Merry Little Christmas now
Convention Schedule 2012
My adventures in conventioneering continue in 2012. This is my tentative schedule, with probably more dates to be added. And, if you'd like to bring me out for your show, give me a shout ad we'll see if we can work it out.
Here's my 2012 Convention Schedule (so far)…
MegaCon in Orlando, FL
February 13-21
WonderCon in Anaheim, CA
March 16-18
Emerald City Comicon in Seattle, WA
March 30-April 1
C2E2 in Chicago, IL
April 13-15
Free Comic Book Day at Captain BlueHen in Delaware
May 5, 2012
Comicpalooza in Houston, TX
May 25-27
HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC
June 18-19
Comic-Con International in San Diego, CA
July 22-24
Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA (tentative)
August 31-September 3
Baltimore Comicon in Baltimore, MD
September 8-9
WizardWorld Mid-Ohio in Columbus, OH
September 29-30
New York Comic-Con in New York City, NY
October 11-14
Akron Comic Con in Akron, OH
November 10
Cover Recreation Double Punch (pt. 2)
Here's the second of my classic comic cover double-punch!
This is a recreation of the classic Man of Steel #3. Crusader and Darkblade are replacing Superman and Batman, but the wildcard here is the DC villian Magpie who's been replaced by the villianous Fearleader. She's often mentioned (and is Chris Sims' favorite never-seen character) and one of these days may actually appear in a comic. We'll see.
I tried ti keep with the older, flatter coloring style where possible while still keeping some of the Love and Capes coloring style as well. I think it turned out pretty well. Click here to see it biggimized.
Too lazy to scroll to yesterday's link for how to order commissions? Here it is again.
The Girl Who Waited
It's an irritating truth that it's easier to place your friends and family behind other concerns. I've been working on client stuff and traveling and all that, so when my friend Jesse asked me to start off his new Doctor Who-themed sketchbook, it took way too long for me to get to it. But, three-and-a-half months later, I did.
There's part of the chain of events that works out, though. I felt I'd taken so long that I really had to up my game on the sketch.
The subject, which should come to no surprise to anyone who knows me, was Amy Pond.
I got to break in my new Copic markers on this one. I haven't done much with them in previous sketches, and I find I really like them. It gives them a lot of pop. I'd always had the idea of making Amy's hair the only color on the piece, but since the Doctor did such a great job describing how vivid a blue the TARDIS is, I scanned a rough and did a rare color test, to see if I should make the time traveling box blue. The tests are below. I leave it to you to decide if I made the right choice.
Click on anything for embiggimzation!
YMCA Illustration
While I was on my sojourn in Los Angeles last month, my rule of "The best way to get work is to leave town" came into play. I had the opportunity to create a cartoon for the Lake County YMCA for one of their fundraisers, illustrating people in one of those mobile closet-like things where wind blows and money (or, in this case, coupons) fly about for you to grab. Most of this was done remotely, with only the final touches being done once I was back in Ohio.
You probably can't tell, but there's a touch of Tim Burton in this. I'd just seen the Tim Burton exhibit at the LACMA and it influenced the way I constructed the characters.
It pays to be mobile!
The 2011 Amusing Little Christmas Card Post
Every year I do a custom Christmas card, and every year I print more than I use. So, I'm making the previous year's cards available for purchase. The cards are still pretty funny, and they're definitely different from anything else you'd be sending. Each card has a cartoon on the front, and a smaller folllow-up cartoon on the back.
Also, if you need envelopes for the cards, I can provide them, too. It'll be an additional $5.00 for 25 matching envelopes.
"LABOR" Christmas Card
Oh, you believed in elves? The inside of this car reads "Hope you and your inner child have a great holiday season."
Cards measure 5.5" x 4.25" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SCROOGE" Christmas Card
This Christmas card makes fun of the constant need to pardoy A Christmas Carol. As I writer, I took a pledge that I'd never redo this or It's a Wonderful Life. The only show that I thought did it really well was Married With Children. And, all that said, Doctor Who is doing it this year, and I can only assume it will be awesome.
The inside of this card reads "Hope you (re)make some great Holiday memories this year."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"REALITY" Christmas Card
This Christmas card takes aim at the reality show trend. The inside reads "Hope you have a REAL good holiday."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"BAILOUT" Christmas Card
Everybody gets a bailout, including Frosty, on this card. The inside reads "Hope your Holiday Season is crisis-free."
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECOND CHRISTMAS" Christmas Card
After the first Christmas, how do you top that? The inside reads "May THIS be your best Christmas yet.
Cards measure 4.25" x 5.5" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
"SECURITY" Christmas Card
Border security becomes an issue for old St. Nick on this Christmas card. The inside reads "Hope your holiday joy isn't hard to find."
Cards measure 5.5" x 4.25" and fit into a standard invitation envelope. Click on the card to see the full art and back of the card.
25 cards for $15.00.
One… More… Con!
Just so you know, I'll be at the Long Beach Comic Con this coming weekend at booth #1907. Yeah, fifteen shows just wasn't enough. But sometimes the West Coast beckons. As usual, I'll be doing the signing, selling and sketching thing. I'll even have the new Love and Capes Long Beach print… and maybe some extra Columbus ones. Those Ohio State fans are ravenous.
But, for realz everyone, this is my last convention appearance of the year. If you want to see me set up at a show again, you'll have to wait until MegaCon in Orlando.