More watercolor practice, inked over with a Sakura Micron 05, and a Faber Castell brush pen (much better than the Sakura brush pen):
Um… yeah, this pose is a little very boring. And I messed up the eyes–so those were re-done in Photoshop. However, I am having fun figuring out how to mix the colors I want. Nothing further, your honor!
Question 1: Is this the dumbest thing I’ve ever posted? Probably.
Question 2: Is this the nerdiest thing I’ve ever posted? Almost certainly, but I have every intention of trying to continually out-nerd myself.
Question 3: In spite of being both dumb and uber-nerdy, is this also the most awesome thing I’ve ever posted? I think so, yes.
For reasons unfathomable even to myself, here is Darth Vader, if he were an Alpha Lantern of the Sinestro Corps:
If you’re still reading, you’re probably still asking yourself, why? Well, I’ve been enjoying Green Lantern since the Sinestro Corps War, and I really like the idea of the Sinestro Corps having high-profile members like Superboy Prime, Mongul II, and Hank Henshaw. So my naturally nerdy brain was scanning its archives for other characters capable of instilling great fear, and since I had already crossed over Star Wars with the Green Lantern mythos, once or twice–I came up with Darth Vader.
Before you protest–yes, I’m aware that this concept wouldn’t really work in the continuity of either Star Wars or the DC Universe due to the fact that Darth Vader died a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… long before the Sinestro Corps had ever been formed. If I had to come up with an explanation, I would say that the ghost of Anakin Skywalker was psychically controlled/driven insane by Parallax, and had regressed into the psyche of Vader once more. With his spirit trapped in the hollow shell of his suit of armor, and powered by a yellow power battery, Darth Vader is now forced to serve the Sinestro Corps as perhaps their most powerful enforcer.
It had occurred to me that Vader could have made a good Red or Black Lantern. However, I’m not so into the Red Lanterns, and I’m not entirely sure how the mechanics of the Black Lanterns work. Overall, I find the fear-based Sinestro Corps to be more compelling.
The really scary thing is that these hyper-nerdy thought-processes basically all occur without conscious effort. I’m just walking around doing normal things, like drinking Vitamin Water and playing with Legos. Meanwhile my brain is running these dorky match-ups between continuities in the background, and I’m only aware of them in a vague semi-conscious manner. BAM, next thing I know, I’m drawing Darth Vader with a yellow lantern embedded in his chest. It’s a blessing and a curse, people. A blessing and a curse.
IT’S CLOBBERIN TIME!!! Here’s the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, the Fantastic Four‘s cantankerous, yet endearing tank:
My year has so far been filled with plenty of travel (not bad) and illness (not good)–I’m feeling fine now (with no further travel on the horizon), but I’m still playing catch-up. So, tonight’s post is a quick exercise in the rare (for me) traditional media. I sketched it in red and brown color pencil, colored it in marker, then went over the lines again with color pencil, and finally added some highlights with a white color pencil. Scanned it, managed to adjust it to match the original pretty closely, and here we are.
Any real understanding I have of color theory has been picked up while working in Photoshop, so it’s a refreshing change of pace to apply what I know to traditional media. I think this piece needed more contrast to bring out the larger forms of the Thing’s features, like his brow, nose, and cheek bones (cheek rocks?). Recently, I feel like I’ve been struggling with contrast… having trouble getting it right the first time, and making a lot of adjustments. My sense of color is a bit off too, again, something that I’ve been getting wrong on early tries and making many adjustments to.
My artistic senses might be dulled as a result of doing a lot of cheap blogs that don’t require artistic brainpower, and also banking a lot of blogs ahead of time rather than working continuously. When it comes to drawing, taking moderate breaks can actually help me out–when I come back to it, I feel energized. I suspect coloring is something that I’m still drilling into my brain, and I need constant exposure to the act of coloring, or I start to regress.
Just thinking aloud here, carry on…
Johnny Monster #1 (written by Josh Williamson, art by J.C. Grande) came out last week! Click here to see the cover for issue #1, and click here to check out the upcoming covers.
Here’s a little fan-art to celebrate their debut:
Head to your local comic shop immediately and purchase a copy of Johnny Monster #1! DO EET!
In the late 80’s, Taito produced a Superman arcade game. Last Friday’s post depicted a female character who appeared in some unused sprites from said game–people speculate that she was intended to be a Player 2 sprite. The actual Player 2 sprite in the game was a red and grey palette swap of Superman.
Check out the original sprites in question here, and below is my own interpretation of Player 2:
This piece and the previous one were both drawn rather small, probably because they were done somewhat spontaneously. I interpreted the Player 2 Superman’s grey and yellow colors as silver and gold–in my opinion this clashed a little less. I was somewhat at a loss when it came to rendering the hairstyle of the unused Wonder Woman-esque character, but I finally settled on a somewhat anachronistic feathered Farrah Fawcett-esque style.
Who are these characters? Do they hail from an alternate reality known as Earth-Taito? Or perhaps they’re modified clones created from the DNA of Superman and Wonder Woman? Maybe they’re descendents of the heroes we know so well?
I’ve mentioned it on this blog before, but it bears repeating–I really love obscure characters. Obscure + mysterious is a bonus. I also have a fascination for bootleg toys (hence the blog URL), and these two characters have such a charming bootleggy/knock-offish quality about them, I can just imagine discovering cheap action figures of them in Chinatown.
What arcade game is this super-obscure heroine from?
HINT: she’s not actually in the game, but appeared in some unused sprites for the game. The answer will be revealed in next Tuesday’s post.
At the peak of my vile plague I was barely blogging and missed out on telling you all that Johnny Monster #2 was solicited. And now Johnny Monster #3 is available for order in the current issue of Previews.
Johnny Monster #3 (of 3)
Story by Joshua Williamson
Art and Cover by J.C. Grande
32 pages FC $3.50 April 15The peaceful habitat Johnny Monster created for the monsters has been invaded by violent mercenaries causing utter chaos! As a result, the largest monster the world has ever seen has been unleashed on New York City on a quest for revenge! Only Johnny can stop him… but does he want to? Don’t miss the exciting conclusion to this monster-ous mini-series!
Check out the covers to both #2 and #3, drawn by the talented J.C. Grande and colored by yours truly:
Be sure to ask your local comic shop to order Johnny Monster #3! It’s on page 170 of February’s Previews catalog, and the Diamond order number is FEB09 2437.
Annnnnd, if you happen to be attending the New York Comic Con, be sure to drop by and visit Josh Williamson (writer of Johnny Monster, Dear Dracula, and Necessary Evil) and Vinny Navarrete (Dear Dracula penciller, Necessary Evil inker, and Johnny Monster logo designer). Those young ruffians wil be sitting with Shadowline at the Image Comics booth.
Post Script: Make sure you check out the Shadowline website, which has a cool Johnny Monster animation at the top of the page.
Sometimes people (such as Kevin) suggest that I draw things. And I do. I just take forever to get around to finishing and posting said things. Here’s OMAC, done up old skool:
I was kind of strapped for time, so I just grabbed this piece because it was already drawn and prepped for coloring. I actually ended up having fun pulling this one together, even though it’s pretty simple.
Green Lanterns seem to pop up on my blog with surprising frequency. Here’s Guy Gardner, the hot-tempered and loud-mouthed hero:
I drew Guy as kind of a rough-looking, broken-nosed, tough guy–this is how he was most often depicted in the 80’s and 90’s. More recently, Guy tends to be drawn as better looking, which is apparently more accurate to his original appearance.
The pose I gave him is awfully stiff… and his torso is too short. Bah!
Dear Cartoon Network/DC Comics,
Please let me write and draw an action/comedy Hong Kong Phooey comic book, in the style of 2-D fighting games like Streetfighter and Darkstalkers. I promise to be your BFF. And if we have Capcom make a 2-D fighting game as a tie-in, we will probably make a kajillion dollars.
Sincerest Regards,
J.Ho
Well, what have we here… the current issue of Previews… under Image Comics and Shadowline…
Johnny Monster #1 (of 3)
Story by Joshua Williamson
Art and Cover by J.C. Grande
32 pages FC $3.50 February 18Johnny Monster is the world’s foremost super-star monster hunter, but what the world doesn’t know is that he was raised by the same monsters he’s “hunting”! Now, in order to save his adoptive family…he must fight them! Johnny Monster mixes Tom Strong with Godzilla movies by way of Tarzan and the Phantom to create a compelling and different monster mash! From the acclaimed writer of Dear Dracula and Necessary Evil!
Another offering from my crony Josh, with art by a new collaborator, the talented J.C. Grande! Johnny Monster promises to be a really fun comic, but let’s face, what I’m interested in is ME ME ME. Josh asked me to color the covers for Johnny Monster, and it was really the first time I colored someone else’s art. It was an interesting experience, and I’m pretty happy with the results. Here are J.C.’s bare inks, alongside the finished cover, with my colors, and a very slick logo by Vinny:
Be sure to ask your local comic shop to order Johnny Monster #1! It’s on page 168 of December’s Previews catalog, and the Diamond order number is DEC08 2275.
Here is the last of the gang, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, of Sector 2814:
Perhaps that cocky grin hints at the arrogant villain he was yet to become? At any rate, he’s back on the side of good now.
For your convienience, here are the Hard Travelling Heroes collected in wallpaper form, available in both fullscreen and widescreen wallpapers:
The next member of the group, here’s everyone’s favorite Judo-choppin’, sonic-screamin’, fishnet-wearin’ heroine, Dinah Lance AKA Black Canary:
My colors are a bit off here… a little too much blue, not enough black.
You can guess who’s coming up next, but to start, here’s Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow:
Hmmm… I probably should have drawn his quiver of arrows. I guess Ollie is ‘off duty’ in this picture.
Believe it or not, I drew this sketch some time ago, long before the Rebirth storyline–so the resemblance to Sinestro’s current uniform is actually just a coincidence. Of course, as a result of the aforementioned Rebirth storyline, it would be difficult (if not impossible) to write a credible story rehabilitating Sinestro in any way, shape, or form. I’m okay with that, because not only do I dig Sinestro’s current uniform (I even drew it once… sort of), I think the storyline of the Green Lantern(s) has been hitting all the right notes in recent years. But if Geoff Johns ever gets sick of his job, I’ll be glad to take over.
For my first take on this guy (left), I gave him the traditional Green Lantern insignia, but on the second take (right), I gave him Kyle Rayner‘s insignia, to emphasize his rookie persona. The next post is NOT a Green Lantern whose species originates from outside the DC Universe.
My apologies to hardcore Trekkies, the Bat’leth and D’k tahg were drawn without reference, so the details are a little sloppy. Stay tuned for more nerd synergy!
These sketches were done quite some time ago–for the first installment, a Skrull and a Wookie:
As you might notice, these are blue pencil sketches, hastily inked and colored with marker. I basically just wanted to get these down on paper, rather than stress out over them. I’m not trying to make excuses though–that Skrull’s foot is terribly contorted and way too big. The next installment will be better, promise.
I love all those versions of Batman–but to me, this is the guy. The Batman of Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams:
He’s lean, he’s mean, he’s blue and grey, and he’s got the yellow oval (though I drew it a tad too big). And I’m waffling… he might sound like Kevin Conroy.
I drew this right after seeing the movie, but it’s only loosely based on Gary Oldman, drawn without looking at reference. More Bat-stuff next time. Perhaps even the Man himself?
