Moldy Oldies

Moldy Oldies: Pissed Off Elf

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment

I believe this is the first 100% digital piece I ever did, circa 2003-2004. The colors were pretty awful and over-saturated, so I adjusted them.

That elf sure looks pissed off about something. He’s probably angry beause his favorite sketchblog decided to run old artwork for the next few weeks.

Moldy Oldies: The Pits

~ J.Ho

It was not so long ago that I expressed regret over the amount of old artwork that I have been posting. Well, sadly, I’ve been treading water since then, barely able to complete my posts in a timely manner. So instead, I’ve decided to strip-mine my art archives, and post an extended series of old artwork in order to give myself time to catch up and stockpile new posts.

Many of the pieces in the coming weeks were drawn for friends, some were drawn for pitches and projects, and none of these pieces has ever really been seen by more than a handful of people. In other words, this art should be new to you, dear reader.

First up… a get well card drawn for a friend, circa 2005.

It seems like everyone I know has been sick multiple times this year, and I myself have been transformed into a plague-infested bag of putrid virulence on at least three (3) separate occasions this year (feeling well currently, knock on wood). So if you’ve got a sick friend, send ’em this pic! The terrible pun and intentionally over-saccharine image will either make them feel better… or finish the job. Okay, maybe you shouldn’t send this to anyone.

Flashback Friday Returns… Yay?

~ J.Ho

I posted a picture of a lumberjack some time ago, which was originally commisioned by my friend James, as part of an animation pitch. Here’s a forest ranger from the same pitch:

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I’m still pretty happy with this piece, I think it holds up alright–but let’s be honest folks, my blog posts this year (so far) have been all over the place…. tons of last minute posts and Flashback Fridays. I’ll endeavor to (metaphorically) provide fresher produce in the future.

Flashback Tuesday!? Booooooo!

~ J.Ho

Drawing myself in a bacta tank must have helped, because I’m feeling much better. But I’m terribly short on time this week. Here’s a sketch from quite a few years ago, inspired somewhat by a slick-looking billboard that I saw on Olympic Blvd every time I drove home from ye olde daye jobbe. That billboard was up for so long it eventually faded to the point of being nearly unrecognizable.

This was completely done in Photoshop. I really should probably post more pieces like these–not super old stuff from the archives, but spontaneous sketches that aren’t so planned out. Thinking aloud stops here.

Going Green (Part 4 of 4)

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment
When I was kicking around this impossible-in-reality idea for the Green Lantern Corps, the idea of using alien species from non-DC Universe franchises, was really just for flavor–I had some actual plot ideas as well. The biggest plot point was that Sinestro would be reinstated into the Green Lantern Corps (as he had been during the events of Emerald Twilight). The key to this idea was that it wasn’t a short term turn of events to be quickly undone, rather it would be the new status quo–whatever his intentions, Sinestro would have been working with the good guys for an extended period of time:

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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.

Going Green (Part 3 of 4)

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment
Today’s post is probably my favorite of the set (I know, I always seem to shoot myself in the foot by posting my favorite sketch in a set second-to-last, but there’s a good reason the next post is the last in the set). Anyways, here’s a rookie Rodian Green Lantern:

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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.

Going Green (Part 1 of 4)

~ J.Ho
Let’s dial up the nerdiness here… a while back, I had an idea for the Green Lantern Corps which could never ever be officially made–the gist of it was to populate the Corps with aliens from various science fiction franchises. And even though it could never be officially produced, I still drew up a bunch of character designs. Yes folks, this is how I choose to spend my free time.

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.

(indecipherable snarling)

~ J.Ho ~ 1 Comment
I had no luck finding it on Youtube, but back in the day, Cartoon Network used to run a hilarious commercial featuring Thundarr the Barbarian and Ookla the Mok. To the best of my recollection, it went a little somthing like this:

Cheesy sax music plays in BG.

OOKLA: (indecipherable snarling)
THUNDARR: Ookla, I think you’re very handsome.
OOKLA: (indecipherable snarling)
THUNDARR: No, really.

That will probably be a lot funnier to you if you are familiar with the characters. Here’s Ookla:

Ookla the Mok, for those who don’t know, was actually designed by the late great Alex Toth. Toth is best known for designing Space Ghost, and while he is very much regarded as an artist’s artist in comic book and animation circles, really he was a master of drawing, period. Be sure to check out the image gallery at the official Toth website.

Flashback Friday. Yes, Again.

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Archaelogists recently uncovered a piece that I created a jillion years ago. Carbon dating indicates that the illustration is from approximately 2000 CE. It was an entry for a “Design a Kubrick” contest in Previews–I placed second, winning myself some cool action figures, including an awesome Tetsujin 28 and Black Ox boxed set (in black and white anime colors). For educational purposes only, here is the title character of Princess Mononoke, in Kubrick form:

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This piece represents one of my earliest forays into computer coloring. All things considered, I’m surprised that it still somewhat holds up (and I’m not just saying that because it got me free action figures). The good news (depending on how you feel about things) is that this will probably be the last Flashback Friday for a long time. I don’t think I have anything else in the vault that I don’t find embarrassing. But then again, if I get desperate, you never know.

Hard Looks

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Who’s that Pokemon???

It’s Metapod!

I drew this ages ago (five years ago, in fact) for two kids at Comic-Con who were taking a sketchbook around and having artists draw random Pokemon. They sent me a scan of it, and here I am, a jillion years later, finally doing something with it.

A few years later I saw those kids again, but they weren’t kids–they were young men, in college, and they were in a band. I’m old!

The end.

Flashback Friday, Again?!? WTF?!?

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Let’s face it. Lately, I have been S.T. Rugglin. Which means that once again, you get something that i drew and colored years ago, instead of a fresh selection from my drawing board today. I’m going to work hard this weekend to get ahead on my blog posts, because I know the 5.7 people who read this blog rely on me for 19 seconds of diversion, twice a week. I promise there’ll be all new stuff next week.

Until then, here’s a robot that needs no introduction, but gets one anyways–Optimus Prime, heroic leader of the Autobots:

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Current Mood: Gettin’ there
Listening To: The Long Black Veil
Reading: Just finished Kiki Strike Inside The Shadow City (which was awesome)
Watching: She-Ra season one
Playing: Possum
Eating: Nothing, I’m starved right now!
Drinking: Vitamin Water

Flashback Friday!!! (AKA I am a slacker)

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
Here’s an illustration of a fox spirit ronin that I did a number of years ago (2004 to be precise), for a now-defunct art challenge:

On the one hand, posting old artwork makes me a lazy and horrible person. On the other hand, I think this piece holds up pretty decently, and since only a handful of people ever saw this anyways, I thought it was worth sharing. Your mileage may vary.

A Magical Sprite and a Thanksgiving Flashback

~ J.Ho ~ 3 Comments
(Posting early for Thanksgiving…)

This sprite is Orko, who is not actually a “Sprite” at all, but a Trollan:

I started this a while back when I was trying to get into RPG Maker. The general proportions of the head (particularly the spacing of the eyes) mimic those of RPG Maker’s character sprites, but this was rendered from scratch. I did try animating this at one point, but it was choppy at best. However, this is definitely something I’ll try more of in the future.

And as a bonus treat for anyone who likes He-Man, She-Ra, or awesome Thanksgiving parades:

Unrelated Topics: Comic-Con and comic Conan

~ J.Ho ~ 2 Comments
As promised, here is a post rife with complete sentences, as well as a Comic-Con wrap-up. First up, the last illustration from the commisioned project where I was asked to depict a few distinct TV characters–my favorite talk show host, Conan O’Brien:

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Same technique on this one as the previous few–inked with Tombo brush pen and Sakura microns, followed by obsessive Photoshop touch-up and coloring. The colors on this piece don’t quite gel. They get the idea across well enough, but there’s something subtley lacking. In that respect this piece shows its age–I think I’d do a better job on the colors today. Incidentally, this and the Mr. T sketch from tuesday, were both drawn years before Mr. T became a semi-regular on Conan. MY DRAWRINS’ PREDICTED THE FUTURE!

So, Comic-Con. It was a decent show–crowded, but manageable (unlike last year). For me, Comic-Con is always a very surreal event–every fifteen minutes I’m running into someone I know, very often someone who I haven’t seen for years. For example, literally, within five minutes of stepping into the convention hall to pick up my badge, I ended up talking to someone who I haven’t seen since college (closing in on 8-9 years). It’s nice running in to some familiar faces, and its always cool to meet new creative people too, and get excited about drawing and writing. However, talking too much and being in a dry air-conditioned environment for four and a half days straight left my throat pretty messed up. Enough about my ridiculously frail constitution! The highlights:

  • Vinny drew me an awesome sketch of Skeletor–I will post it in the near future.
  • The Tired Girl Collective was joined by the very lovely Anna Woltz. Anna had a button that read “Frodo” but looked like the Ford logo, so naturally, I bought one.
  • “Hand-wrestling” featuring super-posable cardboard robot action figure thingees. It basically amounted to videos of a person’s hands making two cardboard robots “wrestle.” It’s ridiculous, I don’t understand the point of it, but the robots are awesome. Check out Kami-Robo.
  • Samurai cats in the style of traditional Japanese ukiyo-e prints. Verbal description doesn’t do it justice–good sense requires you to visit the website of Moira Hahn.
  • Martin Hsu‘s art really caught my eye, as did Seth Reek‘s. Let your eyes soak in their talent.
  • I bought the volume of Dungeon that I was missing, King City (review on its way), and an advance copy of Comic Foundry.
  • Jacob, who is both a Prince, and a Scholar, picked up this Transformers exclusive for me, so I didn’t even have to wait in line!

Phew. Enough of that! Comic-Con 2008 will be upon us before we know it. Onward, to the future, dear reader!

(Next Post: Harry Potter!)