That’s the ticket!

If you’ve read my blog before, you may recall that I’m something of a paper hoarder. I really hate to see paper go to waste. If it can be drawn or scribbled on, I’ll do my best to save it. And when I see other people throw away perfectly scribble-worthy scratch paper, I practically flinch.

Which brings me to the three sketches I have today. Each one was drawn with colored pencil, Sharpie, and marker on the back of a 2.75 x 4″ ticket stub from a parking garage. The subjects of the sketches are the Autobots Hot Rod, Arcee, and Springer. I picked this particular trio of characters because they happened to match the colors of the ticket stubs:

 
A ticket stub from a parking garage is an incredibly mundane thing. It makes me feel good to use such a thing for creativity, even if it’s merely a crude little sketch!

(There, 3 sketches and I’m all caught up again!)

Aqua Zone

For no particular reason, here’s a drawing of Aquaman zoning out:

 
I FEEL THE SAME WAY, AQUAMAN.

As you can see, I’m continuing to experiment w/ shapes as opposed to lines and forms. Not sure where this is heading, but sometimes you just have to let the current whisk you away. YOU SEE BECAUSE I DREW A PICTURE OF AQUAMAN UNDERWATER, AND CURRENTS ARE THINGS THAT HAPPEN IN THE WATER. K, time to sleep.

(Why yes, I am both late as well as one post behind. Sigh.)

The Other C-Word

Who wants to see me draw a very innacurate picture of a coelacanth on a piece of cardboard? Show of hands?

You, in the back, with the “I <3 COELACANTHS" t-shirt, you're in luck. Please try to maintain your composure, ma'am! Here it is:

click above for larger view

 

(Still behind by one post! But I’ve been getting this thing called “sleep.” I recommend it.)

Oh, grrr…

Here’s a quick sketch of the ogre Shrek that I did on my iPad. Just messing around with an approach that relies less on linework and more on shapes:

 
(Yes, I’m behind by 1 post.. let’s see if I can fix that soon!)

Bravest Warriors + Pizza + Convention Exclusive =

Check it out–I drew the cover for the Long Beach Comic-Con exclusive edition of Bravest Warriors #1 (published by the fine folks at BOOM! Studios):

click above for larger view

 
The Long Beach Comic-Con is this weekend (November 3-4), so if you live in Southern California, please swing by and get your copy of Bravest Warriors!

I will be at the BOOM! Studios booth on Saturday November 3rd, 2:00-3:00pm, signing and sketching. Come by and say hello! If you don’t, I will die of loneliness, and the guilt will haunt you for decades.

Pinstripes and Booo-llets

I was having a conversation with Josh over IM which lead to me proposing a hi-larious image, which lead to me drawing said image because it was suitable for Halloween. Here it is:

click above for larger view

 
You see, they’ll never take him alive, because he’s already dead. GET IT?? I TOLD YOU I’M HI-LARIOUS! HAPPY HALLOWEEN, SUCKERS!

(I’m behind a post, but I have stuff incoming later this week… )

Hand and Foot

Here’s a dual post to cover last Friday as well as today. I had two pieces of sturdy cardboard lying around, so I grabbed some markers and did these two pieces:

 
click either image above for larger view

 
Sketched in color pencil, lineart inked with a Sharpie, silvers filled with a Sharpie, and reds and blacks filled with Marks-A-Lot markers.

I’m sure similar such cross-over pin-ups have been drawn before, but I thought this wold be fun! (For those who don’t know, Eastman and Laird’s TMNT was inspired by Frank Miller’s seminal run on Daredevil.)

Every Hound Has His Day

Here’s a quick sketch in honor of the passing of Ken Sansom, known to most as the voice of Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh–but to me he’ll always be Hound, the serene, nature-loving Autobot scout:

click above for larger view

 
I was surprised how quickly this piece went. I’m satisfied that I was able to throw in an indication of an environment and turn a simple bust sketch into something with a little more atmosphere. Also, I managed to avoid getting anal-retentive while I was coloring. That’s an accomplishment for me!

Gal Pals

This has been floating around on the internet for a week or two, so I can finally share it!

I drew an Adventure Time cover for BOOM! Studios, and apparently it’s going to see the light of day on the cover of Bleeding Cool’s upcoming print-magazine!

EDIT: I found out this is going to be a variant cover for Adventure Time #14 as well!

click above for larger view

 
(For those of you playing along at home, this post catches me up on my blog posts for the time being. Sometimes when I drop off from posting it’s because I’m too busy to draw, and sometimes it’s because I’m so busy doing art-things that I just don’t have the time to post, even though I’m actually drawing a bunch! Either way it’s frustrating for me, and I will strive to keep my posting intervals a bit more regular. That is all.)

Hair and Now

 

Something that happened to me at my friend’s wedding. (This is a 93% true story… in the real version, the rhino’s martini didn’t have an olive in it.)

I am a terrible letterer!

Fellas in Yella

Technically these guys are in GOLD not yellow, but I couldn’t think of a good rhyme for gold.

Posting Worf for last Tuesday, Geordi for last Friday, and Data for today.

click above for larger view

 
Back. To. The. Grind. Blorf. (Not to be confused with Worf)

Yarrr

(This post is for Friday, I’m laaate, which is no surprise to anybody. Busy days ahead! Will any of it amount to anything? WHO COULD TELL?)

In my Star Trek: The Next Generation re-watch, I’ve gained a new appreciation of Tasha Yar’s tough demeanor, her butch yet cute haircut, her devotion to Starfleet, and also her bangin’ bootay.

So, in honor of the fallen Lieutenant Yar, here’s what I hope is a dynamic shot of her about to gain the upper hand during a sparring session. Perhaps her sparring partner is her pal Lieutenant Worf?

click above for larger view

 
These colors… something about them just isn’t jiving for me. I think I tried a few different tricks here, and they didn’t come together cohesively. Better luck next time, I guess?

Testbots

I have very nearly zero formal education in the arts, so whilst I ramble about theory today, you must forgive me if I use some terms incorrectly. Nevertheless, I think you will get the gist of what I’m saying. And for hardcore arts people, I’m sure you will have heard this all before. Bear with me, every so often I must talk these things through.

click above for larger view

 
So, you may or may not have noticed, but I’ve been having a stylistic identity crisis. Maybe crisis is the wrong word. I’d like it to be resolved, but there’s no imminent danger.

If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you’ll notice that I draw in a lot of different styles. Just the last few entries should make that apparent. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with drawing in different styles, but I have been struggling with a more unified overall approach, and I think I need to figure out which style I’m going to focus on and attempt to master.

I’ve been attempting to move towards streamlined shapes with a lot of energy, which goes against literally decades of focusing on details and structure. When I was younger, I fixated more so on drawing things “right.” But you can draw something completely “right” with every detail in place, and it will still lack that undefinable thing that makes a piece of art interesting. And something that’s sort-of related to that–I’ve really become opposed to fussiness in drawing. I still like complexity. And I certainly don’t want to dumb things down. But fussy character design or composition is never a good thing.

I tend to get bogged down with details, so today’s piece was a bit of a style test. I wanted to draw some Transformers in a more streamlined and dynamic manner, without being such a slave to detail and geometry.

In regards to what I’m trying to achieve, I don’t think it worked. As a stand alone thing, the piece is decent enough, but Optimus still looks pretty stiff, and in the end, I still got a little hung up on details. However, on the plus side, the drawing itself didn’t take long at all. (Coloring it still took me forever because I’m slooow.)

Well, what can you do? Back to the drawing board, but first, sleep.

Okay, I know this looks bad…

I just caught up, and promised a post. And here I am not delivering. I know, it looks real bad. I had other art things I had to get done, which hopefully will be revealed some time in the next decade. HOWEVER! The post I want to put up is in good shape. It will be here. Soon. Ish. Like tomorrow night… exit, stage left!

Sons of the Bat… Parts 4 and 5 (of 5)

(Previously: Parts 1 and 2, Part 3)

Today we move out of the realm of Batman’s adopted sons, and on to two of his actual genetic offspring.

The son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne, AKA The Demon:

click above for larger view

 

  • Age: Mid 20’s
  • Damian has matured as both a man and costumed hero, and left the nest a few years ago to travel the world. After the apparent final death of Ra’s al Ghul, Damian seized control of the League of Shadows with the instrumental backing of his mother, and the assistance of his father and ‘brothers.’ Under Damian’s leadership, the League has become a force for good, though he and his mother are constantly battling splinter factions who wish to remain true to Ra’s al Ghul’s ways. Damian is still competitive with his brothers, but the interactions have lost their antagonistic edge. Of particular note, he and Tim have eased into a very friendly dynamic (Oracle has assisted the new League of Shadows countless times), and he has surprisingly become quite the big brother to Terry (however Tim is apparently the only member of the Bat-clan who knows that Damian and Terry are actual brothers).
  • This backstory combines elements from standard continuity, as well as aspects of the Kingdom Come version of Batman and Talia’s son.
  • Damian is still prone behave imperiously, so red is a fitting color, I think.
  • The cowl is something of a hybrid between Thomas Wayne’s masquerade bat costume and Ra’s al Ghul’s demon mask–a nod to both of Damian’s grandfathers. The V-shaped brow is an element from Damian’s Redbird costume, to add an element of his own identity on top of his dual heritage.
  • The rest of the costume combines elements of Damian’s Robin costume with Ra’s al Ghul’s high-collared cloak (modified to bring it in line with the cloaks of Red Hood and Oracle).
  • His scimitar is a hard light construct.

Up next is Terry McGinnis, AKA… Batman??

click above for larger view

 

  • Age: Early 20’s
  • With Bruce Wayne comatose and in critical condition after a battle with a coalition of Batman’s greatest rivals, Gotham is in need of a Batman. Terry McGinnis, having served as Robin to Bruce’s Batman for a few years, thinks he’s the least likely candidate for the job. However, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damien all have unique roles to play as their current alter egos, and they urge Terry to take up the mantle. It was possible that they would have come to this consensus regardless, but “the Robins” don’t realize that Tim subtly nudged them towards this decision because he was the only one aware that Terry is actually Bruce’s son. With no knowledge of his true heritage, Terry agrees, knowing that he will be backed by the four men who have become a second family to him.
  • This isn’t a redesign at all! The only thing I changed was the color of the belt! To be honest, I wasn’t always crazy about the Batman Beyond costume, particularly the use of red. But it grew on me over time, and now I think the red is very appropriate for Terry’s hotheaded youthfulness. By making the belt yellow, I hoped to tie the colors of Terry’s costume to Damien’s costume. A subtle indication that the two have more in common than they realize.
  • The wing technology (shown in retracted position) was already being field tested by Nightwing, but the suit itself is a brand new piece of experimental technology.
  • His retractable claws are hard light constructs.

Well, that was a fun series of designs to draw! I have a lot more ideas for this imagined alternate continuity. I realized yesterday that I actually need to add two more Sons of the Bat. Of course I fully intend to (eventually) follow this series with Daughters of the Bat (there are at least 6 or 7 to draw). Plus there are several characters who don’t quite fit either category…

(In closing out this series, I have also closed out my post deficit! Returning to regular posting, the first one for this week will be up late Tuesday or early Wednesday. After that, let’s see if I can get back to posting at regular intervals.)