Original Barbarian

Let’s face it, I talk about He-Man a lot on this blog. But for those who don’t know, there would be no He-Man without Conan the Barbarian. And the visual language of Conan, and indeed of all Sword & Sorcery fiction, was defined by one man, Frank Frazetta.

To commemorate the passing of the once and future master, here is my humble rendition of Conan the Barbarian:

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Additional inspiration provided by my pal Derek Fridolfs and his superb take on the barbarian.

Robotech Tuesdays: Miriya Parina Sterling

The infamous Zentradi ace who fell in love with an Earthling (Max Sterling) and defected, Miriya Parina Sterling:

In the actual anime, Miriya doesn’t show up in this uniform much–so it was tough to find reference for the colors. The uncolored design for the uniform, which differs slightly from the one that the female bridge officers wear, was in one of my Robotech art books. In the instances where Miriya is wearing this uniform, the colors are inconsistent, but I found some images on the internet (possibly screengrabs from a Macross video game?) that backed up a particular version of the colors that I liked best, so I went with that. And that’s how my boring story ended!

R.I.P. Carl Macek

There are a handful of key figures who are responsible for the popularity of anime in the Western world–Carl Macek was one of them–he passed away last month.

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Most notably, Carl was responsible for combining three unrelated series into one saga, and introducing them to America under the title Robotech. For an entire generation of nerds, including myself, this was our introduction to anime.

Thanks for everything, Carl!

Temporary Delay!

Today’s post will appear later, possibly not until early Wednesday (Pacific Standard Time). My apologies for the delay.

Moldy Oldies: MEOW!

Still not 100% set-up on the new computer–bear with me folks. This piece isn’t terribly old, but it isn’t terribly recent either:

Drawn for a friend who was obsessed with her neighbor’s cat.

To Infinity and (Batman) Beyond!

AKA Terry McGinnis:

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Pencil, pen, and marker. You can kind of tell that I started this drawing at the top and lost momentum as I reached the bottom. Oh well, I’m still happy with how the head and neck turned out. I definitely need to do more drawings with heavily inked shadows.

Unseasonably Ghoulish

Sigh. Computers.

Almost there with setting up the new computer, but I’m not yet quite able to do my normal computer coloring thang. Which is why you get this seemingly random piece today:

I had some surplus of holiday spirit left after last Halloween, so I whipped up this pen sketch and slapped some marker colors on it. In theory I would have saved this for October of this year, but I am tired and defeated after dealing with my computer situation for the past week and a half. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!

x_x

The Waiting Game

I’m autoposting another sloppy blog from the work computer, while I grow old waiting for my new one to arrive.

Actually, I am full of lies. First of all, I’m more like a big impatient baby than an old man. And second, I could only grow such a long Rip Van Winkle-esque beard in my wildest dreams! New computer should be here soon-ish, and “real” posting will resume.

Alas poor Computros, we hardly knew ye!

I am in the process of redirecting all of my old blogs to my new hosting. Images from this year are already redirected; images older than 2010 are online for the moment, but soon will be offline momentarily while I work behind the scenes. I’ll keep you posted, because I know you’re all dying to look at ancient ultra-nerdy drawings that I’ve done.

Naturally, just as soon as I set up new web-hosting and started to get things in order, my computer AKA Computros, succumbed to enough malware to put it on its deathbed.

Computros has been struggling for sometime, and I knew that I would have to find an upgrade sooner or later, I just didn’t think it would happen like this. I always thought we would have more time. This sketchblog would not be possible without my silent comrade-in-arms… Computros will be sorely missed.

My new computer will be arriving next week. I do not yet know its name. It will be my new ally in sketchbloggery. It might be faster, and have more RAM, and more storage. But Computros can never be replaced, only succeeded.

FUTURE GENERATIONS WILL SING SONGS OF YOU, COMPUTROS!!!

This blog is being posted hastily from my work computer after hours–please humor my sloppy posts while I get the new computer set up.

Robotech Tuesdays: Max Sterling

Quick note before I get to today’s post… I’m going to be changing my web hosting soon, so any art that’s older than, um, last week, might be offline for a bit while I transfer things over. My apologies for the inconvenience.

Hey kids, look: it’s ace Veritech pilot Max Sterling!

Err…

[EDITTT: There we go, all fixed… for now!]

Apparently I’m having problems with my web storage, which is why most of the images on this blog are red X‘s. Looks like involuntary renovations are in order.

I’m looking into the problem (and cursing)–in the meantime, should you have a burning desire to look at any of my previous art, feel free to check out my Deviant Art page.

Gallifrey Fridays: Davros

Two things… First, I don’t know whether or not “Gallifrey Fridays” is going to be an ongoing thing or not–this was kind of an impulse piece (though there certainly are other Doctor Who characters that I’m interested in drawing). Second, is Gallifrey the wussiest sounding fantasy/sci-fi name you’ve ever heard or what?

Here’s Davros, father of the Dalek race:

BTW, Davros looks how I feel. Thanks to crushing sinus pain!!! Sorry I keep talking about my crushing sinus pain, but, y’know… it’s crushing and painful… for my sinuses. And my face. And also my soul.

CRUSHING SINUS PAIN!!!

._.

Worlds Collide!

For today’s post, I’m offering up a rare crossover betwen my day job and my blog.

In the past, I’ve mentioned a few times that I work for Bongo Comics, publishers of a variety of Simpsons and Futurama comic books and collections. Well, last Wednesday, this gem finally hit stores:


This deluxe collected edition features both Simpsons/Futurama Crossovers, which were written by the very talented Ian Boothby, and pencilled by the equally talented James Lloyd. The hardcover book measures 7.5 x 11 inches (larger than standard comic dimensions), clocks in at 208 pages, and comes in a robust die-cut slipcase. It retails for $24.95, which is already a great value, but can be found for a significant discount from the usual online book-sellers. Please check the book out–it’s very funny, smartly written, gorgeously illustrated, and (I say this as a fan, not an employee), it’s truly one of my favorite Bongo stories of all time.

This new collection has some bonus materials, including some great preliminary sketches and character designs from James Lloyd’s sketchbook, and a pin-up gallery featuring Alex Ross, Sergio Aragonés, Geof Darrow, Kyle Baker, Glenn Fabry, Tone Rodriguez, Peter Kuper, Ty Templeton, Bernie Wrightson, and more. Well, somehow, there’s also a pin-up in there by a total unknown, AKA yours truly. If I may present today’s post, my pin-up, titled, Cosmic Brouhaha:

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(Apologies for the watermark)

I’ve been at Bongo for well over a decade (basically my entire adult life), so this piece has a great deal of personal significance, as I feel like it represents my growth both on and off the job. This pin-up really gave me a chance to stretch my wings, and I think it’s my most ambitious color piece to date. Stylistically, I chose to keep the characters relatively on-model, but in terms of the general crowded cross-overy energy of it, I did my best to channel George Pérez. Overall, I really had a blast with this!

Now we’re talking…

As I’ve mentioned (a jillion times), I’ve been dealing with some crushing sinus pain. Vitamin C, Sudafed, bed rest, and nasal lavage have all provided some degree of relief, but the crushing pain was persistent. Until…

Scotch! Just one glass of quality Scotch, imbibed with a solemn sense of responsibility, and I feel tons better, even a few days later. DRINK RESPONSIBLY OR DON’T DRINK AT ALL.

It’s looking like I’ll be back to the usual nerdy stuff next week (knock on wood). Have a good weekend (without crushing sinus pain) everyone!