BELLE PRINT_update

As promised, here is the print I've produced for the BVS table (conveniently located at Table E1 in the Small Press Area) for this year's Comic Con International: San Diego. It's entitled "Belle" and is show limited at 20 copies at $30.00USD. Please come buy, pick one up, and show your support.

I think the final image looks beautiful and only made so not because of my line art (which was mediocre, at best) but because of the color stylings of one talented Saskia Gutekunst - check out her link, drop her a note to tell her how marvelous she is. Outside of me doing a couple of touch-ups here and there, the success of this image comes from the 100% bang-up job Saskia did. And I'm sure you all agree, right? I'd like to thank her again for the collaboration and hopefully the response to this at the show will match my enthusiasm.

San Diego, here we come! Woot!

JUMP_update

Okay, for reasons known to most of you, I will not be able to post this coming week - Comic Con International: San Diego (do they still call it that?) will be here and I am an attendee starting Wednesday night.

On to some business: We (Black Velvet Studios) will be at our regular spot at the show, Booth E1 in the Small Press Area. Please drop by and check us out. You'll catch me and the guys and more than likely, the ultra-talented Lauren Montgomery sitting at the table (probably because were drop-dead tired from all the walking around) selling our wares; I'll have a colored print of the 'Belle' image that I've posted here before. The image was beautifully rendered and colored by the incomparable Saskia Gutekunst (thank you for the collaboration, Miss. You are as gracious as you are talented). I'll post that colored version later on today as Saskia did such a beautiful job of it that you need to see it and amaze at her wonder. I think I'll also have the originals for the Iron Man: Enter The Mandarin mini I'm doing for those interested enough to preview them. And Lauren and I might even do some commissions while were there. Again, please drop by and chat it up with us, get a sketch, check us out.

Anyhoo... my buddy Jonathan Tsuei has written a 44 page one-shot called 'JUMP' that I'm illustrating and hopefully we can get it published someplace. Jon's an aspiring, young writer who focuses on good character development, high concept ideas, and big picture story arcs - I hope I can finish all 44 pages sooner rather than later so that he can get his due and if you'd like to know more about the images above, you should ask him about it directly - just follow the link. In all honesty, I have no idea what the story is about - Jon just gave me $5.00 and a couple of Burger King coupons to talk him up, so here I am. Heh. Just kidding, Jon.

Seriously, folks - these preview pages are samples from our project which Jon will be carrying around with him at the show (along with said Burger King coupons). He'll be showing them to editors in order to appropriate his first pro writing gig. Let's all give Jon a pat on the back and a hearty good luck for his upcoming endeavors. If you guys don't know it already, getting a writing gig in comics is an uphill climb and I admire and respect anyone trying to break in on that front. *And* going to try it at Comic Con?!? That's just plain CRAZY! But Jon's screwey enough in the head to go for it and he has an exciting challenge in front of him and I've gotta respect him for the experience he's willing to subject himself to. Haha! Give 'em hell, kid.

So, for those of you who just got here: No post for this week(except for the forthcoming colored 'Belle' image). Drop by the table and say 'Hey!' to the guys, me and Lauren. Give Jon a job.

Have a good week, all. I'll see you at the big show.

4 DAYS BEHIND_update

Busy with work and pages from IM. Forgot to upload some images, so I'm going to do the four I've missed, plus one more just in case tomorrow gets to be a mad house. Have a good week all.

'Union Jack', you say? Hell yeah, Union FREAKIN' Jack! If there ever was a flag on this planet just begging to be made into a costume it's the one the Brits salute to! Heh. Have a good week, folks.

IMo3o3o3_update

SILVER SURFER_sketchcard

I heard that in FF: ROTSS, 'Galactus' is a cloud. And that the argument for this is because the people in charge of making the movie thought having a giant planet eater guy with a tuning fork-shaped helmet would look ridiculous. I guess... maybe. But the chrome man flying around on a surfboard, or the big man made of orange rocks is...not as ridiculous? It's entertaining how subjective taste can be, yeah?

GARGOYLES_90 minutes.

I forgot to draw the the chubby one, 'Broadway' - who (growing up as a chubby guy myself) was the one I related to. For shame. Actually, his girth was my enemy as I had filled this image's composition to its limit. Oh, well. Next time I'll plan better.

And I wanted to make up for the fact that I practically ('practically'?! - more like 'absolutely'!) drew the same pose on two different images, so I decided to overcompensate by putting crap-load of characters in this one. Sorry for that previous and unintentional FUBAR, folks. I'll try to keep that to a minimum.

PSYLOCKE_90 minutes

I don't have any original ideas left. Look HERE for an example of what I'm talking about.

Actually, it was only *after* I was done inking that I realized I had already done a pose similar (if not exactly) to that Catwoman I did however long ago. I was wondering why It felt so familiar and I was experiencing a case of deja vu. Go figure.

But, I mean - that still doesn't make the previous statement any less true. I am Indeed out of ideas. Whatever. That's less interesting that the fact that Psylocke used to be a British girl until The Hand got a hold of her, brainwashed her into being a ninja and as a byproduct, turned her into an Asian girl with purple hair.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?!?

CABLE_sketchcard

I don't quite recollect, but were this guy's *ridiculously* large shoulder pads stem from the fact that he's from the future? Or was it because he was a victim of a 90's superhero fashion trend that had everyone wearing obnoxious, superfilous gear that seemingly served no purpose? Just wondering.

Also, I don't even know if he still wears this stuff - which could mean that I'm perpetuating and contributing to my elitist commentary. Which in turn, makes me just as guilty as the designers that put him in this goofy get-up in the first place.

Way to make it suck some more, Canete.

ELEKTRA_sketchcard

Thank you to all that have left positive comments regarding the first few cards that I've posted thus far. I really appreciate it. But something has come up and has me slightly concerned.

There were a few of you who have mentioned that the detail of the images I've done have inspired you to do the same with the ones you are responsible for. While I find that flattering and humbling, I would seriously, strongly recommend against it. Keep in mind that this is all just my personal opinion and ultimately you artists can do whatever you want, but please consider the small (almost microscopic) monetary compensation we're receiving for these and you should realize that it doesn't make much sense why you'd spend any considerable amount of time per card. It's just not very smart (we'll get to why I'm not as smart as I seem in a second here - bear with me). If you were to ask for my opinion...well, I'd say, "Draw whatever the hell you want." But please don't use these overworked images that I'm doing as a point of reference. Some of us need to eat and I don't know if we can live off of the production of these cards. You're time is better invested in something that has healthier rate of return. Does that make sense?

As for me, I'm an idiot and I have brain damage. Synapses don't fire correctly in my head. Ask anyone who knows me. Want proof? They're supposed to be 'sketch cards' but I'm doing full-on illustrations on a few of them. Not smart. And the time I spend on these could be better spent slamming my head into drywall. Which I do. Which explains why I'm an idiot, why I have brain damage and why synapses blah, blah, blah. Seriously, I've more than a fair share of people asking me, "WTF are you drawing so much for?!?" And they're right.

So to recap: Thanks for the kind words. Draw what you want, but if you don't have to, please don't draw more than what's necessary. I'm an idiot who draws too much.

Anyway - 'Elektra'. Enjoy.

SHOCKER_sketchcard

Uploading two for today because I forgot to put one up on Sunday. Anyhoo...ZAP!

THE LEADER_sketchcard

GHOSTRIDER_sketchcard

And so it starts...

SKETCHCARDS_update

"CONGRATULATIONS! You are now the proud owner of an original piece of hand-drawn Marvel Art."

That's what it says on the back of each and every blank sketch card that Upper Deck has sent me - as seen in the bottom right of the image above. I had promised to do about 150 'sketch' images on these cards, which will then be randomly packed with their 'Marvel Masterpieces' collector sets. Now, I don't know what the other artists for this series are doing - the level of detail, the amount of work they're putting into them (considering it's only supposed to be a sketch), etc. - but these are my offerings.

And since it takes me forever to do 90 minute sketches (well, 'forever' by way of an hour and a half) and these don't take nearly as long, that's what you're going to be getting a steady diet of for the next few days. I've decided to put up one at a time until I finish about 150 of them. Please keep in mind they're not all going to be gems - my bet is that I'll mess up more than I get right. The card measures about 2.5"x3.5" and presents quite a drawing challenge. More often than not I'm going to be limited to drawing just bust shots of the characters and after about 20 or 30 of them, I'm more than likely going to be mimicking previous poses. But whatever...I figured when it's all said and done, I'm going to have quite a portfolio piece(s) to talk about, yeah? It should be fun. And *AND* it should supplement those pesky, time consuming 90 minute ditties that really get in the way of actual work-work, yeah?

So, I started off trying to do Spider-man villains because that's what I saw on the back of the cards (and I thought that it might be a Spider-man line they had going...who knows), but now I'm just drawing whatever the heck comes to mind. I'll still include the other Spidey baddies I've done, but those will come later. I've done about 20 so far of which these are only three. Like I said, they'll all be up here eventually . So for now, I hope you enjoy.

OH! And another thing - I'm trying *NOT* to go to the obvious characters right away. Captain America, Iron Man, et al. I'm going to be getting to those guys for sure, but I remember when I used to flip through those old school 'Marvel Universe' handbooks and thought how cool the other heroes and villains were, made better by the fact that some of my favorite artists were drawing them. So I'm going to try other guys for now. Then maybe towards the end of 150 I'll do the franchise players. So there you go. Thanks for looking!

ANGELA_90 minutes

Nah, not really 90 minutes. More like 30 minutes. Inspired by my friend's breath-taking and ridiculously charming girlfriend - from a picture of their trip to Paris. My buddy is a lucky, lucky bastard.