Joe Quinones' interweb-log

Madman: 20th Anniversary MONSTER

2012-02-01T10:35:00.004-05:00

In stores today!

Above is Maris Wicks and my contribution to the supremely talented Mike Allred's oversize hardcover. It celebrates 20 years of Madman, including several pin-ups and one-page stories about the character by a slew of amazing comic creators. Maris and I were lucky enough to be included in on the fun, with our one-page story, Madman: Fast Times at Snap City High. This marked our first big comics collaboration, with Maris on writing duties, and me on art detail. So if you're looking for another grand comics reading experience, be sure to check this one out today for ours and several more Madman pin-ups and comics work by Frank Quitely, Jeff Smith, Paul Pope, the Hernandez brothers, Mike Allred (of course), and more in the Madman 20th Anniversary Monster!

Congrats, Mike!

Photobooth Phridays, No 39

2012-01-27T18:44:00.008-05:00

VenoM.J. edition

For starters, here's a look at my two cover ideas for the 'M.J. as Venom' cover.

I knew I wanted to reference some iconic Spidey imagery here, hence the two choices above. The sketch on the right of course being a reference to the ol' web heads first appearance in Amazing Fantasy, no. 15 - but with a bit of a role reversal. Once Marvel decided to opt for the Romita tribute, I got to work pencilling, then toning the piece in Copic marker:

During the initial drawing, I used a bit of photo reference for the hands-- (using Photobooth)

And that about does it. You can see the finished piece (sans text) here. Have a good weekend everyone!

VenoM.J.

2012-01-25T11:20:00.003-05:00

Above is my contribution to Marvel's month of 'Venom Variants', featuring several staples of the Marvel universe 'Venom-ified'. I was tasked with joining Mary Jane Watson with the infamous symbiote, and thought it'd be fun to reference her iconic first appearance from Amazing Spider-man no. 42, by John Romita.
Mistakenly, I thought this issue came out today, but the internet has informed me that it, in fact, it hit comic stands last week. It's also a variant, so it might be hard to find, but keep an eye out the next time you find yourself at your local shop.

Avengers: Art Appreciation

2012-01-24T00:43:00.003-05:00

It seems I'm on an Avengers kick this week.

Today Marvel announced a series of variant covers they will be releasing this April under the banner "Avengers Art Appreciation". Throughout the month, "fans will have the opportunity to see their favorite super hero team in the styles of the world’s greatest artists like Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Monet, Pollock, Schielle and more!" I was asked to participate in the fun, with a tribute piece to Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, for which I decided to reference his famous litho, Moulin Rouge: La Goulue. Hope you like!

Avengers: The Punk Band

2012-01-21T14:36:00.004-05:00

It’s your favorite punk band! The Avengers!*

Here’s a collaborative piece Maris Wicks, Liz Prince and I were commissioned to do at a recent mini-convention held by our local shop, Comicazi. Our initial thought was to draw the Avengers as a rock group, but then Liz took it a step beyond, and suggested we reference this famous Ramones album cover. We totes agreed.

--I should note who did what here — Liz drew Cap and inked Ant Man. Maris drew Thor and pencilled Ant Man and the background. I drew Iron Man and rendered and inked the background. True.

G.I. JOE's

2012-01-06T14:44:00.005-05:00

Recently I've been drawing some G.I. Joe characters --

First, Scarlett--

And Second, Roadblock--

From the recent con held by my local shop, Comicazi. (For those not getting the "massage" reference, see here)

Photobooth Phridays, No 38

2011-12-23T17:31:00.009-05:00

Hey there, kiddies! Welcome to another installment of Photobooth Phridays! Today we'll be looking at my fifth cover to Star Wars: Knight Errant - Deluge, which just hit comic shops this week--

Above is a side by side comparison of the initial inks and finished, digitally colored piece. Here I experimented with using a china marker for the rendering on the Hutt's face, rather than my standard dry brushing technique. It was nice for some of the nuanced areas, but on a large scale like this, I don't know that it was all that more efficient. Anywho, here's a look at my hilarious photobooth reference shot --

A Maris Wicks photobomb is becoming the standard with these things.

Eagle eye's might have noticed that Kerra's face is somewhat different in the final finished illustration, versus the initial inked piece - and you'd be right. My editor thought Kerra looked a little off model at first (and I couldn't really disagree with him --hey, I'm only human!), so I went back into her face and altered it slightly. Check it!

Above are my initial sketches for the cover. The middle one, my personal favorite of the bunch, was meant to harken back to old James Bond novel covers. I like the idea of it, but can see why they didn't go with this one. Still, an idea to revisit perhaps for some future piece.

Alrighty, that about does it for now. Happy Holidays, every body!

Batgirl!

2011-12-18T01:18:00.005-05:00

Above is a long overdue commission I received at Heroes Con last year that I only just got around to. It's also my entry for Hub Comic's (my local shop) winter solstice 'Dark Knight on the Darkest Night' gallery show. The opening already happened today, but the show itself will be up at least through the next week. So if you're in the area, please do check it out.

Go Babs, Go!

Whose Bright Idea?

2011-12-04T01:53:00.003-05:00

Broken Fuse. From NYCC, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9 x 12" bristol

As it turns out, my local comic shop, Comicazi is hosting a 1-day convention today here in Somerville, MA. All four of the 'Four Squares' crew, Tim, Liz, Maris and myself will be tabling there. I'll be again selling prints, sketchbooks, t-shirts and taking on commissions (not unlike the Madman piece above).

The show runs from 10am-4pm at the Dilboy VFW Hall in Davis Square.

Hope to see you there!

The Girl and The Paper Crane

2011-11-28T10:57:00.003-05:00

Above is a commission I was asked to do by a fellow collecting sketches of or relating to Sadako Sasaki - A young Japanese girl who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the nuclear bombing in 1945. Most are familiar with her story, though if not, you can read more here.

Miss Martian

2011-11-21T13:25:00.002-05:00

From NYCC, 2011. Pen and ink, Copic markers on 9x12" bristol board.

Photobooth Phridays, No 37

2011-11-18T11:52:00.006-05:00

So I had a couple covers come out this week, and thought I might show off some of the reference for one -

Cover four of Star Wars: Knight Errant - Deluge.

Above is the original Copic marker drawing I did before adding colors in Photoshop. And below is a reference photo Maris graciously allowed me to take:

She has the patience of a Jedi.

While I'm here, here's a look at the black and white art for the other cover I had come out this week, issue 165 of Marvel's Thunderbolts series.

Click here to see the final colors by Rico Renzi!

Have a good weekend, every body.

X-23!

2011-11-07T17:19:00.004-05:00

As far as I understand this character, she's a female clone of Wolverine - so I wanted to make her as Logan-esque as possible.

From New York Comic Con, 2011. Watercolor and gouache, pen and ink on 9x12" watercolor board.

La Femme Natasha

2011-11-02T22:31:00.004-05:00

A.K.A., Black Widow

From New York Comic Con, 2011. Pen and ink on 9x12" bristol board.

Dr. Victor Fries

2011-10-31T09:12:00.003-05:00

Happy Halloween, kiddies. Try and stay warm out there.

Copic markers, pen and ink on 9 x 12" bristol board.

Photobooth Phridays, No 36

2011-10-28T18:57:00.005-05:00

A new Photobooth Phriday!

This week I thought I'd highlight another panel from my (eventually to be announced) Batman story --

I'm a big wus a lot of the time when it comes to drawing hands, so.... reference!

Here also is a look at some of the reference I was looking at for all the flora I drew adorning Ivy's Plantcave--

Have a good weekend, y'all!

Har Har

2011-10-27T16:38:00.004-05:00

It is to laugh.

Harley Quinn. From New York Comic Con, 2011. Watercolor, pen & ink on 9x12" bristol board.

-- In my mind, I was thinking of this commission as a sort of counterpoint to this Joker sketch from last year --

http://joequinones.blogspot.com/2010/11/smile.html

Legionnaire: Andromeda

2011-10-23T00:02:00.003-05:00

A.K.A. Laurel Gand, from the Legion of Superheroes.

From NYCC, 2011. Pen & ink, Copic markers on 9x12" bristol board.

It's a Mad, Mad world.

2011-10-20T10:28:00.004-05:00

For those of you who haven't already seen this, (it was posted online a couple days ago) here's a commission I did of Harry Cane (Rich Sommer) from the 'Mad Men' tv series.

From New York Comic Con, 2011. Pen & Ink on 9 x 12" bristol board.

--I've been a big fan of the show for some time, so when this fellow came by with a tv character themed sketchbook, giving me the choice to draw Harry, I was very much excited to put pencil to paper. Hope you all like!

Green Lando

2011-10-18T01:10:00.005-05:00

New York Comic Con is OVAH! It was a crazy busy and successful show this weekend. Boy howdy am I tired. Thanks so much to everyone who came by my table to say hello and/or purchase some of my wares. It was very much appreciated.

Above is a look at my auction piece that I did for the show. A reaction to Ming Doyle's recent 'Flashbacca' drawing. I calls it 'Green Lando'.

I did lots of sketches over the course of the 4-day convention - all of which were great fun to work on. I'll post more over the coming weeks, but for now here's a picture of Maris and I and our friends Ming and Alexa in costume:

Maris' costume was loosely based on my recent Poison Ivy redesign which was neat. I think she made an absolutely stellar Ivy.

There's lots more pictures, which I'll likely post in the near future. For now however, I'm goin' to bed.

New York Comic Con, 2011

2011-10-12T16:02:00.004-05:00

It starts tomorrow!

I'll be there with Maris Wicks at table S-2 in Artist Alley all weekend, right beside Mr. Paolo Rivera (at table S-1). There I'll have original art for viewing (and for sale), as well as prints, t-shirts and my new sketchbook, 'Yield For Snails' (as yet, unavailable online).
Above is a glimpse of some of the schwag I'll have there.

I'll also be doing commissions - here are my prices for the con:

Head Sketch --

Black and White (pen and ink, possible gray toning) - $60
Color (painted in watercolor, inks laid over top) - $100

Partial 3/4/ Full Figure --

Black and White - $140
Color - $250

All sketches will be drawn on 9" by 12" bristol or watercolor board. If you're interested, check out the 'commissions' tab on the side for more samples of what my con sketches look like.

For those of you coming to the convention on Saturday, you'll be in for a treat (?), as Maris and I and Paolo will all be in full costume behind our tables. The rest of you will have to wait until after the weekend for pictures.

Hope to see you there!

That girl is POISON.

2011-10-09T22:14:00.004-05:00

Above is a look at some sketches I did for a redesign of Poison Ivy for an upcoming Batman short story I worked on. All of the project was great fun, but I especially had a great time redesigning Pam's costume. Enjoy!

Wonder Waistline

2011-09-27T01:10:00.003-05:00

I'll make this brief.

Here's a commission I did of Wonder Woman this past week at my New England Comics signing. The nice young lady who commissioned it had asked for a piece where Diana was making some sort of comment on how glad she was to not be wearing pants - relative to the recent controversy of the character's redesign for DC's relaunched 'New 52' series of comics).

Photobooth Phridays, No 35

2011-09-23T22:20:00.011-05:00

Meesa back!

Photobooth Friday returns! And in trademark Quin Ones fashion, I'm posting it about 15 minutes before Friday's over!

Anyway, above is a picture I took as reference for a Thunderbolts cover I did. Here's a look at the inks:

My editor had asked for a jingoistic take on the superhero team, as this next arc was going to be featuring Captain America. This is what I came up with as I sketched out three ideas:

(note that I originally had Cap holding a gun in my sketch)

Here also is a sneak peek at my next Thunderbolts cover:

Yuuuup.

Outside of all that, tomorrow is the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE)! There both Maris and I will be tabling and selling t-shirts, prints and sketches. Here's a look at an exclusive (and totally sweet) poster that Maris made for the convention--

Hope to see you there!

New England Comics Signing

2011-09-21T12:22:00.006-05:00

Howdy all. Apologies for my internet absence of late. I had a rough summer, and have been playing catch up a bit. I'll try and do better. Promise!

Anyhow, this came out today:

Cover 2 of Knight Errant: Deluge hits comic stands today. Please do scoop it up.

As a bonus, here's a look at the two other cover ideas I had for this issue:

I had decided early on that I wanted to do a Rockwellian piece, so I kept using the circle motif as I pitched sketches throughout the five issue run. Eventually this one got through.

Outside of that, tonight this is happening:

A signing at New England Comics! I'll be signing at their Harvard Square location from 5-7 this evening. There I'll have original art on display and will be selling prints and sketchbooks. Please do stop on by.

Dark Phoenix

2011-08-18T23:35:00.007-05:00

A riff on this absolutely brilliant take of the character by David "Brohawk" Williams. (So good!)

From Heroes Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9"x12" bristol board.

Knight Errant, Deluge No. 5

2011-08-14T09:05:00.003-05:00

Apologies for my prolonged blogging absence y'all. Here's a Star Wars cover.

Captain America: The First Thunderbolt?

2011-07-27T07:19:00.007-05:00

Above is the first of a four issue run of covers for Marvel's Thunderbolts series that I'll be working on, featuring Captain America. I've never gotten to tackle Cap professionally before, so I'm psyched.

More to come!

San Diego Comic Con EXCLUSIVE

2011-07-24T07:29:00.003-05:00

Hey all,
Above is a look at an exclusive print that will be (was already?) available at SDCC this year. It's a variation of the main cover I drew for my next Knight Errant cover - an homage to Norman Rockwell and his Saturday Evening Post illustrations. It was being handed out during the Star Wars panel on Friday, but there may still be some extras available if you make your way on over to the Darkhorse booth...

Excelsior!

The Flash!

2011-07-16T11:06:00.001-05:00

From Heroes Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9"x12" bristol board.

Knight Errant: Deluge, No. 3

2011-07-09T20:02:00.003-05:00

Coming in October...

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T12:15:00.004-05:00

Here's a commission I did of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld making some sort of fireworks with her Gemworld magical powers!

Makes sense, right?
From Heroes Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9"x12" bristol board.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 34

2011-07-01T13:29:00.002-05:00

Starring Maris!

Can you guess what she's doing?

Relating to these Pho. Fri. posts, I've decided I'm going to draw down the frequency of them to two posts per month. This way I can do more in-depth posts every other week without getting too blog burnt out. I'll of course still regularly post artwork on here every week. Yes.

Happy 4th of July weekend, y'all!

Hawkman

2011-06-29T11:32:00.003-05:00

Nth-metalhead, Katar Hol

From Heroes Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9x12 bristol

Le mew? ... Le purrrrrr.

2011-06-26T11:51:00.002-05:00

Julie Newmar as Catwoman

From Heroes Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen and ink on 9"x12" bristol board.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 33

2011-06-24T14:16:00.007-05:00

All this week Mr. Michael Allred has been featuring sneak peeks of mine and Maris' story for his up and coming oversized Madman hardcover. I thought It'd be neat to compliment his week of Quinones posts, by sharing some photo reference I took while drawing the Madman page:

Be sure to check out Mike's blog to see the rest of the Madman art teases, as well as tons of amazing artwork.

Have a good weekend!

The Rocketeer!

2011-06-22T14:07:00.002-05:00

From Heroes Con, 2011. Pen and ink, copic markers on 9"x12" bristol.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 32

2011-06-17T12:47:00.008-05:00

Heroes Convention, 2011: A retrospective in photos.

Maris striking several poses.

She may be in trouble there with Hit Girl.

A look at a hand reference photo as well as progress shots of my Heroes auction piece. (Thanks to Eddy Choi for the photos!)

Lastly, here's a look at my first sketch from the con, Wonder Woman!

Have a good weekend!

Green Tini Time

2011-06-15T08:07:00.004-05:00

In celebration of the forthcoming release of the Green Lantern movie this weekend, here's a drawing of Green Lantern... celebrating.

Pen and ink, Copic marker on 9 x 12 bristol board. From Heroes Con, 2011.

Knight Errant: Deluge, No. 2

2011-06-12T09:30:00.005-05:00

Just saw the solicits online for this, so here it is, cover two of Star Wars: Knight Errant's second miniseries, 'Deluge'.

Hitting comic stands this Septemeber!

Regarding the execution of this cover - recently, a few of my artist friends had been singing the praises of the versatility of Copic brand sketch markers both in their sketching and professional work. I decided to finally pick up some of these markers, and took them out for a spin on this here cover. Below is a look at the piece pre-digital color, rendered with Copic sketch markers, and inked in Dr. Ph Martin's Bombay Black India Ink:

I gotta say, they're a lot of fun to draw with.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 31

2011-06-10T08:58:00.005-05:00

Deracs Annataz noitide!

Here's a look at a panel from a comic I'm currently working on featuring none other than the backward-speaking mistress of magic, Zatanna! Following Boston Comic Con this year, word broke of my and Paul Dini's involvement in the project via 'DC Women Kicking Ass' (though word techincally first broke in a write up in the back of the Wednesday Comics hardcover). As the dove is out of the hat so to speak, I thought I'd tease some artwork from the book on here from time to time. True.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Heroes Con: Ovah!

2011-06-07T10:19:00.007-05:00

I'm back from the whirlwind that was Heroes Con, 2011, and I must say, I had a blast. Had a great time running around the city, meeting my favorite creators, and eating some darned good food. Not to mention making lots o' art.

Above is a painting I did of Black Canary at the show for Heroes' famous live art auction on Saturday. It unfortunately didn't make it to the Saturday auction however, on account of there being so many entries this year, and was instead auctioned off on Sunday...C'est la vie.

While we're on the topic of Black Canary though, I thought we might take one last look at the fishnet-clad siren -

It's Maris Wicks in full re-designed Black Canary regalia(!), Canary Crying at none other than Ming Doyle (dressed as Lady Thor). Ming, who showcased her Thor duds recently at Boston Comic Con, was an influence and inspiration to Maris, who decided the Thursday before the show to go to the con dressed as Dinah.

Little did we know she would not be alone --

Here is Maris side by side with amazing cosplayer, DJ Spider, who was sporting B.C.'s eighties costume.

THIS. WEEKEND.

2011-06-01T18:40:00.014-05:00

Come this Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be attending the Heroes comic book convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. There I'll be doing the regular con rigamarole of drawing commissions, selling prints and now, for the first time, art books!

You can find me at table AA-408, right across the way from Indie Island, and right beside Maris Wicks and Stéphane Roux!

As I said, I'll be drawing commissions throughout the con. Click here for my rates. I will also have original art on display (and for sale), including pages, covers and pin-ups -- Like this one!

(My latest entry for Bristol Whip!)

Outside of all that, I'll be on a few panels as well. Here's my schedule for the weekend:

Friday, June 3rd -12:00 PM

Green Lantern Panel
Room 207BCD
"Green Lantern has been around since 1940 and after thousands of comic books, Hollywood has finally come calling. Please join Joe Staton, Joe Quinones, Shane Davis, and Neal Adams as they discuss their various takes on the character and how he has remained popular over the years. NOTE: Anyone wearing yellow or wooden clothing will not be allowed to enter the auditorium for obvious security reasons. Nice try Sinestro."

Saturday, June 4th -10:30 AM

Heroes Discussion Group #31: Wednesday Comics
Room 208
"The break-away hit from last year is being featured at HeroesCon 2011. Plan to join guest moderator Swain Hunt and creators Joe Quinones, Ryan Sook, Shawn “Cheeks” Galloway, John Arcudi and Brian Stelfreeze as they discuss the challenges of a unique page size, the pressure of a weekly deadline and how they approached their particular characters. Don’t miss this!
Copies of the book will be available after the discusion for brief signing."

And of course there's this:

8:00 PM -HEROESCON ANNUAL ART AUCTION
Westin Ballroom
"The HeroesCon Annual Art Auction is one of the most well-known and enduring traditions on the convention circuit. Fans come from all over the country for the chance to bid pieces of original art not available anywhere else, donated by our guests to help defray the incredible cost of putting on the convention!"

See you there!

An Orca and a Dolphin in Amity.

2011-05-30T21:12:00.004-05:00

Because as you know, Amity means friendship.

The above is a left over commission from this year's Boston Comic Con, featuring Aquaman's one time lady-friend and superhero in her own right, Dolphin. I didn't even know this character existed until recently. She might have the most casual superhero costume of all time.

Copic markers, pen and ink on bristol board, 2011.

Happy Memorial Day, everybody!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 30

2011-05-27T14:15:00.006-05:00

Memorial Day Weekend slack-off edition!

No big reference post this Friday. No, instead an unveiling of my very first sketchbook! 'Yield For Snails' is a small 36-page collection of my pin-ups, commissions, sketches and illustration work over recent memory, featuring 18 full color pages!
These will eventually be available online, but for the time being are going to be sold solely at upcoming convention appearances, the first of which will be next weekend at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC.

Here's some more pictures of Maris and I goofing around with our copies:

On a side note, please take the time to head on over to 5 Minute Marvels, a blog where a dad and his two daughters make quick, adorable drawings in response to ones submitted to them by professional comic artists. They're all really great, but today I was flattered to see that I was the inspiration for some mighty fine Harley Quinn drawings. Great work, guys!

Hawkeye

2011-05-25T13:11:00.006-05:00

Watercolor, gouache, pen and ink on bristol board. From Boston Comic Con, 2011.

MeCaf, MeSaw, MeDrewSomeStuff

2011-05-23T08:25:00.006-05:00

Well Portland's Maine Comics Convention has come and gone, and I miss it already (tear). I had a great time at the con this past Sunday. Big thanks to Rick from Casablanca Comics for having me, and to everyone who took the time to stop by my table. It was much appreciated.

Commissions weren't really the name of the game at this convention, but I did get one request:

Sheriff Bart from Blazing Saddles!

I don't normally get drawing requests that have so little to do with comics, so I was really excited about this one. I should probably see this movie finally, as the fella who got this sketch was really talking it up. To Netflix!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 29

2011-05-21T00:12:00.009-05:00

Phantastic Phoar edition!

As I mentioned in my last post, this illustration represents my first traditionally painted comic cover. As I knew I was going to be painting the cover, I wanted to achieve an extra layer of realism here, and so looked to have some of my good friends pose as the fantastic quartet.

I cast friends that I thought resembled somewhat the comic counterparts I'd had them posing as. Although I of course altered their features so that they aren't just straight portraits of my friends, and are instead portrayals of these characters.

Here's a look at the initial thumbnail ideas for the cover, as well as the proceeding pencils, then inks:

And the following painted steps, from initial tonal treatment in watercolor, to painted rendering in gouache, and final inked linework:

Hope you like!

Outside of all that, a reminder! This Sunday, May 22nd, I will be attending the Maine Comics Festival in Portland, ME. There I'll be drawing sketches, selling prints and t-shirts, and will have some original art on display. If you're in the area, please do stop by!

Have a great weekend.

*Yes I realize this post is dated as having been published on Saturday, rather than Friday. So sue me.

The Fantastic Four -- Featuring...

2011-05-18T13:29:00.007-05:00

She-Hulk!

The above illustration is a variant cover for issue 16 of X-men, coming out this August. It's one of a series of Fantastic Four themed covers Marvel is putting out this year in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the famous superhero family. This particular cover is meant to harken back to the John Byrne era of the series (in the early 80's), in which She-Hulk temporarily replaced The Thing. It's also my very first painted cover! True.

The Adventures of Pete and Petunia

2011-05-17T15:08:00.004-05:00

Above is my first entry for a new online sketch group called 'Bristol Whip.' The group, started by awesome-sauce artist Joel Carroll, showcases a set of drawings every couple weeks based around a common theme. Those themes are decided on a rotation of the blog's members and are entirely up to their own discretion. This one here is for the theme 'tattoo,' as chosen by comicbook power hitter, Ming Doyle. Being a child of the 80's/90's (and being a big nerd), my first thoughts went to little Pete's dancing tattoo Petunia, from the 1990's Nickelodeon show, 'The Adventures of Pete and Pete'.

I ran with it.

Dance, señorita, dance!

Annnd here's a look at the original tonal treatment:

Copic markers and pen and ink on bristol board.

Be sure to visit Bristol Whip to check all of the awesome entries that are up on the site. Currently there are some new posts up by Jemma Salume and Paul Maybury for this week's theme, Captain America. Woo!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 28

2011-05-13T20:41:00.005-05:00

Complete with photobombing!

And upcoming cover art teasing!

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Shaak Attaak

2011-05-10T08:45:00.004-05:00

That's a terrible pun. I'm sorry.

Shaak Ti, from Boston Comic Con, 2011. Watercolor, pen and ink on 9"x12" board.

Photobooth Fridays, no. 27

2011-05-06T22:58:00.012-05:00

Today we'll be looking at the first cover of Star Wars: Knight Errant, series 2, starring none other than the jade saber wielding Jedi, Kerra Holt.

Or is that Maris Wicks? It is! Thankfully Ms. Wicks was once again gracious enough to model for me - this time with props!

Above you can see a comparison of my initial thumbnail sketch for the cover, as well as it's proceeding finished inks. Looking at the final cover, you'll notice there weren't really any major changes from its initial composition, save for minor tweaks in the pose, anatomical correcting, detailing, etc. Lucasfilm did however think that Kerra's smile looked a bit goofy in the thumbnail, and asked me to get rid of it altogether. Having intended the piece to be a bit of a throwback to 1940's WWII propaganda art, I thought it essential that it be as blindly optimistic as possible. I toned down Kerra's smile hoping they would let me keep it, which they thankfully did.

Here's a pencilled drafting of those pearly whites:

Which you can compare against the final finished cover here.

And as a final bonus, here's a look at the two unused concepts for this cover:

Have a good weekend!

Boston Comic Con: LLA ENOD!

2011-05-02T11:48:00.009-05:00

I swear I'll stop soon with the backwards Zatanna posts. YLSUOIRES.

I did have good reason though, on account of this here sketch I did at the con:

It's a bit of a callback to this drawing I did at April's Emerald City con. Zatanna's basically gloating now, having snatched away Harry's prized Firebolt. And yes, that's the levitation spell she's speaking in reverse there. NEEEERRRRDDDYYYYY.

This was one of several sketches I did at the con which I'll be posting in the coming weeks. YATS DENUT.

And speaking of the convention, I had a really great time over the weekend. Thanks so much to every one who stopped by my table. I really appreciated it. It was really exciting to finally meet and/or hang out with some of my favorite artists as well, including Adam Hughes, Dave Johnson, J. Bone, Darwyn Cooke and Stéphane Roux! They're all EXCEEDINGLY brilliant as artists, but also just swell guys to talk to and be around.

Well that's all for now everybody, I'll -- OOOF!

OW!! GEEZ. Oh, Ming! Yes! Of course! How could I forget the amazingly talented comic artist and part time superhero, Ming Doyle? Apparently not without incurring the wrath of Thor...
Seriously though, great seeing her as well. I was really happy to go home with this gorgeous print she was selling over the weekend. So good!

Ok. Now I'm off for reals. See you soon, dear readers.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 26

2011-04-29T21:31:00.003-05:00

Boston Comics Con's Eve edition!

As I stated in my previous post this week, tomorrow and Sunday I will be in attendance at this year's Boston Comic Con! I already went into detail about my commission rates, sure. But there is one thing I didn't get around to, and that is--

PRINTS!
I'll have several for sale over the weekend, a few of which can be seen here. Prints are available in both tabloid (11" by 17") and letter (8.5" by 11") sizes for $15.00 and $5.00, respectively. Get 'em while they last, folks!

See you at the con!

"Where Is Padme?"

2011-04-27T12:58:00.006-05:00

Senator Padme Amidala. Gouache, watercolor, pen & ink on watercolor board, 2011

The above depiction of everyone's favorite Star Wars character, portrayed by Natalie Portman, is a left over from this year's Emerald City Comic Con. The fellow who had commissioned it was very patient, allowing me to take the piece, which I'd started in Seattle, home with me to finish up. I finally got around to doing just that. John, I hope you like it!

And while we're on the topic of comic conventions, Boston Comic Con is only a few short days away! I will be in attendance there this Saturday and Sunday, where I will be selling originals, prints, and t-shirts, as well as taking on commission requests. You can find me at table 502 in Artist Alley, seated beside super rad comic artists, Maris Wicks and Liz Prince (at table 503). There's a huge list of artists slated to attend, including Mark Chiarello, Stéphane Roux, Frank Quitely, Neal Adams and more! It's an exciting lineup, and promises to be a really fun con.

Here are my sketch prices for the show for anyone interested --

Head Sketch --

Black and White (pen and ink, possible gray toning) - $60
Color (painted in watercolor, inks laid over top) - $150

Partial 3/4/ Full Figure -- (As seen in the image above)

Black and White - $100
Color - $250

All sketches will be drawn on 9" by 12" bristol or watercolor board. If you're interested, check out the 'commissions' tab on the side for more samples of what my con sketches look like.

Okee Doke, that's all for now. Hope to see you this weekend!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 25

2011-04-22T20:37:00.010-05:00

I just can't get enough Madman! Hopefully you feel the same, because today we'll be looking at a pinup I did in 2009 of Madman's main squeeze, Josephine Lombard--

--As portrayed by longtime pal 'o mine (since high school!), Kayleen. Kayleen did an awesome job modeling here, lending just the right amount of womanly-ness to Joe.

And speaking of 'womanly-ness', check out these AWESOME reference photos taken by classic pinup artist, Gil Elvgren. The photos are shown side-by-side with the finished illustrations they were taken for, and it is fascinating to see. Always nice to be reminded that artists have been utilizing photo reference for a good long while. Thanks to Spectrum for pointing it out.

Annnnnnd speaking of Spectrum, I'm in! I am honored to have been included once again in the forthcoming 18th edition of the series of sci-fi & fantasy artist books - my fifth year running. Here's a look at the piece that was accepted this year:

Cover four of Star Wars: Knight Errant!

Okee Doke. That's all for now. Have a good weekend, folks!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 24

2011-04-15T23:00:00.004-05:00

Today Mr. Michael Allred "officially" announced his forthcoming 'Madman 20th Anniversary Monster' hardcover due out later this year (most likely around Thanksgiving). Made in the same vein as DC's recent Wednesday Comics series, the book will be an 11 by 17" collection of several artists one-page Madman stories along with many more features. Head on over to Mike's blog to read through the absolutely stellar list of contributing artists, and read up on all the rest of the juicy details on this exciting project.

As I've mentioned before, Maris and I were very excited to have been asked to work on one of the stories for the book (her as writer, me as artist). This being friday however, I thought I'd share one more photo reference taken in relation to our MAD contribution, and tease yet one more panel. Here goes --

Have a good weekend, folks!

Comic Art Esaet

2011-04-13T21:30:00.001-05:00

Er... I mean tease.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 23

2011-04-08T10:10:00.005-05:00

Above is my first comic photo reference picture ever!

Okay, not really. But I found this picture amidst a bunch of my old comics, and just had to post it. The photo dates back to 1992, when I was just a wee little nerd. At the time, there was a grand opening of a local department store in my hometown, and its owners thought it a good idea to inaugurate such an occasion by hiring a guy to dress up like Spider-man. There he handed out free Spidey comics and posed for photos.

I have no idea why they placed him in the patio furniture area of the store.

Also, nerd note: Batman Returns had just come out that year, and I was a HUGE fan, hence my wearing a Batman t-shirt. 'Spider-man' was not pleased about this, and proceeded to give me a hard time, making sure to obscure Michael Keaton's face for our photo.

Okay, enough reminiscing. Here's a look at some art from two recent Spider-man and Batman stories I worked on, respectively.

April Addendum

2011-04-04T19:36:00.008-05:00

Just in case there was any confusion from that last blog post, it was, in fact, an April Fool's prank.
Though I'd certainly love to be, Paolo and I are not slated to collaborate on any comic projects for the time being.
The "reference" pictures I'd posted were actually elaborate costumes Paolo and I and a group of friends had made for a costume ball held at our college back in 2003. We and some friends convinced a broad cross-section of art students from our school to dress as characters from the X-Men for the event. Above is a group photo of most of us in our super nerdy duds. At the time, we thought we'd eventually make a photo comic of each other in superhero dress to commemorate the event (it never happened), hence this very posed and dramatic photo.

In other news, here's a very small preview of an up and coming comic book cover I worked on:

See you soon!

*Faces are blurred in the above photo on account of my not having gone through the trouble of getting the permission of those photographed to post their visages on the interwebs for all to see. I'm sure they wouldn't have minded, but I'm being nice.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 22

2011-04-01T17:28:00.002-05:00

Hello all, and welcome back to another Photobooth Friday. Today I thought I'd tease a couple more reference photos from that up and coming project I'd mentioned - A collaborative project with friend and fellow comic artist, Paolo Rivera.

Hopefully there'll be an announcement soon.

Have a good weekend everybody!

Accio Firebolt!

2011-03-28T09:34:00.004-05:00

Zatanna!

From Emerald City Comic Con, 2011. Copic markers, pen & ink on 9 x 12" bristol.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 21

2011-03-25T11:32:00.010-05:00

Liz Prince edition.

Back when I was working on Wednesday Comics, I noticed there were going to be a lot of bar scenes and thought it a prime opportunity to cameo a bunch of my friends. For fun. Liz was kind enough to play along, and brought her own retro fab dress to the party, so, y'know, bonus.

As far as costuming goes however, I had a to do a lot of research into what the popular styles of dress were at the time. Google search was my best friend. That, and whoever puts together the wonderful costumes for AMC's Mad Men television series.

Here's the panel I'd referenced these ensembles for -

And the full page it's excerpted from.

And speaking of Liz Prince, anyone in the Chicago area this weekend should go check her out at this year's Zine Fest, where she'll be attending as a special guest.

Have a good weekend, duders!

So Are The Days Of Our Lives

2011-03-24T13:25:00.002-05:00

From Emerald City Comic Con, 2011. Watercolor and ink on 9x12 bristol.

Knight Errant Returns

2011-03-20T22:55:00.007-05:00

This here was just announced at C2E2 this past weekend--

It's the next installment of Star Wars: Knight Errant! The series, which premiered last fall, showcases a new era in the Star Wars universe set 1,000 years before the events of Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It'll be hitting stands this August, and I'll be returning as cover artist for its run. I'm psyched.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 20

2011-03-18T19:46:00.007-05:00

And speaking of old work, today I thought we'd look at a page from my first ever professional sequential comics work. From a story I did for DC's 'Teen Titans GO!' in 2007.

This issue being drawn in such a 'cartoony' style, I didn't actually end up using all that much photo reference - save for the above panel, and this-

For the most part, I'll pose for all of my reference photos. Occasionally however, Maris will sub in. It's nice because I can pose her to match a drawing as closely as I like, and she's ever so good at making with the goofy expressions.

Finally, here's a look at the process on that page, from initial thumbnail to finished colors.

See you next week!

A Long Time Ago... Indifferent Girl!

2011-03-17T11:14:00.005-05:00

Thought it about time I revive this long-dormant feature to the ol' blog. Above is one of my first post-high school comics from my junior year at RISD back in 2002. At the time, I had just discovered Frank Cho's work on Liberty Meadows. I'm sure you can see the influence (blatant ripoff). More oldies' to come!

Lois Lane, Star Reporter

2011-03-15T16:43:00.008-05:00

From Emerald City Comic Con, 2011. Copic markers and ink on 9 x 12 bristol.

Well I'm back on the east coast again finally, and putting my nose back to the grindstone. Had a fantastic time over in Seattle and Oregon. Really amazing catching up with so many comics folks out there, including Mr. Kurt Busiek and Chris Samnee and their lovely wives, as well as the karaoke fiends that are Mike and Laura Allred. They were kind enough to invite Maris and I over their house on the Pacific coast while we were there. Besides being enthralled by the amazing location of their place, and the jaw-dropping amount of original artwork they have adorning their walls, we were excited to find they also had their own karaoke machine! We jammed out both there and later at Portland's own Floating World Comics, where I had the pleasure of meeting its friendly and vocally talented owner, Jason Levian as well as writer Jamie S. Rich.

Above is the only blurry evidence of Mike and my duet of 'Science Fiction/Double Feature' from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Okay that's all for now, folks! Back to drawing!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 19

2011-03-11T13:15:00.004-05:00

Oregon Trail Edition!

Don't worry, I do not have dysentery.

Above is another photo ref from that mystery project I'd mentioned last week. Maris and I have still been darting around Oregon the past couple days, so we'll have to wait until next week for a more in-depth blog post.
In the meantime, here's another sketch from ECCC:

Have a great weekend, folks!

The Pacific Coast Ain't No Joke

2011-03-10T23:35:00.009-05:00

Here's a sketch from Emerald City Comic Con last weekend. It was an awesome con, and Maris and I had a great time both there and in Seattle in general.
Following that, we made our way down to Oregon, where we've been hanging out with various amazing artist friends.

Above is a picture from the beautiful and other-wordly place that is Mike and Laura Allred's backyard. A place that transitioned from forest, to sand dunes, then forest again (eventually there's some beach and Pacific ocean in there as well).

Here's a shot of Maris and I and Mike in the thick of a woodland trail.

Mike and Laura were amazing hosts, and we had a fantastic time hanging out with them. We still have a few remaining days left in Portland, which we've been enjoying very much. You can see a small slideshow that Mike put together of our exploits here. More sketches from ECCC to come!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 19

2011-03-04T00:00:00.001-05:00

Mystery Project Edition!

Above is a reference shot I took recently for an as yet unannounced DC project I'm working on. More info on that as it comes.

In other news, Maris and I are in Seattle right now! Today through Sunday we'll both be in attendance at the Emerald City Comic Con at the Washington State Convention Center. Maris is not officially tabling, but will have some cute comics and sketches that she'll be selling. Regardless, we can both be found in Artist Alley, table H-08.

For anyone interested in getting a sketch from me, here are my 2011 rates for the con.

Head Sketch --

Black and White (pen and ink, possible gray toning) - $60
Color (painted in watercolor, inks laid over top) - $100

Partial Figure --

Black and White - $100
Color - $160

All sketches will be drawn on 9" by 12" bristol. If you're interested in seeing some samples, check out the 'commissions' tab to the right of this post.

Hope to see you there!

Also, here's a look at some studies of everyone's favorite fishnet-clad magician, Zatanna! :)

-Joe

X-MEN: First Pin-Up

2011-02-28T12:30:00.009-05:00

And probably last of its kind, at least for a while.

Above is a commission I did for a nice young man by the name of Simon who messaged me a while ago, asking if I'd be willing to do a commission for him in return for him sending me an original piece of art. That piece of art was from one of my all-time favorites, Mr. Michael Allred! I agreed and got to work on an X-Men ensemble piece. That was over a year ago.

Extracurricular drawing is hard! And this was a huge group scene! Wah! All in all, Simon was very patient with me, and I think is pleased with the final result as well.

Here's a detail at all of the individual X-Men in the piece

Upon completion, he suggested it might be cool to make an animated gif showcasing the evolution of the piece from sketch to finish. I thought to myself, "good call."

(click to see the full image)

Photobooth Fridays, No. 18

2011-02-25T23:04:00.013-05:00

Great GOOGLE-y moogaly!

Today we'll be taking a look at another important reference tool I use from time to time: The Googles.

Google Maps is a very useful tool in finding driving directions, sure. But I find the program's 'street view' mode to be particularly helpful in my work.

Here I was asked to draw a panel depicting Peter Parker attending a club in the 'DUMBO' area of Brooklyn. It was an area of New York I was entirely unfamiliar with, so Google maps served as a great tool in getting a sense of the geography and architecture of the area.

Google Earth is another helpful program I use occasionally. The program is an extension of Google Maps, and allows you to type in an address to be shown in a satellite view off a 3D world map. That's neat. What's better is that Google Earth has a function which overlays 3D models of certain cities which you can then virtually traverse. The models are submitted by users, and so aren't available for absolutely every location, but big cities like New York for example, are really well detailed.

And that leads me to one last helpful Google related artists tool -- Google Sketchup. It's a simple to use, free 3D modeling program. You can use the program to build your own models, or download one from their fairly in-depth 3D warehouse; a place where users upload their own models, and which can be searched for and downloaded. I'll post some examples of that later.

For now, here's a look at the full pages these panels were pulled from:

Have a great weekend everyone!

** I should note that there's no defined way to grab images from any of these programs. Instead I use Apple's default screen capture shortcut, command + shift + 4. It brings up a crosshair on your screen which you can then drag into any rectangular shape. Once you let go of your mouse, the selection is saved as an image on your desktop. Command + shift + 3 will take a screen capture of your entire screen. Apologies for not knowing the PC equivalent to this.

Figures

2011-02-24T23:39:00.005-05:00

My good pal Tim, who teaches animation at AIB, invited me to sit in on an open drawing night there. It had been well over a year since I'd last drawn from a model, so I was a bit rusty. It's a lot of fun to do though, so hopefully I'll start going more often.
Anywho, here's a look at some of the more finished gestures (ranging from 2 to 10 minute poses):

Photobooth Fridays, No 17

2011-02-18T10:49:00.007-05:00

Peter Parker editon!

I often like to cast real people into the roles of characters I draw in comics. It's a way for me to make sure that the characters I draw each have a distinctive look, so that I don't just keep drawing the same template. Sometimes I'll look at a couple different celebrities which I'll amalgam into a single character. Other times I'll cast actual people that I know. In this case, I cast my good pal Michael as none other than web-slinging superhero/freelance photographer, Peter Parker!

He was unaware that Peter would be depicted dressed as a goth in this issue.

This still remains the one and only time I've gotten to draw Peter, but should I again, Mike will be my go to guy. I think he makes a great Spidey.

Here's a look at the process on the pages that Mike showed up on--

Have a good weekend, dudes.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 16

2011-02-11T21:48:00.002-05:00

More teasing of Madman art edition!

The Batman

2011-02-06T23:09:00.004-05:00

"You ever dance with the devil by the pale moon light?"

A commission from Lille Comics Fest, 2010. Finished in 2011. Gouache, watercolor, pen & ink.

Photobooth Fridays, No 15

2011-02-04T14:30:00.005-05:00

With comics and illustration, often an artist is required to produce several sketches or thumbnails depicting various takes on an idea. Here I was tasked with designing the cover for the last issue of Dark Horse's Knight Errant series. My editor and I discussed two basic approaches to the cover; one focusing on a particular scene described in the book, and the second being more of a montage image, showcasing events and characters seen throughout the series' run. I preferred the later idea for the cover, so I ended up sending two 'montage' sketches, and one 'scene' sketch. One of the montage sketches went on to become the final cover, the other is seen above.

It's meant to highlight the opposite dynamic between Odion (the big bad guy on the left), and Kerra (the smaller Jedi on the right). Evil vs. Good. Oppression vs. Hope. Sith vs Jedi.... yada yada.
While I don't usually take photo reference when drawing thumbnails like this, I made an exception here as I really wanted to nail the poses, to sell the image as much as possible. Anywho, hope you like.

Have a good weekend, fellas.

Death Becomes Her

2011-02-02T14:53:00.001-05:00

From Lille Comics Fest, 2010 (Finished at home, 2011)

Photobooth Fridays, No. 14

2011-01-28T11:44:00.012-05:00

Happy Friday everybody! Following our last post, we'll be looking at/teasing another panel from the up and coming 'Madman 20th
Anniversary Monster' hardcover due out sometime later this year.
Here it is:

Brain'd! Word balloons (and script) written by comics creator extraordinaire, Maris Wicks, who also saw fit to Photo Bomb my reference for this panel:

It's A Mad, Mad World

2011-01-26T08:36:00.006-05:00

For those of you who love and appreciate the work of Mr. Michael Allred (and really, that should be all of you), do yourselves the favor of bookmarking his newly formed art blog --allredart.blogspot.com/
There you'll find tons of cool art, and many a mention to Allred's forthcoming new hardcover, The Madman 20th Anniversary Monster! A sequel of sorts to Madman Gargantua, this new book takes a page from 2009's Wednesday Comics, collecting a wide range of comic artist each doing their own oversized, one-page Madman story. It's set to come out in the later half of this year, and I'm super excited.
Maris and I were flattered to have been asked to work on a story for the book. The above panel is a little tease of our contribution.

More to come!

Photobooth FAILday

2011-01-24T13:18:00.005-05:00

Hey all!

Some of you may have noticed that there was no 'Photobooth Friday' last week. Well at the very least my Mom noticed; a conversation relayed to me by my sister: "I hope Joey's okay...He didn't post on Friday, he ALWAYS posts on Friday."

Mom, I'm fine, thanks. I've just been busy with work, and fell asleep on Friday having forgotten to post. When I awoke it was Saturday, and there's no 'Friday's' on Saturday's.

Anywho, that feature will resume this week. I've also got some cool new art things to post in the next week or so, so be on the look out! In the meantime, here's some old character sketches from last year's Spider-man/Morbius story. Enjoy!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 13

2011-01-14T22:58:00.007-05:00

It's a Family thing.

Back in 2009, I was working my way through my first high profile DC project, the Green Lantern serial in Wednesday Comics. As I had already done with friends, I thought it would be neato to cameo my mom, dad and sis somewhere along the way, so I did just that.

Just as before, these reference photos helped to diversify the denizens that populated the story I was drawing, hopefully making for a richer, more immersive reading experience. But really, it was just fun.

Here's a look at progress shots from pages 9 and 10 (the ones that featured my fam) from initial thumbnail to finish:

You may have noticed that one of the panels on page 10 was left intentionally blank in the inking stage. I was under deadline and thought I'd save some time by re-using the space ships from the previous page. In the end it did save time, but it wasn't as simple as copying and pasting the image. I did have to do some adjusting and re-drawing, as in the second panel all of the alien ships' guns needed to be out, and aimed at Hal. I also had to draw in all the sound effects. So there.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 12

2011-01-07T22:24:00.006-05:00

Miss Marvel Edition!

Or should I say, Maris Marvel Edition?

Yes I should. Ms. Wicks was once again kind enough to pose for reference for me in this instance. I already had a pretty well defined sketch as to how I wanted M.M. to look for this cover, but again, being a detail minded person, wanted to capture some interesting nuances in hand gestures and leg foreshortening. Also, I kinda based Ms. Marvel's face on Maris as well. So there you go.
Note: Biggs (the cat photobombing the above photograph) is not there for reference, he's just a glory hog.

Here also is a look at the following pencils and inks:

Have a great weekend!

Photobooth Fridays, No. 11

2010-12-31T13:40:00.004-05:00

(--Don't worry, that blaster's set to 'stun')
Above is an unused reference picture from last summer's Harley Quinn story. The panel in question called for a bunch of police aiming down their guns at poor Harley, so I ended up taking several different pictures so there would be some variety in the posing.

And speaking of 'Joker's Asylum', I just received the trade paperback collecting the series, just ahead of its forthcoming January release. It printed very nicely, and comes adorned with a gorgeous Ryan Sook illustration on the cover (which I won't spoil here - it's different from the one solicited a couple months ago). I was also flattered to find my rendition of the Joker featured on the back cover and spine:

Neato! Okay, that's all for this week.

Happy New Years, everybody! Have fun. Be safe.

X-men Pin-Up: In Process

2010-12-30T10:58:00.003-05:00

Above is a sneak peek at an X-Men commission I've been working on (for way too long) for a good man by the name of Simon. Finally getting around to working on it again, so I'll have a finished, inked piece to upload on here soon. For now, enjoy this detail of Kitty Pryde escaping from... something.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 10

2010-12-24T11:55:00.013-05:00

Mass Effect: Evolution of a cover

or

The Ma(ri)ss Effect.

Welcome back dear readers. Today we will be looking at one of my recent covers for the oncoming Mass Effect: Evolution series.

As always, things start out in my sketchbook. Above are the two thumbnails I'd submitted for approval. Darkhorse's only stipulation was that they wanted the character featured here to give off a kind of 'Ripley from Aliens', sort of badass vibe; sexy, yet tough. I tried to make the two sketches showcase both attributes - each emphasizing one over the other.

In the end, they went with the 'sexy' one. What with my lack of a womanly figure, I asked my studio-mate Maris to fill in- mostly looking at the particulars of hip and hand placement.

Having played through the first two Mass Effect games, and enjoying them both very much, I had wanted to sneak in my own 'Commander Shepard' since I signed up for the series. Finally I had my chance! My female Shepard was my sole reference for the characters' face. And yes, I understand how INCREDIBLY NERDY this is. I make no apologies.

Here, from left to right we have a look at the inks (by me) and initial flats by Orpheus. I'm including the flats here because I thought it hilarious that Orpheus thought to flat the character as Rogue from the X-men. Well played good sir. The photos on the right, I had been looking at as reference for the clouds I knew I wanted to paint in that blank open sky.

Lastly, here's a look at the progression in coloring. The environment behind her was clearly the most complex thing to paint here, so I worked on fleshing that out first, then back to the figure in the foreground.

And that about does it for another 'Photobooth Friday'. Merry Christmas, dudes!

Mass Effect: Evolution #3

2010-12-20T22:46:00.004-05:00

Spotted the solicits for this issue last week.

It's the cover to the third issue of Darkhorse and Bioware's Mass Effect: Evolution series! This particular cover focuses on a new character to the Mass Effect universe, who shall remain a mystery for now...

Photobooth Fridays, No. 9

2010-12-17T23:07:00.009-05:00

Just squeaking in before the weekend.

'Today' we'll be looking at two excerpted panels from my Joker's Asylum: Harley Quinn story from last summer. Above is me trying to get Harley's expression right. And below we have a look of me speaking into my digital camera.

Lastly, here's a look at the process behind each of the pages these two panels were excerpted from-

Have a good weekend, duders.

Marvelous

2010-12-15T08:27:00.001-05:00

From Lille Comics Festival, 2010

Oh yeah...

2010-12-10T11:33:00.005-05:00

So this is happening.

This coming Sunday Maris and I, along with our friends Ann, Evan, Liz and Tim are having a gallery opening at out local coffee shop, Bloc 11. The show has actually been up since mid-November, but we didn't have the time to do an 'opening' for the show until now. There we will have prints, stuffed animals, sculpture and original art on display, as well as additional prints and t-shirts for sale at the opening. Maris and I will also be bringing cupcakes. Come on by, local Boston folk!

p.s. Should you not be able to make the opening, it's okay, seriously. Please stop worrying about it. The show will be up until early January, so you've got some time.

Photobooth Fridays, No. 8

2010-12-10T10:26:00.007-05:00

Happy Friday everybody. Today we've got a look at some reference I took for a recent Star Wars: Knight Errant cover. Elements I was looking at in particular were the posing of each hand, as well as the leg/foot foreshortened. And yes, I used an actual lightsaber as a prop for a Star Wars cover (see blog heading).

Green Lantern's Oath. En français, s'il vous plaît.

2010-12-08T22:17:00.003-05:00

From Lille Comics Festival, 2010

Photobooth Fridays, No. 7

2010-12-03T18:43:00.004-05:00

Well it's Friday, and you know what that means - it's time for me to post embarrassing photos of myself on the internets! Today we're keeping things nice and simple with two random panels from Wednesday Comics, 2009.

Have a great weekend, folks!

I just can't quit you.

2010-11-30T10:25:00.002-05:00

I loves me some Harley Quinn

and apparently so do all of you. This was the predominant sketch request in Lille.

Lille Comics Festival, 2010

Star Wars: Knight Errant # 5

2010-11-28T12:00:00.007-05:00

The solicits on this cover came out while I was overseas, so I'm a little late to the game in posting it to my blog. Anywho, this here cover represents the last of my Star Wars covers for Dark Horse. At least for the time being...
They were a lot of fun to work on, and I'm super thankful that I was asked to work on them in the first place, making my own minute contribution to the Star Wars (!!) universe. Thanks DH and Lucasfilm!

PhotoBOMB Friday?

2010-11-26T22:21:00.008-05:00

As some of you may have surmised, I live and work with another comic artist by the name of Maris. Often we'll be working in studio together, and I'll think to take a bit of photo reference while working on a page. She sometimes thinks it funny to photobomb said photo reference.

It is.

Also, here's a look at the early stages of each of the Green Lantern (from Wednesday Comic) pages I had taken these photos as reference for.

And the two finished pages.

SMILE

2010-11-25T00:00:00.001-05:00

It's time for turkey! Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

From Lille Comics Festival, 2010

Photobooth Fridays: THE RETURN

2010-11-19T23:36:00.007-05:00

Howdy Everybody!

Well I'm back from Europe finally, and just in time for another PHOTOBOOTH FRIDAY!

Having just returned from France, I thought it fitting we examine the Harley piece I made for the convention there. Let's start with a look at the piece's initial sketch and pencils--

As this is an homage piece to a famous Jim Steranko cover, I didn't really need to do all that much tweaking with composition or posing. Just subtle gesture variations and minor changes in details and costuming/props.

I did toy around a bit with Harley's expression however, jumping around between alluring, silly and just plain crazy. In the end I went with just plain crazy:

So there you have it. Now that I'm back and mostly adjusted, I'll be posting more regularly again. Keep an eye out for some of my commissions from Lille in the coming weeks. Maris and I had a fantastic time touring through Brussels, Lille and Paris and met and hung out with some seriously awesome people, including none other than the supremely talented Stéphane Roux and J.H. Williams, along with his lovely wife, Wendy. Many thanks to our friends Max, Julien and Stéphane for taking us in an giving us first rate tours of Brussel, Lille and Paris, respectively. Thanks you's are also in order for the kind folks behind The Lille Comics Festival for inviting me in the first place, and then treating me and Maris so well once we got there. You guys were great. Everyone was great! I miss Belgium and France and all the good folks I met there already! GAHHH!
Okay. Phew. I'm okay. I'll collect my thoughts and report more about our exploits soon. In the meantime, here's a picture of Maris and I in front of the famous glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris.

See you soon!