Commissions!

These are a couple commissions I did for a very sweet lady named Esther.

The first is Silver Age Catwoman.
She asked if I could have Catwoman posing with her two cats. She sent me some photo reference and this is the result. It was a challenge doing realistic looking cats, but I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.
The second is Grifter and Zealot from the Wildcats comics. I wasn't very familiar with either of these characters so I had to do a little bit of research to figure out their personalities.
I ended up doing this piece twice. Here is the first attempt:

It just happened that this one ended up being extremely similar to a commission she already owned, so I took another stab at it. I'm kind of glad it happened that way, because I ended up liking the second attempt a lot better. Zealot looked a little manly in the first.

SDCC '08 is coming!

So I've had a few people have asked me about my activities at this years comic con so here's all the answers at once:

-I will be attending.

-I will not however, be sitting at any booth (except for one hour from 3:30-4:30 when I'll be signing autographs after the DC panel). Not sure where the signing is, I'm guessing Warner Bros booth or DC booth.

-I will not be sketching, being that I will have nowhere to sketch. Nor will I have anything new to sell, like sketchbooks or prints. But, as always, I do take commissions.

So in summary, this year I'm just gonna have fun walking around, except Saturday when I have to do work stuff like panels and signings.

Now on to the fun stuff:
This is a piece I did for the upcoming SDCC 2008. It was done as a favor to some fellow artists, whom I respect very much, as an extra splash page type image to go in a compilation book they are doing, though I don't know if I'm supposed to say what it is, so I won't. But anyway, it was a lot of fun to do and was mostly done in the hours after work on my office cintiq. Now I have a cintiq of my very own, so I can actually go home and work! Hooray!

Not really sure why it looks so chalky and odd in this smaller version, but oh well. If you don't like it....you can suck it.

This is my contribution to the Street Fighter Tribute Book that is being sold online and at this years SDCC.

This here piece of artwork, though simple in appearance, was especially hard for me. The deadline was quick, I really don't know too much about the individual characters of street fighter, and at the time I was doing this, I was suffering from my worst case of artist's block in years. It was taking me way too long to figure out who I wanted to draw for this, and I kept trying to do way too ambitious compositions with way too many characters while knowing full well that I wouldn't have the time outside of work to draw and color a piece like that well enough to want it to be published in any book that a large audience would see.

SO, I started by looking through my Capcom artbook and picking out one of the less popular characters. I figured everyone else would be doing Ryu, Ken and Chun Li. I picked this Karin, girl. I was just an added bonus that she was Sakura's rival....and I don't much like Sakura. No real reason why, I just don't. So I made Karin beating the snot out of Sakura in a schoolyard fight.

My pretty little boy toy did me a huge favor by coloring it for me, and the background kids were a last minute addition after I was unhappy with my overall composition. So, if you're still reading after all that, I hope you like it. If you don't..... you can suck it.

So those are the only two artworks of mine for sale at Comic con this year. There will also be a huge Wonder Woman bag being handed out at the Warner Bros booth that I drew and Bruce Timm inked. They're BIG. You can make a sleeping bag out of it. But you don't have to pay for those, you just have to wait in a line.

The End

Wonder Woman Artwork

Hooray! It's finally been released so now I can put something I've done for Wonder Woman up on my darn blog after working on it for almost a year and not being able to post a single thing! Of course I can't take all the credit for this image. I really only drew Wonder Woman and filled in the paint colors. The color styling was done by our awesome color stylist, Craig...I know I'm gonna spell his last name wrong so I'm not even gonna bother. And the awesome sky background was done by one of our amazingly talented BG painters, Wei Zhao. Wonder Woman was designed by Bruce and I, the logo was done by...someone at DC? Etc., etc., etc. The image was orignally done as an art piece for the lobby of our building, but since the release of the sneak peek material for Wonder Woman on the Batman: Gotham Knight DVD, I've seen this image all over the internet as press art....
This is the version that will be distributed at Comic Con on little signable cards for our signing after the DC Universe DVD panel on Saturday....
...And this was the original concept art that I did for the piece.
It's nice to have something to post again! :)

Rapunzel

I really didn't want to make her blonde. There's too many blonde princesses out there. But then I made the background too dark and blonde was the only color that really stood out. Damn me and my terrible color sense!

That Darn Slipper

I never INTENDED for it to look like a Lisa Frank folder, but..... well ..... it looks like a Lisa Frank folder.

Wonder Woman!

Well, since everyone pretty much already knows, I guess it's safe to say that I've been working on the next installment of the DC Direct to DVD movies. This time it's the Amazon Princess's turn so here's your first peek at the artistic style used for this movie. Hope you like it!!!!

...is it too late for April Fools? ......It's still April....

Falling

Well, I guess it's been long enough since my last post. So if anyone still visits this poor neglected site, hope you like it. Thanks for looking!

Day of Black Sun- Avatar Press Art

Sorry about the wait. I've been so swamped at work lately that I didn't even notice this episode had already aired. To be completely honest, I just plain forgot about posting this in general, until I was reminded by a fellow deviant artist. So Kudos to you Silentjosh847!

Anyway, I was commissioned by the wonderful people at Nickelodeon to do this piece of press art for the big two part battle taking place right in the middle of the 3rd season entitled The Day of Black Sun.

As usual, I did the 3 preliminary designs, one was approved and moved forward with. In this case it ended up being more like 5 preliminary designs simply because my fickle mind couldn't settle on one specific layout for a couple of the ideas.



Then a final pencil version is done. I was obviously a bit rusty at drawing the characters at this pont because none of them look quite right. Many thanks to Bryan Konietzko for putting them back on model for me.

Then the colored version. I did two different backgrounds for this one because I wasn't quite sure whether I liked the full eclipse or the partial eclipse better.


After all that, the very kind and talented Bryan Konietzko went over the painted version and sweetened the whole thing with subtle tweaks that really made the final piece look 20 jabillion times better than I ever could have done. And that's the final version you see at the top. Thanks for making me look good Bryan!

Hope you guys like it!

We Are The Daughters of Triton...

... great father who loves us and named us well...
Aquatta
Attina
Arista
Andrina
Adella
Alana

Poopy Time!

It's a very sad picture to come back with after being absent from the deviant art and the blog for a good few weeks, but it's all I got. I'm drawing a whole lot these days, but it's all for the job and therefor unpostable. So this little nugget of crap is all I have to offer.

There are so many things wrong with this perspective-wise I'm not even going to count. I drew this thing a couple months ago. Then I started coloring it. It only took me a few minutes to remember how much I hate coloring. Then I abandoned the endeavor completely. Please no comments of how much better it would look with color, could use some color, wish you could see it in color, etc. It ain't going to happen. Lets just all admit that not even color can save this.
In honor of the wild fires eating up a good portion of California, spewing ash into the air, making my nose run non stop for a couple days due to the copious amounts of unhealthful air I inhaled, turning my spa into nasty grey soup, and giving me an excuse to stay home from work on Tuesday just in case I had to grab my dog and evacuate....here is a crappidy ass drawing of some fire nation kids. They all look wierd, but I haven't had to draw these characters in a good long while, so I'm a little rusty. SO SUE ME!

.....I really hate fire. Luckily the Santa Clarita fires are pretty much contained at this point. My prayers go out to all the San Diego residents that are still being affected by the fires.

Avatar Press Art and 100th Post!

Woo Hoo! 100 posts! Well, now that that's out of the way...
This is a piece of press art I did for Avatar when they were getting ready to start advertising the premiere episode for the third season. Depending on what monitor you are looking at this on, it could either be really dark, or... not...really..dark.
And here are the concepts that the press people had to choose from. They chose the one with Aang windsurfing with his glider...if you hadn't figured that out already.

Currently, I'm working on another piece of press art for Avatar. But I won't be able to post that one for a good while now. At least not until the third season is half over.

How many times must I draw Raven....

...before I end up with ONE drawing I actually like?
Not one.
Not two.
Not three.
Not four either.
Maybe five is the lucky number. I guess we'll never know.

Terra

This is my interpretation of Terra from the Teen Titans comic. I was never a fan of her buck-tooth, turtle neck, no pants deal. So I gave her a quick makeover.

Pirates of Dark Water

I don't remember a whole lot about this show. I remember liking it, but not as much as a lot of the other shows I was watching at the time. But most of all, I remember their eyes doing CRAZY things when they were animated badly. . . which was pretty much every episode.

If I Got to Design She-Ra

It would be slightly less gay. But only slightly.
This is a terribly drawn, slightly malformed She-Ra interpretation that I drew on my lunch break using Sketchbook Pro and a cintiq. I later found out that they are retiring sketchbook pro. Tis a sad sad day indeed.

Eeeeewwww! Speeeewwww!

When I was a wee lass, I watched a lot of movies with my father. Mostly action movies, but every now and again, a mushy part would pop up, and I would react much like the Zentradi did when the Micronians kissed. I'd cover my eyes and yell "Eeewwww. Mushy stuff!" My father would humor me and do it too, but since he was a married man with three daughters, I knew he must've taken part in some mushy stuff himself. The End.

Yagami Team

Too bad he's too gay to even appreciate this. . . Not that there's anything wrong with that. They're just more of shopping friends than anything else. That's how they managed to pick out matching outfits.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

I've colored this something like 5 different times.

I still hate it.

I'm also OVER it.

I'm not painting it again.

So suck on that Nausicaa!

Tellos: For Mike

This is the piece I did for the Mike Wieringo tribute.

Nick Magazine 2nd Edition All Avatar Issue Cover

Well that was a mouth full. The magazine hasn't officially hit newsstands yet but since the cover has already been posted on a couple different sites, I figured I could probably post my version up too without any major legal action ensuing.

Final Cover
This image is the final image I turned in for the cover. A few minor tweaks were done by the magazine people themselves before it went to print, but this is MY version. In the magazine cover, Azula and Zuko are a lot more transparent and a bit smaller. Somehow Sokka's ponytail ended up right on Azula's cheek, but that's what happens when you've got to make enough room for the extra words to fit. Overall, I'm still happy with how it turned out.

Concept Covers
The first of the three concept covers was the one chosen to be fully realized. A couple changes were made. They wanted the UPC symbol on the left, so Momo was moved with it so they could print Text over the bottom right hand corner. They also wanted Uncle Iroh and Appa out. So they got the boot for the sake of not making the thing look too crowded. Sorry Uncle and Appa, but it was for the better.
The second of the three was the version I did to satisfy the main direction I was given as to what they thought might be good to see on the cover of an issue bridging seasons one and two. It featured Aang in the middle with little vignettes of the other main storylines in the background. I sampled some cowboy bebop artwork for the idea of putting the side stories in graphic shapes. Ultimately, this one didn't get chosen.
This last one was just my attempt at smashing every darn character I could think of into a big all out splash cover dealy-o. I'm kinda glad this one wasn't picked. It would have been a bitch to do and I probably would have jacked it up pretty well.

Final Lineart

After the cover was chosen, I then assembled a clean lineart version to be approved. I like to play "Spot The Difference" with this one. Aang's face was revised as well as were Azula's lips. They were too big. And the whole gang was put more on the diagonal.

Color Mockup

Then it was time for the color mockup. Now more "Spot The Difference." You can tell at this point I had completely redrawn Momo. I wasn't terribly happy with my first version. Aang's smile was changed between this version and the final so he wouldn't look so similar to Sokka's smile. Teeth lines were added to Katara and Toph. And the harsh uplighting on Azula and Zuko was toned down so the shadows wouldn't be so dark. And the grass had not yet been colored. I would go on to later color the grass twice before redrawing it three times until I finally got the version you see at the top. I like it a lot better than this version.

Random Girl

Random sketch of a girl with retarded legs.

Shadow of the Colossus

He is sad because his girlfriend is dead. He is also sad because Mr. Mike Wieringo has recently passed away. Wieringo was not his girlfriend. But he was a very talented and kind person. I never had the pleasure of knowing him personally, but whenever I did have the pleasure of trading comments with him I found that he never had a mean thing to say. Nothing but talent and niceness. He will be missed.

Sailor Scouts

Fact: I hate crowd scenes.

Fact: I like group shots.

Go figure.

Pluto's leaning dangerously to her left there. Guess she had a little too much of that Moon Kingdom booze.

Well, I guess I actually have to do the work I've been putting off now.

Felicia

Yo!

JLA

San Diego was fun! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the table to say hi. It was great meeting you!

The Superman: Doomsday screening went off without a hitch and I don't think I made a COMPLETE idiot of myself at the panel afterwards. The fans seemed to receive it positively, well... except for the ones that accused me of breaking up the voice cast family by not keeping the same Superman voices as were in the previous Superman animations. That's right, I'm talking to you fan who stopped me outside of the convention bathrooms!

Heck, we even sold a few more copies of the year-old sketchbook I did with my friend, Eric Canete.

I bought a few books, got a few freebies, saw a few good costumes, saw a lot of bad costumes, and smelled a plethora of stinky people. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience.

So in honor of Comic-con 07, here's a cramped JLA collage featuring Aquaman, front and center of course. Hope everyone else's convention experience was pleasant if you were in attendance.

Tenchi

So this will probably be my last post until at least a week from now. I guess it's not really that long of a break. The reason being, of course, the upcoming San Diego trip to the Comic Con. I'll be leaving Wednesday, staying there a long, humid, stinky five days, and returning Sunday. That's right folks, ALL FIVE DAYS.
If you're there early, drop by and see the Thursday night premiere of the Superman: Doomsday animated DVD I helped out on. It"s pretty darn good.
Feel free to drop by the Black Velvet Studios table in the small press area and buy some stuff from them. I'll be helping out occasionally throughout the con. I might even try to sell some of the crappy original art pieces you see here on this blog. By original I mean drawn by me, not copyrighted by me.
Or if you really want to burn some money, you can ask for a commission. But you better be loaded, cuz they don't come cheap. It takes a lot of money to get me to stop being lazy.
So, for anyone going to the con, have yourself a good, safe, deoderant-wearing, non-stinkified time. For all those who can't afford to or have no interest in going, have yourself a good, clean, comfortable, non crowd infested time.
That's all for now.

Battle Angel Alita

First, a rough sketch of Alita.

And now an INKED sketch of Alita. She actually has a post it over her head, but it's one of them fancy WHITE ones so no one can tell.... on the computer screen... anyway.
She almost had Tiphares in the background behind her. You can kind of make out the pale blue lines. But then I remembered I was lazy. So I stopped.

The Frog Prince

I had forgotten how fun rough pencil drawings can be. I really enjoyed doing this one.

Robin

With this one I tried to learn to be more painterly.

With this one I learned NOT to try to be more painterly.

Guess Who!

I'll give a nice firm pat on the back to anyone who can name this obscure character.

Here's some hints:
1. She's a princess.
2. She has a cousin who looks remarkably similar to her.
3. Her boyfriend has a really bad accent.
$. Her boyfriend is NOT named Mario.
Sorry, no REAL prizes. Some minor artistic liberties have been taken, but nothing major.

Belle

Pretty self explanatory. No color this time.
This is probably the only time I've ever drawn Belle that she's come out looking anything even close to what she is supposed to. That bitch is hard to draw! For me anyway.

Sedusa

I was watching the first season of Powerpuff on DVD the other day and I sketched down a crappy little Sedusa on a post-it.
Then I came across a fancy little photoshop brush on Justin Ridge's blog which he actually got from another guy whose name I don't remember's blog. It's called the stumpy pencil.
Put them both together and you get this! I used the stumpy pencil for the subtle grainy look on the shaded areas and around the white heart border, though it's kinda hard to tell looking at low res version. It was pretty fun to use if I might say so myself.

Bust-A-Groove!!!

Some day, maybe some day, I'll learn to color something so it doesn't look like the inside of a crayola crayon box.
So,I haven't posted in something like a month on account of I was working on a magazine cover for the next all Avatar issue of Nickelodeon magazine. And on top of it all I can't even post the darn thing I've been spending all my time on until the magazine is released. So you'll have to settle for this.
I'm not too thrilled with my crappy coloring, and I darkened Frida too much in the background, but I'm sick of working on it so this is all you get.
Bust a groove, my friends, bust a groove.

Post-O-Rama

So the scanner went on the fritz. So instead of scanning, I colored. Please don't get used to it, for it will only end in disappointment. So here is a big fat-ass post in anticipation of me not having a whole lot of time to update in the near future on account of work is going to be getting pretty busy soon.
I totally heart this show. It makes me laugh. A lot! Everyone should watch it.
Chiropterates are hard as hell to draw. So I didn't draw one. I drew Saia instead. She is a lot easier. Hooray for the Inverse Adjustment Layer function!
This is a little nugget of, well, crap from my olden days. By olden days, I mean probably a couple years ago or something like that. I doubt I would have posted this if I had drawn it today. But, for back then, I was pretty proud of myself. For a whole hot minute.

Papasquat Jet

Kiki

Not thrilled with this one. Think I went a little too far with the shading. That's probably why most of my work stays in coloring book form. Not too happy about how her face turned out either. Well I could go on and on, but I won't. So enjoy this sucky piece of artwork.

Back to Basics

Too many group shots with too many boys lately.I decided to go back to my "single female character with no perspective on a plain white background" roots. Besides, I hadn't drawn Ariel in a while.

Section 9

What's this? A 7:1 guy to girl ratio? Why would I draw this? I hate drawing guys. Am I insane? And a perspective shot at that. I hate drawing perspective! I guess I'm just a masochist.

I plan on coloring this, but my plans pf coloring things rarely ever go anywhere. So, for now, the crappy line art will have to suffice.

Cyborg 009

I'm not usually a fan of the "old school" anime style, but I really liked this show. It had some fun animation and amazing backgrounds. I'd recommend you give it a gander if you get the chance. I gave it multiple ganders while drawing this piece. There was a whole lot of freeze framing going on.