Merry Christmas to all!

Here's a cover I drew a while back for a Zenescope comic that seems appropriate for this week!  The colorist really went to town on it and did a great job I thought. I don't have a copy of the comic so I don't know who colored it. Happy Holidays and a great new year to one and all.

Death at the beach

A recent commish drawing of Death from Sandman. Ink and gray copic markers.

New Darwyn Cooke art book is great, whew!

Okay, so this post is not about me
I am more and more cautious about buying art books sight unseen these days but I just picked up the new Graphic Ink, the Darwyn Cooke hardcover collection of a bunch of his DC comics and covers and it's great!  I wish that there were some sketches and stuff like that included but it is so nice to have all of these random stories and covers under one nice hardcover, I won't complain. Yea, winner!
Graphic Ink: The DC Comics Art of Darwyn Cooke

Wonder Woman con sketch

At cons, even if I am not doing a commission drawing, I am still drawing just to keep myself occupied. I did this on at the recent Salt Lake City Comic Con, I will sell her at a future con or on ebay eventually

I love these brush markers

I often get asked what I ink with. I like the look of brush inking, especially on organic forms and human figures. In  my opinion a brush line gives more life to the drawing than a static line with no thick or thin variations. Since working with a real brush and a bottle of ink can be messy and inconvenient I usually use some kind of brush marker. I have tried lots of them, thank you Japan for your constant supply of new variations   A lot of cartoonists love the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, but my gripe with it is that the tip is just too wet.
I have really taken to the Pigma brush markers because the ink is super black, dries waterproof (most brush markers do not) plus the tip lasts right up to the end of the ink supply...this is something that can not be said of most brush markers. They come in 3 tip sizes and ironically I usually go for the large one even when I am working small...I guess because is feels the most like a brush in that you can go from a razor point line to a brushy fill all in one stroke.
I use the large tip when I am drawing directly in ink in my pocket Moleskine sketchbook...an added perk here is that these don't leak so my pocket is safe
If you are a brush inker or want to give that a try these are great.

COMIC CON IS ON BABY! LAST MINUTE COMMISH LIST IS OPEN!

Okay, maybe one more time!
I have been going to Comic Con for what seems like generations now.
I've been telling folks since January that I was not attending the show this year because I didn't make the Artist Alley cut this time. But... I was just informed a few days ago that by some miracle I am getting in this year after all.
After much last minute paperwork and travel-arranging I am good to go!
I won't have as much time as usual to get my act together beforehand, so if you were interested in a commission...let's get on it asap.
Whew.

Leave me your email in the comment and  can send you the details.

Spidergwen!

I suspect that Spidergwen will be a very popular commish request  in the upcoming convention season  Ink and gray copic markers 

Spock Lives!

Leonard Nimoy passed away today at 83.
Star Trek and along with it, Spock has been a part of my life since I was a kid. I've seen it all but the original series will always be "my" Star Trek.
One of the craziest projects I ever worked on was designing the figures for Playmates Toys Star Trek Ninja Turtles. By that time I had done a lot of different themed Turtle toys, many of which never got off the ground. I was skeptical at first that the idea of Star Trek Turtles could work but that never stopped me from working on anything ;) I have to admit that they really grew on me and I liked the way the toys came out in the end. To this day they represent one of the most concrete examples of that rare event where my life experience and professional work life intersected.
Rest in peace commander.

My favorite drawing tool

I've seen a lot of posts by artists about their favorite pens and pencils etc...but I have never seen anyone  mention this gadget, the good ol' rolling ruler.
 I can honestly say that I'd find it a lot harder to do comic book type drawings without one. I remember one time when I was away from home and had to do a complex perspective drawing with buildings galore and didn't have mine with me...all of those windows almost killed me ;)
I use it daily  whenever I need some quick parallel lines. Whether I am drawing a box or panel borders or the barrel of a gun this is my go to tool.
You can also draw big arcs and circles with it but c'mon that is just easier to do with a compass or a dinner plate :)
They come in different sizes and you can spend from $10 to $50 on them...but I recommend getting the 12 inch size and the cheaper ones work fine. I have tried the smaller ones since they seem like they would be handy, but they are not as stable as the 12 inch ones and can shift while you're drawing if you aren't careful. 
If you are an artist or know one...get one of these and I promise you won't be sorry.

cool tripod

I don't do much photography but I have a strange affinity for tripods for some reason. I have picked up several sturdy old ones and converted them into art easels for indoor and outdoor drawing/painting. An artist I like recently picked up one of these for filming herself working on location. I love the look of it since I haven't seen a monopod before with feet! They are not cheap so I don't really NEED to own one but they are cool looking, like the landing pods of a space ship ;)

Zenescope 10th anniversary cover

Here's a cover I drew for Zenescope's 10th anniversary, colored by the ubber talented Ula Mos Art. Limited to 350 and available at Wizard World Portland this weekend! She handled the chaulk board exactly as I had imagined. I drew the sword and book with a black litho pencil on some rough paper to get the texture like chaulk on a blackboard....then made that a selection to fill with white and viola! it looks like it was drawn with white chaulk, yea!

Cool Dinosaur Graphic Novel on Kickstarter!

My studio pal Jim Lawson has a new Dinosaur graphic novel called A WALK THROUGH DINOSAURLAND up at bat on Kickstarter right now, check it out! (And by check it out, of course I mean back it !)  ;)
When it comes to drawing dinos the list of comic artists that really know how it's done is VERY short and yeah, Jim is definitely up there on it.
As we all know, the success of most Kickstarter gigs depends on a lot of word of mouth so please spread the word.

Just a few words about using markers...for what it's worth

I get a lot of questions about doing marker drawings and one thing I have found is that many aspiring marker users think that Copic markers must be some kind of magic wand   They cost about twice as much as most others so they must somehow jump your skills to the next level right? Well, I am here to say that I have tried pretty much everybody's brand of markers and none of them make me draw any better  I like the Copics because I can refill them, but heck, I refill the other brands I've tried as well. Copic Markers 12-Piece Cool Gray Set
I have an older set of Touch Markers ShinHan TOUCH TWIN Art Markers Flexible Brush / Medium Chisel Tips Set of 6 - Grey Tones that I like a lot. Prismacolor markers Prismacolor Premier Double Ended Chisel Tip and Fine Tip Art Markers, 12 Cool Grey Colored Markers (3622) have nice smooth flow and blend well. Dick Blick's own brand of alcohol markers work fine too.
 When I first dipped my toe in the marker pool, I saved some $ by buying a limited range of Copic cool gray markers, not an entire set of twelve.  I bought every other value; 0,2,4,6,8 and this served me well for a loooooong time. If you are new to drawing with markers I think that starting off with grays is a good way to go rather than getting bogged down with color before you have figgered out how to handle them.
I hate to see artists holding off "till they can afford Copics", but I have heard that time and again. I would suggest you just grab a name brand alcohol based marker and get started.
I was just shopping for some art supplies online and saw that Prismacolor marker setsPrismacolor Premier Double Ended Chisel Tip and Fine Tip Art Markers, 12 Cool Grey Colored Markers (3622)   Sanford(R) Prismacolor(R) Professional Art Markers, Primary/ Secondary Colors, Set Of 12 are on sale for about half price right now, that is pretty good incentive to get into markers this year if you were thinking about it anyhoo, have fun

Some Zenescope comic covers

I have done a bunch of covers for Zenescope comics, I just never seem to remember to post them once they come out....here's some! I have always thought that the Emmy award was the coolest trophy so I made up a statue with that kind of vibe for one of these.

charcoal girls

Whenever I feel artsy, I like to draw in charcoal on newsprint paper. When I can't draw from life I put a reference pic on my computer screen and just draw from that. For faces, classic Hollywood shots are great for really good lighting. I used a small blurry jpg of Jane Seymour I found online for reference on this one though.
The thing about charcoal is that if forces you NOT to get all noodley and tight with the drawing because it's just a fat burnt stick, not a nice sharp pencil!

It's Jane-uary!

Thought that I would start off my new year with a quick sketch of Jane Seymour. In my book, nobody every looked better in those 19th century clothes and hairstyles!