Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright...

...In the forests of the night. I was inspired to do this one not because of William Blake but because my super-duper pal Erin Clark did a bitchin' tiger a short while back. That and she sent me a picture of her kitty cat a few months ago and he was making a little face like the one I drew here (minus the little snarly nose).
Anyway I definitely wanna add color to this one. It'll probably be my first priority.
Drawn on 9 x 12 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board, pencils and inks took about 3 hours (there is actually quite a bit more to the original image).

Joe Fixit

Joe Fixit was what the Hulk went by when he was smaller and gray and living (and fighting) in Las Vegas. It was an era for the character I really liked because it was full of action and adventure, but was free of the convoluted nonsense Marvel Comics has become known for in the last decade or so.
I'll color this one soon, when I get a little free time. I've been wanting to experiment with a color scheme style that I have seen guys like Dave Johnson use in the last year or two.
By the way, Dave Johnson is pretty rad, so you should look him up.

Psych

Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and Burton Guster (Dule Hill) from the USA Network T.V. show Psych. The show really is a lot of fun - they take nothing seriously and you tend to get one 80's reference after another.
The pineapple is a bit of an inside joke of sorts. Pineapples make regular appearances in the show, in fact it's become a bit of a game to "spot the pineapple" from week to week.

Anyway, I'd like to color this one sometime soon. When I do I'll post the results.

Indiana Jones

And the Secret of the Sphinx, by Max McCoy.
In my humble opinion it's not the greatest book ever, but it had a lot of cool-type imagery in it that made me wanna do a little somethin' somethin'.
14 x 21 on 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board...

Hitman

Part of a series I wanna do (the Certified Deadly images based on story ideas) - this chap is a circa 1930's/40's hitman. While I don't know if a silencer is era appropriate or not I don't really care. It looks cool, so I went with it. Also I really dug the idea of the spot light beam terminating on the ground as a skull; I've been looking at a lot of Dave Johnson's work lately [LINKEY] and his sense of layout and design is in my opinion second to none. Definitely inspirational for me when I peep his work. I wanna do this one up in an era appropriate setting like an alley way with an old junker jalopy, street lamps and a body...

Aaaaaanyway, this was drawn on 9 x 12 100 LB. vellum Bristol Board pencils and inks took about 2 and a half hours.

The Wolf

A piece I did for the blog Just Saying I Love You. The version that will eventually appear over there will be a little different and will have colors by artist Erin Clark.

Drawn on 9 x 12 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board, pencils and inks took about 6 to 6 and a half hours...

The Canary Trainer Edit

This is an edited alternate version of the original one I posted earlier this month. I changed the background figure of Erik/The Phantom. As I said, I really was not fond of how he came out in the original so I redrew him. I had to photoshop out the original guy and that was a bit of a pain in the butt, but it didn't rake too long.

All in all I'm much happier with this version. Redraw (pencils and inks) time on the background figure took about two hours or so. Pictured, above center: Erik/The Phantom. Bottom row (from left to right) Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler.

Masters of the Universe

A quick shot of some rough pencils for a Masters of the Universe image I'm working on. Pictured are Skeletor and He-Man. I think after getting them inked I'm going to photoshop them into different positions as I have an idea or two in mind and they would look better arranged differently.
I have an idea for their background roughed on on a separate sheet of Vellum Bristol Board.
Also I'm trying out some new graphic pens; I'm a diehard fan of Staedtler pigment liner graphic pens and I'd recommend them to anybody. They are archival and relatively long lasting, but their single greatest attribute - they NEVER fade when you are erasing your pencils. As long as they are dry they are solid! But I got a chance to pick up some Artist's Loft Illustration pens for a pretty unbeatable price, so I wanted to give 'em a go and see if they can hold up.

Happy Zombie Halloween Love

So I wanted to post some work in progress photos of this one. The photos pretty clearly show how rough and wonky the background was. I drew this while laying in bed and didn't have a ruler within reach so I just roughed in my idea for the background and today when I inked the image I went back in with a nice clean straight edge and got everything in line.

I had written in my idea for a thought bubble for the zombie. Originally he was going to be saying "Holy SHIT! Is that a U.F.O?!" but in the end I though the heart shaped though bubble with the brain inside of it and the "mmmm" bit was funnier.

And the finished product:
I lengthened the right leg a little and added in the brain in the heart shaped thought bubble, but here it is, pretty much as I imagined it.

Drawn (somewhat small) on 9x12 100 LB Vellum Bristol board, pencils and inks took about 5 hours in total.

The Canary Trainer

I'm not really liking the background figure (Erik - The Phantom) in this. I think I'll do a re-draw on the background and re-post in the not to distant future.
Anyway, background... This is based on the Nicholas Meyer novel The Canary Trainer. It's one of three Sherlock Holmes novels he wrote (along with The Seven Percent Solution and The West End Horror). This particular novel is set in Holmes "Great Hiatus" era after his faking his own death at Reichenbach Falls in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Story The Final Problem. Holmes finds himself in Paris playing violin in the Palais Garnier under Gaston Leroux (the author of The Phantom of the Opera). As one may expect, everything that goes wrong is attributed to "the ghost". While investigating these and other situations Holmes must also contend with The Phantom of the Opera.

Pictured, above center: Erik/The Phantom. Bottom row (from left to right) Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes, Irene Adler.

Featured Deviant!

The group Only Line Art over at Deviant Art has paid me the honor of making me their featured deviant of the month. They also requested the inclusion of more then 50 of my images into their expansive gallery.
http://only-lineart.deviantart.com/
As I am exceptionally grateful I would like to encourage any and all who read this to check them out. It's a diverse group with a lot of excellent work featured in their gallery and previous monthly deviant features.

Thanks again ChemicalKidd!

Spidey and Some Baddies

I've always been a bigger fan of the more classic Spider-Man villains. Ironically it's the more contemporary look (ala the 90's) for the character of Spider-Man that I prefer.

Anyway this was a bit of a small thing - 9 x 12 on 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. Pencils and inks took about 4 to 4 and a half hours.

Dirty Harry Callahan

A poster I've been fiddling with for a looooooooong time now. It's based on the Dirty Harry franchise of movies starring Clint Eastwood.

The story revolves around Harry Callahans very first case after becoming an inspector, circa 1965-6. As the copy suggests, it is where he gets his reputation for being the one who handles all the dirty crap no one else will touch.

Gears of War

Comprised of elements from the old sketchbook. Based on a video game and a song for that game by the band Megadeth.
It's really not a very good drawing, but I really wanted to color it. So I did.

You Can't Have One...

... Without the Other.
Done for the fabulous Ms. Clark and her blog Just Saying I Love You. This particular piece is about love and hate as they relate to one another. Basically it goes back to the idea that you can't have good without bad, hot without cold, reeses without pieces... You get the idea.

Certified Deadly

A pen-sketch from the sketchbook. I liked it, so I colored and textured it. I threw on some "vintage" lines as an afterthought cuz it sorta reminded me of an old trading card...

Another "Another Day"

Another in the series.

The Sketchy

...The Strange Fantasy Life.
Another little sketchbook offering. I thought it was suitably bizarre enough to color it.

The EDIT of Alter Egos

This is an edit of the image found at this link [LINK-E-POO]. This edit more accurately reflects my original intentions with the drawing.

HellBoy - From the Sketchbook

Somethin' from my sketchbook that I though was kinda fun, so I inked it in.

I gotta be honest, I really don't like drawing in my sketchbook. The pages are small (9 x 12) and the paper is not as conducive to accepting clean ink over the lines the way 100 LB. Bristol Board is, so when I do something I think is kinda cool it ends up not looking it's best when I'm done with it.

It's great for getting out ideas, but I hate doing anything more complex then stick figures it it; I'll end up wanting to ink it and then ultimately not be satisfied because it's not on 14 x 17...

Pepes Fruit Stand

Done for a friends band. Unfortunately they are no longer active as a band. But I said I'd do the image and I wanted to follow through (even if it is a day late and a dollar short), so here it is.

For Pepes Fruit Stand... The fishbowl spaceman.

The Sign of Four

In progress.
I've been reading a lot of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes novels lately. I'm currently on The Hound of the Baskervilles but I had just finished The Sign of Four and I really wanted to work up a poster for it.
I'm setting it up with a little art nouveau styling with the border. It'll come through a little more (hopefully) when the colors are added. The space at the bottom is for copy.
I have two small illustrated elements to add to it so when I do I'll post the update., and again when I update the colors...

Iron Man and Tony Stark

I haven't really drawn anything in quite some time. It's been about a month and a half, so I did this and a few other things in my trusty sketchbook to get myself back into an artistic mode.

It's still in the work in progress stage as I'm gonna add color and copy.

An Honor of Sorts

The blog "International House of Geek" has included/used my image for the Marvel Comics villain The Wendigo in their ongoing feature A Crash Course in Villainy.
Dig it. And check out the hyperlink above (for the International House of Geek). If you dig comics and all related media based on the comics, I'm sure you'll like their blog...

The Fantastical - Version Deuce

So after examining the image I decided I wanted to play with it a little. I changed it from landscape to portrait and removed the standing figure (of whom I was not particularly fond). Additionally I decided to make it more comic cover-ish by adding in the copy box at the top. I'll think of a clever name/title, but in the meantime I'd like to know which people like more. The first landscape version, or this second portrait/comic cover style version.

Lemme know!

The Fantastical

Aaaaaaaand, the finished piece.
I'll be honest - I don't like the standing figure. I may try and digitally remove him.

So the deal is I've been working on some fantasy/horror/macabre pieces lately to include in my portfolio. This be one of 'em.

Fantastical Fanciful Fantasy (W.I.P)

More work in progress. I tried uploading this yesterday, but blogger was having issues...

Harvey Two Face

That dastardly villain from the Batman comics.
Another ball-point pen sketchy that I thought was kinda cool so I threw down with some digital color and finishes.

It's Alive

And the completed inks for the W.I.P. I posted on last night.
11x14 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. Pencils and inks took about 5 and a half to 6 hours or so. That was with a little dawdling and distraction though. Had I just focused a little better the inking time (about 3 and a half to 4 hours) would have been a little less...
I've been working on some fantasy/horror/macabre type art lately for my portfolio as I'm gonna try and submit to some video game companies that specialize in those kinks of games...

More of the W.I.P.

After about an hour and a half of inking...
Its off screen right leg is also fully inked...

W.I.P. The Post-Modern Prometheus

A work in progress - rougher pencils then I would normally do, but since I'm inking this myself (as usual) I'm comfortable with the sketchier nature.
Pictured is a smaller chunk of a larger drawing.
11x 14 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. Pencils took about two hours; let's see how long the inks take...
Results to be posted.

The Leviathan Work In Progress

Another ball point pen sketch. I was fiddling around with this because of the "RIFT" contest going on right now over at Deviant Art

This is for the "Plane of Water" thingy...

Not gonna enter the contest (I don't think) but I did this and decided I liked it so I am in the process of giving her some color...

You'll notice this ball point pen sketch is a lot rougher then then ones I'm doing of the Fantastic Four. With those I knew right off what I wanted to draw and how I wanted to do it.

With the Leviathan I only knew I wanted to do a massive, undersea, anthropomorphous monster.

I'll post the finished product (full colors) when I'm done...

The Continuing Adventures of the Sketchy

More of the ball point pen sketches of the Fantastic Four I did. Of course there's a lot of photoshop here, but the characters were drawn in ball point pen; no original pencils.
Sue Storm is next.

Benjamin Grimm Sketchy

From the old sketchbook. I did it in ball point pen and just liked how it looked so I decided to color him in...

The Macho Man

... Randy Savage.

I admit it. Back in the day I loved wrestling. Savage was pretty cool but never really my favorite. Anyway, he died last week after wrecking his car while apparently having a heart attack.

I did this just cuz...

It should be noted that I referenced a photo on the web for this but have no idea who took the original picture. If anyone knows please feel free to let me know so I can properly credit them.

Life in the Woods

I'm reading Doc Meldrums book Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. It's a really compelling and interesting read.

I tend to agree with Dr. Meldrum when he says that while he does not necessarily believe in the existence of bigfoot, there is enough evidence out there of it's possible existence to warrant further exploration.

I included a couple things in this image largely associated with the bigfoot phenomena. The branch "Squatchy" is dropping with it's right hand is associated with the reported "wood knocking". It's believed that this may be a method for long range communication/location of other Squatchys. This is a behavior associated with some primate species.

The other is the the rock it's picking up with it's left hand; reports have campers and hikers, etc. having rocks, pine cones and other sundries lobbed at them by unseen forces. This is also a behavior associated with some primate species.

11 x 14 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. Pencils and inks took about 5 to five and a half hours.

F.Y.I. - a commission of this sort (minus the copy, since that bit was done digitally) would be $50.00

Another Day In Paradise

Another in a series. I had a story idea for these revolving around various devils and/or demons (from a variety of world religions, both past and present) interacting with random, regular people in todays world. The stories were set from the 50's all the way up to the present day.

Anyway, this little cover mock-up was fun to do.

Portrait Commission

Done for a client who wanted to present the drawing of their kids to his wife for mothers day. I also made it into a greeting card so he and his kids could sign it and present that to her as well.
He seemed to love it when I presented it to him. I'd really like to know what his wife thought of it...
11 x 14 on 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. Pencils and inks took a little over 6 hours.

Pencils and Weirdness

Something I blue-lined out while laying in bed last night. In between some other work today I found a couple hours to throw down with some clean pencils.

I still haven't found that sweet-spot for scanning pencils where they come out looking as clean as they do on the page. Also I loose a little bit of the finer details when I scan them like this.

Priest Vamp

I saw the commercial for the Priest movie. I'm not optimistic, however the little vamp monster in the commercial was pretty cool. So this little guy is roughly based on that...

Again, because I apparently suck at scanning pencils some of his cool little details got washed out, but it was fun to do. I'll ink and color this one sometime soon...
Pencils on 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board took about an hour and a half to an hour and 45 minutes.

Wolverine Pencils

I was thinking of doing an alphabet of personal likes; things in my life I really dig. This was done to sorta test the idea and I like how it came out.
I don't like the scan though. Every time I scan the pencils to a drawing I always loose some of the slightly lighter details...
Anyway I fiddled with Wolvies uniform a little. I gotta admit I dont know what it looks like these days but I did it this way to reflect the elements of his previous uniforms that I liked the most (moving little things around).

Alter Egos

So I got the colors for this one all done this past weekend. Getting my flats into the drawing didn't take quite as long as I thought it was gonna take.

Anyway the drawing is all about Bruce Banner and his alter ego, the Hulk. Aaaaaand the Hulk and his alter ego Bruce Banner (sorta depends on your perspective I guess).

In my humble opinion this dynamic has been (at times) the best developed concept in all of comics.

So there ya have it, but I must say this was fun to draw; especially the background/landscape which I drew separately from the characters in the foreground (for various reasons). In fact I liked how it came out so much I wanted to post it up here all by itself. So here it is.

Stargate - SG 1

It only took me forever to get to it but finally I did the colors for the Stargate: Children of the Gods poster I did waaaaaaay back here [LINK]. I ended up just calling it Stargate SG 1 even though I originally drew it as an homage to the series pilot, entitled Children of the Gods. I may go back and change that again though.

The copy took a little while because it is not a pre-fab font. I took the time to digitally recreate the copy that is used on the DVD boxed sets.

I drew this long enough ago so that I can't recall how long the pencils and inks took but the digital colors/finishes took approximately 7 and a half to 8 hours.

The Kool Aid Guy

A birthday card for a friend. I knew I wanted to do the Kool Aid Guy and I knew this was the pose I wanted to use. Unfortunately while this image is ubiquitous on the web (the original has him holding a pitcher of Kool Aid in his right hand), I could find no reference as to who the original artist was. So instead I had to credit the creator of the Kool Aid Guy, Marvin Plotts.

The drawing took about 45 minutes; about 15 minutes for the pencils and about a half hour for the inks....

The rest of it (digital colors, design elements, etc.) took about an hour or so.

The Commission

One of the commissions I did recently for one of my Deviant Art watchers. She wanted something outta this world, so I hope I delivered with this creepy little thing.
Pencils and inks on 11 x 14, 100 LB. Vellum Bristol Board. 20 bucks.

The Super-Kill Guy (Updated)

So this is an updated version of the Brock Samson image I first showed HERE. I replaced the gun with Brock's usual weapon; the ubiquitous and trusty knife. Additionally I updated the colors and some of the design elements as well.

I'm MUCH more fond of this version.
How 'bout you?

The Shadow - Prep Sketch

This was the sketchbook prep drawing I did for the commission piece located HERE.
It's a little different and I kinda like it so I decided she deserved some ink.

It's a relatively small scale drawing - about 9 x 12 or so on standard sketchbook paper where as the finished drawing was on 14 x 17 100 lb. Vellum Bristol Board. So it's details suffer a little bit from it's diminished scale.
Overall I like it. I'll probably be coloring this one in sometime relatively soon.
I should note "The Shadow" logo was added in digitally. It's the same one I digitally generated and added into the full color commission.

The Revered

The pencils and inks for an Art Nouveau-esque poster on which I am working. The imagery is all about ancient Egyptian myth and allegory.
Bastet was and ancient Egyptian goddess represented by a womans body and a cats head (cats were revered in ancient Egypt). The protector of pregnant women she also defended men from illness and demons. She was considered "...the personification of the warming rays of the sun on the Nile". (M. Bunson, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. Pg. 43)
Frequently depicted with a sistrum (a musical instrument) and an ankh (a symbol of eternal life), I included the position of her arms to be a loose representation of the Ka, "[an] ancient Egyptian term for the spiritual essence, which existed alongside human form and yet maintained individuality".(M. Bunson, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt. Pg. 130)