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I often wonder what types of things I should include on my blog.  Should it always be just about my artwork?  More stuff on technique or maybe an article on my favorite artist.  I’m never sure, so I’m just going to start posting everything.  More general comments, sketches, dabs of paint, etc.  More in process shots of stuff I’m working on (that I’m allowed to share).

Right now, I’ve been updating my portfolio to target Wizards of the Coast and Marvel Comics.  With the Incredible Hulk being so incredible (and my favorite character) I thought a nice trading card type illustration would be a groovy thing.  Yes, I still like the word groovy even though it’s popularity was well before my time.

To begin an illustration I usually do some thumbnails or if there’s a minimal background, I just start sketching to see what grabs me.  I ended up with this to start with.

Looks OK.  I like the pose and the expression on his face.  It’s time to refine it a bit and add some spot blacks.  I’ve also decided that it needs somewhat of a proper background.  What could be better for the Hulk than a big mushroom cloud?  Fun to paint and that will allow me to add some abstract qualities to it that I like when painting.  I also changed the size to 10×16 over all just because.    Here’s where we are now.

Now, in general I’m pretty good at just drawing out of my head but good reference will always take your work to a higher quality.  You don’t know what you don’t know and reference will give you the information that you don’t know.  Man, that was a sentence and a half.  I think my brain just started smoking.

Here is my reference.  I’ll probably take some photography later for specific parts like the face and anything that looks off after I get going that needs some attention.

Here is my latest finished piece.  It’s for my portfolio.  I plan to do a number of very similar ones.  Different character classes from Dungeons and Dragons.  It’s a combination of Photoshop and Painter.

I’ve begun putting together a portfolio to send to Marvel comics.  My goal is to get some card illustration is possible even some cover work.  With that in mind I got quite a few pieces planned out.  A few pinups like you might see in a Marvel Masterpieces card and then later some much more intricate pieces.

This first one is Kitty Pryde of the X-men.  She’s always been one of my favorite characters.  Excalibur was one of my first comics back when you could buy them from 7-11.  I’m working on much more of a painterly style.  To that end I’ve discovered Corel Painter (actually rediscovered).  I’ve been so used to Photoshop all these years and Painter is a bit of a different animal.  I love squishy paint.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

I grew up on He-man.  Loved him.  Mom and Dad bought me the toys.  I watched the cartoon like it was my religion.  My evil old hag of a baby sitter tried to ban the program because she said Skeletor was the devil and she was protecting me from Satan’s clutches.  Needless to say, I used the Diamond Ray of Disappearance on her butt and continued on my quest to battle the evil forces of Skeletor.

He-man was a big influence on my artwork and love of fantasy.  He was my first and biggest exposure to the genre so when I recently had the chance to do some c0mmission work for a He-fan, I jumped at the chance.  It didn’t hurt that I did it for some hard to find He-man toys.  Man, I love me some horse trading.  He wanted a Merman piece which suited me just fine but there is one thing I hate about Merman.  That character is one of the hardest to pull off without making him look like a total goof.  I couldn’t exactly redesign his face although I really wanted to so I just sketched his face over and over until I was reasonably happy.  So know, it’s done.  Now, the only problem is I want to do some more He-man artwork.

I’ve started a new sketchbook for 2010.  Click on the Gallery drop down box at the top of the screen for access.  It’s kind of..er..sketchy…right now but it’ll be updated often.  Here’s the first image.

I discovered a new figure drawing class locally and went to their first session Tuesday night.  It’s called Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School.  It’s figure drawing meets burlesque.  Tuesday night’s theme was Mardi Gras so there were a lot of beads.  Very well done and a ton of fun.  Another cool aspect of the class is that numerous times throughout the class they will have a contest.  For instance, at one point everyone had to draw from a 5 minute pose using their non-dominant hand.  Afterward everyone judges who they liked the best.  The winner might receive a bottle of wine or a gift certificate to a local restaurant.

They hold the class once a month and I can’t wait to go back again.  Here are a few of the drawings I did.