Doctor Fate pencils

I finished this a few weeks ago.  I know I probably seem like an overly-critical broken record at times but this one just doesn't make me happy.  It's pretty common for me to have mixed feelings about a piece, whether it's a pin-up type like this or an actual interior page, immediately after finishing.  Most of the time, if I set it aside for awhile I'll have a new appreciation for it when I look at it again.  This one still isn't giving me the feels.  That probably won't change but here it is anyway.  While I work on some things that I can't post yet I feel I should at least keep posting as much as I can.

Hyperion

I started this while sitting in my hotel room a couple of nights ago.  Finished it yesterday when I got home.  No specific reason for choosing to draw Hyperion, just kind of a spur of the moment thing.

Wonder Woman pencil drawing

Fairly quick drawing of Wonder Woman.  I was pretty happy with the sketch phase but I don't know if the final pencils turned out as well I hoped.  Drawn on 8.5 x 11.  Think I'm going to switch back to 9 x 12 for these types of images going forward.

Birds of Prey sample pages

Earlier this year I penciled five pages from the Birds of Prey #74 script by Gail Simone.  The intention was to use it to fill out my portfolio before heading to some conventions.  It had the added benefit of meeting the requirements for DC's Workshop submission criteria.  Unfortunately I wasn't selected for the Workshop.  Maybe next year.

Captain America shield up for auction!

Almost two years ago, at Valleycon 40, Alan Lindahl donated a sweet custom painted Captain America shield to the charity auction.  As the story goes, he purchased the shield (sans Cap paint job) at a renaissance fair about five years prior.  Since he couldn't find anything to do with it he decided to paint it up and donate it to the auction.

Nova inks

Working on my inking again.  The original pencils were on 8.5" x 11" but I printed the blue line on 11" x 17" and inked over it.  Nova was done mostly with brush.  The backgrounds were a variety of mediums.  It was beneficial for me since I hadn't inked some of these effects before.  I do NOT like the feathering on the effects.  I think I did okay (by my novice standards) on the feathering on Nova himself.  Just not good on the background.  I suppose there are better ways to tackle these effects (especially the starry background) and hopefully I'll learn those over time.  Mixed bag but it was fun and I think I learned some things.

Hellboy pencils

Trying to keep up with sketch type drawings when I can.  I've been working on Young Gladiators again recently and I can't show any of that work yet.  Found sometime to work on Hellboy.  I haven't read much Hellboy so hopefully I've represented him at least fairly well.

Nova pencils

Back with another sketch.  I'm back to working on Young Gladiators, the creator owned project I've been involved with, and since I can't post those pages yet, I'm afraid my blog output may be a little low for a while.  I'll try to find some time to work on some things other than YG and post those when I can.

Inking!

It's been a while since I've worked on any inking so I thought I better pencil in some time.  Er, I mean, INK in some time.  Right?  Anyway, I decided to try my hand at the Daredevil piece I recently finished and a Captain Marvel I did a couple of months ago.  Daredevil was inked mostly with a brush, the brick work was done with a nib and the background buildings with pens.  Captain Marvel was done almost entirely with a brush with the exception of some of her costume details.

Daredevil sketch

Daredevil sketch with a fairly simple city background.  I usually go for more detail in the buildings I draw but I think it's worth trying some easier to draw designs that might be effective in a smaller character sketch like this.  This was done on a 9 x 12 sheet of bristol board.  I'm going to try and ink it as well.

More, MORE anatomy

Check it out!

More anatomy work

Figure practice!

Anatomy work

I recently attended C2E2 in Chicago.  I didn't set up a table but, as usual, brought some samples with to get feedback on and leave behind with some publishers.  I felt about as confident in the pages as I ever have.  Overall things went fairly well.  However, I got called out on a lot of anatomy issues.  It was a bit frustrating as I have been working on my anatomy drawing and construction and thought I was a little further along than I suppose I actually am.  However, I ultimately feel pretty good as it seems this is really the only glaring weakness I believe I have.  Not that there isn't a lot of other things I can work on but I now know what I have to focus on.