Well...How did I get here?

Rugby

2009-04-20T15:00:00.001-07:00

Tyrannosaur and Giant Tortoise Concept Art

2007-12-25T17:19:00.000-08:00

Concept art for the dinosaur project I am working on.

I REALLY need a large format scanner. I had to scan and assemble in 4 pieces. The piece is pretty big. The giant cretaceous tortoise is about 6 inches long alone.

More Goils

2007-08-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick sketch (as are most of my posts, really) but I wanted to keep posting, putting something up here, in case there's anyone watching.

The first drawing was a study for a commission that I had gotten , it has a nice sultry feel to it, in some ways more than the finished work.

Constructing Homer

2007-08-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

So - I'm back to freelance work - and lo and behold a toy industry exec I know asks me "Can you draw Simpson's characters?"

I immediately said "YES" - hoping it was for a job and not for a birthday cake or something. Turns out that a licensee of the Simpson's wanted some concept art for new products and packaging because they were applying to expand their license from the UK and Europe to North America. "YES" I repeated, "I can draw Simpson's characters." We went over the requirements and I went home absolutely thrilled.

In the car on the way home I realized that, despite being a big Simpson's fan with the prerequisite ability to quote from any number of episodes, I have never EVER drawn a Simpson's character. Not a single one. Not a sketch, not a doodle - nothing.

So - I spent about a half hour after getting home digging out some reference and drawing up a Homer, resolving to do it until I could feel secure that I could pull it off.

It took me 6 drawings, all of which I post here. I was pretty pleased and convinced I could deliver.

And then the next day the word came down that they did NOT get the license extension they were seeking - and that was the end of that.

Dammit.

The process of drawing a decent Homer was pretty cool though. Proving to yourself you can do something - even a small thing - that you haven't done before. I thought I did a pretty good job right off the bat. The 1st sketch was clearly off - the proportions of the eyes and mouth, their placements - but the other three faces came out pretty darn good. The 1st full Homer I did I was completely pleased with so I just cleaned it up. (Obviously, had the job gone through, I would have cleaned it up a bit further and inked it so it had the density of line to match the animation - and colors, of course.) The licensee was very pleased also, so I guess that's something...

Ok - I haven't been posting regularly - but I have a ton of drawings to scan...

2007-08-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well, you know that nice job with all the nice people? Yeah, I got canned from it. And NOT because (apparently) they didn't like my performance (in fact, they have hired me twice since for freelance work) - they canned me because I wouldn't sign this ridiculous non-compete agreement. And it IS ridiculous. I had it looked over by an employment attorney - a good friend of the family - and he told me I would be "an idiot to sign it." And if that wasn't enough emphasis he told me that if I DID sign it, despite his long friendship with my family, he'd ask me to select another attorney for employment matters - THAT is how evil that non-compete was.

I worked for over a decade creating a few museum exhibit projects and such - and I have ownership in them - and the technologies and business processes I created for b oth situations - none of which were in competition to this company (which produces trade show exhibits) and yet the president DEMANDED that I divest myself of any interest I have in my work on 10 years. I refused - and they gave me ONE DAY's notice. One day, for a guy with a family. Nice, huh?

I don't really blame anyone there but the president. It's a shame, because they really could use the creative ability I represent. Doubly a shame because I never got to put my full effort into it because they had me dogged the entire time with discussions and legal wranglings regarding the situation such that I felt I was never 100% on the job - because of this sword dangling over me the whole time.

ANyway... more art soon. Real soon. The first image is an older one - a quick sketch of one of the main characters in a story I've been writing since I was in college (I might have SKETCHED that back in college) and an ad mockup I did for a health food store back in the day.

Wonder Woman sketch

2007-05-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

Based on a Steve Rude painting. I haven't had a chance to finish it. Worked two 50 hour weeks in a row - and then work on my other projects on nights and weekends... plus family time. This is all getting to be too much. Boy, would I love to draw for a living. A creative job without ever having to open Microsoft Excel spreadsheets... now that would be heaven.

Good news though, positive movement on my one particular project. Very positive. A meeting tomorrow night, if also positive, would be... well... very positive.

Anyway, here's Wonder Woman.

Spidey

2007-05-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

Continuing in the animated style that I admire so...

One of the people I work with had her son, who is 6, dropped off at work today and he spent around an hour at the end of the day being bored. Adorable kid, I asked him who his favorite superhero was - and of course he said "Spiderman".... Spidey is legitimately worthy of anyone's fave status but with the marketing surrounding the movie I don't think its possible for any kid to answer otherwise right about now.

So, anyway, I drew him this Spiderman and gave it to him. He was embarrassed and hid his face when I gave it to him, but I saw him walking around with it in his hands later - and someone else used the copier to make some copies for him to color on - so I think he liked it, which made me happy.

Bruce Timm - Superman and Lois

2007-04-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

My boss is a huge Superman fan, so while waiting for a phone call to be returned I figured I'd draw him something Super.

I drew this directly off of a lovely image by Bruce Timm of Lois and Clark in my continuing admiration for the complexity of images that Timm can elicit through simplicity of line.

I wanted to see if I could reproduce it with the same sense of love and happiness in each other's faces - the same sense that these two characters are looking into each other's eyes. I think I did.

Bruce Timm - esque Batman

2007-04-17T16:39:00.000-07:00

I love the Bruce Timm style. Nothing I admire more than the clean economy of line that someone like Bruce Timm or Darwyn Cooke can pull off. Just spectacular. So, I am taking my stabs at that as well.

Long Time No Post

2007-04-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Ok - so I have posted in a bazillion years which means that I've lost the 3 people who did follow this blog. Thats OK, as I'm doing this for ME. Hear me? For ME!

Yeah, anyway - so I got a new job. Really nice place to work, great people, and I get to utilize my drawing skills which is a huge plus for me. Another big plus is that my boss is a comic book geek... and I really can't overstate what a plus that is. Imagine... being able to talk about comics with someone who ISN'T just a disembodied screen name on the internet. Thats big. Of course, it's not perfect - he doesn't realize the utter superiority of Batman over Superman but hey - you can't have everything.

Par for the course - here are some chicks I've drawn. This first one is of a french actress by the name of Arielle Dombasle (if I am spelling that correctly). Really striking woman. I came across some pics of her recently and I instantly remembered her because of a nude scene she did when she played the titular "Boss' Wife" in a movie that, I think, also starred Daniel Stern. Not much of a movie but a spectacular woman.

Next is a set of sketches to more finished pieces. I'm including both the sketch and the second go-round because there is always something in the sketch that is wonderful that, no matter how grand the finished product, somehow gets lost in translation.

Now that we've got that pretty redheaded cowgirl out of the way (and yeah, I know she's in B&W but when I'm drawing them ALL the really pretty ones have red hair.

42nd Street subway entrance

2006-08-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

Supah Sci-fi Alternate Reality TV show pitch movie!

2006-08-08T12:05:00.000-07:00

Well... I sure haven't posted in a while. Been very busy, launching the new project and the other things that consume the life of a kid who never grew up - but who, nevertheless, ended up with wife, two great kids and a mortgage.

sketch

2006-06-27T00:16:00.000-07:00

Huntress

2006-06-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

This was done on a really huge piece of paper from this incredibly ungainly (yet lovely) sketchpad. Nice, smooth white paper. As you can see, I have a small scanner and have, ungainly, joined the scans togethe to make a single image.

Yet again, my scanner picks up every single molecule of carbon on the page and renders it visible - giving all my images a grayer look than they should have. I cleaned this one up a little in photoshop. Little being the operative word.

Anyway, first time I have drawn the character. Sexy comic book girls... I am a dork and a perv. A derv.

Freckled Girl

2006-06-20T23:25:00.000-07:00

Did these using some great photo reference. I was browsing some artists' galleries and I can across these beautiful photos of this freckled redhead. I love the redheads, love their skin tone, they almost glow and shimmer - like their skin is a smooth stream and the freckles are flakes of gold glinting off the rocks.

And that red hair.

Yum.

Anyway, this guy's shots of her were terrific and I just had to sketch one quickly. this one - In Bloom
You might need to be registered with the site to see it, but its free and worth it.

The first sketch I did (on the bottom here) is actually much closer to the reference but as a drawingI felt that her head seemed too large in comparison to the rest of her, I guess maybe I modified her to superheroine proportions - but I think it has some of the same 'feel' as the original photo. Interesting (and hard) to get a sense of her freckling. I am sure I could have gotten a better result with a little more patience, but I wanted to draw it somewhat quickly.

Crash Landing

2006-06-17T01:03:00.000-07:00

Here's another image illustrating a scene from that graphic novel/comic book project that didn't happen. Much less "finished" than the other stuff seen - especially (of course) the finished comic pages. I wonder what this would look like with a finished background and computer color.

There's just something so energetic and exciting about pencils(in general, not talking about my stuff necessarily). I almost always prefer the look to "finished" stuff. I wonder if this could be a good look, were I ever to go back to it, for the figural work while leaving the spaceships and mechanical elements sharp and draftsman-like?

Watching

2006-06-15T23:19:00.000-07:00

A lovely quiet moment at home. Quickly and loosely sketched. I think it captures the mood nicely.

Plan

2006-06-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

I really liked a lot of things about this, none the least of which is that it is totally out of my head and without reference - so I am going to have another go at the pose. I think it has a very exotic sense to it.

And anyone who thinks it's too risque... well, no one is supposed to be paying any attention to this anyway and don't be such a prude. This isn't smut, it's ART baby.

Anyway, I'm going to use this as the plan for another. Something about it really... grabs me. I think it's the smu...ART.

Nothin' like that sensual "lean in"

2006-06-11T13:08:00.000-07:00

You know what I mean.

Drawn from life, pencil on paper. The hair came out closer to what I have been trying to get at. The sweep of line too.

Hesitant

2006-06-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Not her, me. I am still too hesitant with my lines. Sometimes I'm not, sometimes I am. That is where I need to concentrate my efforts, I think.

Pillow Look

2006-06-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

(original above, "fixed" below)

I didn't like this at first, but - I don't have anything else to post today (I say to all of you who are not looking).

On a second look, it hit me very squarely what the problem was:

#1 - her eye was off, too close to the mid-line and too large.

#2 - I was crimped for space in drawing the sweeps of her hair because of the stupid small-sized sketchbook I am using. Couldn't do a LOT about #2, but I could fix #1. Hair's still off... but I think it's much better.

Serenity

2006-06-08T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well - she sure looks serene to me.

I suppose there are some folks out there that might think this pose is a little too risque... it is risque. But it's not pornographic. There is a nude woman depicted in a state of bliss, however there is no sexual act being performed. Just so y'know.

Anyway - when I was a kid my Dad worked for Marvel's parent company (as I've said before) and he'd bring me home everything they put out each month. This also included stuff like the Black and White Conan magazines, Epic, Marvel Presents, etc. Quite a few of these fine publications contained scenes of nudity and graphic violence. My Dad had no clue, he thought they were comic books and never bothered to open them. THANK GZAWD!

In one of these great science fiction stories with lots of creepy aliens, heroic astronauts and sexy babes there was an image depicting the creation of the universe as a birth act by a beautiful woman. The pose always struck me with it's beauty (and the nakedness) and I remembered it.

So, a few years back a friend was getting rid of some 70s and 80s Playboys - and being a perv I took some. In one of these from the early 70s was a playmate in exactly that pose. Must have been the original reference source and I finally got around to replicating that pose for my own piece of work. Though the orientation is more natural - the original pose had her floating in space.

Lingering

2006-06-08T11:43:00.000-07:00

Shopping for lingerie takes a very long time when you have to stop and sketch the lingerie models.

Adventures of Jungle Girl and Shakira

2006-06-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

One Drawn for the "Jungle Boogie" thread/jam and the other for the "Draw Shakira" thread on the drawingboard.org (which is kinda like "Draw Tippy". Kinda.)

Looser is better

2006-06-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

Not with women, but with your drawing hand. When I let myself stay loose... Is better.

Wife seated

2006-06-07T16:36:00.000-07:00

Well - It's cool when you have the chance to draw from life. One thing I discovered during this process is that I got all kinds of nervous drawing a woman seated there, whereas I'm not nerved up trying to draw a model off of a photo. I think that has to do with the cause behind my reticence in doing any portrait style stuff at all. When you take a bad picture, you don't get angry at the camera... but if you draw someone and they don't like the way they look you have insulted them. They look at you like "You think I look like that?"

woman reclining

2006-06-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

Faces

2006-06-06T20:24:00.001-07:00

Two drawings from photos today. I like how they both came out. I like the differences in the two women's faces. Had fun with it.

Another exercise in ripping off Adam Hughes

2006-06-05T12:12:00.000-07:00

Just so no one is confused, I am doing my best to de-rustify myself here. And I figure the best way to do that is to look at artwork that just makes you ache because it is so beautiful and then to try and copy it. To see if you can do what that other person did, because it helps to train your eye, your brain and your hands. To really see what another artist has done, where a line starts, how it curves, where it goes in relation to everything else on the page.

So, I'm trying to copy Adam Hughes in order to get better. There's nothing harder than drawing beautiful women (as I have said many times before) and earlier attempts by me to copy his stuff just a month ago met with dismal failure. So I am pretty pleased with myself at these latest results. I think the rust is flaking out of my joints fairly quickly.

12yr old Me and Stan Lee, John Romita, Jim Shooter and the bullpen

2006-06-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

Just found these pics... Ok - so, when I was a kid my Dad worked for the company that owned Marvel Comics. Not only did I get just about every Marvel title free every single month - but, being a budding little artist, I got some other impossibly cool perks too.

I got to go into Manhattan and tour the offices. I was given a bunch of cool stuff - color separations for the cover of Spiderman (I think #199), some Avengers rushes, and some other stuff - but the coolest part was that I got to meet with real heroes.

Let me lay down the disclaimer - I was too much of a stupid kid to realize how fantastic this truly was, I was too concerned with not looking like a stupid kid and not concerned enough with learning everything I could. And - just as an aside - look how amazingly, impossibly, dorky I was at 12!

Anyway, the great part of this story was that it wasn't just a "Say Hello, take a picture, get out of here kid." Not at all.

Stan Lee spent at least 20 minutes with my Dad and I in his office, talking about art, about comics, telling stories about how he created various characters, giving advice.

John Romita Sr. spent at least the same amount of time at his drawing desk letting me watch him draw, talking about how he approached telling a story visually, etc. as my Dad went off and took care of some business.

Jim Shooter (who really is 4 thousand and 3 feet tall) was exceedingly nice, Mary Jo Duffy, a whole bunch of others - they all took the time out of their day to talk to me, to look at my drawings, to give me words of encouragement, to ask me what I thought of various titles and what I liked. They all told me to come back in a few years and apply for a job.

And what did I do? Nothing, I blew it. I went to college, went after the stuff other people told me I should be doing instead of doing what I knew I should be doing.

Thus proving my friend Frank's rule "Everyone is a dumbass."

AHA!

2006-06-04T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, so - right at the start of this blog I stated that I am no Adam Hughes. I'm still not, this guy draws women like no one else. But, I had a hard time emulating his stuff. And it hurt, I wanted such beauty to be able to come from my pencil as well.

So... I guess it's like 3 weeks since I first attempted to rip off Hughes and I have to say I am pretty proud of myself. I tried to come as close as possible to his original as I could. And I think, I did a pretty damned good job. I don't often pat myself on the back - in fact I am downright self-depricating to the point of annoyance - but "Good fargin' job, Keith. Good fargin' job."

I'm sure I'll see a lot wrong with it in the morning, but tonight I am pretty pleased with myself.

Boids

2006-06-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Although I live only about an hour from Manhattan, our neighborhood borders a National Wildlife Preserve that stretches for miles. So, right down the road is this wonderful research center devoted to the study of birds of prey and they allow visitors every day of the year.

My wife and 2 boys walked around there today and I brought my sketchbook with me.

Considering that I have a 3 year old - I didn't have more than a minute or two with which to sketch out some of the birds, but I had a good time doing it and I figured it looked decent enough so I'd post it.

The main image is the profile of this gigantic Bald Eagle. In the upper left is a drawing of this tiny little owl called a Northern Saw-Whet Owl, that looked really cute perched at the top of an evergreen like the angel on a Christmas tree. The Owl right below that was called something like a long-eared Owl but it reminded me of the blue Owl puppet that Mr. Rogers had living in a tree. The Eagle at the bottom left was, I think, a Golden Eagle and the bird at the bottom right was my Son's favorite - A Snowy Owl. It was quite beautiful, about 2 or 3 feet tall - almost pure white and made a noise more like a dog barking than something you'd expect to come out of a bird. The other ones... I think they were falcons of some type. Maybe a Harrier. I don't recall. We had to keep moving.

Another Superman

2006-06-04T12:03:00.000-07:00

More realistic, this time. A younger Superman, maybe as he'd have appeared when he first stepped on the scene in the 30's or 40's.

This drawing "jam" on the Drawing Board is really motivational. I've always liked Superman, but I've never drawn him so much as I have in the last few days.

Go West, young (Bat)man

2006-06-03T13:37:00.000-07:00

Batman is my favorite comic book character. My Dad worked for the company that owned Marvel, my 'Uncle Joe' was president of Marvel for a while, I read everything Marvel as a kid because I got it all for nuthin'... but Batman was still my favorite. Still is.

And the way I was introduced to Batman, like so many others, was the campy 60's TV show starring Adam West.

Therein lies the magic of Batman. You can do THAT to Batman, and he is still cool.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that 60's TV show (and I am living in pain that it is not on DVD... Warner, DC, George Baris - whose ever fault that is - FIX it, you slime) but it didn't exactly treat the character with respect. Not that I would have realized it at the time.

Point is, any other character in the universe, if you take him and make him a giant joke in the biggest TV show around for a few years.... that's it. He'll always be a joke. Marvel is making a comedy out of "Ant-Man"... not that Ant-Man was ever the coolest hero on campus - but he wasn't created as a joke. There are some really cool possibilities inherent in a hero that can shrink to the size of an Ant and retain his human strenght... I give you Neal Adams descent into the innards of the cyborg 'the Vision'... but once that movie comes out, if anyone sees it - Ant-Man is a joke FOREVER.

Not Batman. He can be a joke, he can be serious, he can be animated, he can be live action, he can be on your bubble bath and your PJ's and he's cool no matter what.

So, I drew this slouching, happy, Adam Westish Batman in honor of that silly take on the character. And damn, was that car freaking cool.

The greatest Superman ever

2006-06-03T12:44:00.000-07:00

So, there's this thread at the Drawing Board about Superman - and it's open to images of not only the Man of Tommorrow himself - but to any of the various characters that have populated Superman's world... well, maybe this is too great a stretch - but (to me) the greatest "guy" ever to wear the "S" and proclaim himself Superman was the titular character of Brad Bird's work of infinite genius.

True, sad, story - my wife and I (before we had kids) go to see Iron Giant in the theatres... and by the time we leave I am sobbing so badly I can't drive. She has to drive home. I'm not just sobbing - I am bawling. 5 minutes AFTER the movie has ended and I am still blubbering and making a gigantic ass of myself. People are looking at me funny. My wife turns to one older couple and their kids who are staring and simply says "He loves robots."

I do indeed.

A quick Clark Kent

2006-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Superman V. Braniac ][

2006-06-02T23:47:00.000-07:00

I just could not leave the Man of Steel in the clutches of the vile Braniac.

A quick modification of that last one...

2006-06-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Better?

40's pin-up gal

2006-06-02T20:28:00.000-07:00

Another real quick one - about 10 minutes.

Jungle Sneakers

2006-06-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

When lost in the Jungle, it is important to keep hold of your sneakers.

I've come across a great site called "The Drawing Board".

It's a great place where artists of varying skill can post, gain inspiration and critiques and such. Anyway, they often have "jams" on a specific topic. A current jam is "girls in the jungle". So I drew one. Although I couldn't stand to leave her barefooted in such an inhospitable place - so I gave her sneakers.

Superman Vs. Braniac

2006-05-31T22:19:00.000-07:00

I guess this is as close to sketching in the "animated style" that I get. I freakin' love the Bruce Timm DC animated universe and I am pretty sure that I once saw Braniac use all kinds of crazy mechanical tendrils to attack the Justice League. In any case, I decided that Braniac should be huge... because giant robots are much scarier than people sized ones.

Too many nude women does not a perv make

2006-05-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

In the interests of not seeming overly pervy (since I am trying to get the hang of drawing women) I am posting some non-nude, non-female imagery.

There is no substitute for good reference, I have learned, when drawing stuff like this. Thankfully I have a couple of spacesuits in my closet.

No, really - I do.

T3 - another go at this pose

2006-05-29T01:53:00.000-07:00

Memorial day weekend. Lots of fun around here, I have fun neighbors. So I didn't get to draw anything until late. So, I figured I'd take another crack at that topless pose I tried and posted here twice before.

I like this better than the previous iterations. I didn't like the face on the last one, this is much better. Better face, better hair. This works, I think.

A little more cartoony

2006-05-27T22:21:00.000-07:00

Animation art, highly stylized art, really fascinates me - in the way that drawings of beautiful women fascinate me. It's all in the economy of line I think. Using as few strokes as possible to really describe something almost perfectly.

I saw a sketch on another blog with a great pose, so I swiped it. My economy of line is not great here, but it's less than I usually throw down.

T2

2006-05-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

So, here's another go at that same pose. First one was using photo reference. Second one was using my own drawing as reference, changing the angle of her face a little bit. I should have gone back to the photo for her hair. Not that I did the hair that great the first time. I'd like to get it right, but I can't get that simultaneous sense of individual strands and overarching structure at the same time. I need to pay closer attention to this (among other things).

In the end, I really don't like this one. But I'm posting it anyway.

Tits and Ass

2006-05-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to work the rust out of my drawing skills, so I am attempting to post at least one new drawing here each day.

As I'd said, I am just doing this for myself. Some kinda motivation/satisfaction thing. Not really clear on it myself - but if you happen to stumble upon this blog and like the drawings - do feel welcome. I'm not trying to keep anyone away - I'm just not letting anyone know of its existence.

Continuing on the theme of "Drawing pretty women is hard"...

Finished but pointless 3

2006-05-26T00:46:00.000-07:00

Finished art for Page 4.

It really was a cool story. That's one of those things that I'll come back to, given the chance.

Finished but pointless 2

2006-05-26T00:42:00.000-07:00

Finished art for Page 2 of the Graphic Novel that was never meant to be. Figures by me, page layout and design/direction/whatever by me, backgrounds by my kickass artist pal.

Joe Kubert had this hanging on his wall.

2006-05-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Probably my greatest artistic achievement to this day. I was 12, had taken Joe's advice to draw from life - so I drew my Kenner Alien. He liked it so much he asked if he could have it and, with me in his office, hung it on his wall.

Conceivably, he could have taken it down the moment I left, but it was (for however long) hanging on the wall in Joe Kubert's office.

I'd like to fantasize that he still has it... and looks at it each day while sipping a bordeux. All I have is a creased photocopy of it - but I still have the Kenner Alien.

For those of you who don't know who Joe Kubert is - shame on you.

What I was doing at 1:18 A.M. on Aug. 27th 1985 -

2006-05-25T23:44:00.000-07:00

I was drawing this.

I'd have been a junior in High School. I'm glad I took the time to record... the time.

I used to draw this guy all the time. He was my Superman rip-off character.

He's Superman - if Jor-El had skipped the whole 'rocket to earth' idea and fashioned the Fortress of Solitude into an armored suit that would allow young Supes to survive Krypton's explosion, leaving him to wander the universe all alone.

His only vulnerable part was his exposed head, but he could get it literally splattered apart and it would just regrow, muscle wriggling its way over bone... He'd be fine. His consciousness was maintained by the suit. He'd get destroyed and the suit would rebuild him with whatever materials were available. I think in the second drawing he's been remade from minerals or something. By the look of it, this happened sometime in October of 86.

He was kinda cool now that I think about it. I called him 'Protector' which is a stupid name and really relates more to the suit than anything.

I can actually remember drawing this, what my world looked and felt and smelled like at that point in life.

Crazy how time flows and we sink as we surf its wave. Ooooh so deep... so cool.

If these posts don't make sense -

2006-05-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

Tough. I'm not editing them for grammer or spelling - or coherence. Theoretically, no one was supposed to be seeing any of this anyway.

Here is a cool drawing of a character I created and should get around to doing something with at about the year 2026. Maybe sooner if I manage to pull off the things I am trying to pull off with my career.

One never knows.

Sometimes when women fall down, their dresses just burst open.

2006-05-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

It happens.

This was a quick sketch I did off a photo of a woman named Chloe something or other (I think I found it on Sexoteric.com - which is a NSFW blog that often posts some artsy stuff. From Vargas to Klimt).

Point is she's a french model who is happy posing in all kinds of compromising positions - and I just happened to really like this one.

Unfinished

2006-05-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just say "I like that, I'm gonna stop there."

Also - it's become evident that, somehow, at least one person is reading at this blog.

The question of why I am posting all of these pics all of a sudden might sprint to ones mind...

Well, first off - I've never had all that many people look at my stuff, I've never been published anywhere (despite come close a couple times) although I've done artwork that served as the basis for the creation of other, mostly physical works. So, I have a lot of stuff and I figure I ought to do something with some of it.

Secondly, I'm going through a stressful time. I've spent the last year working on a new project that my partner and I have sunk everything into. If it works, we're golden. If it fails in the market... well, we've bet the farm.

So - this is stress relief for me, in a weird way.

Museum Batman

2006-05-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

While waiting to moderate a panel discussion at a museum in Manhattan, I sketched this Batman on the back of one of the sheets containing my opening remarks.

In fact, you can nearly read some of my opening remarks through the paper - printed huge so I could easily find my place at the podium.

There's a lot wrong with this drawing, but I like it anyway.

Cabs

2006-05-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

It turns out I have a lot of drawings on my hard drive that I had forgotten about.

I started this by trying to draw Times Square - but the buildings ended up frustrating me so I just drew the cabs instead.

Finished but pointless

2006-05-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a finished page from that nonexistant Illustrated Novel. The backgrounds were done by the aforeunmentioned kickass artist. The figure work, the more organic stuff (people, blankets, later in the story - trees and fields) by me.

Not sure why, but it looks like blogger is reversing all the colors. It shouldn't look that way. The colors were excellent - and I paid the color guy so I am pretty sure he's still fine with me.

Tough little guy

2006-05-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

My second son was born very premature last winter. For a long while we didn't know what would happen and, to be honest, right up until just a few weeks before he was discharged I didn't think he'd come home. Once he was out of the Isolette (incubator) I began to feel much more positive and even got up the courage to draw him... although why I brought a sketch pad and a pen I will never know.

Drawing pretty women is hard 3

2006-05-25T20:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a drawing of a chick in a bra. Not apeing anyone else's style or pose or anything, so I guess this is just my own "style".

Coulda, woulda, shoulda

2006-05-25T20:18:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I had a book agent and two art-related book projects in the works. One was a SF illustrated novel/GN with another incredible artist and one was a book on toys with a great photographer. At the same time, I bought an old house with a big yard and started clearing away 30 years of vegitative neglect. And I ended up getting really sick, not able to move around, not wanting to get out of bed. I wasn't doing anything, and I wasn't really communicating well with anyone.

Turned out I had Lyme disease. It also turned out that I spoiled my relationships with the agent, artist and photographer. So those projects died on the vine. To be fair to myself, none of those people picked up the phone and called me to see what was happening during those 3 months I vanished... of course, I may not have given them my new phone number...

This post features a drawing I did for the illustrated novel/graphic novel which never was.

Ray Gun

2006-05-25T20:13:00.000-07:00

This is enjoyable. Lookit me. Validate me. Lurve me.

A few years ago, I drew Reagan. Worked out nice, I had to do two versions, but it's a good likeness and his seam-filled face was fun to draw. This was probably around the time he died - because I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Reagan.

Robots as Biopsych notes

2006-05-25T19:53:00.000-07:00

I realize that the way I am writing this doesn't exactly make it easy to tell what drawing I am referring to... but, who cares?

Ok, in this post we've got an old pen sketch from a college notebook.

I will admit it - Machine Man is my favorite Marvel Comics character. Growing up, my Dad worked for the company that owned Marvel. I got every comic they published free. Every month. Even that black and white Conan magazines that my Dad should have looked inside before giving to me.

And for some strange reason, I bought Machine Man comics. I bought them. I went to Hero's World and paid money for the 2001 comics and then his own run.

He's a Jack Kirby creation, he has telescoping arms and legs and bubble eyes and everytime he got smashed apart he'd put himself back together again. Machine Man and Micronauts. My favorites. Pearls before swine.

I am no Adam Hughes

2006-05-25T19:45:00.001-07:00

That last one (below) really does look nice - because I ripped off Cho so completely. For those of you imaginary people reading this who don't know, Frank Cho draws a comic called "Liberty Meadows" that features a bunch of cartoon animals and a hot chick. Kinda like "Peanuts" but Sally's scorchingly hot and has gigantic breasts. Genius.

Emboldened by my success here, I tried to do the same with Adam Hughes (results above), rip off a pose and draw away... but his dynamic perspective and poses made sure that I couldn't come close. I'm not posting his original here - not for copyright issues, but I just don't want to humiliate myself.

I can rip off Frank Cho

2006-05-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

Well - that actually worked. So I am going to post more. Because I am at the lame point in my life where just that little act of creating something, a blog post showing something I created, and that otherwise would only remain unseen in my sketchbook or a desk drawer, gives me some satisfaction.

In this day of projects involving dozens of people, doing something myself feels very good.

I am rusty these days, but even at my height I was never all that great at drawing women. I know the rule - less of everything, but its still hard. So, I figured I would try and shake the rust from my fingers by trying something real hard.

My two favorite artists, when it comes to drawing women, are Adam Hughes and Frank Cho. Adam Hughes's stuff is enough to very nearly make you want to just give up, because you're never going to come close - but I made it through that crisis of confidence to try and rip off Cho directly first.

First post

2006-05-25T19:27:00.000-07:00

Well... this is my blog. I can't believe I am blogging. I disgust myself, I'm such a follower. Thankfully I am not giving out the URL to anyone, so no harm done.

I'm drawing a lot lately, it kinda soothes my nerves as we go to market with the "project". If it doesn't work, I am sunk, so I gots nerves.

I'll see if I can figure out how to attach images.... if this works, we'll see the Batman image I see to the left. If not, who cares? Anyway, that's a Batman I sketched around the time the first Burton/Keaton Batman movie came out. I was in college.