The FOC'ers Sketch Blog

Sherlock House, by Axel Medellin

2012-02-21T18:13:00.002-06:00

Well, we all know Holmes was the inspiration for the character, so he might just go all the way... elementary, my dear Wilson.

Sherlock Holmes and the case of the Broken Future

2012-02-21T17:17:00.001-06:00

Just a quick pencil rendering of Sherlock examining a cracked crystal ball. Why? Why not?

It may not be elementary, but hey. (;

And here's an inked Modern Sherlock (I think I had the likeness down! ...Before I inked.)

Ah well, I still kinda like it:

Holmes contemplative by Steven E Gordon

2012-02-21T08:19:00.000-06:00

Okay, another cheat that I'm digging up from the past (pretty distant past too, actually). I just can't let this turn into the Scott sketchblog ;)
Since I doubt many of you have seen this I think it's worth showing and, for those of you interested, this is also one of the pieces I used to help land my current comic gig.

Sherlock Holmes: Benedict Cumberbatch by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-20T21:08:00.001-06:00

Another Sherlock Holmes painting.
This one from the new BBC show Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Fun show.

Watercolors and inks on 5x8 watercolor paper

Sherlock Holmes: Basil Rathbone by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-19T22:35:00.000-06:00

I wanted to try india ink washes.
Phew. They smell.
I didn't really like them.

But it was fun to try.

Here's my take on Sherlock Holmes. This is the old Basil Rathbone version.
I'm told he was the best Sherlock ever.

2012-02-18T18:23:00.001-06:00

Not great but fun!

2012-02-18T18:22:00.000-06:00

I had fun with this one. Andre never looked this cartoonish but I like it so far.

2012-02-18T18:21:00.001-06:00

Quick Princess Bride sketch!

2012-02-18T18:19:00.001-06:00

My very quick and craptacular Ash! lol! If it looks way off it's because I tried hard not to look at ref for this.

The Princess Bride: Sword Fight by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-18T16:02:00.003-06:00

"You are amazing."

"I ought to be, after 20 years."

"Oh, there's something I ought to tell you."

"Tell me."

"I am not handed either!"

The scan really came out darker than the original looks.
Oh well.

I think I'll call it a week. No more Princess Bride for a while.

The Princess Bride: Dread Pirate Roberts by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-17T18:51:00.002-06:00

"I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women. "

The Dread Pirate Roberts painting is done.

The Princess Bride: Miracle Max by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-17T10:12:00.000-06:00

Miracle Pills:
"The chocolate coating makes it go down easier. But you have to wait fifteen minutes for full potency. And you shouldn't go in swimming after, for at least an hour!"

I thought I'd try inked line work before painting. Was a very strange feeling for me.
On the plus side...my linework didn't disappear as my pencils usually do. SO that was cool.

On the other hand...it was tough seeing those lines no matter how much paint I put down...ha ha.

Still...was a fun experiment.

The Princess Bride: Vizzini by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-15T23:12:00.001-06:00

"Am I going MAD, or did the word "think" escape your lips? You were not hired for your brains, you hippopotamic land mass."

Vizzini!

The Princess Bride: Westley and Buttercup by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-15T10:52:00.001-06:00

Sorry.
Really enjoying these...

The Princess Bride: Fezzik by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-13T18:34:00.000-06:00

Really loving these.
Of course, I love this movie.

"Three Circus Performers"

2012-02-13T15:39:00.003-06:00

Liberty Meadows' Ralph, Dean, and Leslie as Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzik.

There could be endless permutations on how to cast this scene with LM characters,
but this seemed amusing to me.

Vampirella meets Harry Potter

2012-02-13T01:00:00.002-06:00

My sketch of Vampy and Harry! :D

Belit

2012-02-11T15:18:00.002-06:00

2o minute Belit pic! I know it's crappy but I had to post it. Okay onto the next one. lol.

Aphrodite

2012-02-11T14:40:00.005-06:00

I am VERY VERY late with this. I apologize to all the awesome people who have been kicking arse in here every week!! Y'all are so damn good! Here is my Aphrodite and my Vampy should be next. I just hope it's okay ta skip a few because I don't want to clog this up with old themes.

The Princess Bride: Inigo Montoya by Scott Christian Sava

2012-02-11T13:37:00.001-06:00

HALLO! My Name is Inigo Montoya! You killed my father. Prepare to DIE!
Who DOESN'T love Inigo Montoya?

I think, since the Princess Bride is one of my all time favorite movies...I very well may do more of these this week.

2 hour watercolor sketch on 5x8 watercolor paper.

Doc Savage by Steven E Gordon

2012-02-09T21:06:00.000-06:00

I fully intend on creating a new Doc to post, but just in case I'll use this older one as a place holder. I doubt many of you have seen it anyway.

Doc Savage by Axel Medellin

2012-02-09T19:45:00.001-06:00

Oh, well, cheating a bit this time, since I have a bunch of pages to finish. This was originally done for the "The Line is Drawn" contest at CBR. The theme was a confrontation betwen characters that have never met, and I chose the Good doctor against Venom. It's only a few weeks old, so there you go...

Conan by Shawn Dueck

2012-02-07T20:47:00.005-06:00

Conan is difficult! He has to look like Conan. Well, I find him a difficult subject anyway.
I had lots of fun doing this, though. Tried to channel both Buscema and Frazetta on this one.
At least then I have a hope of him looking right.

Painter 10 oils.

Doc Savage, Man of Pulp

2012-02-07T17:13:00.003-06:00

Haven't had the opportunity to read a Doc Savage story, but it's on my list.
Pencil and Painter 10's ink pens.

Conan and the Frost Giant by Steven E Gordon

2012-02-05T10:27:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I've drawn Conan and so I thought I'd lean a little on Frazetta to get me through this one. At least I'm not too late this time and it's new for a change. I still have a couple to catch up with and maybe I'll be able to do those others in the coming weeks.

Playing Catch Up... Harry Potter and Conan

2012-02-03T22:17:00.000-06:00

Okay. playing catchup... I multitasked while recording a podcast interview and drew this. So any mistakes in the drawing can be chalked up to me being an idiot, while any babbling in the podcast can be chalked up to my split focus. lol. (It was a fun time, the interview.)

Conan WIP

2012-02-02T23:43:00.001-06:00

It's coming!

Technical Oopsie FIXED.

2012-02-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

I didn't notice until today that comments were only open for registered followers of the blog.

I opened it so that now anyone can tell these folks how awesome they are!

Mea Culpa!

-E

Conan, by Axel Medellin

2012-01-31T18:43:00.003-06:00

One of my best memories of this crazy business is the time I met Big John Buscema, just a month or so before he passed away, on his last Comic-Con. He was my life hero. One of my bigger regrets was never getting to go to the Frazetta museum and meeting Frank. Those two gentleman are responsible for me being here doing these things...

Week Seventeen: Conan by Scott Christian Sava

2012-01-30T22:48:00.002-06:00

I thought I'd try copying a Frank Frazetta painting for this one.
It was a lot of fun. I gave myself 2 hours to do what I could....and while, of course, I'd have loved to have played a bit more and tightened it up...it was all I could afford.

Watercolors on Watercolor paper (5x8)

Here's the original I was copying from.

Obviously Frazetta was a master. And he was using Oils. And he spent much more than 2 hours.
But I would highly recommend anyone interested in just trying this exercise.
Such a brilliant artist.

Vampirella by Elshad Kasumov

2012-01-29T14:02:00.001-06:00

Vampirella, done in the Art Nouveau style of Alphonse Mucha

I've been an admirer of his work for a while, and Vampirella just seemed like a character that would lend itself well to his style.

Done entirely digitally in Manga Studio 4 Debut.

Vampirella by Shawn Dueck

2012-01-29T01:15:00.003-06:00

That mausoleum is in serious need of foundation repair!

Horror isn't really my thing, but -hey, another chance to do a figure, right?
Done with Painter X's oils and chalk pastels.

Here's a close-up:

Vampirella

2012-01-28T11:25:00.000-06:00

...First time drawing Vampi! Gave it a shot. (:

Week Sixteen: Vampirella by Scott Christian Sava

2012-01-26T17:21:00.002-06:00

Wanted to try pen and ink...and then wash over with watercolors.
I like how you can be very loose with the watercolors if you have line work set down.

But I've got WAY too much to learn when it comes to linework.

Still...was fun to do. Even with me sick with a cold.

Vampirella by Steven E Gordon

2012-01-25T23:11:00.000-06:00

I know I've been absent for awhile and I'll try to do better. Maybe even go back and add some of those that I missed....maybe...

Erik is right - my plate is pretty full these days juggling animation duties and trying to be the oldest man to start a comic book career leaving me little time for drawing on fun stuff. Not to say drawing the graphic novels isn't fun...

Anyway this is another cheat for me. An old Vampi I did for a good friend several years ago and one I did for my Fan Request Fridays. If I get a moment maybe I'll add some color to one of them so it looks a little fresher

Vampirella by Axel Medellin

2012-01-25T21:23:00.002-06:00

There you go... after coloring, of course, I spotted a score of anatomical failures... but well, that's the way it goes.

pegasus

2012-01-15T23:30:00.003-06:00

i am so behind but i am still here. Here is my mythology image of a pegasus. Done in photoshop. Horse reference is from Stridingstrong-stock link

"Hophuf-Pophuf!"

2012-01-14T22:57:00.001-06:00

'Nuff said!

Harry Potter meets Zatanna, by Axel Medellin

2012-01-13T13:40:00.001-06:00

Someone is going to learn something magical here...

Belit,Queen Of The Black Coast By Shawn Dueck

2012-01-12T16:40:00.005-06:00

Finally!
After recovering from a nasty groin injury and sorting out some home hardware issues over the holidays, I finally finished this image. Real pen, brush, and India ink, with adjustments and colour done digitally. An homage to the amazing Buscema-Chan-Thomas run on the Conan comic in the '70's. Belit taking out a temple guard in Luxor.

This iconic cover is one of my all-time favorites:

W.O.R.M.S.

2012-01-06T19:44:00.003-06:00

Here's an oldie from 2007, but I thought it fitting, as it has Harry Potter AND an Oz denizen.

I used to have this up on my deviantArt page, but started getting a lot of angry comments from people who read "Wicked" (not fans of the musical). Comments like "Ephalba was framed!" and "down with the Wizard" etc.

I have read "Wicked" and know that it's more a political drama than anything else, so I "understand" what these angry comments were about - but they were all "in-universe," a la a Trekkie complaining about a piece of Wrath of Khan fan art because Khan wasn't a nice guy.

I got fed up with it, and took the image down.

So... here it is again, reintroduced to the internet.

Still behind on Ash and Belit, but I'm flat out over here. I'll play catch-up when I can.

Week Fifteen: Harry Potter by Scott Christian Sava

2012-01-06T07:56:00.005-06:00

Since I already did this for myself a few weeks ago...I figured it was okay to post.
Harry Potter done on 3x5 Watercolor postcard.

If I have time to do another one this week...I will.

Jason vs. Ash...

2012-01-06T04:13:00.000-06:00

This is an oooooooold one, because I was struck by the dreaded deadline doom (TM.)

This was done in 2003, I believe. Long since sold this sucker, but I do so love the expression on Ash's face. (Blacked out the relevant eye hole on Jason's mask before I sent it off with the buyer.)

Hail to the King, Baby!

2012-01-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

I've missed quite a few weeks here on the blog, for which I will try to make up. Working on the backlog right now, so hopefully will start to fill up the gap.
For now, though, here's Ash.

"Army of Darkness" is my favorite movie, and Bruce Campbell is awesomeness incarnate. With this, I wasn't trying to go for realism - I just wanted to draw Ash, doing what he does best - kicking ass and gettin' some sugar, baby!

Done entirely in Manga Studio 4 Debut.

"Good... Bad.. I'm the guy with the gun."

2012-01-03T20:52:00.002-06:00

Checking in after a bit of a holiday hiatus! Here's my version of Ashley J. Williams :3

I took a workshop with some award-winning caricature artist last year and thought I'd try making one of the funniest looking men even more funny looking.

Hail to the king, baby!

Ash Week Continues Because...

2011-12-31T01:40:00.000-06:00

There are holidays in the way! Next theme will post on the sixth!

Until then, I guess, keep getting your Ashes in gear, and HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!

Week Fourteen: Ash by Scott Christian Sava

2011-12-30T08:51:00.002-06:00

I never...EVER do black and white inks.
I'm HORRIBLE at them.

But these past weeks I've been using these Jet Pens that my buddy Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules) introduced me to while I've been sketching 1,000 inside covers of Dreamland books for our Kickstarter orders.

It's been an interesting experience.

For the record. I tried this once...and wound up trying to add ALL of the subtlety of dirt and shading with lines. It wasn't pretty.

What I learned was that you have to take a minimalist approach with inking.

Anyways. Here's my attempt. I kept myself from coloring or shading it in...ha ha.

Ash, by Axel Medellin

2011-12-28T21:05:00.001-06:00

... I confess I've only seen about twenty minutes of one of the Evil Dead Movies. Not my cup of tea, but definitely Ash is an iconic presence.

Happy new year, everyone.

Belit by Steven E Gordon

2011-12-21T00:20:00.000-06:00

Lookee here...I actually did a new drawing!! Woohoo! Maybe I'll try color again one of these days....

I thought I'd lean some on Buscema's style a bit - not sure it's successful, but I tried.

Week Thirteen: Belit by Scott Christian Sava

2011-12-18T17:28:00.001-06:00

The downside of doing a 2 hour watercolor sketches is...most of the times they LOOK like 2 hour watercolor sketches.

I really wanted this piece to be wonderful since I really love Belit as a character.

Unfortunately...this just looks like a pencil sketch amateurishly painted in. No dimension to it. Bad skin tones. Non-existent paint strokes.

Oh well.

Belit, by Axel Medellin

2011-12-17T19:16:00.003-06:00

... I confess I have a very, very passing knowledge of Belit, but there you go... lots of toned pencil that hardly shows through the colors...

Belit gives you some... okay, no, too obvious a joke, even for me. (;

2011-12-16T14:46:00.002-06:00

Basically, still playing with markers (which I enjoy as much as Mr. Sava digs on the watercolor.)

The scan doesn't QUITE translate the colors as I intended, but we're close enough. Here's Belit... I tried to have a little barbarian style fun with the piece, you know.

Flash Gordon by Shawn Dueck

2011-12-14T22:24:00.004-06:00

This one was inspired by Alex Raymond's 1936 storyline "The Undersea Kingdom Of Mongo".

After perusing the strips online I was surprised at how often Flash changes wardrobe -like every five panels. What a clothes horse! Must be a polo-player thing; I wouldn't understand.

Raymond's drawings are just so incredibly wonderful.

Five To One

2011-12-12T00:56:00.005-06:00

I took this week's piece as an opportunity to draw in a style similar to the one I have to use on one of my current projects. Most people already consider me a cartoony line work artist, but on this project, I have to be very much so.

We're pretending those monsters are the heads of a hydra, so I won't have to catch-up with whole separate mythology piece.

Yeah! Shortcut!

Flash and Dale, by Axel Medellin

2011-12-11T18:19:00.002-06:00

And after suggesting this I was so intimidated...

Oh, well, I just realized this is the very first time I've drawn Flash. I remember the 80's animated version as probably my favorite cartoon ever. Well, the first season, at least. I suffer when I remember the movie. I can't wait for those Raymond's reprints!

Now that I think about it, Dale Arden is using a Slave Leia's outfit... oh, well...

I hope you like it!

Week Twelve: Flash Gordon by Scott Christian Sava

2011-12-10T15:09:00.001-06:00

I think I like this new format.
Not a lot of thinking. Just drawing.
:)
Here's a Buster Crabbe inspired Flash Gordon sketch.
2 hour watercolor on 5x8 watercolor paper

Flash, Dale and Ming by Steven E Gordon

2011-12-10T11:42:00.000-06:00

This is one I did for my Fan Request Fridays, but I figure not many of you saw it so it's new to you. And I want to keep this alive as much as possible.
I'm hoping I get some time this weekend to do something sparkly and new.

Flash (ah-wah)

2011-12-08T21:04:00.000-06:00

So here we are, pulling into phase two of the sketchblog with an easier, character-centric focus. (Us busy guys appreciate the time saved not having to wade through option paralysis.) (:

Anyway, the first character in the new focus was chosen by Axel Medellin: and he gives us FLASH GORDON!

I know I'm jumping the gun a bit, but hey...

Here's Flash!

Other Days of Past Futures

2011-12-04T19:46:00.004-06:00

A lotta "cheating" going on as people try to catch up due to heavy work loads. I shall be no different.

While there might be covers that had more impact on me as a youth, this was still up there. X-men #141, the beginning of "Days of Future Past" originally drawn by John Byrne and Terry Austin.

I drew this back at the beginning of the year for emergency funding to the Doctor Who convention Gallifrey One, when a few things (including my own bank and the IRS) conspired to temporarily separate me from my money - I still needed airfare.

So I did a bunch of pencil sketches. The two figures in the middle were penciled on a 11"x17" comic page. I was originally going to surround them with Daleks. But I thought the pose looked something like Days of Future Past, and since a quick Google Search didn't bring up anything like it, I scanned the pencils, and did everything else in Photoshop.

The piece got a lot of internet circulation, and coverage on Nerdist.com (and I got to hand a copy to Chris Hardwick in person at the convention). The buyer of the original art got a print as well, and I kept one for my own physical portfolio.

And swore never to make/sell another print of this piece, to make it even more special to the buyer.

Except that didn't stop a booth at a recent Doctor Who convention in Chicago from selling low-quality prints of this. Who-writer Tony Lee told me about it, and with the convention organizers made them take that (and a ton of other fan art they were selling without authorization) down. They were apparently not too happy about taking them down either.

Sigh.

Yeah. So. That.

I still owe a mythology piece.

Giant sized X-Men / Elephantmen by Axel Medellin

2011-12-04T18:51:00.003-06:00

Cheating big time this week due to work issues, so I apologize in advance.

This is the cover of the collected edition of Elephantmen 31-32 and the Man and Elephantman special. It's based on Gil Kane's and Dave Cockrum's cover for Giant-sized X-Men 1, with all of the X-men substituted for the Elephantmen cast. And a humanized Hip Flask up front center.

Yep, quite of a stretch... but I didn't want to miss this week.

You are all invited to check Elephantmen, btw! Written by Richard Starkings and drawn, more often than not, by yours truly.

Jeez, what a cheap plug...

Week Eleven: Favorite Comic Cover- Spider-Man Issue 3 by Scott Christian Sava

2011-12-04T18:25:00.001-06:00

Just a quick sketch this week. Sorry I missed last week.
One of my favorite issues since it introduces one of my favorite villains.
Doctor Octopus.
If I were to do this as an original illustration...I'd like to get actual photo reference.
But for a 2 hour sketch...I guess it came out okay.
Here's the original...

And here's my recreation.

FF #12

2011-12-03T18:08:00.000-06:00

I did this in 2006 (yes, I'm cheating with an oldie, too!) and just love how it turned out. It's not 100% as good as Kirby's original (obviously) but it was a success for me in eyeballing and copying a smaller image into a larger sized work (the reproduction I used was baseball-card sized, the final drawing was a little less than 9x12). Mostly, I just loved how the Hulk came out. I colored it some years later, at a con, when I was bored. So pen, ink, and markers.

Rule 63 Steranko Style by Steven E Gordon

2011-12-03T14:03:00.000-06:00

I'm going to cheat again and post a drawing I did for the Women of Wonder Charity awhile ago. It's based on Steranko's iconic Capt America cover, but I gave it a twist and went all female on it - something that worked for that charity and I doubt would bother anyone here too much. I've been a fan of Steranko since he was actually drawing comics and his History of Comics was the first that I read on the subject.

Slight Change In FOCus!

2011-12-01T21:55:00.000-06:00

Since we started this blog, we've had a lot of abstract themes -- this has been fun, but also more difficult than just providing an interpretation. (ie? More work!)

So, starting with December 9th's theme, we're going to just move to single characters or concepts (from comics, movies, TV, whatever!) That way, we can simply provide our take on unique things and keep loose without hunting for the perfect concept to fit an abstract theme. It'll give us a looser feel, make things easier on us poor artists. (Well, the poor artists like me who were struggling for the right idea!)

Maybe we'll go back to the themes in the future -- but for now? We'll be a little more like those other sketchblogs.

Hope you all dig!

-Erik
(Don't shoot me, I'm a messenger!) (;

Thanksgiving, by Axel Medellin

2011-12-01T08:10:00.002-06:00

Well, as said, Thanksgiving is an All-American holiday, which we don't particularly celebrate here in Mexico, but I do like the idea of having a day just to thank for the good things. And corny as it may sound, I thank every second of every day for my heiress, my little Jabberwocky from Outer Space. Happy retroactive Thanksgiving, everyone!

Catching Up Part 3: Mythology

2011-11-26T20:40:00.000-06:00

I thought about trying different things, but I figured Greco-Roman and Norse myths would be covered (and, really, after that Perse-cuted Gorgon of Steve's? I can't follow that!)

So back to Manga Studio. I tried another take at Pele, a goddess I drew in my (still favorite) Nick Landime story Hawaiian Nick. This is okay. I'm going to go all-out and color someday -- maybe like the watercolor warriors we got on the blog here. But for now, just more MSEX4 practice for me.

Pele!

Catching Up Part 2: The 1970s

2011-11-26T20:01:00.000-06:00

I've been watching Doctor Who on Netflix lately, and the 1970s were largely the domain of 4th Doctor Tom Baker.

So I tried drawing him. No color this time. Still Manga Studio. Not sure I got the eyes right... if it sucks (and Blair may let me know, as a proper Whovian would) pretend I said I was drawing Harpo Marx, okay?

Foot in your Face

2011-11-26T19:49:00.004-06:00

Just to add to the out-of-orderness and catchup going on...

Not to copy Suzi, as this predates her pieces, but I thought I'd get out this sketch commission from '09.

I had the only mother in elementary school who, when she went into a video store, went straight to the action section. Bruce Lee (and knock-offs) were a big part of my childhood.

Maybe someday I'll have time do something with a better likeness.

Catching Up Part 1: Golden Age Heroes!

2011-11-26T18:55:00.000-06:00

Kicking it off with... THE FIN!

This was done 100% digitally -- I'm trying to accustom myself to a bamboo tablet and Manga Studio for future use. I think I might prefer the B&W, myself...

And now, ONWARD! I'll get caught up again yet!

1970's -Caroline Munro as Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me

2011-11-26T18:13:00.003-06:00

For most guys in the '70's, Farrah Fawcett and Cheryl Tiegs were the "it" girls, but I was enamored of Caroline Munro. I had a little poster of her from one of the earliest issues of Fangoria magazine.

I haven't done a watercolour in ages, but Scott's posts gave me the itch. They also made me want to do watercolour. ;)

This piece is about 6"x8" .

A blast from the past by Steven E Gordon

2011-11-26T13:37:00.000-06:00

Since no one seems to be offering up any Thanksgiving themed art I thought I'd toss this one in even though it's a cheat.
I did the character designs and most of the character layouts for this direct-to-video (it really was video in those days too) about the first Thanksgiving almost 20 years ago, I had to find this on the internet so please excuse the poor reproduction quality.
I worked on a whole series of these "historical" videos as well as many religious ones (fun fact: many of the religious videos were written by Orson Scott Card).

Anyway if I get around to it I might try something original....

Perseus and Medusa by Steven E Gordon

2011-11-25T18:30:00.000-06:00

Hey, lookee here - I've fallen behind again. Oh, well.
Anyway here's my Mythology entry. It's Perseus and Medusa (as the title says). Who knows maybe I'll have more time this weekend to do another....

Mr. Turkey

2011-11-24T08:14:00.002-06:00

I still owe a mythology and 70s piece, but since I've been flat out, I think there'll be some reuse.

Like the above piece from last year.

Having a small T-Day here at home, as my wife's doctor is worried about her traveling away from the local area, as the baby is due anytime. So... no family meal today. Just something we're putting together last minute.

Just to get sentimental for a moment, I'm thankful to be surrounded by such talent here on the blog. Happy Thanksgiving, folks.

And to the international FOCers, have a good Thursday. ;)

Cheers!

Disco girl, by Axel Medellin.

2011-11-23T01:05:00.002-06:00

Yep... as cheesy as they come. And no, she's not Dazzler.

"Your Kung-fu is weak!"

2011-11-22T15:33:00.004-06:00

Nothing says '70s to me like good ol' exploitative Kung-fu movies! A couple quick sketches done while waiting on hold... Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly. Funkay...

I admit, I love a lot about the 70s. I'm obsessed with ADIDAS shell top sneakers! :) My uncles were really into martial arts in the late 70s and 80s, too. They emulated Lee a lot. I'll have to find some old photos of them all ripped and posing with nunchuks, lol!

Selachophobia And La Douche by Shawn Dueck

2011-11-20T20:12:00.005-06:00

Baths, pools, even toilets for some folk...

All thanks to one 1975 film.

Just a quick doodle.

Week Nine: 70's- Evil Knievel by Scott Christian Sava

2011-11-19T17:55:00.001-06:00

No time to paint this week.
So I thought I'd so a quick ballpoint pen sketch of Evil Knievel...
:)

Sigurd Bathing In Fafnir's Blood by Shawn Dueck

2011-11-17T21:37:00.004-06:00

Similar to the Achilles myth. Sigurd is told that if he bathes in Fafnir's blood, he'll become invincible. Wouldn't you know it, a leaf lands on his shoulder, leaving a vulnerable spot!

Somehow the phrase "find his Sigurd's shoulder" never caught on in a big way...

The announcement of this week's theme of mythology gave me a sort of "Proust moment", as I was suddenly reminded of a beautiful illustration of this scene I saw in a friend's book back when I was about 10. I probably only saw that page for about 2 minutes, but it left quite an impression.

Drawn in Painter 10 with the charcoal tools.

Week Eight: Mythology- Minotaur by Scott Christian Sava

2011-11-17T18:07:00.001-06:00

A quick sketch this time...but fun.
I wanted to do something completely out of my head...and make it loose.
I'm actually pretty happy that it doesn't completely suck.

Things I would love to improve upon would be:
a) A definite light source (or two)
b) Better focal point. Push contrast or color to focus on the face more.

Other than that...I'm surprisingly OKAY with it.
:)

Icarus, by Axel Medellin

2011-11-15T18:04:00.002-06:00

Actually, I think Icarus deserved points for trying...

Anyway, here's the effort of the week. As usual, I wish I had an extra hour to refine this, but pages are piling up. I hope you like it.

Asgard and 1970

2011-11-15T02:39:00.001-06:00

Well, I did these last weekend. I was bored, I had the time, I had the patience to try watercolor again. Ok, I'm laying. I used watercolor pencil and a pentel aqua brush. But I used the pencils as though they were daubs of paint... running the brush over the tip of the pencil.

I will say, with the aqua brush, it lays down a ton of water, even when you don't want it to. So if you ever plan on buying one (they come in three sizes), make sure you practice before you work on your masterpiece.

Anyways, here's what I did and I know my 1970's is more 60's... I just say it's the very start of the 70's... yeah, that's it. Don't judge me.

On Black Wings

2011-11-13T22:50:00.008-06:00

And now I'm caught up.

The reason this took me a bit to get up, is that this was a little more involved than my previous catch-up pieces.

No, you're not crazy. You've never heard of The Black Raptor.

This is a self-serving piece, as I need it for my own comic, The Raptor (as you can guess, the antagonist of the story might be partially inspired by this made-up Golden Age hero). I hope that's not too much of a cheat.

As you can tell this is heavily inspired by All-American Comics, and the character himself is based on a bit of Batman (with gun!), Alan Scott Green Lantern, the Blackhawks, and The Red Cross.

A bit of a challenge trying to not drawn exactly like myself. I didn't totally succeed, but limiting my brush choices, and forcing some rendering choices helped.

May even do a Silver Age version of the character (and then gritty 80s version, and pouch-laden 90s, and... gritty Naughties reboot?).

Miss Masque by Steven E Gordon

2011-11-12T23:00:00.000-06:00

I'm not too late this time (at least compared to other weeks) and considering it was my suggestion I figured I better come up with something.
I could have easily re-used one of my drawings from when I was doing my Fan Request Fridays, like Bullet Man and Girl or The Phantom or Phantom Lady , but I decided not to wimp out and do something new.
I realized for a FOCer's sketch-blog that I've been pretty short on pin-up style ladies so I thought I'd use this week to do one. My friend, Will Meugniot, has been playing around a lot with this particular character so I thought I'd take a crack at her.
Here's Miss Masque from the mid 1940s.

Bulletman!! by Shawn Dueck

2011-11-12T20:44:00.006-06:00

Gettin' the drop on the Hun!

An early hero from Fawcett.

While I'm not old enough to have read this comic when it was new, I was sure pumped when I learned that one of my childhood toys

was actually an unlicensed version of a Golden Age superhero. Thanks to the Digital Comic Museum I can now enjoy several issues of Bulletman and other titles.

Painted in Painter X.

Making Points

2011-11-12T16:35:00.003-06:00

My next piece of catch-up, my dinosaur (a fave from my childhood).

As you can tell, I was looking at a lot of Frank's rendering technique while drawing this. No where near as good, but I figure I might as well emulate the best (my reptile skin rendering sucks). Figure this would be a good place to test techniques that aren't my typical.

Also did a digital paint under the line work. Playing around. Left some of the sketch showing as some seemed to like that with Thark.

Okay. One more and I'm caught up!

It's not news, it's Thark.

2011-11-11T09:47:00.003-06:00

A couple of catch-up pieces today, including this Thark.

Wanted to keep it sketchy, so I left the sketch layer on. Also experimented with color again. Just having fun with it.

More in a bit.

Sailor Jerrry-style Wonder Woman

2011-11-09T21:03:00.013-06:00

Edited: Forgot her Golden Lariat! Added and moved the sig off her bootie by request :)

Here's my submission for this week's challenge: Golden Age Super Heroes: Wonder Woman done in the Sailor Jerry tattoo style.

I originally was considering doing a series of X-men portraits in the style of the old cartoons, such as Disney, Tex Avery, Popeye and Betty Boop. Here's a scan of the ideas I was tossing around in my Moleskine:

I then thought maybe I could do something in the style of a pin-up calendar girl. As I was mulling that idea over, I decided I wanted to include my love of all things tattoo. Sailor Jerry was a prolific tattoo artist in the late 30s & 40s and his style is quite iconic (WITHOUT the help of Ed Hardy shirts, I might add). I wanted a more colorful drawing, so I picked Wonder Woman, but drawing her up wasn't without challenges. As I got ready to outline her, I pulled off the cap of a Micron pen to find it had leaked. The ink splattered on the paper. Photoshop to the rescue!

Hope you like it! I figured I'd at least get the current theme up so I don't feel TOO far behind X)

Flight by Steven E Gordon

2011-11-09T13:35:00.000-06:00

This was the drawing I had originally planned for ERB week - sort of a crossover with last week's theme of Dinosaurs. Instead I copped out and used the designs for the GN that you saw.
But since I still owed for last week I decided to go ahead with the original plan anyway and use this as a study for the GN I'm working on of The Eternal Savage
Now all I have to do is catch up on this week's theme...and try not to cheat by using an old drawing.

2 in 1 Jon Riggle

2011-11-08T22:12:00.000-06:00

Sorry I was late to my own party, last week. I've been trying to track down where one of my projects is and if I'm still getting the materials or not. Kinda frustrating to say the least. I had the dinosaur finished last week, but just didn't have time to scan it till tonight. I also last night sketched out my Golden Age piece... And since many won't know who she is...

Zegra (who used to be Tegra) was a Golden Age superheroine from 1948 and originally the star of a rewritten Rulah story, but she eventually became a separate character whose name was changed from Tegra to Zegra and whose hair was changed from brunette to blond with issue #2. The original publisher was Fox Feature Syndicate. Now before you ask, no I wasn't alive to read this book, I've been trying to find time to redesign characters from golden age era books. Not for anything but for fun (and to use in future sketchbooks)

Captain America, by Axel Medellin

2011-11-08T18:18:00.003-06:00

Lots of stuff to do, so a quick one this time...

GOLDEN AGE SUPERHEROES-yet another M.O.S.

2011-11-08T14:41:00.004-06:00

You might have figured that Supes is my favorite character.
I promise to post other stuff.
I used micro pens on this, but I'm no where near as gifted with them as Frank is.

GOLDEN AGE SUPERHEROES-Finally.

2011-11-08T02:58:00.003-06:00

I know I haven't posted anything since this started.
Frankly I've been intimated.
But this old Superman sketch from a few years ago qualifies.

Golden Age Hero - Wonder Woman

2011-11-07T21:09:00.005-06:00

Col Erase pencils, Micron and PITT pens, on bristol.

Golden Age Hero - Captain Marvel

2011-11-07T14:24:00.005-06:00

I wanted to play with inks and my brush this time. Brush ink with pre drawing done with col erase pencils on bristol board. enjoy!

I am slightly behind here on blog....

2011-11-07T11:38:00.004-06:00

I will get better at this. Not much time with a pc or desktop due to wifey and her nursing school. For some reason my 'smartphone" could never post pics here just comments. These are all quick 10-20 minute sketches. I still have to do the EBR sketch but I couldn't decide on that one. lol. The first pic is of course Frank and his bride and the Dino theme and last is my first idea for the Mythology theme. On my phone I did not see this weeks theme. *facepalm* So I will be working harder at this. Thanks for not booting me. =)

Week Seven: Golden Age Superheroes- Batman by Scott Christian Sava

2011-11-06T20:52:00.004-06:00

This is my failure to achieve an "Alex Ross" type superhero.
Sigh. I just am not even in the same hemisphere as that man.

I spent the weekend looking through his Mythology book and am still just in Awe of his talent.

I know I'm only...what...7 weeks in to trying out watercolors (and he uses guache)...but I was hoping for more.

Oh well. There's always next time.
:)

Lllllunch! by Shawn Dueck

2011-11-06T00:47:00.006-05:00

A chubby little compsognathus after some "second breakfast". The beastie was sculpted and painted in Sculptris, the dragonfly was painted in Painter X, and the background is from a photo I took at the UBC botanical gardens in '08.

Here's another view of the sculpt:

I'm sure all you dino aficionados out there could pick the anatomy apart all day, but I was having fun just learning to sculpt.

Catch-up 1: Hairy Bugger

2011-11-05T23:33:00.002-05:00

Due to a big work load (not complaining) I've gotten behind. Trying to catch up this weekend. So, here we go. My Universal Monsters entry;

Loved "The Wolf Man" so much as a kid, I was a werewolf at Halloween three years in a row. Separated yarn, corn syrup for adhesive, and eyeliner for detail (there's a photo somewhere).

Not as accurate as I wanted, but, like I said, I'm trying to catch up.

So... there you have it. More soon.

Had to share

2011-11-05T16:21:00.000-05:00

Since this is the FOCer's blog I thought I should add another drawing to the ERB theme week in case some of you haven't seen it.
This is the female protagonist to the GN I'm starting, The Eternal Savage. Her name is Nat-ul. She's probably a little more what you expect to see from an ERB theme, eh?

shedevil vs super raptors

2011-11-05T13:11:00.003-05:00

I had an idea and decided to follow it through. shedevil vs super raptors, I'm not a dinosaur expert but I think my raptors are a couple feet bigger than a normal one, hence the super size. Bristol paper and pencil. I scuffed up my lady and scarred her up some, to look more authentic to someone who lives and survives in a jungle setting with predators running around. Thanks for looking!