More character dev for the graphic novel

So, for those of you just joining us, I've been working on a graphic novel...The Great American Graphic Novel! As a side note, character design is kind of my thing, so I have A LOT of development sketches.

Ok, so a colleague asked me how Amazona's battle kilt worked. Basically, its made of twelve alternating strips of a heavy leather-like material.  Even numbered strips on the outside and odd on the inside. So, it falls like a long skirt with slits, 'cause sometimes a lady needs to axe-kick people.

Amazona v.5938659857075057057

Don't feel like I'm nailing this design. Something is off, and whatever that thing is, makes her no fun to draw. The hair's a blast, though :)

All Star X-Men sketches...

So, what would YOU do if you had a  chance to create an X-Men series? A friend and I had been batting around ideas just for the hell of it and that conversation put some cool design ideas in my head. This is a rough approximation of how I'd handle Beast. 

More concept art for the graphic novel. Some people have commented that his mask looks like spiderman, but actually its supposed to look like one of those Area51 aliens with the spooky black eyes. Te second pic, I just wanted to work on the color scheme a little. Think I'll go with a lighter gray next time.

Same character...

...with her girlfriend. This is a sketch for a splash page late in the book. I had a very clear vision of how her hair would be splayed  out on the bed while she stares blankly into nowhere. But I wound up copping out :( Sometimes that happens in the sketching stages. Hopefully, I'll have it worked out by the time I get to the actual story-page. 

What I've been up too...

Well, I've been working on "The Great American Graphic Novel". The founding fathers intended for us to have the freedoms needed to make a graphic novel, and I've been pounding away. Since I'm keeping the story pages top secret, I hadn't been posting. 

But for you, my loyal Briamaniacs, I will post sketches!

These are some developement sketches for one of the main characters. Sometimes I need to design what a character's back looks. Being an animator, a quick alternate view sketch becomes a hole page of "Oh how do her teeth look when she smiles" "Where does her hair part when she wears pigtails"...But sometimes I just warm-up by drawing a character doing regular everyday activities.

Artstream: Ed McGuinness

Maybe you weren't paying attention...but this guy is doing some of the best mainstream work in the industry. As the legend goes (and don't quote me on this) Ed Mcguinness was a pizza delivery boy. By a stroke of luck, won the lottery and was like "Wow, now I can stop worrying about survival and devote myself to breaking in to comics." He paid his dues, showing sample pages to editors and pros at conventions, and eventually found himself pencilling a Deadpool miniseries. We loved Ed's work...We loved Deadpool, and so Mcguinness got more chances to prove his awesomeness. He started working with Jeph Loeb on Fighting American for Awesome Comics, and that relationship flourished into a full-on creative team. The two even made it to the top of the mountain: Superman. The Loeb-McGuinness Superman run is one of the best the series has ever seen, and after a ridiculous ammount of issues, they finally moved on to something new...Superman/Batman. I won't get started on the brilliance of that particular concept, as this is a post about art. After Superman/Batman, Ed "signed on" at Marvel, but the original Ultimates4 idea he was supposed to do got canned. Red Hulk became McGuiness' new project, and OMG, that book is crazy! At first, we were all on the fence about the story, but after about five issues of Hulks having Dragonball-scale battles, you kinda stop caring about why they're fighting in the first place. Keep an eye out for McGuiness' next project, he rarely fails to impress.

Supergirl art battle?!

So, I participated in an art battle on penciljack.com the topic "Supergirl". Now my opponent did a really cool piece of Supergirl fighting generic robot in the citay. I'm not being sarcastic, its really pretty cool. I on the other hand focused on the "girl" part and tried to do something reminiscent of Masakazu Katsura's I''s covers. Penciljack didn't really get it. They complained about the photo background and the "simple pin-up" pose (to which I say 'try copying it and you'll find out what makes it complex'). From now on, I'll play the penciljack game, but I just wanted to show this to all the briamaniacs out their and explain that I'm still an artist even though its gonna start to look like I'm selling out and not trying things or challenging myself...

Vitriolic. I really don't mean for this to sound as spiteful as it probably does. This is one of those instances where seeing something in plain text really strips it of a lot of inflection and context.

Also, for those interested, I upgraded my phone to the G2. Its incredible! Does everything that the Itouch did (music and art inspiration on the go) with a LOT of freedom that comes from the AndroidOS. This is not a joke. The phone is bad-meaning good. My favorite thing about it right now is the Gameboy Advance emulator. I've been playing Pokemon Ruby :P
On that note, I've also been experimenting with more XBOX 360 games. Top of the list right now are Gears of War 2 and Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2.

Regained my muchness?!

As part of my resolve to produce more "finished" work, I dug up a cleanly drawn piece and colored it. I'm still experimenting with different styles, but I've gotten good feedback from this. Its a very simple medium flats/tins/shades technique. I think I need to fool around with more lighting effects.

repost...

new portfolio site and new artworks soon...i promise.

Happy 2K11!!

These are some quick life drawings from Dr. Sketchy's Philadelphia last month. The model was REALLY easy to draw. I sometimes, in the scramble to keep up appearances and stuff, forget how much I love the actual act of drawing...I'm reminded of this EVERY time i go to a life drawing class!