Gareth 3.3

And the ongoing work on my Gareth piece continues...

Trixie and her friend Heron

Trixie and her friend Heron do a pole stance.

Dazzler 2010

I was reading about the new Dazzler one shot and found that my Dazzler drawing from three years back is right on the front page of Google's image search. Not only that, it appears several times, because at least one other guy used it to illustrate Dazz herself. Now that in and of itself wouldn't be a problem, if I didn't realize how awkward my anatomy was on that piece. It's weird, I can't find the original high rez files on my hard drive, so maybe I never saved a high rez version (which I always do now). But since it was in the first third of this blog's existence, its quite possible it never got saved that way. But I'm embarrassed about how detailed this piece is, yet Dazzler's head is so disproportionately huge! So I'm correcting it now with a 2010 version. This is the start of it.

Have to say though, the costume still looks pretty cool three years later.

Mikki and her friend Heron

Mikki and her friend Heron were having such a great time too... at least, until that damnable penguin showed up.

Gareth 3.2

The changes are subtle, but to me they're pretty important in the process. It's always nice to get past the initial establishment phase (when a drawing can go many ways) and have a set path that forms automatically. I think this is there now, and I just have to work on this automatically and the colors and shades will come as necessary.

Gareth 3.1

The ongoing three+ years of finishing this drawing of my co-artist Gareth... I forgot to draw last night (too many tv shows!) but made up for it by painting in the sketch a bit more this morning. I'm still trying to figure out what the color stories is in this piece, so I'm putting down whatever shades I see and trusting my instinct to make the final decisions when the time comes.

Ms.Midnight

I haven't been following my old stomping grounds CBR's CBRunway like I used to, when I was really into designing costumes for super-heroes since I read comics voraciously and without fail for over 33 years. I still read and buy them but not as rabidly as I used to. So I lurk.

I used to play along with online friend Mattbib's CBRunway, but I haven't had much time nor inclination lately. However, the latest challenge posted was was to create a 5th member of the Fantastic Four (or rather Five, natch) if Jack Kirby, series co-creator, had made one back in the day. Since the Fantastic Four were analogous to the four elements, it made sense to base another character on a purported 5th Element, aether, or the "space where the Gods lived." So I came up with Ms.Midnight.

I wanted to include another female character, and I wanted her to be black so that the Five weren't quite so caucasian (despite The Thing being orange). I figured Ms.Midnight (I thought the name was ambiguous enough and fit right in with Mr.Fantastic, The Human Torch, The Invisible Girl and The Thing) would be a teleporter, and her powers would revolve around making rifts in space that would act as wormholes. It seemed a perfect complement to all the powers already in place for the other four, adding that element that Lockjaw used to provide. The power signature would look like space (perfectly fitting in with the aether concept), with all the Kirby crackle forming the rift, which would darken her form even more so that she was like the visual opposite for The Human Torch. I also figure she would have powers of speed or the ability to speed up or slow down time eventually, perhaps manifesting as her being a speedster, possibly explainable by the rifts acting like black holes that bend time.

I had to render her in a Kirby style, and really not change the costume all that much, but conceptually, it was such an easy conclusion I had to Play Along At Home for this challenge.

Gareth 3

I decided to open up Gareth's drawing and work on it again. This time, I laid the foundations for my signature color dabs. The combinations here are preliminary of course, and will be refined as I go on. But since I spoke with a publisher in Berlin, I'm all ready to get this series finished so I can finally publish it in a group of at least 12 or 16, as I originally envisioned.

Nope, not quite Heron

Even colored, there's something about the outlines that throws him off for me. Close, but not enough. Although if you look at my Heron albums online, he's been changing appearance more and more as I keep drawing him.

edit: I adjusted his face around the beak area. Amazing how such a minuscule detail makes all the difference to me.

Jan and his friend Heron

Jan and his friend Heron play a profoundly ill-matched game of Tag.

Heron Line

I always draw Heron with solid blocks of color, and I wondered if he would look consistent as a simple line sketch? Kinda, but definitely not quite.

Oj and his friend Heron

Oj and his friend Heron unveil a show-stopping final outfit.

Duane Reade Shopper, 3

I love the simplicity of this drawing - something I no longer seem to do as I add detail upon detail to faces and forms that I draw, thinking more is more. But back when I was so heavily influenced by comics, I would limit my drawings, especially my faces, to a few studied lines that were part of a formula, for drawings that ultimately had to be rendered on a comic book page. Since I no longer hold comic book art as the ultimate goal, it amuses me that this sketch harks back to some of my older drawing objectives.

Ben and his friend Heron, 2

Ben and his friend Heron ride a cab out to the airport after a long weekend in New York.


Aaaah. And with this post, I am officially caught up with my blog entries!

Duane Reade Shopper, 2

Well, maybe there's something to be said about what looks fun in real life but when drawn, really doesn't translate to much. Even when quickly sketched. Or maybe especially so.

John and his friend Heron

John and his friend Heron take a break from all the Hong Kong touring.

Kevin and his friend Heron

Kevin and his friend Heron catch some rays.

Duane Reade Shopper

I saw this woman with a really cute, very 80s (as in, Sensational Slide/Olivia Newton-John Physical era, very Manila ShoeMart) outfit at Duane Reade on Friday night, so she was the inspiration for last night's sketch. Loose sweatshirt, white tee, black tights and nude patent platform heels.

Tequila Sunrise

The name alone conjures up images of the 70s and early 80s, like I'm in a Golden Girls episode. I had one last night at g with my friend Ben because I had already had two tequila-based drinks at dinner and wasn't mixing to avoid a headache. Well, maybe the tequilas weren't 100% agave so I got the headache anyway, and this pig was all I could muster last night. What a pig.

Coiffure

Not the best illo but I do like the line quality considering I didn't want to draw. There's something about not finalizing my posts of the last week and this site being incomplete that makes me not want to do anything until I scan or photograph those drawings and put em up!

Locks

I was thinking of loosely tied locks of hair, kind of like Sarah Jessica Parker often has. But I was listening to a psychic reading while doing it, and I didn't realize that the latter half of the reading got cut off. Annoying. So I stopped drawing at that point.

Robert and his friend Heron

Robert and his friend Heron only have eyes for you.

Sunday, May 9th's Drawing

Jeri and her friend Heron make their way to the wedding chapel.

Saturday, May 8th's Drawing

Another day late drawing: this was the overly friendly coffee lady at the airport bar, where I had a coffee and orange juice while waiting for my plane to arrive, three hours later than originally scheduled, courtesy of that Icelandic volcano whose name no one can seem to pronounce. She was so courteous and attentive, I wondered if other Germans considered her weird.

Friday, May 7th's Drawing

Another make-up drawing: this was the rather young Italian cook at a pizza place near Barbara's apartment, whose look struck me as rather cartoonish, hence the style.

Thursday, May 6th's Drawing

This was two days late. I went and shopped at the All Saints store in the Mitte district, and saw my first really cute Berliner. Frankly I was expected loads of really hot guys in Berlin but was sadly disappointed. And despite his speaking perfect German, this guy's demeanor and accent had me suspecting he was also from somewhere else. Anyhow, he (and his outfit, maybe that;s what I responded to more) were cute.

Wednesday, May 5's drawing

I didn't do a sketch on Wednesday since I had an overnight flight to Berlin , but I did do this sketch on Thursday for it, of my friend Rainer's friend Barbara who was hosting us in Berlin. We went out to dinner at some higher-end restaurant so she dressed up with four inch heels and a very 30s get-up... which was really interesting because she got to the restaurant by bicycle, as many Berliners do. I love the dichotomy of her souped up outfit paired with such a utilitarian mode of transport.

Outfitted

I drew what I was wearing last Tuesday, but for whatever reason, since I left for Berlin the very next day until Sunday, I can't remember what the significance of the outfit was, or if it was just a plan for the flight. Anyhow, this was Tuesday's drawing. Have a week's work of illos and catch-up drawings to post since I didn't really draw every single day, but I did make quick drawings for each day (some just all on one day).

Flow, Interrupted

I knew I wouldn't be able to work on this piece again to my liking. I had intended to flesh it out in any number of ways I imagined in my head, but the truth is I like yesterday's drawing as is. Or at least, minimal. The coloring job I put together is much more fauvist than intended, although it's fun in its own way.

Flow of Inspiration

It's a simple sketch, but I love it. So much of this works for me: the pose is fluid, the face just works (considering I drew the shoulder and torso first) and the physique, in just a few lines, looks realistic (and, well, kinda hot). I'm quite pleased with how it turned out - I didn't even want to draw, so I turned on some music I thought would be inspirational (I was in a ballady mood so it was the new Prefab Sprout album), and with the idea I had earlier after looking at some magazines, this thing sort of just happened (no references).

I love it when that happens.

Marc and his friend Heron

Marc and his friend Heron prove that tandem jumping with a 7 foot tall bird isn't impossible provided you have a long enough jump rope.

Raffy and his friend Heron

Raffy and his friend Heron shoot footage for their upcoming documentary, "Sex Lives of the Dung Beetle."