Superhero Sanitarium

Thumbnail/pencils

Inks

Colors

Final Image


A commission based upon a play called The Superhero Sanitarium. All the characters and in an insane asylum and may or may not have powers. That is revealed at the end of the show. All these characters are based of the kids that played them in the play in Fayetteville, GA last fall. This also shows the process I go through when doing my comic work. I start with a little thumbnail (about 1/4 sheet of paper). Then I'll scan and print that at 11"x17" and do some tight-ish pencils. I'll then ink that and scan it back in. All my coloring happens in photoshop using color fills. I like this option because it's easy to edit a mood and feel simply by changing a color fill layer. Then into illustrator to add the vector text and saved as a .pdf from there. Enjoy!

Ross and the Yeti: Page 3

The Third and, for now, final installment of Ross and the Yeti. We finally get to see what this guy's been searching for. Not that it's that big of a secret....Yeti is in the title. But is that what he's searching for?!

Ross and the Yeti: Page 2

Here's the second page to Ross and the Yeti. This whole comic was an exercise with a new inking style. It's much looser and there is A LOT more sketchiness to the marks. I think it's starting to really help me define the style of my artwork.

Ross and the Yeti: Page 1

This is the first of a three page comic I have completed for an upcoming anthology called SIGHTINGS. The next two pages will be coming over the next couple of days.

Nowlan's Morbius Ink Tests

Over the weekend I had a portfolio review with Bon Alimagno, the talent coordinator at Marvel Comics. He is a brilliant man who understands where to push an artist to get his or her full potential. My review was very good and his feedback was very positive. Regardless, here is a warm up ink sketch. This image is inked over a Kevin Nowlan image of Morbius, you can see the original here: Nowlan's Morbius

I saw the sign

Hey all! I feel so official! While at shows you can look for this awesome sign (and the cute 2 and a half year old)!

And this cool guy behind it (2 and a half year old optional)!

Drawing from Photos

I found some fantastic black and white photos from Dorothea Lange, and did some drawing from them with a Slicci pen (can also use a Pentel Hi-Tec C). They are great drawing tools and really make you decide where you are putting your marks. I also did a profile portrait of one of my professors at SCAD, Shawn Crystal, check out his work HERE

Warm-Up

Here's a picture of Jack Nicholson as Joker. I am not feeling very motivated today, so I figured I'd do a warm up with brush and try to get there...still not happening. Oh well. I tried to do a LOT more feathering and drawing with the brush than usual...there are some successes, some failures. I also included the picture I worked from so you can compare.

Spider-Man Processes 2: Pencils

After I finish the thumbnail, I'll scan it and blow it up to letter size. I'll then pencil the image to a nice state that will prepare it for inks. These are the pencils. Mostly, I use this stage to really get the illusion of three dimensions. On Spiderman, it's the cross contours on his body, and making sure all the perspective fits on the buildings.

How to Draw...by Jay

Falynn Koch has made this claim: "The difference between a tiger and a zebra is the tiger has teeth." You can see her version of that claim here: FALYNN K. I make this claim: The difference between a turkey and a vulture is their tail...and a turkey's gobbler.

Plava Laguna

This is yet another 90 minute sketch challenge. These are great! They really train you to think quickly, and as I go through these I am really learning what works best for me. Anyway, here she is the MOST INTERESTING CHARACTER EVER!!! Mainly because she's blue and sings Opera....from The Fifth Element....PLAVA LAGUNA!!

Spider-Man Processes 1: Thumbnail

I recently received a commission for a House of M Spider-Man pin up. So going along with my current processes series (don't really know if it's a series yet, but it will be). Here is the thumbnail for the piece. This took me, maybe 30 minutes. The idea of the thumbnail is to get composition and shape quickly and clearly.