Inking Portfolio: Page 3 AND a DCC update

This is the final image of the first round of my inks for Red Zombie as drawn by Nate Hamel.  I did a lot of playing on this page as well, but I wanted the truck to feel heavy and like it had some weight to it.  Almost like it was overbearing and overwhelming the car below it.  Nate did a good job making it feel like the car was in a hole below the truck and I just emphasized that with the black around the car.

Also, I don't know where my table is at the Denver Comic Convention yet, but I do know I'll be on two panels:  Local Artist's Spotlight with Zach Howard, Leila Del Duca, and Stan Yan at 10:30am on Saturday morning.  I'll also be doing an Educating with Comics panel that is going to be moderated by Michael and David Uslan.  They are producers of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

Inks: Red Zombie p4

Today I am putting up the fourth page of this story.  I skipped over page 3 because it's a large splash page and my Pentel Stylo ran out of ink...so I need to get another one.  I was able to fake it on some of these panels because of size...but that's going to be harder on a splash page...it will be up soon.  Enjoy.

Stuff on a Shirt & Denver Comic Con: UPDATE!

Stuff on a shirt, stuff on a shirt, stuff on a shirt, hey, hey, hey, HEY!  So the image I created for the German Superhero Metal band Grail Knights has been officially printed and looks great!  It's been getting a lot of good responses from the fans of the band via facebook and I can't wait to see it when I get mine from them.  If I get it in time you'll see me in it at the Denver Comic Con.
Speaking of which, today will start a series of updates about....the DENVER COMIC CONVENTION!

Update 1:  I have recently found out I will on three different panels over the weekend,  The first is during the Rocky Mountain Conference on Comics and Graphic Novels.  The other two are during the convention itself and are the Local Comic Artists and Education with Comics panels.

Inks: Page 2

Here's page two of my inks for the Red Zombie.  I did a LOT of black rendering in this to give more emphasis to specific parts of the panels and to draw focus across the page using blacks.

Inking Portfolio 1

For the Denver Comic Convention this summer I am putting together an inking portfolio.  This is the first page of that portfolio.  I am inking a comic by Nate Hamel who is a good inker in his own right, but was willing to give me some pages to work on for the convention and hopefully a job.  I'll be randomly posting some inks up over the next few weeks until the convention June 15-17 at the Colorado Convention Center.

The Grail Knights: Part The Last

After some additional compositional comments from the band members, I had to change positions of some of the characters and the recolor a bit...anyway here's the finished t-shirt.  It's unveiling at their June 2 concert in Germany.

The Grail Knights: Part 6

Here is the final black and white image for the shirts and posters for their next concert happening on June 2.  Check out their website: grailknights.de for more information.  There will also be a color image to follow shortly.

The Grail Knights: Part 5

Evil Dr. Skull

Morph the Swarf

These are the villains of the Grailknight's realm.  

The Grail Knights: Part 4

Beer Steed

Baron Van Der Blast

Sovereign Storm

Earl Quake

Count Cranium

Sir Optimus Prime

These are the band members, and the heroes of Grailham City.  These are the final images for each of the good characters.

The Grail Knights: Part 3

After some critiques from the band members I changed the sword, and the armor a little bit to make it look more polished.  This is still not the final image for Sir Optimus Prime, but it certainly helped me get the look for the rest of the characters A LOT easier.  So the back and forth critiques were very good and well worth the time taken.

Red Rocks part 2: The Color Comps

The second step to this process is color comps.  I did these two for the same client as the pencil sketches.  Coming soon will be the final painting.  Which one do you like better?

The Grail Knights: Part 2

After we got the thumbnail completed, we had to determine costume.  These two images are of Sir Optimus Prime, the lead singer, accordianist, and lead guitarist in the band.  The top image is a version of the stage suits they wear when performing, the bottom is more medieval/fantasy armor.  We eventually decided on the fantasy look for the final image.

The Grail Knights: Part 1

Over the next few days I will be showing the process I went through to create a poster and t-shirt for the German death metal band The Grail Knights.  Check back each day for the next week to see more.

This is the initial thumbnail I did for the band.  This was done in pencil, it was about 2"x3" and was probably the third idea I had for them.

Red Rocks Amphitheater

I have received another production art project.  Here's the best advice I can give any artist, or person, trying to strike out on their own, either in sales, business, entrepreneurship, etc....DON'T BURN ANY BRIDGES.  I believe there is an opportunity for your success everywhere.  You just have to look for it, put yourself in the way of that success train, and when it hits you, make sure you haven't pissed off the person driving it.
This series of pencil sketches is for a potential poster for some concerts at Red Rocks this summer.   More to come in the creation of, hopefully, another fully rendered watercolor piece that will be hanging at Red Rocks this summer.  Enjoy.

Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a Galaxy Far Far Away

Happy Star Wars Day!  Happy Avengers Movie release Day!

Here's a Jedi Padawan Hulk! This was a 20 minute drawing.