Burning Monster: A Sketch-Blog

Burning Fever

2012-02-09T17:07:00.000-05:00

Hiya,

Been really under the weather for more than a few weeks and it's put me very far behind on a number of things, including my weekly Burning Itch. I actually started one each of the last two weeks, but with so many paying assignments needing more immediate attentions, I've had to let them go unfinished.

I'm hoping to catch up by next week, so, fingers crossed.

~R

Unwatchable

2012-02-01T09:43:00.003-05:00

The news about DC's colossal waste of talented freelancers in a desperate money-grab, with Alan Moore's response:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/books/dc-comics-plans-prequels-to-watchmen-series.html?_r=1&src=tp

Image updated with a suggestion from http://shmeeden.deviantart.com/

Burning Itch: Merlin

2012-01-26T00:19:00.000-05:00

Despite the week being full of absurdity ready to be made fun of, the news that Nicol Williamson had passed away knocked the wind out of me.

His turns as Sherlock Holmes, Little John, and, most importantly to me, Merlin in John Boorman's EXCALIBUR, have stayed with me as the most definitive and enjoyable versions of those characters.

I'll return to ridiculing something or someone next week, but, right now, I think I'll finish watching EXCALIBUR in my studio.

Jill the Giant-Killer - Old Design

2012-01-21T18:37:00.001-05:00

Been working on this project for more than a few years, slowly building it -- probably too slowly. Anyway, when I was flattened by a cold recently I took a look through the development folder for this and decided I really didn't like the most current character design, so this stuff is getting binned.

Thought I'd share these early Jill designs with you guys.

Some of the sketches I did as the age/costume came together -- there were hundreds of sketches before getting here:

Character rotation:

Decided to take one of the sketches to a more finished stage -- pencils:

Inks:

And colours:

I'll share more about this when it's closer to being completed.

Burning Itch: Marky Marksman

2012-01-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

After being sick for more than a week I'm trying to get everything back on track, so here's a celebrity alos trying to get back on track. . . .

Sick Day

2012-01-11T12:12:00.003-05:00

No new strip this week; I've been ill since Saturday and it's put me way behind the eight ball.

Sorry to disappoint, but it'll be back next week!

~R

*hack* ~wheeeze~

Burning Itch: Santorum

2012-01-04T22:24:00.002-05:00

I had something else started for today's Burning Itch, but then this intolerant troglodyte nearly won the Iowa GOP primary. . . .

~R

New Year's Zombie 2012

2012-01-03T11:51:00.001-05:00

Since I started the blog, I've tried to make it a tradition to start the year off with a quick zombie sketch. Here's 2012! Unlike previous years I did this one digitally.

You can see the previous year's zombies here:
The first ever blog entry in 2007:
http://burningmonster.blogspot.com/2007/01/starting-with-new-year.html

2008 I was hit by by some stupidity and poor communication by a former employer and ended up only drawing a zombie near the end of the month :
http://burningmonster.blogspot.com/2008/01/em-gists-dead-of-day.html

2009 started off on time with a January 1st posting:
http://burningmonster.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-zombie.html

2010's zombie landed three weeks late, but he brought friends:
http://burningmonster.blogspot.com/2010/01/2010-zombie.html

And last year was on time and better dressed:
http://burningmonster.blogspot.com/2011/01/new-year-zombie-2011.html

In hindsight, I think I prefer the textures from the pencil drawings. I have a year to think about it.

Hope everyone has a great year ahead of them!

~R

Burning Itch: Gutter Talk

2011-12-29T21:16:00.000-05:00

A day delayed due to illness -- sorry!

The B&W page was done on time yesterday, but I didn't want to run another strip without colour due to deadline issues right after last week.

Doubly disappointed to be a day late with this one since I really wanted it to run on Stan Lee's actual birthday.

Hoping everyone has a Happy New Year!

I know I can't wait for this year to end!

Joker

2011-12-24T13:40:00.002-05:00

Wrapping up (get it?) a few commissions while doing the usual seasonal chores.

The countdown toward the end of the year will probably just have one more Burning Itch, a charcoal drawing and perhaps another, more seasonal piece.

Happy Pagan Gift-Giving everyone!

Burning Itch: Claus and Affect

2011-12-21T22:37:00.002-05:00

Had no time for colour or to properly letter, but it's still Wednesday and it's up!

Half-assed and harried does seem appropriate for the time of the year!

Have a wonderful re-branded pagan holiday everyone!

~R

Original Bettie Page Art Auction

2011-12-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

I just saw one of the printed Bettie Page cards I did for this set:
https://www.versicolorproductions.com/bettie-page/

And it turned out great! The printing was sharp and true to the original and the lovely touch of the card logo just being spot varnish turned out brilliantly! Very happy to be doing more cards for these fine people!

Now that the cards are out, I thought it was time to offer the original artwork for interested buyers, starting with this piece:

Full auction details are available here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330660617670#ht_500wt_1413

Note: I had to re-list this item due to Ebay's nude imagery policy -- sorry for any confusion.

Thanks for taking the time to look!

Burning Itch: Sudden Realizations

2011-12-14T22:05:00.002-05:00

Burning Itch: Class Warfare

2011-12-07T23:25:00.001-05:00

Was going to skip over the whole UC Davis pepper spray incident until I saw people spreading a longer version of the video in an attempt to excuse the sadistic behaviour of the police in the incident.

Just for comparison, if I warm someone a number of times before I hit them with a hammer, it doesn't make hitting them with a hammer okay.

Burning Itch: Skyrimshot

2011-11-30T20:11:00.001-05:00

Love everything about this game.

Drawing this makes me wonder why I'm not already drawing a fantasy series.

She Hulk Sketch card

2011-11-29T09:14:00.001-05:00

Upper Deck used a really nice card stock for the Cap cards, so I really enjoyed drawing this She Hulk.

It's up over on eBay right now: here.

Madelyne Pryor - The Goblin Queen

2011-11-28T23:53:00.001-05:00

I was about to draw Jean Grey as The Black Queen, then realised I hadn't seen anyone take a turn at Madelyne Pryor as the Goblin Queen in ages. It's one of my favourite arcs if only for the art.

It's up over at ebay: here!

~R

Spider-Woman Sketch Card

2011-11-24T10:37:00.001-05:00

I really enjoyed the Bendis/Maleev Spider-Woman series and was a little sad to see it end.

Just put this card up for auction on ebay.

~R

Burning Itch: Count, Down

2011-11-24T00:02:00.001-05:00

No idea why I'm thinking about vampires this far past Halloween . . . .

Sell Out Monday

2011-11-21T08:12:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to mention a few things I have up on Ebay right now:
The last Bettie Page large artist proof has just over two days left:

You can see the listing here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/330643200275?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649#ht_500wt_1413

And I just put up one of the few Thor sketch cards up:

That auction can be found here: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330645575783#ht_500wt_1413

~R

Apocalypse Sketch Card Commission

2011-11-20T21:35:00.001-05:00

I usually don't take many private commissions as I tend to over think and over work them (I'm currently picking away at a large charcoal piece that's taking me forever!), but I'll happily take sketch card commissions, since it's much more difficult for me to get lost in time working on a 2.5 x 3.5 piece art.

That being said, I still threw away my first attempt on this X-Men villain:

Pencil, coloured pencil, Copics and ink on 2-ply 500 Strathmore Bristol.

Dick Knight Fundraising

2011-11-18T13:46:00.001-05:00

The auction has already ended - -thanks everyone who took a look!

I'm auctioning off the original art and an 11x17" print of the completed Burning Itch strip in hopes of raising money to give to the Occupy Toronto organization http://occupyto.org/.

The auction is here.

My response to Frank Miller's bizarre anti-protest rant seems quite popular, being featured on a number of comics news sites and is hosted here.

Considering the day-to-day nature of such a movement my alternative would be to give all monies to my local food bank (St. Paul's On the Hill -- I'm not a Christian, but I don't think the hungry would care) where it can do some immediate good considering we're getting right into the holiday season.

The original art is pen and ink on 11x17" 300 Smooth Strathmore Bristol. I'll sign the piece per the winning bidder's preference. Lettering and corrections were made digitally, so there is no white paint on the paper.

The print will be 5-colour on Ilford Galerie pearl finish 290 gsm photo paper (heavy weight lustrous higher-end paper).

If the bidding goes above 500.00 I'll add an 11x17" Batman drawing for the winning bidder.

The shipping fees will cover regular delivery anywhere in North America. Buyer may choose other delivery options at their discretion.

Considering the nature of the piece and the intended use of the funds I think it's only proper to limit the bidding to North American buyers only.

Feel free to ask any questions about the piece.

Thanks,

~Richard Pace

Burning Itch: Miller Time-Out

2011-11-16T08:14:00.001-05:00

I'd prefer to remember Frank Miller as the sometimes brilliant, long-haired nerd glaring from his back-cover photo on The Dark Knight Returns trade rather than the fedora-wearing, incoherent lightweight hack he's become.

Burning Itch!

2011-11-10T19:57:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was really bothered by what I was coming up with for my Wednesday strip; it just wasn't funny and I found myself doing something I didn't really want to do. I had a great conversation with Ty Templeton and it put my head on right about this.

Starting next Wednesday, come hell or high water I'm putting up whatever the hell I want to about whatever the hell I want to go on about..

The Last Vampirella Art Return Card

2011-11-10T10:07:00.001-05:00

I really didn't think I'd be selling the last of them a day after I started listing these art return cards, but I am.
This one is my favourite as I think it gets closest to Frazetta's model of Vampirella with her cute little belly!

The auction is here: ebay.

~R

Bettie and Vampirella Sketch Cards

2011-11-09T19:13:00.000-05:00

The Vampirella auction I listed earlier went much quicker than I expected with Buy It Now, so I'm putting up another of the remaining two cards on ebay.

And I also put up another of the oversized 4.5"x 6.25" Bettie cards to replace the one sold yesterday on ebay.

It looks like I'll be doing a fair bit of ebay-ing into the future, so I popped a link to my ebay ID page so anyone can easily see what I may be selling at any given point.

Vampirella Artist Returns!

2011-11-09T11:14:00.000-05:00

So I did a number (four) of Vampirella Artist Return Cards a little while back, then completely forgot about them. I found them while working on some new cards and decided to start sharing them here:

Here's the first of them:

I think I learned a great deal about making sketch cards and working with Copics while doing the Bettie Page cards and it's paying off here.

The above card has already been sold, but you can check out the auction for one of the remaining cards - -this one:

Over at ebay here.

In case you're interested, this is what the backs of the cards look like.

Panosian's Conan

2011-11-03T22:14:00.000-04:00

The Urban Barbarian, Dan Panosian, let me take a stab at coloring one of the pages from his Conan stint!

You can see the original inks here.

Deathlok! Sketch Card Auction

2011-11-03T14:54:00.001-04:00

Deathlok, Baby! What's not to love. At the time I drew this it looked like there was a bit of a revival of the character happening at Marvel. Might be something still in the works. I dunno . . .

I still think Deathlok is cool, though!

I put this card up for auction yesterday. You can find the listing here: ebay

Canadian Discontent

2011-11-02T17:47:00.001-04:00

This week was a hard one. The biggest news, as far as I was concerned, was the uncalled for lay-offs at Marvel, and I didn't see anything funny there. I looked a little harder and decided the rumoured cancellation of ALPHA FLIGHT making yet another failed attempt of Marvel to relaunch the Canadian super-team with American writers had some mock to be made.

To view the image full-size, right-click and open the image in a new window.

~R

Bettie Page Artist Proof Auction

2011-11-01T20:15:00.001-04:00

After the last 2.5x3.5 Bettie card went so quickly I felt I had no choice but to put up another tonight. This is one of the huge 4.5x6.25 Artist Proof cards I was given by Versicolor. I love how they printed my name on the back of the cards!

To view the auction, go here. This time there will be an auction as bidding has already started.

Take care,

~R

New Bettie Page Auction

2011-11-01T18:21:00.002-04:00

The last and my favourite of the four 2.5x3.5" Bettie Page Artist Return cards I did is ~~now up for auction over at eBay!~~

This is another auction that sold while I was typing up notices it was for sale.

Heh!

International Self-Portrait Day 2011

2011-11-01T17:11:00.001-04:00

About 6-7 hours, going from pencil sketch to digital finish.

Go see all the great work over at conceptart.org!

How're tricks . . . .

2011-10-31T21:46:00.001-04:00

So many reports of scary teenagers showing up for Halloween candy without wearing any costumes . . . .

(Was sick all day -- still sick, actually -- but I had to do something to commemorate the day -- about two hours in Photoshop).

Rogue Sketch card Auction

2011-10-26T18:39:00.001-04:00

I put this one up earlier today:

It's available over here at eBay!

Burning Itch: Who Watches the Watchmen

2011-10-26T08:34:00.002-04:00

I think it should be pretty clear how I reacted to the news that DC was, again, moving to do new Watchmen comics without the participation of Alan Moore by reading the above strip.

~R
(It seems blogger recently changed the code so images open in some sort of size-restricted window. The work-around I use is to right click on the thumbnail and open in a new tab. Some browsers still reduce the image to fit the screen, but I know Chrome allows me to click on the image and view it full size and scroll around to read it all)

New Bettie Page Sketch Card Auction

2011-10-25T09:12:00.001-04:00

I'm quite happy with the results of the just-ended auction for the previous Bettie Page sketch card and so I put up a new one this morning here: click!

The buy it now option disappeared almost immediately as bidding kicked in before I was even able to start making the rounds announcing this new auction.

My other running auction, a Black Cat artist return card from the Iron Man 2 set, ends in less than 24 hours.

Hope you all are having a great day!

Conan Commission

2011-10-20T15:36:00.002-04:00

Conan Commission in warm and cool Copic greys.

10x15" on 11x17" 300 series Strathmore Bristol.

Burning Itch: Tangled Spider-Man

2011-10-19T09:47:00.000-04:00

Decided to leave DC alone for a week and took a recently overheard conversation at a comic shop about recent developments in the Ultimate Spider-Man book as inspiration.

Black Cat on eBay

2011-10-19T09:20:00.002-04:00

Just put up another card on eBay: link

I guess I really like drawing Marvel's women and it's easy to have a soft spot for The House of Ideas' answer to Catwoman!

I was going to do an update yesterday when I posted this card over on eBay, but it sold as I was typing it up! I guess the Buy it Now option really appeals at the prices I've chosen.

Bettie Sketch Card on Ebay

2011-10-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

I've had mixed results with Ebay in the past, so I often forget it's an option to put my art in the hands of collectors. I've decided to put a few of my sketch cards up over the next few weeks and see how it goes. I'm starting with this Bettie Page art return:

The text/description I put in the auction listing:

One of a kind sketch card featuring Bettie Page by comics artist and illustrator Richard Pace. This is one of the four 2.5x3.5" artist return cards provided to the artists who worked on the new Versicolor card set. The card stock is high quality, with a nice pebbled feel to the printed back.

The card is already in a plastic sleeve and placed within a top loader. For extra protection the envelope will be reinforced with card stock when mailed.

Shipping will be included for regular mail. Other delivery options available, but at the buyer's expense.

I spent many hours capturing Bettie's likeness on this collectible and I hope it finds a home with a real Bettie fan!

To view the auction click here: Bettie on Ebay.

~Richard

Burning Itch: So, How Did the New 52 Affect You?

2011-10-12T10:26:00.001-04:00

We're a little over a month in and I thought we could reflect a little on what's transpired.

And yes, there's an homage to the Miller/Lee All Star Batman and Robin in there.

Sometimes Things Aren't Meant to Be

2011-10-09T09:08:00.003-04:00

Cést la vie.

This is a project I think the universe didn't want coming out right now -- it was suspended once already this past summer, but it was put down for good two days ago. Luckily I was wasn't too deep into it before this happened.

Jenny Greenteeth Pencils

2011-10-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

Thought I'd share the pencils for the Jenny Greenteeth piece from yesterday.

Jenny Greenteeth

2011-10-06T17:40:00.000-04:00

Stole some time to contribute the the weekly Remake/Remodel over at Whitechapel.

So, my most recent pieces both have green monster-women in them. It must be October and the countdown to Halloween!

Burning Itch: Voodoo's Fun-Time Striphouse

2011-10-01T23:32:00.001-04:00

I liked most of the DC titles I got this week, but this one made a real impression.

Bettie Page Artist Proof 4

2011-09-28T08:36:00.000-04:00

The fourth and final of the over-sized artist proof cards (4.5x6.25") from the Bettie Page set by Versicolor.

A little while back I noticed that Copic markers acted like a sort of fixative over the pencil drawings for the sketch cards I drew, so I experimented a bit and found I could do some light tonal work in graphite and it would stay largely intact under an initial application of marker colour (usually a C1 grey). It gives the pieces a retro "colorized" look, which I think really works for these Bettie Page cards. On this card I only did it in a few spots, though (back, left leg, upper right arm).

You have to be careful not to leave too much graphite on the surface as it will smudge and dirty the marker, so I only do it lightly with the idea the darker values will have to be delivered with darker markers. I was losing the values in the shadowed areas on the chair so I started pushing all the shadows darker with a C7 grey, liked where that was going and went black there. Happy accidents. The chair was separating from the background a little too much so I added some black there as well.

The black work was done with Copic and liquid ink pen.

Bettie Page Artist Proof 3

2011-09-27T09:50:00.000-04:00

The third of the over-sized artist proof cards (4.5x6.25") from the Bettie Page set by Versicolor.

A little while back I noticed that Copic markers acted like a sort of fixative over the pencil drawings for the sketch cards I drew, so I experimented a bit and found I could do some light tonal work in graphite and it would stay largely intact under an initial application of marker colour (usually a C1 grey, but I used a purple to keep the details and a sense of light in the lingerie)). It gives the pieces a retro "colorized" look, which I think really works for these Bettie Page cards.

You have to be careful not to leave too much graphite on the surface as it will smudge and dirty the marker, so I only do it lightly with the idea the darker values will have to be delivered with darker markers.

To build on the retro feel I added a graphic touch with some outlines in Prismacolor and Derwent coloured pencils. The black work was done with Copic and liquid ink pen.

Introduction to Proportion and the Mannikin

2011-09-26T10:40:00.001-04:00

This blog entry is for my students since I'm home, sick today, but I think there should be some drive by merit for the regulars.

Today's class was going to cover two things in some depth: proportion and the Loomis Mannikin.

The Loomis Mannikin as well as a wealth of other drawing information can be found in the recently reprinted Figure Drawing for All it's Worth:

Being Canadian I would prefer to just list the Chapters.Indigo link, but they're sold out. Amazon.ca has it in stock here. For the longest time you either had to pay a small fortune for one of the long out of print editions or download one of the pirate PDFs online. I'm really happy Titan has brought this and other Loomis books back into print.
One of the class handouts will be a copy of the page below showing the male and female skeleton with a head-height ruler.

Another handout is from another favourite book of mine, Jack Hamm's Drawing the Head and Figure. It's readily available at most bookstores and online at both Chapters.ca and Amazon.ca.

This one really gets the whole relationship between the head as a unit of measurement for drawing the figure. I should see about getting shares in the sales of this book as I go for the hard-sell every time I teach anything from this book as it has a wealth of well presented good information in a small and affordable package.

After a discussion and some examples of how the artist can use head measurements to improve their drawings we'd move on to the next part of the class where I'd introduce the student's to using Loomis' mannikin. Below is another excerpt from the book, but not the first page of the handout I'm giving out for this.

And I'd demonstrate how this works as a good developmental too for constructing the figure as well as show a few other approaches to the mannikin tying in some material I've picked up from Buscema, Reilly and Bridgman.

The homework for the week would build on the previous week's line of action exercises, but involve the students constructing mannikins based on photos.

I'm crawling back to bed to hopefully recover quickly enough to teach tomorrow!

~Richard

Burning Itch: The Bat and the Cat

2011-09-24T00:01:00.000-04:00

After wrapping the day drawing comics I felt I had to get this out of my head.

The new DC actually managed to hook me with a few books (which is a few books more than I was reading before this), but their mistakes have been many and the aggressive mishandling of most of their slate of female characters right from the start on the heels of the controversy over having so few female creators involved in the reboot merely reinforces the issue.

~R

Bettie Page Artist Proof 2

2011-09-23T08:40:00.000-04:00

The second of the over-sized artist proof cards from the Bettie Page set by Versicolor.

A little while back I noticed that Copic markers acted like a sort of fixative over the pencil drawings for the sketch cards I drew, so I experimented a bit and found I could do some light tonal work in graphite and it would stay largely intact under an initial application of marker colour (usually a C1 grey). It gives the pieces a retro "colorized" look, which I think really works for these Bettie Page cards.

You have to be careful not to leave too much graphite on the surface as it will smudge and dirty the marker, so I only do it lightly with the idea the darker values will have to be delivered with darker markers.

To build on the retro feel I added a graphic touch with some outlines in Prismacolor and Derwent coloured pencils. The black work was done with Copic and liquid ink pen.

Like yesterday's card, this one's available for $200.

Bettie Page Artist Proof 1

2011-09-22T09:06:00.001-04:00

One of the perks of this new Bettie Page card set is the sketch card artists getting both regular sized sketch cards (2.5x3.5") as art returns to sell but some over-sized artist proof cards (4.5x6.25").

Above is the first of the four artist proofs I did. I spent far more time on these than I anticipated and was a little exhausted after finishing the lot.

One of the four is already on hold, but the one above and the next two I'll be sharing (Friday and Monday) are still available for $200 each.

Bettie Page Artist Cards

2011-09-21T10:09:00.001-04:00

Just got approval on all my Bettie Page Artist Return cards. These are the 2.5x3.5" cards. I really busted my butt on these to get a likeness.

The bottom right card has already been claimed, but the other three are available for $75+$5S&H each.

Bettie Page Trading Card

2011-09-16T09:10:00.002-04:00

A follow-up to yesterday's posting of the black and white and coloured cards for the Bettie Page set from Versicolor. I chose to do the second piece in grey tones prior to colouring in Photoshop.

Bettie Page 1

2011-09-15T09:37:00.000-04:00

I did two non-sketch cards in the Bettie Page set from Versicolor. The first I drew in pen and ink and colored in Photoshop using the usual comics coloring approach.

The original is on 11x14" Bristol board. I'll be putting it up for sale over at comicartfans .

Versicolor was happy enough with my previous work to ask me to do more cards for them. More Bettie makes me happy, hope it does the same for you!

Hulk Sketch

2011-09-14T08:45:00.000-04:00

Found a scan of a Hulk sketch I did at the recent Fanexpo over at comicartfans.com!

Bettie Page Sketch Cards

2011-09-13T08:56:00.001-04:00

These are the first batch of sketch cards I did all in colour back in December or January. I realised I needed to drastically expand my range of Copic colours, which I did for the Marvel Beginnings set. Working with a handful of colours and with what I have available now is like night and day -- at least for me.

I just agreed to do another batch of Bettie cards for Versicolor's next set, so the comparison should be interesting when I'm allowed to share those.

BTW, the two-sided sketch card on the bottom is essentially like a coin with the art on both sides.

The Crimson Clown

2011-09-12T05:35:00.001-04:00

Another Remake/Remodel from over at the Whitechapel board. I didn't get as inspired with this one as with Professor Zomax, mainly because I felt the need to stay away from making him a Robin Hood-like Joker.

~R

2011-08-31T11:57:00.003-04:00

Artist Marc Wolf started a sketchbook featuring his son Ronin as a samurai. I was able to do one in the first book he started earlier this year. He had to start a second to allow for multiple contributions over the limited time available at conventions, so I popped a sketch in there as well.

Vampirellas

2011-08-30T11:07:00.000-04:00

Realised I got quite behind in posting the Vampirella sketch cards, so I thought I'd drop a few into one post.

Just going to make a special note about the first one, though. Quite some time a go I did a set of B&W Vampirella sketch cards for myself and thought it'd be quick and easy to redo them in colour. That wasn't the case, actually. Even though I was quite happy with the result of the one reworked card I did it took nearly three hours until I felt it was done and the deadline seemed to be looming from the start (I actually had a few weeks more than thought as these were due for San Diego and not for the general release).

In passing, I have all four of the Vampirella Artist Proof cards available for commission -- feel free to drop me a note if you're interested.

Toronto FanExpo 2011 Wrap

2011-08-29T12:11:00.000-04:00

Toronto Fanexpo 2001 is done! I had a great time (again!), but this year was the first time the event was four days long.

I arrived around 2-2:30 on Thursday and found the entire stretch of table around my spot in Artist Alley was unpopulated. I knew Dale wasn't going to be in that day -- he had a bunch of work to get done ahead of the show. I expect that may be a diminishing issue for the next few years of the con; it's not too difficult to swap a single day out of your work schedule for a can, but two days becomes a good deal more serious for freelancers and harder to prepare for. As we get used to Fanexpo being a four-day event we, as a group will be better prepared for the amount of time. I did a quick walk-about and said hi to a few friends before setting up and settling in. The day started slowly, but eventually the floor grew more crowded. I forgot my camera so I wasn't able to take pictures of any sketches. The first day was surprisingly busy compared to what I expected for a Thursday.

Friday morning I remembered to pack my camera, but I noticed the battery was nearly dead so decided to leave it behind and charging as I left. I picked up Dale and we hit the con floor ON TIME (we usually manage to be an hour or so late, so this was a plus)! Friday was busy, but didn't feel as crowded as previous years because of the hall we were in this year. It made Saturday less of a worry. It was a very good and busy day, made more pleasant by having Dale around and my mini portable fan.

Saturday started and turned out to be a pretty busy day overall. Brought my camera, but forgot to take pics of a few sketches. Here are the ones I did grab over the day:

After the day, Dale and I went out with a bunch of friends for a bite, drinks and MMA. I felt my voice go out while shout-talking -- figured Sunday would be rough.

I was pretty tired and stiff Sunday morning and was prepared for a relaxed and traditionally slower final day. It was actually quite a bit busier compared to previous years, though I did make the time to do one walk through, spend a little money at the Labyrinth's booth and say hi to a few people.

Here're the commissions I did for the day:

I did a few smaller, quicker sketches I didn't think to take pictures of.

The highlights of the con were actually the highlights of the day. While decompressing in front of the computer Saturday night I saw James Robinson was a guest at the show. I had only met him once before in Chicago which led to my drawing an issue of Starman. I still consider it the best working experience I ever had at either Marvel or DC. The story was the best I ever had the pleasure of drawing, I was inked by the stellar Wade Von Grawbadger, Chuck Kim was (and still is) the best assistant editor I have ever dealt with and the book was edited by Archie Goodwin! I've been saving the first page from that issue to give James ever since and finally had the opportunity. It was really great to see James again after all those years!

I got to talk with Bill Sienkiewicz more; he's a real person and a true artist in the mold of all great illustrators of the last and current century. I wasn't surprised to learn that he and Lance Henriksen had become fast friends after doing a signing for Lance's autobiography NOT BAD FOR A HUMAN. While I was talking to Bill, Lance came over to talk to him so I went back to my spot, but Bill waved me back over and introduced me. My hearts was beating pretty fast -- I've been a huge fan of Lance's since his turn as Bishop in ALIENS and only grew in admiration since. I was a little overwhelmed while shaking his hand and asked if I could hug him and he said yes! We talked for a bit, he really is as warm and generous as you've heard. I'm looking forward to seeing his return to a certain role we talked about. I used to draw Lance from the photos in various SF magazines when I was younger and more than a little envious of the people who contributed art to his biography, but I think I'm just going to do some Lance drawings for myself again soon!

There were a number of great encounters with people over the length of the con and I have to think the addition of a fourth day was a success. I want to thank everyone; fellow guests, exhibitors, retailers, convention staff, volunteers and all the fans for making this such a wonderful experience. I'm looking forward to next year already!

~R

Toronto FanExpo 2011

2011-08-23T12:17:00.000-04:00

Hi all.

I'll be at the Toronto FanExpo this weekend, set up in artists alley at PO62-A (sitting right next to my pal, Dale Keown as usual!).
Here's a floor plan map:

A close-up of where I am in that whole thing:

These are the prints I know I'm bringing to the con. I'm working on something else, but I don't want to commit to bringing something I might feel is less than 100%.:

My piece for TRANSMETROPOLITAN: ALL AROUND THE WORLD . . .

Something from the adaptation of THE SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH I'm working on. . . .

The Red Sonja piece I finished yesterday. . . .

And the alternate cover for Spike:Asylum (seems a favourite so I'm bringing more of them).

The prints are $20 individually, $35 for any two, $50 for three and $60 for all four. They're printed in six colours on Ilford 290gsm gallery quality paper with a pearl finish. If you buy something else or commission a drawing I'll probably swing you a deal on prints as well.

I'll have some original art and sketch cards and I'll be drawing as well: $40 for busts $80 for full-figure. More complicated drawings can be negotiated, I guess.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the convention!

Red Sonja Print for FanExpo

2011-08-22T22:35:00.000-04:00

Finally finished this piece in advance of the Toronto FanExpo this weekend. I'll be selling prints of this and some other works while I'm there.

The work process for this started with a sketch, turned into loose pencils, then inked before being scanned @600dpi.

Vampirella Sketch Card 12

2011-08-19T14:33:00.000-04:00

Friday Vampirella.

Off to see Conan the Barbarian in (ugh) 3D today.

Hearing mixed reviews.

Vampirella Sketch Card 11

2011-08-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

Another of the exclusive set of 25 sketch cards I did for Breygent's San Diego visit.
~R

Professor Zomax

2011-08-17T13:55:00.000-04:00

Professor Zomax had a very bad day.
He decided to make lemonade from the lemons, as it were. . . .

This week's Remake/Remodel over at Whitechapel.

Mike Wieringo - Koj

2011-08-16T13:02:00.000-04:00

This past Friday was the fourth anniversary of Mike Wieringo's sudden passing. It snuck up on me this year and put me in a terrible funk for the whole day so I didn't start do any drawing that day. I drew the above Saturday, but held off posting it: it seemed too dark and morose and expressed too much of how I was feeling. I thought I might colour it, to change the feeling a bit, but let it sit there. Faced with colouring it I started feeling sad again. I had to let it go as is.

Today I realised that the issue might be in my memorializing Mike's death and not his life. The date ticks around every year and I'm finding myself thinking about how much I miss talking to him on the phone or seeing him whenever we were at the same convention. This sort of feeling doesn't really suit the way Mike lived or the joy his work evoked in the people so lucky to enjoy looking at it, so this will be the last time I'll be posting art in remembrance of his passing.

Next year I'll be (hopefully) posting something on Mike's birthday in June -- it's the 24th, IIRC (I'll have to double check as I'm always messing up people's birthdays).

Vampirella Sketch Card 10

2011-08-15T10:10:00.000-04:00

Vampirella: Once More With Feeling!

Heh.

~R

Red Skull AP2

2011-08-12T10:04:00.000-04:00

The lip-less terror!

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 09

2011-08-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

Back to Vampirella today.

~R

Red Skull AP1

2011-08-10T14:31:00.000-04:00

One of the artist proofs.

Vampirella Sketch Card 08

2011-08-09T10:46:00.000-04:00

Here's another one!

Careful. She bites!

Vampirella Sketch Card 07

2011-08-08T11:05:00.000-04:00

More Vampi!

HULK puzzle cards

2011-08-05T10:23:00.000-04:00

Taking a little break from the Vampirellas.

Did this 4-card puzzle before my trip to Winnipeg. It's a bit of a call-back to the 8-card puzzle I did for the set.
Just realised I haven't heard back from the person who commissioned it.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 06

2011-08-04T10:48:00.000-04:00

Either Vampirella's got a clot in her throat or she's a little verklempt.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 05

2011-08-03T11:24:00.000-04:00

Back from my trip to Winnipeg and so I'm back to posting the San Diego exclusive sketch cards Breygent commissioned.

Vampirella Sketch Card 04

2011-07-28T11:48:00.000-04:00

Another of the San Diego exclusive Vampirella cards Breygent gave out last weekend.

I'll pick up posting these again when I get back from Winnipeg next week.

Vampirella Sketch Card 03

2011-07-27T09:44:00.000-04:00

More V!

Vampirella Sketch Card 02

2011-07-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

More Vampi!

Vampirella Sketch Card 01

2011-07-25T09:25:00.000-04:00

San Diego is over and I'm pretty sure Breygent has doled out all their exclusive Vampirella cards, so i should be in the free and clear to share the rest of them now.

Planning to drop these one-a-day as I can as I usually do, so look forward to a few weeks of red bathing suited cheesecake.

~R

18 July -- Dr. Sketchy's with Percy Kat

2011-07-19T11:35:00.000-04:00

Last night was another in the limited summer run of Dr. Sketchy's events in Toronto. It was another sweltering night in Toronto. I'm starting to think rain is a lie or nature is responding to Rob Ford being elected as mayor and shutting down in horror.

Percy Kat was the model and it felt very much like a 70s genre revue; he first emerged from behind the red curtain looking like a supporting character from Barbarella:

As the night progressed and the heat wore away and my focus I went back to this drawing and rendered it up a bit.

1-minute gestures were the start -- as usual.

Followed by 5-minute poses. . . .

After the break Percy came out smothered in gold glitter and make-up and a hat that would have looked at home on Whoopi Goldberg's head from her role in the Star Trek series.

The challenge was the best incorporation of James Bond and this was the best I could do.

Sorry. . . .

The last costume change and Percy wore a wig that put this image in my head:

And so my brain was fried for the last of the night even though I made a few more feeble attempts at drawing.

Despite the oppressive, soul-devouring heat, it was a great night out sketching with like-minded deviants.

11 July 2011 Dr. Sketchy's with Obskyura

2011-07-12T18:35:00.000-04:00

I made it to my first Dr. Sketchy's in about a year and I don't think I could have picked a better session to return to. Obskyura was a delight to draw and a pleasure to observe. This was her second Sketchy appearance, butI missed her first go round, sadly

Started off with gestures:

Then a few 5-minute sketches:

Followed by the first challenge; incorporate either Admiral Akbar and his famous "It's a trap!" line or something Star Wars related. This is all I could come up with. . . .

Obskyura returned as a befanged lady in red:

The second challenge was incorporating your least favourite vampire. The drawing was an awful Pattinson caricature that won just because I make a joke about vampires lacking a heartbeat ensuring their penises will never rise from the grave.

Last batch was a lovely barbarian queen costume with an outrageous wig.

I limited myself to just pencils and a marker, leaving my overstocked art kit at home.

More next week.

Red Skulls No More

2011-07-01T10:33:00.000-04:00

Crisis on (Not So) Infinite Red Skulls?

Actually, with all the gaping, lipless mouths this could be a rough for some sort of zombie poster.

RED ZOMBIE! The zombie pathogen in this story not only raises the dead, but turns them cadmium red medium as well.

~R

Again With The Red Skulls!

2011-06-30T10:48:00.000-04:00

These are the last of the unfinished Red Skulls cards.

More Red Skulls

2011-06-29T13:17:00.000-04:00

More unfinished Red Skull sketch cards.

Notice the absence of red. . . .

~R

Whatever Happened to Those 99 Red Skulls?

2011-06-28T14:02:00.000-04:00

Some of you might recall I was working on doing 99 Red Skell sketch cards for the Captain America set, but I've never posted any of them. The reason is I didn't manage to finish them by the deadline and didn't realise I missed the deadline until after it had passed.

I did learn never to try and do 99 full colour sketch cards for practically nothing and meet deadlines for real work. I was using every shortcut I could think of -- rendering them in batches, actually redrawing another card I liked -- but it wasn't enough. I'm not sure how the other people manage to find the time to do that many cards on top of their other assignments (and many of them do far more than the head shots I typically do), but I was finding the cards were starting to suffer. I never even managed to find the time to open the box of Kree/Skrull cards before that deadline passed. There's no way I can reasonably accommodate more than colour 25-50 cards over a few months with my schedule as it is. If nothing else, I learned my limits here.

Anyway, I figure I can share what I did manage to do over the next little while even though they'll never reach the collector market.

Here's a batch of the penciled cards. I'd lighten these with a kneaded eraser before using the markers on them. They'd all be taped into a group of eight cards, I'd draw the Skulls then tape the edges down to an 11x14" sheet of illustration board so I could move them around without handling the cards themselves. I used a fair amount of liquid frisket to block out the heads before using a marker-airbrush to tone the backgrounds. Lots of Copic work and pencils crayon noodling later I'd call it quits.

Here's a batch of more-or-less finished cards - -actually only happy with a few of these. The lower card on the left side was one of the first I did -- the quality drop is pretty obvious after that, I think.

More later. . . .

Gene Colan's Dracula

2011-06-24T13:55:00.000-04:00

Gene Colan has passed away.

Even though every report or reminiscence about the man described him as kind, giving and wonderful man, I'll leave it to others who actually knew the person to talk about him. I only know him through his work, which was a revelation when I first encountered it in the pages of the two Nathaniel Dusk series published by DC back in the 1980s. I had seen his work prior to that, and I was impressed with what I saw of his work translated through the hands of his inkers, but it wasn't until I saw his pencils that I really experienced the power and energy in his drawings.

Now, nearly thirty years later, it's easy to Google samples of the man's pencils and I have a certain envy to the starting artists getting to see so much so easily, but, my so-called deadly sin aside, I encourage all to take the time to surf the net for as much of Gene's work you can. Perhaps order some collections of his work.

I certain nothing would make him happier than knowing he's still entertaining and enthralling comics audiences even after passing away.

***
A while ago a bit of an artist meme started with all sorts of talented folks taking their hand to inking a specific sketch of Dracula Gene did. I was initially planning to participate, but found I was actually too intimidated by the task. The news pushed me past that this morning.
So, even though I still feel inadequate to the pencils, here's my inks over the legendary Gene Colan's pencils. Once the Canada Post lockout has been resolved I'll likely auction this off to benefit The Hero Initiative.

A more direct comparison:

And, for anyone interested in taking a hand at this themselves, a large scan of the pencils.

It Takes a Hero

2011-06-21T09:41:00.000-04:00

Just got an email reminder about Hope: The Hero Initiative. They've sold out of half the print run and looking to push the rest out the door. The full color, 188-page softcover has a cover price of $19.95 and can be ordered from retailers with the Diamond Order Code DEC101038.

Jeff Telofski and Keith Brett wrote a charming little story and it was fun to draw, colour and letter a story again -- I think it's only the second time I've done that.

Vampirella Sketch Card 08

2011-06-09T11:12:00.000-04:00

And this makes for the last of the previews of my San Diego exclusive sketch cards for Breygent.

I'll start sharing the other 17 starting the week of the con.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 07

2011-06-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

The seventh of the eight preview cards.

I was intending to draw a wall behind her then just forgot as I moved on to the next batch.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 06

2011-06-07T13:55:00.000-04:00

Here's the 6th of the previews!

~R

A Colour Vampirella Sketch

2011-06-07T09:40:00.000-04:00

I guess drawing all these Vampirella cards has played on my affection for the character to the point i'm drawing her for warm-ups as well. I mentioned I did a Vampirella sketch based on the Black Cat card-puzzle -- this is it, but coloured a bit in Pshop.

Now I'm tempted to redraw this as a two-card Vampirella sketch card -- I think if I draw this pose enough I'll get good at it!

Vampirella Sketch Card 05

2011-06-06T11:41:00.000-04:00

The fifth of the previews of the San Diego exclusive Vampirella sketch cards.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 04

2011-06-04T10:10:00.000-04:00

More Vampi!

Vampirella Sketch Card 03

2011-06-03T12:12:00.000-04:00

Here's the third of the Vampirella San Diego promotional cards.

I'll only be sharing eight of these ahead of San Diego. The remaining 17 will have to wait until after.

I', actually playing with a more colourful palette for the rest, so it's a bit of a shame I won't be able to show 'em off for a few months.

* * *

Also thought I should mention I'm still clearing out my Iron Man 2 sketch cards --you can see 'em here! The Iron Man was snapped up. Many of the Artist Proofs from Thor are still available as well -- lookee here for those.

I'll do a more precise update of which have sold when I get a chance next week.

~R

Vampirella Sketch Card 02 & a correction

2011-06-02T11:37:00.000-04:00

Heya --here's the second card preview!

I think I'm getting a little obsessed with drawing women looking back over their shoulders! I drew that Black Cat card, the Vampi above and this morning I started warming up in my studio by essentially redrawing the Black Cat puzzle as a Vampi drawing.

Oh, and a correction about yesterday's post -- these sketch cards aren't for the main Vampi release from Breygent. They'll be San Diego Comicon exclusives!

Woot!

~R

Vampirella Sketch Cards

2011-06-01T16:43:00.000-04:00

The follow-up to all the Thor and stuff? Vampirella!

Breygent Marketing is doing the Vampirella card set and I'm contributing 25 of 'em.

I've only got 4 artist proofs for this set. Right now I'm thinking 80 per card. Lemme know if anyone's interested.

~Richard

Iron Man 2 Artist Proofs Redux

2011-05-31T15:40:00.000-04:00

I've a pile of artist proofs from an alarming number of card sets coming in and I realised I never made much of an effort to sell these guys after initially posting them.

I've decided to drop the prices to 50.00 each. I'm asking for 5.00 S&H for North America (I'll combine cards into one shipment if needed).

~R

99 Thor Heads Aftermath!

2011-05-30T12:33:00.000-04:00

I've posted all the Thor sketch cards -- YAY!

What can I post now that they're all gone? Howsabout the Thor Artist Proofs!

Yes -- MORE THOR! With the bonus of Wolverine's scowling mug and Black Cat's butt!

The top Thor is already sold, but all the other cards are available for 75.00 each. The Black Cat is a bargain at 250 for the puzzle. Regular shipping and handling is included for North America.

~R

99 Thor Heads 99

2011-05-29T14:01:00.000-04:00

And then they were all done!

Here's a look at the whole lot:

I wonder what I'll post now?