The Sign Said 'Headshots'/And That Was All

Hey there, welcome back.  It's been a while, I know.  Sorry for being so negligent.  It's just... I've been busy, you know?  And things come up... but I'll try, honest- it's not that I don't have things to say, it's just... well, you know me.  I'm just lazy.  I'll do more, really... tomorrow.

Thanks for coming back to visit.  This time around, some doodling!  Heads, as it were.  When I doodle, I do tend to draw heads/faces.  I find them the most interesting (and often most difficult) parts of anatomy to draw.  So much expression, so much detail- it's the part of the anatomy we see most often of others (not counting fingers while driving).  I like goofing around, coming up with different exaggerated looks for people; many times, I'll draw an entire person in the style derived from the way I drew the head (not easy, let me tell you- I've examples of that gone horribly awry, as well). 

This started out with ol' Sherlock there- definitely in keeping with the way I normally draw- though perhaps a bit exaggerated (and clearly not Downey, Jr.-inspired).  While thinking what to doodle next, the image of the super-angular Batman popped up fully-formed; so it had to go onto the page.  Seeing that, I really dug how it turned out.  Simple, distinctive- very atypical of my style.  After that, I went with Hellboy and Starman, before turning towards Marvel's Thor (who now looks just like the dad from 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs', with hair), then tried my hand at what I think is J'onn J'onzz, Martian Manhunter, and some random woman with big goggles.  The partially-finished body is from a motion idea I had (didn't go anywhere, I think), and I have no idea what that thing in front of Batman is. 

Anyway, there you go.  Doodling outside my comfort zone.  I like the look of these heads a lot, but I'm not entirely sure how to extrapolate whole bodies out of them.  Perhaps I'll return to them one day... or perhaps I'll find something completely different.  I'm still looking for my 'style', so maybe this is it.

Cheers for now-

s.

Son of K'un-Lun

This is totally ripping off David Aja's amazing artwork.  Excuse me, 'homaging'... or swiping, if you've read my previous posts.  As I don't get paid to do this, I don't mind so much.  Plus, it's a great way to learn how to draw better.  It's why they have aspiring artists try to copy the Masters' artworks.

Anyway, Iron Fist.  Awesome book from a few years ago, written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, two of my favorite writers.  It's a crazy

Kung-Fu/Pulp/Retro/Modern/Exploitation/Kitchen Sink book- completely nuts and exactly why I love it.  They took a 70's character and brought him into the modern era, not by jettisoning his past, but by actually giving him more of one than he ever had before.  Fantastically fun read- plus featured some outstanding art from legends like Russ Heath and John Severin (who still draws some of the best war scenes ever). 

Hope life is making you smile, wherever you are.

Music- I don't know, that music from "Kill Bill" will work...

From the Crypt, 15: Heavy Metal... *sigh*

8/30/92.

Deathlok and Cable. One's a brave and honorable man trapped in a mechanical death machine, the other's a cyborg sent back from the future to save mankind. In other words, it's Robocop and the Terminator.

These were two of the more popular characters from Marvel back in the day... Hell, Cable was one of the most popular characters around back then. Things have changed somewhat... for one thing, shoulder pads are OUT.

Anyway, this was one drawing I recall being particularly proud of, if only for actually getting more than one character on the page. I always liked the way Deathlok looked in this shot- the turned head was quite an accomplishment for me back in the day (which is funny, as nowadays that's almost all I draw). More overexaggerated muscles, and guns that seem to be random assortments of rectangles. All good fun.

That's it. One more picture and this book is done, I believe.

Music: "More Human Than Human" - White Zombie

From the Crypt, 14: The Main Man

8/21/92.

Oh, you whacky 90's, you... The only excess was excess itself. Nothing exemplified the idea of over-the-top 90's comic book sensibilities better than The Main Man himself, Lobo. I'm not sure where he started out in the DC comics' universe (not entirely true- Omega Men 9, I think, off the top of my head), but this definition defining "Anti-Hero" really came into his own in the early 90's with a series of hyperviolent, dementedly funny miniseries. Lobo was the last survivor of his race (having killed them off himself) and an intergalactic bounty hunter for hire. I really couldn't tell you what any of the stories were about, aside from as much violence, sex, and bad humor as a 'mature readers' comic would allow. Nowadays, I'm not even sure if the books would get any kind of label at all.

This picture probably looks ridiculous and over the top; for Lobo, that's about right. I remember having a lot of fun making up the drawing, coming up with all of the little gun details and other details in general. Also, I like the foreshortening of his arms- one of the few times it actually looks pretty good. Also, I remember being afraid of what Dad would say when he looked at it (not Lobo's hands, and the rings on them). He said nothing, but I think he shook his head...

Anyway, that's it for now. Two more pictures to go from this first sketchbook...

Music: "Outshined" - Soundgarden

... In Darkest Night

In Hopeless Day In Endless Night
No Victim Shall Be Lost From Sight
Let Those Who Fear Death's Dark Blight
Embrace My Power, Gray Lantern's Light

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a bit of a comic book geek. I make no apologies for it- I love my comic books, they've been a great source of joy for me, they've taught me a lot (introduced me to both art and science, so how bad can that be?), and, as the rest of the world flocks to see comic-book movies, I can be one of those guys who sits there and says "told ya so". I've even gotten a job based on my love and knowledge of comics. Okay, it was with a comic book store, but so what?

Back in 1997, I was finishing my 5-year 4-year plan, and earning a B.S. in Biology. Of course, being the genius that I am, I never found a job in the field. However, rather than moving on and away from State College then, I decided to stick around (I had a number of good reasons for doing so). So I was staying, but I'd need some more scratch to make ends meet. Strangely enough, about that time, I was offered a job at the Comic Swap, State College's Premier Comic Book Store since 1976. Well, who was I to say no to that? I even offered to work for comics, but Kris, being a smart guy, offered me money instead.

While there, I met a great assortment of folks; people of all walks of life, of all stripes, comic fans all. We talked about all sorts of things, politics to the environment, music to movies, and above all, comic books. Of course, no one talked about it as much as the guys who worked there. I worked with some great guys; from Kris, my boss, to Randy, who came up with the funniest sayings ever ('it blew a hole in him the size of a lobster!" being but one of them), to Thad, who's now one of my oldest friends and fellow Hellboy devotee.

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the things I like best about comics is worldbuilding. Well, that's not just me- that's most comic fans. We love imagining "what if" in the existing comic book universes. If only we could make our versions...

Well, one day, that's just what Thad, Randy, and I did. We came up with an entire alternate take on the DC universe (home to Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, for you uninitiated out there). We had some pretty smart ideas, I thought- interesting takes on the world of the DCU, things like using real-time for the characters, rather than that static comic-book time (don't bother trying to make sense of that; you had to be there).

And then, we had some... more interesting ideas.

Green Lantern is one of the more popular DC heroes- he's essentially a space cop with a ring that makes anything he can imagine real, as long as he has the willpower to do it. Every 24 hours, the Lantern rechares his ring with a Power Battery (shaped like a lantern) and recites his oath. And he's part of a galactic police force, populated by bunches of aliens. We wanted to revisit that concept, and so came up with some different ideas for them. Thad came up with this one (which I'm further elaborating on here), a horror-styled Green Lantern, which was a far cry from the other characters we'd seen. This guy was a Green Lantern, but also a doctor. While on a mission, he was attacked, mostly annihilated, and left for dead. They ripped out his heart, for Oa's sake. But, as I said, the rings are powered by will. And this guy is one willful SOB. So, with his last firing synapses, he actually wills a new heart into existence. Of course, that's only a stop-gap measure, so he takes his power battery and embeds it into his chest. But he's messed up pretty badly, so he uses his ring to will himself new body parts, most visibly an eye. (I know, messed up, isn't it great?) The hook being, he's insanely powerful, but just surviving requires so much of his willpower, he's at best an average Lantern. Plus, his 'death' and subsequent resurrection have changed his perspective on what it means to serve and protect. He's no longer a Green Lantern, punishing the bad guys. Being a doctor, I thought it would be interesting to take his dedication to life to a more extreme conclusion. He stands between the living and the dead; death is his enemy.

God, it's good to be a geek.
---
Slight weapons malfunction, so I'll be back with more info about the above later.

Cheers!

The Greatest Gryffindor

Greetings everyone, and welcome back.

Today, yep, another HP character (is it my fault there's like 3.5 million of them?). This unassuming fellow above is Neville Longbottom. In the books, Neville rarely gets much attention- in fact, he's usually played for laughs, accidentally causing some manner of damage to himself or otherwise serving as a source of humor. However, he is slowly revealed to be one of the most interesting and sympathetic characters over the course of the series. Like Snape, he is a character of hidden depth, though unlike Snape, Neville is always likable.

At first, Neville was a hard character to get a handle on. Matthew Lewis, who plays Neville in the HP movies, makes such a strong impression that it's hard not to instantly think of Matthew as the character from the book. He very much personifies Neville. I had set Neville aside to work on some other pieces (yes, what you're seeing is out of order) when I eventually took another thought at the character. What I liked most about Neville in the movie is that he doesn't look like a lead actor- he looks like a regular kid. So I tried to think of Neville as more of an "everyday" kid rather than as one of those kids everyone wanted to be growing up. Someone less photogenic, but more likable. I gave Neville more rounded features, and made him less slim than the others- he hasn't lost his baby fat, and probably won't. Neville looks like a softy. I tried to give him slightly larger, darker eyes as well, showing him as an open, straightforward kind of guy. Also, Neville ended up in street clothes rather than robes for some reason. Neville's favorite class is Herbology, so I figured he'd be holding some kind of plant- this is apparently some manner of magical sunflower.

Hope everyone's weekend was enjoyable. I went to the Baltimore comic book convention (or comicon) this Saturday with my friends Dave and Thad. As always, it was a very enjoyable time. I really like going, because it's a chance to meet the creators of some of my favorite comic books, as well as maybe discover some books I've never seen before. It was the opportunity to see artists in action, drawing sketches for folks left and right- from young hopefuls sketching for $10 up to pros charging multiple hundreds. A good gig if you can get it! I met some of my favorite artists, both new and long-time favorites. I've added links to their sites to the right.

This was also a special convention- this was the first comic book convention since the passing of Mike Wieringo (see my first entry), and it was the industry's chance to express its love for and appreciation of Mike. Judging by the events throughout the day, Mike made a huge impact on just about everyone he ever met, let alone worked with, in the industry. There were a number of vendors and pros who were in some way or another honoring Mike. Mike Wieringo loved animals, at least as much as he loved comics (and that's saying a lot). So, to honor Mike, creators teamed up with the convention showrunner to hold fundraisers all day long, with the intent to donate all the money raised to the Baltimore County Humane Society. Best of all, this is going to be an annual event. It was pretty awesome.

Oh- as you've all seen, I've been drawing a lot of Harry Potter stuff. Well, if you didn't know it, there are hundreds of other folks out there doing some amazing jobs drawing the characters. One woman I found on Friday just amazes me. Imagine Walt Disney making a HP animated movie, and you've pretty much described her style. They're fantastic pictures- I'm glad I only found them now, otherwise I'd have given up drawing them from the start! Check out some of her HP work here and more of her artwork here.

That's all for now! See you Wednesday...

PS You'll be happy to hear I've kinda/sorta started drawing some real people. You know who you are...

Music: "Keep Me In Your Heart" - Warren Zevon