Birthday Girl

Unbelievably, my daughter turns six years old today. The painting above was done when she was four, and I never got around to finshing it. I doubt I'll do any more work on it though, since I would rather do a new one if I can ever find the time.

Today also sees the release of Captain America #38, but there will be no cake involved-

Captain America #41 Cover

Marvel's August solicitations are starting to show up, featuring Captain America #41. Here's how Marvel describes the issue -

CAPTAIN AMERICA #41
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Pencils & Cover by STEVE EPTING
The epic "Death of Captain America" tale hits its penultimate chapter... and the final battle between the New Captain America and the people who killed Steve Rogers begins here!
By the Eisner-Nominated team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99


Also, last week The 2007 Eagle Award was given to CAPTAIN AMERICA 25-30: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA under the category Favourite Comics Story published during 2007. Thanks to all who voted.

Sketchbook 001

I've been meaning to do this for a while, so here it goes. I've finally started actually sketching on a (semi) daily basis in my little tiny sketchbook. Whenever I manage to get a couple of pages filled up I'll be inflicting them on you here. Bear in mind that I may spend less than 5 minutes at a time drawing in this thing, so it could be a while before I actually fill up two pages. Also, as today's post shows, I may get the urge to do some color experiments after they get scanned in.

All of this is due mainly to the inspiration of guys like Dylan Teague and Edward Kinsella (among others), who do some amazing sketchbook pages. Plus, I'm hoping I can snap myself out of the artistic rut I've been in.

By the way, when you click on thumbnail above, the image you'll see is the actual size of the sketchbook.

Convention Update

In case you may have missed the announcement today, I will be appearing (along with Captain America writer Ed Brubaker) at Heroes Con in Charlotte June 20-22. I currently plan to be there Friday and Saturday only, but if that changes I'll update it here. Shelton always puts on one of the best shows in the country and I'm looking forward to returning this year.

UPDATE: I've received several requests for advance commissions and unfortunately, my schedule simply won't allow it at this time. Also, several people have e-mailed me hoping to get on the sketch list before the show. I appreciate the time and effort it sometimes takes to get a convention sketch and wish I could accommodate everyone, but I want to try to be fair, so the sketch list will be on a first come-first served basis on the day of the show. I'll do my best to do as many sketches as possible, and look forward to seeing you all in Charlotte.

UPDATE 2: Sorry, I won't be doing sketches of naked superheroes either.

Also - On sale this week - The Death Of Captain America Vol 2 is out in Premiere Hardcover format reprinting CAPTAIN AMERICA #31-36.

Iron Man 2

Another piece of Iron Man liscencing art from 2004 (again, I only supplied the pencils) that was painted by Scott Johnson -







The Iron Man figure and the cityscape background were done separately so that the background could possibly be used many times with different characters.

Iron Man

In honor of Iron Man's success at the box office this weekend (and yes, I saw it and enjoyed it), I'm posting some Iron Man art I worked on for Marvel's Creative Services Department back in 2004. I should point out up front that I only supplied the pencils for these projects, and the lion's share of the work was done by the incredibly talented Scott Johnson.

First up is an image of Iron Man surrounded by his various armors. I was supplied with an image of Iron Man that was done by Adi Granov with a mockup background pasted in:



I was also given this image by Paulo Rivera of a similar scene:



What they wanted was a background with the same look of the Paulo Rivera piece to paste in behind the Adi Granov figure. After fighting endlessly with the perspective and the various armor designs, I finally managed to get a pencilled piece finished. I wasn't too happy with it at the time and I still see a lot of obvious problems that I should have fixed:



This was sent to the aforementioned Scott Johnson, who despite the flaws in the pencils used it as the basis for this incredible digital painting:



And here's the final result, with the Granov figure in place:



As you can see, Scott did a great job of painting the background and integrating it with the previously existing art.

More Iron Man tomorrow!

Post Convention Hangover

I had honestly intended to update the blog (complete with pictures and everything) while on the road to Toronto and New York over the past two weeks, but I just never found the time. We had a great time at both shows and everything went off without a hitch (if you don't count the delay leaving NY Sunday night to keep the skies clear for the Pope).

I won't be giving a blow by blow account of our trip, but I do want to thank everyone who came by my table at both shows - and I want to especially thank the following people - Spencer Beck, Jay Williams, Aman Gupta, Tiziano De Santis, Ty Buttars, Kevin Boyd, and of course Matt Mezick for the awesome backstage tour of Phantom of the Opera.

Here's a few of the sketches that were done at one show or the other.

Captain America Returns (Again)!

Yes, Captain America has returned yet again, this time with 14 points of articulation. Read more about it here.


Also, just a reminder that I'll be at the Toronto Comicon this weekend (April 12-13) at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Stop by and say hello if you're in the area.

Spider-man

Very quick sketch in Photoshop-

Dave Stevens (1955-2008)

Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens passed away earlier this week.

I never met Dave, and I don't have any funny or interesting stories to tell about him, but I loved Rocketeer. I loved the pulp inspired sensibilities and the ultra cool avaitor's outfit topped off with an Art Deco inspired streamlined helmet. I loved the criminally underrated movie that had a perfect cast. I loved the image of the Rocketeer atop the observatory with a Mauser in his hand (that he'd just taken from a KO'd Nazi naturally), American flag waving behind him. It felt to me like a character that had been around for decades, right along with the Phantom, the Shadow, Tarzan, and the Lone Ranger - an instant classic.

It's quite a tribute to Dave Stevens' talent that a character who only appeared in a handful of comics (five? six?) had such an impact, at least among comics fans. I know the general public probably couldn't pick the Rocketeer out of a line up, but he endures as an icon in the comics universe as far as I'm concerned. Even as I type this I can see the 3" high Rocketeer figure that has stood on one of my bookshelves the last 15 or so years - standing guard with his hands on his hips.

Click here to read a nice remembrance of Dave.

Swamp Monster Thing Man

Another old speedpaint, slightly updated.

Captain America #39 Cover

Since it's been popping up here and there on the web after being leaked on Marvel's site, I suppose it's safe for me to go ahead and post this here.

The cover for Captain America #39 -

Conventional Thinking

The world tour begins this April as I will be appearing at two seperate conventions in a 10 day period. First up is the Toronto Comicon April 12-13 at the Metro Toronto Convention Center, and the following weekend I'll be attending the New York Comic Con - April 18-20 at the Jacob Javits Center. This will be my first time at both of these shows and I'm looking forward to it. Stop by and say hi if you're in the area.

Rock The Vote - Captain America #38 Cover

Marvel has released some of May's solicitations and therefore revealed the purpose of the Red Skull painting from a few days ago. Here's how Marvel describes Captain America #38-

CAPTAIN AMERICA #38
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Pencils and Cover by STEVE EPTING
THE SAGA OF THE NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA CONTINUES!
Bucky Barnes never wanted to be Captain America, but he's doing his best to carry on the legacy of Steve Rogers, in his own way, while trying to save Sharon Carter from the Red Skull and his minions. But maybe he's not the only one running around in a Captain America outfit!
Part Two of "The Man Who Bought America" by the acclaimed team of Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99

Ed suggested doing a cover featuring the Red Skull in the style of an old Soviet propaganda poster and this is what I came up with-

You Say You Want A Revolution...