Steve Epting

Captain America #43 Cover

2008-07-22T00:40:00.004-04:00

Marvel's October 2008 solicitations are beginning to appear, featuring Captain America #43. Here's how Marvel describes the issue:

CAPTAIN AMERICA #43
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Pencils by LUKE ROSS
Cover by STEVE EPTING
Bucky has survived his first major trial as the new Captain America, but now a villain from his past - both as Bucky in WW2 and as the Winter Soldier during the Cold War - has come to the U.S. and he'll have to face his history just as he's finding his feet in the present. The beginning of a gripping war and espionage tale, with some familiar faces for long-term Cap readers, as the New Captain America moves further into the Marvel U. And for this action-packed three-part story, award-winning Cap writer Ed Brubaker is joined by acclaimed artist Luke Ross (Jonah Hex, Samurai).
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

This issue marks my 20th painted cover, and it's an ongoing experiment. Next month, I'll try to post a step by step of the cover process, much like the page process in the previous post.

Page Process

2008-07-17T21:04:00.012-04:00

Captain America #40 went on sale this week, and instead of my usual lame generic post announcing the fact, I've decided to show a little of the process involved in drawing the book.

After printing out the script, I'll usually go through and do thumbnails directly on the script pages as I'm reading it. These are generally quick impressions, and are subject to change (to put it mildly). Here's the thumbnail for page 11-

The next step is the actual pencilling. I really prefer drawing with pens and markers instead of pencil, so "pencilling" may not be the right term. I only use pencils to roughly block in the figures and then draw everything with whatever pen I have laying around, using a Sharpie for the big solid blacks. Usually on this step, I'll lay out everything a little more carefully than you see here, but since this page required no establishing shots or busy environments, I could just concentrate on getting the figures on the page-

This then gets scanned into Photoshop to tweak the placement and composition, completing the "pencils" part of the process-

This rough is then printed out on 11x17 paper and then taped to the back of an art board supplied by Marvel. My drawing table has a lightbox and I go straight to inks from this stage. There may be some incidental pencilling as I go, particularly if I'm working on something very specific, like a certain building or type of car. Faces and hands also are subject to being refined before the inks go down . Here's the final inked page-

Finally, it's uploaded to the folks at Marvel, who then pass it on to the one and only Frank D'Armata for coloring-

- and that's that.

I don't follow these steps exactly for every page, but for the most part this is how it's done. I'm constantly trying to tweak this process and eliminate steps in an attempt to increase speed and production, so this is all subject to change.

The Secret To Drawing Like Milton Caniff

2008-07-07T01:18:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Butch Guice, who sent this to me yesterday.

Sketchbook 006

2008-06-30T23:01:00.004-04:00

Some figures after de la Fuente.

Under The Sea

2008-06-25T22:42:00.005-04:00

More unseen art - an older speedpaint from last year.

In more current news, Captain America #39 is now available in your local comic book retail store - and in case you need a reminder, it looks like this-

Sketchbook 004 and 005

2008-06-20T11:51:00.003-04:00

The figures on the left of page 5 are after Leopold Sanchez.

Heroes Con tomorrow!

Heroes Con Update

2008-06-19T10:04:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody, Heroes Con is this weekend, and there will be a slight change in plans regarding my appearance there. I was originally scheduled for Friday and Saturday only, but now I will be there only on Saturday. An unforeseen family obligation ( a good one) requires me to stay home Friday. I'll be there all day Saturday however, and will do as many sketches as possible during the day. Hope to see you there!

2007 Cover Of The Year

2008-06-17T13:35:00.003-04:00

The fans at Marvel.com have voted Captain America #25 2007 cover of the year. Read more about it here.

Thanks to all who voted!

Captain America #42 Cover

2008-06-16T14:38:00.011-04:00

Marvel's September solicitations are here, featuring Captain America #42. Here's how Marvel describes the issue -

CAPTAIN AMERICA #42
Written by ED BRUBAKER
Pencils & Cover by STEVE EPTING
The final chapter of the epic "Death of Captain America" saga is here! The New Captain America, the Falcon, the Black Widow, Sharon Carter - all in a final showdown with the Red Skull and his minions for the future of America!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

Comparing the cover featured in the article to the one above you'll notice that:

A) The cover on Newsarama is unfinished.

and

B) I changed the background at some point during the painting.

Not my favorite cover, but not my least favorite either. After all, it does have Arnim Zola on it.

UPDATE: Just for comparison's sake, and a little peek at the work in progress, here's the cover as posted in the solits-

You can see my pencils on the two main figures of Cap and Red Skull with flat color underneath them. The smaller figures below are more finished, but there was still work to be done on them. I liked the graphic appeal of the star, but the dominant blue field behind it merged too much with the blue of Cap's costume and made him recede into the background. Cap (and the Skull) needed to be the focal point and the cool blues of his costume contrasted much better against the warm red and white stripes.

Sketchbook 003

2008-06-13T10:15:00.003-04:00

Secret Invasion

2008-06-09T10:07:00.007-04:00

Here's a secret: this Secret Invasion Sketch Cover is on eBay right now. If you're interested, go have a look here.

Sketchbook 002

2008-05-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Birthday Girl

2008-05-21T09:30:00.001-04:00

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

2008-05-20T10:52:00.009-04:00

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

2008-05-16T16:26:00.012-04:00

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

2008-05-08T20:43:00.007-04:00

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

2008-05-06T17:00:00.006-04:00

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

2008-05-05T13:27:00.009-04:00

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

2008-04-25T15:04:00.007-04:00

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)!

2008-04-09T22:28:00.006-04:00

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

2008-03-25T13:56:00.003-04:00

Very quick sketch in Photoshop-

Dave Stevens (1955-2008)

2008-03-13T17:47:00.004-04:00

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

2008-03-11T09:53:00.003-04:00

Another old speedpaint, slightly updated.

Captain America #39 Cover

2008-02-27T20:22:00.004-05:00

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

2008-02-25T17:18:00.004-05:00

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.