A New Marvel Sample

Trying to drum up new work...I messed around with a Marvel sample. I tried to hit as many different kinds of mood as I could on this one: romance, suspense/espionage and action.

It was a lot of fun! Tackling new things is always a learning experience.

Big Savings on my Sketchbooks at DCBS

The great folks at DCBS (Discount Comic Book Service) have a great deal on my sketchbook this month.

STEVE BRYANT SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS VOL 1
The first collection of artwork focusing on Eisner and Manning Award nominee Steve Bryant features conceptual art for his series Athena Voltaire, as well as commissions of Big Two heroes, the Buffyverse and a galaxy far, far away. Signed and numbered limited edition of 500. Color covers, b/w interiors. Product Code: OCT099003 (Steve Bryant)
Cover Price: $15.00
Your Price: $7.50 (50% discount)

STEVE BRYANT SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS VOL 2
The second volume of Steve Bryant’s sketchbook series showcases more Athena Voltaire work in progress, as well as commissions, samples and a look at the artist’s prep work drawing 24’s Jack Bauer for IDW. Signed and numbered limited edition of 500. Color covers, b/w interiors. . Product Code: OCT099004 (Steve Bryant)
Cover Price: $15.00
Your Price: $9.75 (35% discount)

STEVE BRYANT SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS VOL 3
STEVE BRYANT SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS, volume three Steve Bryant’s third sketchbook features more Athena Voltaire work in progress (of course!), as well as commissions, samples and a peek at the artist’s sketchbook studies of life drawings and more. Signed and numbered limited edition of 500. Color covers, b/w interiors. . Product Code: OCT099005 (Steve Bryant)
Cover Price: $15.00
Your Price: $9.75 (35% discount)

SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS VOL 1-3 Set *FREE PRINT*
All three volumes of STEVE BRYANT SKETCHES AND DRAWINGS in one set, featuring Athena Voltaire, as well as commissions, samples and a peek at the artist’s sketchbook studies of life drawings and more. Each volume is signed and numbered limited edition of 500. Color covers, b/w interiors. Buy all three volumes in this series and receive a free, exclusive, limited edition print, signed and numbered by artist/author Steve Bryant.

Product Code: OCT099006 (Steve Bryant) Your Price: $27.00 First time DCBS customers, get additional savings with the order code CGS8!

Zorro!

Another sample. With the Canterville Ghost wrapping up in a month or so, I'm scrambling to make sure that I can still pay bills. Here's the latest in a series of samples.

Green Hornet Sample Piece (color)

And here's how the Green Hornet piece looks all colored up, courtesy of the ever-brilliant Jason Millet.

Green Hornet Sample Piece (Inks)

A while back, I learned that Dynamite Entertainment had gotten the Green Hornet license and whipped this piece up. It incorporates the 1930s version of the character and the 1960s version. Looking at the material they've released so far, I'm not sure that the book will be a period piece (which is how I'd ideally like to see it done), but that doesn't diminish my desire to draw it a bit!

I have no idea if they're even interested in me, though.

But I'd still love to do it.

Wonder Woman, Amazon Warrior

Another commission. This time around, the art direction was "Wonder Woman, a warrior version of her with the Roman soldier leather skirt." I've drawn the character before, also in a warrior context, but it was mostly an exercise in mood. This time around, I wanted to accentuate the musculature and ooomph of an amazon. I was looking at Darwyn Cooke's costuming of the character in New Frontier.

Up, Up and Away!

I've never drawn Superman. I've drawn Clark Kent ripping his shirt open to reveal the famous emblem, but I've never drawn the man himself.

I banged this out last week to practice some figure drawing and to try and drum up some new commission work. I was surprised how much fun it was!

This piece also happens to be for sale! $100 takes it. Email me at atomictikistudio at gmail dot com for details!

(I'm thinking of reworking the format for the blog and using bigger pictures (as shown here). Waddaya think?)

Spike (the rest of the Angel samples)

Here's the rest of the samples I worked up a couple of years ago, in an effort to try and land some work on IDW's Angel books.

I'd love to take another pass at it, but I can't help to wonder if I blew my chances with all of the deadline drama that went on with my dad's death while I was working on 24: Cold Warriors.

The original art for the Angel and Spike sketches were "lost" in the mail, en route to Molly McBride. I still think those pictures are currently adorning the walls of some postal worker's den!'

I kid, I kid...

In today's installment of the Ursula Wilde Production Diary, we look at the pencils to the Ursula Wilde Free Comic Book Day story, coming in May from Ape Entertainment.

At the Athena Voltaire Blog, I'm posting more pages from the first issue of the cancelled mini-series The Legend of Mu-King.

Angel Samples

I thought I'd post some older samples I did, in an effort to pick up some work on IDW's Angel book. Here are a few likeness shots I did a couple of years back.

Of course, doing a static likeness shot is very different from creating repeated likenesses on a sequential page, so who knows if I would have crashed and burned...

Wonder Woman

I did this one for fun a couple of years ago and gave it to my friends at Comic Geek Speak as a contest prize.

The piece hangs together fairly well, despite a disparity of styles: Kevin Nowlan-style rendering on the figure and a loose Al Williamson-esque background with Mark Schultz-inspired drybrushing.

When I was much younger, whatever style I had was defined by my limitations. That will always be true to one extent or another, I believe, but I think I've moved into the next phase now where the style is defined by the conscious choices I make.

Eventually, I'd like to get to the point where the end product is defined by conscious decisions that integrate the disparate influences effortlessly, rather than looking like stylistic choices that were handpicked one-by-one at a buffet of artistic approaches—like some kind of bizarre Shoney's of artistic styles.

Still, it's a learning experience, right?

Gil Thorp, Part 2

I'm almost afraid to post these, after reading a few talkbacks at Gil Thorp sites! Eh, what the hell, here are the rest of my tryout pages—this time for football season.

The first batch of samples (yesterday) featured characters that I tried to keep "on model." That's not the case with today's samples. I had a couple of pages of scripts and descriptions, so I was able to design the characters myself. I wish I'd have searched for the published version of Cully Vale. Wow.

Marty Moon, the announcer, ends up looking a lot like how he was previously drawn, even without reference.

I've received a few inquiries regarding why the Trib is looking for an artist. I have no idea if they're looking for someone to spell Mr. McLaughlin while he's on vacation or if they're looking for a permanent replacement in the event of him leaving the strip. I have no idea of a timetable as to if/when anything will happen. I just had fun drawing samples.

Gil Thorp, Part 1

A few weeks back, I was contacted by Tribune Media to try out as a replacement artist on their 6-days a week sports strip, Gil Thorp. I didn't get the gig, but it proved to be a lot of fun to try and work within the confines of the strip format. I think drawing a soap opera every day would have been a tremendous learning experience.

If you're curious about learning more about Gil Thorp, I found the This Week in Milford blog to be both informative and hilarious.

(Thanks to "johnw" for the spelling correction on "Thorpe/Thorp!")

Today at the Ursula Wilde Production Diary, we continue our look at the character sketch stage of development.

And on the Athena Voltaire Blog, I post a few more (previously unseen?) commission pieces.

24: Cold Warriors

Here's a peek at what I've been up to for the past few weeks.

Of course, all of the family stuff that goes along with illness and death have seriously affected my productivity and has forced to to drastically alter my working method (as well as putting in even crazier hours than usual). In some ways, I feel a slight sense of disappointment with the work—I had set my sights on the way that Al Williamson did adapted/licensed material. Of course, even if none of these crises would have happened, I'm sure that I would have fallen well short of the Williamson bar and would be feeling some of this disappointment, but I still get a sense of what might have been...

That said, however, any time that one changes up the way they work is bound to present new insights and create new opportunities to learn and rethink one's methods. That's certainly the case on this job. I'm eager top bring some of these new techniques to other projects down the line and see if they're merely situational solutions or new stuff for the ol' bag of tricks.

Samples!

It's convention season, when a young man's attention turns to making a living—or at the very least, getting work! I worked up a couple of pages of Fantastic Four samples from a Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four script by Jeff Parker. Jeff writes the FF the way I remember them being, so it was a delight to draw.

I'd like to ink these before I leave for San Diego, but I may not have time...