Like Spiders Across the Stars

Damsels in Darkwood Pages

2010-04-23T11:27:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

It's been quite a while since my last post, but I wanted to share some new work with you. The following pages are a part of a pitch I am working on with my friend George. Our goal is to have the series bought by a comics publisher. The story is a really fun read, and I hope my artwork will do it justice!

Thanks for visiting!

Dave

The Real Deal Magazine Illustrations

2009-12-07T15:27:00.006-05:00

I have been doing a few illustrations for the Real Deal Magazine over the last few months, both for interior spots as well as cover illustrations. I actually have a real estate license in the state of NY and worked in real estate for the first half of this year, so I am very familiar with the names, buildings, and concepts I am illustrating.

Sketch Dump!

2009-12-07T15:17:00.006-05:00

Here are a few selections from the old sketchbook over the past few months. I was on a Turtles kick for a minute there.

Newbies

2009-12-07T15:08:00.004-05:00

This was the last set of samples I've vowed to do for comic publishers. This isn't to say that I think they're perfect, but I've realized that the time spent working on samples that eventually bring me no work could be at least spent on pages that are my own. My own story, my own chracters, my own world - my own pitch. Then, the work becomes a part of a larger whole, not just three random pages that have nothing to do with anything else.

I'm currently working on a pitch with a friend of mine. Instead of taking the traditional writer and illustrator roles, we've begun a true collaboration where I'm taking on a large part of the creating and writing too -- the art is still all me, though :) I've found this process to be creatively rewarding so far and am looking forward to have a formal pitch together to send to publishers in the very near future. As everyone in comics knows, it only takes a couple good paragraphs to hook 'em, the rest you just make up as you go along!!

DEATHLOK

2009-07-01T10:37:00.002-04:00

I was showing these pages to my friend Alicia, and she said that in every pack of trading cards she ever bought as a kid, she would never get any of the popular, cool characters, but alas, always get at lease one deathlok per pack. I think the same thing happened to me. I think deathlok is kinda cool and enjoy drawing him, because I love drawing stuff that is all decaying and gross looking. So i'd take a character like him any day over someone all grecian and statuesque. These pages were a lot of fun to draw due to the high velocity nature of them -- and motorcycles! definitely need to draw more motorcycles! you should too!

Daredevil Samples

2009-07-01T10:27:00.004-04:00

With this new batch, I've been trying to focus on some things that I feel are my weaknesses, such as believable perspective and interior shots. I think these two things look better than ever in terms of my work, so I'm pretty pleased. In retrospect, this was probably a bad script to work from. The writer, Brian Michael Bendis, used a lot of cutting back and forth between reality and memory, which forced me to patch together the script to make some coherent samples. Next time, I'm just going to choose something that has more straightforward and simple storytelling, to make it easier on both myself and the viewer. Enjoy. Comments and criticism welcome, as always.

Morbius

2009-05-11T23:37:00.001-04:00

Thick Skin

2009-04-29T14:05:00.002-04:00

I've started a new job a few months ago that has really been severely cutting back on my drawing time. This is tough for me, because no matter what I'm doing, and no matter how busy I am, I still always have the urge to draw. CONSTANTLY.

The new job (in real estate, don't ask) has definitely thickened my skin considerably. I've never been in such an absolute rollercoaster of a work environment before. It's fucking emotional. Seriously. One day, you're putting in applications, closing deals, making money, and feeling absolutely great. Then you'll have a tough client who you spend two weeks working with who then, on a whim, doesn't rent from you. Money aside, you have just wasted TWO WEEKS (or however long it is) of your fucking LIFE working with this asshole. A stellar first week of a month with tons of prospects can end up being just an average, run of the mill month. Such is life I guess with any profession or any situation, but it has still taught me to not get too excited until everything is DONE. Not when the leases are signed, NOT when they move in, but only when the money is in your bank account.

Getting back to drawing... well, simply put... I miss it. A lot. And I'm kind of wondering why I just can't figure out how to do it for a living. Similar to real estate, I've certainly had some great leads. I've been published numerous times, but just can't seem to keep it consistent enough to live on.

Rhinos have pretty thick hide, and I think it's in every artist's (and real estate agent's) interest to develop some pretty quickly. You may think this post is an indication of the opposite, but I'm not whining, I swear. I just keep doing my thing in every regard and have learned that for every one step forward that you take, sometimes you do have to take two steps back. Just make sure that for that one forward , you make sure it's a rampage.

Cheers

D

Acid Totem

2009-03-28T20:07:00.003-04:00

This image was created as a small, quarter page show flier for my friend Rocky. I threw in some obvious marajuana and other drug references since it was gonna be that kind of show. But what show isn't that kind of show?

Drawing this made me realize I need to quit my job and draw more. My hands were shaky and my lines were not confident. What the hell is up with my life?

Going Strong

2009-03-18T21:31:00.003-04:00

Look at me! Another week, another post!! Don't get your panties in a twist out of raw, unabashed excitement now!

I really like this image. I imagine my guy here slicing and dicing his way through a ton of baddies, probably while whisking himself over something impossible like a rooftop terrace or horses backs or something.

Rocket from the Crypt

2009-03-12T20:52:00.003-04:00

I'm trying to pump some life into this little blog o' mine, but I have recently not had the time or energy to do so. I now have a pile of drawings scanned and ready to go, so I guess I'll try to post regularly until that little stockpile runs out (notice how doing new drawings did not enter the equation).

My beginning of the year blog post which promises more updates "soon" just goes to show how relative the word "soon" can be. Same goes for promises made to friends concerning hanging out, calling each other, or getting that fabled drink.

I started fooling around with some different character designs a little while back due to the nature of a project I was working on at the time. The designs I liked the best didn't make the cut, which actually works in my favor, because now no company owns them!! Huzzah! I started drawing this monkey character in this sort-of samurai get-up. He's a lot of fun to draw, and I get to be very gestural due to his loose garments (and morals). He doesn't have a name yet, but I wanted it to be one of those really old fashioned names (not necessarily Biblical) that has somehow worked its way back into being a modern, cool name.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-05T08:13:00.001-05:00

Brrrr, baby, it's cold out there! New posts coming soon!

DD - 2

2008-12-22T09:32:00.002-05:00

Here are a few headshots of Daredevil out of costume, aka lawyer Matt Murdoch. These sketches were drawn from an article in recent issue of GQ about which topcoats to buy for this winter. Since I don't really have $1200 to drop on a coat, I just used the photos (which happened to be of Joshua Jackson of "Dawson's Creek" fame) for reference. Enjoy!

DD

2008-12-21T20:34:00.002-05:00

Busting my butt to get some new samples together for NY Comic Con, which is in early February. I'm going to try my hand at some Daredevil pages and am currently doing some prelim sketching in an attempt to capture the mood of Daredevil and his environment, Hell's Kitchen.

Dragonlance Cover

2008-12-20T11:31:00.005-05:00

Hi All,

I drew this cover for the Dragonlance Legends: War of the Twins series a few months ago. The War of the Twins is the follow-up to the series that I drew, Time of the Twins. I will not be doing interior artwork for the War series, just covers.

When I came across the colored version of the cover in the Devil's Due January 09 solicitations, I figured I would be safe to finally post this image on my blog. I'm really happy with how this turned out, as I think it colored up nicely.

As you can see, I've included a few other images to demonstrate the process that goes into creating the image, from initial thumbnails, tighter comps to final pencils. Enjoy!

D

Captain America chopping the Red Skull's head off with his shield

2008-12-10T11:01:00.002-05:00

'Nuff said?

quickie

2008-12-03T18:50:00.002-05:00

just doodled this freakish gunner guy at several different times over the past day or two while i have been on the phone. again, rather than attempt 'perfect' anatomy (show me a comic book artist who can achieve that), i'm trying to create interesting shapes and exaggerated gestures.

i'm REALLY excited about this other piece that i'm working on which i hope to post over the upcoming weekend. it's probably one of my favorite things that i've done and i'm having a blast working on it.

check back soon.

oh, i didn't post during november because on november 3rd, i was mugged and assaulted while walking home from the subway. as a result of the attack, my ankle was fractured and i was laid up for an entire month. so that's that! stay safe out there, people!

Almost forgot about this one

2008-10-28T17:57:00.003-04:00

The third and final long awaited (by me only) Batman image in a series I probably started around February I think...
I obviously messed around with this one in Photoshop a bit (maybe too much?)-- but I do like the overall motion blur/washed out with floodlight effect.

Green Lantern

2008-10-21T09:51:00.003-04:00

I've been having a lot of fun drawing DC characters lately for some reason. I was always such a marvel/image zombie when i was a kid, but I guess that just has to do with the fact that all my favorite artists (at the time) worked for those companies. DC's art was much more traditional and not at all as "cutting edge" (in the eyes of a 12-year old kid) as those other companies, and therefore, i never really gravitated towards their books. Well, I was definitely missing out. Aside from their handful of main icons, DC has a great library of weird and wacky characters that I'll be posting a bit more of in the future. For now, here's another one of their icons, John Stewart, as Green Lantern.

while we're at it

2008-10-20T01:00:00.002-04:00

since i'm on a green arrow/black canary kick, i thought i'd throw another piece on the ol' blog just for fun. in recent sketches i've done, i'm trying to 'push' the anatomical exaggerations of my figures to closer resemble the general arcs and other gestural lines of my thumbnail doodles while maintaining a tightly rendered style. make sense?

averting blog catastrophe

2008-10-18T20:14:00.004-04:00

my poor little blog is in need of a blog bailout. the signs of posting recession have been evident for quite some time now. profile views are plummeting, investors in my craft are leery, and the artwork, quite frankly, is in the shitter. so why should you care, you ask. you didn't cause this mess. you're at home, working hard to feed your offspring, while i'm out whooping it up in new york city nine nights a week. so fuck ME, right?

ok, i don't really know where this is going. i was going to get into something about warren buffett showing up on a rooftop wearing a superhero costume made entirely of hundred dollar bills (no, euros!) and saving the economic day along with my fledgling art blog, but i'm tired and simply don't have the energy.

what i WILL do, though, is tell you about the pic that i'm posting and bitch and moan about those rat bastards at UPS.

my friend alicia got engaged a while back and i wanted to make a little engagement gift for her. when she and i were in college, we used to do all sorts of silly comic book drawings, mostly of the x-rated variety now that i think about it, so i thought i would do something with characters who are married in their own respective comic book universe. i kept it clean, of course, and made it a little romantic. i really dug the first few issues of the recent green arrow/black canary series, especially when cliff chiang was on art duties, so i thought they would be an appropriate choice. i love both of those characters as well.

i'm happy with how the piece turned out, but am completely unsatisfied with UPS, who decided to BEND THE DRAWING IN HALF upon delivering it to her. i specifically asked that the package be labeled do not bend as i was mailing it, but my instructions were forgotten or ignored by the people in the store, thus resulting in a lovely crease across the middle of the paper. i'll be sticking with fedex from now on.

enjoy!

Green Lantern Samples

2008-09-08T09:37:00.002-04:00

Completed 08/08

Fantastic Four Samples

2008-09-08T09:31:00.002-04:00

Completed 08/08

BAMF!

2008-07-15T13:11:00.003-04:00

I'm pretty happy with how this guy turned out, although I think he still needs to be a little more waif-y looking, like I did when I was in college. Started tinkering around with a few Copic markers on this one, and they definitely add a little more interest.

I have a big project wrapping up in a couple weeks, after which I will have a bit more time to post. Until then, cheers!

D

Lady Blackhawk Commission

2008-06-19T14:09:00.003-04:00

Good times drawing this character again after quite some time apart. :)

Robin Commission

2008-06-18T16:55:00.003-04:00

Used the good old Windsor Newton Series 7, No. 2 on this one. My former illustration professor Bob Dacey used to preach about this brush all the time, calling it his "work horse." He was referring to working in watercolor, but I know this tool is used a lot with ink as well. It has an absolutely incredible range of lines that can be achieved (not that you will find them by looking at my work), from the razor thin to a fat, quarter inch stroke and back in a second. Worth every cent.

I tried to make Robin's cape look a little like a bird's wing in this one, just to throw in a little cheesy conceptual angle. Not sure it was entirely successful, but the intent was there. Enjoy!

Hard Edged

2008-06-16T22:05:00.005-04:00

I think i've always had a natural aversion to drawing everything and anything mechanical. Cars, planes, guns, robots... anything that will probably require the use of a ruler or some sort of french curve (freedom curve?) and i definitely can't hang. I don't know whether I have some sort of learning disability when it comes to technical drawing or whether I just really prefer and find organic subject matter to be much more interesting.

This Ultron sketch proves my point. I saw this version of this character online and liked it as opposed to older versions, even though it borrows heavily from a lot of generic anime mecha designs. Maybe not designs per se, but just the general shapes that are used in the silhouette construction of the character. I kept the lines pretty obviously hand-drawn and like it better that way.

I don't know much about all the different incarnations of the character, but my idea was to show Ultron sort of being "born." He might be coming out of some cool-down vat of liquid or rolling off of some high-tech assembly line -- something along those lines.

Anyway, I haven't at all given up on perspective or hard edge objects. I've actually got an Iron Man sketch rolling around upstairs that I want to put down, and I haven't even seen the movie yet. Has anyone seen it? Is it any good?

Cable Commission

2008-06-03T21:37:00.002-04:00

How awesome were the 90's?

One last one for May

2008-05-31T18:08:00.003-04:00

Another month zipped by and I didn't post as much as I should have. Actually, I need to DO more work outside of my paying gigs to post on this thing. Speaking of 'Thing'...

I think this is only about the second or third time I've ever drawn this guy. I tried to model my little rendition after versions of this character where his rock exterior appears a little softer and more organic or even clay-like. I never liked it when artists would draw EVERY SINGLE LITTLE PIECE OF ROCK on him. Not only is that pointless and a waste of time (come on, people, learn how to INDICATE), I think the "softer" look is symbolic of this characters soft heart. Incredibly cheesy, I know, but true.

Batman Cover 2

2008-05-27T06:59:00.001-04:00

Here's the second in a series of three. GRRRRRRR!!!!

Nightwing Samples

2008-05-22T21:25:00.002-04:00

Another little batch i got together last month for NY comic con.

Thor Samples

2008-05-19T07:43:00.004-04:00

Don't tell anyone, but I didn't do a page-a-day on these samples. They took me more like six months to complete, in part due to the fact that i completely forgot they existed. They laid buried under a pile of art rubble in my apartment under a futon.

The sample plot that I was working from for these pages was a little wierd. In fact, they might have been a little too out there for convention purposes. There's too much emoting going on here and not enough easily decipherable action and advancement of a plot. Too many "character moments," if you will.

I probably shouldn't have shown them. The style and artistic ability are noticeably different from the first to the last page. Also, I had some other work that was stronger than these pages, and it's always better to show a smaller but stronger portfolio than a sprawling, diversified body of work.

Sure was fun drawing Thor, though.

Puck!

2008-05-16T07:32:00.002-04:00

Who's Puck, you ask? Oh, ya know, that immortal Canadian dwarf adventurer. That dude. It sure is tough to get dynamic action from a 3'6" frame.

Links

2008-05-11T10:22:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone,
I've updated my links section today, with links to friends and complete strangers alike. These are just a few sites that I check on a fairly regular basis and serve as a source of inspiration to me. Enjoy.

May

2008-05-08T11:04:00.004-04:00

One of my favorite months of the year is upon us and I've decided to finally rejoin the blogosphere and get this old jalopy of a blog started up again. I'm just gonna post a couple pics today. The first are some old kicks with fresh grass stains and the second is my dear Millie, moving in to shake the hell out of her mousey baby. I love it that something as domesticated, tranquil, and loveable as my ten year old golden retriever can still show some killer instinct once in a while.

You look how I feel.

2008-03-20T23:49:00.002-04:00

Gettin some stuff together. Be back in May sometime.

Cheers,

DJC

Character Sketches - Dragonlance Chronicles

2008-03-06T14:18:00.002-05:00

Servin up some Lady Crysania today.

Character Sketches - Dragonlance Chronicles

2008-03-05T11:31:00.002-05:00

Here's a character sketch of evil ol' Raistlin Majere. Made him a little too short in this sketch. He could have been about a head taller or so, only to add to his menacing look.

Deathstroke

2008-03-04T07:55:00.004-05:00

Yeah, totally forgot to finish the shoulder and upper arm on our right hand side. Ah well. I did notice and finish it on the original piece, but only after it had been scanned, and obviously do not feel that it is worth reuploading.

Batman Cover 1, Ver 2.0

2008-03-03T21:14:00.002-05:00

I like this one a lot better. I think the bat insignia is still recognizable in the cape, but the cape is altogether more believable than before and has more weight to it than the previous attempt. Man, I really need to learn to do more prelim work.

Batman Cover 1 of 3

2008-02-23T17:26:00.005-05:00

Three Batman images came to me the other day, so I doodled them up real quick and intend to take all to finish. All three images are rather simple concepts like the one shown here, but that's what I like about them. They are all consistent in their heavy use of black, Batman's face only being shown through the use of those familiar eyes, and the Bat insignia being shown some other way in the piece. Pretty well-worn territory, I'm sure (I never really followed any of the Batman titles that closely, so I'm not that familiar with many "famous" cover images), but hopefully something unique will come out of them.

{EDIT: After some thought and seeing what this image looks like on the web, I've decided to re-do it and do a better job of studying the draping of Batman's cape. The image seen here was completely impulsive and I feel that if some more convincing draping was applied to the piece instead of these fake-o spaghetti-looking folds, it would definitely strengthen the piece. Should have another one up within the week.}

2 Minute Sketches

2008-02-20T07:40:00.004-05:00

Whenever I'm penciling a page, I always keep a folded letter-size piece of paper under my right hand to protect the drawing from smudging. After a while, the paper gets dirty, or I temporarily misplace it, so I grab a new sheet. Instead of discarding the old ones, I've recently started doing really quick sketches on them.

In these examples, Robin's face looks totally messed up. I made his eyes too far apart and he kind of looks Asian. I think at one point during college I was trying to perfect the whole "eyes too far apart" thing when drawing faces, but I've since tried to take a different, more anatomically correct approach. I'll getcha right next time, buddy boy.
I'm pleased with the way the Joker turned out, though. To me, he looks like a combination of the old Cesar Romero Joker with the new, gritty Heath Ledger Joker. (Is anyone else now scared to see that movie? I'm scurred.)

Character Sketches - Dragonlance Chronicles

2008-02-15T16:19:00.008-05:00

Character studies of some goodies and baddies in the Dragonlance world. Many more to follow.

Wiener, Dawg.

2008-02-15T16:02:00.002-05:00

This was a last minute (sshhhh) Valentine's Day card drawn yesterday afternoon. The reason it was last minute attempt was due to the fact that I left the intended card, as well as my umbrella (ella ella ella ehh ehh), at a restaurant on Wednesday night. I returned to the restaurant literally about two minutes after we left to find my umbrella exactly where it had been, but the cards on the table were gone. The server, instead of admitting to the fact that the cards had probably been thrown away with the rest of the trash on the table, refused to admit any fault and insisted that someone walked by and took them.

If you don't know me, I'm about 5'9", brown eyes, brown hair and must look EXTREMELY NAIVE. There's nothing I love more than being lied to after leaving a tip.

Oh well. I actually like this card and had a lot of fun drawing it.

Happy belated Valentine's Day to all you lovers out there.

Wolvie

2008-02-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

This is a quick Wolverine piece I did. The ol' Wolvster was a favorite of mine as a kid. Don't care for his character or his character's overexposure too much these days, but drawing him definitely brings back some fond memories. I was always a fan of "battle torn" Wolverine, where his clothes were all shredded to hell and he was getting all cut up while undoubtedly also getting burnt by his cigar ashes. (Damn! Forgot to put that in!)

No matter, though. He'd be all healed up by the time the last punch was thrown. And he could always hit up Prof. X for a new costume or two. Speaking of costumes, I was envisioning him to be wearing his old brown and yellow duds in this pic. Those were always my favorite back from the 80's and early 90's.

Enjoy.

CNN Sketches

2008-02-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

I was watching TV on "SuperDuperTuesday" and decided to do some quick sketches of the candidates. The two Obama sketches were done during quite a long speech he was giving, but i did each in about 30 seconds. That squirrely guy down at the bottom is supposed to be Mike Huckabee. Unfortunately, the clip they were playing of him was only about 5 seconds, so most of this was made up. I definitely need to get some more sketches of this guy in here, because he is my absolute favorite (to draw). His face is so rubbery and disgusting and his eyes look so crazy, like someone poured a bottle of Jack into the barrel of hog shit he's been drinking.

Seriously, is this guy for fucking real?

The Obama piece was then taken to color in Photoshop for about 10 min and viola.

I'll definitely be doing more of these since they're really fun.

Jubilee

2008-01-23T07:39:00.001-05:00

Gonna try to get a few more in here before the close of January! Whew! They say January usually feels like the slowest month of the year, and if that's the case, I'm kind of scared another year is going to slip by and I'm still writing 2006 on all my checks.

Anyway, had some fun drawing Jubilee, gleefully rollerblading down the San Francisco Embarcadero (apologies for the uber-fudged background). I've always liked Jubilee and her 90's "whatever" attitude, and I think I'll do a few more of her to try and capture her spirit. I'd also like to draw her with her best bud Wolverine. They will not be rollerblading.

Enjoy!

Character Sketches

2008-01-11T08:53:00.001-05:00

I'm currently working on two comics projects for different publishers. The first is a four issue mini-series titled "Murmurs of Madness," being published by Chimaera Studios. It's a WWII science fiction/horror tale very much in the vein of HP Lovecraft. I am penciling and inking this series, which is scary since I've never inked a thing in my life. What better time than now to learn, right?

The second is a mini-series called "Dragonlance Chronicles: Tale of the Twins." This is coming out from Devil's Due Publishing and even though there are only three issues, each issue is a whopping 40 pages! I'll be posting some character designs and whatnot from that series as well in the near future.

The image being posted today is a study of some German soldiers and their weapons. I'll be doing studies like this for the American forces as well. I find it's important to do character sketches not only for your lead roles, but also for background characters. This way, when you're in the middle of working on a page and need to draw a crowd, fight scene, etc., you have a piece of reference instead of making up faces on the spot, which for me, always results in characters that look too similar to one another.

Spoiler Alert!

2008-01-09T16:59:00.000-05:00

About to get prowlin in a foggy Gotham.

Happy New Year

2008-01-04T11:03:00.000-05:00

Happy 2008, everyone.

I'm starting this year off with some characters that were suggested by friends last year. I figured this will be a good way for me to get loosened up and back to work after a week or so of not doing anything creative.

I've got a lot on my plate this year already with work stuff. However, I'm still committed (don't call it a resolution) to doing a fair amount of personal, non-comics related work for fun and to exercise some techniques and processes that i don't get to use too often in my work for clients.

Looking forward to a year of growth and creativity.

Cheers

Illustration Friday - Missing

2007-12-18T01:05:00.000-05:00

Whenever I don't like the current Illustration Friday topic, I usually browse through the archives of topics and choose one that interests me. Since I never finish them on time anyway, why the hell should I play by the rules, right?

I believe the topic of "Missing" was posted sometime back in July or August before I started participating. I typically don't approach these topics literally, but that's probably due again to the fact that I take my time and don't adhere to the one week deadline. There are some artists who submit very literal images, yet manage to create very strong, effective, poignant pieces.

This is most likely going to be the last post before the end of the year, so to whomever is reading: Happy Holidays and a Happy and safe New Year to all.

Looking forward to 2008!

DJC

Illustration Friday - Extremes

2007-12-06T08:01:00.000-05:00

This is an old Illustration Friday piece that had been rolling around in my head for quite a while. I had done several sketches of this idea, but none of them were quite right to me. I finally nailed it a few weeks ago while pretty aimlessly doodling in front of the boob tube.

Then came the task of coloring the piece, which was another mountain to climb since i think my color sense and color application skills are a bit dubious at best. I know I wanted to go with an unusual color palette; something that didn't reflect normal color expectations of certain elements. For instance, I did not want the fire to be orange and yellow -- that sort of thing. I flatted the piece and fiddled around with color adjustments and saturations in photoshop for a few days until i crafted something with which i was happy. And here you have it!

I have a bunch of these in-progress Illustration Friday pieces, as I can never seem to actually finish them on time. I'm usually working on one from at least a week or two before the current topic.

The idea of extremes must have struck a slightly political chord with me when the topic was announced, no doubt due to some current event that may have been in the news at that time. As some of you may know, i can't stand overtly political art (or music). Therefore, I didn't give this character a recognizable entity as a person or group of people. To me, the word 'extremes' stood for someone who is zealous about an idea or belief. This person is not interested in hearing what others have to say and has no regard for how ridiculous/hateful/obscene/outdated/stupid, etc. their rhetoric may be. Hopefully with that being said, the illustration makes a bit more sense now. I realize that without that pretext, no one may have ever guessed that -- but that's ok. I did just want it to look cool as well. :)

THANK YOU!!

2007-11-27T09:56:00.000-05:00

Thank you to all who showed your support and picked up an issue of Birds of Prey last week.

Overall, I felt pretty good about the issue, considering it was my first printed work. It's weird seeing your work in print for the first time; you have no idea what to expect, especially since there were many stages after mine in the production chain before the product is completed. Aside from my horrid cropping choices, there were points where the inker and colors looked better than I had expected, and there were also areas where I thought color choices were somewhat lacking.

This issue showed me that 1) I've got a hell of a lot to learn, 2) I've got a hell of a lot of competition, and 3) if you keep working hard, you'll grow. (All of these I've already known for as long as I can remember, but there's nothing wrong with a little consistent reminder to keep you on your toes.) I was really nervous working on this issue. The pages that I'm currently working on for my new projects are flowing out of me with much more ease and confidence. The Birds of Prey issue, while completed only 2.5 months ago, seems like ages.

Thanks again.

Steel!

2007-11-16T10:26:00.000-05:00

When Superman died in the early 90's, this was one of his replacements that showed up to be Metropolis' primo superhero. I actually really like this character's look for some reason, and he was fun to draw. I have no idea what his powers are. As far as I know, he's just a dude in a metal robot suit, which should really give you any power you want. If you wear a metal suit (including metal thong --- shrinkage, ya know?!) and it doesn't do everything you want, you got screwed. So my version of this character has some sort of electricity that shoots out of his hand to meet the needs of this week's cornball drawing technique. Works for me.

Cornball Sketch Technique - Rogue

2007-11-13T08:11:00.000-05:00

As promised... here's comics' favorite southern belle. :)

Faces - Silver Sable

2007-11-12T13:56:00.000-05:00

OK, so now that this week's fun thing to do is draw with a metallic silver marker and white-out pen on toned paper, I naturally have to find characters that would fit into this cheeseball aesthetic I have set-up for myself until I'm bored with it in about four days. Today's is villainness Silver Sable, who... um.... I don't really know anything about her other than she wears silver and has white hair and probably wears frosted lipstick. Luckily for me, that's all I really need to know!

Tomorrow's post will be sweet-as-sugah X-man Rogue and on the drawing board after that is DC Comics's Steel! Any other suggestions?

Illustration Friday - Hats

2007-11-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

When you live in New York, you'll notice that the slightest indication of seasonal change is more than enough reason to don your latest favorite accessories. That first nippy breeze in September brings out the scarves. Those damp, rainy October days call for your new golashes. Now that we're a week into November, you can only imagine...

With all the characters I see in this city, the idea of 'hats' as a theme was a good one, because the variety you see is countless and it's interesting how the hats reflect the personalities of the people wearing them. All these characters were drawn from imagination, and I could have (and should have) achieved more variety from real life observation while drawing.

Hope you enjoy them!

PS -- Yes, I know some of the characters aren't wearing 'hats' per se, such as the headband dude and the earmuffs guy, but they're close enough ;)

The Headless Horseman - Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T10:39:00.000-04:00

Hope you ghouls have a Happy Halloween tomorrow! Enjoy!

The Mighty Thor!

2007-10-27T12:42:00.000-04:00

I recently discovered how much I love drawing Thor. His costume is great and he is a very powerful character. I found a sample comic script starring Thor on the Internets, so I thought I would take a swing at them before I get started on my next "real" comics project. This sketch is just one of several I did to get the feel of the character.

I like the composition of the sketch, and I think I got his weight just about right. However, I feel his pose could have been more dynamic. He looks like he is lightly punching something, instead of walloping some poor schmuk. Next time I'll make him look more godly, I promise.

Enjoy!

Dr. Strange

2007-10-24T14:26:00.000-04:00

Another quick sketch -- this time of Doctor Strange and the Eye of Agamotto! Sorry for the poor picture quality, but there was no way I could scan this one!

Which superhero are you?

2007-10-23T22:03:00.001-04:00

Your results:
You are Hulk

Hulk		75%
The Flash		70%
Supergirl		63%
Superman		60%
Iron Man		60%
Green Lantern		55%
Catwoman		55%
Robin		53%
Wonder Woman		43%
Spider-Man		35%
Batman		30%

You are a wanderer with
amazing strength.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Conan Sketch

2007-10-23T16:28:00.000-04:00

Hi All -- busy as ever right now. Hoping things will slow down soon which will allow me to do more personal work to post. For now, here is a quick Conan head sketch I did yesterday.

The Punisher

2007-10-19T09:10:00.001-04:00

Just some Big Pun action for y'all.

Have a nice weekend.

DJC

Illustration Friday - The Blues

2007-10-18T08:32:00.000-04:00

Here's my contribution to last week's Illustration Friday topic of "The Blues." My concept for this piece was rejection, and how it can spin us into quite a blue state of mind. So maybe this poor little guy was just given the boot by his girlfriend -- and feels like a its never gonna get better. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have made him so 'emo' due to the fact that its typically hard to feel sympathy for those people. It's like they're asking for it. :)
Kidding.

This posting should probably be for this week's topic, "Extremes," but I'm a little behind due to my workload this week. I have a sketch for the topic, and would like to go to final with it, but doubt I will get it done in time. One of these weeks I'll get it done on time.

Practice Pages

2007-10-17T19:52:00.000-04:00

Did these two pages just for fun. I wanted to try out some pacing techniques.

I've learned that even when the writer has specified a certain number of panels on the page, most writers and editors won't have a problem if you stray from that number for the sake of storytelling. For instance, on the first page, the middle three panels could have been executed in one panel had I chosen to do so. I could have had the guy outside of the alleyway with junk being thrown past him while being suddenly blinded by the lights of an oncoming car. This would not be anything unusual for a writer to ask for in one panel. However, I chose to decompress this bit of action into three panels which hopefully added more of an element of time to the scenario.

Hope you like them!

Birds of Prey #112

2007-10-10T11:15:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've last posted. I will have lots of new work to show very soon, but in the meantime, I'm posting a link to the solicitation for the comic book I drew. It's a fill in issue for DC Comics' Birds of Prey title, and will be my first published work in the comics industry.

I'm very excited for its release and can't wait to see the results of everyone's collaborative efforts. November 21st can't come soon enough! You can view the solicitation here!

Faces - ManBat

2007-09-27T16:10:00.000-04:00

Just a quick one for today. Hope y'all enjoy!

D

Random

2007-09-19T08:03:00.000-04:00

Just some miscellaneous sketches

Faces - Beast

2007-09-18T13:32:00.000-04:00

Kudos to whomever designed this version of the Beast. I like this design MUCH better than the version used throughout the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Here, he looks cat-like rather than just having ambiguously beastial features. Because they decided on a certain animal, I feel that now a much larger range of emotion can be achieved with the character's face.

Actually, when I was little and first getting into comics, the characters of Beast and Logan (Wolverine when not in his costume) confused the hell out of me due to their similar hair, ESPECIALLY when they were on the same team. I would think, how did Wolverine suddenly turn blue and (even more) hairy?! Is it a clone? How, Jim Lee?!?!?! HOW?!?!?!

I think this is my favorite out of the sketches so far.

Faces - Two Nightcrawlers

2007-09-18T13:20:00.001-04:00

...and Nightcrawler, too. Waiting there for me, yes I do...

Yes, the first attempt (the dark one) is a mess. I feel like I was looking too much at too many artists' takes on this character, which is why he looks so... combined. First of all, I used that silly middle-of-the-face shadow, as if light sources are constantly hitting his face at equal distances from the left and right. I don't have a problem with this, its just that most of the artists who have pulled this look off are old-school rough layout pencilers and brush-only inkers. Like old John Romita, Jr. style. However, since I usually pencil tightly and use a brush pen which can achieve very fine detail, I don't think this look is conducive to my style.

I like the second attempt better, but still do not feel that I have captured the essence of this character's face yet. His face is still too long and narrow and structured. Too 'model-ish.' Even though he has fangs and pointy ears, he does not read as an elf to me. The general shape of his head needs to be more egg-like and less square. However, I do like the texture of the hair more on this one than the first.

I'll have to keep trying with Nightcrawler until I get him right. Alicia, wanna show me how it's done? :)

Impending Doom Acrylic Sketch

2007-09-17T09:15:00.000-04:00

Was just playing around with some acrylics and cardboard and created this little apocalyptic scene. Originally, behind the wall of fire, I intended to put a pile of lawnmower gas cans. However, because this piece was immediate and suffers from lack of planning, the composition and colors didn't reflect the chaos that I wanted. I am happy with the way the two characters are painted as well as how they are interacting. (The bird figure is laying pill eggs that the sea monster is trying to catch. Should he catch them, his body will be restored and he will have a better chance of escaping the insanity and doom.)

After this piece was scanned, I did a slight color adjustment on the background in photoshop.

Faces - Darby Crash

2007-09-12T20:22:00.000-04:00

This one is a departure from the rest, just because I felt like doing something different and because this sketch is serving as a study for an upcoming illustration. This is Darby Crash, co-founder of classic punk band The Germs. This was the first time I have shaded a drawing with a pencil in years, and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

I worked from a photograph, but slightly exaggerated the facial features to give the drawing more character. Which, to some, may make it seem like I worked from a photograph even more.

Don't be like that.

Faces - Commissioner Dolan

2007-09-12T20:16:00.000-04:00

This is another quickie, this time of pipe-gnawing Commissioner Dolan from Will Eisner's 'The Spirit.' I drew his face a little thinner than his current incarnation as drawn by Darwyn Cooke, but the square jaw and squinty irritation are there. His facial structure sort of reminds me of a less exaggerated Popeye, not to mention the pipe.

Faces - Kid Flash

2007-09-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

I think i'm going to go back and add some color to these, maybe just some white colored pencil highlights. I'll definitely be doing this on upcoming sketches as well. I'll have to adjust the levels in Photoshop, too, so the paper reads better as being an almost-midtone grey.

Faces - Doctor Octopus

2007-09-06T12:28:00.000-04:00

DORK!!!

Man, with a name as cool sounding as Doctor Octopus, I think Marvel really missed the boat on this guy in terms of his look. He looks like he's in a custodial one-piece with a turtle-neck underneath.

Yes, I know all those early villains had a bright, colorful, amusement park funhouse look to them, but most were eventually transitioned into something a little darker and scarier. This guy still has that really mod, 60's vibe about him. Sure, the second SpiderMan movie did a good job interpreting him for the silver screen, but in comics he still sticks out like a sore thumb as being too hokey and unthreatening.

Faces - Namor

2007-09-05T23:34:00.000-04:00

I've decided for the next little while, my daily sketches (not all, but at least one of them) will be devoted to practicing faces. I'm starting off with guys, then doing a week of girls, and then maybe a week of freaks, monsters and robots. The purpose of these sketches is to become proficient in drawing all sorts of faces. For instance, in my week of guys, there will be a young guy (boyish), an old man, etc., with varying facial features such as an oval shaped head, round head, square jaw and pointy jaw. Same goes for the girls.

Each sketch will also be limited to about 15 minutes and will serve to help me become more aquainted with my brush-pen as my inking skills need work too.

Here's Namor.

I'm Back.

2007-09-05T23:29:00.000-04:00

And yes, my head feels much better now, thank you. I've just completed a few large projects and am looking forward to once again updating my blog on a regular basis. Look for more sketches, comics stuff and personal pieces rollin outta this blog on a daily (well, no promises... let's say 'weekly,' -- just to cover my ass) schedule.

Silver Surfer - 20 min.

2007-08-14T12:35:00.000-04:00

I haven't even seen the second Fantastic Four movie featuring this character yet, but I'm lovingn Pasqual Ferry's art on Ultimate FF, so I thought I'd give ol' Norrin Radd a try. Quick gripe first, though: Pasqual Ferry's art isn't inked, which is fine. Same goes for Leinil Yu on Avengers. However, WHY are the colorists on BOTH those books going so very very DARK with their work???? You can barely tell what the hell's going on half the time!!! Even on good quality, glossy paper stock! It's a complete waste of two people's month's worth of work! Setting a mood for the book is one thing, but who wants to pay for a comic where the art is a dodgy mess? Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Blame the editors, I guess. It's their call.

This piece is mildly successful for a 20 minute sketch. I think it's pretty clear I was going for a fish-eye lens, actual-surfer effect. However, I completely slaughtered the proportions, especially on the upper half (look at that freaking thimble of a head). Still, I like the motion of the piece and am trying to incorporate a more fluid, animated element into my work. I'll keep trying!

Oh, also, I think I need to start doing these sketches on larger paper. Standard letter size is awfully cramped. I think the reason I do it, though, is because I need a bigger scanner. There's no way I'm going to do multiple scans and frankenstein them together for the sake of this blog.

Seussical the Musical

2007-08-02T10:49:00.000-04:00

This is a characature painting done for my cousin who recently starred in a youth theater production of 'Seussical the Musical.' I understand his part had to do with Horton, but I threw the Lorax in there for good measure.

The painting was done with acrylic on paper, with a gloss gel medium as a finish, mainly to make the paper even more sturdy. Sorry about the lighting. They were taken in my basement, but I should have gone upstairs where there is more natural light.

Old Stuff

2007-07-25T15:18:00.000-04:00

Just two panels from an old set of samples I never completed that I thought had a nice bit of drama to them. That's pretty much it! :)

Saracen

2007-07-24T09:47:00.000-04:00

Here is the third sketch I said I would post. Its of another lame villain called Saracen, who was apparently a middle-eastern terrorist and foe of the Punisher (don't you just LOVE Marvel in the 70's?). Actually, I think this character is from the 90's, but seems like it would have fit into the onslaught of stereotype characters from the 70's such as Shang-chi, Power Man, etc., when Marvel jumped on the exploitation bandwagon. I'm sorry I skimped so bad on the background, because that town outside the window could have been a tad more believable. Overall, I am pretty happy with this sketch. He kind of looks like Borat, though. I should have applied some shadows to the figure as well, but didn't want them to distract from the linework and overall shape of the character. This sketch was completed in about 20 minutes.

"Twosies beats Onesies"

2007-07-23T23:26:00.000-04:00

"But nothing beats three."

A little 'Cabaret' for you folks right there.

And the third is coming tomorrow.

The first sketch, Archangel, was done in october of last year. I used a variety of Micron Pens, and wasn't too happy with the results. It was at this time when I was introduced to the Staedtler brush pen I spoke of in another post. This was also the time at which I decided to start doing quick character studies. Unfortunately, I don't think I did another for a couple months after this piece. I'm getting back on track now, as I try to do one almost every day. This Archangel piece took me about an hour, if memory serves me correctly.

The second sketch, done the other day, is of a lame Spiderman villain called Carrion. In the few old Spiderman comics I have which feature this character, I don't even think he speaks. He just kind of hovers around looking ghastly, which I guess could be cool in its own right if you wanted. I like this villain because DAMN, he must STINK! Honestly, this guy must smell like rotting chicken. I always thought he should have been drawn with a more decomposed look than he normally was, but that's just my take. However, it would have pre-dated the zombie fad by about 11 years. This sketch took me approximately 35 minutes and was done with a brush pen.

Black Cat

2007-07-19T07:26:00.000-04:00

Here's a sketch of the Black Cat (I think that's her name) character from the Spiderman comics. I think it was completed in about 10 minutes or so. I used a great new toy of mine, the Steadtler Mars Graphic 3000 Duo, an incredibly long and nerdy name for a pen. Maybe it's justified in the fact that this pen is so awesome.

It has two usable ends, one being a normal marker and the other being the "brush" side of the pen. I know this double-sided thing is nothing new. Neither is the idea of having a brush pen. However the MG3000D (ha!) stands above the rest for a few reasons. First, the brush is incredibly versatile. It can produce a wonderful range of line thickness, including very fine and delicate lines, much more so than other brush pens I have tried. The second great thing about this pen is the fact that the brush is actually rubber, and not fibers. Therefore, the brush always retains its shape and can still produce fine lines even after repeated hard use. Brush pens, like other marker tips, will eventually break apart and only give you fat nasty lines all the time.

Anyway, I'm planning to do a quick drawing every morning before I begin work just to loosen up and have some fun. Also, I've decided I want to use my favorite lesser known heroes and villains for these sketches. So you won't be finding any Superman or Wolverine here! I guess I will also open this up to suggestions, so please leave a comment with any character(s) you would like to see.

Play

2007-07-18T08:53:00.000-04:00

Did this drawing a while back and colored it in Photoshop yesterday. I don't really know what Ben Franklin, a triceratops and the Cabbage Patch-esque bust have to do with one another. When I was drawing, there must have been some stimulation or inspiration with those elements around me (actually, I think I was bored at work). Regardless, I just sort of let my pen go wherever it wanted and this is what happened.

Of a Friend

2007-07-17T16:09:00.001-04:00

Trying to get back into painting with acrylics. Its a tough process, let me tell you. With this particular painting, I decided not to do smooth blends of colors and values. Rather, the paint was applied with a more deliberate separation between colors, thereby allowing "the eye" to do the blending.

I think I was moderately successful in my attempt, although I think when painted this way, the mid-to-high-tones look like the flash of a camera is striking the person's face. In this case, it was, as I was working from a combination of memory and a crappy 3x5" computer printout from a digital camera. This person is rather dark skinned, but I made him waaaayyyy too red. Looks like he just stepped off the beach.

Although awkward-looking, this painting has inspired me to continue painting. I've been working with acrylics for a number of years now, but have only recently become "comfortable" with them. I would much rather paint with oil. However, due to cost issues, time to dry and overall messiness, oils are just not in the cards right now. Oils are for when you have your own shed in the back of the house that is yours to do whatever you please and you can make a huge shitstorm mess and never clean it up and no one cares. Regardless of medium or how much formal training you have had, painting is an intensely personal process that can not be fully taught to anyone. It's up to you to decide what you feel is working and what is not. There is no step-by-step. You need to be in constant communication with the medium. Work WITH it, don't force it. If something you have been taught is not working for you, SCRAP IT.

More later.

For a Friend

2007-07-16T09:16:00.000-04:00

This piece was a sketch I did for a friend who had just lost someone close to him.

Gen13 Comic Samples

2007-07-11T14:16:00.001-04:00

The following three pages are my latest round of comic samples. I feel that they are the strongest that I have done so far; displaying many of the tips I have received from professionals along the way. There are two pages left to this particular sample. These two other pages are from the same 22 page script, but a different scene that includes the rest of the Gen13 team.

I took these samples to WizardWorld Philly in June and got a very positive response. I am looking forward to finishing these, along with several other 3-page samples before I go to San Diego Comic Con International later this month. Looking at these pages now, about three weeks after their completion, I think my main criticism has to be that my anatomy, while more precise than in previous samples, is still rather stiff. Luckily, this can only be fixed through more STUDYING and more DRAWING!

One tool that I have found that has already loosened my work up a bit since I have started drawing with it only a couple months back is a non-repro blue pencil. For those who don't know, this is a special kind of pencil that does not show up when copied or scanned. Thus, no erasing! Also, I think the fact that I know it is not the final pencil line allows me to loosen up ON the actual page. The lead in the pencil is softer and a bit waxy, which is a nice change from the rather harder leads that most comic artists use. For whatever reason, I'm always so happy with the expressiveness and looseness of the blue lines that I put down. So right now non-repro blue pencils are on the top of the list as far as useful drafting tools for comic artists. In the next few posts maybe I'll tackle lightboxes and Google SketchUp.

Sad Sack of Circuitry

2007-06-22T10:16:00.000-04:00

Also part of my "Sketchbook Series" that I have been posting.

This lonely little fella was so sad and heartbroken, he KERRRAAASSSHHHEEDD his space car into a distant, forgotten moon just to get away. Of course, we can't hear (and thereby read) what our robot is saying, but I'm assuming it's Morrissey.

Sketchbook Series

2007-06-18T14:55:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've been sketching more from photographs to later translate into my comics work. It's been helping with my anatomy, draping of fabric and also helping to achieve more natural poses. I've turned to Sports Illustrated, wildlife books, the sports section of the local paper and would like to start drawing from books on WWII and National Geographic magazines. Since I am just getting back into this, I've been going for more "complete" drawings rather than giving myself time limits of 10 or 30 seconds or 1 or 2 minutes to do a sketch. I think I'll start working on those sketches as well to improve the fluid movements of my characters. But look how scared that long jumper is of that mountain lion!

Sketchbook Series

2007-06-13T23:14:00.001-04:00

This is another piece done during the 'Tuff Teef' Saga of 2005. I drew my teeth as wimps, finally giving in to the build-up of pressure and bursting into fireworks of pain. I like this sketch, and toyed with the idea of using it as a promo piece of sorts, but never got around to it.

Sketchbook Series

2007-06-11T17:23:00.000-04:00

Sketch completed in 2006. Ink and watercolor.

Painting for a friend

2007-05-30T13:21:00.000-04:00

OK, one last post for the month of May (possibly fastest month on record). This painting was done for some friends of mine. They had been wanting a piece of art for this particular space on their wall and had asked me to do a piece. They provided relatively specific direction on what they wanted by giving me names of artists they liked and showing me some sample images of other pieces they admire. The piece is 3 feet by 6 feet, acrylic and oil on canvas, and hangs in the Morley/Maqsood residence in the Panhandle of San Francisco.

In restrospect, the painting could have been a bit looser and more spontaneous. I think this had to do with the fact that I hadn't painted in a while, especially any "fine art" paintings nor anything that large. I'm looking forward to doing another piece for them soon.

Smile everyone. Summer's almost here.

Computer Bug

2007-05-22T13:47:00.000-04:00

This is just a practice illustration I did to experiment with various photoshop techniques. The original drawing was done in black and blue inks on computer paper and I was loosely interpreting the idea of how a computer bug manifests itself and how it is resolved. Along with practicing my photoshop skills, with every piece I do, I am slowly building my own visual language.

Things I learned from doing this piece were:

Do more rendering with traditional techniques first before you bring the image into the computer. I think that I'm pretty terrible when it comes to rendering things with my Wacom tablet and feel much more comfortable doing so using classic techniques. Not only that, but I would much rather be working with my hands using pencils, pens and paints to create rather than sit in front of a computer.

I think when I DO use the computer to color, I might try to limit it to flat color or simple gradients.

The composition of the piece is somewhat lacking, but that could have been better resolved were it not an immediate ink drawing. Not that that's an excuse. I suppose another thing learned, and this is an old problem of mine, is to better flesh out an idea before committing to it. No rendering, textures or computer flashiness is ever going to cover up poor composition, contrast, or any other fundamental element of design.

But i just get so EXCITED! :-/

Creative Hotlist

2007-05-16T09:37:00.000-04:00

Please note that more samples of my work, along with a resume, can be found on my CreativeHotlist page. Thanks!

Pen and Ink Sketch

2007-05-16T08:43:00.000-04:00

Just a drawing I did a few months ago playing around with different pens, pen nibs, brushes. Also there's a little white out and photoshop in there too.

Dreams and Ravens

2007-05-15T10:33:00.000-04:00

This is a tattoo design I did for a friend of mine. She had a really specific idea in mind, which is the only way I would design anything like this for anyone. She directed me pretty well through the process, informing me of what she wanted and what to include based on what the elements of the design meant to her. I'll have to post the "final" piece when its done.

Cubicle Yoga Illustration

2007-05-10T12:54:00.000-04:00

This piece was done for my friend Liz's up and coming business in SF. She wanted something to depict the gray, dull, and mundane mood that is most workspaces. In contrast, the person doing yoga should appear cheerful and vibrant. This was my solution to her proposal, with space at the top and right side of the illustration to allow for type.

Andromeda Madonna

2007-05-08T19:41:00.000-04:00

Completed in February of this year.

Tuff Teefs

2007-05-06T22:42:00.000-04:00

Starting in January 2005 and continuing through July of that same year, one of my teeth put me through hell, with several dentists of varying quality giving their opinions of what should be done to rectify the problem. Ultimately, after several months of debate, I went to bed one night and experienced pain so great that it ran up and down that entire side of my head and neck.

For a brief moment, I SERIOUSLY considered getting a pair of pliers and doing the job myself. But I knew it was time for a root canal. For a while after, I did a series of drawings and paintings about the trials and tribulations of my teeth, with this one being one of my favorites. Its acrylic on the side of a shoulder bag that I wasn't using anymore.

Super Heroine Sketches

2007-05-05T23:24:00.000-04:00

Just some quick, half-hour doodles of Wonder Woman and Dazzler. Done with ballpoint pen.