Monday, January 05, 2015
Saturday, January 03, 2015
Saturday Sketch: Kirby's Merlin
Here we have Merlin the Magician from the first run of The Demon. I had a blast doing this piece! Every time I study Jack Kirby's work I learn something new about the man's genius.
With this piece, I learned that the heavily designed aspect of Kirby's style subtly forces the viewer to work at understanding the image. Kirby's visual language is simple and direct, but his stylistic presentation forces the viewer to work a little harder to understand exactly what it is that they are seeing. To me this comes across as a learning tool. His style teaches the understanding of art simply by being what it is. It requires the viewer to translate.
While I was researching for this piece, I also noticed that there is something oddly psychedelic about Kirby's artwork. It may have just been that I had taken too much cough medicine while fighting off my recent sinus infection, but all the pieces I was looking at seemed to have a similar quality to psychedelic posters from the sixties. I noticed it specifically in his later work: The Demon, Machine Man, The Eternals, New Gods, Captain Victory.
I must offer my apologies on this piece as it is not the usual sketchcard size. I got into the groove while doing studies of Merlin's costume, then that turned into sketching and before I knew it I was finished. At that point I realized I had been drawing the wrong size.
I may permanently go to the larger size. Both sizes takes about the same amount of time to complete and I can get more detail in the larger image. The whole point of the Saturday Sketches has always been more about the time limit to complete the drawing. I do enjoy the extra detail. I'll have mull that one over.
{8x5.33, created in Adobe Photoshop}
With this piece, I learned that the heavily designed aspect of Kirby's style subtly forces the viewer to work at understanding the image. Kirby's visual language is simple and direct, but his stylistic presentation forces the viewer to work a little harder to understand exactly what it is that they are seeing. To me this comes across as a learning tool. His style teaches the understanding of art simply by being what it is. It requires the viewer to translate.
While I was researching for this piece, I also noticed that there is something oddly psychedelic about Kirby's artwork. It may have just been that I had taken too much cough medicine while fighting off my recent sinus infection, but all the pieces I was looking at seemed to have a similar quality to psychedelic posters from the sixties. I noticed it specifically in his later work: The Demon, Machine Man, The Eternals, New Gods, Captain Victory.
I must offer my apologies on this piece as it is not the usual sketchcard size. I got into the groove while doing studies of Merlin's costume, then that turned into sketching and before I knew it I was finished. At that point I realized I had been drawing the wrong size.
I may permanently go to the larger size. Both sizes takes about the same amount of time to complete and I can get more detail in the larger image. The whole point of the Saturday Sketches has always been more about the time limit to complete the drawing. I do enjoy the extra detail. I'll have mull that one over.
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Saturday Sketch: Bloodwynd
Here we have Bloodwynd, from Dan Jurgens' run on Justice League. I've never had much interest in the character, but he is a magic user in the DCU and I did have fun drawing him.
{2.5x3.5, created in Adobe Photoshop}
Friday, December 26, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Saturday Sketch: Original Dagger
Here we have Dagger casting her purifying light knives. I drew her partner Cloak earlier in 2014. Although Cloak and Dagger first appeared in Peter Parker the Spectacular Spiderman, I first read them in there own series. I've always loved the tragic duo. Despite the exact origin of their powers, there is something magical in in the manifestation of their powers and the themes the two characters represent.
{2.5x3.5, created in Adobe Photoshop}
Friday, December 19, 2014
Monday, December 15, 2014
From the Archives: Needlet
These nasty little guys are blue with white-ish hair. They make a horrible whining moaning noise as they waddle along. They tend to show up in swarms and incapacitate victims with their codependent inertia. Though generally not a lethal threat, if there are enough Needlets present it is possible to be crushed under their combined weight or even smothered by the sheer mass of the swarm. It is best to just run if you see one.
{Graphite}
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Saturday Sketch: Silver Age White Witch
Until I began doing research for this piece, I was unaware that Mysa Nal, the White Witch from the Legion of Superheroes, had a different appearance previous to her early 80's albino look.
{2.5x3.5, created in Adobe Photoshop}
Monday, December 08, 2014
Saturday Sketch: Original Moon Knight
Here we have the original Moon Knight as he first appeared in Werewolf By Night. I've always enjoyed how Moon Knight looks a bit like the iconic American ghost image. With his covered face and mostly white costume, he has always had an otherworldly aura to me. This version of his costume was fun to research as before I drew this piece I was mostly familiar with the version from the Bill Sienkiewicz run in the 80's.
{2.5x3.5, created in Adobe Photoshop}
Friday, December 05, 2014
From the Archives: Flaming Sword
This was an older digital piece that never really reached a satisfactory level of completion. The piece began as an imagining of DC Comics' Spectre, but quickly departed from that idea once I got into the piece.
{8x6, Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}
{8x6, Digital Images manipulated in Adobe Photoshop}
Monday, December 01, 2014
Psyche Delectus: Throne of the Smith
he creates structure.
Recommended Listening:
{8x5.33, created in Adobe Photoshop}
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Skin Crawling Comics November Update
The Skin Crawling Comics
website regularly posts pages to the individual
stories of the anthology every Tuesday and Thursday. I'll be doing an
update at least once a month with links to the newest pages. Drop by and check out the latest updates!
Hunger Pg. 6
Hunger Pg. 7
Hunger Pg. 8
Hunger Pg. 9
Hunger Pg. 10
The Mother Road Pg. 1
The Mother Road Pg. 2
If you haven't already, check out last month's pages. Also check out Skin Crawling Comics on Twitter and Facebook!
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