BREAK FOR A FEW DAYS

I had another post on here earlier that was kind harsh. Sorry about that. I took it off and figure the best thing for me to do is just take off for a few days and not post anything. I'm rethinking a lot of things and projects and will try to see what the future holds soon. I think I'm burned out today with comics, creators and the industry right now.

SKETCH A DAY 115: SPEEDBALL

One thing I really miss about current comics is the upbeat, light-hearted characters that used to exist. Whatever happened to them? Almost every character that I can think of is either dead, in comic limbo or has been totally changed and made darker. Here's an old favorite, Speedball, who used to have his own title back in the 80s and was a member of the original New Warriors. He's still around, but his name is Penance now and he wears a leather costume covering him from head to toe with spikes on it. Sad.

KICKBACK BY MATTHEW FLETCHER

I'd gotten a sketch by Matthew Fletcher before at the NYC Comic Con, so when I saw him at Wizard World Philly it was a no-brainer that I'd get something else by him. I really like his style. It's clean, energetic and unique. I love his rendition of Kickback from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS. It's perfect and really captures the character well. See more of Matthew's work at http://www.mjfletcher.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 114: MEDUSA

Trying some different things here. I wanted to show some more perspective and still have it look interesting. I'm pretty happy with the way this one came out. I really don't know much about Medusa from the Inhumans except she has lots and lots of hair. I just went with that. :)

FIREBOMB BY GREG MOUTAFIS

Here's another of the great sketches I got while at Wizard World Philly. This time it's Firebomb in her costume from SENTINELS Book 3: Echoes drawn by Greg Moutafis. Greg has a really clean simple style that I think captures the essence of the character nicely. Greg was one of the Xeric winners a while back and has drawn such books as the Rookie, Boom!Squad and Johnny Raygun to name a few. Check out more of his work at http://www.gregmoutafis.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 113: HARRY POTTER

I tried a little different technique with this sketch. I did really, really loose pencils and then went straight to inking. But instead of being as smooth with my inks as I usually am, I decided to go a little rougher. Interesting effects. I've never drawn Harry Potter before, but with so many commercials on TV for the new movie, I decided to give him a try.

SENTINELS ON ALERT NERD

Here's a cool review of the SENTINELS series from Jeff at http://www.alertnerd.com/ . Jeff got all the SENTINELS books at the Wizard World Philly Con and (luckily, lol) he seemed to like them. Check out the review here: http://www.alertnerd.com/?p=2282 or read below. :)

Thanks Jeff! Glad you liked the series!

UNDER THE RADAR: SENTINELS

SENTINELS is better than it has any right to be.
The indie superhero book got a good deal of buzz from Newsarama, CBR and Ain’t It Cool around the time its second volume - “Masks” - was released, but I never got around to tracking the book down, and then it vanished under the radar again by the time I remembered. I found the entire series of OGNs at Wizard World Philly and have spent the past two weeks digging into it. I finished it up last night.
If you like the Chris Claremont run on Uncanny X-Men, you’re probably going to dig Sentinels. It delivers a page-turning combination of angst, romance, aliens, demons, government conspiracy, daddy issues, Bronze Age-style ass-kicking, frequent costume changes and a long form plot that spans three generations of heroes and manages to pay off satisfyingly, something that few Big Two titles can accomplish these days. Things happen in Sentinels - death, resurrection, betrayal, sex, sacrifice, et cetera.
The most entertaining part of Bernatovich’s magnum opus, though, was watching the evolution of the creators in elapsed time. Much like J.K. Rowling, Bernatovich and Vecchio’s early work is still entertaining and engaging, but becomes much more polished and craft-aware from volume to volume, especially Vecchio’s pencils, which gain added depth over time without sacrificing his Marvel-meets-manga style.
Like I intimated above, Sentinels is very easy to recommend to 80s X-fans, and to superhero fans in general. The book may be a harder sell for Golden Age/DC die-hards, however. It’s the most competent and interesting superhero project I’ve read from a nonmajor publisher since Rising Stars.

SKETCH A DAY 112: STATIC

This the first time I've drawn Static. I am pretty happy with the way he turned out. They recently added him to the Teen Titans and at first I couldn't stand him. But they seem to have merged him well with the team and within the DC universe. He was fun to draw.

SKETCH A DAY 111: POWER PACK

Finally! A good sketch again I think. I was in the mood to draw Power Pack. Don't laugh. See, I was talking with some people recently about different books and how they can bring them back and it actually gave me some ideas for Power Pack. They haven't been used right for a long time and I really believe that there is a market for them. I'd love to get a crack at writing them. Of course, I'd age them a bit. But I think it could be a cool book if you move it into current times. I think this sketch turned out pretty well.

SKETCH A DAY 110: DEATH

Another sketch where I wanted to try something different. This is the first sketch where I haven't drawn full body. I was going for a look where the character merges with the background. It's okay, nothing great. Two bummer sketches in a row, lol. Not good.

SKETCH A DAY 109: DARKSEID

Okay, so sometimes I really think I'm doing a good sketch and then once it's done, it's kind of crappy. That's pretty much the case here. As I was drawing Darkseid I thought he's face looked great. I got the shape and all the cracks right and was happy with him. I get to inking the body and somehow it just seems blah. Don't like it at all. I mean, besides the fact that he actually has a ridiculous costume, he looks off. I mean really, he's wearing a skirt! It's kind of hard to pull off making him look evil with a skirt. But they usually do it and I didn't so this one is a learning lesson I guess. Still like the way the face came out though.

1ST GEN TEMPLAR BY KHOI PHAM

Here's an awesome sketch I got at the Wizard World Philly Con. This time it's the 1st Gen Templar drawn by Khoi Pham. Khoi is currently the penciler on Mighty Avengers for Marvel. He's an incredibly talented artist and out of all the creators at this past con, he was the one I saw doing the most. This guy was a machine! Really, he must have pumped out like 15-20 sketches each day. On top of all that, Khoi is an extremely nice guy who chatted with people all day long as he drew. I don't think I even saw him leave his table the whole con. He was that dedicated. Check out more of Khoi's work at http://www.khoipham.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 108: BLACK CAT

I haven't been having as much time as I'd like to do my sketches each day, so some of them have been a little less involved than others. But I think the thing is to do one each day and keep at it. Hence this sketch of Black Cat. With each sketch I'm trying to at least do something a little different with them. With this one, it was the fur on her costume. I think the collar came out well, but the arm and leg areas don't quite feel right. Still, had fun drawing her.

TEMPLAR BY TOM HODGES

Here's one of the sketches I got at the Wizard Philly Con last weekend. This is Templar from SENTINELS Book 2: Masks as drawn by Tom Hodges. I really love Tom's work. His style is fresh, energetic and fluid. I love the little blue he put in. I had gotten a sketch by him a few years ago of Lightbringer and this one would totally compliment it. Check out Tom's website at http://www.tomhodges.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 107: FATHOM

Another Indie superstar, Fathom was created by the late, great Michael Turner. Michael's art was amazing and his impact on the comic world will be felt for years to come. Especially if the rumored Fathom movie is made staring Megan Fox. If they do it right, it'll be box office gold. I really wanted to do justice to this character, but I'm not sure if I like the result of this sketch. The figure is okay, I seem to be good with those now. But I'm not wild about the underwater environment I put her in. I imaged it as lots of bubbles and slight darkness around her, but not quite the way it looks here. Oh well, keep on trying! :)

SKETCH A DAY 106: SANRIA

I've been trying to stay away from drawing any of my own characters for this "sketch a day" project, but I just felt like drawing our angelic "Sanria" from NEVERMINDS. I really liked the way she turned out. Especially the hair and the wings. :)

DEMON BY GUS FINK

How cool and different is this sketch? This demon was drawn by Gus Fink at the Wizard Philly Con last week. Gus had been sitting across from me at the con and I got to see a lot of his work while sitting there. I really liked his unusual style and use of colors. After chatting with him, I gave him my sketch book and told him to draw whichever character he liked. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw he had drawn one of the demons from SENTINELS Book 3. I love it. I don't think anyone else will ever draw one of them so it's great that Gus picked him. Check out more of Gus's art at http://www.gusfink.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 105: MADMAN

I'm trying to do more Indie characters with my sketches, so I decided to try Madman. I always liked the character design and thought that Mike Allred's art was excellent. He has this very sleek style to his work that reminds me of Paul Pope's. As for the story of Madman, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. It's fun, it's a little wacky (which I like) and it's different than any mainstream books. But still, I couldn't get that into it. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'll have to give it another read. Maybe this is why this drawing is kinda no thrills? lol. The only thing I took from reading the series (besides the beautiful art) was that Madman always seemed to be questioning himself. That's why I drew his this way.

SPLASH BY FRANCHESCO

Here's the first of the many sketches I got at the Wizard World Philly Con. This sketch of Splash from SENTINELS book 3: Echoes was drawn by the talented and extremely nice, Franchesco. I've been a BIG fan of Franchesco's for years, since he had his very first art published in the Comic Buyer's Guide newspaper in the early 90s. I still remember it as it was the female Dove from Titans in a pic that was calling for peace in the world. At the time the country was involved in the Gulf War, so it was very fitting. I mentioned this to Franchesco and he told me that that picture meant a lot to him and was happy I remembered it. Then again, how can you forget any of his art? It's always so energetic and alive. His woman are always beautiful. And he puts in so much time shading his figures that it's surprising he gets so much done and still is able to chat with people at cons! Luckily, I was able to get this sketch of Splash and let me say that the scan and picture don't do it justice. It's a beautiful piece. Check out more of Franchesco's art at http://www.franchesco.com/ and http://franchesco.deviantart.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 104: USAGI YOJIMBO

Here's a fun, different character. Since I've been doing too many mainstream characters lately, I decided to switch it up again and draw some Indies. Usagi Yojimbo has been around for years. I'd even say at this point that he's an iconic Indie character much like Bone, Cerebus, Strangers In Paradise, Elfquest, Cry For Dawn, etc. The sad thing for me is, and I hate to admit it, I've never read his book. I've been meaning to for a long time, but just never got around to it. Guess I gotta go to the comic store this weekend, lol.