OFF TO MEGACON

We're off to Megacon this weekend. Anyone attending, please stop by Artist Alley and visit us at table White 5. We'll be there with all 5 SENTINELS books, our daily raffle and Jamie Fay will be doing awesome sketches! I'm really looking forward to seeing all our old friends and meeting new ones too. Hope to see you there!

SKETCH A DAY 33 AND 34: RED DEVIL AND SUPERGIRL

This will be the last "sketch a day" pics for a few days as I won't have access to a scanner until next week. I decided to post these two together as they're both pretty quick and easy ones, lol. First is Red Devil from the Teen Titans. I like this character a lot and had fun drawing him. to me, he's one of the better things to come out of DC's "One Year Later" storyline. I drew him in his original costume as I hate the new one, lol.

Next is Supergirl. Although I prefer the original classic Supergirl, I decided to draw the current one. I know they're the same person and both are Superman's cousin named Kara. But to me the original will always be the one who sacrificed herself during the first Crisis. This one is growing on me though.

WICKKID BY CHRISTOPHER UMINGA

One of my favorite sketches from the 2009 NYC Comic Con has to be this sketch by Christopher Uminga of Wickkid from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS. I love Christopher's style. It's so unique. And he picked the perfect character when he choose to draw Wickkid. On top of all that, Christopher is a super nice guy. I can't recommend him enough, so check out his site at http://www.cuminga.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 32: JERICHO

Here's a request that I got from my buddy, Ryan McLelland. I had no idea he was a Jericho fan, lol, but I like the character too so I decided to draw him. The only problem was I forgot that Ryan asked for "old school" Jericho. Doh. Sorry, Ry, I drew him as he looks currently. I hated that old school look though, lol, well at least the sideburns. Yeah, I hated the goofy sideburns. Even though I drew the wrong version, I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. With all his switching sides, good, evil, good, then evil again, the character is pretty much a mess. I wish they'd just have left him in comic limbo rather than bring him back and do the same thing over and over with him just because he's Deathstroke's son. But oh well, lol. It was fun drawing him.

MEGACON THIS WEEKEND

This weekend I'll be at the Megacon in Florida along with artist, Jamie Fay. It'll be our second time at Megacon and I'm really excited to see all the old familar faces again. Two other creators from the SENTINELS Anthology will be there too, Andrew Charipar and Todd Latoski. At the Con, we'll be continuing our daily raffle with a chance to win an original sketch by Jamie Fay. With each book you buy, you get a raffle ticket and at the end of each day we'll be drawing a winner. On top of all that we have a Convention special price deal that will make people happy and Jamie will have his first ever sketchbook. Come visit us in Artist Alley at table White 5.

TERRACE BY ROB REILLY

Here's another of the sketches I've got at the 2009 NYC Comic Con. This one was done by the talented Rob Reilly. I've known Rob for a while now and always see him at the Pittsburgh Comic Con. Last year he did an awesome sketch of Robust from the 1st Gen SENTINELS for me. So, when I saw him at the NYC Con, I knew I had to have him do another sketch. I was surprised that he choose to draw Terrace from the SENTINELS Anthology. He's the second person to pick her which is cool. Ryan and Andrew should be as happy with this sketch as I am, Terrace is their baby. Check out more of Rob's work at his blog at www.skatoonproductions.blogspot.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 31: EMMA FROST

One of my favorite villains in the X-Men back in the 80s was the White Queen. How could you not like her and all her evilness? lol. So, when they started to make her one of the good guys/gals in the 90s, I wasn't too wild about it. But they did it slowly and it made sense. It also wasn't an over night change in her character. Since then Marvel has really put her in the limelight and I have to say I love what they've done. I also really like her and Cyclops together. To me, they're much more interesting then Jean and Scott were. Plus, when they bring Jean back now she can be with Wolverine, lol. I tried to draw Emma with a bit of sexiness yet not too risque. Hope it came out that way.

SKETCH A DAY 30: TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE

Back to sketching! As I wait for art to come in from the various artists working on Drumfish projects, I'm keeping up on my "sketch a day" promise. This pic is of Andrew Charipar's characters from his self-published graphic novel series, TALES FROM THE CORNERSTONE. I really love this book and have plugged it on here in the past, but I had also promised Andrew that I'd draw something for him last year and since I'm seeing him this weekend, at Megacon, I knew I had to get this done. Hope you like it, Andrew! I had fun drawing these characters.

CRUSHER BY JAMAL IGLE

This sketch of Crusher was done by Jamal Igle at the 2009 NYC Comic Con. I'm a big fan of Jamal's work and he's another really nice guy in the comic biz. Currently he's drawing Supergirl for DC and I think he's doing an awesome job. I asked Jamal to pick whoever he wanted to draw and was kind of surprised he drew Crusher instead of one of the women. I liked that as I have tons of sketches of the SENTINELS ladies already. Crusher looks tough here! lol. Check out more of Jamal's work at http://www.jamaligle.com/ .

RAPTURE BY SCOTT WEGENER

This sketch of Rapture was done by Scott Wegener at the 2009 NYC Comic Con. Scott is the artist on the Indy hit, ATOMIC ROBO. I really love Scott's style and was happy to get a sketch by him. I think his line work is unique and he's also a super nice guy. For anyone who hasn't check out ATOMIC ROBO, I recommend it. It's a fun and interesting book. Check it out at http://www.atomic-robo.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 29: THE CREEPER

This sketch of the Creeper was done super quick. I wasn't sure whether to post it or not, as I'm not really wild about it. But that's the purpose of this "sketch a day" thing. Some you like a lot, some you might not, lol. So, I decided to post it. I did try to do something a little fun with his pose. I don't want to do every character in the same pose, so I'm trying to shake things up. I have some other sketches to post, but no scanner until next week.

SKETCH A DAY 28: MAGIK

Jeez, I've been posting a lot on the blog lately, lol. I know it's mainly been a lot of my sketches, but we are still working on lots of things. Soon I hope to get some more art for preview. In the meantime, hopefully I'm not boring everyone with my "sketch a day", lol. I'm mainly doing it to up my skills and hopefully get good enough by the end of the year so that I might do something written and drawn by me. Not sure how that will go just yet, but we'll see. This sketch of Magik from the New Mutants was fun to do. Love the horns and armor. I always thought she was a cool character and they never seemed to use her enough. She's back now though and I hope she'll appear regularly once her mini-series is over. The portal was fun to draw too, lol.

IGNITE BY REY ARZENO

Here's another sketch I got at the 2009 NYC Comic Con. This was done by Rey Arzeno. The first day of the Con, before the doors opened to the public, it was a little slow. So, I handed my sketchbook to Rey and told him to draw whoever he wanted. I was surprised he picked Alex from the 3rd Gen SENTINELS. I don't think I've ever seen him draw a kid before and I think he got Alex's personality done perfectly. Just look at his eyes, lol. You know he has something smart to say. Thanks again, Rey!

SKETCH A DAY 27: BATWOMAN

Still going strong with the "sketch a day" project. Here's the new Batwoman from DC Comics. I wasn't wild about them introducing her back in 52 and I hated that they used her sexuality as a media campaign. But seeing the preview pages of the new series that's coming out soon, I have to say I'm really interested in the book. The art in it looks beautiful. I tired adding just the red to her like they do in the book. I kind of like that.

SKETCH A DAY 26: VINCENT, THE PAINTER OF DEATH

This sketch is of HC Noel's character Vincent from his new series, Vincent: The Painter of Death. Currently a webcomic, Howie (HC) plans on releasing Vincent as an anthology later this year. Check out his site at http://www.hcnoel.com/ for more info on Vincent and to read the first few pages. I'm pretty happy with the way this sketch came out, it was different and a lot of fun to do.

PSYCHED BY AMANDA CONNER

One of my current favorite artists is Amanda Conner. I just really love her style and the energy she puts into her art. On top of all that, Amanda is one of the nicest people in the comic biz. She always has a smile on her face and is happy to chat with fans. In the past I've gotten two of the 3rd Gen SENTINELS from her (Cascade and Heartache) that I've posted in past blogs. This time out, she chose to draw Psyched from the 3rd Gen. I really love the way she turned out. I like that she added a little extra color to her costume and it fits right along side of the past sketches I've gotten. Amanda's next project is the long anticipated Power Girl series from DC. I'm not big on a lot of DC books right now, but this is one I'm not going to miss. Check out more of Amanda's work at http://www.amandaconner.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 25: TERRA

Since I'm posting the sketch I got by Amanda Conner at the NYC Comic Con today, I thought it was appropriate that I post the sketch I did of the new Terra as well. This new Terra was introduced last year and just recently had her own mini-series drawn by Amanda. At first I wasn't wild about the idea of yet a third character using the name Terra, but once I read the series I really ended up liking her. I'm pretty happy with the way this sketch came out and think the rocks added something to the art.

SKETCH A DAY 24: INVINCIBLE

I'm a BIG fan of Robert Kirkman. I first starting reading his work with Tech Jacket and Invincible. I loved both of those and they hooked me into buying pretty much anything he writes. (My favorite is Walking Dead). So, when Invincible was suggested to me to draw for my "sketch a day", it was a no-brainer that I'd add him to the list. I think he turned out okay. His costume is really basic though and I'm finding that I actually like the characters with more to their looks now. Simple costumes seem a little unfinished to me, lol.

SKETCH A DAY 23: GUNDRED

I did this sketch for my old (and yes, I mean his age) friend, Noel Short. Noel wrote Splash's story in the SENTINELS Anthology and quickly after he began working on his own series with a writing partner (Drew) called BREAKERS. I've had the honor of reading some of BREAKERS and really enjoyed the story and characters. I think it'll be an awesome book. I wanted to draw something for Noel for a while now and now that he has his own sketchbook, that he takes around at the cons, it gave me the perfect chance to add to his collection. Gundred is one of the main characters in BREAKERS and most of the story surrounds him. I like all the details they and designer Rey Arzeno have put into Gundred. Hopefully, I did him justice.

DAMIEN BY DAVID QUILES

Among the sketches I got at the 2009 NYC Comic Con was one by one of my favorite artists, David Quiles. David's a super nice guy who is always willing to go that extra mile to make his art look great. In the past, I've gotten sketches from David of Lightbringer and Lady Nimue. So, it was a natural for him to do Damien. I really love what he did and think it's one of his best yet. The detail in his costume really shines. Check out more of David's work at www.comicspace.com/davidquiles and http://www.infinitelinecomics.com/ .

No sketches from myself today, have to wait until Sunday to scan them. :)

LUCIANO VECCHIO IN HEAVY METAL

Luciano Vecchio is in Heavy Metal! No, I'm not talking about what he wears in his personal life around his apartment, I'm talking about the Magazine. The latest issue of Heavy Metal (March 2009 Cover) features the first chapter in the English reprinting of the series CRUEL THING! I'm really happy that this is happening and gives everyone the opportunity to see Luciano's art for this series. It's really different than work he has done before. Go to your local magazine shop and see if they have the issue or check out the website at http://www.heavymetal.com/. Congrats, Luc!!!!

SKETCH A DAY 22: WICCAN

I wasn't going to draw yesterday, but I wanted to keep to my promise of drawing at least once a day. I'm really glad I did, because I think this sketch of Wiccan is one of the best I've done. This was a request by some people on Deviant Art to match up with the Hulkling sketch I did. I think I'll end up doing the entire Young Avengers team eventually.

TEMPLAR BY EDDIE BARROWS

While at the 2009 NYC Comic Con, I was lucky enough to get some really great sketches which I'll be sharing over the next few weeks. The first one, with this post, is Templar by Eddie Barrows. Eddie was the most recent artist on DC's Teen Titans and I really loved his work while he was on the book. I wasn't planning on getting anything from Eddie because I figured he would have been booked up and not able to do anything. I didn't even stop by his table until Sunday, but he was totally open and did this sketch pretty fast. I really like his rendition of Templar from SENTINELS Book 4.

SKETCH A DAY 21: HULKLING

I really liked Marvel's Young Avengers, and when it started I thought that Hulkling was just a ripoff of Hulk and would be pretty lame. I was surprised when it turned out that he was part Kree and part Skrull and the son of the original Captain Marvel. He had a relationship with Wiccan and was pretty well adjusted. He was a very interesting character. Of course the book has been on hiatus forever, but I'm hoping that the team will get another series soon. I was pretty happy with the way this sketch turned out. :)

NYC COMIC CON REPORT

I've finally been able to get settled after this past weekend and catch up on a little sleep. The NYC Comic Con exhausted me, lol. I didn't get the time off from work that I usually get and it was straight from work to the Con and then back to work the day after. Overall the Con was a lot of fun and I think we all did pretty well. Of course the best part is always getting to meet so many people. Thanks to everyone who stopped by.

We started the first day a little slow. The show opened at 10am, but that was only for industry people and the general public was not allowed in until 1pm. This was kind of a good thing for me as it gave me time to see some of the Con floor and seek out some artists to do sketches for me. Of course, I went to one of my favorite artists to commission something from her and that was Amanda Connor. Her and Jimmy Palmiotti are two of the nicest people you'll ever meet at conventions. And even though I didn't really even get a chance to talk with them much, they were still really great and very upbeat. I like professionals that are like that. They set the bar high for everyone else. Once I had set up a few sketches, I settled down at my table with Jamie Fay and Rey Arzeno. A lot of people from Deviant Art stopped by and I had a blast from the past stop over and say hello. Back when I was young I was in an APA called Titantalk and one of the members was a guy named Neil Southwell. Neil's art was very influenced by George Perez and he was very talented. Unfortunately for the comic world, he went down another road and didn't get into drawing comics, which he totally could have. We chatted for a bit and it was good to catch up. He was nice enough to purchase all 5 SENTINELS books (Thanks, Neil!) and then we exchanged cards. He showed me some of his art and I hope he starts pursuing getting into comics again. In the afternoon we were joined by Noel Short and he helped us pimped SENTINELS and show off Jamie and Rey's art. We also had our daily raffle and people seemed to like that. I'm looking forward to seeing what Jamie does for those.

Once the show was off and running I got to meet a bunch of Indy creators. Howie Noeldechen, Andrea Grant, Andrew Charipar, James Rodriguez and Bryan J.L. Glass all stopped by as well as new creators like Ben Bishop. This was Ben's first Con and it was great meeting him. He even did a sketch for me that I'll post soon.

There was some interest in SENTINELS by some movie types, but who knows what will become of that, lol. I also got to see another Titantalk alum, Hank Kanalz, who is now in charge at Wildstorm. Hank's super nice and we caught up quickly and it reminded me I need to get in touch with my buddy Micheal McCalister who I haven't talked to in ages as I don't use AOL instant messaging that much at all anymore (Sorry, Micheal!). It's funny how many people started out in Titantalk and got into the comic biz. Off the top of my head, there's Rob Liefield, Hank Kanalz, Devin Grayson, Jay Faber, Micheal McCalister, Mercy Van Vlack, Ken Gale, Andy Mangels and me. George Gustines writes about comics for the Times and George Perez, Marv Wolfman, Karl Kesel, Barbara Kesel, Colleen Doran and Jonathan Petersen were all in the APA but had already gotten into comics. I'm sure I'm forgetting some too, but there's a lot.

Saturday night there were a ton of parties and we intended to try to go to all of them. The big problem was that everyone was starving. Jamie, Rey, Noel and I went and had dinner with Bryan J.L. Glass and his wife, Judy. They're both awesome and we had a great time. Unfortunately, the dinner took forever and it was 10pm by the time we got done. This didn't leave us any time to make it to all the parties. That meant I couldn't get everyone to go all the way down to Chinatown to Howie's Mr. Scootles party. I hear it went really well though.

Sunday seemed to be the best day for SENTINELS with us selling lots of the entire lot of 5 books. This was great and I was really happy that the last day did so well. I guess people were saving their money until the end to see what they had left, lol.

Jamie and Rey each did well and did some really beautiful commissions. I think they took pictures and will be posting them (I hope).

I also have to mention how many people stopped by and asked for NEVERMINDS. They really loved the page samples we had out and commented on how beautiful they looked. Hopefully, Jamie and Rey will start cranking out the pages quicker now that they've seen how much people are waiting for this book. :)

With this post are a few pics from the Con. Not the best but you can see a very sleepy me, Jamie, Rey and Noel. There a pic of Jamie being interviewed by a podcast show and Rey meeting a guy dressed in costume, lol.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by and bought SENTINELS and to Jamie, Rey and Noel for all their help. I really appreciated it guys!

SKETCH A DAY 20: BLUE BEETLE

Here's a request made by Keefer (Hellstormer) from the Drumfish Forums. I've never drawn Blue Beetle before and after getting into it I was amazed by how much thought was put into his costume by his creators. It's really a cool look. I'll have to try him again someday once I've gotten more sketches under my belt and I think I'm doing better. He was fun though.

NYC COMIC CON DAY 3 AND SKETCH A DAY 19: KITTY PRYDE

Day 3 of the NYC Comic Con went smoothly. I ended up selling the most books on Sunday which was odd since it's always been the slowest day for me. I got a chance to chat with some very cool people and meet a lot of Deviant Art friends. It was also great seeing a lot of people from my long ago days in APA's (Amatuer Press Association), but I'll report more on that tomorrow when I do a full Con report. The long weekend has finally hit me and even though I finally got a good night sleep, I could still use a day to relax, lol.

Along with this post is another of my sketches, this time it's Kitty Pryde of the X-Men. She was requested/suggested by someone on Deviant Art. I had fun doing her even though I think I rushed it a bit. I enjoyed adding Lockheed in the pic with her, lol.
Lots more to report tomorrow and then I'll start showing some of the awesome sketches I got.

NYC COMIC CON DAY 2 AND SKETCH A DAY 18: THE LEGION

Day 2 of the NYC Comic Con was a loooooooong one. The first day seemed to go by so fast, but after the end of the second day, the hours on my feet have hit me. There were so many people at the Con on Saturday, the Con was completely sold out. We had a steady flow of people stopping by the Drumfish table and Jamie and Rey continued to get commissions. It seemed to be the day people discovered they were there and how great they are, lol. We seemed to sell more SENTINELS books yesterday though. I'm hoping for better sales Sunday. We got to meet a lot of Deviant Art associates and finally put a name to some faces. We also got to hangout with our buddy, Bryan J.L. Glass (Mice Templar and Magician Apprentice), and his awesome wife, Judy. They're some of the nicest people you'll meet at conventions. There were tons of parties after the Con, but we weren't able to really make them as our diner plans too so long. I really wanted to get down town (Chinatown) to H.C. Noel's Mr. Scootles party, but by the time we got finished eating, it was too late. (Sorry, Howie). We're recharged for the last day now and hope it turns out great.

Along with this post is another of my sketches. This time I tired to do something a little different and designed more. It's the original three Legion members. I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out.

NYC COMIC CON DAY 1 AND SKETCH A DAY 17: RAVAGER

Day 1 of the NYC Comic Con was off to a good start. We actually sold more on this Friday then we did the previous years on Friday at the Con. Our table in Artist Alley is not in the best location though, we're way in the back, but we seem to be getting people to stop by. It also seems like the space behind the table is tighter, not much room to move there. We met a lot of great people so far and I thank everyone for stopping by. Our convention deal with the chance to win an original sketch by Jamie Fay seems to be a hit. Lots of people have been really impressed with Jamie and Rey's art. These guys are going to be big one day. Today is supposed to be sold out so I'm hoping the crowd is huge! I'll have a much fuller report and comments after Sunday, but I just wanted to post this quick blog entry.

Keeping up with my "sketch a day", along with this post is Ravager from the Teen Titans. I really like the way she turned out. Her costume wasn't as hard to draw as I thought it would be.

SKETCH A DAY 16: TROIA

Another day, another sketch. Here's Troia from Titans. She's always been one of my favorite characters and the Titans have always been one of my favorite teams. Years and years ago, when I first got into comics, I joined an APA (Amateur Press Associate) called TitanTalk. It was there that I really developed a love for drawing and creating and was always doing bad sketches of the Titans, lol. It's been years since I've drawn any of them, but I thought I'd give it a try again.

Now we're off to the NYC Comic Con! Come visit us in Artists Alley at table J7!

NYC COMIC CON TOMORROW AND SKETCH A DAY 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15

Tomorrow is the 4th NYC Comic Con! I'm really looking forward to this weekend and hope everything goes well. As I've said a few times now, lol, we'll be in Artists Alley at table J7. Jamie Fay and Rey will be doing commissions and we'll be having a daily raffle to win original art. Stop by and check us out!

Keeping up with my "sketch a day" I'm posting a few with this entry. Dazzler turned out pretty cool. I tried a backshot with her, which I hadn't really done before. I Like the Northstar and Aurora ones, but I'm not wild about Captain America and Ms. Martian. I did those when I was first starting and know that I could have done them better. But this is all about the process, lol.

NYC COMIC CON TWO DAYS AWAY!

The NYC Comic Con is only two days away! I'm really looking forward to it and hope the snow stays away, lol. Once again, I'll be there with Jamie Fay and Rey Arzeno, who will both be sketching away doing commissions. Also floating around at the con will be three other creators that worked on the SENTINELS Anthology: Noel Short, Ryan McLelland and Andrew Charipar. I'm sure they'll be around the Drumfish table from time to time. Stop by and see us in Artists Alley at table J7. We're also having a raffle each day. With each purchase of a Drumfish book, you enter into the raffle and have the chance to win an original sketch of the character of your choice done by Jamie Fay. Not bad, huh?

SKETCH A DAY 10: PSYLOCKE

I'm still rolling along with my "sketch a day". Here's Psylocke from the X-Men. I liked this version of Psylocke best from all her different incarnations. Sure the costume makes no sense, but it's fun to draw. I think I'm getting better on my figures and I'm going to start trying to do some more dynamic layouts and action shots soon. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement on these.

SKETCH A DAY 9: PHOENIX

Here's another X-character I sketched. This time it's Phoenix. This one is so-so to me. I like it, but I think I could have done better. I plan to do Dark Phoenix once I've gotten more sketches under my belt. That way maybe that one will be awesome. :)

There's only 3 days until the NYC Comic Con! It's going to be great. And once again, we'll be in Artists Alley at table J7.

SKETCH A DAY 8: NIGHTCRAWLER

Still keeping at it! Here's another sketch of one of the X-Men, this time it's Nightcrawler as requested/suggested by Rey Arzeno. I was pretty happy with the way he turned out. I could have done the smoke better, but I'm still a little rusty, lol.

SKETCH A DAY 7: STORM

Here's one of the requests made by Jamie Fay for my "sketch a day" project. I really like the way this pic of Storm came out. I decided to draw her in her classic costume since that was the one I liked the most. Maybe later, once I fell I've gotten better, I'll try to do the mohawk version of her. I always liked that look too, lol.