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.

SKETCH A DAY 103: SHADOW LASS

I know I seem to be on a DC character run with my sketches, but that's mainly because I did these at the Wizard Philly Con while at my table. I was doing characters I knew the costumes for in my head, since I had no reference, and most of those are DC characters. Here's my take on Shadow Lass/Umbra from the Legion. She's had so many costumes that I kind of went with the one I liked best. I like the way her powers came out here and the overall effect they give.

SKETCH A DAY 102: HARLEY QUINN

Gotta love Harley Quinn. A lot of great things came out of the Batman the Animated Series cartoon (like Renee Montoya) but Harley was and is the best. She's such a fun and crazy character. Hopefully I did her justice.

SKETCH A DAY 101: RED TORNADO

Getting back to drawing after a few days being busy at the Philly Con. Here's a fast Red Tornado. I just saw that they're doing a mini-series on him soon, which made me want to draw him. Not sure why they think it'll sell, lol, but maybe it'll be good. They introduce a new "family" for him. From the looks of it, there are 3 new androids. One composed of water, one of fire and another earth. Guess all 4 elements will be represented with Red being air. Could be good. I always liked Red, but think he works best as part of the JLA. He was fun to draw with all that tornado under him, lol.

WIZARD WORLD PHILLY REPORT

Wizard World Philly was awesome!! Really, we had a blast and did kickass there. To be honest, I really wasn't expecting much. I thought it would be bad since Heroes Con was the same weekend. But it actually was a good thing for us that the cons were the same weekend. Even though the attendance for Wizard seemed down, people were spending money. They were really buying stuff and unlike most cons I go to, they were actually there to find something new and chat. We talked with a ton of people and it made the time fly by. I sold a lot of the complete set of SENTINELS books and I even sold some art! lol. Believe it or not. The only thing that was tough was the table space. It was a little tight and we didn't even have that much stuff. I really would like to do this con again and hope that the rumors of this being the last one aren't true. I also got a ton of sketches this time, super cheap and the best bunch yet. I'll start posting them soon. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi, chatted and bought SENTINELS. Hope to see you all there next year!

IGNITE BY BRADEN D. LAMB

Here's the last sketch I got at the 2009 Mocca Con a few weeks ago. It's Ignite by Braden D. Lamb. I was really impressed by Braden's art. He has a nice old school style that is very clean. I thought he'd do a good sketch of one of the 3rd Gen SENTINELS, so I let him pick and he chose Ignite. Cool, huh? Braden is the artist on Kitty Hawk a cool book about a female pilot who solves mysteries. Check it out at http://kittyhawkcomic.com/ .

PSYCHED BY JACOB CHABOT

Here's another of the great sketches I got at Mocca Con a few weeks ago. This one is of Psyched of the 3rd Gen SENTINELS and drawn by Jacob Chabot. I have to admit, it's one of my favorites I got that weekend. Jacob is super nice and was selling his Skullboy comics and merchandise at the con. I love his clean style and energy. I was also able to get his Skullboy trade for my nephew which I'm sure he'll love. Check out more of Jacob's work at http://www.beetlebugcomics.com/ . It's also just been announced that Jaob will be drawing X-Men Babies at Marvel.

WIZARD WORLD PHILLY

I'm off to Wizard World Philly today along with artist, Jamie Fay. So, no sketches or posts for a few days. We'll be in artists alley at table #100. If you're in the area and attend the con, stop by and say hello. We're looking forward to this convention as last year we had a great show here. Hope this one is just as good!

SKETCH A DAY 100: RAVEN

My 100th sketch! Woohoo! I can't believe I've reached 100 already. It seems like I just started, lol. I know I'm still a little behind in my sketching though if I want to be on track for 365 by the end of the year. Still, it's nice to reach a small milestone. I decided to draw one of my favorite characters for this 100th drawing. Raven has always been a favorite of mine since I first started reading comics. She's not the hottest girl or the most unique character, but I like her back story and powers. I also like how they evolved her character slowly during the New Teen Titans run by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. Her story became a classic. Of course now that classic has been beaten, redone and hit us over the head so much that I don't think they (DC) knows how to do anything else with her anymore then recycle her story. Sad. Anyway, lol, I wanted to draw her and think she turned out pretty well. I decided on her old look instead of the animated or new style. Sometimes old school is still best. :)

RAPTURE BY CHARLIE "SPIKE" TROTMAN

Here's another of the cool sketches I got at the 2009 Mocca Con in NYC. Rapture was drawn by Charlie "Spike" Trotman. Spike (as she likes to be called) is the creator. writer and artist of the webcomic, TEMPLAR, ARIZONA. I had heard of the series before and, of course, the word TEMPLAR caught my eye because of SENTINELS, lol, but I had never had the chance to check it out. At the Con, Spike was actually selling trades of the series (3 so far) so I bought them all. Then I asked her if she was doing sketches and she graciously did one for free for me. I really love her style and think she did an awesome job on Rapture. I've only now started reading TEMPLAR, ARIZONA (finished the first trade) and already I'm hooked. It's totally different then things I've read before. It has a kind of Strangers in Paradise feel to it, but much more twisted. The fictional town is odd with lots of interesting goings on and such. The characters are very well fleshed out and three dimensional. I'm eager to see what happens next and recommend checking out the series to anyone who's looking for something different. You can read the entire webcomic for free at http://www.templaraz.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 99: CRY FOR DAWN

Keeping with the Indie characters, here's Dawn from the Indie hit, Cry for Dawn, created by Joseph Michael Linsner. I had the chance to meet Joseph a few years ago and he was one of the coolest creators I've yet to meet. He was extremely friendly and encouraging. I've wanted to draw Dawn for a while now, since I started this sketching project, but I was afraid because her costume is so detailed. I think I pulled it off okay though. I tried to do something basic with her, yet still sexy.

SKETCH A DAY 98: CONCRETE

Concrete was another Indie comic that was published in the 80s. Created, written and drawn by Paul Chadwick, Concrete has won a ton of awards, including both Eisner and Harvey awards in 1988 and 1989. It's a definite classic. I loved the series and always thought the design of the character, although simple looking, was very appealing. He looks really easy to draw, but to get him right I think you have to be careful. He can end up just looking like a blob, lol. I'm pretty happy with the way he turned out. I miss this series.

HARLETTE BY MATT BAYNE

This sketch of Harlette, in her costume from SENTINELS Book 3: Echoes, was done by Matt Bayne at the 2009 Mocca Con. Matt has a really interesting art style that caught my eye as I looked around at the convention. Matt is the writer and artist on KNIGHTS OF THE SHROUD, a webcomic set in a fantasy world that follows the drama of five vigilante women in their life and death struggle against slavery. It's a really well thought out series and Matt also had some printed copies he was selling of the webcomic at the con. I bought them all and then Matt was nice enough to do this sketch of Harlette for me. I really like Matt's pencil style and his inks are great too. He seems to be able to keep the same quality of work to them with either. You can see more of his work at www.webcomicsnation.com/mattb . There are a few different links there to his different projects. Check it out!

SKETCH A DAY 97: RED SONJA

I'm trying to draw more obscure or Indie characters so I decided to give Red Sonja a try. I really liked her in pencil form, but think I may have over inked her a bit and messed up a little in places. But hey, that's all part of the process, lol. As I was inking her, it occurred to me that her costume and look is very similar to Starfire from the Titans. Then I remembered that George Perez stated that when he first created Starfire he used Red Sonja as inspiration. It works. And after reading up on Red Sonja, she's a pretty interesting character. They even made a movie on her back in the 80s with Brigitte Nelsen. This was way before her drunken bloated days thankfully, lol. She really fit the part back then, lol. Recently, there was a new film in the works with Robert Rodriguez directing and Rose McGowan supposed to star in it, but it seems to have been shelved. Too bad, I think it might have been pretty good.

SKETCH A DAY 96: BADGER

Badger was an Indie character who had his own book back in the 80s. The cool thing about Badger was that he was crazy. Literally. He had a bunch of different personalities which seemed to switch due to stress or something triggering his emotions. His book had a long run too from what I remember. Fun book. They started collecting the series in trades recently and I think there are about 4 of them out so far. I figured I'd try drawing some non-Marvel/DC characters again. More variety coming soon.

SPLASH BY TIM SMITH 3

This sketch of Splash was done by Tim Smith 3 at the Mocca Con last weekend. Tim's a great guy and very talented. He's also super fast and did this sketch very quickly. The scan doesn't do it justice, sorry. But the pencil effect he used is much nicer than seen here. Tim has drawn many things over the year including Teen Titans Go. Check out more of his work at http://www.timsmith3.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 95: LUCY IN THE SKY

I wanted to try to do a different sort of face when I did this sketch. I wanted to do someone more innocent looking. I'm not sure I got there, I think the inks messed it up a bit. She looked better in pencil, lol. Anyway, Carolina (Lucy In The Sky) from Runaways is an interesting character. I think she needs to be seen in color though to truly get her look.

TERRY & MR. SCOOTLES BY H.C. NOEL

I got this sketch of Terry (Crusher and Flare's first son) and his toy Mr. Scootles at the Mocca Con this past weekend. The creator of MR. SCOOTLES himself, H.C. Noel (Howie) did this for me in just a few minutes. He's super fast. Howie was there selling copies of MR. SCOOTLES and VINCENT: PAINTER OF DEATH along with his wife, Shelly. Actually I think Shelly was doing all the work and Howie was just sweating from the heat, lol. I love this sketch and think it fit perfectly for Howie to draw Terry since he had a Mr. Scootles toy with him all through the SENTINELS Anthology. Thanks again, Howie! Be sure to check out Howie's new webcomic, TARA NORMAL at http://www.hcnoel.com/ . It's free and awesome!

PHAZER BY BECKY CLOONAN

I went to the NYC Mocca Con this weekend and was able to get quite a few sketches. I didn't have a table at the convention this year, I couldn't get off for work, but I was able to go on Sunday and I was glad I did. They changed the location of the show and it's MUCH better now. It still has one same problem though, it was HOT as hell, lol. Really, it seemed like everyone was sweating there which made for a great smell, lol. Ugh. Anyway, I was able to say hi to a few friends and get some cheap or free sketches. It was great because I hardly spent any money. I also got to get a few new Indie books which I hope to read soon. One of the artists I sought out at the show was Becky Cloonan. I'm a big fan of Becky's work and have gotten a cool sketch of Templar from her in the past. This time, she decided to draw Phazer. It's a really moody sketch and much different than most of her work. I really like it! It makes me think of him as possessed or something, lol. Please check out Becky's projects and more of her work at http://www.estrigious.com/becky/index.htm .

SKETCH A DAY 94: DEADMAN

Deadman is a character that I felt like drawing because I wanted to do something different looking. I went with the skinny, dead looking Deadman instead of the muscular one they often portray him as. He was fun to draw.

SKETCH A DAY 93: LAGOON BOY

I didn't have much time to sketch this weekend (yet again!), but I was able to finish this sketch of Lagoon Boy. He appeared in Aquaman, Young Justice and most recently, Titans. Not much was done with him in Titans, but I always thought he was a fun character. He's one of the few remaining characters that hasn't become dark. Hopefully, they'll keep that light-hearted feel to him.

SKETCH A DAY 92: STRONG GUY

Okay, this sketch was done just for fun. I don't know what it is about Strong Guy from X-Factor, but I like him. Maybe it's because he's so odd looking and funny. Whatever it is, he was a blast to draw and I like the way he turned out.

SKETCH A DAY 91: BONE

This sketch was mainly done for fun. I wanted to try drawing Bone for a while, but thought it'd be too easy. I was right, lol. It's really a simple character. So, I tried to do a little background with him. Nothing wild, but I think it helps to add something. I loved the Bone series and think it's the perfect example of an all ages book. Anyone who hasn't checked it out should definitely give it a try.

SKETCH A DAY:90 EIDOLON

This sketch was done for R.J. Spassov and my old collaborator, Jerry S. Loomis. R.J., Jerry and I were all in an APA called TNT together many years ago and Jerry and I worked together on a series called QUARANTINE. Unfortunately, QURANTINE never made it too far. We did do a TON of work on it and Jerry's art was amazing, but back then, there was no outlet for it. I think we were too ahead of our time. Now, R.J. and Jerry are one of the finalists in Small Press Idol and this is one of their characters, Eidolon. Check out their work and vote for them! Here's the info:

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SKETCH A DAY 89: CLAYFACE

I kind of like the way this sketch turned out. As opposed to the Human Torch pic, I tried to use a heavier line width on Clayface. I'm not a big fan of heavier lines, but I think it worked really well here. It gives him more depth. I also tried to show some movement. I had a blast drawing this, lol.

SKETCH A DAY 88: THE HUMAN TORCH

I was trying to work a little with perspective on this sketch. I wanted to try to do something dynamic with the Human Torch. In pencils, it looked cool. But I don't think I inked it so well. Mabe the line width is a little too thin. Anyway, lol, the perspective isn't too bad.