SKETCH A DAY 323-328: THE WATCHMEN

The Watchmen was groundbreaking. The series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is classic and has shaped the future of comics ever since it was first published in the 80s. Multi-layered and full of characters so deep, the Watchmen sits alone as a series continually referred and compared to by comic readers. Of course, I had to include the cast from Watchmen to my "sketch a day" project. At first, I was planning on drawing one large teamshot, but I wasn't feeling that and decided on a series of headshots. I think that worked out better and, for the most part, I'm happy with them. I'm kind of getting used to combining my sketchy style with my smoother, more traditional, style.

SKETCH A DAY 322: STARGIRL

One of the best legacy characters to come out of DC is definitely Stargirl. Originally the star of her own series written by Geoff Johns, Stargirl later joined the JSA in their relaunched book and quickly became a fan favorite. Cute, perky and with an opinion of her own, Stargirl was based on Geoff's sister, Courtney, who sadly passed away in the crash of Flight 800 in 1996. For me, there is an odd connection to this character. The first story I helped a reporter cover for the NY Times was the crash of Flight 800. I remember that day very clearly and remember talking with witnesses and all the theories on what happened that day. It was really sad and confusing at the same time. I won't forget that day. But even more than that connection, for me, the fact that Geoff based Stargirl on his sister who was on the flight and used the tragedy to honor her and try to keep her memory alive resonates with me. I didn't know he had based Stargirl on his late sister at the time, but when I created SENTINELS, I wanted to do the same thing with one of my characters and based Agent Huggins on a very close friend of mine. For me, losing someone so important, it was very therapeutic to do this and I can relate to the reasons why Stargirl was created. I figured it was only fitting that I added this character to my "sketch a day" project.

SKETCH A DAY 321: STARMAN

One of my favorite characters from DC, Starman! Jack Knight was a great character and excellent legacy story. And what I love most about him and his story is that DC let it finish and let it rest. That doesn't happen too often. Even though I miss his book, I actually hope they never bring him back. I like having the good memories of this series left alone. :)

SKETCH A DAY 320: LEELOO

Another request made a while back. This is supposed to be LeeLoo from the movie, the Fifth Element. the movie happened to be on the other day so I froze the TV using my DRV a few times and caught this pose that I liked, lol. It kind of looks like her, if you squint, lol. Still she was fun to draw and like Domino, a good exercise in using some prospective.

SKETCH A DAY 319: DOMINO

Domino was another request I got for my "sketch a day" project. I think she was requested early on, but I'm just now getting to a lot of these. I like the pose I ended up with and was trying to do a little with something prospective. I think that turned out okay. I messed up the hair though. Should have made it more solid I think. Still, not a bad one overall.

RAPTURE BY MINGYUN (GRACE) FONG

Now that I've FINALLY been able to post all the sketches I got at the 2009 Pittsburgh Comic Con, I can move on to posting some sketches from the 2009 NYC Anime Con that took place earlier this year. The artists alley there was really small, but there were a lot of talent artists there and I got some great sketches. First up is Rapture by Mingyun (Grace) Fong. Her style really caught my eye with it's realistic and soft feel. After chatting for a while I asked what her favorite thing to draw was and she said girlie men or evil women, lol. I figured Rapture was a no-brainer for her to draw. I love the way it turned out. You can really see how her costume would actually fit if it was real. Check out more of Mungyun's work at www.fongmingyun.deviantart.com .

SKETCH A DAY 318: CUTTER

Happy Thanksgiving! I was trying to think what sketch would be best to post today and decided on Cutter from Elfquest. I figured it was fitting since it's a character from one of the comics I'm thankful for. Wendy and Richard Pini created Elfquest back in the 70s and it quickly became a cult hit. Actually that's a little of an understatement, it was a big hit and sold tons of copies. And in my opinion, the fact that Wendy and Richard started Elfquest by self-publishing makes them important people and very significant in the comic world. Some might debate or think that Elfquest is childish or purely fantasy, but they'd be wrong. Elfquest is very adult and a lot of issues are addressed in this series that are pretty thought-provoking. Like the Wolfman/Perez's New Teen Titans were an inspiration to me before I started SENTINELS, Elfquest was just as much an inspiration due to Wendy and Richard being such pioneers in self-publishing. I wanted to include them in my "sketch a day" project and show them a little thanks! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

SKETCH A DAY 317: THOR

After yesterday's huge posting of sketches, lol, I'm only putting one up today. Thor! One of the original Avengers and soon to be major movie franchise. I had pencilled out this sketch a while ago, but never got around to inking it. I didn't like it. But I reworked it a little and think it looks better now. Still not as good as I wanted it to look, but is okay. The updates on his costume are a major improvement.

SKETCH A DAY 316: CAPTAIN AMERICA - AGAIN

Captain America was one of the first sketches I did when i started my sketch a day project. You can see it by looking way back at my first submissions, but it sucked. I hate it and I always wanted to take another try at him. I think this sketch is much better.

SKETCH A DAY 315: LADY DEATH

I felt like drawing someone sexy and Lady Death definitely fits the bill. What fun to draw! I don't think I went too wild with her, but there is enough sexiness that I think she looks right. What a crazy costume, lol, or lack there of.

SKETCH A DAY 311-314: WILDSTORM CHARACTERS

Here are a few characters from Wildstorm. I can't believe I hadn't done any from them yet, so I wanted to get in at least a few. From suggestions I got, here are Apollo and Midnighter from the Authority and Grifter and Zealot from Wildcats. I used my more sketchy style with this and I'm pretty happy with the results. This might be the style I use when I start on my webcomic.

SKETCH A DAY 310: GRENDEL

I used to LOVE this comic back in the day. Matt Wagner created the Indie series Mage as well as Grendel. But it was Grendel that I was more into. The art and story were awesome. I wanted this sketch to be super clean and almost cartoony.

SKETCH A DAY 309: THE CROW

Another classic Indie character. The Crow was made into 3 different films I think. I only ever saw the first one and think it was pretty good. Poor Brandon Lee. I tried to use more of my sketchy style with this one.

SKETCH A DAY 308: MARY MARVEL

Mary Marvel was another request that was made for me to add to my sketch a day project. She's an interesting character that they tried to do some stuff with recently but I don't think any of it worked. I enjoyed drawing her though and think she turned out cute.

SKETCH A DAY 307: BLUE DEVIL

Blue Devil was another request to add to my sketches. I always liked this character and had fun drawing him. I can't believe he wore short shorts though, lol. I mean if you really look at the costume, it's kind of ridiculous. Still, he pulled it off.

SKETCH A DAY 306: THE MASK

Just a quick sketch of the Mask. I realized as I drew him that he reminds me a lot of the Joker, lol. Still, I gave him the crazy eyes to try to make him a little different. I think the Mask is important to comics because it was kind of his movie that brought a lot of attention to Indie comics again back when it came out.

LIGHTBRINGER BY KEN HAESER

Here is the last of my Pittsburgh Comic Con sketches. This sketch of Lightbringer is by Ken Haeser. Ken went to the Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and is currently drawing the comic "The Living Corpse". I spotted Ken's art as I walked around the con and thought he had a really clean smooth style. I gave him the choice of who to draw and was surprised that he chose to draw Lightbringer unmasked and before he was healed in SENTINELS Book 4. He looks creepy cool. But that's exactly what I expected from Ken. See more of his art and more from The Living Corpse at http://www.corpsecomic.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 305: AMETHYST

Amethyst was a unique series published by DC Comics in the 80s. In an aim to get more female readers as well as diversify their universe of character, DC first published Amethyst as a 12 issue maxi-series. It was an interesting time at DC back then and a lot of great books came out that still are looked upon greatly today. I think Amethyst is definitely one of them. Even today over 20 years later, she still has a huge fanbase and I had a lot of requests to add her to my list. Maybe it's time DC did something with the character again? As for this sketch, I wasn't wild about the face I gave her. I think it's a little off and not exactly what I was hoping for. But still, I like this one.

SKETCH A DAY 303 AND 304: STATURE AND SPEED

Here are the last two members of Young Avengers that I hadn't drawn, Stature and Speed. They turned out okay, I don't think I was as into them as I was the other members. But I wanted to finish the team and maybe try to place them together in some kind of group shot (hence the no background on any of them). I still think that Young Avengers is one of the cooler teams to come out in years, I just wish that they'd give them their own book again!

SKETCH A DAY 302: HELLBOY

Gotta love Hellboy! He has to be one of the most successful Indie comic characters. With a hit comic, toys and two movies under his belt, I almost don't think of him as Indie anymore. Created by Mike Mignola, Hellboy is a great character and I really love Mike's portrayal of him. I tried to mix a little of Mike's style in with this sketch, but still think my style shows through. He was a blast to draw.

SKETCH A DAY 301: THE VISION

While I've never been a huge fan of the Vision, I did kind of like his relationship with the Scarlet Witch. Of course, when you think about it, it's creepy, but still, they were good together. After she went crazy and destroyed him, he came back in Young Avengers and appeared younger. He also lost most of his memory and is now trying to find himself. I'm more interested in what they're doing with him now then I was in the past. Many that's just because I'm a YA fan, lol. Anyway, only two more members of YA to draw now.

SKETCH A DAY 300: SHI

You know, I was almost tempted to make a character from 300 my 300th drawing, lol. But I think making it Shi is more fitting. When I started doing this "sketch a day" project, it was mainly to start getting in the habit of drawing again. I didn't care what the sketch ended up looking like or who they were, just that I did them. Somewhere along the way, I got into the history of comics more and more. I've always known a lot about the smaller and lesser known characters, but it wasn't until I started drawing each day that I realized this would also be a great exercise in trying to draw characters that have made an impact or creators who have helped move the industry forward. Which brings me to Shi. Shi was created by Billy Tucci, a fellow New Yorker, and first self-published in 1993. Since then, Billy has been on many top ten lists as both writer and artist, had his character crossover with such characters as Lady Death and Fallen Angel and even had Shi developed as a film. But makes Billy stand out is his attitude. He's probably one of the nicest comic creators out there. He also happens to be interested in what people think of his work and is encouraging to new talent. Not many creators are like that. Believe me, I know. For this reason and others, I think Billy is a great role model for many Indie creators just starting in the biz. He's an example of how you should do it. Currently, Billy complete a Sgt. Rock mini-series at DC Comics. The book was amazingly detailed in both story and art. Billy went to extremes to get the history on the book right and it shows. I highly recommend picking it up.

SKETCH A DAY 299: Isis

Oh mighty Isis! Lol. That's about all I remember from the old Isis live action show that used to be on TV when I was a kid. (dating myself here I guess). Isis was created for TV to be a counterpart for the live action Shazam TV show. The woman who played Isis was beautiful, I can't remember her name, but I wonder what happened to her? Recently, DC FINALLY brought Isis into the DC universe proper and they now have an Isis character. Even though it's not the same character that was on TV, she looks pretty darn similar. I am pretty happy with the way this sketch turned out.

SKETCH A DAY 296 - 298: ANIMATED CHARACTERS

All of these sketches of classic animated characters were requests made this year by various people. I wasn't wild about really drawing any of them, but then it occurred to me that all of these characters have been in a comic. I think that made me feel like it was okay to add them into my "sketch a day" project. And I don't want to be a comic snob, I mean I did draw a bunch of movie film villains, lol. And to top it off, these were actually a lot of fun to draw and made me have some memories of my youth. In random order, here are the Wonder Twins (Zan and Jana with Gleek), Ben 10 (who I really don't know too well) and the gang from Scooby Doo. I think I had the most fun drawing the Scooby Doo gang. I made Shaggy look exactly like a guy who works in my building and I didn't even realize it until I was done. From now on I won't be able to look at the guy the same way without laughing, lol.

SKETCH A DAY 295: WILDCAT JR

I'm not sure how I feel about this sketch. On one hand, I like the character a lot and after I was finished inking this one I think it actually looked better then the pencils. That doesn't happen too often, lol. But on the other hand, after doing so many sketches I feel guilty when I don't do any background. It feels incomplete a little. Anyway, lol, I think the fur came out okay. And for those of you that don't know, this is Wildcat Jr or Wildcat 2, the son of the original JSA Wildcat. Since I drew him previous, I figure I throw the son in too.

SKETCH A DAY 294: MAXX

I admit, I don't really know a lot about this character. Maxx was one of the early books published by Image and created by Sam Keith. It had a very different look to it and I remember picking it up and being interested in it. But I think back then, I was too young and just not able to fully get the concept of the series. It was kind of deep. Maxx was a hit though and it even had it's own animated series on MTV. Pretty cool, huh. And some other interesting info, Sam was the inker for Matt Wagner's Mage series and (I had forgotten this part!) Sam drew the first 5 issues of Neil Gaiman's classic Sandman.

ELECTRON BY JEREMIAH WITKOWSKI

Here is the last (but not least!) sketch I got while at the Pittsburgh Comic Con this year. Electron was drawn by Jeremiah Witkowski. Jeremiah was sitting down a few tables from some friends of mine and his work caught my eye. He was actually doing a color sketch on color paper that looked really sweet. I like the animated style of his work and his use of color pencils. They give his characters a unique feel to them. I did have the hardest time remembering his name though, lol. I remember faces and where people were sitting at the con. And usually that's enough for me to remember the person's name when I see their signature on the sketch. I also usually always try to get a business card. But this time I forgot. And look at this signature! There's no way I could figure out a name from that, lol. But, thanks to Facebook (and Lauren Perry, who took so many pictures at the con and posted them!) I was able to find out Jeremiah's proper name. Check out Jeremiah's webcomic at http://www.youmeandsteve.com/ .

SPLASH BY ANDY BENNET

I've been forgetting to post more of the sketches I've gotten this year. And they're all really great ones. I still have some Pittsburgh Comic Con sketches to post so here is another from there. This sketch of Splash was drawn by Andy Bennett. I had met Andy a few years ago at the Pittsburgh Con and he's a super nice guy who's art I really love. His inks are dark and really set a mood. He's drawn a sketch of Harlette in the past for me and this one of Splash is just as great. Check out more of Andy's art at http://www.b3nn3tt.deviantart.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 293: KRYPTO AND STREAKY

Totally silly drawing, but what can I say, I wanted to draw them. Krypto was totally easy to draw and I felt like I was cheating doing him. Streaky on the other hand...Ugh. No wonder I'm not a cat person, cat's are hard to draw. It's all about the head with them. Get it right and it looks great. Get it wrong and it looks off. Not sure which this ended up being, lol, but it was still fun to draw.

SKETCH A DAY 292: SHE-RA

Holy 80s! Here's another request I got for my "sketch a day" project. This time it's She-Ra, sister of He-Man from the old cartoons. Though I watched He-Man as a kid, I was watching by the time She-Ra came around. I recently saw the intro to her cartoon and I have to admit, it was just as cheesy as He-Man, lol. I mean that in a good way though and not slamming her. I think she's actually a cool character visually. And even though she's shown a lot in a classic He-Man type pose with her sword held high, I wanted to draw her a little differently. I think this kind of works for her. Maybe I did a little too much with the hair though.

SKETCH A DAY 291: CRYSTAL

Crystal from the Inhumans was a request for me to add to my sketch a day list and I'm happy I did. I tried to do something a little different with her and not have her in a superhero type pose. She looks like she's in deep thought here and maybe a little sad. The weird pattern in the background was just something I threw in for no real reason, but I think it adds a little something.

SKETCH A DAY 290: DAREDEVIL

Daredevil had been on my list of characters to draw for a long time, but I never got around to him. He's an odd character to draw, yet his costume is way easy. I had fun doing this one and I'm pretty happy with the way it came out.

SKETCH A DAY 289: SPACE GHOST

Space Ghost is one of the old classic cartoon characters I liked growing up. I remember thinking he was a little cheesy, but still fun. It wasn't until they used him for Space Ghost Coast to Coast as a talk show host that I truly got into him though. That show was hilarious.

SKETCH A DAY 288: SPAWN

I've been around comics long enough to have been reading them when Image Comics was created. At the time, I remember the excitement of it all and how fresh and new their ideas were. Todd McFarlane's Spawn was the biggest of the Image books and rightfully so. When it started I was really into the book. But years later I felt like it became stale. Still, I think the character is a very important part of comic history and I wanted to draw him. There's the big Image crossover happening that is reuniting all the original creators and it was just announced recently that Spawn is the big baddie in that. Hmmm, maybe they have changed him a bit since I last read him.

SKETCH A DAY 287: PATRIOT

I'd been meaning to draw Patriot from the Young Avengers for a while now. I've already drawn Hulkling, Wiccan and Hawkeye and plan to finish off the team with Vision, Stature and Speed very soon. I'm a HUGE fan of Young Avengers and I've always said that if there was one Marvel book I ever had the chance to write that would be it. The characters are just so full of stories, I would have a field day with them. Of course, lol, chances of that happening are slim to none, but I still love the team and think Patriot is an excellent character. His costume was a lot harder to draw then it looks.

CASCADE BY CHRIS MORENO

Almost finished posting all of the sketches I got at the Pittsburgh Comic Con! This sketch of BoBo (Cascade) is by the incredibly talented, Chris Moreno. I had first gotten a sketch by Chris last year when he did an awesome rendition of Hamlet from SENTINELS Book 2 for me. It quickly became one of my favorite sketches and when I saw him at Pittsburgh this year I went to him first thing. That first day, he did another great sketch, this time of Harlette from SENTINELS Book 4. I loved that one so much, that the last day of the con I went back and Chris was able to do this cute sketch of BoBo from SENTINELS Book 3. It's really cool to see who he picks to draw each time. And since he's done a character from almost all the SENTINELS books, I guess next time I see him I'll have to get a sketch of some from Book 1, lol. See more of Chris's work at http://www.chrismoreno.deviantart.com/ .

SKETCH A DAY 286: THE DEMON

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this sketch yet. On one hand, I like the feel of it and the position of the figure. But on the other hand, I think I over inked it and went a little crazy with trying to texture it.

SKETCH A DAY 282 - 285: MORE HEADSHOTS

I was in the mood to finish some of the sketches I've had laying around that needed to be inked so here are 4 random headshots. From DC, I drew Cheetah and the Riddler. Cheetah looks really easy, but I was cursing myself after I started inking the hair because it took forever. From Marvel, I drew Wonderman and a Skrull. Wonderman looks a little too young maybe and is not the most exciting sketch. But I had fun drawing the Skrull.