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.